Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 622
"Name?"

"Xiangzi."

"age?"

"eighteen."

"How did the camel get here?"

"I picked it up outside the city."

Outside the east gate of Jinan Mansion, there is a flagpole in the Imperial Battalion, and a long row of door panels are used to prop up a long row of stones to make a table. A group of military scholars in red military uniforms are sitting in the back with paper and pens. to register.

Xiangzi looked at the imperial guards with envy and admiration.

The imperial clerk behind the desk was also sizing up Xiangzi. He claimed to be eighteen, but he looked old. He was tall but thin. This seemed to be the case of all poor people in this era, and there were no fat poor people. .

The upper body is a gray cloth gown, which is still thin in the early winter, and this gown has seven or eight patches, and in some places it is still patch upon patch.Wearing a pair of fat-legged trousers that are also full of patches, the buttocks and knees are also patched several times, and the trousers are tied up with chicken intestines, revealing a pair of big feet on old straw sandals.

With a dusty face and muddy body, such a poor boy leads three camels.

The price of a camel is not cheap, this is a big animal, a good camel is worth five cows or four bulls, and it is also worth three ordinary horses, or two high-quality horses. From more than 20 silver dollars to more than [-] yuan.

These three big camels can be worth nearly a hundred silver dollars.

The guy was honest, and told the registration document that he picked it up.

Last night the soldiers were in a panic, and the soldiers and civilians in Jinan fled. Xiangzi followed suit. Jinan has been liberated, let everyone go back.

Let those fleeing Qing troops surrender, and said that there will be extra rewards for turning in weapons, armor, horses, etc.

After hearing this, Xiangzi walked back. He had nowhere to go, so his stomach hurt halfway, so he ran into the woods to relieve himself, and accidentally found three camels.

Seeing that there was no one around, and seeing that the brand of the Jinan Qing army was still on the camel, he simply led it back.

Xiangzi was a little nervous and a little excited.

The clerk checked the three camels again, especially the brand marks, and finally questioned Xiangzi's identity in detail.In fact, Xiangzi was a poor man. He was originally from the countryside in Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture, and his family had a few acres of poor land. Later, his father named the land under the name of a squire, and gave some of the land tax that should be paid to the emperor to the squire as rent. Later, in order to escape the increasingly heavy servitude during the Chongzhen period, the whole family simply dedicated themselves to the squires as slaves.

They are still planting their own few acres of land, but they have to pay more rent to the squires, but compared to the land tax and service money collected by the imperial court, they even continue to pay more. What they pay to the squires is not bad, at least there is no disaster. When I was in the countryside, I worked hard to cultivate a few acres of land, and then helped the gentry's family, and went to the city to do some work during the slack, and I could barely eat and wear.

Xiangzi was born in the first year of Chongzhen. When he was in his teens, the Chongzhen Dynasty was no longer in power. There were thieves everywhere in the Central Plains, and endless levies and factions. , days are tough.

At the age of 11, the Tatars invaded Shandong, Jinan was captured, King De was captured, the governor was killed, and more than [-] corpses were piled up outside the city. At that time.

At the age of 13, there was a severe shortage of dry locusts, two taels of fighting wheat, the plague was prevalent, thieves stole hair, father and son ate each other, and more than half of the people died.

Also in the past two years, the several acres of land in Xiangzi's family, which were registered in the name of the squire, were completely sold to the squire, and even the dilapidated house at home was mortgaged.

Xiangzi worked with his father in Jinan Mansion and on the canal wharf. He did all kinds of strenuous work, such as carrying, pulling carts, loading and unloading, and even pulling fibers on the canal.

At the age of 15, the Qing army re-entered the pass and went south to Shandong, occupying Linqing, breaking Jining and slaughtering Yanzhou. This time the Qing army went south, capturing a total of 36 people, 32 livestock, and more than [-] million taels of gold and silver.

It was in this year that Xiangzi's father was taken away by the Tartars. He escaped by luck, but he completely lost his parents and became nothing.

Since then, he has stayed in Jinan City, relying on his youth and hard work, and survived with hunger and food.

The year before last, King Chuang entered Beijing and sent Guo Sheng to lead [-] cavalrymen to Shandong to occupy Jinan. Soon after, the Qing army entered the customs and marched into Shandong, and the Shun army withdrew from Jinan and other places.

At that time, Liu Konghe, the son of the chief assistant Liu Hongxun, spent all his family resources to recruit 3000 people. Xiangzi enlisted in the army to eat food for a bite.

Liu Konghe raised troops in Changbai Mountain, beheaded the false county magistrate, and united with the rebels from all walks of life in Shandong to go north to serve the king. When the soldiers arrived in Cangzhou and Beijing had fallen, they led the army south, and then entered Jinan.

Soon after the Qing army went south, Liu Konghe and others went south to vote for Liu Zeqing. Because they were dissatisfied with Liu Zeqing's refusal to send troops, they openly questioned Liu Zeqing and were assassinated by Liu Zeqing.

Liu Konghe's general Chen Wangxin and the rebel army refused to accept, and were besieged and killed by Liu Zeqing by two thousand.At that time, the court agreed to appoint Liu Konghe as the deputy commander-in-chief, but when the decree came, Liu Konghe had been killed.

Xiangzi was lucky. When Liu Zeqing killed Chen Wangxin and his men for two thousand years, he was not in the army of Liu Kong and Chen Wangxin, but under the command of Liu Kong and his wife Wang.

Mrs. Wang was from Zouping. She was good at riding and shooting. She and her husband each led an army. When Liu Konghe was killed, she threw herself into the water. After being rescued, she was disheartened and disbanded. She returned to Changbai Mountain to serve as a nun. .

Xiangzi and other 1000 people were disbanded, and everyone found a way out. Xiangzi returned to Jinan.

Soon after the Qing army went south and occupied Jinan, Xiangzi continued to carry carts and other hard work to make ends meet, and was forced to cut his hair and keep a braid.

In the blink of an eye, it has been a few years, but Xiangzi is actually 20 years old now.

Boluo did not go out of the city to fight, but the Ming army came to siege, Xiangzi was trapped in the city, and was forced to become a brave man. Fortunately, within a month of the siege, the Qing army collapsed without a fight. On rainy nights, the soldiers and civilians fled, and Xiangzi followed Ran.

In the end, he led three camels back.

Xiangzi didn't want to say that he had joined Liu Kong and the Rebel Army before, followed by Liu Zeqing, and that he had been captured by the Qing army, but the clerk didn't ask too much.

After asking about their place of origin, name, age, etc., after some registration, they received three camels.

"A war horse seized in our army will reward you ten yuan in silver. These three camels are a bit too skinny. You are neither an officer of the Ming Dynasty nor a soldier of the Qing Dynasty who rebelled and surrendered. The reward for the civilians handing over their military animals is lower.
If the three camels are well-fed and you are a Qing soldier, you would normally be given 20 yuan each, but now I can only give you a total of 35 silver dollars. Would you like it? "

Xiangzi was a little surprised when he heard this, and he also knew the price of these big animals, 20 yuan a head is the minimum, and 30 yuan is worth it if it is authentic.

Seeing his hesitation, the secretary smiled and said, "If you want to keep it for yourself, you can also take it away."

Xiangzi thought to himself, where should I take this flustered soldier, and maybe as soon as I leave now, some soldiers will come to requisition. Back then, Liu Konghe was the son of a Shoufu University scholar, and he went to Liu Zeqing’s camp. Liu Zeqing was also one of the four towns of Hongguang. As a result, Liu Konghe accused Liu Zeqing of not going north because he accused Liu Zeqing of having a heavy army and was killed by Liu Zeqing. Chen Wangxin couldn’t wait. If he accepts his incorporation, he immediately kills all the two thousand rebels.

"Sell, as much as you say."

Xiangzi gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Thirty-five pieces of dragon silver, which is also real silver, is better than walking around with three camels.

Register the painting, charge the silver and press the fingerprint.

After everything was done, he was given 35 silver dollars, with the head of Emperor Shaotian on the front and the dragon and the Great Wall on the back, which was heavy and heavy in his hand.

Thirty-five yuan is a lot, and even the silver dollars are just unpacked, all brand new and shiny, without any wear and tear.

He couldn't believe it, looked at the smiling document, hesitated for a while, and took out two pieces and handed them over.

"You don't need this, just put it away."

The clerk smiled and refused, "You said that you are from the countryside of Licheng County, and your family used to own land, but later you sent it to the family of a squire, and then you borrowed a usury loan and sold it to him as a last resort, right?"

"Yes." Xiangzi nodded.

"It's like this. If your situation is true, His Majesty has a policy to help you redeem the land. You were forced to sell the land because you couldn't repay the usury loan. According to the current court policy , if you can now take out the principal of the original loan plus the interest of double the principal, you can redeem the land. If the interest paid at the beginning exceeds double the principal, you can also claim to return the excess. "

The Shaotian Dynasty reduced rent and interest in various places, with the purpose of protecting the interests of the people during the turbulent period, preventing more people from going bankrupt and affecting stability.

Therefore, it is stipulated that the definition standard of usury is three cents of the monthly interest, and it is stipulated that the interest shall not exceed one time of the principal. If the private loan exceeds three cents, the government will not protect it.And even if the interest is less than three percent, the interest must not be higher than the principal. If you borrow 100 yuan, the maximum monthly interest is three percent, and the maximum annual interest is 36 yuan. The interest can be rolled up to 100 yuan at most, and then you can no longer collect interest.

The so-called one profit per month means that the monthly profit is no more than three cents.

In fact, the monthly profit is no more than three cents, which has always been the official red line, but some folks have ways to take advantage of loopholes, such as borrowing 100 taels, and only giving 90 taels, or even five to sixty taels, but the IOU says that the loan is a full hundred taels.So if you borrow 60 taels and write 50 taels, the monthly profit is three cents, which is actually six cents.

Under normal circumstances, non-governmental lending to farmers is [-]% off, and the monthly interest is rolled over. In the event of a disaster, it is sixty-seven to ten.Transfer ticket, that is rolling interest.

During the great famine, the high interest rate would be more than ten times or even dozens of times, plus the interest rate, the farmers' land was taken away in this way.

The land of Xiangzi’s family was taken away in the same way back then. They borrowed grain from the landlord’s family, and the price of grain was ridiculously expensive. They asked them to issue an IOU, borrowing one stone of grain, which was calculated at three taels of silver, but the IOU was for ten taels of silver. Then for half a year, three-point profit.Half a year later, 11 taels of silver will be repaid with the principal and interest, and the landlord's family will charge some tea money, so 12 taels will be repaid.

But they actually borrowed one stone of grain.

After half a year, Xiangzi's family couldn't afford to pay back so much, so they rolled the interest, and even rewrote the IOU, directly writing 15 taels of IOU, which was a three-point interest.

So the land of Xiangzi's family could only be used to offset the debt in the end, and was taken away by the landlord.

"So your family actually borrowed a stone of grain?"

"Ah."

"Then how many acres of land was confiscated from your family?"

"Five acres of land."

"Let me write you a note. You go to the newly appointed county magistrate Yao Qisheng in Licheng County. If it is true after his investigation, then you can directly return the squire's two stones of grain, and then you can get back your five acres of land. .”

Xiangzi was stunned.

After he lost his land, he and his father have always had a thought, that is, work hard, save money, and then buy a few acres of land of his own. After he has land, he will be able to marry a wife and have children in the future, and live a stable life. Sell ​​your strength to others.

But this is just a thought, year after year, this little thought has become more and more extravagant, and he knows in his heart that there may be no chance in this life.

Unexpectedly, now that Emperor Shaotian recovered Jinan, he picked up three camels for 35 silver dollars, and now he can get back his five acres of land?
That is the ancestral land, which has been passed down from generation to generation, and it is more meaningful than 35 silver dollars.

During the Jiajing Wanli period, the world was peaceful, land mergers were serious, and the price of fields was relatively high, especially in the Jiangnan area, some sold for more than fifty taels or even a hundred taels per mu.

Among them, the fields in Lanxi, Zhejiang, were sold for seven to eighty taels per mu, and the second was thirty or forty, and the worst was ten taels. It can be said that it was the king of fields in the Ming Dynasty.

The price per mu in the area around Taihu Lake is extremely expensive. In these places, mulberry and cotton are grown, and the economic returns are high. Moreover, the gentry develops industry and commerce and merges large manors. With strong financial attributes, land ownership and use rights are separated.

In the Central Plains, land prices were also once high.

However, since Chongzhen, there have been frequent wars, countless people have left their homes, and people have fled everywhere in the Central Plains. Many fields have been barren, and the price of land has naturally dropped to an extremely low level.

For example, the fields in Jinan Prefecture are fertile land, but now they are only worth [-] mu. In the past, the fields along the Daqing River were only worth [-] mu because of the flooding caused by the diversion of the Yellow River. Even the cheap ones have one, two, one mu.

Some mountain and dry land are only worth a few hundred dollars.

The land of Xiangzi's family used to be worth five or six taels and one mu, but now it is only worth two or three taels. When Daming regained Jinan, the land price will surely recover slowly.

But no matter how cheap it is, five acres of land can always be worth more than ten taels.

Now that I can redeem it with two stones of grain, that is the great grace of the emperor.

"Actually, the land price is cheap now. If you are a native of Licheng County, if you return to your hometown, you can still enjoy the preferential treatment of buying official land. You can own ten acres of land. In addition to redeeming your own five acres of land, you can also buy more If you buy five acres, now the good fields in Licheng County are estimated to be about three or two acres, and five acres are only 15 silver dollars. Don't miss the opportunity.

After passing through this village, there is no such store when I look back, and the silver dollars in my hand will be spent, but Tian bought it, but it has always been there, and it can be passed on to his children and grandchildren. "

After hearing this, Xiangzi's heart skipped a beat.

The increasingly hopeless thoughts that have been in my heart all this time are suddenly within reach.

He pinched the purse in his hand and nodded resolutely, "Thank you so much, please ask the military master to write a note to Yaozhi County for me, and I'll go there right away."

"No trouble, just a few things by the way." The clerk quickly wrote a note and handed it to him, not forgetting to comfort and encourage him, "The haze will always dissipate, and all bad things will eventually pass away. Be hopeful, roll up your sleeves, and get on with it!"

(End of this chapter)