Daming, originally wanted to destroy it, but the system came

Chapter 339 It’s really the Gu family’s house

When Zhu Zhen followed Li Jinglong through the streets and alleys with a disbelief in evil, and finally came to a small farmhouse that couldn't be more remote, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

"Five hundred taels," Zhu Zhen pointed at the small ruined courtyard in front of him with one hand and looked at Li Jinglong. "Explain to me, what can five hundred taels of silver be used for?"

Just buying such a courtyard in the capital does not even cost five hundred taels.

In the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan rented a four-room house in Beijing. The rent was about three taels of silver per month, which is dozens of taels of silver per year. It was still the price of the capital, and the location was good.

What is this? Not to mention the city center, we are almost out of the city.

In fact, Li Jinglong actually planned to buy a farmhouse in a small village outside the city. There are indeed many villages and houses outside Suzhou.

Maybe I thought it was not conducive to asking for information, so I didn't do it.

But five hundred taels of silver, let alone buying a big house with multiple entrances and multiple exits, wouldn’t make you so miserable, right?

"You are so good," Zhu Zhen didn't even bother to scold Li Jinglong. He just felt that this dandy didn't know how expensive oil, salt and rice were.

Only Li Jinglong helped usher Tang and Xu's carriage into the courtyard, while explaining aggrievedly: "My uncle, no one is willing to sell this place. You really don't know that the Gu family belongs to this Suzhou city." Earth Emperor."

The Gu family is a big family with deep roots in the south of the Yangtze River. Even compared to the previous Zhang family, they are not comparable.

Let's put it this way, the Gu family can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, especially Gu Yong during the Three Kingdoms period, which is evident from the fact that Gu Yong is one of the representatives of the Gu family.

During the Soochow period, Gu Yong served as a general under Sun Quan and became prime minister.

For example, in the fifth year of Jian'an, Gu Yong was appointed by Sun Quan as the general against the captives and the prefect of Kuaiji County.

It was also because of Gu Yong's role that the Gu family in Wu County began to rise, and even to this day, it has not declined.

After so many generations and years of ups and downs, it is not easy for a family to reach today.

The reason why the Gu family has the term "Gu family's house" actually dates back to the Zhang Shicheng period.

At the beginning, Suzhou Prefecture was still Zhang Shicheng's territory. When Zhu Yuanzhang came to attack, it was only with the strong support of Shen Wansan and other Suzhou people that he could hold on to Suzhou for eight months.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not carry out bloody revenge for the massacre of the city, the eight-month war still caused considerable blow and damage to Suzhou City.

Coupled with the famous Hongwu expulsion incident, many large households in Suzhou City were forced to leave their hometowns and migrate to northern Jiangsu or to the capital.

For example, Shen Wang and Shen Wansan's family were originally from Wucheng County, Huzhou Road, and later moved to Suzhou City.

Because Shen Wansan strongly supported Zhang Shicheng at that time, he was moved to the capital with him. Although Shen Wansan was eventually exiled, Shen Wang, who led the Shen family, could only live in the capital now and did not dare to return to his ancestral home easily.

This resulted in the Gu family becoming the dominant family without shaking its foundation.

Let's put it this way, in the process of rebuilding Suzhou City, it can be said that almost all the land in the city has become the property of the Gu family.

The Gu family's house also came from this.

Not only were many of the rebuilt houses built by their families, but even the wealthy families had to sell their properties to other families when they left.

To put it bluntly, the Gu family had nothing to do with their official uniforms. Even if they wanted to use the land, they had to ask the Gu family for their opinion first.

As for why the houses in the city are so expensive, it is also because the Gu family controls a large amount of real estate, but they will not sell it easily.

After all, they are a big family that has been around for hundreds of years. They don't need that little money, so they just rent and sell the house.

Over time, this led to the emergence of a phenomenon in Suzhou, that is, it is difficult to find a house.

"Are you really speculating on real estate?" Zhu Ming's whole body felt bad.

Zhu Ming even had to wonder if there were time-travelers in the Gu family, right? His eyes are so vicious?

Because he knows very well that a house is a necessity, and your family must have a roof to cover themselves, right?

If nothing else, you have to have a house where you can live, right?

And once Mr. Gu is allowed to occupy all the real estate in Suzhou City, just collecting rent, he will be able to eat and drink without worries, and money will continue to flow into his pocket.

Is this okay?

"Is the Gu family guilty of any violation of law or discipline, or of bullying the people?" Zhu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed that he had to harvest a wave of leeks.

"Uh, no," Li Jinglong unexpectedly smiled awkwardly, indicating that the Gu family was an old family that had gone through several dynasties and existed for hundreds of years.

Although such a family may have some dandy children, there are not many of them.

As the saying goes, you can only be rich for three generations, but as long as you are more than three generations, you will accumulate a lot of foundation. Even if you are a nouveau riche at the beginning, you will gradually become a wealthy family.

The qualifications of the Gu family are shown here. It has been a famous family since the Soochow period of the Three Kingdoms. How could such a big family easily have disciples like Zhang Zhan who do evil things?

Even if something does happen, they will handle it themselves without waiting for others to complain.

Either expelled from the family, or directly imprisoned within the clan, there will never be any excuses for others.

This is the family.

Zhu Zhen frowned, finally running into trouble.

In fact, the Zhang family in Liyang County was not the main family of the Zhang family in Jiangnan at all, but a branch family. The real "talents of the Zhang family" refer to the Zhang family of the main family in Jiangnan, which is a large family that is on an equal footing with the Gu family. .

Gu Lu, Zhu Zhang, were the four major family surnames in the Soochow period of the Three Kingdoms. Among them, the Gu family and the Zhang family can be said to have been preserved intact to this day, with the most recent heritage.

Even if these families really did something illegal and disorderly, it would be watertight.

"Then why are you here?" Zhu Chu could only vent his anger on Li Jinglong.

Li Jinglong said aggrievedly: "I haven't finished what I said before. Although the Jinyi guards left by Li Gui did not find out anything about the Gu family, this Magistrate Cai is not simple. Uncle Eighteen still remembers that a few years ago, Suzhou encountered Been to floods.”

Zhu Ming shook his head. He had never noticed that he was in a transparent stage a few years ago.

Li Jinglong coughed dryly: "Actually, I don't know either."

Hey.

"But it doesn't matter, it's all a trivial matter. But the matter of Governor Cai is not trivial. He lied about the disaster and exaggerated it, as if Taihu Lake was going to flood the entire Suzhou city. In the end, he embezzled the disaster relief distributed by the court. While paying for grain, he put the tax money and annual grain that should have been handed over to the court into his own treasury."

"This Suzhou Prefecture originally had more than 67,000 acres of land, equivalent to six million acres."

One hectare of land is one hundred acres.

"Later, we opened up wasteland and increased the land to 95,400 acres. Sixty percent of it was official land, and only 40% was farmland. Just one year's tax is enough to keep the Cai family's extravagant life from eating it all in ten lifetimes. .”

Zhu Ming also took a breath of cold air.

Good guy, you actually found out such a terrible corrupt official?

Even Zhu Ming never thought that he originally came for the Gu family, but it turned out that the Gu family didn't have much trouble. This prefect Cai Xuancai is a big tiger.

"Wait a minute, with my father's abilities, it's impossible for him to just distribute relief food when he hears about a disaster, and then ignore it. How is that possible?" Zhu Zhen began to doubt again.

"Actually, the emperor's uncle once sent an imperial envoy to investigate the matter, but in the end it was ignored because the person who came to investigate at that time was Qin Sheng," Li Jinglong lowered his head as he spoke.

"Who?" Zhu Zhen asked with a frown.

"Qin Sheng, Zuodu Censor, Uncle Eighteen, you have whipped him before," Li Jinglong muttered. He was also present at the time and was shocked. From then on, he never dared to provoke this grumpy man again. Uncle eighteen.

Zhu Chu's heart moved, it was him.

(The author also forgot to assign a name to the unlucky Zuodu Yushi. I don’t remember it. If I remember it wrong, I will correct it...)

Speaking of Qin Sheng, being able to achieve the position of Zuodu Yushi shows that he has won Zhu Yuanzhang's trust.

In fact, Qin Sheng is indeed very accomplished. First of all, he was a Jinshi in the 18th year of Hongwu. Not only was he a promising young man, he was also honest and upright. He once refused bribes from many local officials, and instead impeached many corrupt officials, so he was deeply loved. Zhu Yuanzhang held the important position of censor of Zuodu.

"But such a person, isn't he also taking bribes? Ha," Zhu Zhen sneered, with a sarcastic arc hanging on the corner of his mouth.

It has to be said that Jin Yiwei is indeed a Jin Yiwei, and he actually investigated the matter in such a short time.

According to Jin Yiwei's investigation, it was Qin Sheng who came to investigate this matter in person, but Cai Xuan didn't give money stupidly. That kind of bribery method was too stupid, and it has been proven many times that Qin Sheng is not that good. To win over.

In fact, Cai Xuan did not give any property, but a woman.

Cai Jue, a woman Cai Xuan bought as a ransom from a brothel. After careful training, she was given to Qin Sheng in the name of her adopted daughter. This is called following someone's fancy. He knew that Qin Sheng was a talented man, so he gave him a beautiful woman. This finally caused Qin Sheng to have a stain in his life. After all, he still protected this cheap father-in-law.

Zhu Ming suddenly remembered a costume TV series, which was a scene in Ji Xiaolan where Wang Danwang gave away his adopted daughter Su Qinglian.

How similar?

And just like Wang Danwang asked Su Qinglian to send the Riverside Scene during the Qingming Festival, Cai Xuan also gave Cai Xuan many famous paintings, such as one of the Four Plum Blossoms from the Song Dynasty, which finally impressed Qin Sheng.

"So Uncle Eighteen, do you want to take down the prisoner Cai Xuan now?" Li Jinglong asked eagerly.

Zhu Ming rolled his eyes and said, "Why are you so anxious? Don't you know how to take advantage of thieves? If someone tries to argue, can you provide evidence? Besides, the situation of the Gu family is a big trouble. I really don't believe it. , The Gu family has had nothing happened for so many years."

"Let everyone not be anxious first, and wait until the King of Japan comes to visit before making any calculations. As for Cai Xuan, he should be stabilized first, but he has to send someone to send a secret to inform his father. It is best to get it from Qin Sheng in the capital first. To start, as long as Qin Sheng confesses, it's just a Suzhou prefect, and I don't need to personally take action."

So Cai Xuan's matter is just a trivial matter, and what Zhu Min needs to solve now is still the Gu family.

Is this Gu family really watertight?

Li Jinglong had no choice but to go down and make arrangements.

In order to make it easier for Shang Datian to listen and not alert the enemy, Zhu Chu arranged for Jin Yiwei to go directly to the secret fold, which required Li Gui's people to make another trip.

At the same time, Zhu Zhen was also pondering, is there any way to once and for all solve the oppression of the people by the landlord family and the gentry?

"Also after what happened with the Gu family, we have to find ways to prevent intentional people from controlling real estate in advance. Whether it is fields or real estate, land is always limited. If it is all controlled by others, the country will be embarrassed. .”

"For example, the Shen family, with its wealth, how terrible will it be in the future?"

Zhu Zhen narrowed his eyes slightly and fell into deep thought.

Although the Shen family is now working hard for him, even the two people in the Shen family, one openly and one secretly, are his loyal servants.

But so what.

To use them is to look down on them. Even if it is not the Shen family, there are still Zhang Wang and Li Zhao. The important thing is not the wealth of the Shen family. It is better to say that Zhu Ming has created wealth for them that far exceeds their imagination.

What Zhu Zhen wants is loyalty.

What Zhu Zhen is worried about now is that if he fails to cultivate a capitalist system in the future, he will be cheated instead.

Just like the oligarchs in Sue, that is, capital, which caused Sulian to disintegrate for a time, and even the country of Gou almost went to self-destruction.

Without Boss Pu's drastic action, they would have been gone long ago.

Why is Mr. Pu still reelected to this day? It's because he is so important. Without him, Lao Maozi wouldn't be able to hold on for long.

So as long as the boss doesn't quit, he can continue to work.

As for the Shen family, they are too rich, but having money in vain is just a flower in the mirror and has no meaning.

Therefore, many wealthy landowners like to annex land. In ancient times, land was the top priority.

Will the Shen family also become a hidden danger to the country?

They didn't dare to challenge Lao Zhu, nor did they dare to go against Zhu Chu, but what about Zhu Chu's son? Where is the grandson?

Just like Sima Yi, the Sima family also tolerated it for several generations of the Cao family before revealing their wild ambitions.

"Do you want me to be ruthless? Do you think that in the Central Plains, land reform cannot be carried out? As long as the people are given the right to use it, but not the ownership, the people can farm whatever they want and cannot be annexed at will, isn't it? Is that okay?" Zhu Ming knocked on the table with his hand. As a modern person, he naturally has many methods and lessons to learn from.

As long as all the land is held by the emperor, and the people only have the right to use it, and it is remeasured and redistributed every few years, we can completely prevent anyone or any class from annexing the land.

At that time, there is no point in trying to buy land, because it will have to be redistributed ten years later, or how many years later.

As for whether the people will have a strong reaction.

In fact, people don't understand this. As long as you tell the world that your land can always be cultivated and no one will rob it, and even if they have new children, they will be allocated more land, and they will become more supportive.

What I am afraid of are those aristocratic families with ulterior motives, and those who are afraid of scholars setting the pace.

Because it harms their interests.

As for the Gu family's behavior, it can actually be cut across the board.

For example, add a number of years to the title deeds for the use of these lands.

"But this is too damaging. I'm afraid the whole world won't be able to accept it." Zhu Zhen himself smiled bitterly. Not to mention others, even his father-in-law would rebel.

Why do you think we are working so hard for your Zhu family to conquer the world?

It's not just for this.

Today, his achievements in conquering the world are not yet complete.

"What about the gentry paying the grain together?" Zhu Zhen thought of a better way. If the farmers were divided into acres, the tax would not be paid per capita, but a certain amount of tax would be paid based on the income from farming. That would be much fairer.

Nowadays, many miscellaneous and heavy taxes are imposed on the common people. On the contrary, those wealthy and wealthy families cannot pay much tax.

It's like a joke.

In particular, the gentry did not pay grain or tribute, so many people willingly sold their land to them and became their tenant farmers, which could save a lot of taxes.

For example, one acre of land originally required paying three bushels of tax, but if it was placed in the name of a gentry, it would only cost one bushel. Everyone knew what to choose.

But in fact, the people's burden has not been relieved much. Instead, they have lost all their land. The only damage done is to the national interests. In the end, the country will bear the blame.

Once there is a natural or man-made disaster, the common people only think about the failure of the country and never think about the problem of the landlords.

"Oh, it's difficult," Zhu Zhen sighed.

After all, he calls himself a military general, so it would be easy for him to lead troops to fight, but now when he thinks about these dizzying political issues, he feels powerless.

The main reason is that I don’t have a chance to try it, and all I can think about now is just talk on paper.

"I don't know what happened to those guys from Zhao Kuo," Zhu Zhen suddenly laughed, recalling his previous life in Yunnan.

"But it won't be long. Although I can't reach Southeast Asia yet, it's time for me to come back to the Western Regions," Zhu Zhen thought to himself, with a gleam in his eyes.

By the time he makes his way from Jiangnan to Yunnan, it will be time for a fight there.

You fight your holy war, and I fight my war of recovery, let's have a try?

When he thought about the upcoming war, Zhu Zhen burst out with a strong and confident aura. When it came to fighting, who was he afraid of?

At this moment, Xu Miaojin walked in from outside and looked at Zhu Ming with a look on his face that he was hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong, sister?" Zhu Zhen was surprised, why was Xu Miaojin hesitating?

Xu Miaojin sighed softly and said, "There are only two east and west wing rooms in this courtyard."

"Then what?" Zhu Zhen asked in confusion.

Xu Miaojin rolled her eyes and continued: "The west wing can be used by Wang Fu and Li Jinglong for one night. Then, now there is only one east wing, and you will be hugged by your co-sleepers."

"Xu Miaojin," Tang Xin's voice came from outside. She stomped in, glanced at Zhu Miao guiltily, and said angrily to Xu Miaojin: "I said you can live in the carriage, what are you talking about? Woolen cloth?"

Zhu Ming blinked and immediately got up and went out to find Li Jinglong.

Damn, you did a good job, what the hell?

In this small shabby courtyard, not to mention the accommodation of more than 90 of his guards, in fact, it could not sleep even five people.

what the hell?

Is it possible that we really want to take the opportunity to have sex with Tang Xin?

I'm afraid Tang He will have to fight him tooth and nail. I'm here to create a chance for you two to develop feelings for each other. I'm not going to tell you to eat them up. Then I won't know who will open whose skull.

(End of this chapter)