Chapter 240 A knife that is not blunt can kill people
Just as the people of Fangzheng Village were talking about it, a group of masked men rushed into the archway of Fangzheng Village and violently waved their big sticks towards where the crowd gathered.
In an instant, the sounds of crying for father and mother came one after another...
When Zhao Xin found Chen Cao, Chen Cao was explaining the principles of Songjiang Mansion's New Deal to the people gathered in the city.
An old woman tremblingly held Chen Cao's hand and spoke in Songjiang's local Wunong dialect: "It's a good thing for our Huating that the Duke of the country is here... The old woman is covered in loess from the neck down. , how the old woman feels about being able to see her family no longer pay taxes during her lifetime...
In my heart..."
The old woman wiped her tears as she spoke. Chen Cao patted her gently, and then looked at the elderly people surrounding her: "I guess you have a doubt in your mind, whether you will not pay this year or next, or whether you will not pay in the future." Paid...
I can pat my chest here and tell you that as long as I am alive and as long as I am the governor of Songjiang, your taxes will never be paid..."
"OK..."
"I would like to wish you a long and prosperous life..."
"I wish you good health..."
"Bless the Duke..."
After finishing the mass work, Zhao Xin said: "Master, something happened in Fangzheng Village..."
.
"Master Huang, there are still many unruly people under your rule..."
Huang Shijing wiped his sweat, then lowered his body: "Please forgive me, I am incompetent. I really didn't know that Huating still had so many cancers. The governor's Yamen did not remember the good thing of my father when he paid taxes on Songjiang's behalf. Now Wait for someone to be killed..."
Huang Shijing thinks it is a good thing to follow Chen Cao's footsteps. Since the decree of never paying taxes was issued, the people under Huating County have obviously become much more active in production, and Chen Cao's reputation is rising day by day...
Chen Cao turned around and looked at Xin Zhao: "Are there any casualties?"
"There were many injured among the people, and the perpetrator made harsh words, saying he would go again..."
"Have they spoken out about this new policy?"
Zhao Xin shook his head: "Lao Gao and the others were in the village. The people said that the bad guys tore up their ID cards, and then beat up the people who had the ID cards and cleared the fields. The remaining people who had not yet had time to clear out the land and took the ID cards were beaten. No one was beaten."
Chen Cao glanced at Huang Shijing: "Let's go, Mr. Huang, follow me to visit the injured..."
Li Zheng of Fangzheng Village is the rich gentry in the village, and the old man Gao Fanghong is the Li Zheng of Fangzheng Village.
But at this moment, he is being supported by his family and facing Chen Cao's principles.
Although not kneeling before officials only started at the scholar level, I don’t know when the Ming Dynasty started. People from wealthy gentry and wealthy households also had the right not to kneel when they met local officials.
Perhaps the local officials wanted to use these gentry to cure the people under their rule, so this violation of rules occurred.
"This is the disadvantage of imperial power not going to the countryside..."
Chen Cao muttered: "Mr. Gao, do you have any heirs in your family who will serve as officials?"
Gao Fanghong bowed: "My eldest son has returned to China, and his eldest son is an official in Jinshan Guards. His second son just won the title of scholar last year..."
"Oh... Junhu?"
Gao Fanghong quickly replied: "The old man's family is not a military household. The eldest son is a martial arts scholar in the 42nd year of Wanli..."
Chen Cao then looked at Huang Shijing: "Prefect Huang, the management of Fangzheng Village depends entirely on Mr. Gao?"
Huang Shijing bowed: "The local governance of Huating's city and county must be managed by local celebrities, otherwise the tax revenue may not be enough to collect enough food."
"This is also a drawback..."
Chen Cao read it again: "The collection of grain taxes in the country depends entirely on the local gentry and landlords. If an official family like Mr. Gao's family deliberately makes things difficult for tax collectors, will the grain tax be collected for the year?" It depends on the local Li Zheng whether you collect everything or not?"
Liu Wenzheng bowed: "Master Mingjian, this is exactly the case. It was the same everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. Local officials said they were parents' officials, but they did not dare to easily offend the village chief or the security chief. They were usually filled by local landowners. The key point is that most of the people are tenants of the landlords. If they deliberately fail to collect enough food, then..."
Before he finished speaking, Huang Shijing immediately responded: "If the grain cannot be collected within the stipulated time, the government office will not be able to deliver it to Nanzhili. If it delays the time, he will be an official."
Chen Cao felt that what the two of them said was quite reasonable, but an old man like Gao Fanghong felt cold sweat break out on his forehead when he heard it in his heart.
"My Lord, I know that Fangzheng Village, which I manage, has never defaulted on the grain taxes paid to the court every year, and has paid them on time..."
Chen Cao looked at Gao Fanghong with great interest: "Mr. Gao, I didn't tell you, what are you worried about? Besides, now that Songjiang Mansion is under my rule, it has announced that it will not pay any taxes. As a li The role of local management such as Zheng and Baochang is also less important;
Therefore, another task of Songjiang Prefecture is to eliminate the Li Zheng and Bao Chang people in local villages and towns under the jurisdiction of the prefecture and county one by one. "
Gao Fanghong was shocked. If this continues, their privileges as local landlords will be gone. Who in Fangzheng Village will listen to them in the future?
"My lord, if you don't educate the ignorant people in the countryside, how can you appreciate the great kindness of the emperor and the goodwill of the country?"
"Are you an official?"
Chen Cao turned around and looked at Gao Fanghong with a murderous expression: "You mean that if Fangzheng Village is separated from your Gao family, there will be chaos, and then the court or Songjiang Mansion will not be able to control it?"
The dead soul of Gao Fanghong bowed boldly: "I didn't mean that, I misunderstood..."
Chen Cao said: "Liu Zhixian, I think your so-called Huating Zhixian is just a decoration."
Liu Wenzheng immediately scolded: "Gaofanghong, don't be so shameless. It is a great gift for the Duke of the country to exempt the Songjiang Mansion from taxes. Since there are no taxes, of course you will not be able to wait for Li Zhengbaochang or the like." It works, what?
Do you still want to set up a small court in Fangzheng Village? "
Who dares to wear such a big hat?
Gao Fanghong's legs were weak and he shook his head repeatedly. Chen Cao thought that it was enough to scare him first. The old guy was so old, so don't scare him into collapse because of his high blood pressure. He would die suddenly from cerebral hemorrhage.
"Mr. Gao, I want to ask you, do you know the person who came to Fangzheng Village to commit murder?"
This is business.
Gao Fanghong quickly handed over his hand: "Master Mingjian, I have never met them..."
"Liu Zhi County, how is the land inventory in Fangzheng Village going?"
Liu Wenzheng said: "Back to the father-in-law, the land inventory in Fangzheng Village has basically been completed. Only a dozen households have not yet completely handed over the land. However, the people who have equalized their land have received new household registrations. The father-in-law can send someone to check..."
Chen Cao stood still and immediately looked at Gao Fanghong: "Mr. Gao, which family do these remaining dozen or so households belong to?"
Gao Fanghong's legs were trembling. Seeing this, Liu Wenzheng said, "The remaining dozen or so families are all members of the Gao family."
"Xin Zhao, memorize the background of the Gao family..."
"Gao Jialuo, the eldest son of Gao Gao of Fangzheng Village, was a military officer in the 42nd year of Wanli. He was awarded an official position of thousands of households in Yingzhou Town. In the 47th year of Wanli, the Gao family paid for the town governor of Nanjing's Fifth Army Governor's Office and transferred him to Jinshan. Wei Zhenfu, in the second year of Tianqi, he was promoted to the commander of Jinshan Guard;
This time Gao Jiaping, Enke's scholar last year, studied in the county school in Fucheng. "
After hearing this, Chen Cao nodded thoughtfully: "The Gao family is either a high-ranking official of the Guard or a scholar. This status is indeed a big family in the countryside. However, even with this status, the Gao family is not allowed to Just be different from others...
Gao Fanghong, I am here to give you a chance to tell the truth who is the perpetrator. You have thought about it and told me. If there is no answer before noon tomorrow, I will kill the chicken to scare the monkeys..."
After Chen Cao had made up his mind to dictatorship Songjiang Mansion, the old wealthy landlords of the Ming Dynasty like Gao Fanghong were the targets of his attack. Now, what he has to do is not only to equalize land and exempt taxes, but more importantly, to advance the Over the past few hundred years, a wave of struggle has begun to completely bury this landlord class that exploits the people at the bottom in the torrent of history, and no longer poison future generations of people.
Liu Laosi's family never expected that a middle-aged man could actually meet the top lord of the Ming Dynasty. For a low-level commoner like him, it would be considered a blessing to see the county magistrate on weekdays, even those who came here People who collect grain taxes and collect taxes are usually at the level of envoys.
"Get up, no need to kneel..."
Chen Cao personally pulled up Liu Laosi and walked towards his yard. Then he followed the example of later generations of leaders and sat in the yard of his home with a group of officials and Liu Laosi.
"How is your injury? Is it serious? If it is, I will arrange the best doctors to treat you. You have paid blood and tears for Songjiang's new policy. How can I just sit idly by and ignore..."
Liu Laosi was about to cry. He and his wife were about to kneel down, but Huang Shijing on the side reached out to stop him: "Sit down and talk with the Duke, just like we are doing family business. Don't kneel down all the time."
Liu Laosi wiped his tears: "The villain is fine. Those strong men just used sticks to hit his arms blue. I just don't know if these strong men will come back."
Chen Cao patted Liu Laosi on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation for these thieves. Now that the land is equalized, how much land does the family have?"
Liu Laosi nodded, and then replied: "Including my daughter-in-law and granddaughter, there are a total of seven people in my family. The county has allocated seven acres of grain land. My granddaughter will be farmed by the family and given a lot of grain seeds. Why? Even if you don’t starve to death..."
"What's your annual income?"
When Liu Laosi said this, he shook his head: "In the past, our village was basically occupied by the tenants of Mrs. Gao's family. Now we are taking risks to equalize the land. If we can avoid being retaliated, it will be regarded as burning high incense. How can we dare to beg for more?" With income, as long as the family can make ends meet, life will be considered easy.”
"You have set an example for me to implement the New Deal, and I will not let you be wronged. Now the entire Songjiang Prefecture is planning and building. Those who have idle labor at home should quickly find jobs. As long as it is an industry under the governor's Yamen, I get generous rewards every month, and I won’t starve to death. As long as I work hard, I can save some extra money, so why not?”
