Bai Chongwu, the second son of the Bai family, has returned from the county. He is white and fat, and he is the standard of wealth in ancient times.
"Why are you here, Magistrate Xiang?" asked the old member from outside.
Bai Chongwu said in a low voice: "Before I had time to tell my father, just two days ago, the state issued an official document. This year's purchase and purchase money will be increased. In addition, it was ordered to make up for the previous years' taxes. The state will make up for it. If the supply is not enough, the state officials will be punished; if the county does not make up the supply, the county officials will also be punished. The county official is already worried."
There was silence for a while, and it took a long time before Old Bai exhaled: "This world, alas..."
Bai Chongwu said: "My family invited many prominent people to my grandmother's birthday party, and nearly half of the squires in the county came to celebrate her birthday. I'm afraid that Xiang Zhixian came here suddenly and had some other agenda. He just took this opportunity to persuade all the squires in the county to be active. Pay food."
"What is Zhu Er's plan?" Old Bai asked outside.
Bai Chongwu said: "Zhu Er is a fan of officials. He will do whatever the county magistrate says."
Zhu Er used to be a rebel leader. After being recruited, he served as the chief registrar and county lieutenant of Xixiang County. In just a few years, he was completely integrated into the system and wanted to be a dog to the county magistrate.
Afraid of being looked down upon by scholars, he spent huge sums of money to hire an old scholar and changed his name to Zhu Zongdao.
He also compiled a genealogy for his family. The ancestor can trace back to the fire god Zhu Rong, and the distant ancestor is Zhu Xun, the general who protects the country in the Eastern Jin Dynasty...
This guy has completely forgotten that he came from a poor background. He is submissive when faced with the county magistrate, strikes hard at the villagers, and is extremely active in collecting taxes every year.
Member Lao Bai said: "Take good care of yourself, Zhu Er, and don't cause any trouble. The five Baiford brothers, if they are assigned to take turns this year, they will not be able to cope with it for a while. If you can avoid it, just hide. If you can't, think of other ways."
"This is the only way." Bai Chongwu said.
In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, counties with more than 10,000 households had county magistrates. By the Huizong Dynasty, counties with 20,000 households usually had county magistrates.
In small counties, the chief registrar and county captain are often held by the same person.
Therefore, in the entire Xixiang County, there are only two officials in the county government, one is the chief official, Xiang Zhixian, and the other is the assistant official, Zhu Zhuzhu.
Suddenly, Bai Chongwu said: "Xiang Zhixian seems to have plans to buy land."
When Lao Bai heard this, he felt much more relaxed: "It seems that the Liu family is going to be in trouble."
Bai Chongwu said: "I'm afraid that the county magistrate's appetite is too big and he won't be able to eat enough for the Liu family."
"You can't choke him to death!" Old Bai sneered outside.
Local officials in the Song Dynasty were allowed to purchase properties in the places where they served. This led many local officials to go crazy and buy land in their jurisdictions when they saw that there was no hope of promotion in the short term.
Moreover, we have to buy fertile land. If the landlord doesn’t sell it, we will force him to death!
This year the court suddenly wanted to raise taxes, which gave Magistrate Xiang an excuse.
In the villages surrounding the county, the Liu family occupies a lot of good land, and its backing has declined, making it an excellent opportunity for slaughter.
As long as Yuan Liu is forced to leave and his family is ruined, Xiang Zhixian can take the opportunity to buy land and get money and food to pay for business. It is like killing two birds with one stone.
The other squires were also happy to see the result: by killing a Liu family, they could feed the county magistrate and reduce their own taxes.
After the second son left the study, Mr. Bai called the eldest son over again and told him: "Get ready the money and lend it to the village neighbors to pay taxes this year. Maybe we can buy a lot of land next year."
Bai Dalang was startled at first, then he felt happy again, and said happily: "I understand."
The imperial court raised taxes, which was a God-given opportunity.
The county magistrate takes the opportunity to prey on the big households, and the country gentry takes the opportunity to prey on the small people.
Lao Bai members still have a bottom line, and they don't just force things.
Let the five Baiford brothers take turns to collect taxes in the village. Villagers who have no money at home can only borrow money from Lao Bai.
The five brothers will definitely not be able to collect all the taxes, and it will be a matter of time before they break up their families and flee.
The villagers who were forcibly levied taxes would only resent the five brothers, and Mr. Bai was a philanthropic person. If they could not repay the loan in the coming year, the villagers would have to sell their land to compensate.
The old white man bought the land at a low price. He not only annexed the land, but also got a good reputation with a little relief.
Leaving the study, Bai Dalang walked briskly and was in an extremely happy mood.
His biological mother died in childbirth, and his relationship with his stepmother has never been good. He couldn't study well, so he could only work conscientiously. Managing the family property was his fun. Watching the land increase little by little, and seeing the money and grain pile up, he fell asleep.
You can all wake up with a smile.
This year and next, land can be annexed again, and Bai Chongwen can't wait.
…
Early in the morning, Ju Ming got up with a yawn.
After washing up, I went to the courtyard to practice sword practice.
After practicing for a while, Zhu Ming found that his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were not there, so he asked his father, who was supervising his children's morning reading: "Where is Mrs. Shen? Are you going out to work so early?"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "It's Mrs. Bai's birthday and they are going to help."
After a while, two men from the village came to Shen Yourong's house to move tables and stools.
But the birthday banquet is divided into three levels:
In the first stall, the guests are all distinguished and eat in the courtyard of the Bai family mansion.
In the second stall, the guests are members of the Bai family, eating in the courtyard of the tile-roofed house in the village.
In the third stall, the guests are ordinary villagers and eat at the threshing floor in the village.
The tables and stools from Mrs. Shen's house were moved to the threshing floor, and Old Bai set up a large running water mat outside, so that the beggars passing by could have a bowl of them.
Zhu Guoxiang said: "I asked Madam Shen last night, just give the gift money as you see it. It's not like in movies and TV shows, where you have to announce the gift list loudly on the spot, just register it when giving the gift. Ordinary villagers also rely on their own money to give gifts.
As you wish, I can go to the threshing floor to eat and drink without giving any gifts or money."
"The Bai family treats the villagers very leniently," Ju Ming commented.
Zhu Guoxiang said: "I plan to give you a hundred yuan. But it's a little shabby. After all, the place we eat is in the courtyard of the Bai family's mansion. Do you have any birthday poems?"
"How about Tang Bohu's song?" Zhu Ming asked.
Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Which song is it by Tang Bohu?"
Zhu Ming said cowardly: "This woman is not a human being. She is a fairy from the Nine Heavens who descended to the mortal world. All her children and grandchildren are thieves. They steal peaches and offer them to their loved ones."
Zhu Guoxiang immediately remembered that although he had never memorized this poem, he had seen it in a TV series. He immediately couldn't laugh or cry: "Old lady Bai is ninety years old. Are you afraid that she has a heart disease?
Will the banquet turn into a funeral banquet on the spot?"
Zhu Ming smiled and said: "I asked about it. Mrs. Bai is very tough and has never been sick or injured. In view of Erlang Shen's incident, I also inquired specifically. In the Song Dynasty, there was a custom of longevity peach, and there was also a legend about the Queen Mother of the West's peach feast."
"There is no need to take risks and rethink a birthday poem." Zhu Guoxiang still chose to be cautious.
Ju Ming thought about it carefully: "Just the Cixi song."
"Cixi also wrote poems?" Zhu Guoxiang felt a little surprised.
Ju Ming said: "You must have heard one of the sentences, pity the hearts of parents in the world."
"This is good!" Zhu Guoxiang immediately agreed.
Shen Yourong's house only had straw paper for calligraphy practice, but it didn't matter what kind of paper it was, what was important was what was written on it.
Zhu Guoxiang immediately went to get water to grind the ink, spread out a large piece of straw paper, and cut it into A4 paper size for use.
While his son was reading a poem next to him, his father wrote it down with a brush. Zhu Guoxiang's calligraphy was much more beautiful than Zhu Ming's.
By mid-morning, when the ink was already dry, Zhu Guoxiang said: "Take the money and go out!"
He took the children with him and went straight to the Bai family's mansion. There were actually several gift-givers lined up at the door. Of course, they were not the distinguished guests themselves, but the entourage they brought with them.
When it was the turn of the father and son, Ju Ming put the gift on the table: "The gift is enough for a hundred dollars, and a poem for longevity."
The servant in charge of receiving the gift threw the iron money into the box, then carefully picked up the straw paper and planned to put it next to it, where several birthday poems had already been pressed.
Perhaps because the papyrus was too nonsense, the slave couldn't help but look at it twice before putting it down, and actually praised: "What a poem!"
There are two slaves to receive gifts, one to register and one to receive.
The person in charge of registration is Bai Dalang's former book boy, and he is currently assisting Bai Dalang in managing his property.
The person responsible for receiving it is Bai Erlang's former school boy, and currently works as a housekeeper for Bai Erlang in the county.
"You two, please!"
Bai Erlang's butler was a knowledgeable person, and his attitude instantly became respectful.
After he sent Ju Ming and his son inside, he called a handyman slave: "Put this poem into Erlang's hands personally."
There are already many guests inside.
There were squires from various villages, wealthy businessmen from the county, officials promoted by Lao Bai, and a few well-known scholars.
There was also a stage set up in the courtyard. The food had not yet been served. The distinguished guests were eating snacks and chatting while watching the show.
The county magistrate's name is Xiang Bi, whose courtesy name is Weitian. He sits at the main table with Mrs. Bai.
Of course, Li Hanzhang and Zheng Hong also sat at the main table.
When he learned that Li Hanzhang was the son of a state magistrate, the county magistrate Xiang Bi was very enthusiastic and took the initiative to talk to him from beginning to end.
Bai Chongwu, the second son of the Bai family, wandered around greeting guests. He was fat and white, had a smile on his face, and could talk well. He was a well-rounded man who could make everyone laugh while chatting with them.
As soon as they finished chatting at the table, the servant handed over the papyrus: "Erlangjun, Butler Qin asked me to deliver it."
Bai Chongwu took it and took a look, only to see written on the papyrus——
"I am fortunate to be invited to the old lady's ninetieth birthday banquet. I have nothing left to live in, but I can only offer a birthday poem to repay my host's favor."
"The love between parents is the most sincere in the world. Their tears and blood melt into their children. They work hard to give birth to their children. I pity the hearts of all parents in the world."
"Zhu Guoxiang and his son Zhu Ming pay their respects."
To be honest, Cixi's poem is a complete mess except for the last sentence.
Putting aside the changes in pronunciation in the past dynasties, even if it were placed in the Qing Dynasty, according to the Beijing Mandarin at that time, this poem was "lost", that is, there was a big problem with the flat and oblique format.
Although Bai Chongwu never passed the imperial examination, he had read the Eight Classics seriously.
After reading the first three sentences, he frowned and felt it hurt his eyes. When he read the fourth sentence, he suddenly smiled.
There is no fourth sentence, it is called loss of stickiness, a limerick.
With the fourth sentence, it is called Aojue, turning decay into magic.
In terms of poetry creation, rules can be broken in terms of level, contrast, and rhyme. People in the Tang Dynasty were the least particular about it, while people in the Song Dynasty were more particular about it. For a period of time, poets in the Ming Dynasty deliberately tried to imitate the laxity of the Tang people in order to restore their style.
Taking the tissue paper to the main table, Bai Erlang held it in both hands and said, "Grandma, look at it."
Mrs. Bai also went to school, but her knowledge was not high, and limericks were just in line with her appreciation level.
The old lady read the poem carefully, and immediately smiled from ear to ear, revealing two rows of bare gums: "Well written, well written, I like it very much!"