"You two... finally came out, why don't you go play?" Zhu Jinghong was extremely puzzled.
According to the past, Yang Jingting would be a boring gourd and would not talk much in front of outsiders.
However, today, she spoke in front of Baochai: "Brother Thirteen, didn't you go to play too?"
At this moment, the three people on the lake have each boarded an ice sled and are having a great time while running wildly.
Turning around and walking into the pavilion behind him, Zhu Jinghong sat on a stool and said, "These are just pediatrics, what's the point?"
As he entered the pavilion, Yang Jingting also followed in, and Baochai naturally would not lag behind.
"What are you all standing for? Sit...sit down!"
"Thank you Thirteenth Master (Brother)!"
When the two of them were seated, the eunuchs brought hot tea stoves and other items, and all kinds of guarantees were provided.
What's weird is that the three of them had nothing to say together. Even Zhu Jinghong felt that the atmosphere was not right.
"The auspicious snow heralds a good year. There is a lot of snow this year. It seems that next year the weather will be smooth and the people will live and work in peace and contentment!" Zhu Jinghong reluctantly found a topic, trying to resolve this strange embarrassment.
Baochai glanced at Zhu Jinghong with her beautiful eyes, and Baochai said slowly: "Thirteenth Master, it is true that the auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, but the heavy snowfall in recent days may not be a good thing!"
"What do you mean by this?" Zhu Jinghong asked, probably guessing what Baochai was thinking.
Baochai sighed and said: "In this world, there are only a few people who are pampered and privileged. It's snowing heavily and it's freezing. I'm afraid many people won't survive this winter!"
When she was in Jinling, she helped her mother manage the house, so she knew how difficult life was for the farmers in the farm every year during the cold winter.
Regardless of whether they are farmers or tenants, people borrow grain and money every year, and some even sell land to the Xue family.
But even so, every year there are reports of people starving to death and freezing to death in several villages below.
At this moment, she also expressed her feelings, but it really looked terrible.
"Sister Bao... Nowadays, the world is in peace and prosperity, and the people are living and working in peace and contentment. What you said is an exaggeration!" Yang Jingting immediately retorted.
She is not rebutting for the sake of rebuttal, but she has lived in an ivory tower since she was a child, and she really thinks that the world is prosperous now.
In fact, if Yang Jingting has bad intentions, it can be said that Baochai is alarmist and is suspected of slandering the DPRK.
Realizing that she had exaggerated, Baochai immediately changed her words and said, "Yes... I exaggerated. I really lost my mind!"
Being convicted for words is not uncommon in this era.
In order to completely tame the aloofness and arrogance of civil servants, literary prisons have become more frequent since the ancestors of the Han Dynasty. Even now, no one dares to say such "nonsense".
Zhu Jinghong said calmly: "Nowadays, the common people are heavily taxed and their lives are very difficult... There is nothing unspeakable about this!"
His parents were emperor and empress, so they naturally wanted to say whatever they wanted, but Baochai naturally did not dare to compare with him.
"Nowadays, aristocratic families are annexing their land, but they have the means to avoid tax exemptions. However, ordinary people have very little land to cultivate, but they have to bear the world's taxes. Life is naturally becoming more and more difficult!"
"Now the cabinet and the court have the intention to reform the system. If it can be implemented... I think the people's lives will be easier!"
It is really just a little better, and even in the actual implementation process, it is not impossible that life will get worse, so Zhu Jinghong said it very conservatively.
He actually said it casually and never thought that these two girls would understand.
To his surprise, Baochai not only listened carefully, but also asked questions.
"Tax collection and collection are cumbersome and complicated, but I don't know how the imperial court can reform the system... to make the lives of the common people easier?"
In fact, Baochai was not interested in this matter, but she saw that Yang Jingting was even less interested, so she deliberately brought the topic to this aspect.
The silent battle between the two girls had begun unknowingly.
Battle reports can be deceiving, but battle lines are not.
Although she didn't understand the meaning of discussing this matter, Baochai and Zhu Jinghong were talking more now, and Yang Jingting couldn't bear it.
Now that she had made up her mind to win the heart of the cousin in front of her, she could not just sit back and watch Baochai talk happily with him.
"Brother Thirteen, we don't understand anything. Can you please explain it to us?"
Zhu Jinghong did not expect that he would be the tool of the struggle between the two girls. At this moment, he was full of surprise and asked: "Are you interested in this matter?"
Before Baochai could answer, Yang Jingting said, "I'm willing to listen to whatever Brother Thirteen says!"
This girl is usually very boring, but she seems to talk a lot today... Zhu Jinghong muttered to himself.
"I don't know the details, but according to the cabinet's intention, it is nothing more than an inventory of acres and then changing the head tax to a land tax!"
This summary was concise and comprehensive. The two girls were confused after hearing this, but after all, Baochai was in charge of the house and probably understood the purpose of this change.
After a few breaths, I heard Baochai say: "As a result, the aristocratic family will have to pay more taxes!"
Her family is also an aristocratic family, and if she really wants to change it like this, she will suffer a loss. Baochai quickly thought of this.
"Ah? In order to make life easier for the common people, you would let the wealthy family suffer?" Yang Jingting was quite surprised.
Her reaction was normal. Girls from aristocratic families really couldn't empathize with ordinary people, and they didn't even think that they could be called "human beings".
Just listen to Zhu Jinghong say: "The way of heaven is to make up for the deficiency when there is more damage... This is the truth!"
At this time, Zhu Jinghong was speaking from his feelings, so he was not as clumsy as before, and the sentences he applied were naturally appropriate.
Yang Jingting was greatly surprised by this and secretly thought, is this the ignorant Thirteenth Brother?
But then he thought about it, a blind cat can still encounter a dead mouse, so it is not surprising that Zhu Jinghong accidentally quoted it correctly.
As for Baochai, she doesn't think anything strange about Zhu Jinghong, because she instinctively feels that the other person is not as simple as he appears.
Baochai frowned and said, "I'm afraid it will be extremely difficult to implement such a restructuring!"
Zhu Jinghong's eyes were deep and he sighed with emotion; "But... from ancient times to the present, such things have been difficult!"
If the negative consequences of land annexation can be solved, the law of historical cycles may be rewritten. Unfortunately, few dynasties can do this.
Of course, Yang Jingting didn't care whether it was restructuring or not, and she didn't care about the historical cycle rate.
She only cares about Zhu Jinghong in front of her, but the last sentence of the cousin to whom she places her heart is connected with Baochai, which makes Yang Jingting's heart hurt extremely.
I am my cousin, and it’s okay for Thirteenth Brother not to show much care. Why do I prefer one to another?
"Brother Thirteen..." Yang Jingting stood up suddenly.
Her sudden surprise shocked Zhu Jinghong.
"Girl Ting, what's the matter?"
Gritting her teeth, Yang Jingting abandoned her ladylike reserve and bravely said: "I want to go sledding, can you teach me?"
"This... is just a small matter, I will take you there right now!"
Hearing this, Yang Jingting breathed a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, the next moment Zhu Jinghong looked at Baochai again and said, "Bao girl... do you want to come with us?"
With your sister in front of you, why can't you forget Bao Yatou? Yang Jingting was crying in her heart, but she kept a smile on her face.
However, how could Baochai not see what she was thinking.
As the winner of this round of competition, Baochai understood that enough is enough, so she replied: "I haven't been feeling well in the past two days... I'd better not go. You can go and have fun!"
Feeling relieved, Yang Jingting immediately said: "Brother Thirteen, let's go!"
After following Yang Jingting out of the pavilion, Zhu Jinghong stopped and turned around and said: "Bao girl, you are not feeling well... drink more hot water!"
(End of chapter)
