On both sides of the Huai River, heat waves are rolling, and the green wheat seedlings are slightly yellowish. A breeze blows, stirring up waves of wheat.
Zhao Shitou's shorts were soaked through, and his trousers were rolled up above his knees, revealing his strong and dark thighs. He buried his head in the fields, constantly clearing the mud from the ditches and filling it in the fields. superior.
The people nearby are the same. In this upcoming harvest season, what they fear most is drought and floods. The importance of ditches in these two disasters is self-evident.
The ditch can not only drain water, but also introduce water from the Huaihe River into the fields to feed the wheat seedlings.
Under the blazing sun, farmers consciously maintained ditches and looked forward to the wheat fields and the harvest season from time to time.
"Dad, wipe your sweat!"
Before we knew it, the sun was at the top of the sky, and the daughter and mother-in-law who delivered the meal came over carrying a bamboo basket, with beads of sweat on their foreheads.
Zhao Shitou took the towel soaked by the well water, wiped the sweat from his face, and then hung it directly on his neck. The well water flowed into his back, making him feel cool and comfortable.
"Hey, this is a sheep towel!"
At this time, Zhao Erhu from next door came over with a hoe on his back. He saw the white towel and showed envy:
"Shitou, this is the betrothal gift from your future son-in-law!"
"Sheep towels are very popular in the city. One can be sold for thirty yuan (text)!"
"This is not a betrothal gift." Zhao Shitou grinned, showing his yellow and white teeth, and narrowed his eyes: "This is his filial piety to me."
"They won't get married until the twelfth lunar month."
After saying that, he and Zhao Erhu walked side by side and came to enjoy the shade under the shade of the tree.
At the same time, the whole family also laid out meals, including grain rice porridge and a plate of pickles.
Father and mother, eldest son, younger son, daughter who is about to get married, mother-in-law, a family of six, it is quite lively.
The rice porridge in the basket is rationed. The men who work have a big bowl, and the women and children have small bowls, and they eat separately.
The youngest son was only seven or eight years old, and he didn't have much food in his stomach. He ate everything in one go and stared longingly at his father's big bowl of porridge.
"You eat so fast." The mother-in-law scolded her and poured a few mouthfuls of porridge into her bowl.
The sixteen-year-old daughter had two thick pigtails and a look of doting on her slightly dark face. She took out two red mountain fruits from her arms and said, "Eat it, your belly won't know how much it can handle."
"Don't spoil him." Zhao Shitou couldn't help but blame him when he saw the friendly appearance of his family, but he couldn't stop the smile at the corner of his mouth.
Such happy days have only lasted a few years.
The raging Huaihe River in the past is no longer overflowing. Even if the harvest is a little thin, in the face of low agricultural taxes, we can barely fill our stomachs.
"Hey, why are your pickles so red and green?"
At this time, Zhao Erhu, who was holding his rice bowl, saw that the pickles in their home were different and couldn't help but ask.
"Pickled watermelon rinds." The mother-in-law said with a smile: "That boy Danui sent two large watermelons to the city not long ago. After eating, he couldn't bear to throw away the rinds, so he pickled them to make pickles."
"It's sour and spicy, so it opens your mouth."
Zhao Erhu couldn't help but be envious: "You're a great guy, he's working in the countryside!"
"Thanks to his cousin for taking care of him." Zhao Shitou couldn't help grinning.
Zhao Shitou could not be more satisfied with Wang Daniu's son-in-law.
He is usually smart, but he doesn't like farm work. He is lazy and has no one to marry him even after he is eighteen years old.
But I couldn't help but have a cousin who came down from the army and became the head of the township directly last year. Now he works in the township office, and he can be regarded as an official.
After much hard work, he agreed to the marriage.
He would send some fashionable things here every now and then, and everyone in the family liked him.
Zhao Erhu took a bite of the watermelon rind, which tasted pretty good, then drank the porridge in three mouthfuls and lay in the shade of the tree to think about it.
Seeing his troubled face, the wife on the side asked puzzledly: "What are you worried about? Are the pickles at Shitou's house delicious?"
"What do you think about sending the boss to join the army?"
Zhao Erhu turned his head and said.
"Master, are you crazy? If you become a soldier, you might not be able to come back!"
The mother-in-law complained: "I heard that if you have to run around, you might die on the way and you won't be able to get home without even having your bones!"
Zhao Erhu said angrily: "If you have long hair and short knowledge, you will have a bright future if you join the army!"
"The boss is not good at studying. If he goes to the army, he will be the village elder when he comes back!"
"Even if it's not in our county or in the next county, our family will be glorious at that time."
After hearing this, the mother-in-law hesitated. She was also thinking about the scenery of the village elder's wife.
Who in the village would dare to look down on me then?
When washing clothes by the pond, why don't you give up the biggest and brightest stone slab to yourself?
"Today is different from the past." Zhao Erhu sighed: "Now you can only serve as a soldier for fifteen years, including food and accommodation. If you do a good job, you can still be an official when you come back. Who wouldn't be happy?"
"Even if it's bad, you can go to the county patrol camp to eat. If you don't want to be hungry, it's much better than digging in the soil with us."
"When can I become a member?" the mother-in-law couldn't help but ask.
"I'll first tell the county to recruit people in August, and then go to the province for some training, and then dispatch them to various prefectures for arrangements. Let's ask again then!"
The eldest son on the side listened to this, quickly scooped up the porridge, and then said loudly: "Dad, Mom, I want to be a soldier."
"I heard that being a soldier can keep you full and you can eat meat every now and then. It's more comfortable than being a scholar in the countryside!"
"You brat, if you want to be a soldier, you have to wait and see if someone will accept you or not!" Zhao Erhu patted his head.
The family was disturbed by the military service.
In the evening, taking advantage of the darkness, the men, women and children in the village rushed home.
Just after dinner, the village suddenly sent people from door to door to announce that there would be a shadow puppet show tonight.
The grain drying field suddenly became crowded. Every household sat with a small bench and watched eagerly as the stage was set up and the curtain was erected.
The row in front is for the village elders, and even the village chief can only sit in the second row.
Three men sat down, one playing the gong, one playing the drum, and the other playing the trumpet.
Under the illumination of several torches, two villains appeared in front of the villagers.
It is small, only one foot tall, but the carvings are careful and lifelike.
Suddenly, gongs and drums sounded:
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, in the last years of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, when taxes and miscellaneous taxes were imposed excessively, the people were in dire straits. Emperor Taizu was born in Fengyang. On that day, the room was filled with red light, colorful clouds were floating in the sky, gods and Buddhas were looming in the sky, and a strange fragrance floated hundreds of miles away..."
A shadow puppet version of "The Legend of the Ming Dynasty Heroes" began to be performed throughout the village.
There were characters, music, and voices, all vivid and lifelike, just like a stage, causing the people to watch in silence.
Everyone understood that this was the story of Emperor Taizu, and Emperor Taizu came from their Fengyang Mansion, the central capital of the Ming Dynasty.
This makes them proud. Even if they are so poor that they become the crotch of their pants, they are still proud.
The first performance lasted for an hour, and it talked about Taizu entering Haozhou and defecting to Guo Zixing. Several people were exhausted from singing, but the people were not satisfied yet.
They all asked for additional performances.
But the class teacher was in a dilemma.
At this time, several wealthy households in the village collected two silver coins and let them sing for two days.
Only then did the class leader smile.
Zhaojiacun has been lively for several days because of the shadow puppet theater.
At this time, several nearby villages also became interested, contributed money and effort, and requested performances.
Obviously, under the heavy pressure of life, the people still like to have a spiritual emptiness. Although the shadow puppet show is small, it fills their entertainment life.
The class leader was overjoyed: "I thought everyone in the countryside was poor, but I didn't expect there were many rich people. There are still many people who like to watch it."
The village chief said: "There have been no disasters in the Huaihe River in the past few years, life has been much better, and we have more money..."
Fengyang County, as the seat of the capital, has been a bustling place since the early Ming Dynasty. It was not until Zhang Xianzhong burned down Fengyang City that the central capital was covered in dust.
Immediately after Shaowu was revived, the Zhu family's descendants once again sat on the throne, Fengyang's political status was preserved, and the city was repaired.
Although there are few yamen, Fengyang High Wall, as the place of imprisonment for the clan, has always been feared by the clan's children.
However, with the popularization of the exile system, the clan members are no longer imprisoned, but are exiled overseas after committing crimes, but Fengyang's evil reputation still spreads.
Fang Boshan opened the car curtain and felt the heat wave rolling in, and the noise in his ears was endless. On such a day, Fengyang was still prosperous.
Immediately, the carriage arrived at Tongpan Yamen.
"Second Master, you are finally here."
As soon as we got off the bus, the yamen servant who had been waiting at the door for a long time came over eagerly, his face full of eagerness.
Within a government, the prefect was generally called the prefect, or Mingfu, or Futai by the gentry.
But in the yamen, the prefect is called the eldest master, and the second master is the prefect's co-prefect.
Similarly, in Tongsuan, he was separately assigned to be in charge of the judiciary and criminal prisons. He was the same official as the prefect, but was only in the fourth rank.
Therefore, Tong San was respected as the eldest master in the yamen, and the judge responsible for judging the case was the second master.
"What's wrong?" Fang Boxhan was stunned.
"Several villages started fighting over water. The county didn't dare to take care of it, so they called our house."
The yamen servant said in one breath: "The elder is having a headache because of this matter."
"Is there anyone in there?"
"That's right, if you are just a scholar..."
Fang Boshan also felt a headache.
The difference between a scholar and a scholar is no less than that between a scholar and a scholar.
Even though there are now provincial examinations, there are only a few scholars who serve as county magistrates. Most of them are clerks in each county. Once a person is elected, he is an official, and at the end he is a county magistrate. It is very possible to know.
"Let's go!"
Sure enough, as soon as he entered, he saw the judge with a tigerish face and a look of displeasure on his face.
Fang Boxhan said hello carefully.
The judge waved his hand: "It's not a trivial matter like fighting with weapons. I have already submitted it to the Futai."
"Now look at it, this is a county case."
Fang Boxhan looked at it carefully with doubts on his face.
As early as during the previous reforms, after any case was tried in the county, as long as it was wronged, it would have to be tried again in the government, instead of the previous rough review and disregard.
This puts the pressure on the Fu Tong judge sharply.
When Fang Boshan took a closer look, he found that these cases were basically the same, and they were all missing cases.
In other words, they all refer to the escort agency.
Traveling escort agencies often help transport goods like this, but when some things are damaged, there is no compensation for the cost.
There are also some escort agencies that wander around without roads, causing dissatisfaction in various counties.
The existence of road guides is actually to restrict people in various counties from circulating without authorization and reduce management costs, thereby maximizing control over rural areas.
But the existence of the Escort Bureau broke this convention, but it was allowed by the superiors, which immediately annoyed the people below.
If you don't take care of it, it will be easy to offend the people behind it; if you don't take care of it, some escort agencies will have huge scales, and there will be bandits, making it difficult for people to sleep and eat well.
The road guide system in the escort agency is close to nothing.
Fang Boshan thought about it and realized that this was even more troublesome than the previous fights.
The judge sighed: "If we have to take care of this matter, we will definitely offend those people from the Escort Bureau, and we can't afford it."
"But now I can't ignore it. Several gentry have threatened to complain to the court. Now I'm riding a tiger and it's hard to get off."
As a general judge, Fang Boshan is familiar with the law: "Fatai, the imperial court has issued a decree long ago, saying that the road guide within one government will be cancelled, and all counties will communicate with each other."
"Looking at it now, sooner or later the province will cancel the road guidance. This matter cannot be stopped quickly, it must be delayed."
"Yes, you have to hold off."
…
In Tianjin, the port is very busy. As soon as the ship docks, the tax collectors can't wait to board the ship to collect taxes.
For ships to be taxed, the value of the goods was levied.
Usually, all goods are divided into three levels, according to the three tax rates: one for ten taxes, two for ten taxes, and three for ten taxes.
The lowest level is for daily consumption such as food.
The middle level is made of coarse cloth and cotton.
The most high-end ones are naturally spices, silk, porcelain and other luxury goods.
The value relied on was naturally levied by the imperial court at 70% of the par price of various commodities in Beijing, which was barely fair and just.
For example, a piece of high-end cotton cloth is worth two or three silver yuan, while a low-quality piece of cotton is only half a piece of silver.
In the past, the taxation of ships was generally based on the length and width of the ship's side, not the goods carried on it.
The boatman was very discerning and immediately sent the cargo list.
At this time, the tax collectors only need to approve it, which usually takes less than half an hour for a ship.
Once there is any discrepancy with the bill of goods and you want to evade tax, the penalty will be doubled.
When the tax collector saw that the bill of goods he submitted was correct, he immediately smiled and said, "Very good."
After saying that, there was no further content. Zuo Xia looked around, and the soap clerk under his hand was still rummaging.
Seeing this, Chuanzhu could only stuff a few more banknotes in the banknotes, and then the latter laughed:
"I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm afraid you don't know that the road signs have been strictly checked recently!"
"Look at the sailors on your ship. They must all be from the south. I've only heard that roads are not required in one province, but they are required in other provinces."
"You probably didn't provide them with directions."
"For God's sake, a road guide can be as little as three to five cents, or as much as one yuan. Where can you get so much money to build road guides for them?"
The captain smiled bitterly and said: "I can only ask them not to get off the ship and just stay on the deck."
"So, you have to take care of yourself."
The tax collector laughed and said, "I'm just collecting money to save you from trouble."
(End of chapter)
