Zhou Qi is his eldest disciple, and he is the most reliable person in theory, but Chen Minggang is very mean. Zhou Qi's parents have passed away long ago. According to the rules of the times, Chen Minggang is his closest elder. He not only has the obligation to take care of him, but also has the responsibility to take care of him.
He also has the responsibility to marry him and start a family.
Chen Minggang never got married to him - Lingao in the Ming Dynasty was an area with a serious imbalance in the ratio of men to women. Most of the immigrants were singles and there were very few women. This made the cost of marrying a wife much higher than on the mainland. Moreover, Zhou Qi was his
As an apprentice, you cannot just find a girl, but should be the daughter of a relatively wealthy local small grain farmer or a fellow apprentice. This requires a decent betrothal gift and a house for them to start a family.
Chen Minggang was reluctant to spend the money and kept procrastinating. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Qi was almost thirty - in the 17th century, he was already an older unmarried young man.
Being unmarried for a long time is a very shameful thing for Zhou Qi, and it also has another consequence. Chen Minggang is a very womanizing person, and since Zhou Qi is his disciple, many of his master's personal affairs are revealed.
It was up to him to handle the matter. If he had too much contact with the master's women, the master would inevitably become suspicious - after all, this apprentice was young and strong, and much stronger than himself.
There have been some rumors recently, either that he had an affair with Chen Minggang's woman, or that he had huge complaints behind his back. Although Chen Minggang didn't believe it much, his trust in him was gone. Coupled with the recent Qiu Hong incident, it became even more
This made him have great doubts about his great apprentice's ability to do things.
"Yes, Xiao Hu is right. There must be a reason for this kind of thing to force the big bosses to agree. We are just on duty, so you can't blame us." Chen Minggang said, "Evil people will naturally ask them to do it."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, and some even flattered me a few times.
"But what's the best excuse?" Someone asked, "This excuse is hard to find."
First, the common people must believe that these common people are not ignorant people in the countryside, but landlords and gentry with some degree of property status. They will not be intimidated by just a few empty words. Second, the Australians must accept their account. Chen Minggang knows that the Australians
They are very careful about their image and are most afraid of anyone using their name falsely.
Chen Minggang took his time and took a sip of tea first. He felt that the reason why he was smarter than this group of people was not only because he had the ancestral treasure of Yu Lince, but also because he could see further and see farther than everyone else.
More clearly.
"You came from the countryside, what are the Australian work teams busy with?" he suddenly asked.
Everyone started talking about it. In fact, the work team did a lot of things in the countryside. It mainly conducted social surveys: population, land quantity, and the poverty of the fields. It also generally helped each village to build villagers, tree fences, and also practiced medicine and delivered medicine.
.
"None of you have even hit the point." Chen Minggang shook his head and said, "In fact, what Australians care about most is finding out the details of this county!"
Everyone looked at each other: What’s the details of this county?
One of the more experienced people among them came up with the idea: "Population, the number of fields..."
"Yes, this is it." Chen Minggang nodded and said, "If the Australians want to stay here in Lingao for a long time, what do they need to know?" He patted his palms with a Sichuan fan and counted, "The first thing is to know the county.
How many people are there, how many fields are there, and what the fields produce.”
"Zhang Tian?!" Xiao Hu from the umbrella shop said.
"Not bad!" Chen Minggang glanced at Xiao Hu from the umbrella shop with admiration, "The Australians set up work teams in the countryside and collect grain and tax in the county. Basically, they just want to find out how much oil and water there is in Lingao County." He said.
He opened the fan and shook it gently, "We are here to help him, Zhangtian!"
Now everyone was in an uproar. As the name suggests, "Zhangtian" means measuring acres of land, but it doesn't go beyond that. When you Zhangtian, you have to draw a new Yulin register and re-register the land property rights and tax status. This was not a trivial matter in ancient society.
The imperial court often takes the lead in organizing such activities. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, except for the drawing of fish and lin albums in Zhangtian during the Hongwu period, only Zhang Juzheng did it in the early Wanli years. Every time Zhangtian was in charge, not only the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Province had to do so.
Special officials are dispatched to handle the matter, and medical staff from across the province are also required to assist. It will not take more than a month or two to complete the process. It will take at least half a year.
Although they are people who "eat food" and know a thing or two about how to farm land, they are not professionals after all. They are unable to do this, and they don't have enough time.
Chen Minggang signaled them to calm down: "Why are you guys making such a noise? This is just a reason!" He sneered, "Do we really have to help them land their land? Even if everyone is willing, they don't have the ability, right?"
Everyone nodded and looked at the backbone.
"The Australians want to know how much financial support Lingao has, so we should cater to them. If we offer to help them measure the acres of land, the Australians will not refuse. As long as we have this name, aren't those big households at our mercy?"
Everyone cheered loudly: This is a wonderful idea. Not only are they famous, but the Australians will never refuse this proposal. They will be happy to be this "evil person". Finally: the big players have nothing to say about the consequences of all this.
You can also recommend it to Australians.
"Can the big investors buy it?" Zhou Qi was a little hesitant, "They also have connections with the Australians."
"It doesn't matter if there is a connection," Chen Minggang saw very clearly the relationship between the Cross Travel Group and the wealthy gentry. "Australians don't like the gentry. Now they are just taking advantage of them."
"Isn't it a bit unexpected?" Xiong Buyou laughed when conveying Chen Minggang's proposal in Wu De's office.
"That's right, it's really beyond my expectation." Wu De nodded, sighing with emotion, "I didn't expect that Chen Minggang could see our thoughts clearly. On the contrary, all the scholars in the county couldn't understand." There was something in his words.
A feeling of mutual sympathy.
According to Wu De's original plan, he planned to let Chen Minggang spend more rice as much as he wanted, causing the gentry and villagers to complain. After the county's taxes were almost collected, he would arrange a "petition" scene where the gentry and the people were furious.
, in the end, the Time Travel Group came forward to play the role of Mr. Qingtian, and directly killed Chen Minggang and all his men, in order to anger the people.
After venting public anger, they took the opportunity to implement the "New Deal" - on the pretext of avoiding such things from happening again in the future, they began to clear out acres of land throughout the county, determine tax rates, and complete the tax system reform.
Wu De also prepared a back-up plan. If something unexpected happened during the grain collection process and the autumn grain collection could not be collected in time, he had already obtained the consent of the executive committee and would use the payment method, and the Chuanchuan Group would advance the autumn grain.
and tax, and then slowly deduct it from the tax.
No matter which method is used, Chuanchuan Group is sure to pay this year's autumn tax on time. In this way, it can calmly settle down and clear the household registration. It does not have to rush to do these things within the tax deadline - the so-called slowness.
Careful work comes from hard work, Wu De planned to slowly cook the porridge of this "new tax system".
This is a big project for the Crossing Group, and the executive committee has issued several orders to various ministries, offices, and companies.
Leizhou Sugar Company received instructions: continue to sell sugar to Vietnam, and at the same time transport some other goods needed locally to purchase large quantities of Vietnamese rice.
The order given to the Ministry of Maritime Power is to concentrate their transportation capacity and rush to transport Vietnamese rice to Lingao. They strive to increase the reserve of Lingao brown rice to 35,000 shi before the eleventh month of the lunar calendar.
The instruction given to the Foreign Trade Committee was to use Vietnamese rice to purchase silver in three counties of Leizhou, with a quota of 10,000 taels. This silver was prepared for Lingao's "Liao salary". Wu De expected that Lingao's rice
Prices will fall due to the imposition of "Liao rates". They just use the money earned from selling rice at high prices to buy grain at low prices.
The instruction given to the Ministry of Education is that they immediately start arranging courses on surveying and mapping, simple plane geometric operations and the like in students' practical classes to prepare manpower for comprehensive land surveying.
The printing house also received a notice: to immediately print a large number of blank land deeds and property rights registration copies.
…
"Chen Minggang is really a talent." Xiong Buyou said.
"It's a pity that this talent can't be retained." Wu De couldn't help but look at these "bad officials" with admiration. Historians explained that the grassroots level in the Qing Dynasty was actually "administration by officials", which really made sense.
Xiong Buyou said: "How should I reply to him?"
"Suggest that he can do this. You have to show great interest in Zhangtian." Wu De decided to let Chen Minggang make a fuss about this issue. It is equivalent to giving the local big players a head start, just like every time something is to be announced.
Before implementing the policy, it would be easier for the public to accept it by testing the waters harshly and letting public opinion criticize it, and then low-key introducing a plan that slightly improved the conditions. Wu De decided to do the same.
"But it must not be stated explicitly." Wu De gave the instructions face-to-face, "The conversation between you and him must be recorded, and you must say more specious things. You must first discuss with the people in the Propaganda Department how to talk, so that it will be easier to edit the footage in the future.
We have to make him show his sincerity in recommending our husband -"
"I understand." Xiong Buyou nodded.
"Chen Minggang just wanted us to be villains and make a fortune for ourselves. Originally, we could have been villains as well." Wu De felt a little regretful, "If only he was really willing to help us get land."
"Hahahaha, you are seeking skin from a tiger." Xiong Buyou has had many contacts with subordinates and knows their character very well. "They are just a group of silverfish in the system. They only think about how to gain benefits for themselves. How can they be so high?
Awakening!"
"One more thing, Chen Minggang asked us: where is the grain cabinet for collecting grains, and how many of our people will be employed on the cabinet?"
"The cabinet should be set up in the county," Wu De had already thought about it. "We don't need any of our people. Let them carry on as usual." Wu De said, "Since they want to take the blame, they should do it thoroughly."