stubborn thief

March [-]th, Suzhou City.

The hereditary commander who drove the ducks to the shelves made Hu Zhishen stand at the head of the city, looking west with a worried face.

The soldiers of the Suzhou Guard had never seen the war all their lives, and they all had the energy to be happy when they heard the war, but Hu Zhishen did not have this energy.

Since he inherited the official position of hereditary commander, he has not been assigned a real assignment in the past 12 years. Wen can't secure the world, and martial arts can't determine the universe, but he has cultivated a pair of eyes that can discover beauty. Simply put-seeing everyone is better than himself.

He believed in a truth, in Suzhou Wei with thousands of households, there must be a few unrivaled heroes like Zhao Zhirui and Ding Guodong, and there must also be a few useless little snacks.

But what is confusing is that after so many years, he has never found a small piece of trash in Suzhou Wei, so it is very likely... this small trash is himself.

After all, the last battle of Suzhou City was in the fourth year of Longqing. As a hereditary commander, Hu Zhishen's father had never fought in a war when he was in office. To him, the name is wrong, let alone Zhishen, it is completely unambitious Obsessed with life, watching flowers, planting trees, feeding cats and rabbits every day, knowing nothing about useful things.

It has been five days since the first beacon smoke rose from Jiayuguan.

During these five days, the No. [-] figure in Suzhou, General Zhao Zhirui's army was defeated by the traitor Zhang Tianlin; Mr. Qian, Hei Chengyin and Mi Layin, one of them helped defend the city in Jiayuguan, and the other was surrounded by Zhang Tianlin in Linshuiyi City.

Daming's lucky numbers are three and seven, and the horse equipment of the Ming army in the north is three horses and seven steps;

The most wild people in Suzhou Wei all left the city with Hei Chengyin and Mi Layin, and those who stayed in the city were honest, dutiful, well-behaved and good people.

But when fighting in Daming, Hu Zhishen felt that bad people had to do it, not good people.

For example, beside him, there are three good people who are very active right now, and they all ran to the top of the city to help defend the city when the rebels besieged the city. They were all Suzhou celebrities.

Among them, the person he is most familiar with is Dong Ju, who is the teacher of Taoli Manwei Institute in Suzhou. Hanging a wild goose feather knife at the waist and carrying a three-eyed gun on the shoulder, it will grow stronger with age.

The second one is younger, named Yan Zhi, a handsome 46-year-old gentleman. This is a prestigious Suzhou squire. Second, rely on yourself.

16 years ago, his mother-in-law and aunt died of illness. Mr. Yan vowed not to marry a wife for life, but to raise his children alone. Although the imperial court did not build a memorial archway to express it, the people in ten miles and eight villages respected him deeply and called him a righteous husband. I have to invite you for any major event, but unfortunately, it has been 16 years, and I have never published any useful suggestions on major events.

These two are impeccable in character and morality, but they really don't help much in defending the city.

Fortunately, there is the last one, Wang Yanming, the hereditary commander who has no actual teaching like Hu Zhishen. This old man has twelve servants, and he is a polished general who is familiar with the drills.

...

Coupled with Hu Zhishen who knows nothing, the four ruthless people in Suzhou are all together.

In fact, Hu Zhishen is not useless. He has the self-knowledge to recognize his own shortcomings, and the wisdom to recognize the strengths of others. Therefore, in his opinion, it is difficult to repel the invading enemy by relying on these few materials, but stick to the tenacity. A few days in the city, but it is not impossible.

Wang Yanming, the commander, is familiar with the military codes and knows how to arrange troops; the old teacher told Dong Ju that he knows the art of war, so he can serve as a military adviser;

Suzhou is also an acropolis, so it is very difficult to recruit field troops, but men, women and children can take up the duty of guarding the city with ease.

Now there is only one difficulty... The four of them are poor. Although they all have a status far beyond ordinary people in Suzhou, they have no money, food, or power. Recruiting soldiers requires money, and defending the city requires food. People don't want to go to the city to fight.

"Get people to donate from door to door!" Commander Wang Yanming said angrily, "The city is gone, and they still need money and food?"

"Absolutely not."

Yi Husband Yan Zhi didn't seem to want to talk at all, but now he heard that Wang Yanming planned to ask people to donate money and food, so he hurriedly said: "Commander Wang doesn't know, then Marshal Liu can be successful because he is good at fighting, and secondly, he depends on people's hearts. The rebel army will not let the people donate money and food, if we let the people donate money and food, I am afraid that the city will not have to be defended."

"What is husband Yan talking about!"

Wang Yanming insisted, but he didn't insist. He just walked aside angrily: "Then what do you think should be done?"

Several people looked at the old teaching instruction, Dong Ju pondered for a moment and said: "Mr. Yan talks a lot. According to the old man, the money and food should be donated by wealthy households."

"Old sir, this is not easy."

Hu Zhi shook his head deeply, looked at the few people and sighed, and said: "There are only a few people with money and food in Suzhou City, the most likely to donate money and food is General Zhao's family. Now the general is newly defeated and he hasn't returned yet. Can we come to the door again to force donations?"

General Zhao was referring to Suzhou General Zhao Zhirui, so this must be wrong.

But Dong Ju said: "General Zhao is not the only one who has money and food in Suzhou City, the hero in our city can also provide money and food. I have taught him and know that he is not bad. He is sincere and open, so he should be willing to contribute."

When the three of them heard the word hero, they all had strange expressions on their faces.

Because this word is mostly derogatory in Suzhou, there is only one person in the city who has this title. His name is Song Xian, and his baby name is Xiaoli.

This man was born in a poor peasant family. He lost his father at the age of 14, and his mother was seriously ill. He served his mother wholeheartedly. He was famous for his filial piety. The neighbors changed their principal, their family fortunes fell, and they became merchants. They didn't make much money, but they were more or less decent people who made a living.

Five years ago, Song Xian became a big ticket man. He sold all his belongings and bought a batch of gadgets from the Western Regions and went to the south of the Yangtze River. After going there, there was no news for three years. People thought that this orphan died in a foreign country, but he took him with him. Thousands of taels of wealth and servants will return home in fine clothes.

The servants are fierce and vigorous. I heard that they are all rebels and hungry thieves taken in during the drought. They are all ruthless characters. Song Xian also changed his temperament drastically. Liquor, lending money for a living.

...

People call him a hero, all because of his hypocrisy.

The so-called scholars, farmers, businessmen, and merchants have the lowest status, because scholars are officials, and small farmers may not be rich, but they can afford to read, and there will always be a day when they will be transferred to the imperial examination; craftsmen with exquisite craftsmanship can still be officials; merchants are different. Well, in this life, I can only have two stinky money, and no one looks down on me.

Of course, the workers in the scholars, farmers, commerce and industry do not refer to Lifu, but craftsmen with craftsmanship. In the year of Xuande, the stonemason Lu Xiang in Wuxi, who had the skills of withering insects, and in the year of Yongle, the carpenter Kuai Xiang of Wu County who designed Chengtianmen, which was later Tiananmen. They all rely on the technical officer to pay homage to the minister of the Ministry of Industry and preside over large-scale projects; Xu Gao, a Yangzhou carpenter who repaired the three halls in the Jiajing year, even became the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, which is unprecedented.

The peasants in the field of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce do not refer to tenants and servants, but to self-cultivated farmers and landlords who own land.

The Four Peoples System is the pillar of the country. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no head tax at the court level. The tenants and servants firstly did not pay taxes to the country, and secondly did not serve the country. Therefore, they are not farmers, and they do not even belong to the people. Barely count as a citizen.

When you have no job or land, you will be looked down upon by others. If you stand still, you will be called a hooligan, and if you move, you will be called a hooligan.

The social status is only higher than that of slaves, prostitutes, pleasures, fishers, perverts, and degenerates from generation to generation.

Among the four peoples, merchants are the lowest in social status, and merchants who earn money by lending money are the most shameless in all walks of life. Of course, this is the worldview of official-based thinking.

In fact, officials don't treat each other favorably, they only look down on merchants; officials are very simple, and look down on everyone except themselves.

In the eyes of commander Hu Zhishen, Song Xian is a smart man who is nothing.

He resells bad wine, making the unsatisfied people so drunk that they can't do business. If they don't do business and have no income, they have to pawn things into his pawn shop. After taking the money, they go to his rice shop to buy food.

After eating, I was so poor that I had to borrow money from him, and I was even more worried about how to get the money when I borrowed the money, and I even went to his liquor store to get drunk. With nothing to turn back to heaven, he can only go to his brothel to sell his sons and daughters.

Those who are capable and lucky can get money, and it's great to go to his brothel to have fun... In short, this bastard wants to take all the money into his own hands.

Hu Zhishen thought of the name Song Xian in his heart, and nodded secretly.

If Song Xian can be persuaded to contribute money and efforts, maybe the defense of the city can get twice the result with half the effort, but whether he is willing to contribute money and efforts, Hu Zhishen is not sure.

People with status in Suzhou look down on Song Xian, but among ordinary people from poor families, this guy is quite popular.

Because on the third day of every month, Song Xian would stand under the Bell and Drum Tower at the intersection of Jiuquan City, Suzhou, and ask the servants to bring a box of IOUs, and Wei Li's little doll would take out one at random, read it out to the public and burn it, no matter how much the debt was owed. , all news.

Nobody needs luck in this world, except for the desperate ones.

There are quite a few rich families in Suzhou Wei who have borrowed money from abroad, but this group of military households, farmers, and small traders like to borrow from Song Xian. In addition to often instructing those whose debts have been canceled to organize gambling outside the city, It can be called a good businessman who abides by the law.

...

But Hu Zhishen only felt that this person was strange.

Many rules of the Ming Law have lost their effectiveness during this period, such as pawning land and houses, according to the law, the buyer should perform the inspection, pay the deed tax, and affix the official seal. The deed tax is one-third of the total price.

However, the circulation of private land mortgage sales is very complicated, and usually they are not delivered immediately after the deed is signed. Surplus money in line with the market price.

This kind of behavior mostly occurred in the Wanli period when housing prices and land prices were rising. It is essentially a bullying and rogue behavior. The disadvantaged side of the house asks for money in return for sympathy. After the sale, they usually give support within three times of asking for the price. Some of the outrageous asking for more than a dozen times will not be punished.

As for the deed tax of the search price, the government generally grants exemptions.

Nowadays, the market price of real estate, fields and houses cannot go up, and there are generally no sellers who are rogues looking for prices, but it is customary among the people to use lower prices to evade the deed tax.

However, all the land and houses that Song Xian has dealt with in the past two years have all been priced according to the law and the deed tax has been paid in full.

The same is true for lending. The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the maximum monthly interest rate is three cents. Even if the years are long, the law on the income of lending only protects one interest per loan, and the law supports the borrower not to repay the excess part.

But the legal regulations are one thing, and civil enforcement is another. No one from a decent and good family can't stand the daily troubles of debt collection, and the ordinary and simple peasants don't have the time and energy to learn the law of the Ming Dynasty and go to court with others. The letter of the law is like a dead letter most of the time.

However, Song Xian followed this, and the interest on lending was three cents per month as Jinkou Yuyan said. It was never unfavorable to roll over the interest, and it never exceeded one interest per loan. The interest rate reaches [-]% to [-]% of the principal, depending on whether the person can't pay it back, if you can reduce it a little, buy the mother-in-law, aunt and child, or simply burn the IOU in public, to lose favor.

Because of this, Hu Zhishen thought Song Xian was weird, saying that he fell into the eyes of money, and he was quite sophisticated; but if he didn't want to make money, this bastard was closed in the fucking business loop in Suzhou, and it took so much effort. But he can't make a lot of money, what is this person trying to do?
Hu Zhishen asked Wang Yanming to keep a few servants to watch in the city, and the four immediately went to Song Xian's three-entry house to ask for donations. They all knew that it was not easy to persuade Song Xian, but they never expected that Song Xian's attitude was particularly tough. .

Mr. Song, who was wearing a cotton green robe, invited them into the hall. After hearing what they were coming for, he ordered them to salute the four of them first: "Teacher, two generals, and righteous husband, don't be angry. A villain is right about things and not about others. , just asking for a reason."

The guy frowned unhurriedly and said: "Song Xian behaved in a public manner and obeyed the laws and regulations. He paid the court a fair amount of taxes. He fought with several respectable gentlemen who asked me, a small merchant, to donate food and money. There must be someone In other words, without the great seal of the Weisuo, how can there be such a clause in the Daming Law?"

Instructed Dong Ju: "Brother Li, you can't say that. Since you were a child, you have been taught that righteousness is the first priority. Now that bandits and bandits are coming to the city every day, isn't it the time for scholars to fight for righteousness?"

...

"Teacher, that's not the case. There's no problem with death festivals, but it's not okay to pay for food."

Song Xian arched his hands to show some embarrassment, rolled his eyes and said: "The rebels from the Marshal's Mansion came into the city, that is to say, I was asked to donate food and money. If the city can be defended, Song Xian will pay money and food; if it can't be defended." , Song Xian still has to pay for food... I am not the county magistrate of Suzhou."

Hu Zhishen didn't say anything, but the hot-tempered Wang Yanming couldn't bear Song Xian's irrelevant attitude, and said angrily: "Okay, you are a shameless person, don't give up your face, if the city breaks down, your grandpa Wang will definitely die at the top of the city." , do you really think that I can let you live to meet the rebels?"

The good old man Yan Zhi hurriedly stopped the fight when he heard this, but unexpectedly Song Xian laughed suddenly, stood up and saluted respectfully: "General Wang's words are reasonable, I have known the current affairs since I said that earlier, if this is the case, younger brother, these two A box of IOUs, one person can send a thousand soldiers with one note, so let's go to the Drum Tower to burn the IOUs to recruit soldiers!"

Several people were amazed, but Wang Yanming smiled angrily and said: "You know the current affairs, let's go, this is called the Banner Army unleashing weapons."

For a while, Song Xian had more than a dozen companions, driving a grain cart and surrounded by four people, walked towards the Drum Tower, beating gongs and drums on the road to invite friends and friends, and crowds of people heard that they would burn IOUs to recruit soldiers, and they all followed in a mighty way. .

The crowd gathered more and more, those who owed money, those who watched the excitement, those who borrowed food for food, and those who came to transport weapons from the guard flag army, the people became more excited and elated.

Song Xian draws out IOUs under the Drum Tower, shouts his name and throws them into the burning fire face to face. The impoverished people shout his name, hold a weapon, and watch the shackles of the prison life jumping Burned to ashes in the flames.

More and more people got weapons, and the Suzhou Guard Banner Army organized them into troops and formed small square formations on the cross streets.

When the IOUs were about to be burned, a beacon fire was sent from the city wall to warn four times in succession. Standing upright, the companions behind him should take advantage of the panic of the crowd and divide into two groups, one goes into the crowd, and the other protects him.

At this moment, Song Xian grabbed the last IOU and threw it into the fire. He opened his arms and shouted: "Maitreya will be born, and the King of Han will be born, and they will go through three calamities together. We will be rich and honored together. Reverse it! Reverse it!"

stubborn thief