Chapter 174 Not even the Queen Mother can be fooled
The next day, early in the morning, the 12 teams of officials in Dingyuan County left the county office one after another and headed to their respective assigned towns.
Xu Fu's team consisted of twelve people, led by a high-ranking civil servant. With ten taels of silver allocated by the magistrate, he hired two strong men to sit in a soft sedan chair, which was a great pleasure.
Xu Fu and the two other ninth-rank officials each hired a mule and horse to ride on, while the other seven minor officials from the ninth rank could only choose to walk.
It’s not that they don’t want to sit in a sedan chair and ride a horse, or they don’t have the money to hire them, but it’s just that their level is not high enough, and rashly riding a sedan chair and riding a horse will easily make the officials unhappy.
However, a few people still pooled their money and hired two big men to carry ropes for measuring the land and a bunch of pens, ink, papers and other items.
The group of people only walked ten miles and arrived at the town of Sanhe. Looking around, both sides of the river were covered with large paddy fields. Several landowners in the town had been waiting for them for a long time.
"Mr. Liu, gentlemen, you have worked hard all the way. I and a few fellow villagers have already prepared some drinks in the town. I would like to ask you to show your respect."
"Yes, gentlemen, since the weather is hot, it's better to go to the town to have a rest. After eating, it's not too late to go on errands!"
"That's fine! Since you can't refuse your kindness, I won't bother you."
The leading civil servant got off the sedan and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Seeing that everyone was also sweating from the heat, he nodded and did not refuse.
When a group of people arrived in the town, the leading civil servants, Xu Fu and three other nine-level officials were directly invited by several gentry landlords to a house to have a drink. There were also several upright-looking maids waiting on them.
Seven minor officials from the ninth grade also set up a table of wine and food, but they were accompanied by housekeepers from the landlord's family, and there were no maids to serve them.
Even the five hired strong men were given two steamed buns and a bowl of water each.
In the side hall, after three rounds of wine and five dishes, Xu Fu and the other four people began to hold the maid up and down their hands. Several gentry and landlords looked at each other. One of them, an old man with some white hair and beard, looked at Wen Wen.
The official said: "Master Liu, please show your kindness and be accommodating this time. I will be grateful to you all. I hope you and Master Liu will not be too little for your kindness."
As he said that, he took out a banknote and put it on the table.
The smile on the clerk's face also stopped, he pushed the maid away from his arms, looked at the five hundred taels of silver notes on the table, and asked calmly: "How do you want to be accommodating?"
Xu Fu and the other three people also put down the maids in their arms. The old man waved his hand and the maids retreated, and then he said: "I have three thousand acres of fields under my name, most of which are dry fields, and there are some barren mountains.
, which adds up to about ten acres.”
"I also have more than 2,000 acres of farmland under my name, most of which are dry fields..."
Several other gentry landowners also reported their own land holdings, which added up to only about 10,000 acres.
"Haha, the huge Sanhe Town only has 10,000 acres of fields, and most of them are dry fields. Do you think the county magistrate will believe it? Will the court believe it?" The civil servant sneered.
"Haha, Mr. Liu is joking, how many acres of land are not decided by a few adults? Could it be that the county magistrate and the court can send someone to measure it again one by one?" The old man also laughed dryly.
"Perhaps you don't know that the decree issued by the cabinet clearly states that it will be verified one by one afterwards. The civil servants recruited by the Ministry of Civil Affairs are not idlers, and they are not easy to fool, so if you plan to do this
Banong, I really can’t help you with this, and I don’t dare to help you.”
After the clerk finished speaking, he pushed the banknote back.
He is not stupid. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has recently recruited thousands of talented scholars. His Majesty also brought hundreds of scholars with him when he went south. If Ma Shiying was just talking, he would not believe it even if he were beaten to death.
For a mere five hundred taels of silver, I risk my life, career, and even my entire family. I'm afraid even a fool would understand the importance of this.
What's more, some of the five hundred taels of silver were given to the three people and other minor officials. The county magistrate also required filial piety. It would be good to get half of it in the end. It was not worth the risk at all. Even a ten thousandth of the risk was not worth taking.
After all, he still has some industries in his hometown and earns several hundred taels of silver every year. Now he also has a salary of ten taels of silver every month. So the annual bonus is real. If he works for a few years, he might actually be promoted. It is completely unnecessary.
For this little money, you risk your own future and destiny.
Xu Fu and the other three people also disapproved of such an outrageous number of acres. If the official was obsessed with it and insisted on agreeing to it, they would report it secretly so as not to implicate themselves in the end.
Several members of the staff frowned, and the old man gritted his teeth, took out another five hundred taels of silver notes from his sleeve, put it on the table, and looked at the clerk.
"Executive member Lu, this is not a matter of more money and less money." The clerk still shook his head and didn't even look at it.
"Then I wonder what Master Liu has to say?"
When the old man saw this, he knew that he was not pretending, but that he really couldn't do it, so he had to sigh and ask.
"All the fields in Sanhe Town must be re-measured. The difference in the number of 10,000 acres must not exceed ten acres, otherwise it will be malpractice, so this is not negotiable. There are also mulberry fields that can be distinguished at a glance. There is absolutely no way to cheat.
Yes, I believe you are not willing to cut down all the mulberry trees, right?
But what about paddy fields and dry fields... Now that the early rice has been harvested, if you drain all the water in the fields and let them dry in the sun for a few days, it's normal that you can't tell the difference for a while. Even if the higher-ups investigate afterward, it's just dereliction of duty."
The clerk said slowly.
After listening to this, several members frowned, obviously not very satisfied. Although dry fields pay less tax than paddy fields, they still have to pay after all.
But after some calculation, ten thousand acres would cost at least one thousand taels less per year, so spending one thousand taels of silver now seems not a bad deal.
So he asked again: "Then I don't know the wasteland...?"
"We will talk about the wasteland later. Now I am only responsible for measuring the fields." The clerk interrupted with a wave of his hand.
Everyone immediately understood that this guy would definitely want to make a fortune when the time came. They were yelling curses in their hearts, but they had no choice but to put on a smile.
"Then just follow your instructions!"
Seeing that several officials agreed, the clerk and Xu Fu all smiled again. The clerk also put the banknotes into his arms, and the four maids also left and returned again.
The atmosphere at the wine table became more harmonious, and the drinking lasted from morning to evening. In the end, Xu Fu and the four of them were all drunk, and with the help of the maid, they went to the guest rooms to rest.
The four of them slept until noon the next day, and only after lunch did they officially start measuring the land.
It is a matter of wealth and life. No matter whether they are civil servants or Xu Fu and other cadres and petty officials, they dare not slack off when measuring the fields. They all measure and check honestly in person, then nail the stakes, re-calculate the records, and issue the land deeds.
The landowners and gentry were helpless and could only watch helplessly.
It only took half a month to measure the more than 30,000 acres of farmland in Sanhe County. Ninety percent of it belongs to a few big landowners in the town. Only two to three thousand acres of real dry land belongs to ordinary people, and these are still landlords.
I don't like these dry fields.
Regarding these ordinary people's dry fields, the officials did not cheat. Firstly, it was unnecessary, and secondly, the ordinary people could not extract much oil and water.
When Xu Fu and others completed their mission and returned to the county government office, almost all the other teams had returned. Looking at the farmland data in each county, Wu Hong frowned and said to the twelve responsible officials: "
The south of the Yangtze River is known as the land of plenty. Although our Dingyuan County is not as good as Suzhou and Yangzhou, it still belongs to the south of the Yangtze River. It has many rivers and few mountains. It has more than 400,000 acres of farmland, and more than 300,000 acres of it are dry fields.
Damn it, let alone fooling Mr. Mage, I’m afraid you can’t even fool the Queen Mother, right?”
At the end of his speech, Wu Hong couldn't help but curse.
The twelve civil servants were also embarrassed. They didn't expect that the other teams were even more outrageous than their own team.
"Then what do you think is appropriate?"
"I am not responsible for the specific measurements, so how do you know? If you think there is no problem, then I will report it like this."
Wu Hong said coldly, obviously wanting to brush it all off.
"No, please forgive me for a few more days and allow the officials to check again."
The civil servants were also anxious. They knew that things were different nowadays, so reporting such outrageous data to the Ministry of Revenue would probably be the same as sending someone to death.
"In five days at most, I will report it to you. You'd better hurry up and check it!"
After Wu Hong finished speaking, he turned and left the hall, just to scare them. He dared not report this kind of data directly even if he was beaten to death. This was completely treating Ma Shiying and the six officials as fools.
Everyone also figured out the nature of the county magistrate's urine, and knew that he would not accept money from filial piety at this time.
So the twelve people gathered together and returned to their respective towns to negotiate with the gentry and landlords.
The gentry and landlords everywhere were naturally angry and scolded them, accusing these officials of not keeping their word and going back on their word.
The clerical officials had no choice but to patiently explain that changes must be made, and it was impossible to refund the money, not even part of it.
In the end, there were more than 400,000 acres of land, excluding mulberry fields, paddy fields accounted for 50%, and dry fields accounted for 50%.
"Although floods and droughts account for half and half, which is normal in other provinces, there are still some abnormalities in the land of plenty in the south of the Yangtze River, which needs further verification."
Looking at the much better data, Wu Hong's face also looked much better, but he was still not satisfied, so he called back again and asked the officials to do it again.
The civil servants were all on the verge of tears, but Wu Hong didn't nod, so they had to do it all over again, so they went back to the town to negotiate.
The money will also not be refunded, not even a penny will be refunded. This time, the gentry and landlords everywhere have the intention to kill people, but the people will not fight with the officials, so they can only compromise in the end.
Of course, if there is an official in the family, the civil servants can only return the money honestly. If there are high-ranking officials, they have to do things without accepting money.
In the end, paddy fields accounted for 60% and dry fields accounted for 40%. There were more paddy fields than dry fields. It finally made sense. Wu Hong finally nodded, summarized the data, stamped it, and sent it to the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs.