Three days later, the rogue brigade crossed the border safely, "nothing was wrong in autumn."
Wang Zhixian finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went to offer incense and offerings to the gods and Buddhas. People, the older they get, the more afraid they are of death.
The next step is to get down to business.
"The imperial court is gracious! It abandons wasteland and allows people to cultivate it voluntarily. Whoever takes it belongs to whom. This is a great act of kindness! Think about it, how much does it usually cost to buy an acre of mature land? Now it's all for free!"
The five village chiefs were unmoved and bowed their heads in silence.
Only fools believe the county magistrate's lies.
The land was given away for free, but the taxes owed over the years still had to be paid back. In this year, every extra acre of land means an additional burden.
No matter how much the county magistrate talks about lotus flowers and tries to trick him, the village chiefs will not be fooled.
Wang Xiangdui slapped the table and said, "The taxes are not paid in full every year. What do you think we should do?"
Naturally, it is served cold.
Shaanxi, which is extremely poor, has an outrageous land tax quota, accounting for 9.3% of the country's land tax.
Compare--
Jiangxi, the "land of plenty", accounts for just over five percent.
Huguang, which is known as "Huguang, is well versed in the world", only accounts for 4.7%.1 Hunan and Hubei have not yet been separated.
Sichuan, the "Land of Abundance", accounts for 2%.
The two prefectures of Suzhou and Song in Jiangnan are heavily endowed with taxes, but on a per capita basis, the people in Shaanxi still have a harder burden than they do.
Only based on the per capita salary in the 46th year of Wanli, it exceeded 35%. What kind of environment is there in Shaanxi? What is the environment in Suzhou? Su Song, in particular, has the best talent in the world. There is no one else but someone in the court.
A trap or not?
Can I pay it all?
How to live?
"You bunch of unruly people! I'll kill you before I am dismissed from office in this county!"
The magistrate roared in court, while the chiefs were silent.
"Liao's salary has been owed 2,300 taels in two years. What should I do with this year's 1,400 taels?"
"Everyone else, wait a minute. The annual public expenditure of Yinchuan Station is one thousand six hundred and seventy-six taels and four cents. You five families will share it equally. Those who paid the money will go home, and those who can't pay will be left to your own devices."
Funding for the inn has always been raised from local sources and is one of many apportionments.
Although Chongzhen abolished the post station, the apportionment was collected as it was. In this way, the court could earn an additional 700,000 taels of silver every year. The emperor really knew how to do business.
After Wang Zhixian said the cruel words, he threw up his sleeves and left.
The five village chiefs were imprisoned in the woodshed, waiting for money to be redeemed.
"What should I do?"
Everyone outside discussed for a long time. Tian Jianxiu wanted to spend money to buy peace; Liu Zongmin wanted to steal a knife and rush into the county government office; Li Guo proposed to go to Wang Jiayin; Gao Yigong wanted to go back to Hulu Mountain to shake people...
Li Zicheng refused.
"Don't panic, I'll stay in the woodshed for a few days first."
This stay lasts for seven or eight days.
The liveliness in the woodshed continued.
"You want to make a match! He is a landlord!"
"A true gentleman watches chess without speaking!"
"This is leaf play, not chess."
"Three, four, five, six, seven!"
"fry!"
"..."
Li Zicheng has taught them how to play Landlords.
Ye Zi Opera is a card game. "In the late Wanli years, folk Ye Zi Opera was popular. During the Zhao and Song Dynasties, a group of thieves from Shandong competed with their names on the tiles. It became popular in the Chongzhen period." Later, it evolved into Ma Diao and Mahjong.
None of the village chiefs paid the ransom, so they lived in a woodshed and lived in misery.
These days, it is also the uncles who owe money. At most, they will suffer a little physical pain. Anyway, the magistrate does not dare to kill them. Because one of the village chiefs is dead and the other is missing, it is not that easy to find a qualified backer.
Without the village chief, the county magistrate would not be able to do anything.
Because the yamen has too few manpower.
There are three types of personnel in the Yamen: officials, officials and servants.
Officials have staff.
For example, there has always been a saying that there are "four great masters in the county." That is to say, there are only four people "established" in the county government - the seventh-rank magistrate, the eighth-rank county magistrate, the ninth-rank chief bookkeeper, and the unofficial history official.
They are all selected by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and appointed by the emperor with the approval of the emperor. They are "officials of the imperial court".
All affairs in the county are handled by these four people who are fed by the imperial government. Some counties with small populations and small territories do not even have county magistrates, chief registrars and other deputies.
Of course, a county cannot be managed by these people alone.
The magistrate is very busy with many things to do every day, so he has to have errand runners, cheaters, people who work honestly, people who serve tea and water, etc. These people who are called to work are officials and servants.
A small county can have as few as a few officials, and a large county can have as many as thirty.
The main agencies responsible for specific affairs in the county government office include the official, household, ritual, military, criminal, and Gong offices. There is a lot of money.
The county magistrates are all sent from other places, with no foundation and no team, and they don’t even know anything about political affairs except reciting poems, writing poems and writing eight-part essays; while the officials are all local cowards who know their business well.
The county magistrate must rely on officials to handle the county's government affairs, so sometimes the local cowards don't even look down on the big bosses.
It's best for everyone to turn a blind eye and live in peace, otherwise the subordinates will have ninety-nine ways to deal with the county magistrate.
In addition to officials and officials, the number of servants at the lower level is even greater. Generally, there are two to three hundred people in a county, and there are often more than a thousand or even thousands of people in a large county.
For example, those on duty in the Yamen hall, those responsible for arrests, those responsible for security and defense, those guarding the prison, cooks, watchmen, groomsmen, bearers, warehouse bearers, etc.
Although officials and servants do not receive official salary from the court, their income is quite considerable. The county does not provide much serious salary, and the majority is extra money.
For example, the transportation fares, shoes, socks, meals, tea and tea that the yamen officials charge from the parties are all "normal charges". There are also "normal charges". There are also things like making things difficult and asking for bribes, blackmailing the chief officials, guarding and stealing, exploiting civilians, manipulating the judiciary, engaging in malpractice for personal gain, etc.
Some subordinate officials earn hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver a year, and their lives are more prosperous than those of the county magistrate.
After all, the Ming Dynasty was famous for its low salary to maintain integrity, and the county magistrate's monthly salary was only three or four taels of silver.
However, the county magistrate has to pay for a master, hire servants, eat and drink, support a family, and have two concubines... How pitiful!
That's too far.
In short, the county government has limited manpower, so it must rely on the district chief to take charge of the countryside.
Otherwise, if you send three servants to the countryside to collect taxes today, there will be three more missing people tomorrow.
The one hundred handymen in Mizhi County faced six to seven hundred natural villages. Outside the city, there were deep mountains and ravines, and it was impossible to tell where people died.
The so-called imperial power does not go to counties, not because it does not want to go to counties, but because the cost of doing so is too high, and it is better to leave it to local gentry for self-government.
Back to business.
Here Li Zicheng led the village chiefs to "fight the landlords", but over there the county magistrate couldn't sit still.
It's not all because of the inn's apportionment.
Mizhi County delivers grain, grass and salt to Yulin Town every year. Now that the summer tax has just passed, it is time to set off. However, Wang Jiayin's peasant army is also wandering around Yulin at this time.
Who dares to go?
You also need to bring food and grass with you, which is obviously a sheep entering the tiger's mouth.
The handling staff excused themselves with the excuses of headache, brain heat, leg cramps, diarrhea, and diarrhea, but the county magistrate had no choice.
If you force them to go, they will most likely give up their job. Do you know that one person in the county is capable of jailing all the subordinate officials in the county?
It's no good if we don't send food and grass. If we delay the arrival of the military plane, the magistrate will have to go around without food.
Wang Xiangdui had no choice but to take action on the head of the village.
"Everyone's face is glowing! It seems you quite like squatting in the woodshed."
"Snapped!"
The old man slapped the gavel hard.
"Where is the bank payment? Please tell me when can I hand it over?"
No one said anything.
Wang Xiangdui sighed, "Don't say that this county treats you harshly. There is really nothing we can do about it. Sigh..."
If he had a choice, he would not come to Mizhi to be the county magistrate.
More than half of the prefecture and county officials under the jurisdiction of Yan'an, Qingyang, and Pingliang in Shaanxi are short of more than half, because it is too hard here and no one is willing to work.
Even the position of Governor of Shaanxi had been vacant for a long time, so Yang He was recruited to take up the post because of his honesty and piety.
Looking at the two prefectures of Yan and Qing, before Wanli, the vast majority of prefecture and county officials were Jinshi, but now 95% of them are from the imperial examination.
They are all old men - "With the age of ringing the bell and leaking water, and the weak and unkind body, Gou County will take the blame."
"The county magistrates of thirty or forty prefectures in Yan'an, Qingyang, and Pingliang have been appointed as Lao Ming Jing Chi Kui."
The official career of a juren is limited and it is difficult to advance, so he inevitably gives up on himself and becomes "destitute, greedy and crippled, and will do anything".
Wang Xiangdui coughed dryly and said, "God has a good life. In this way, this county will show you a way out. Send grain and grass to Yulin Guards. Those who complete the errand can replace fifty taels of the share. How about it?"
"The opportunity is rare. Who wants to go?"
"..."
The leader of the five remained silent.
It is better to die than live, and of course no one wants to go.
The atmosphere in the hall was lifeless.
Wang Xiangdui looked at several people one by one, his mood gradually fell to the bottom, and his heart felt cold.
In despair, he finally set his sights on Li Zicheng, who "served the country with loyalty".
"Bantou Li..."
"I go!"
Li Zicheng was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and directly agreed.
Wang Xiangdui was so excited that he hurriedly left his seat and walked closer, letting out rainbow farts for a whole stick of incense.
Li Zicheng had no wife, children or parents, so the county magistrate took his younger brother and nephew into the city to "welcome them well". This was to prevent the person involved from absconding with food.
"Second uncle, if you can't help it, just run away. Don't worry about me."
"Please tell me all this nonsense! Second brother, I don't dare to listen to him."
Li Guo was forgiving, and Li Zijing wiped his tears and told his second brother to come back on time.
"You two eat well and stay peacefully. I will be back in ten days at most." Li Zicheng comforted them.
Zhang Cheng interjected from the side: "Brother, don't worry and go on errands. I will take care of your two brothers."
Zhang Chengcheng was the handyman who originally served as Gaihu.
Now that Li Zicheng is the leader, he can be regarded as the legitimate younger brother.
The handyman Yi Zhang Li clasped his fists and said, "I wish my brother a smooth trip!" This chapter has been completed!