After Li Si separated from Peng Shao, he lived nearby in Fengyang. The local officials did not dare to neglect this imperial envoy and almost responded to his requests.
Before Li Si came, he had already heard about the occupation of Caodang, the land of Lianghuai River, on the road.
Caodang, in the early Ming Dynasty and in Huainan and other places, salt farms provided salt households with grassland for planting reeds used for frying salt. In the early Ming Dynasty, every salt farmer had an additional task of burning salt every year. Caodang was allocated according to the amount of salt burned and was not allowed to be reclaimed or sold. The imperial court also collects a certain amount of tax on the land. In the past few years, there have been a lot of grasslands, which is more than enough to burn salt. However, in recent years, the number of grasslands has not only been decreasing day by day, but most of them have been occupied by landowners near the salt field.
In the past few days, Li Si arrived and made many overt and covert investigations. He learned that the occupation of Caodang was the most serious in Taizhou. Li Si didn't want to alert the enemy. Whenever he went on patrol in the past few times, local officials would beat drums and drums to show off for him. Not only did this result in Li Si getting nothing, but it also alarmed several local "big fish". Since Fengyang has not revealed any clues for the time being, he might as well check somewhere else. I believe there are always some places that these corrupt officials have not arranged properly.
Before dawn that day, Li Si got up early and took a few of his followers to Taizhou.
Horse hooves pounded on the official road, and after a few breaths, only a wisp of rising dust remained.
Li Si saw several salt fields in front of him, stopped and asked a follower behind him: "Xiao Zhang, the boundary between this place and the farming area is so narrow, where is it?"
This man named Xiao Zhang is in his prime and his eyesight is perfect. I saw him jumping to a small mound, looking carefully, and shouted: "Master, this should be Kuancha, right? Look, the salt field here is very wide from east to west, and narrower from north to south. Only Kuancha is like this nearby."
Li Si smiled and said, "Aren't you from Huainan? Why, have you even forgotten your hometown?"
Xiao Zhang touched his head awkwardly and said with a naive smile: "After all, I haven't been back for a few years. The changes have been too big."
Li Si waved his hand and said, "Let's go, let's go to the salt field here today!"
…
At this time, a farmer was weeding in the Tuancha Salt Farm, and a local gentleman next to him was leaning on a deck chair, leisurely sunbathing.
"Old man, what do you think? Have you thought about it? I'll give you a sum of money and you can give me all the grass here." The local gentry hummed a little tune and said.
The farmer sighed and said with great reluctance: "Master, you also know that this is prohibited by the government. The money will be spent one day, but I can leave these grasslands and farmland to my descendants forever. Make a living!”
The local gentry smacked his lips and said: "Old man, ask yourself, have I been very polite to you these days? If it were my friends who wanted these bastards, they would not talk nonsense to you idiots and just do it directly. Beating people and robbing them. I have no choice, old man, there are people above me. I can’t take down these straws, and they won’t let me go.”
The old man also knew in his heart that this local gentry was indeed much better than the local gentry in other places. Not only had he not robbed him forcefully in the past few days, he had not even used any foul language.
"Official man, you also have money in your hand. The government will receive you. Do you want to report to the official?" The farmer asked tentatively. In his knowledge of living here for decades, as long as you have money in your hand, Li Yinzi, the government will give you three points of thin noodles no matter what.
The local gentry smiled bitterly and said: "Old man, you think it's too easy. Even if the county master comes today, the people above me will have to bow their heads when they see me!"
When the farmer heard that even the county magistrate couldn't do anything to them, he was like a mantis trying to make a fool of himself, seeking his own death. Suddenly, he no longer had any thoughts about weeding, and just stood there blankly looking at the local gentry.
The local gentry was about to continue his persuasion when he suddenly saw someone coming. He looked at him intently and was so frightened that he quickly turned over, turned into a fierce look on his face, and yelled curses at the farmer.
"Niu Er, how's the mission assigned to you going? It's been a few days, and you still can't get this piece of land?"
While Niu Er was yelling at the farmer, he turned around and pretended not to know who was coming, and said in surprise: "Oh, what kind of wind brought you here today?"
"It's okay, I just came to see what this dog farmer means and whether he doesn't want to live anymore."
Having said this, the wealthy gentleman who came smiled at Niu Er.
This smile made Niu Er shudder. He was looking at the several servants behind the tycoon who were as strong as cattle and were carrying swords. He knew that if the farmer refused to give him the land today, he would probably die.
Niu Er was silent for a moment, a little confused: "Brother Liu, can you please give me a few more days? I'll do some thinking. If I can avoid killing people, then I won't." When he mentioned the word "human life", Niu Er deliberately said He accentuated his tone just to let the wealthy gentleman in front of him understand that it would be hard to do anything if someone was killed.
I thought that when it came to "human life", this wealthy gentleman would be afraid, but unexpectedly, he smiled slightly and slapped Niu Eryi with his backhand.
"Snapped!"
"Niu Er, what are you afraid of? The life of a dog farmer is worthless. If you continue to give me nonsense, you will die!"
Niu Er hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, trembling his lips: "Brother Liu, I was wrong, I was wrong."
Seeing the wealthy gentleman coming with his people, all the farmers working around stopped. On the one hand, this salt farm land is their valuable property, on the other hand, this farmer is their neighbor, and they cannot just watch and be bullied.
The wealthy gentleman shouted to the farmer: "You old man, I want to ask you at the end, will you give me this land?"
The farmer hesitated for a long time without saying a word clearly.
The wealthy gentleman just said that the farmer didn't allow it in his heart, and then waved his hand and said: "Teach this dog farmer a lesson, beat him until he gives up the land!"
"Stop, what are you doing? How dare you be so arrogant in broad daylight? Aren't you afraid of the government?" A farmer couldn't stand it anymore and opened his mouth to say.
"Humph, the government. The government is nothing! Even if the county magistrate is here today, he won't dare to do anything to me!" said the wealthy gentleman.
The farmer pointed at the wealthy gentleman angrily and said: "You...you, do you still have a law in this world?"
"I am the King of Laws! First, teach me a lesson to this nosy meddler so that he can remember it for a long time."
"boom!"
"boom!"
The servants who followed the gentry pushed the farmer to the ground and beat him hard without any explanation.
Niu Er wanted to persuade him, but the wealthy gentleman said angrily: "Now that Niu Er is so patient, you dare to take care of my affairs?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the wealthy gentleman directly raised his foot and kicked him hard. This kick happened to hit the cheek of Niu Er who was kneeling on the ground.
Niu Er screamed in pain, rolled to the ground, and screamed miserably.
When the farmer saw this, he couldn't help it anymore. He knelt down in tears and begged for mercy: "Official, don't fight, don't fight. I will give, I will give."
When the wealthy gentleman heard that the farmer agreed to give him this land, he knelt down and said with a mocking smile: "Old man, this is the right thing!"
"Fight, why don't you fight? If you have the guts, beat them to death."
The wealthy gentleman was getting carried away when suddenly a voice came from behind him. He saw a man of middle height with a dark face and a pair of sparkling chestnut eyes. Although his voice was sullen, his steps were calm and followed by several followers.
"Who are you?"
The wealthy gentleman turned his head, took a look, and concluded from his clothes that he might also be a man with muddy legs.
"Who are you? How dare you be so lawless and allow others to commit murder in broad daylight."
The wealthy gentleman sneered and said, "You don't look like a local, and you don't even know me."
Li Si asked tentatively: "Are you the magistrate of Tuocha County?"
When Li Si heard this, the wealthy gentry and others laughed. One of the servants cursed: "The county master is nothing. He has to give way when he sees my master. I advise you to mind your own business, so as not to suffer physical pain in the future."
Hearing what the noble gentry's retinue said, Xiao Zhang, who was following Li Si, could no longer hold back. He was about to fight to meet him, but Li Si stretched out his hand to stop him.
"Could it be that you are the prefect of Taizhou?"
Hearing what Li Si said, the noble gentleman's arrogance suddenly dropped a little, and he thought to himself: "Could this person know the magistrate of Taizhou?"
The noble gentleman calmed down and said, "I am not the magistrate of Taizhou, but the magistrate of Taizhou and I were friends from the same hometown when we were young. We have been close since childhood. How come you also know the magistrate?"
Li Si laughed loudly and said: "I'm just like you, just a merchant doing business in the south of the Yangtze River. Take me to see the magistrate of Taizhou. So what if you are a childhood playmate? The court has laws, but the magistrate still dares to protect you." Can't you? We have to review this matter today."
When the wealthy gentry heard what Li Si said, his anxious mind dropped. It turned out that he was just a businessman like himself. If you want to judge, go with him. Anyway, the magistrate is also a good friend of mine, so he might be able to give this outsider a good deal. "
Many farmers grabbed Li Si's sleeves and admonished him: "Thank you for your kindness, officials. You'd better go. This matter is not as simple as you think. You can't control it! It's useless to report it to the government. The government belongs to them." People. Don’t go into this muddy water, just leave.”
Seeing that Li Si, the "big fish from outsiders" was about to take the bait, the wealthy gentleman was afraid that these dog farmers would spoil his good deeds, so he quickly raised his riding whip and shouted: "If you dare to talk nonsense again, old man, I will kill you!"
Li Si turned back and held the farmer's hand, and said gently: "Fellow fellow villagers, it doesn't matter, I have my own solution. You all go back first and wait for my good news."
Looking at the departing figures of Li Si and the gentry, many common people shook their heads and sighed: "Oh, another life has been lost in vain."
Let's say that when a group of people came to the Taizhou government office, the guard at the door suddenly smiled brightly when he saw that the person coming was a wealthy gentleman named Liu, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet them, hoping to ask for a few coins like usual.
Liu Haoshen naturally understood what they were thinking, and he was generous in his actions. He directly ordered his men to take out the silver from their bags and give it to the guards.
Li Si murmured a few words in Xiao Zhang's ear, and Xiao Zhang suddenly understood. Xiao Zhang shouted: "Hurry up and let your prefect come out to pick him up."
As soon as these words came out, Liu Haoshen and others were confused at first, and then burst into laughter. I'm sure this guy from a foreign country was not a fool. Why did he dare to let the prefect come out to pick him up?
At this time, he happened to be passing by the Taizhou government office. He saw that Li Si looked familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while. When he heard the shouting for the prefect to come out to pick him up, he quickly ran in to report the news.
Not long after, the confused Taizhou magistrate was woken up from his sleep by this man. He went out angrily while cursing. He wanted to see who was outside the door and dared himself to pick him up in person.
As soon as Fang went out, the Taizhou magistrate suddenly widened his eyes:
"Xun...Governor Zuntang, why are you here?"
"What? This outsider is the governor?
