When Lu Duoxun stepped into the county, he felt quite excited.
This small county is one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture. Confucius was born here, the Yan Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, the former capital of Shaohao, the homeland of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and the capital of Zhou, Han and Lu all testify to Qufu’s greatness.
Entering the county town, Lu Duoxun felt like a pilgrim.
The county town is very prosperous, and most of the people coming and going are scholars.
They were either dressed in beautiful clothes or dusty, and their faces were all filled with a certain solemnity.
Lu Duoxun frowned slightly, noticing something strange.
He didn't say anything, but found a restaurant that was full and walked in.
Seeing that Lu Duosun was dressed luxuriously, with a folding fan in his hand and a jade pendant around his waist, the waiter in the shop greeted him warmly as he looked like a noble gentleman.
Lu Duosun said: "Is there still a seat?"
The waiter immediately responded: "There are seats available, but you have to share a table with others."
"It's okay!" Lu Duoxun motioned to the waiter to lead the way.
Went to the second floor and shared a table with a young man in his twenties.
Lu Duoxun casually ordered a few side dishes, said hello to the young man opposite, and exchanged a few words.
During the conversation, Lu Duoxun learned that the young man's name was Lin Xi, who was from Cangzhou, Hebei Province. He went on a study tour and came to Qufu to worship Confucius. He had stayed in Qufu for five days. After preparing to have a meal, he went to Mount Tai to see what he had learned.
The magnificence of Du Fu's poem "When you reach the top of the mountain, you can see all the small mountains at a glance".
Lu Duoxun was witty and knowledgeable, and he quickly aroused Lin Xi's favor and started a conversation.
Lu Duoxun said nonchalantly: "I'm new here, and I'd like Brother Lin to give me some advice."
Lin Xidao: "Brother Lu, do you want to meet like-minded close friends? Or do you want to pay homage to the sages?"
Lu Duoxun said: "Sacrifice comes first, making friends comes second."
Lin Xi responded: "For ordinary sacrifices, you can go to the Confucius Temple in the city. If you want to make sacrifices at the tomb of the Holy Saint Rincon, you have to do it on the New Year's Day of each month. The descendants of the sages will organize sacrifices. Brother Lu can wait. As for making friends, Confucius Mansion
There are also cultural meetings held twice a month, and anyone can participate."
Lu Duoxun asked: "Do I need to pay money or materials?"
Lin Xi smiled and said: "Except for the money for incense, all the expenses will be borne by the Confucius family. Brother Lu, don't worry. The Confucius family is worthy of being a sage. They are very friendly to our scholars. Brother Lu will know after staying here for a day or two."
, even if I don’t introduce it, Brother Lu will not miss any places to visit.”
Lu Duoxun cupped his fists and said, "Brother Xie Lin gives me some advice."
Lu Duoxun had lunch, wandered around the streets and alleys, chatted with roadside vendors and street teahouse owners from time to time, and quietly inquired about the situation in Qufu and his impressions and attitudes towards the Confucius family.
As a result, just like Lin Xi, the Kong family has a great reputation in Qufu. Shopkeepers and vendors all praise the Kong family.
The scholars I met were also ordinary. There were many descendants of the Confucius family in the county who acted as guides and introduced everything about Qufu warmly and kindly.
No wonder Lin Xi would say that sentence.
Like other people, Lu Duoxun first went to the Confucius Temple to offer sacrifices and offer incense.
The price of incense in the surrounding area is a little more expensive than that in Bianjing, but within the acceptance, Lu Duoxun happily paid for it and respectfully burned the incense to worship.
Lu Duoxun visited the Confucius Temple and walked out of the city to the fields outside the city.
At this time, the autumn harvest is over, and there are not many farmers and people in the fields.
Only a few people are sorting the straw, intending to transport it home and use it as fuel.
Lu Duoxun chatted with a simple common man on the pretext of asking for water.
"Old man, how was the harvest this year?"
The elderly people said happily: "Thanks to the good people, we have had bumper harvests for several years in a row, and we are getting more and more hopeful."
Lu Duoxun's expression moved slightly and he asked: "A great virtuous person?"
The elderly people said: "It was Mr. Kong who gave us rice seeds in the fields. We didn't turn in much, so we had no worries about food and clothing. We are where we are today, thanks to Mr. Kong's kindness."
Lu Duoxun said with a smile: "I have long heard that Mr. Kong is a great benefactor within a hundred miles. I am here to pay a visit to such a benevolent person. The imperial court issued an order to equalize land and re-set taxes. Life should be better, right?
.”
The older people were dissatisfied and said: "If you are referring to the one from the previous dynasty, hey... no wonder, if you want to destroy the country, you will be a foolish king. If he is not destroyed, then God has no eyesight."
The common people don't understand anything, they just know that criticizing the previous dynasty is politically correct.
The elderly people naturally scolded Guo Rong.
Lu Duoxun didn't answer, and asked a few more questions he wanted to know, then returned to the city and found an inn to stay.
Lu Duoxun summed up today's gains with a solemn expression.
In the whole of Qufu, Lu Duoxun didn't hear anyone say anything bad about the Kong family.
This situation is extremely abnormal.
In particular, the tenant farmers' scolding of Guo Rong was even more unreasonable.
Guo Rong is extremely skilled in political reform, and he truly loves the people like his own son, and pays special attention to people's livelihood.
During his reign, he promulgated benevolent policies again and again. The people of the world should be grateful. How come in Qufu, he actually got the title of "faint king"?
There must be something wrong with this.
Lu Duoxun was not blinded by the situation in front of him, but instead understood the reasons for all this more deeply.
Little by little, Lu Duoxun figured out all the interests in Qufu's peace.
For a moment, Lu Duoxun didn't know how to describe his mood. He could only say that it was eye-opening.
Lu Duoxun returned to Bianjing and immediately went to the palace to meet Luo Youdu and presented the results of his investigation.
Lu Duoxun's investigation was extremely detailed and he wrote a long report, which was 20,000 words long and covered all aspects of Qufu.
Luo Youdu carefully read each word, his brows slightly furrowed the whole time. The more he looked, the more amazed he became, and the more he looked, the more admired he became. He couldn't help but smile and said: "What a Kong family, he has earned all the fame. This
If you don’t go into business, you are really showing off your talents. In this way, do you really have the nerve to ask for tax-free status?”
Judging from Lu Duoxun's report, the entire economy of Qufu was driven by the Confucian family, or to be precise, Confucius.
Confucius' status in the hearts of scholars is transcendent.
As long as you truly understand the deeds of Confucius, you will have a heart of admiration for that sage who walked in the flames of war and the sage teacher who pioneered the concept of teaching without distinction.
Qufu has naturally become a holy place for future generations to admire.
The Kong family takes advantage of its unique advantages to organize various activities.
They do not charge any fees, so that every scholar who comes to "meet" can come and leave with great interest.
Are the Kong family really that great?
of course not!
Scholars traveling from north to south eat and live in Qufu, and all their expenses stimulate the economy of Qufu and affect the people's livelihood in the county.
The wealthy gentry and merchants who had gained the most were naturally willing to give up some profits to the Kong family so that they could continue to hold various activities.
A huge chain of interests, a win-win situation for both parties.
The scholars are satisfied, the wealthy gentry and merchants are satisfied, and all kinds of small traders in the city are also satisfied. The Confucius family is famous and profitable...
In this situation, Luo Youdu couldn't find anything to criticize.
After all, the Kong family relied on their own abilities and used the influence of their ancestors to drive the economy of Qufu and benefit the local people.
The court was also the party that benefited.
Just like the monks in later generations, people earned money based on their skills, opened companies and entered real estate based on their skills.
What can be said?
Just a few words of rant.
Continuing to look down, I saw questions about fields.
Luo Youdu laughed sarcastically and said, "As expected."
If the Confucius family’s contribution to improving Qufu’s economy and people’s livelihood is beyond reproach, their actions in the field are extremely sinful.
Completely taking advantage of the legal loopholes...
Zhou Taizu Guo Wei sympathized with the heavy losses suffered by the Confucius family in the turmoil of the Five Dynasties, and granted the Confucius family the tax-free system.
This was originally the superior's admiration for Confucius and the sympathy of the Confucius family.
However, the Kong family took advantage of the tax exemption and acquired a large amount of land in Qufu County.
70% of the farmland in Qufu County is under the name of the Kong family.
There is no forced buying or selling here, nor is there persecution of the people.
It was the local people who voluntarily donated their fields to the Confucius family.
In order to stop the world from talking about Youyou, the Kong family spent a small amount of money to buy it, which was almost like a gift.
Of course the people are not stupid, it is profitable.
The Kong family enjoys tax-free rights. If the land is in the name of the Kong family, there is no need to pay taxes to the court.
The land tax collected by the Confucius family was only 60% of that of the imperial court.
This means that as long as the fields are donated to the Kong family, the people only need to hand over a small amount of grain to the Kong family every year.
This is also the reason why the people hated Guo Rong with gnashing of teeth after Guo Rong revoked the Kong family's tax exemption qualification.
As long as the people live a good life, they don't care about any big principles.
If the Kong family collects less taxes, then the Kong family is doing well.
Guo Rong's new policies caused the people to lose their land and have to pay more taxes. This is naturally Guo Rong's problem.
This kind of behavior of the Kong family is taking advantage of the legal loopholes, exchanging the interests of the court for their own interests and buying people's hearts.
Luo Youdu thought of the Ming Dynasty in later generations.
How did the Ming Dynasty fall?
There are many reasons, among which Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's preferential treatment of scholars and literati is one of the reasons.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were sympathetic to the poverty of scholars and provided them with various tax exemptions.
As a result, a huge group of literati and gentry was unintentionally raised. They sucked the blood of the country, controlled the power of the country, fed themselves, but harmed the country...
As a result, more than half of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty focused on fighting against the literati group.
Because the emperor had no money, everything went into the pockets of the literati.
The same is true for the Kong family.
If there were more people like the Kong family, wouldn't it be the same as the Ming Dynasty?
Luo Youdu said: "We have already occupied 70% of the land in Qufu, and the remaining 30% should belong to the wealthy gentry! If you don't have the ability to occupy it, and you still have to pay taxes, are you trying to cross the border?"
What he said is absolutely correct. Historically, the Kong family began to reach out to the fields in neighboring Jining and Caozhou since the Song Dynasty.
This situation of the Kong family confirms a saying: The hooligans are not to be feared, but the hooligans are literate.
Did what the Kong family did violate the law?
No!
Not only did they not break the law, but every move they made won the hearts of the people and was loved by everyone in Qufu.
Similarly, they also forgot their original intention. Everyone in Qufu was surrounded by interests. Except for the Kong family, few people valued reading.
Most of the scholars coming and going in Qufu are from outside, and there are very few local scholars.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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