Chapter 30 I saw how charming Qingshan was, but I didn’t expect Qingshan to be so charming when he saw me.
Xu Yuangao was really shocked because Li Yunze called himself me.
There is only one person in the world who can claim this, and that is the emperor.
Seeing the soldiers pouring in behind Li Yunze, he subconsciously saluted, "Your Majesty?"
"My lord, Zhou Daodeng has come to see His Majesty! Long live my emperor, long live, long live~~~"
When Xu Yuangao was still confused about the situation, Zhou Daodeng, who had met King Xin before becoming an official, was already busy saluting.
"Zhou Daodeng?" Li Yunze turned around and looked over, his eyes pausing on the extremely good-looking maid, "I've never heard of it."
"I was the left minister of the Ministry of Rites during the late emperor's reign, and now I am serving as an official at home. Today, I am blessed by my ancestors, and I am blessed by my ancestors. I have been lucky for the rest of my life!" Zhou Daodeng saluted very respectfully, and his words were not flattering, but his eyes were even more intense as he stared at Li Yunze.
Historically, this old man rose to the top of the Cabinet from a retiree who worked at home through lots of luck.
The desire for fame and wealth is no less than warmth and kindness.
Now that I have met the emperor, of course I must seize the opportunity to express myself.
Li Yunze thought for a moment and felt that he had some impression. He had seen this name when searching for information on the Chongzhen Dynasty.
But it doesn't matter, that's not what's important now.
He stepped forward and sat directly on Xu Yuangao's seat.
"Xu Yuangao."
"I'm here."
"Huh? Do you have a reputation?"
Xu Yuangao, who bowed his head and saluted, hurriedly responded, "I am ashamed, I am the person who was elected in the 42nd year of Wanli."
"Then tell me, why do your Xu family have 400,000 acres of land?"
Xu Yuangao, who had beads of sweat on his forehead, was rolling his tongue when he spoke, "This, this is the land purchased by our ancestors through hard work and thrift. Moreover, it is not 400,000 acres. His family only has tens of thousands of acres. It is all spread by people with ulterior motives."
.”
It was Li Yunze who was specifically looking for trouble. He raised his riding crop and threw it directly on the table in front of him. "There is no joke before you. Can you be responsible for what you say?"
At this time, Xu Yuangao was sweating profusely and didn't know how to reply.
Yang Ai, who was kneeling in the corner, looked at the old man who could decide the life and death of his family in the past, and then looked at the famous Xu Huating. At this time, he didn't even dare to raise his head in front of the emperor's majesty.
He quietly raised his head and looked at Li Yunze secretly, his beautiful eyes full of energy.
"I'm asking you a question, please answer yes or no!"
Xu Yuangao, who was forced into a corner, thought quickly in his mind that most of the fields in his family were scattered under the names of reliable people. In front of the emperor, he certainly could not admit that there were hundreds of thousands of acres of fields, because it was impossible to explain that these fields were
how come.
After making up his mind, he kowtowed vigorously and said, "Replying to your majesty, my family only has tens of thousands of acres of farmland, which were accumulated by our ancestors through the generations."
Li Yunze, who was sitting upright like a Buddha statue, smiled and nodded after hearing the words, "What I've been waiting for is your words. Bring people up."
Amidst the sound of rustling footsteps, Jin Yiwei dragged in a middle-aged man in official uniform.
"This man claims to be the second housekeeper of the Xu family in Huating." Li Yunze nodded slightly, "You recognize him."
Xu Yuangao's clothes were already soaked. Especially when he heard the emperor say, "I'm waiting for you," his heart felt as if he was struck by lightning. He was rushing to the Xu family!
He looked at the second housekeeper who was in a state of despair, his eyes evasive and did not dare to look at him.
Swallowing his saliva, he nodded with difficulty, "Yes, this person is the second housekeeper of my Xu family."
Li Yunze simply crossed his legs and motioned to the butler, "Speak."
"The common people are the sons of the Xu family. Several generations of the family have been slaves and maids in the Xu family. The common people all know about the Xu family." Since being captured by the Jin Yiwei at Chaoguan in Wuqing, the second housekeeper, who has been repaired and understood along the way,
That was really like stabbing the Xu family with a knife in front of their faces.
"Since Duke Wen Zhen, the Xu family has colluded with the government to seize land and property of Songjiang people."
"You're talking nonsense!" Xu Yuangao, whose eyes were as red as a bullfight, suddenly rushed over and pinched the butler's neck, "The Xu family has been so kind to you, but you are so slanderous!"
Li Yunze laughed evilly, and kept hitting the case with the whip in his hand, "What, you are so angry that you want to kill someone and silence them?"
Xu Yuangao finally calmed down and let go of his hand tremblingly.
His eyes met the Jinyi guards around him who were looking at him as if they were looking at a dead person. He was so frightened that he rolled his eyes and fainted under the conflict of various emotions.
"Wake him up." Li Yunze had no mercy at all. Ever since he learned that the Xu family actually occupied 400,000 acres of land, he had no mercy for this family.
In the land south of the Yangtze River, the best acres of land can be sold for twenty or thirty taels, and the average acres can be sold for more than ten taels. Even if you go to the fields, you can get five or six taels.
Four hundred thousand acres of land, even if calculated based on ten taels per mu, would still cost four million taels!
The Ming court's annual income from land tax was this.
Even if Xu Jie had been the chief minister for a hundred years, he would still not be able to earn so much money based on his salary.
As for income other than salary, do you dare to talk about it in front of the emperor?
Jin Yiwei came in with a bucket and poured it directly on Xu Yuangao's head.
Xu Yuangao, who was awakened by the cold water, lay on the ground with his butt raised and cried, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Our Xu family has contributed to the Ming Dynasty."
If we want to talk about the Xu family's contribution, it is Xu Jie who moved Yan Song down.
"Let's not talk about the Xu family's so-called merit." Li Yunze sighed slightly and stopped banging the riding whip in his hand. "Even if there is merit, I would have been rewarded back then. And Sage Confucius made it clear that a gentleman's merit is five
How many generations are there in your family?"
Xu Yuangao was speechless when he said this. Counting from Xu Jie, he was exactly the sixth generation.
"Of those nobles in Yingtian Mansion, whose ancestors have not made great contributions? Duke Wei, it was General Xu Da who expelled the Tartars and restored China. If they commit crimes, they will be dealt with in the same way. Your Huating Xu family."
Having said this, Li Yunze leaned forward and looked over, "Who do you think you are?"
I didn’t say anything more after that. The most terrifying thing about this kind of thing is to investigate.
If you really look into it carefully, you can get to the bottom of anything.
Li Yunze, who felt a little bored, looked at Zhou Daodeng next to Yang Ai, "What are you doing here?"
"Long live the return."
Zhou Daodeng saluted respectfully, "I have a little friendship with the Xu family. When I was passing by Huating to visit friends, I was forced to be a guest by this beast. I really didn't know that the Xu family was so sinful!"
Yang Ai was dumbfounded by what he said.
It was obviously Zhou Daodeng himself who came here to contact the Xu family and wanted to use his connections to see if there was any chance of a reunion.
When they were drinking before, they still wanted to burn yellow paper and cut off the chicken's head, but they didn't expect their faces to change so quickly.
"I really didn't expect that Zhou Qing's family has such a sense of justice."
Li Yunze, who looked joking, asked, "Does the Qing family have any intention of reviving?"
Zhou Daodeng, who was overjoyed, immediately kowtowed repeatedly, "I am willing to go through fire and water for Long Live, no matter what!"
Unfortunately, Zhou Daodeng's addiction is even greater than Wen Tiren's. What he lacks is an opportunity.
"In that case, then you will be the governor of Yingtian first." He couldn't help laughing. "I will give you three days to quickly review the affairs of the Xu family in Huating. If you do well, you will be rewarded. If you do not do well, then where will it come from?
Where to go? The opportunity is given to you, it depends on what you do."
Wang Chengen quickly spread out the blank imperial edict and quickly wrote down the appointment.
Immediately, Fang Zhenghua took out the seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies from the package he was carrying and handed it over.
Xu Xianchun also stepped forward and took out the cabinet seal from the package and handed it over.
Originally, the cabinet seal belonged to Wen Tiren, but now that he was staying in Yangzhou City to do business, he simply handed it over and followed Li Yunze around.
Use the big seal and send it to Li Yunze.
When Li Yunze used the jade seal, it was a formal imperial edict that had been certified by the emperor, the cabinet, and the ceremonial supervisor.
What is the right name? This is the right name.
The imperial edict was handed into Zhou Daodeng's hands, and the old man burst into tears on the spot.
The opportunity he had been waiting for for several years finally came.
When he kowtowed again to express his gratitude, he was surprised to see Li Yunze's eyes falling on the maid Yang Ai behind him.
The highly motivated Zhou Daodeng, with the cooperation of Jin Yiwei, quickly investigated the affairs of the Xu family in Huating.
The crimes reported include, but are not limited to, "remnants of Wei rebellion, remnants of the blood alliance, selling illegal salt, guarding theft, receiving money and violating the law, intimidating and taking money, fighting and wounding people, threatening people to death, false accusations, instigating lawsuits, entrusting official affairs, knowing the truth"
Hiding, buying good people as slaves, etc.'
Zhou Daodeng was very ruthless and did not care about the previous friendship at all. He even scuttled the friendship boat with his own hands.
The punishment suggestions he wrote were: 'Those who violate the Ten Evils should not go to the Eighth Council. Those below Xu Yuangao should be punished with up to five punishments. Their property should be confiscated and their ancestral halls should be destroyed.'
The so-called ten evils are rebellion and rebellion, being disrespectful and unfilial, etc.
Those who are guilty of these crimes all fall into the category of "forever forgiven", that is, they cannot be pardoned or forgiven.
The so-called eight discussions include discussing reasons, discussing merits, discussing virtues, discussing nobles, etc.
Essentially, it opens a back door for powerful people to reduce their crimes.
The so-called five punishments are whipping, rod, imprisonment, exile and death.
In more detail, punishments include execution, beheading, exile in remote areas, censure, relocation, and tattooing.
Needless to say, the family property was confiscated. Even the memorial tablets of ancestors were not allowed to be enshrined in the ancestral hall.
Regarding this memorial, Li Yunze only crossed out Qu Zong Temple because it was not necessary.
All other treatments are allowed.
The famous Xu Huating passed away almost overnight.
All of their family's land was taken back to the Imperial Mansion and distributed to the original tenants of the Xu family.
In the past, the Xu family did not pay taxes on these acres of land, but it did not provide much benefit to the tenants. At most, they could barely survive starvation.
Now that Li Yunze collects taxes, he has left enough balance for the tenants so that they can live better.
In fact, the land tax in Ming Dynasty was not very high.
The reason why the world was destroyed because of the land tax was simply because most of the land did not pay taxes, and they also used all their hands to force those who paid the land tax to have their families destroyed.
When Chongzhen carried his belt and went up to Meishan Mountain, he didn't even understand why he had only increased his land tax by a small amount and turned the whole world into rebellion.
Because he increased it according to the total number, but after increasing the income tenfold and a hundredfold, it all fell on the heads of the common people who only had a small amount of land.
Chongzhen couldn't understand it, but Li Yunze understood it very well.
To deal with these big landowners, any gentle means are nonsense. Only an iron-blooded sweep is the only way out.
Zhou Daodeng, who was full of hope, waited for two days but still did not receive the reward promised by Li Yunze.
After thinking about it for a moment, he immediately took Yang Ai to ask for an audience.
"What do you want from me?"
"Long live." Zhou Daodeng saluted respectfully. "Long live working tirelessly for the people of the country, and there is no one around to serve."
He motioned to Yang Ai, who was bowing his head and saluting, "There is a maid named Yang Ai in my family. She is willing to follow Long Live and serve the Holy Master."
"Yang Ai."
Li Yunze, who had returned to the modern world in the past few days and specifically checked Zhou Daodeng's information, smiled and asked in detail, "Have you ever known Xin Jiaxuan's 'I see how charming the green mountains are, and I know how charming the green hills should be when they see me'."