stubborn thief

Chapter 50
The next day, the first rays of sunlight in the morning shone on Qingliang Mountain in Yan'an Prefecture.

The top of the pagoda on the mountain is brilliant and dazzling.

At the foot of the mountain, the skin is in the city, and the shacks are crowded and the hungry are surging.

The county magistrate pressed his waist with a knife to separate the crowd, while Lifu in the city parked the grain cart loaded with millet at the gate of the city and sent the grain into the porridge shed.

Zhang Pan, the secretary of the household office, said: "The county government's assignment, the Nanguan relief is Zhang's business. It has been six months since the year ago, right? The daily delivery of grain and porridge is the most miserable in the world."

He raised his head: "Now the granary is empty, and if it doesn't rain in June, the porridge factory won't even be able to transport the bran... 27 households, how many people can you take away?"

"I bought all the food from the fields. It's absolutely true that I don't have the ability to support people. The master of the book can be as small as possible."

As soon as Liu Chengzong finished speaking, Zhang Pan raised his hand to stop his words, squinted his eyes and said, "Don't put a high hat on me, I'm just a little official, and I want to speak to Master Liu. Second Master Liu called you, are you flustered?"

"Now it's almost late April, the beans and flax have been harvested for the millet, and there is no manpower. Can you plant [-] acres of land? You take a hundred people away, and I will choose the land for you to cultivate, without children. Farmer."

"Hundreds of families? You put your hand high and give me 27 single households to take away. I can still find a way to support them."

Liu Chengzong said: "Otherwise, they will have to come back after half a month, and they will not be able to feed so many people even if they eat all my crops."

If he has food, it would be better to get hundreds of people back to build Liujiazhuang. As long as it rains in June, he will be able to grab the seeds, and he will be busy for three months even if he has food for the winter.

However, there is not enough food, so that the advantages of strong labor become no longer important, but the shortcomings of large food consumption are infinitely magnified.

"Liu Erlang, Mr. Zhang really can't do anything to harm you, but if he can not take someone away, there is nothing wrong with Mr. Zhang being a favored person. In fact, the government's order must not be disobeyed... Eighty people, 27 households will get eighty people, you can't less."

It’s not really Zhang Pan’s harshness. In this era, the household registration is generally based on a large family. People say that the household is similar to the modern one household registration book, and a household generally has more than ten members.

For example, in Liu Chengzong's family, because there are no elderly people, there are only six people in Yan'an House. This is because Chengzu Chengzong went out to serve in the army and did not get married. Otherwise, there are at least ten people today.

Even among refugees, there are not many cases of a family of three.

"But it's true that [-] people can't support them, and even if there are few people, they can't all be farmers. The old temple village was smashed by thieves and the house that didn't sleep has no farm tools. Masons, carpenters, and blacksmiths have to ask for them."

"Well... it's not difficult for a craftsman."

"The masons may not be found. The government office provides relief for work. The glazed pagoda is built in Yanchang County. Earlier, those who had masonry skills were sent to the hungry people. It is not difficult to find other craftsmen, but there must be no shortage of people."

Zhang Pan lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head and said: "So, whether it's your old temple village or Liujiazhuang, the tax will be calculated from next summer, and the apportionment depends on God, if it rains in June, you will receive autumn grain, and it will not fall in June. Forget the rain."

"Even if you have no choice, there is still the fourth master, who is better than them. The 300 million people in Shaanxi are going through the severe drought. If you can pass a test, it counts. Liu Erlang don't refuse, let's tide over the difficulty together. "

Speaking of this, although the number of words still exceeded expectations, Liu Chengzong was basically satisfied with what he wanted. Knowing that there was no reason to refuse, he simply relaxed his slightly frowning brows, cupped his fists and said, "Then please ask the secretary to help Tian Qi." Draw a pledge, select 27 households with [-] hungry people, and I will take them back."

Zhang Pan relaxed now: "Just wait for your words, go!"

After all, he left a yamen servant in the porridge factory outside the city to take care of him, and took Liu Chengzong back to the county government office briskly.

Fushi County has done this very carefully.

There are porridge factories in each of the four gates outside the city, and the porridge scribes hand out wooden plaques to the registered identities of the hungry people who gather, and receive porridge every day with the wooden plaques.

This facilitates the daily calculation of food for porridge and prevents corruption and waste in the middle; it can reduce the complexity of the work of relocating the hungry by means of files, and also helps to prevent the chaos of the hungry.

With the archives, Zhang Pan wrote the official document in triplicate, handed one copy to Liu Chengzong, turned his head and called the yamen and said, "Look for Master Wang's son-in-law and bring him to pick out the person Liu Ergong wants, one of them. Wait for me outside Ximen after the hour."

Liu Chengzong wanted to get up and leave, but was stopped by Zhang Pan, rubbing his hands and saying: "No hurry, I've picked a few carpenters and blacksmiths for you, the hungry people are scattered in various compartments, and it will take half an hour to find them. There's nothing in a hurry, just sit and go.

In fact, the house is not warm, and the prefect said that Wang Zuohang was in trouble in the south, and told me to wait for the subordinate officials to be diligent and thrifty, and withdraw all the charcoal wages from the yamen..."

Zhang Pan slowly shook his head helplessly, his expression seemed to be trying his best to restrain the desire to breathe fragrant fragrance, and he spread his hands and said: "If the prefect's yamen speaks, we can't even buy charcoal and burn it in the yamen."

Liu Chengzong listened carefully and showed a polite smile, which is not difficult to understand.

After all, human beings are stupid and selfish. It is normal to be lenient and strict with others. It is natural for everyone to be equal to me and to have a clear class below me.

When the prefect made a speech, the mid-level officials would simply stop burning charcoal in order to avoid the people below making trouble for them.

It's just that Liu Chengzong felt that he didn't need to agree with the affairs of other people's yamen. He nodded and smiled even if he heard it.

"Liu Erlang, you don't like to talk very much, just like the fourth master. The fourth master has just been transferred to Fucheng from Mizhi, and he always keeps his face straight, explaining that the yamen's affairs have not been done well. His brow wrinkled and scared the yamen. I'm about to cut my head to apologize, and I look like my uncle without being angry and majestic."

Liu Chengzong said in his heart that the first time he met this old man, the relationship was not good enough to talk about the family tree.

The office work in front is quite normal. Once the business is finished, he will talk without end, as if he is out of time. Liu Chengzong doesn't know how to answer what he says. He wants to get up and go, but he feels that it is inappropriate, so his eyes are fixed. Looking at Zhang Pan.

He vaguely felt that there was something in the words of the county government office.

Seeing that he didn't talk to him, Zhang Pan got up with a smile, took out a folded document from the scroll file, spread it out on the table, raised his hand and said, "You also have an uncle."

It was a sea arrest document passed to Yan'an Prefecture. There was no portrait, but Cai Zhongpan's physical features and accent were on it.

The document was convicted of killing eight officers and soldiers and robbing 200 taels of silver, which is a heinous crime.

It should be passed on to the villages around the country to protect the armor, and those who report to the officials will be rewarded with five coins.

After Liu Chengzong finished reading, Zhang Pan nudged the document forward: "Put it away, I don't have a charcoal basin here, the postmaster of Jinming Mayi is my family member, and the Yan'an government cannot receive this document.

But I have something to ask your uncle for help, I hope Liu Erlang can introduce it on your behalf. "
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Note: Refer to the 20-year statistics of Jiajing in the "Shaanxi General Annals" for the number of household registrations. The average household in Yan'an Prefecture is 12.9.

(End of this chapter)