A few guards took the horses to the creek to drink water and feed them grass.
In addition to Xu Sanlang, there were three Confucian scholars in the room who Sanlang called "oil-pullers".
They can only feel safe if they stay with Xu Qin.
"Master, I walked around and took a closer look. That young master Wang always intentionally or unintentionally separated us and prevented the villagers here from having any contact with us."
"But I always feel that the villagers in this village are not necessarily residents of this area."
Whether it was out of currying favor or for his own safety, the leading Confucian scholar took the initiative to talk to Xu Qin about this.
"Well, go on, and you guys, tell me what you saw, heard, and all your doubts, but it doesn't hurt."
Xu Qin was enthusiastic and encouraged everyone to speak freely.
These Confucian scholars are all from the Yanghuai area, and are much more familiar and sensitive to local customs and languages than they are from the capital.
"The way livestock is raised here is a bit special. The chickens, ducks and poultry raised here are different from the local ones. Even the dogs react differently."
"Many dogs here not only howl when they see us, but also howl when they see Master Wang and his entourage passing by. Apparently they are not familiar with them either."
"I saw that half of the hundreds of acres of land in the mountains behind the village were newly cultivated, and it was definitely not old cultivated land."
"???"
The three of them analyzed each other's words in a flurry of words.
Probably feeling that the evidence might not be enough, the leading Confucian scholar rolled his eyes, frowned, and said:
"By the way, the woman I saw earlier was the one who was imprisoned in the pig pen with handcuffs and shackles. She didn't look like a local."
"That makes sense. What do you think is going on?" Xu Qin asked with wide eyes.
"Escaped from other places..."
"Refugee."
"Yes, it must have been at the beginning of last year that the Yan army came from the north. Farmers in Shandong Province dragged their sons and daughters to flee to the Zhili area in the south."
"???"
The Three Stooges are really better than Zhuge Liang.
After this discussion and argument, Xu Qin suddenly felt enlightened.
Judging from the freshness of the earthen fort, the words of the gatekeeper are true.
It should be that before Zhu Di transferred from Huai'an to Yangzhou, the local tycoons panicked and built forts to defend themselves if they could.
Now that the war has passed, the earthen fort has not only been demolished, but also has other uses.
This other purpose is to detain refugees from Shandong and other northern regions who fled the war due to the Jingnan War.
These refugees became tenants, or slaves, of the rich.
Let them clear up wasteland and cultivate land, or participate in corvee labor.
Recently, the imperial court issued a new land tax policy and asked them to hide in order to avoid investigation.
At a glance, this matter cannot be just an isolated case.
As we go along, there will be more and more such refugees.
It's just that this rich young master Wang wants to resist the imperial court's new policy with arms.
This is really alarming.
"Then why do these refugees seem so afraid of this Young Master Wang?" Xu Qin asked.
"Oh, I'm talking about Mr. Guan."
The Confucian scholar at the head was obviously more experienced. He actively helped Xu Qin analyze:
"The Tubao villages under the rule of powerful people are all organized in the form of clans, and there is a certain degree of cooperation between them."
"The refugees who migrated here were originally squires with land or ordinary tenant farmers. In the short term, they can only rent other people's land for cultivation."
"In the face of the loss of land and the hardship of life, it must be necessary to cooperate with the local powerful to help each other, or to unite with each other to deal with the outside world. That's why I show my confidence in Young Master Wang."
"No matter how powerful the foreign refugees are, there is a saying that 'a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake'. Even if the local clan organizations are cooperative in nature, it is the local powerful who leads everything and establishes a master-slave relationship."
After hearing the Confucian scholar's analysis, Xu Qin nodded in agreement.
Local tyrants like the castle owner are the local emperors on the territory they occupy.
They were often able to recruit refugees from various places, who were placed on the fields to produce and pay rent to serve.
In the past, land tax in various places was implemented based on the head of household registration.
But these refugees don’t have household registration here, so they don’t have to pay taxes.
The landed gentry had the most fields, their family size was fixed, and their taxes were also fixed.
With the war, a large number of refugees emerged, large tracts of land were abandoned, the entire society was suffering from hunger and cold, and people were in dire straits.
"These earthen fortresses in Southern Zhili must be completely wiped out, and these refugees must be allowed to return to their hometowns and resume planting their fields."
“Eliminate idle land, impose heavy penalties or even force non-cultivated land, and all land will be recovered by the court and then distributed.”
Xu Qin paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.
The Confucian scholar said flatteringly: "What the official said is absolutely true."
Xu Qin suddenly stopped and looked at the three Confucian scholars, "Third gentlemen, where are you going?"
"We are preparing to return to Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture to take the spring county examination today."
"Oh, I don't need to take the county examination. I can follow my official position and work in the Zhanshi Mansion of the East Palace, engaged in the promotion of the Xintian tax system."
The three of them were stunned when they heard this, and it took them a while to come back to their senses.
"Little Su Zecheng, thank you Master Xu."
The Confucian scholar named Su Zecheng knelt down and kowtowed in thanks.
The other two Confucian scholars saw this and did the same thing.
"Please get up quickly."
Xu Qin raised his hands one by one and said in a deep voice:
"My official, Xu Qin, is currently the Zhanshi of Zhanshi Mansion in the East Palace, with a rank of third rank. You and I will be working in Zhanshi Mansion for the time being. Su Zecheng is from the eighth rank, and you and the other two are from the ninth rank. How about it?"
"Thank you, Mr. Xu."
To be honest, if you can become an official without passing the exam, even though you are from the ninth rank, you are already in the mainstream.
You know, the county magistrate is a seventh-grade person.
If you pass the formal imperial examination, you must first take the county examination, then Huai'an Prefecture, then the Capital Gongyuan examination, and finally the palace examination.
After passing five levels and defeating six generals, if you fail the test this year, you will have to take the test again the next year.
Some Confucian students failed to pass the exam all their lives.
Therefore, these three Confucian scholars felt that they were very lucky to meet a high-ranking official of the imperial court on the way.
And he is also the world-famous young talent Xu Qin, the Queen of Military Gods.
…
It was here that Xu Qin and the others were happily thinking about the future and explaining to each other.
Not far from this house, there is a secret cellar beneath the residence of the owner of the castle.
Two soybean oil lamps were lit, and it was dim and damp.
An old man over fifty years old scolded Young Master Wang while coughing.
"What a waste. Why did you bring in plainclothes officers and soldiers?"
"Dad, I didn't want to cause this."
Mr. Wang said with a depressed expression:
"I met some Confucian scholars on the official road in the afternoon. I wanted to scare them, create some chaos, cause panic around them, and arouse public anger."
"I didn't expect that these three Confucian scholars, out of ignorance, actually attracted the government troops. It seems that these three Confucian scholars are government spies and undercover agents. I never expected this."
