Tan Guihuang said: "If there is peace in the world, just drying salt can make you have enough food and clothing." He said that in fact, this salt farm can produce more than a thousand yin of salt every year, and the salt merchants from Guangleizhou come to collect several hundred yin every year.
, since it was occupied by a wealthy family, he forcibly drove away the salt merchants on the mainland in order to monopolize the salt trade.
"Why?" Wang Luobin felt strange. For salt merchants, it didn't matter who bought the salt. Why were the big players occupying the salt field but not allowing old customers to buy salt?
"His family has a salt shop in Qiongshan, and all the salt is shipped to Qiongshan." Tan Guihuang sighed, "He has his own way to sell salt to the mainland, so he doesn't care about merchants from Leizhou."
It seems that there is an element of collusion between officials and businessmen here. However, no one understands what the salt law of the Ming Dynasty was like, and they can't figure out the key to it.
"As long as there is salt, are you worried about not having enough food and clothing?" Xi Yazhou waved his hand, "All the salt merchants on the mainland are extremely rich. How can it be difficult for us to have a hard time drying salt and still have enough food and clothing?"
Tan Chengqing suddenly turned silent in her joy and sighed softly, "I'm just afraid that the salt will be exposed and I won't be able to keep it."
"You're not afraid!" Xi Yazhou said confidently, "With us here, do you know about this firearm?" He weighed the SKS rifle beside him. The blue gun steel glowed faintly in the kerosene lamp.
"The hundreds of village warriors in Huangjiazhai are still dead. Why are you still afraid of a few bastards who bully the weak and fear the strong?"
"But what if you left? It would be worse." Tan Chengqing was obviously worried about the future, "The government said you were pirates, and you said you were a merchant. Regardless of whether you are a pirate or a merchant, you cannot stay in Lingao for the rest of your life.
You have iron ships and fast guns, so you can leave as soon as you say it. The big households can connect with the government-" Then he detailed how the salt fields were occupied by the big households in the past, and his expression became more disappointed. He emphatically recounted the situation in the yamen.
The clerk's office and the government officials all benefited from it and helped the wealthy to oppress them. They couldn't even find a place to reason with them.
Xi Yazhou nodded and asked, "How many people are there in the Gou family?"
"There are two big families in his family." Tan Guihuang was obviously more familiar with the local situation than his son. The Gou family originally had two brothers. The Gou family in the countryside had more than a hundred servants, some of whom were from mainland China.
The desperadoes who fled were very fierce. Gou Er moved to the county town because his son was killed by a prisoner, and specialized in communicating with the government and handling lawsuits. The two families colluded with each other and became a local tyrant.
"How many people were in your village at that time?"
"At that time, there were many people in the village, with more than 300 households."
"A household with three to four hundred people must have three to four hundred people, right?" Xi Yazhou said, "You three to four hundred people, how about you just watch people take over all your property?"
The two men present blushed and lowered their heads. Suddenly, a clear female voice was heard: "It's not everyone's fault! It's all caused by the government."
When everyone saw it, it was the girl disguised as a man. Seeing that everyone was paying attention to her, they realized that they had forgotten the identity of the woman disguised as a man. They became so anxious that they became helpless and stood up to escape outside.
Du Wen was busy beside her to comfort her. He couldn't understand the words, so he just smiled and held her hand. With someone of the same sex beside him, the girl calmed down, and a blush appeared on her face that was not stained by the pot ash.
"Are you Xiaoqin? The daughter of Village Chief Tan." Xi Yazhou said, giving her a fruit candy, "Don't be afraid, we knew you were a girl."
Tan Guihuang accompanied her with a smile: "She is indeed my brother's child. Although she is a girl, she is a single child. Her father is so precious, and the boss refuses to tell her -"
In fact, this girl was only seventeen or eighteen years old, but in the era of early marriage and early childbearing, it was indeed too late. The girl refused to accept the fruit candies, so she ran over to Xi Yazhou and knelt down, kowtowed, and begged him to help her
My father and elders were all rescued.
Du Wen hurried over and pulled her up. Regardless of whether people understood or not, he babbled about equality between men and women. Zhang Xingjiao was so angry that his face turned red and he didn't even say a word.
"Don't worry, Xiaoqin, we will definitely help you rescue the captured folks." Xi Yazhou was not willing to give up the opportunity to show off his heroic spirit in front of girls, and patted his chest with an extremely reliable look on his face, "Just say
Let’s talk about the government affairs.”
It turns out that in the forty-fifth year of Wanli, after the Lingao earthquake, Ma Niao's salt fields suffered great losses. The salt workers specially submitted a petition to the county government at that time, requesting exemption or deferment of salt classes for a few years - although a lot of salt fields were destroyed.
, but the actual production capacity of the salt field still has a certain degree of surplus. The main reason is that the damage to people and property caused by the earthquake was huge, and it would take three or four years to recover. But the Gou family has long been coveting the salt field.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, he asked Gou Er to negotiate with the clerk's office in the county government office, which he was familiar with, and bribed the master to destroy the submission. Gou Da took the opportunity to take over the salt class and hired many goons and thugs to work on it every day.
The village was forced to ask him to pay the salt tax, and it fell into his control step by step. Although the county magistrate later became aware of the matter, it is the golden rule of the local magistrate not to offend the local wealthy family.
.Every year, the salt class can be collected normally, and the Gou family keeps paying filial piety, so they just ignore it.
"In the final analysis, it is the government that supports him." Xi Yazhou said, "right?"
"Well, with the government backing him, who can do anything to him?" Xiaoqin looked helpless, "Even if he comes alone, we don't dare to do anything. Otherwise, it will be just the people under him and Brother Cheng Qing who will beat him.
All three will do.”
Xi Yazhou knew that the matter was beginning to get to the core - what the Gou family was doing was actually nothing unusual, it was nothing more than "collusion between officials and gangsters." Collusion between officials and businessmen, collusion between officials and gangsters, and collusion between officials and gangsters are common social phenomena in Chinese history, even if
In the 21st century, a successful person, no matter which path he takes to achieve success, will always have the shadow of an official behind him: businessmen want to make excess profits, and gang bosses want a safe backer, all of which rely on official figures.
Even the relatively high-minded intellectuals know that the power of official hats is much stronger than academics. The Gou family in Lingao County, Ming Dynasty, is nothing more than the same model.
To fight against the government is to rebel. The common people actually don’t like the governments of past dynasties that ride on their heads - but the government has strict punishments and an army - in modern terms, it means mastering the "machine of violence", whether you like it or not
, you have to listen to it. Even the heroes of the forest take "no fighting with officials" as a golden rule.
For the common people to fight against the government, no matter what form it takes, is tantamount to "rebellion" - the common people will never embark on this road until they are desperate. Of course, Xi Yazhou is not naive enough to think that he can make the common people go with just a little encouragement.
He sacrificed his life and shed blood to fight against the people in Chuanchuan. His policy was a roundabout way, which may be called a curved revolution.
"In the final analysis, the Gou family is so rampant because of two reasons: raising thugs and colluding with the government." Xi Yazhou smiled slightly, "The first one is insignificant. As long as everyone can unite, his few people are not enough to fill the gap between his teeth. The key point is
It’s the second one, since he can collude with the government, so can we.”
Several people in Yancun stared at this short-haired "maritime leader" in shock, probably feeling a little incredible. After a while, Tan Guihuang said cautiously: "Is the master also familiar with official figures?"
"To be honest, I'm not familiar with it."
"Then how to make contact with the government?"
"Why do you think the government wants to hand over local tyrants and evil gentry like the Gou family?"
"It's not just for a few dollars." Tan Chengqing looked disdainful.
"Yes, even if the official covets yellow and white things, if he gets it, we will get it too." With that, he shared his thoughts with the salt people.
In fact, the plan is not complicated: the first is to regain the monopoly rights of the salt class. With this, the Gou family has an official status. Unless this sign is smashed, the salt people will still be frightened. As for how to regain it, there is no need for the salt people.
We worry about it, they will take care of it.
Once the salt class rights are taken back, the Gou family will have no legitimate excuse to interfere in the production of the salt farm. What is left is nothing more than a bad debt that has been delayed for more than ten years. This kind of loan sharking with compound interest, Xi Asia
It will also be understood in later generations: as long as the debtor still has a little financial ability, the creditor will never say that you have paid off. So instead of continuing to pay this obscure money, simply write it off and completely repudiate the debt.
Without the golden sign of taking over the salt course, the debt issue is purely a civil dispute and has nothing to do with the royal grain and national taxes. No matter how capable he is of colluding with the government, it will not be so easy for the government to stand up for him.
I got back the right to operate the salt farm and was no longer exploited by him. The income from selling salt was guaranteed. I paid the salt class and the county's "regular money" as usual, and the government had no losses in either public or private aspects.
, the use value of the Gou family is gone. Without the use value, will the government still be willing to take care of them?
"How can this matter be so simple?" As soon as Xi Yazhou finished speaking, Tan Chengqing smiled bitterly, "The Gou family is very familiar with the office clerk of the third class and sixth room in the county government office. They have been in contact with each other for generations, and they are intertwined. Mr. Guang
If we want to collect this salt lesson, we won’t be able to survive in the household.”
County administration in ancient times is not so much "official governance" as "official governance." Since the Song Dynasty, most of the prefecture and county local officials were selected from the imperial examinations. The administrative affairs of prefectures and counties are very cumbersome. In addition to various
All kinds of affairs have a set of cumbersome procedures. In addition to the basic laws, there are countless laws and regulations that should be cited or can be used as analogies. Which law or regulation should be followed to handle a certain official matter?
If there is something wrong or the boss finds out the fault, he will be dismissed at the slightest and reprimanded at the worst, then it will be like walking around with nothing to eat? At this time, you have to try to find out the examples that have occurred in the past.
Apply it to ensure nothing goes wrong. But what kind of examples should be found is a science. This is called "the way of officials".
People who came from the imperial examination can speak eloquently on economics, history and policy, and can recite poems and poems by heart, but few can understand the way of administration in these places - not to mention other things, it is just a fish-scale book, which to outsiders looks like
It's like a ghost painting, but people who can see it clearly know that there are real estate area, location, form, output, tax amount and the situation of the landowner. Therefore, in order not to make mistakes or find it troublesome, the officials can only entrust these matters to the third class and the sixth class.
It was left to the yamen clerk's office to handle the matter. In ancient society, lowly officials actually controlled local administrative power.
Because officials are often hereditary, they have deep collusion with local big business, which cannot be severed by simple economic means, so Xi Yazhou's plan sounds a bit idealistic to them.