Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 105 Gentry Greed
Changping granary, this is the granary set up by ancient dynasties to adjust grain prices, store grain in preparation for shortages, and supply food for the government and the people.

Changping granary is mainly when the market price of grain is low, and the price of grain is appropriately increased to purchase a large amount of food, which not only fills the official warehouses, Taicang and Taipusi where the imperial court stores grain, but also fills the warehouses in border counties.

When the market price of grain is high, the price is appropriately lowered for sale.

This measure not only avoided "cheap grain hurting farmers", but also prevented "high grain hurting people", and played a positive role in stabilizing the grain market and consolidating the feudal regime.

Therefore, if you want to see whether the Huaibei Great Hunger is real, you first need to look at Changping warehouses and official warehouses.

Official positions cannot be moved easily, but regular positions can be.

Therefore, when Zuo Guangdou brought the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and officials of the official department into the Changping warehouse, the small officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate began to inspect and accept the Changping warehouse.

The Changping warehouse in Pizhou City is [-] steps long and [-] steps wide. There are fifty warehouses in total. The warehouses are eight steps wide and eight steps long. The grain is [-] shi.

However, under the search of the small officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, only [-] grain storage rooms in Changpingcang were full, and one of them was only [-] shi, which fully met the standard of [-] shi in Liu Bian's mouth. .

"Is there any problem with the food?" Zuo Guangdou frowned and asked, and the little official of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was not a fool, so he said directly:

"These grains have traces of being transported, and the grain gas in the warehouse is not strong. It is obvious that they have only been moved in these few days."

"Then I know." Zuo Guangdou frowned slightly, such things are not enough to serve as evidence.

Thinking of this, he was ready to turn around and look for Yang Lian, and at the same time, Yang Lian also led people to picket the official warehouse.

Compared with the Changping warehouse, the official warehouse is three times its size, and can hold nearly [-] shi of grain at most.

Yang Lian led people to inspect it. After opening a warehouse, Yang Lian snatched the rake from the hand of the small official next to him, hooked the grain and pulled it down.

The "cracking" food fell, but there was no dust splashing, and Yang Lian even let out a cold snort.

Most of the dust-free grains are stored grains bought and sold by gentry and merchants. Most of the official grains are collected from the common people. Before the common people husk and eat rice, there is a lot of dust on the grains.

If it is normal official food, there will inevitably be a lot of dust with such a hook, and if there is no such food, it means it is not official food.

"Master Yang..."

At this time, Lu Xiu secretly handed over the thick paper, and after Yang Lian saw this, he glanced at the clothes of Jin Yiwei on Lu Xiu, and frowned and opened the thick paper.

The things recorded above gave him a full understanding of what happened in Pizhou.

Knowing that the food in the official warehouse and Changping warehouse belonged to gentry merchants, Yang Lian immediately gritted his teeth and formed an idea in his mind.

"No need to check, let's all go out!"

As soon as Yang Lian opened his mouth, all the petty officials withdrew from the official warehouse, and Yang Lian also saw Zuo Guangdou at the gate of the official warehouse.

"The food is very new, it was transported..." Zuo Guangdou spoke first.

"Look at this." Yang Lian handed out the thick paper, and Zuo Guangdou took it with doubts, and after seeing the contents inside, he put away the thick paper in an instant.

"Just plan!" Yang Lian frowned and said directly, then walked towards Liu Bian with Zuo Guangdou, bowed to Liu Bian:

"There is nothing wrong with the official warehouse and the Changping warehouse. May I ask how much money is left in the Huaian treasury?"

"Returning to Yang Duge, Huai'an Mansion still has treasury silver of [-] taels, [-] cents and [-] cents." Liu Bian replied:
"The autumn tax is [-] taels and eight cents, and an additional [-] taels."

"The remaining [-] taels and six cents are retained silver."

"Then how much is the autumn tax and grain in the official warehouse?" Zuo Guangdou also understood Yang Lian's thoughts, and followed up to ask.

At this time, Liu Bian already felt that something was wrong, but he still believed that he could control the situation, so the editor replied:
"The grain in the official warehouse is [-] shi, and the grain is [-] shi."

"Okay!" Hearing this, Yang Lian suddenly opened his mouth, and Liu Bian's sense of uneasiness also rose.

"Take down the prisoner Liu Bian!" Yang Lian yelled angrily, and the next second Lu Xiu put a knife on Liu Bian's shoulder, making him sweat profusely.

"Yang Du is in trouble! May I ask what happened to this officer?!"

"You know what you have done!" Facing Liu Bian's stiff mouth, Zuo Guangdou yelled angrily, and took out a thick paper from his pocket, and took out the one marked with the map of the corpse.

He turned to Lu Wenzhao and wrote: "Please Lu Tongzhi send someone to escort the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Officials' Division to check these places on the map! In addition, send someone to guard the official warehouse, the Changping warehouse, and the government's bank."

"Please rest assured..." Lu Wenzhao knew everything a long time ago, seeing that the situation in front of him happened as he thought, and immediately prepared to send someone to escort the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Civil Affairs Bureau out of the city.

Liu Bian was caught off guard and put in shackles, and a series of officials from Huai'an Prefecture were also imprisoned in the Pizhou County Prison.

But while doing these things, Lu Wenzhao gave Yang Lian a shot:

"Yang Du is in the middle of the matter. After doing this, have you thought about how to respond to the gentry in Huai'an Mansion?"

"Response?" Yang Lian snorted coldly: "There is an imperial court behind this old man! Long live! How do we respond to them?!"

Yang Lian's words made Lu Wenzhao admire him very much, but he also knew the impact once this matter spread.

Sure enough, as he expected, the news spread quickly, and all the gentry and merchants in Pizhou also knew about the official warehouse, Changping warehouse, and the news that the bank was guarded by Jinyiwei.

They didn't expect that Lu Wenzhao, who appeared to have only brought [-] people here, actually mobilized Jin Yiwei from Beizhen Fusi and Nanzhen Fusi to arrive in Huai'an Mansion ahead of schedule.

At present, more than ten counties including Huai'an Mansion and Xuzhou have been taken over by Jinyiwei. There are more than [-] Jinyiwei involved in the case...

Everyone went to the mansion of the gentry known as Li Juren, and what they formed was a huge and complex interest group that occupied more than [-]% of the land in Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places, and more than [-]% of the business.

Li Juren sat at the main seat, and there were twelve heads of families on the left and right in the main hall.

At this moment, their faces showed anxiety and uneasiness, and the reason was not only Liu Bian's arrest, but more importantly, their money and food.

At present, more than [-] million shi of grain belonging to them is being seized in the official warehouses and Changping warehouses in Pizhou, Shanyang, Qinghe, Andong, Taoyuan, Shuyang, Haizhou, Xuzhou and other places.

Not only that, they also borrowed more than [-] taels of silver from the Yamen treasury.

I thought things were safe at first, but now it seems that something may have changed.

More than three million shi grains, more than three hundred thousand taels of silver...

After the limelight passes, the food will be sold slowly, at least tens of millions of taels...

Not to mention being detained like this, looking at the posture of the court, it is going to use all the money and food for disaster relief, or transport them all away.

If the quantity is less, they will admit it, but they have spent hundreds of thousands of taels to help appease the victims before, if all the food is transported away, their work will be in vain.

"Li Juren, speak up, as long as you speak, we will strike!"

"That's right, all the wealth is on these three million shi grains, and the three hundred thousand taels of silver, it's fine if the court takes it away, but right now the grains cannot be transported away!"

Everyone was yelling, but they were not to blame for yelling, after all, this food was too important to them.

Most of them have a family property of only [-] to [-] taels. Although they have made a lot of money after buying food and hoarding it, they have spent a lot of money on the up and down management.

But the opportunity to double his worth tenfold is right in front of him, who would let it go?
Li Juren listened to their words, but felt powerless.

At this time, a person suddenly said: "When the people in Nanzhili took hundreds of thousands of taels of silver when they were in charge, now they are afraid to see people sent by the imperial court."

"If you want me to say, just learn from Suzhou and encourage the people directly!"

"Yes! That's right!" Li Juren's eyes lit up when he heard this, and after he responded, he said to everyone:

"Then Liu Bian asked us to spend food and money to stabilize the situation, but he broke the basket himself."

"However, since he provided disaster relief and gave those mud-legged people a way to survive, those mud-legged people must be grateful to him."

"We don't need to take action right now, as long as we send someone to change the matter, we can ask Yang Lian to release him!"

"Li Juren said it in detail" Hearing this, the others became curious, but Li Juren said with a sly smile:
"There are so many tenants under each family, as long as you do what I say, things will be done quickly..."

Immediately afterwards, Li Juren began to tell everyone his thoughts, and after hearing this, they also felt that their eyes brightened.

After the matter was settled, they resigned one after another, and then went to do business according to Li Juren's words.

So early the next morning, there were many rumors in Pizhou City.

Naturally, these rumors could not escape Jin Yiwei's eyes and ears, and the contents of the rumors were quickly delivered to Lu Wenzhao.

boom!
"What a fool!"

In Pizhou Jinyiwei Hundred Households Office, Lu Wenzhao slapped the table heavily, and what he was angry with was the content of the message.

In that message, Liu Bian and many Huai'an officials have become parents for the good of the people.

When the Huaibei Famine started, Liu Bian wanted to provide disaster relief, but because the official warehouses could not be opened, there were not many Changping warehouses, and the grain prices that had stabilized for only three days after entering the market were wiped out.

Hence the successive months of famine that followed.

As for Shandong, Fengyang and other places that did not accept refugees, it was because they had accepted them early, and all the food in the official warehouses needed to be transported to the capital, so they did not dare to move.

In such a situation, it took Liu Bian two months to sell his own property and sell all the land and mansions in his hometown in Sichuan, and bought enough food from Sichuan for disaster relief.

But there was not enough time, so six days ago Liu Bian opened an official storehouse to help the disaster, and wanted to wait for the grain bought from Sichuan to arrive, and then subsidize the grain himself.

But I didn't want Yang Lian and the others to come yesterday, and they started to arrest people without saying a word, so Liu Bian was wronged...

To Lu Wenzhao and others who have all the information, this seemingly full of loopholes is like a short story casually made up by a storyteller on the street.

But for those starving people who have never met Liu Bian, Yang Lian and others, let alone understand the truth of the matter, they are closer to the truth they have seen.

The food and copper coins they had saved in the past six days were distributed by Liu Bian.

How could Liu Bian, who gave them food and money like this, be a corrupt official?

The general public is the easiest to deceive. Under the temptation of Li Juren and others, they began to believe in Liu Bian's character, and this lie full of loopholes will become a civil riot that can be ignited at any time.

Thinking of this, Lu Wenzhao turned his head and asked Shen Lian next to him:

"Is this news only spread in Pizhou City, or is it also spread in other places?"

"Master Hui, there are also other places, but the target is not Liu Bian, but the magistrates and magistrates of various counties." Shen Lian responded honestly.

"What's the common people doing?" Lu Wenzhao continued to ask, but Shen Lian hesitated, and then said:
"Today, at the gate of the Yamen in Pizhou, there have been many people crying for Liu Bian."

"What a fool! What a fool!" Lu Wenzhao stood up angrily, walked back and forth, scolding the fool, and then realized:
"Now the evidence is conclusive. Gentlemen and merchants from all over the world dare to spread rumors, so the matter must have something to do with them."

"We must seize their evidence and use this opportunity to completely wipe out Huai'an Mansion."

"The case of the Great Hunger in Huaibei should not only involve the Huai'an Mansion, but Nanzhili must also be involved."

"We alone may not be able to do this well. If we want to settle this matter, we must ask His Highness and Long Live to nod. It is best to send Zhejiang Qi Yuanfu, who is recruiting soldiers, to hurry north!"

"Yes! I'll do it right now!" After Shen Lian understood the seriousness of the matter, he immediately took people to Feige to pass on the letter.

After releasing the pigeons, Shen Lian was afraid that the letter would not be clear, so Shen Lian sent a small banner of Jinyiwei to write down the affairs of Huaibei and bring them back to the capital.

According to their footsteps and changing horses continuously, they can return to the capital in at most three days, and the pigeons should arrive in the evening.

"I hope I can make it in time..."

After everything happened last night, Shen Lian returned to the Baihu Office, while at the same time, Lu Wenzhao took people to the Yamen of Pizhou County.

A group of people walked towards the Pizhou county government. The people on the road looked at them as if they were enemies, but Lu Wenzhao just frowned when he saw this, avoiding conflicts with the people.

After crossing two streets, they soon heard the cries of "Let Master Liu go, Master Liu go".

Lu Wenzhao raised his hand to signal everyone to stop: "Detour!"

It was said that everyone knew that Lu Wenzhao was avoiding conflicts, so they deliberately took a detour, and when they finally arrived at the back door of the yamen, they still saw hundreds of people besieging the back door of the yamen.

There were more than [-] of them in a group, each with a sword, so when they saw them appear, the people who were still shouting to let go immediately became timid.

Lu Wenzhao looked at them, with the hatred in their eyes, as if it was not Liu Bian and others who created the Huaibei famine, but Lu Wenzhao.

Faced with this kind of look, Lu Wenzhao knew that it was useless to explain, and this group of people would not listen at all.

He asked someone to open the back door of the county government office, and then led people into the county government office.

But after they all entered the county office, the people who had been silent just now started shouting again.

The five words "Let Master Liu go" kept ringing around, making people upset.

Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou sat in the main hall of the backyard of the yamen, feeling their breath was very hot, as if the anger in their hearts was about to burst out.

"Yang Duge Shizhong, Zuoqian Du Yushi..."

"Tongzhi Lu, please sit down."

Lu Wenzhao came with his people and saluted at the door first. Seeing this, Zuo Guangdou also motioned for Lu Wenzhao to take a seat first.

Lu Wenzhao didn't show politeness, he simply took people to his seat, and then told the information he had, and finally mentioned:
"At the moment, I can only please Long live to nod, and then Qi Yuanfu, who is training in Zhejiang, will go north."

"Qi Yuanfu?" Yang Lian frowned slightly and said:

"If the old man remembers correctly, it's only been twenty days since Qi Yuanfu went south to recruit troops."

"Twenty-six days to be precise." Lu Wenzhao nodded, then sighed:
"But right now there is not so much time for them to train their troops. The Huaibei incident is very important. Maybe the officers of the guards in the Huai'an Prefecture are also in the same rank."

"No matter how many soldiers and horses Qi Yuanfu has recruited at the moment, as long as the soldiers and horses can ensure the maintenance of order in Huai'an Mansion and clarify all the facts of the case."

"Hmm... What Lu Tongzhi said is not bad." Zuo Guangdou was not so pedantic. After nodding in agreement, he turned to Yang Lian and said:
"Wen Ru, the most important thing right now is to handle the case well."

"The Huaibei case definitely involves not only the local officials in Huaibei, but even the entire Jiangnan."

"What we need to do right now is to stabilize Huai'an Mansion, and then lead people to track down Jiangnan, and then transfer Jiangnan's autumn tax and additional silver to the north."

"The national treasury is empty right now. Millions of taels of silver have been transferred out of Wanzai's internal funds within a year, and there is not much left."

"Without the autumn tax and additional payment, how can the general's salary be paid?"

"If this matter is done well, maybe we can follow the vine and pull down some corrupt officials involved in the capital."

"As long as they get off the horse, won't I be able to succeed by going to the checkpoint for the expected land reduction?"

Yes, reducing the field tax...

Yang Lian thought of what he had always wanted to achieve. Even though Daming's land tax was not too much, [-] per cent plus [-] per cent of Liao's salary, on paper, he only collected more than a dozen catties of grain.

However, due to the quota set by Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, the tax did not change very much. It is enough to pay what is required every year.

In this way, the gentry and officials could transfer their taxes to the common people. In the end, the gentry and officials who occupied a lot of land did not pay taxes, and all the taxes were borne by the owner farmers and small and medium landlords.

Yang Lian was born in a family of small landlords, and the average family member only has six or seven acres of land, so he is very clear that this abnormal land tax must be reduced.

Reducing land tax and increasing miscellaneous income is the correct way.

As for why the gentry, big landlords, and big businessmen were not directly taxed, it was because it was too difficult.

Even Zhang Juzheng failed to do this...

Thinking of this, Yang Lian sighed and said:
"Right now, the most important thing is to appease the anger of the people and let them know whether the officials they plead for are honest or corrupt."

"This is easier said than done."

This is the early seventeenth century, not the twenty-first century, and people's trust in the government and court is pitifully low.

They believe more in what they have come into contact with, and even think that what they have come into contact with is the truth. This is what later generations call the information cocoon.

If Yang Lian wanted to break this information cocoon, he had to come up with the truth that everyone could understand clearly.

Thinking of this, Yang Lian gritted his teeth and said directly: "Disaster relief!"

"Disaster relief?! Wen Ru, are you crazy?" Zuo Guangdou stood up abruptly.

In terms of their official positions and identities, they are not qualified to directly provide disaster relief. Only the prefects and county magistrates of the local government are eligible for disaster relief, and they can only use Changping warehouses. The food in official warehouses is taxed.

Even Lu Wenzhao could understand Zuo Guangdou's question, let alone Yang Lian.

But facing Zuo Guangdou's words, Yang Lian said directly:

"Use Changping Warehouse for disaster relief, and then use the Kuyin retained by the Huai'an Mansion to go directly south to buy grain, and then play Long Live, please borrow Jiangnan grain for disaster relief."

"As long as more than [-] million shi of grain in Xuzhou, Huai'an and other places are released, the people will be able to survive until the beginning of spring."

"As long as we can survive until the beginning of spring, then you will continue to investigate the case when the time comes, and I will stay here to provide disaster relief."

"You transfer Qi Yuanfu's Zhejiang soldiers to transport Caoyin and Caograin to the north, and leave behind the grain that Wansui promised to relieve the disaster, so that you can support the people of Huai'an Prefecture to survive the next year's autumn harvest!"

"You think too simply, Wen Ru!" Zuo Guangdou frowned and said:
"No one knows how many people in Huai'an Prefecture need disaster relief. If there are [-] people, then at present, to support the spring of the coming year, one catty of grain per person per day, and at least [-] shi of grain will be needed. .”

"For the imperial court, the food eaten is to maintain Liaodong's army's salary!"

"It's not like you don't know how much money the imperial court needs as military salary in the coming year."

"I know!" Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou quarreled in front of Lu Wenzhao, and Yang Lian said stubbornly:
"The court needs money and land taxes, but the people also need to survive. If they can't survive, they will rebel!"

"Yi Zhi! Don't you want to see a wolf smoke in the south of the Yangtze River?!"

"..." Yang Lian's words made Zuo Guangdou have nothing to say, but he still insisted:
"I don't recommend following your method..."

"Leaving..."

"Wait, wait!" Lu Wenzhao quickly stopped them who wanted to continue arguing, and then asked suspiciously:
"Can't we borrow food first?"

"Borrowing food?" Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were stunned for a moment, but Yang Lian hesitated and said:

"Even if it is borrowed grain, it is not certain whether Huaibei will have a good harvest in old age and whether it will be able to repay the grain."

"How much interest will the common people charge for borrowing food?" Zuo Guangdou asked this question.

In ancient times, the common people and the government borrowed food, and then they needed to repay [-]% or even [-]% of the food. Zuo Guangdou wanted to know what Lu Wenzhao meant.

However, Lu Wenzhao laughed when asked about the two of them:

"It's very simple, first lend grain to the people, and no matter how much the field harvests in the coming year, only [-]% of the grain will be harvested."

　one more chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)