Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Chapter 487 One good and one evil, one black and one white

As the leaders of Buddhism and Taoism came to Beijing one after another, Ma Wencai, the new deputy head of the White Lotus Sect, also came to the capital amidst the congregation.

In fact, according to his original intention, he wanted to enter Beijing in a low-key manner.However, Han Qing, the official leader, said that only in this way can the imperial court be wary and not send someone to kill them secretly.

Ma Wen just pondered all the way, wondering who is the mouse and who is the weapon.It wasn't until he was about to arrive in the capital that he figured out that he was a mouse from the White Lotus Sect, and as for the "vessel", it was the court's reputation.

After all, they were invited by the imperial court to discuss Taoism in Beijing this time.

Once the court kills them secretly, the court will lose its trust in the world.

Only then did Ma Wen want to understand the joints, and he was not very repulsed by his identity as a "rat".

Isn't their White Lotus Sect just a street rat all these years, hiding around all day long?
Now the "Holy Maidens" have been put to sleep, and it is said that they are going to give birth to children, I really don't know what they are still struggling with.

When Ma Wencai began to doubt his life and the cause of the rebellion, Han Qing had already disguised himself as a salesman and walked the streets of the village of Yingtianfu.

The reason why Han Qing has not been caught by the government for so many years is mainly because he masters makeup skills, and he does everything by himself.

Otherwise, a pampered young master would have been betrayed a hundred times by his gang of dishonest rebels.

Han Qing went deep into the countryside this time, mainly because he wanted to understand the folk customs within Yingtian Prefecture.

Daming has vigorously reformed the tax system in the past two years, and the most thorough implementation is Yingtian Mansion, which is the closest to the capital. If he wants to come here, there must be complaints and the people are in dire straits.

Han Qing walked into a village and saw that there was very little smoke from cooking and no sound of chickens or dogs was heard in the village, and a smug smile appeared on his face.

Sure enough, as he expected, the people here have been forced to die by the government!
If Daming continued to struggle like this for a few more years, wouldn't it be possible to reach the level of the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty?

After walking half a circle in the village, Han Qing wanted to quit the area and change to another village to collect folk songs.Na Chengxiang was about to turn around and walk back when he saw an old man waving at him.

"Young man, there are scumbags in your load!"

Han Qing is a very professional anti-thief, and the goods in the cargo are carefully selected, even if the officials come to check, they can't find faults.

"Old man, we have everything in this load!"

"It doesn't matter if it's needles, threads, or pills for headaches, we have them all in our cargo basket!"

The old man was immediately happy when he heard this.

"Yohoo!"

"That's kind, give me a piece of caramel, two sewing needles, and a piece of thread..."

Hearing this, Han Qing hurriedly put down his burden and rummaged in the cargo load. As soon as he found out the needle and thread, he saw a six or seven-year-old boy running out of the yard, shouting "Sugar" around his load. sugar".

Seeing this, Han Qing hurriedly took out a piece of caramel wrapped in oil paper from the cargo load. When the old man saw such a big piece, his face showed pain on the spot.

"ah!"

"Why is it such a big piece, and you didn't say to cut it into smaller pieces and sell it?"

"Grandpa, I want to..."

Hearing his grandson acting like a baby, the old man touched his sleeve reluctantly, and asked anxiously.

"Isn't it a lot of money for such a big piece?"

After thinking about it, Han Qing made an offer of [-] Wen.

To be honest, the price is not low, but compared to the piece of caramel he took out, it is definitely not high, even a bit too cheap.

When the old man heard the quotation, a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes.However, he quickly suppressed the surprise and replaced it with just the right amount of disgust.

"Tsk tsk, why is it so expensive? When we bought it last year, it cost ten cents and one yuan..."

Han Qing didn't say anything when he heard the words, but just replied with a smile.

"Old man, the one you bought last year must not be as big as ours!"

The old man nodded awkwardly.

"That's true!"

"It's the first time we've seen a seller like you. If the old man's sons hadn't become successful, we might not be able to afford it!"

As the old man said, he took out forty Wen from his sleeve and handed it over.Han Qing took the copper coins with both hands, but his eyes did not look at the money, but he was thinking about what the old man said.

"Old man, you just said that your sons are all promising, can you tell me how to make a success?"

As soon as this was mentioned, the smile on the old man's face could not be stopped, and his face was full of proud wrinkles.

"Hi!"

"It's not a good time yet!"

"The emperor's grandson has built a series of workshops on the edge of the capital, and they are constantly recruiting workers every day. As long as you have hands and feet, they will want them."

"To tell you the truth, the daughters-in-law of my family are all working in the workshop now, and they can earn six hundred grandchildren a month!"

"My eldest son is even worse. In the early years, he helped the villagers build houses and learned how to do masonry. Now he works for a construction company under the name of the emperor's grandson, and he can earn sixty grandchildren a day!"

Not to mention sixty copper coins, Han Qing didn't even care about sixty thousand copper coins.But seeing the old man's complacency, he still exclaimed in cooperation.

"Oh!"

"Sixty miles a day, eighteen miles a month!"

The old man pursed his lips and smiled.

"Who says it's not!"

"The emperor's grandson is full of life, no matter how many people there are, it's not enough!"

"Last month, when my eldest son came back, he said that he built the palace where the emperor's grandson lives now. He also said that there was a brick on the wall where he was working, with his name engraved on it!"

"Think about what an honor this is. In the future, our old Liu's family will definitely produce high officials!"

When Han Qing heard this, the smile on his face gradually froze.

"Dare to ask the old man, have all the people in the village gone to work for the emperor's grandson?"

The old man waved his hands disdainfully.

"How can it be!"

"The emperor is short of people, but not everyone is needed. You have to have a skill, either spinning and weaving, or carpentry and masonry. In short, you have to be the same."

"Anyone who doesn't know anything will be taken by the county people to other places to farm!"

"What?"

Han Qing had just heard what the old man said so well, and his heart sank already.Hearing the old man say this now, it can be said that my heart is refreshing.

It seems that there is no chaos under Ying Tianfu's rule?

Not only do ordinary people live without people, but they live pretty well?

"Old man, can you tell us more about it?"

"Who in the county leads them to farm?"

The old man shook his head upon hearing this.

"We can't say for sure. Anyway, they are people from the county. It seems to be people from the supply and marketing cooperative, post office, and Huimin Medical Center?"

"Anyway, I can't run away from these families. These families are powerful, they belong to the grandson of the emperor, and the county magistrate dare not mess with them!"

"I also heard from the people from Wu Laoer's family next door that there was some public land in the county, but now it is all leased to the poor. Those who did not get the land were organized by the supply and marketing cooperatives to go to other places, and some went to Datong in the north Those who opened up wasteland in the government, and those who went to Liaodong to farm."

"Wow, Liaodong!"

"People from the county told us that the land in Liaodong is black, and oil can be squeezed out!"

"Old man, I am old. If I were ten years younger, I would have to farm with the emperor's grandson..."

Hearing this, Han Qing asked unwillingly.

"Old man, what are you doing now, are you staying at home all day?"

When the old man heard this, his eyes widened.

"What are you talking about?"

"What are we doing so that we can take care of our father at home?"

"Let me tell you, we are now planting more than ten acres of land each, and we don't have to pay the government a grain of grain!"

Han Qing was puzzled again when he heard the words.

"Why is that?"

"It's only natural to pay taxes for farming since ancient times. I haven't heard that the imperial court has exempted the tax for farming!"

When the old man heard this, a sly smile appeared on his face.

"Let me tell you, don't chat with others."

"Our family has taken advantage of a loophole. All ten members of our family are under the same account without division. According to the new policy of the emperor's grandson, there is no need to pay taxes for less than two acres of land per capita. Our family is stuck, so of course we don't have to pay food. !"

"This old man can figure it out by himself. The three sons and their daughter-in-law go to Jinling to work, and they can earn more money!"

When Han Qing heard this, he immediately understood why the old man was so mysterious, because according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, his family had to separate into separate households in this situation.

The old man must have bribed Li Zheng, or got stuck with a bug in repairing the yellow book, so he registered all three sons under his own account.

After the old man finished speaking triumphantly, a look of disappointment appeared on his face.

"But this matter will only take advantage of it for a few years. When the yellow book is rebuilt in two years, our sons will have to set up their own households. The land will have to be re-divided at that time. See if it can be used. Pay food..."

Han Qing chatted with the old man for a while, and left resentfully when he learned that most of the young people in the village had gone to work in the city, and most of them were old people and children.

However, as soon as he reached the head of the village, he was stopped by a woman from a noble family.

"Hey, that peddler, do you have any good silk thread?"

Han Qing didn't want to talk to this woman at first, but when he saw two people in official clothes at the entrance of the village, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and turn around and go back to deal with that woman with a thick finger.

"What color silk thread does this elder sister want?"

The middle-aged woman raised her eyebrows and said with disdain.

"What color do you have?"

"We have all kinds of colors here, red orange yellow green blue blue purple, even the gold and silver threads used by the wealthy people in the capital!"

When the middle-aged woman heard this, she looked at Han Qing in surprise, and thought that this shopkeeper has such a big tone, and there are gold and silver threads?
"real or fake?"

"Let me tell you, we have seen the world, don't fool us with copper wire!"

Han Qing didn't talk nonsense with him, he rummaged through the load, found a bundle of gold thread and handed it over.The middle-aged woman looked at it, and saw that it was indeed shining with gold, like gold threads drawn from pure gold, and her face was a little more solemn.

"It doesn't look too bad, so let's give it to us..."

"okay!"

Han Qing bent down again to rummage through the cargo load, but during the rummage, he kept staring at the two people in official clothes at the entrance of the village from the corner of his eye.

When he saw the two officials walking straight towards him, his heart suddenly rose, and he stretched out his hand to the innermost part of the cargo load, holding the handle of the knife tightly, ready to give him cold blood at any time. Two people come to a knife.

However, just when Han Qing thought there was going to be a fierce battle, he saw the two officials passing him and walking towards the middle-aged woman.

"Wang Saihua, tell me quickly whether your land is for sale or not."

When the middle-aged woman heard this, she tore her hair and sat down on the ground crying.

"The folks came out to comment, the government forced to buy and sell, woo woo woo..."

Seeing this, the two officials hurried back a few steps and walked away from Wang Saihua by two feet.

"Wang Saihua, stop your sloppy and rolling activities!"

"We are just following the orders of the county magistrate to deliver a message to you."

"If you sell the land now and the county pays the market price, it will be better than if you can't find a tenant and have to pay the emperor's grain for nothing every year, right?"

When Wang Saihua heard the words, he yelled at the two officials.

"What do you mean by charging at the market price?"

"The market price of eight taels of silver per mu of land has to be settled in ten years, and there is no interest at all. Do you think we are fools?"

"Three generations of my family have saved hundreds of acres of land by saving food and money. If they can't come here, they will be defeated!"

Seeing that Wang Saihua was so obsessed with it, the two officials had no choice but to say a few harsh words and leave.

In fact, the order given by the county magistrate is to buy and sell freely, all on a voluntary basis.

If it wasn't for the county magistrate's pressing, the two of them wouldn't even want to come to the countryside, and they could come here to spread the word by just sending a second person.

"Go, go, go!"

"Since you don't want to sell it, you can keep it for yourself. Anyway, the county lord said that you can't pay a penny in taxes. If you can't pay the tax, the county will take your land, and then you won't give you a penny!"

Wang Saihua cried again when she heard this, and finally cried the two officials away with her own ultrasonic crying.

After the official left, Han Qing curiously stepped forward to ask.

"Eldest sister, what did you say to those two officials just now? Why can't I understand?"

Wang Saihua said bitterly when he heard the words.

"What else could it be? Isn't it that the treacherous officials in the court came up with a new policy, taxing less according to the amount of land..."

"Fortunately, my son is still a juren. In the early years, as long as I paid some food, I was free of corvee."

"Now that we have changed it randomly, my family has to pay hundreds of buckets of food for no reason a year. How can we live this life, woo woo woo..."

Han Qing knew about this a long time ago, and he was curious about another thing.

"Sister, what I'm asking about is about selling land. I just heard from the officials that the government wants to buy your land?"

Wang Saihua wiped away her tears and said with disdain.

"There is such a thing!"

"It's said that the emperor's grandson came up with a new trick to take our land at the market price, but we don't give money now. We give a little every year, and we can give it up in ten years..."

Hearing the words, Han Qing bowed his head and made the final calculation, thinking that the business was not a loss.

In other words, it was considered kind of the imperial court not to rob the land clearly, but now that she was given the money to buy the land, she still didn't sell it?

"Sister, is this fair for the government?"

When Wang Saihua heard the words, she immediately cursed.

"Fair ass!"

"In the past, one mu of my land could be sold for one tael of silver a year, but after ten years, it would be ten taels of silver!"

"The government erased two taels of silver from me for no reason. Is this fair?"

"Furthermore, when have you ever seen the government pay for things?"

"Even if the magistrate paid it this year, can you guarantee that the magistrate will pay it back in the future?"

"When the time comes, the government won't pay you, how dare you go to the yamen to file a complaint!"

After Wang Saihua said this, she got up from the ground angrily, patted the dust off her buttocks and went back to her yard without looking back.

"Sister, your line..."

"No more!"

Hearing this, Han Qing could only smile wryly and put the thread back into the load, and then carried the load to the next village.

However, after walking through several villages, Han Qing felt that there was no need for him to leave.

Because the villages near Yingtianfu were similar, young people were either fooled by the government to open up wasteland in other places, or recruited away by recruiters to work in workshops in the city.

Han Qing came out of the last village, looked at the green rice fields at the entrance of the village, and felt endless sympathy for those landowners who were desperately holding on to the fields.

According to the method of the emperor's grandson, even the tenants in the village will not be found in a few years. Who will rent the land of these landlords?

Could it be that the landlord led his mother-in-law and concubine to farm the land?
The more Han Qing thought about it, the more interesting he became, and at the same time he had a new understanding of Zhu Yunxie's policies.

He finally understood why the emperor's grandson dared to risk the world's disgrace to reform the tax system. He dared to love the emperor's grandson and Zhu Tuhu, one good and one evil, one black and one white.

One is desperately collecting taxes, and the other is desperately poaching people.

If the landlord cannot find tenants, the land of the landlord's family is naturally worthless, and the imperial court can take it away at a very low price!

It doesn't even cost money, as long as the landlord's family can't pay the tax, the imperial court can justifiably confiscate it!

Han Qing wanted to understand this, and was full of worries about his future rebellion.

Give the emperor a few more years, and the country of the Ming Dynasty will be as stable as cast iron!
(End of this chapter)