Zhang Niuniu shook his head and said, "No! Aren't all the land owned by government officials? My family is very poor and cannot afford it!"
Duke Xu took a breath to suppress his anger and fear, and said, "Then how did your family live without being able to live on land before?"
Zhang Niuniu said: "Just work for the official's family! My father and mother are still doing some small jobs in the town, and we can exchange for some food!"
Just like that, under the questioning of the aging Xu Guogong, Zhang Niuniu, who was thinking about returning to his parents, told him everything he knew! But he is only a ten-year-old child after all. He doesn’t know many things clearly, and sometimes even the descriptions are confusing! But this does not prevent Xu Guogong from mentally sketching a scene of chaos in the guardhouse!
First of all, all the public land in the guard station has been occupied by the officers! Military households who want to farm must rent land from officers! And he also had to do private work for the officers for free! Shi Zhi was even rented out to work by the officers! The officers take the big head, they take the small head!
Moreover, those military households still don’t know that those fields are cultivated by the imperial court for the military households, and every family has a share! They have always thought that these fields have belonged to those officials since the beginning of the world! They have no land and can only blame themselves for their poor lives! .
And Xu Guogong clearly knows one thing, that is, there is an obvious class structure in the health center now! The top ones are naturally the officers and their families! Next are the soldiers who are close to them, and those at the bottom are these military households! It can be said that the life and death of these military households all depend on the thoughts of the people above!
And these military households never know what a drill is! Like Zhang Niuniu's father, he has never held a knife or gun except a hoe in his life! At the same time, Duke Xu Guogong dared to conclude that the arsenal in the guard station must be extremely empty!
In particular, he also heard many other questions from Zhang Niuniu's words! To put it simply, the health center is completely rotten! He would not be surprised at all if these guardsmen rebelled one day in the future!
Then Xu Guogong asked the other four children. These children were all from authentic farmers. But just as he guessed, there weren’t enough fields in the countryside! The fields were all occupied by those gentry officials! Farmers without land can only make a living by doing day labor!
It might be better if they had some skills. However, the handicraft industry in the north is not as developed as in the south, and there is simply no room for so many craftsmen! In the end, they can only leave their hometown and wander around! In the end, when I wandered to the capital, I couldn't endure it any longer, so I had no choice but to sell my family in order to find a way to survive!
After Xu Guogong asked everything he wanted to know, he not only did not look happy, but instead had a sad look on his face, as if he had aged several years! However, he calmed down and said to the housekeeper: "Send them all back to their parents! In addition, buy out their parents. They will not need the physical deeds. Each of them will be given ten taels of silver! As for Zhang Niuniu..."
At this point he hesitated. If he opened his mouth, it would be extremely simple to place Zhang Niuniu's father in the Beijing camp. But he couldn't guarantee whether this would really be beneficial to Zhang Niuniu's family? It seemed like the giant dragon wanted to say hello to the ant, but the moment their fingers touched, the ant was crushed to pieces!
So in the end he sighed and said, "Give his family more money."
After arranging the children, Xu Guogong sat in the flower hall for a long time, and then said: "Go and invite Duke Cheng and Duke Ding to come!"
His orders were carried out very quickly, in about the time of a meal! Duke Cheng and Duke Guo have appeared in Xu Guogong's study! As soon as Cheng Guogong entered the door, he said, "You don't look good! What happened?"
Xu Guogong waved his hands and said: "Nothing! I invite you here this time to discuss whether you agree to the little monkey's conditions?"
Duke Dingguo bowed his hands casually as a sign of courtesy, then he pulled up the chair and sat on it before saying: "This little bastard really has a problem! Now I don't even know if I should listen to him!" Father Liu was so frightened that he couldn't sleep for half the night!"
Cheng Guogong also smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, I was also panicked by what he said! But I tend not to agree to his terms.
pieces! After all, the salt farm in our hands is only a way to make money, and do we still have few ways to make money? "
Xu Guogong said slowly: "But I think I should agree to his conditions!"
Cheng Guogong and the other two were shocked when they heard this! After the two of them exchanged quick glances, Cheng Guogong said tentatively: "Then what do you think? I saw that you were hesitant at the beginning, so why did you suddenly make up your mind?"
Xu Guogong said: "Because as the boy said, it is fortunate that there are two people in the Ming Dynasty, he and Zhang Juzheng, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would have been at war in less than thirty years!"
Cheng Guogong twirled his beard and said, "The matter may not be as exaggerated as you said, right?"
Xu Guogong smiled and said: "You don't know what I did this morning. Now I will tell you slowly!"
After he finished speaking, he told everything about what had just happened. The two of them were so frightened that they even had sweat on their foreheads!
Duke Cheng Guo took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with emotion: "We haven't paid attention to the things below for so many years! I didn't expect that it has reached this point!"
Duke Dingguo also nodded and said, "Yes, we have been in the capital for a long time and have never gone to see the place. I didn't expect that the place has become so rotten!"
Xu Guogong said: "And I dare to conclude one thing, that is, the actual situation may be more serious than what these five little kids said! After all, they are just a group of children, and they don't know much!"
As soon as Xu Guogong said these words, Cheng Guogong and both of them stopped talking! Because the two of them are also people who have read history books, they naturally know what it will be like once the people rise up! What's more, their ancestors started their careers through rebellion, and the records left at home are enough to illustrate the situation at that time!
So they all realized one thing, that is, the current Ming Dynasty is just a dry pyre! Once a spark falls on it, it will probably burn out instantly!
After a long silence in the study, Cheng Guogong said tentatively: "Then we accept all the conditions of that little bastard? But in that case, we are no different from ordinary merchants! If the court turns against us, there is nothing we can do!"
