After five years of teaching support, Daming became an empire on which the sun never sets.

Chapter 19 The Elders' Association in Lujia Village
The patriarch and the two elders of the Fang Department together formed the village elders group of Lujia Village.The handling of every major event in the village requires the approval of the three people, and it also handles civil disputes at the same time.If any daughter-in-law in the village finds a man wearing a green hat, the patriarch and two other elders will organize the villagers and put them into pig cages and sink them to the bottom of the pond.

"Cough cough!" The patriarch Lu Sansheng knocked the dry tobacco pouch on the ground, stood up and said to the crowd, "Familiars, I gathered everyone today to discuss a major matter with everyone."

"This matter concerns the future of Lujia Village."

"The yamen came to the yamen early this morning, and it was Master Zhang, a popular man from the county magistrate. Master Zhang said that the county magistrate had arranged for a foreigner surnamed Huang to come to our village to be the village head. What do you think about this matter?"

"Ninth Uncle, what kind of official position is the village chief?" a villager said, "I have only heard that there are chiefs of Jia and Bao in the county, but I have never heard of a village chief."

"Master Zhang said that the village head is the head of a village, and he has more power than the head of the Jia Chang Bao. Everyone in the village must obey the village head. The village head is probably the new official position arranged by the yamen, we flat heads. The common people have no right to intervene in the affairs of the government. They say that if the village chief is an official position, then there will be, I just want to ask everyone whether they agree or not." The patriarch said.

"Of course I don't agree." As soon as the words fell, a villager in his 40s who was as strong as an ox stood up and said, "Our surname is Lu, why should we listen to someone with a foreign surname?"

"That's right." The villager next to him said, "From ancient times to the present, the village has not obeyed the rules of foreigners, and even the chief guard cannot interfere with the internal affairs of Lujia Village. Why should the county magistrate send an outsider to take care of it? us?"

"The county magistrate sent such a village chief for no reason. Could it be that there is some conspiracy to target our Lujia Village. Our Lujia Village has always been law-abiding and never fought against the government?" said a thin villager.

……

Opposition came one after another, and none of them agreed.

"Stop, stop, I haven't finished speaking yet." The patriarch said, "The county magistrate seems to know that our clansmen will object, so Master Zhang said that if we agree, the government will exempt the village from all taxes for five years. , including head tax, land tax, logging tax, pheasant tax... and corvée and military service. Emperor Zhu has just ascended the throne, and the tax burden in the county is terrifying."

Many people think that in the early days of the dynasty, because of the policy of recuperation, the people would have a good life.However, the fact is just the opposite, the establishment of the imperial court, the people's life will not be any improvement, but will be more miserable.

The devastated land needs to be built, the newly established imperial institutions require huge expenditures, and the removal of the remnants of the former warlords also requires military salaries... All of which require a lot of money to support.

However, that money can't fall from the sky, it can only find people to bleed.

Some local officials can only continue to exploit the people for their own political achievements and to restore production in the local area as soon as possible.The imperial court has just been established, so it is impossible to spend money to build it for them.Even if the imperial court allocates funds for construction in some places, it is only an example.One place has exclusive allocations, and the remaining 99 places are all officials figured out their own solutions.

This is the suffering of the common people and the suffering of the common people. The people who really live better can only be in the middle of the dynasty, or when everything is built, there will be a prosperous world.

As long as local officials spend their money on construction and do not enrich their personal pockets, the imperial court will acquiesce or even encourage them.That's why there is such a sentence, since the emergence of Emperor Zhu, there have been nine years of drought in ten years.

"That is to say, in the next five years in our village, all the food grown in the fields will be eaten by ourselves, and there is no need to hand over a grain to the yamen." The patriarch said in a serious tone.

Tax free for five years?
The crowd calmed down and began to talk in low voices.The five-year tax exemption is not a small temptation for them.

"Our Lujia Village was already very poor, and the little grain we harvested from the fields had to be handed over to the government, which made it even more unsatisfactory. I remember the severe drought the year before, when Tie Zhu's wife and two children were all hungry. Dead." The patriarch said, "This is a serious matter, so I told the people in the yamen that we would make a decision after we discussed it tonight."

"As for the final agreement or disagreement, although we elders can make a decision, we still have to listen to everyone's opinions."

"To be exempted from the tax burden for five years, but to be enslaved by a foreign surname for five years, I will never do this!" said the sturdy villager.

"That's right, we'd rather starve to death than lose our temper!" the skinny villager said, "Our surnamed Lu must have the integrity of the surnamed Lu. Think what kind of integrity did our ancestors, Duke Huairen, have? He was unwilling to accept the invitation of the Song Dynasty court, and finally died of starvation on the back mountain. We are all descendants of Duke Huairen, and we cannot bow down just because of five buckets of rice."

Most of the villagers still hold objections to this matter. The glorious deeds of their ancestors and integrity are the last dignity in their bones.Even if the court promised to exempt them from taxation for five years, they would not do it.

Starvation is also not indiscreet.

Although the current patriarch is not very good at managing the village, and even made people in the village starve to death, after all, they are their own people.And even if people with foreign surnames manage well, they will not obey.

"Don't talk about the two of you. We are all descendants of the second room. It doesn't matter what the younger generation says. Let's listen to the second uncle's opinion. The second uncle's meaning is ours." A dark-skinned villager said.

"Cough, cough!" The elder of the second room stood up after hearing the words, "I disagree on this matter in principle. After all, starvation is a small matter, but a breach of discipline is a big deal. Who knew that the village chief surnamed Huang would put us on the line? Which pit did Lujia Village take?"

"The second uncle is right, outsiders can't be trusted!" said the skinny villager.

"Since the people in the second room disagree, what about the people in the third room?" The patriarch turned his attention directly to the elders in the third room.The elders of the third room are relatively young, only around 50 years old, and said flatly: "I agree with the second room."

The patriarch looked at the crowd and said, "It seems that everyone has the same opinion. That is, no foreigners are allowed in."

After a pause, "But the other thing that Master Zhang said really made the old man want to agree." The patriarch said, "Master Zhang said that if we agree with the surnamed Huang to be the village chief, then the government will send a A private school teacher came to our village to teach the children to read. And he also said that the teacher would not leave."

"In addition, in future children's exams, the county will also take care of the scholars in Lujia Village."

(End of this chapter)