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Today, in Suzhou, there are many people who have lost their families and their families because of the Japanese pirate rebellion. Although in order to silence the people, the government has also given them some compensation for the aftermath, but the great revenge has not been avenged and the grievances cannot be redressed. A little compensation is with Their losses were nothing compared to their salary, so the people naturally felt a little resentful. 【Read the latest chapter】
However, in feudal society, people have always been timid by nature. Rather than stand up and fight against their fate, they hope that a "big master" will descend from the sky to make the decision for them, "complain to impeachment" and so on. Things like this are often just stories in dramas, but in reality they are very rare.
Although, according to rumors, Emperor Deqing now lives in Canglang Pavilion and has shown himself to be a wise emperor who is willing to "make decisions for the people", but due to his timid nature and the secret warning of the local government, in At the beginning, the people who suffered from the Japanese pirates had no idea of "complaining against the emperor" - for the people, it was already an extremely terrifying thing for a commoner to see the emperor. , let alone a complaint? As for the various losses caused by the Japanese pirate rebellion, I can only blame myself for my bad luck.
However, although the common people are timid, they are also blindly obedient and can never be provoked.
As a result, under the covert promotion of some forces with ulterior motives, not only the situation in Suzhou changed drastically, but the struggle between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing also changed from dark to bright!
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A year ago, Japanese pirates raided Suzhou. Although the city of Suzhou was not greatly affected, the fishermen on the outskirts of Suzhou and along the Yangtze River were seriously damaged.
Among them, the most seriously damaged places were three villages along the Yangtze River, one named Heshang Village, one named Xilin Village, and one named Lijiaji.
On the day Emperor Deqing left Canglang Pavilion of Nanchan Temple, Heshang Village was in a state of excitement.
Early in the morning. The fishermen and common people in Heshang Village rushed to the house of village chief Wu Shouzheng, blocked the door tightly, and shouted loudly that they wanted to confront Wu Shouzheng.
Seeing the actions of the villagers, Wu Shouzheng was naturally panicked. Especially since he had a ghost in his heart at this time. When he saw the villagers' behavior, he thought that his affairs were exposed, and he couldn't help but be shocked.
It turned out that in order to conceal the incident of cholera caused by Japanese pirates in Suzhou. The Suzhou government also spent a lot of effort, and even used money to silence the people's speech-during the Japanese pirate rebellion, every damaged household could receive a large amount of silver compensation-among which, those who suffered The affected families can receive compensation of one tael of silver, the family of the deceased can receive compensation of ten taels of silver, and the family whose woman was raped can receive compensation of three taels of silver. As for the property losses of the people, they will also receive a certain degree of compensation. Compensation...etc., it can be considered in detail.
However, in today's Ming Dynasty, corrupt officials have long become a stubborn disease that cannot be eradicated, and "plucking out feathers" has become the instinct of all officials. Although Zhou Suhai, the prefect of Suzhou, repeatedly ordered that the compensation money must be distributed to the people in full, the government order changed its appearance after all. Taking Heshang Village as an example, it stands to reason that it should receive a compensation of 766 taels. But after the silver was sent to Wu Shouzheng, only 466 taels were left. After Wu Shouzheng got the money, he withheld 66 taels and only distributed it to the villagers. One hundred taels of silver. Compared with the figure originally given by the government, it was actually less than half.
This was the result of Zhou Suhai's numerous instructions. In fact, if it weren't for Zhou Suhai's strict orders, the officials below would have scruples. It would be great if two hundred taels of this silver could eventually be distributed to the people.
However, even so, during the feudal dynasty, after the people suffered losses due to various natural disasters, they could still receive silver compensation from the government, even if the amount was small. But it can be regarded as the first anecdote in the world, so at the beginning, the people who were killed were all grateful, and Zhou Suhai barely kept his mouth shut. Although Wu Shouzheng secretly embezzled more than sixty taels of silver, But he also felt at ease and quite sure.
After all, the villagers in Heshang Village live a rather closed life. Most of them can only fish and sell fish. Few are literate, and no one will deliberately inquire about government decrees. Although they live on the outskirts of Suzhou, there are very few people. Entering the city, Wu Shouzheng was not worried at all that the villagers would know about the money he had secretly withheld.
In fact, in the opinion of the villagers, the compensation they received was enough.
However, just in the past few days, someone did not know who spread the news, listing all the detailed standards for the government's compensation for silver, and all the shortfall of silver was put on Wu Shouzheng's head, saying that Wu Shouzheng was greedy in one fell swoop. The villagers had three hundred and sixty-six taels of silver!
As a result, it naturally caused a commotion in Nuo Da. After the villagers learned that the compensation money they deserved was actually less than half, they were so angry that they were no longer grateful. They only felt that they had suffered a loss. ——After all, people’s hearts are always insufficient, and the more money, the better.
Fortunately, Wu Shouzheng had served as the village chief for many years and still had prestige. The villagers only heard some fragmentary rumors without conclusive evidence, so Wu Shouzheng reluctantly suppressed the turmoil.
However, just today, the villagers suddenly blocked outside the house, shouting "Wu Shouzheng, come out", "Where is the village chief, come out quickly", "Village chief, we have something to ask you", Wu Shouzheng thought he was finally The incident happened, but he was hiding in the house fearfully, without the courage to show his face at all.
However, the more Wu Shouzheng dared not show up, the more fierce the villagers screamed, and the more terrified Wu Shouzheng became. Just when Wu Shouzheng began to consider running away, for some reason, the people blocking the house suddenly It got quiet.
Just when Wu Shouzheng was confused, another gentle and polite voice came from outside the room.
"Is Village Chief Wu here? Student Wang Bocai is here. Please ask Village Chief Wu to show up and meet the villagers... Village Chief Wu, don't worry, the student assures you that the villagers have no ill intentions and will not endanger your safety." , the villagers just have a few questions that they would like to confirm with you, the village chief."
Although the voice was gentle and polite, Wu Shouzheng became even more worried after hearing the voice.
It turned out that the owner of this voice was named Wang Bocai, who was originally a resident of Heshang Village, but he was smart and very ambitious, and he was admitted as a scholar. So the family moved to Suzhou City and only returned to Heshang Village once a year to visit the grave.
For some reason, it is clearly not the time for Wang Bocai to visit his grave every year, but Wang Bocai also appeared in Heshang Village!
This Wang Bocai is different from ordinary villagers in Heshang Village. He had the reputation of being a scholar and was not only well-educated but also familiar with official policies. Wu Shouzheng was able to hide the fact that Wu Shouzheng secretly embezzled villagers' money from ordinary villagers. But he definitely couldn’t hide it from Wang Bocai!
According to Wu Shouzheng's guess, the villagers suddenly blocked their doors today, perhaps because of Wang Bocai!
As a result, Wu Shouzheng became even more afraid to show his face.
Outside the room, Wang Bocai waited quietly for a moment. Seeing that Wu Shouzheng still didn't show up, he spoke again. His voice was still gentle and polite, but it added a hint of threat.
"Village Chief Wu, fellow villagers Fang Gang wanted to break into the house. Although they were stopped by the students, if Village Chief Wu doesn't show up again, the students are not sure what will happen next."
As Wang Bocai finished speaking, villagers shouted again outside the originally peaceful house, mostly asking Wu Shouzheng to show up immediately.
In such a dire situation, Wu Shouzheng had nowhere to hide or escape. After hesitating for a moment, he finally opened the door tremblingly and showed up.
When he came outside the room, Wu Shouzheng looked around. I saw a mass of black heads, including men, women, old and young. It seemed that all the villagers in Heshang Village were gathered here, and the ones standing at the front of the villagers were there. He is a young scholar wearing a Confucian shirt. Although his appearance is ordinary, his temperament is quite gentle and elegant. When people see him, they will think of the word "gentleman".
This young scholar is Wang Bocai, a scholar from Heshang Village!
Seeing Wu Shouzheng finally showing up, Wang Bocai looked at Wu Shouzheng with a half-smile. There was contempt in his eyes, but it disappeared in a flash.
At the same time, when the villagers saw Wu Shouzheng appear, they all became excited and asked Wu Shouzheng something in confusion. However, the voices were too messy and Wu Shouzheng couldn't hear clearly for a while. He only heard "Yinzi" "Cries like this seemed to confirm his initial guess, and his expression couldn't help but change.
Seeing that the situation was too chaotic, Wang Bocai frowned slightly, then turned around and pressed his hands gently to signal the villagers to be quiet.
Although Wang Bocai was just a scholar, he was a distinguished scholar after all. He was the first scholar in Heshang Village in the past century and was highly respected by the villagers.
Therefore, after seeing Wang Bocai's actions, the villagers quickly became quiet.
"Folks, Bocai probably knows what you want to ask. If the fellow villagers can trust Bocai, let Bocai ask the village chief Wu on behalf of you! Otherwise, we who talk all over the place, I'm afraid Wu Village The commander doesn’t know how to answer.”
After hearing Wang Bocai's words, the villagers gradually became quiet, and all focused their attention on Wang Bocai.
Seeing the performance of the villagers, Wang Bocai nodded with satisfaction, then turned around again and asked Wu Shouzheng: "Village Chief Wu, when I returned to the village, I heard from the villagers that the government had compensated our village 400 yuan for the Japanese pirates incident. Two pieces of silver, does this matter?"
Wu Shouzheng became more and more frightened, but he still forced himself to calmly nod and replied: "That's what happened."
Wang Bocai asked again: "But based on what the students know and the extent of the damage to our village, the government's compensation to our village should be at least 760 taels. How come when we get to Village Chief Wu, there is only You bet four hundred taels? You are actually missing nearly half of your silver?"
Seeing that the villagers were staring at him in a different way, Wu Shouzheng subconsciously said in a hurry: "This, this, I... I don't know, the government only gave me so much silver at that time, and I was rich. Distributed to the villagers.”
Wang Bocai nodded with a smile and said: "The students also know the character of Village Chief Wu, and I believe that Village Chief Wu will never embezzle the money of the villagers privately. However, I have been living in Suzhou City for these years, and I also I am familiar with the various government decrees of the Suzhou government. I can tell Village Chief Wu clearly that according to the subsidy terms of the Suzhou government and the damage to our village, the folks in our village can receive at least 760 taels of subsidy money. ! But now, nearly half of the silver has been intercepted!"
"I don't know about this matter. I'm just responsible for distributing the money after receiving it..." Wu Shouzheng breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that Wang Bocai had clarified the relationship for him, and he quickly took a step further. Shirking responsibility.
However, although Wu Shouzheng thought well, Wang Bocai did not let him go.
"There is a shortage of at least three hundred and sixty taels of silver... This is not a small amount of money. Village Chief Wu is a highly respected leader of our Heshang Village. He should ask the government to get this money back! This is what the villagers are doing today. Find your purpose.”
Hearing what Wang Bocai said, Wu Shouzheng was shocked again.
Since ancient times, we have only heard that the government collects money from the people. How can there be any reason for the people to ask the government for money?
So Wu Shouzheng hurriedly said: "I can't help this matter! As we all know, every time the government's money is handled, it will be short by at least 30%. The shortage of money has now fallen into the hands of Suzhou officials. In our hands, we are just ordinary people. Since ancient times, people have not fought with officials, how can we get back this money?"
Wang Bocai asked again: "So, Village Chief Wu thinks we won't get this money back? The Suzhou government won't care about this matter?"
Unknowingly, Wu Shouzheng was led away by Wang Bocai. Hearing this, he nodded quickly and said, "If you don't come back, you absolutely won't come back. At least I can't help it."
After Wang Bocai was silent for a moment, he suddenly raised his voice and said: "Although Village Chief Wu has no choice, I have a plan. Although it is a bit risky, the certainty of success is also very high, and when it is done, not only can we get back the short money, Maybe we can also exempt the folks from paying taxes in the next few years!”
Originally, all the villagers were a little frustrated after hearing Wu Shouzheng's conclusion. But when they heard Wang Bocai's words, they were naturally overjoyed and asked Wang Bocai for details.
"Wang Xiucai. Please tell me what the method is."
"Wang Xiucai is a scholar and the most knowledgeable. His method will definitely work!"
"Wang Xiucai. The people of our village depend entirely on you."
Hearing the villagers' comments, Wang Bocai's eyes flashed with pride.
Then, Wang Bocai turned around and announced loudly to the villagers: "Folks, you probably don't know that our emperor has now left the imperial city. His southern tour has come to our Suzhou! According to the news I have received, he The old man is currently living in the Canglang Pavilion of Nanchan Temple! Therefore, we can go to the Canglang Pavilion together to complain to the emperor and file a petition!"
After hearing Wang Bocai's idea, everyone became quiet and the atmosphere became quite calm.
Go to the emperor and file a complaint? This is not something these honest fishermen dare to do.
After a long time, Wu Shouzheng was the first to react and said in a trembling voice: "Wang Xiucai, are you talking in your sleep? Go to the emperor to redress your grievances? How can this be done!?"
"Why not!?" Seeing that the villagers were hesitant and even a little withdrawn, Wang Bocai's voice became louder and firmer: "The Holy One today is the Ming Lord. If he knows about our grievances, he will definitely make the decision for us! Don't you know the truth of "The King of Hell is so easy to deal with?" For the emperor, giving us compensation is just a matter of his words. It can also earn a good reputation for himself and win the praise of us Suzhou people. , it can be said to be a hundred benefits without any harm! In fact, as far as I know, the emperor has done a lot of good things for the people while he lived in Canglang Pavilion! As long as you follow my advice, this matter The certainty of the matter can be at least 90%!”
Seeing Wang Bocai's determination, all the villagers except Wu Shouzheng were a little shaken.
However, for the villagers, things like "seeing the emperor" and "complaining to the emperor" were too terrifying, so they couldn't make up their minds for a while.
Seeing that the villagers still looked hesitant, Wang Bocai frowned and said again: "In addition, on my way here, I heard that the folks in Lijiaji and the neighboring villages in the west also had the same idea. Now they have We are rushing to Canglang Pavilion to file a petition! So many people are going to file a petition, so what are we afraid of? Can the government still arrest all of us, thousands of people, and put them in jail?"
Since ancient times, the four words "the law does not punish everyone" have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Coupled with Wang Bocai's full encouragement and the temptation of money, the villagers finally let go of their fears, agreed with Wang Bocai's ideas, and said one after another: "Wang Bocai The scholar is right, let’s file a lawsuit right now!”
"Yes, there are so many of us, what are we afraid of!"
"The Emperor will definitely make the decision for us!"
At first, only one or two people agreed, but gradually, almost all the villagers agreed with Wang Bocai's idea and showed great excitement.
Only the village chief Wu Shouzheng was still calm, but the situation was inevitable, but there was nothing he could do.
In fact, under the command of Wang Bocai, Wu Shouzheng was quickly carried away by the villagers towards Suzhou City!
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At the same time, similar things happened in all places in Suzhou that were harmed by Japanese pirates, including Lijiaji and Xilin Village!
The Canglang Pavilion of Nanchan Temple is destined to be eventful from this day on.
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ps: Well, a 5,000-word chapter, the first update today!
…(To be continued.)
