In Jurong County, the only five families that can be called big families are Guo, Luo, Tao, Zhao and Ge.
These big families are either numerous, prosperous, and have many branches, such as the Guo and Luo families, or they are located in a corner, with united clans and a tight internal structure, such as the Tao family in the west of the city, the Zhao family in the south, and one that no one can The Ge family has been neglected but has always been underpopulated.
The reason why the Ge family is classified as a big family is largely due to the glory of their ancestors. After all, the ancestors are Ge Xuan and Ge Hong, especially Ge Hong, who calls himself Baopuzi.
Gu Zhengchen admired Ge Hong. After all, he was the one who said "My life depends on me but not on God." However, this approach was not suitable for application in Hongwu officialdom. He shouted at Lao Zhu and estimated that Lao Zhu would send the executioner to give him a practical lesson. …
Compared with the Ge, Tao, and Zhao families, the Guo and Luo families are more noteworthy. In the final analysis, these two families are more powerful in spreading their branches. The more people they have, the more powerful they will be.
There are very few people who are powerful enough not to bully others.
Gu Zhengchen rubbed his brows. Being a county magistrate is not an easy task. Dealing with subordinates has taken a lot of effort, but the most difficult thing is how to deal with the relationship with the local big families.
For many local officials, the will of the imperial court can be perfunctory, but the interests of powerful clans cannot be violated.
Taking things too seriously will only result in "generating resentment and causing disaster."
These grievances and disasters are not brought upon officials by the common people, but by these powerful families!
Gu Zhengchen did not expect that the investigation of a grave-digging case would actually involve the Guo family. It was Sun Niang who dug the Guo family's grave. She was digging her own grave...
Sun Shiba looked at the silent Gu Zhengchen, knowing that he was thinking about the interests behind this, and added: "Master, I heard that Guo Jie's wife is the biological sister of Chengfa Fang Chen Zhi, is it true? , it’s not clear yet.”
Gu Zhengchen took a deep breath.
Guo Jie is related to Chen Zhi, and Chen Zhi is the nephew of Dian Shi Chen Zhong. In this way, Dian Shi and the Guo family are on the same line.
"How is Guo Jie?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Sun Shiba shook his head: "Hengheng Township is a rogue, and he has more than a dozen housekeepers and guardians. The people in Hezhuang are afraid of him."
Gu Zhengchen was confused and asked: "Wait a minute, there are more than a dozen housekeepers and nurses, why did Guo Jie have his fingers broken?"
How could a scoundrel with a thug get close to him and suffer the pain of having his finger severed more than once?
unreasonable.
Sun Shiba spread his hands helplessly: "I've asked this question before, but no one could explain it clearly. Every time something happens, it happens in a secret place. I'm afraid I have to ask the person involved for the specific situation."
Gu Zhengchen held a copper coin in his fingers and played with it gently: "Have you been to Sun Yiyi's grave?"
"I've been there, it's just a little strange."
"What's weird?"
"Sun Yiyi was buried under the rocks."
"Master knows this."
"But sir, there is only a mountain to the north of Sunyiku Tomb. This mountain does not look like a stone has been dropped, and there are no signs of broken trees on the mountain."
"What?"
Gu Zhengchen was surprised.
Since Sun died in a pile of rocks, he couldn't have fallen there while walking. If the rocks hadn't collapsed and crushed him underneath, it could only mean that someone had built a stone grave specifically for him.
Sun Shiba continued: "On the contrary, thirty steps west of Sun Yiyi's tomb, there is a lot of gravel piled up. There are indeed rolling stones from the mountain."
Gu Zhengchen's face turned livid: "You mean, someone killed Sun and then moved rocks to bury him underneath? Wouldn't it be time-consuming and laborious to move so many rocks? Why not just carry the body to the west and bury him on the spot?"
Sun Shiba shook his head: "This matter is not clear, it is indeed puzzling."
Seeing that Sun Shiba had nothing to say, Gu Zhengchen arranged for Gu Cheng to prepare some food for Sun Shiba and let him go down to rest.
Behind every doubt, there are pairs of big hands hiding the truth.
If you want to remove these hands and let the truth come out, you not only need strength, but also courage!
The water in this sentence is not as calm as it seems.
Hidden undercurrent - possible cannibalism.
Liang Bin, the householder, walked into the second hall and presented the book to the front: "Your Majesty, the grains given to the corvee today have been distributed in full, and Ma Li and Wu Dacheng have signed their names on the book."
Gu Zhengchen took a look at the booklet, and when he saw that the numbers matched, he asked, "Liang Bin, did you have a share of the grain that the county government deducted during the corvées in previous years?"
Liang Bin's expression changed drastically. Just when he was about to defend, Gu Zhengchen spoke again: "I don't want to hear lies."
"County Lord, I, I..."
Liang Bin didn't know how to answer.
Gu Zhengchen looked coldly, stood up and asked, "Take it or not?"
Liang Bin looked at the majestic Gu Zhengchen and knelt down quickly: "Take it, take it."
Gu Zhengchen sat back and stared at Liang Bin without saying anything.
Liang Bin was frightened, wiping cold sweat and said: "This, this is the custom, everyone in the county government has a share..."
Gu Zhengchen remained silent.
Liang Bin said in a panic: "My Lord, I can't help it. The imperial court only has such a small salary to support myself but not my family. If we don't deduct their salary, the whole family will starve to death. All subordinate officials do this." Yes, all prefectures and counties do this."
Gu Zhengchen stood up, walked out from behind the desk, and said in a deep voice: "The common people have worked hard for the imperial court, but the imperial court cannot even give them a full meal! Are such common people just ants in your eyes? You have eaten enough, You don’t need to care about their life or death, right?”
Liang Bin lowered his head.
What do you need to care about whether others can live through tomorrow? As long as your own family can live and be nourished, isn't that enough?
In all the dynasties, who has ever cared about the untouchable life?
Gu Zhengchen stopped in front of Liang Bin and said seriously: "If you want to eat meat, the people will have to tighten their belts. If you want to live a comfortable life, the people will have to live in hardship! Over time, the people have become poorer. If you want to make the place prosperous, , where to start?”
Liang Bin raised his head and looked at Gu Zhengchen.
Make a place prosper?
What a joke.
Jurong has been poor since ancient times, and no one can prosper.
You have to know that this is the ancestral home of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Hongwu came here in the first year of Hongwu, but what did he bring?
Brought nothing!
Officials should live their lives as they should, and people should suffer as they should!
Even the emperor can't change things. Why are you, a small county magistrate, talking nonsense here?
Gu Zhengchen asked Liang Bin to stand up and said seriously: "I know very well that the imperial salary is too low, and the subordinate officials are even more harsh, so they cannot support the family, so you have to do something. Liang Bin, tell me, you support the family." How much money do you need to live on for a month?”
Liang Bin was uneasy and cautiously stretched out four fingers.
Gu Zhengchen raised his eyebrows: "Forty taels?"
Liang Bin trembled and said quickly in fright: "No, it's four taels. I have a family of seven..."
Gu Zhengchen did not listen to Liang Bin's complaints, but secretly made plans.
The entire Jurong County government office has a total of thirty-five officials in six rooms. According to the standard of forty taels a month, that is one hundred and forty taels. This does not include the history of the history, the chief registrar, the county magistrate, and the station class. The three squads of yamen servants, including Li, Capping Ban Kuaishou, and Zhuang Ban Minzhuang.
For such a large group of people, if you want them to maintain a basic life, you need at least 200 taels of silver per month, roughly 400 shi of grain. Judging from the tax of about three liters per mu of private land, the tax will be more than 13,000 acres. That's enough.
There are 210,000 acres of private land in Jurong, and one-twelfth of the tax on the private land is used to support the county government. This intensity is much greater than the tax rate of 30 to 1. If it were reported to Lao Zhu according to this standard, Zhu Dalang would probably not be able to keep it. own head.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very stingy on the issue of official salaries. He was taking care of the peasants and people overtly and covertly, but he did not think deeply that doing so would harm the people.
You must know that officials are all human beings. Let’s not talk about miscellaneous needs, such as food and warmth. Just say that behind every official and government servant there is a family. The salary and "remuneration" given by the court must at least keep their family members from starving to death. OK.
If the problem of food and clothing for the family cannot be solved, what will the officials do?
These officials are not farmers, and what they hold in their hands are not hoes, so they can go out and farm. What they hold is power, the power to "legally" take away people's property!
Under such circumstances, officials must be colluding and use various means to steal food from the people, such as collecting corvees and large-scale corvee collections.
For one month of corvee, one person will be deducted five dou of rice, and two people will be deducted one stone. If there are 1,600 people, it will be 800 dan, which is equivalent to 400 taels of silver. All colleagues will get two months of good life. ?
In addition, you can also help the wealthy family annex the common people's properties and handle lawsuits. The wealthy family will also pay tribute to the benefits. Sitting in the lobby and being an actor also requires appearance fees, right?
Officials are like hungry wolves, and the common people are like lambs. Unfortunately, the hungry wolves are responsible for guarding the sheepfold.
If you don't feed the hungry wolf, how can the hungry wolf not eat the lamb?
From this perspective, the salary system of the Ming Dynasty was flawed, and the treatment of officials and government servants was too low, which was also problematic.
If Gu Zhengchen wants to govern the place, he must first feed the officials. Only in this way can they reduce the exploitation of the people.
Although, you can’t feed everyone, greed will always exist.
At least, I can control the overall situation and let most of the subordinate officials obey my command and be restrained. Instead of being called the county magistrate like now, in fact, everyone who has anything to do goes to the county magistrate, the chief registrar, and the historian, one by one. They seemed to be respectful in front of them, but when they turned around, there were many people who scolded them.
Before fighting the outside world, you must first make peace with the inside.
To treat the outside, we must first treat the inside.
If we do not seize the initiative of the county government and want to display our ambitions and spend a lot of money to manage Jurong, it is not a joke.
The case of Sun Niang digging her grave and the disappearance of Sun Er's family may be an opportunity.
A wealthy family may not be unshakable, nor may it be unwinnable. For the sake of the greater good, a wealthy family knows how to make choices.
Gu Zhengchen walked out of the gate of the county government office, looked at the stars at night, and asked Liang Bin who was following behind him: "Tell me, who is more like the county magistrate, compared to me or Liu Xian Cheng?"
