"My lord, Prefect Zhu wants to see you!" his entourage shouted from outside.
Huang Qianshan was in the backyard, trying to escape through the back door. But someone was blocking the back door, so he set up ladders everywhere and climbed up the wall to observe the situation and try to find an escape route.
Several of his followers were still climbing the stairs to look around. Huang Qianshan turned around and asked, "Which Prefect Zhu is there?"
The personal attendant said: "Last year's Tanhua Lang has now become the magistrate of Jinzhou. He happened to be passing by here these days."
Huang Qianshan seemed to be grasping at straws: "I remember he is from Yangzhou. Please invite him to the second floor!"
Why not on the first floor?
Of course, I was afraid that the mob would break in.
Huang Qianshan ordered his followers to block all the courtyard doors and moved a lot of furniture to block the doors.
Even when Zhu Ming came in, he struggled for a long time, fearing that the mob would follow.
Huang Qianshan opened the second-floor window and looked out, and found that the mob outside had become more numerous, and the streets were dark and full of heads.
"Bang!"
He quickly closed the window, his legs weak from fear.
Huang Qianshan thought that as long as he had soldiers in his hands, he would not be afraid of these unruly people causing trouble.
But I didn't expect that Zhong Quannong was so greedy that he not only refused to give him a penny of military pay, but also withheld daily meals. When building the plank road, he could occasionally see a dry meal, and after the project was completed, even the gruel was mixed with sand.
"Ms. sir, Governor Zhu has arrived."
Huang Qianshan immediately went up to him, held Ju Ming's hand, and said pitifully: "Successfully saved me!"
Zhu Ming sighed: "The rural soldiers were arguing about their pay. Zhong Quannong and Hu Zhizhou fled. The rural soldiers came straight to the city. I passed by Yangzhou and was a guest at the house of Chief Min Shan. I heard that the rural soldiers were making trouble and came immediately.
At least stop them outside the city."
Huang Qianshan said angrily: "These thieves Qiu Ba, it's not like they don't want to pay them, they can't even wait for a few days."
"After all, they are just temporarily recruited rural soldiers, not soldiers of the Xiang army. They do not understand the royal laws of the court," Zhu Ming advised. "For some small local matters, you should not disturb the officials, and you must use gentle methods."
Huang Qianshan actually didn't want to give too much money, and said: "Shengsheng is a local, and I think he has a lot of prestige. You can tell the rural soldiers that each of them will give fifty copper coins and twenty kilograms of rice, so that they can go home early."
.And those unscrupulous people, let’s talk about this matter, and no more miscellaneous taxes will be levied.”
Ju Ming sighed: "Is Kensi really desperate for his life? Those rural soldiers first suppressed bandits and then were dragged to build the plank road. I heard that there were still casualties. When they were recruited, they didn't receive even half a penny, and they had to carry it themselves.
The dry food has arrived. There is no wages, no military pay, and the food is very poor. How can you spend dozens of pennies?"
Huang Qianshan said distressedly: "Although I have levied additional taxes twice, they are not enough at all. Many unruly people refuse to pay the taxes. Even the four major clans in Yangzhou still owe the second miscellaneous tax. Where can they find it?"
Money and food for the country soldiers?”
It’s true that I can’t shed tears without seeing the coffin. Ju Ming was completely convinced and handed over his hands and said, “In that case, there’s nothing I can do, so I’ll say goodbye!”
"Successful stay!"
Huang Qianshan quickly stopped him and asked, "How much food is enough?"
Ju Ming said: "Why don't we let a few paying officers come in and let them speak face to face."
Huang Qianshan said: "Only three people are allowed in."
Zhu Ming walked to the gate and said to Bai Sheng who was guarding the door: "Let the soldiers who are demanding payment recommend three leaders to come in and discuss food and salary with the executioner in person."
Huang Qianshan stood on the second floor and quietly opened half of the window, only to see a commotion on the street in the distance.
It took about half an hour to finally elect three representatives of the rural soldiers, two from Xingyuan Prefecture and one from Yangzhou.
They are all strong and strong men.
Zhu Ming cupped his hands and said, "I don't know what the names of these three warriors are?"
A strong man said: "I am Qiu Shoucheng, the temporary commander of the township soldiers in Xingyuan Prefecture."
"I am Wang Xin, the temporary warden of the Xingyuan Prefecture's rural soldiers."
"I am Fan Zhengtong, the temporary commander of the Yangzhou Township Soldiers."
Zhu Ming turned around and glanced, and saw Huang Qianshan peeking at the stairs, and said: "The three heroes are all good men. Today I will give Zhu a face and discuss it with the executioner Haosheng, so as not to make the matter a big deal."
Qiu Shoucheng said: "We don't want to rebel, but officials are too bullying. I have a brother who fell to death while building a plank road, and there is still no explanation. If no compensation is given, how will his family be orphaned and widowed?
Live a good life?”
"That's right," Fan Zhengtong also said, "when we were recruited, we were asked to be rural soldiers, so that we could go home after the troubles were settled. But they asked us to build plank roads. I just don't understand.
Are you a rural soldier or a civilian husband? If you are a rural soldier, you will be given military pay. If you are a civilian husband, you will be given monthly money!"
Wang Xin said angrily: "If you don't give me an explanation, you will simply rebel and kill the bird official and become a thief!"
Upon hearing this, Huang Qianshan shrank his neck in fright and tiptoed back to the second floor, pretending to be calm.
Zhu Ming took the people up and said, "You can talk to the punishment envoy yourself. Be happy and how much food will be needed to disperse."
The three of them discussed it outside.
Wang Xin said: "Those who die or are injured must be compensated. Those who die will be given ten guans of gold per life; those who are not dead will be given five guans of decoction for each person!"
They thought it was a lion talking loudly, but Huang Qianshan breathed a sigh of relief. More than 20 people were killed and injured in building the plank road, which could be done with two to three hundred strings.
Huang Qianshan bargained and said: "Five guans are dead and two guans are not dead."
"No, this life is too cheap!" Qiu Shoucheng said.
Huang Qianshan said: "Lower some more."
The two parties bargained, and the deceased was given eight guans as a pension, and the disabled was given five guans for decoction and medicine.
Then they talked about food and pay. They didn't bother to separate military pay or wages, so they just combined them and gave them together. After repeated disputes, each person was given three and a half guan of money, five dou of food, and the dead and wounded were also given.
After the negotiation ended, Huang Qianshan slumped in his chair.
Tens of thousands of dollars were lost like this. This time, his work was almost in vain, and he only got a thousand dollars of hard-earned money.
Although he repeatedly raised taxes, local officials were not very cooperative and the gentry and merchants always delayed. He really didn't make much money.
The money is in the guild hall, and Huang Qianshan has ordered the Li family to exchange it for gold and silver.
Ju Ming called in some more rural soldiers, and after counting the gold and silver, they moved them out one after another. Then they went to the Li family to exchange them for iron money again, and they were not allowed to charge any handling fees.
Ju Ming stood at the door and said to the people who were resisting the tax: "You all go home, there will be no more taxes this year. Yangzhou will only charge 60 wen per bucket for farm money next year. Anyone who dares to tax more will not be given to me."
face!"
"Xianggong Zhu is benevolent and righteous!"
"We all remember Xianggong Zhu's great kindness and virtue!"
The people in the anti-tax team knelt down and kowtowed one after another, and the rest of the people also knelt down happily.
Ju Ming took it upon himself to lower the farm fee next year, leaving only 4 cents per dou for the officials to embezzle. Those guys, taking advantage of Huang Qian's chaos to collect taxes, must have embezzled a lot this year. If they want to be embezzled again next year, they will be punished.
Angry at the people.
The people who resisted the tax dispersed quickly, and the rural soldiers and archers lined up to collect their severance pay.
Huang Qianshan stood on the second floor and watched, hating Zhong Quanong in his heart. That guy was also greedy a lot, and he caused such a big trouble. He still doesn't know where the money and food he deducted went. He had to make Zhong Quanong vomit out some of it when he got back.
!
Zhu Ming came to Huang Qianshan and said, "Huang Xiansi, I heard that there are still many rebellious people who have fled into the mountains to become thieves."
Huang Qianshan said: "There is nothing to fear about ringworm and scabies."
"These rural soldiers don't ask for much money and food. Calculated, they only get twenty or thirty wages per day," Zhu Ming said. "They have already made trouble once and it was successful. They will be more likely to cause trouble in the future. If there are bandits in the mountains again.
, I’m afraid there will be civil unrest next year.”
Huang Qianshan was a little impatient and asked: "How should I solve it if I succeed?"
Ju Ming said: "Give me three thousand guan, and I will send people to appease the bandits in the mountains and find a place to resettle them."
"Three thousand guan?" Huang Qianshan jumped in shock and even stopped pretending, "If you give me 3,000 guan, I will still lose money on this trip!"
"How about two thousand strings?" Zhu Ming asked.
"I'll give you a thousand guan at most!" Huang Qianshan was so angry that he was shaking all over. His work this time was really in vain.
Ju Ming sighed: "Oh, just one thousand, I will give you some more money and food. Yangzhou is my hometown, and I really don't want to cause trouble again."
Zhu Ming helped solve the problem, but Huang Qianshan didn't appreciate it very much, and even felt resentful in his heart because of the money matter.
This guy really made Zhu Mingji hate him.
With such a weird brain circuit, it can only be said that it is difficult to raise a villain.
After working until midnight, the rural soldiers and archers finally received the money and food. After all, the food still had to be transferred to the warehouse.
Three representatives of the rural soldiers, along with many soldiers, came to say goodbye to Ju Ming.
Qiu Shoucheng knelt down and said: "We have all remembered Xianggong Zhu's kindness today. If we are asked to do anything in the future, we will never frown in water or fire!"
The rest of the soldiers also knelt down, and Zhu Ming helped more than ten of them up with his own hands: "Don't do this. The emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers. When you work for the government, you should get money and food. This is what you deserve. Please disperse and go back to your hometown."
Have a good life."
Zhu Ming asked his followers to hold lanterns and send all the soldiers out of the city.
The soldiers came to the bank of the Han River and knelt down towards the city again. They gathered together in twos and threes to rest, waiting for daybreak before returning home together.
Huang Qianshan didn't want to stay here, so he left in the middle of the night. He wanted to rush back to Xingyuan Mansion and ask Zhong Guanong to spit out the embezzled money and grain.
Ju Ming rested for midnight and went to the state government office the next day.
Hu Zhizhou was new here this year, so he took the opportunity to catch some. The quantity was not large, just a few hundred strings.
He narrowly escaped death and said gratefully: "Fortunately, Governor Zhu came forward, otherwise what happened yesterday would be difficult to deal with."
Zhu Ming said: "I am afraid that things will get serious. I have made arbitrary decisions and reduced the farm income for next year. Please forgive me, Governor Hu."
"It's a stop-gap measure and it won't get in the way." Hu Zhizhou didn't care about this. Most of the extra money he usually collected from the land was embezzled by county-level officials, and the state officials actually didn't get much of it.
Zhu Ming added: "The rebels who fled into the mountains may cause trouble again. Huang Xiansi gave out a thousand guan of money and asked the state to give some more. I came forward to place them in the lower reaches of Daming Village to open up wasteland. In this way, it can solve the problem.
There is a hidden danger of chaos, and wasteland can be reclaimed to increase taxes."
Hu Zhizhou wondered: "After the previous chaos was suppressed and the plank road was built, there was not much money and food left in the state government's warehouse. Zhong persuaded the farmers to deduct military rations and even greedy for food. I was afraid of something happening, so I transferred some food from the state government.
.”
Ju Ming said: "Then let the rich households share the money and raise three thousand guan, and I will come to settle the troubled people."
"That's all...that's the only way." Hu Zhizhou agreed immediately, since he didn't need to pay anyway.
Ju Ming felt very happy. This time he not only won the hearts of the people, but also attracted many unruly people without having to spend money for resettlement.