Raising poultry and livestock is not suitable for every household. Forced apportionment will turn into harsh rule.
Gu Zhengchen did not return to Jurong, but stayed one night in Liulitian and continued to walk among the scattered villages in Jurong the next day to inspect the people's conditions.
Since the county government encouraged people to appeal their grievances and warned local big families, the county government dealt with a group of people who committed crimes, and forcibly ordered the district chiefs to inform the people of the news, and arranged secret visits by the government officials. If there were any people who did not know, the district chiefs would Will be punished.
Facing the powerful Gu Zhixian, let's look at the fate of the wealthy Guo family. In addition, Gu Zhengchen has now become the commanding officer of the Jurong Guards. He is a person who was granted a title by the Ming Dynasty. No one dares to provoke the big families in Jurong. Gu Zhengchen, fearing to avoid him, restrained himself one after another.
This has made the local area and the countryside become much more peaceful. The powers of the district chief and the elderly have been strengthened and stabilized, and their responsibilities have become heavier. They have become the spokesperson of "imperial power going to the countryside". But when there is news, the county government The chiefs and elders must gather the people under their jurisdiction and spread the news.
The people also know that village chiefs, elderly people, and wealthy households can no longer bully others casually. If they have grievances or injustices, they can go to the county government to file a complaint. In the past, if you went directly to the county government office, you might not be able to get out. You might be caught before you even ran three miles away.
The situation is different now. Guzhi County not only allows people to go directly to the county government to file complaints, but also helps people write petitions. Every once in a while, government officials will visit the village publicly or secretly to participate in "assemblies" called by the elderly. No matter how powerful the big players are, they can't block the people from the county government, let alone block the news.
Gu Zhengchen walked through the private villages and found no grievances, except for limited daily disputes, and no major incidents that constituted the case.
During this inspection, Gu Zhengchen spent five full days and walked through twelve villages before returning to Jurong County.
When Luo Shao saw Gu Zhengchen coming back, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, it's a great thing, a great thing."
"What's the good thing?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Luo Shao laughed: "There is a man named Zhou Shen in Southern Zhou. His mother-in-law gave birth to three boys. Isn't it a good thing?"
Gu Zhengchen was stunned for a moment and asked, "Seriously?"
Luo Shao nodded heavily: "Seriously, the county government sent people to check, and the three boys are all fine."
"It's such a happy event, it deserves to be celebrated."
Gu Zhengchen said seriously.
In ancient times, it was very important to give birth to three boys. This was a big event. Although it could not be classified as auspicious, it was also a great joy outside of auspiciousness. It needed to be reported to the emperor to tell him that the common people had given birth to three boys for Ming Dynasty.
After the court knows about it, it will reward you.
This kind of thing is not unusual. Last year, a local family had three children. The court not only gave a lot of money, but also recruited wet nurses to take care of them. This treatment is not simple...
"Are you talking about Nanzhou?"
Gu Zhengchen thought of something and made sure.
Luo Shao nodded slightly: "Yes, it's Nanzhou, the small village in the south of the city."
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while and told Luo Shao: "Ask Zhou Xi, Zhou Ke, the governor of Nanzhou, and the old man Zhou Zhi to come to the county office early tomorrow morning. Also, tell the chief registrar and Dianshi that the three of you will have dinner at the magistrate's house tonight. "
"good."
Luo Shao knew that Gu Zhengchen had something to discuss again.
Zhang Xiwan looked at Gu Zhengchen who had returned and complained quite a bit. People who serve as county magistrates basically never leave the county. But her husband is not only out of the county, but also stays there for several days. If it weren't for Zhang Pei's escort, it would be really embarrassing. rest assured.
After telling Xiao He to add some dishes in the evening, Gu Zhengchen looked at Zhang Xiwan who was a little dissatisfied and felt sorry for him, and said with a smile: "How can you manage a place if you don't know the sentiments of the people? You don't want your husband to be a mediocre person, right? You will have to As a first-grade wife, your husband must work harder."
Zhang Xiwan quickly covered Gu Zhengchen's mouth, worried: "That was just a joke, how can we take it seriously."
Zhang Xiwan had not really thought about Mrs. Yipin Gaoming. She only imagined what kind of life Mrs. Yipin Gaoming was leading when she was having fun.
Gu Zhengchen sat down tiredly, looked at the pile of letters and documents on the table, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "How come so many letters and documents have been sent in just a few days."
Zhang Xiwan sorted out the correspondence and handed over a letter first: "This is from father, please read it."
Gu Zhengchen took the letter and didn't know how many sermons his father-in-law had packed into it.
Zhang Xiwan said softly at the side: "The officials of the Taxation Department of Zhangde Prefecture increased taxes at will. They not only taxed the melons, vegetables, persimmons, and dates sold by the people, but also required the people's homes to pay food tax, water tax, and land tax. This The matter was learned by the supervisory censor and reported to the imperial court."
Gu Zhengchen frowned. With such excessive taxation and malicious exploitation, weren't you afraid that Lao Zhu would send his family westward?
Zhu Yuanzhang's position on this matter is: gathering ministers is better than robbing ministers.
Needless to say, the officials of the Zhangde Prefecture's Taxation Department cannot escape, and even the local prefect cannot escape responsibility. There is no way this kind of thing can be hidden from the prefect's Yamen in any case, and it cannot be said to be a nest of snakes and rats.
Father-in-law Zhang He warned himself in the letter not to harm the people or to increase taxes on the people.
Gu Zhengchen put down the letter, looked at Zhang Xiwan, and said seriously: "Don't worry, Jurong commercial taxes are all in accordance with laws and regulations, not to mention that fruits and melons are not included in the tax items, even if they are included in the tax items, they can sell them How many copper coins will you pay?"
Zhang Xiwan smiled, knowing that her husband was not a person who bullied the people, and pushed the other letters and documents to Gu Zhengchen: "Well, these two letters are from the East Palace, and the rest are from the Governor Mu Ying. documents."
Gu Zhengchen looked at it and found that the remaining letters and documents were unopened. Zhang Xiwan knew the rules and could read family letters, but he did not dare to open them privately regarding matters in the court, even if these matters were not urgent.
Zhu Dalang is living a good life now. Since the princess's wedding, he has finally relaxed for a while. He doesn't have to listen to his teacher's lectures every day, and he doesn't have to do endless homework every day.
Accompanying the Crown Princess has become the most important thing. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, a strict father, hopes that Zhu Biao can spend more time with the Crown Princess. Empress Ma sent her two maids to the East Palace to be responsible for the princess's daily diet.
Zhu Biao is an idler now. His affairs are neither painful nor painful, and there is nothing to care about...
Mu Ying, on the other hand, sent a lot of military news.
For example, the Leizhou Guard commander Zhu Yonggan overthrew a group of pirates. The pirates ran to the sea, were caught up again, and killed more than 200 people. This was considered a fierce act.
Li Wenzhong also made another military exploit, capturing Yuan Ting Ping Zhang Chen Anli, Saw Chip Fei and others.
Looking at the words "sawdust flying", Gu Zhengchen always felt that this name was too casual.
There was also Xu Da, who recruited more than 1,300 Yuan Ting officials and subordinates, and incidentally moved more than 2,000 households of Yuan Ting soldiers and civilians to the fortress, and distributed fields to the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Feng Sheng, Deng Yu, Tang He and others led troops to the north to prevent Wang Baobao from causing trouble. Jin Chaoxing, Hu Hai and others captured Yuan Taiwei Boyan Buhua and others...
There were a lot of military operations in April and May, but most of them were small actions. There was no news of the main confrontation between the Ming army and Wang Baobao. The Ming army's posture now is very obvious, which is to focus on defense and at the same time clean up Liaodong, northwest, and outside the Peking Pass. The scattered Yuan Dynasty troops in the north and other places slowly advanced in a way of nibbling away in small groups.
Logically speaking, these military reports should not be sent to Jurong, but Mu Ying obtained Zhu Yuanzhang's permission to inform him of the news on the front line one by one. This seemed to be a signal, a signal that positioned Gu Zhengchen as a military general.
Gu Zhengchen thought that he was not a military general, but he was in charge of the Jurong Guard, and he still won the title of county man for his "military merit". Perhaps in Mu Ying's eyes, Gu Zhengchen should play more of a role on the battlefield.
After reading all the paperwork, dinner was ready.
Because there was official business to discuss, Zhang Xiwan didn't want to sit down at the table, so she went to the side room with Xiao He.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Luo Shao, Zhou Mao and Yang Liang and said straight to the point: "I govern Jurong to ensure that the people of Jurong have enough to eat and have surplus food and wealth at home. I have been visiting the countryside in the past few days to ask for advice from the people. , whether the existing policy is feasible, I still need to ask what you mean."
"Your Majesty, please tell me."
Luo Shao straightened his posture.
Zhou Mao and Yang Liang also became serious.
Gu Zhengchen picked up the tea cup, replaced the wine with tea, and drank it all in one gulp: "The output of ordinary people's homes based solely on farmland is extremely limited. After paying the two taxes every year, leaving aside all kinds of expenses, there is not much food left in the family. Once this happens, When faced with famines, floods and droughts, one can only rely on the imperial court to open warehouses to release grain, or one can become a vagrant and run around in the wild. This is not a normal state of affairs for ordinary people."
People need to have a certain degree of disaster resistance and the ability to withstand disasters. Even if there is no harvest in a year, they still need to be able to survive this year. How is it like today, let alone no harvest for a year or half a year? Many families basically cannot pay taxes, and even survival is a problem.
“So, I thought, since relying solely on farmland output is not enough for people to have surplus food and wealth, is it possible for people to raise some poultry, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, pigs, sheep, etc. Can the people’s income be increased through breeding? "
"Farming?"
Luo Shao frowned, and Zhou Mao and Yang Liang looked at each other.
Yang Liang knew the nature of this county magistrate. He would either not bring it up, or raising it would mean that he had already planned to do it. Seeing that Gu Zhengchen was serious, he raised his concerns: "County Lord, breeding is a method, but breeding in a common people's home How many can be raised? The most you can raise is one chicken or duck. If you are raising pigs and sheep, you still need to pull them to herd the pigs. This requires people to watch, and the fields are too busy..."
Zhou Mao also persuaded: "Small poultry is okay. Some people raise chickens, ducks and geese, but the number is very small. They keep them for the New Year and kill them for their own use. This can't be said to make them rich. They have worried about it for a year, and they can't replace it." Bring me some money."
Luo Shao didn't support Gu Zhengchen's idea: "In breeding, only pigs and sheep are of some value. It's just a county official. Raising pigs and sheep requires people to watch over them. Those who can move in the common people's homes are pulled to the ground." They went there and even the babies were not spared. How could there be people herding sheep and pigs..."
