Between the lightning and flint, two bowls of hot soup were poured onto Li Jinglong's thighs.
Hiss...Woo...
Li Jinglong clenched his fists with both hands and stood there with a grin on his face and a look of pain on his face.
I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean it! The guest was burned, and Widow Xu panicked, grabbing her apron and going to wipe it off, but the burned area was really indecent...
Hiss! Ah! Li Jinglong's legs were shaking rapidly, like noodles in a storm, and his face was ferocious.
On the side, Fu Rang, who was silent, picked up a ladle of hot water with quick hands and splashed it on.
For a moment, Zhu Yunxi seemed to see the looming white smoke.
Ah! Hiss! Li Jinglong gasped for air, spread his legs, and sat down slumped, water dripping down his trouser legs.
After a long while, Zhu Yunxi asked, are you okay? Is it burnt?
Li Jinglong pulled off two pieces of mutton from his pants and flicked away the scattered green onions. It should be fine!
Even if you drink some soup, you can cause trouble? Zhu Yunxi suddenly said angrily, still thinking... How can you be so immature and careless at such a young age and let you go out? As he said,
, waved his hand, let’s talk about that later!
Li Jinglong pulled his pants with both hands to prevent them from sticking to his skin, thinking in his heart, not bad, not bad! A blessing in disguise!
Widow Xu over there was so anxious that she burst into tears. These people at the table looked like they were rich and noble people. Their clothes were all made of good materials. No matter how much mutton soup they sold, they were not enough to compensate.
Don’t blame the officials, the slave family is blind! Widow Xu cried, if you didn’t touch the slave family’s hand, how could the slave family burn you?
Okay, okay, no one blames you. If I cook a few more bowls, I will give you the money! Zhu Yunxi frowned.
No, no, no, it’s not from the slave family, how can I ask for money! With that said, Widow Xu walked to the stall again and started to work.
I don't know whether it was because she was afraid or something else, but the busier she became, the more confused she became.
Are you from Fengyang? Zhu Yunxi asked softly, not wanting to scare her.
The slave family came here by marriage. The slave family had a hard life. Just three years after marrying here, her husband died, leaving five slave families with orphans and widows! Widow Xu said, her eyes were red, and she looked a little pitiful.
Is the business going well on weekdays? Is there no land at home? Another bowl of soup was brought up. Zhu Yunxi broke open a pot helmet and dipped it into the soup and asked.
If there was land, a girl from the slave family would not be willing to show her face! Widow Xu continued to arrange the food, and said, from the official accent, she is not from this place, so she does not know what is going on here!
Zhu Yunxi took a bite of the soft pot helmet. Do you think there is something else going on in Fengyang's land?
Widow Xu carefully put the soup on the table, wiped her hands and said, "Nothing else, the land here is too expensive. A slave in the slave family who does small business can't afford five acres of land all his life!"
How much does one acre of land cost? Zhu Yunxi asked.
In this year's market, poor slope land costs five silver dollars, and better river beach land costs fifteen silver dollars!
So expensive? Zhu Yunxi stopped his chopsticks. The land around the capital is not worth this price!
There are many royal estates in Fengyang, and the Xungui family's land is also large! Widow Xu collected other people's money at the stall and said, "There are only so many good lands, and they are all in the hands of the officials. If they are not in the hands of the common people, they will naturally be more expensive."
Got it!
Besides, this is the central capital of the Ming Dynasty. Lord Hongwu was thinking about his nostalgia, and there were frequent tax exemptions, so the land price was naturally higher than elsewhere!
Zhu Yunxi silently put down his chopsticks. The land in Fengyang Zhongdu was in the hands of a few people, which meant that there were a large number of farmers without land.
What do people without land do for a living? Zhu Yunxi pondered and asked.
They all worked as tenants in various official villages or in imperial villages. Widow Xu smoothed down her hair, hey, they all lived a miserable life. When the city was being built a few years ago, there was still a place to work hard.
Now that the city is not being repaired, there is no place to work hard!
In other words, the state's tax exemption has not actually benefited the people! Zhu Yunxi sighed, the people have no land, let alone being exempted from it. The land of Huangzhuang and Xungui does not pay taxes in the first place, even large households with self-cultivated land
, the tenants in their family still can’t pay less to the landlord at all!
It’s good if you don’t pay more! Widow Xu said from the side, the land in Huangzhuang and the land of nobles have a fixed amount every year. They don’t care how much they harvest, whether God rewards them or not, or if they lose a grain of rice.
No way! In the early years, when the slave’s husband was still alive, he farmed the land for a year and still owed rent to others!
How much land does Fengyang's Imperial Mansion occupy? Zhu Yunxi asked Gou Ren with a cold face.
In the beginning it was 1,386 hectares! Gou Ren bowed and said.
Now! Zhu Yunxi's expression is even colder.
Gou Rendao, there are more than 20,000!
It turns out that the largest landowner in Fengyang is the Zhu family themselves.
Zhu Yunxi no longer thought about eating, so he stood up and gave her money! After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and left, followed by his followers, who hurriedly followed.
Why are there so many? While walking, Zhu Yunxi suddenly turned around and asked Gou Ren, looking at the archives of the Household Department, didn't the Imperial Manor in Fengyang only have more than 300 hectares? Why are there so many?
That happened in the first year of Hongwu. At first, the emperor's village was established to support the people who visited the imperial mausoleum and the imperial city. Gou Rendao said, but later, the emperor confiscated the homes of many nobles, along with many of the rewards that had been given to the nobles.
The tenants of the village also became the tenants of Huangzhuang!
Fengyang is the old land of Huaixi. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, many nobles had their land here. After the cases of Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, etc., senior ministers of the Huaixi Group were killed one after another, and naturally the land under their names also
Confiscation.
For example, Li Shanchang was from Dingyuan near Fengyang. In the early years of the Republic of China, his fiefdom in Fengyang area had 2,000 hectares of land, and he was rewarded with as many as 5,000 tenants.
Moreover, these criminal nobles often occupied civilian fields during their lifetimes, so all these fields have become imperial villages. Therefore, the Zhuangzi, which was only a few hundred hectares at the beginning, has now expanded to more than 20,000 hectares.
What happened to the rent arrears? Zhu Yunxi said angrily, "How can I still owe debts after working as a tenant farmer for a year?"
Gou Ren said that the rent of the Imperial Mansion was determined by the Lords of Guanglu Temple. After calculating the annual output, some were reserved for the Imperial Tomb and Imperial City of Zhongdu, and the rest were sent to the Huaixi General Manager's Mansion for garrisoning.
In Zhongdu, rations for 40,000 troops!
Because it is used as military food, even if the year is bad, the harvest will not be less, right? Zhu Yunxi sneered and said, this is true for all royal farms, and the Xungui family's farm is probably even worse! When he said this, his anger was beyond words,
In Fengyang Zhongdu, all the good land is in the hands of the emperor's village and nobles. There are also land awarded to disabled veterans, as well as farmland for military guards. It is also necessary to ensure that the warehouses have sufficient storage every year.
For the sake of the dignity of Zhongdu, everything is done, but the people suffer the loss! If the people have no land, they have to work as tenants. After a year of hard work, they have to pay the land rent!
Gou Ren did not dare to say anything and said cautiously, "Your Highness, this is the rule. Fengyang is the capital of China and where the imperial mausoleum is located!"
Stop talking! Zhu Yunxi interrupted coldly, waved his hand and moved forward.
Several people behind him looked at each other and quickly followed.
Your Highness, the Chen family also has a fiefdom in Fengyang, about more than 700 hectares! Li Jinglong walked in circles and said carefully, Your Highness pities the people, I can donate it, and after verification by the Ministry of Household Affairs, it will be distributed to the people for farming!
A drop in the bucket! Zhu Yunxi continued walking and said smoothly.
The trouble with Fengyang is that it is not only the hometown of the old man, but also the place where the army was launched, and it is also the hometown of the Ming Huaixi Group.
This is not a wealthy place to begin with. If we all seal the heroes here, it will lead to the current situation where people have no land to cultivate.
Moreover, because there were too many honorable persons, the government awarded land based on population, and the land granted to the people was not good land.
Seeing that Zhu Yunxi was unhappy, after returning to the imperial city, Li Jinglong waited until there was no one around, and then said, Your Highness, why don't you please ask the court to take back the fief?
At the beginning, Zhu Yunxi asked Li Jinglong to play this trick, and united with some nobles to return many mines and fields.
This time is different! Zhu Yunxi is sitting on the throne, rubbing his temples. The fiefdom in Fengyang is the land inherited by the nobles in exchange for their lives. This is their hometown again. If they are willing to teach back, Grandpa Huang will have it early.
Just take it!
Moreover, you can’t take the lead in this matter. If you don’t have enough prestige, you can’t influence those people at all!
Li Jinglong's heart moved, Your Highness, Xin Guogong, Mr. Tang, was raised in his hometown. This matter cannot be rushed anyway, why don't you talk to Mr. Tang about it then?
Tang He was a personal choice, but the biggest obstacle for Fengyang people to have no land to farm was actually Huangzhuang.
The root lies with the old man, how to convince him? Zhu Yunxi thought in his mind.