Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 386

"It's okay, it's just a normal wind chill."

"You take this prescription, take three liang of cinnamon twigs, three liang of peony, three liang of ginger, twelve jujubes, two liang of licorice, and then..."

Under the east gate of Chengdu County, Chengdu Prefecture, when Wu Youxing's voice full of security sounded, a ragged and hungry man, with a bit of anxiety, walked towards the nearby medicine stall with a prescription.

"Next!"

The apprentice next to Wu Youxing shouted, but in front of them was a queue of more than a dozen teams that was several miles long.

All dressed in rags, counting on Wu Youhe and the medical officers to take their pulses and hand out free herbal medicines.

Their situation was clearly seen by Sun Chuanting standing on the city gate tower, and this was also the first day they came to the Chengdu government office.

In the Ming Dynasty, Chengdu Prefecture was already one of the largest counties. The government was divided into east and west cities, with Chengdu County in the east and Huayang County in the west.

In addition, there are two states and thirty counties under the mansion.

In Sichuan's Yellow Book, there are more than [-] people in Chengdu Prefecture only on paper.

Of course, the actual population of Chengdu is much larger than this. From the observation of Sun Chuanting on the road, the population of Chengdu may not be less than 200 million.

Although it can't reach the level of "one promotion and two benefits" back then, it is still in the top ten of Ming Dynasty.

Logically speaking, it is impossible for such a big mansion backed by Chengdu Pingchuan to have hungry people, but the facts have proved that such a rich mansion still shows the decadent look of people's livelihood under the hustle and bustle of Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang.

Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang were reminded by Gu Bingqian three days ago that they recruited more than 2 hungry people to recruit workers, and they were ordered to resign by the imperial decree that followed.

After Sun Chuanting came here today, what he saw was not a land of abundance, but barren fields all over the place, flat rivers like swamps and fields.

When he entered the border of Chengdu, he found that both sides of the road were covered with weeds.

Years of experience told him that these places were obviously used to be cultivated land, but they had not been cultivated for a long time.

He once asked the hungry people peeling bark on the side of the road: "Is all the land in your county like this?"

However, in the face of his inquiry, the hungry people honestly replied, "Nine times out of ten this is the case."

For the rest, Sun Chuanting didn't ask any more, because he probably knew why the fields were abandoned.

The officials and the gentry colluded and forced the common people to pay [-]% of the rice and wheat, while the common people could only get [-]%.

The common people could not resist, and with the soaring price of food, [-]% of the rice and wheat was equal to subsidized farming.

Since it is subsidized money, then simply give up the fields, and would rather be a hungry person than subsidize money to cultivate.

Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang were anxious, so they began to use righteousness to suppress the people, moving out of the court and emperor.

If the hungry people still don't return to their hometowns to farm, they will block all the hungry people outside the county government, so that they can't go to the city to work, and they can only eat grass roots and bark in the suburbs.

But what they didn't expect was that even if farmers in Chengdu ate grass roots and bark, they would not go back to subsidize money to cultivate the land.

After a lot of hard work, the Fushuo Chengdu Mansion in Pingchuan, [-] miles away, has achieved this kind of virtue.

What is placed in front of Sun Chuanting at the moment is to solve the problem of food for more than [-] hungry people in Chengdu, and then to spit out the land that the gentry and the imperial horse supervisor have eaten together, and to return the land tax to give the people a bite to eat.

"Governor, they're all arrested."

Zhou's staff member's voice sounded from far away, he walked in from outside the city gate with sweat on his head, and he did not forget to bow to Sun Chuanting, and explained carefully:

"Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang, as well as 32 prefectures and counties in Chengdu, nearly [-] officials have been arrested."

"Yu Ma Jian and Jin Yiwei, as well as people from Dongchang and Xichang were also grounded, and the third battalion of Gongwei battalion was mobilized."

It was the first time Tianqi had been mobilized to investigate the case in four years.

"His Royal Highness said that the military and the government are separated, but in the end, I still used the guard battalion."

Sun Chuanting sighed, and then asked:
"How much food is there in Chengdu's treasury? Is it enough to solve the livelihood of the hungry people outside the city?"

"The price of money and food is about 4 taels, which is definitely not enough." Staff Zhou shook his head and suggested:
"The lower officials suggested that we should pay the hungry people the travel expenses for the time being, so that they can return to their hometowns and pick up the fields for cultivation."

"When the big case is over, you, the governor, will request in Shangshu to exempt the people of Sichuan Province from paying taxes."

"The people are very resilient. It only needs to be exempted from taxes for one year, and the whole province can be rejuvenated."

Staff Zhou's suggestion is very upright. In his opinion, it is a very good way to use Huang Lao's technique to manage the world.

The people are not so difficult to govern, build roads when they should be built, build bridges when they should build bridges, use the treasury to hire workers to do it, and don't use corvee.

At other times, don't worry about what the people do, as long as the officials manage the officials well.

That's all, if you can do it honestly, you will already be a good official worthy of praise.

People are not afraid of encountering corrupt officials, they are afraid of encountering officials who love to make troubles.

As long as the people are not disturbed, the people themselves will restore their livelihood, and no officials need to worry about this.

Although Sun Chuanting felt that this was far from enough, he also knew that the imperial court was exhausted and all provinces needed exemptions and policies. It would be very good if he could obtain exemptions for the people of Sichuan for one year.

"According to what you said, take out the money in the treasury and pay the travel expenses for the people. If it is not enough, let someone write to Shanxi to get some from my home."

"Governor..." Zhou's staff did not expect that Sun Chuanting would withdraw money from the family again, because this was the third time this year.

The first time was in Shaanxi, and the second time was in Guangdong. A total of 8000 taels of silver were withdrawn for the two times, while Sun Chuanting's salary and various official positions added up were only 600 taels of silver.

Withdrawing again this time, I am afraid that the Sun family will be impoverished for several months.

"Send someone to take it." Sun Chuanting has made up his mind, but he also knows that with his personal salary alone, it is just a drop in the bucket to face more than [-] hungry people.

What we really want to fight for is the relief money and food provided by work, or...

"Governor, the gentry in Chengdu Mansion sent you a greeting card."

At the gate of the city tower, a relative of the Sun family came in with a piece of greeting card and presented it with both hands.

There were dozens of cards at least, Sun Chuanting just glanced at the thick pile of greeting cards, while Zhou's staff stretched out their hands to take them all.

He checked and debated one by one, and finally raised his head and said to Sun Chuanting:
"The gentry in Chengdu Mansion are so powerful that they basically sent invitations."

"It seems that the travel expenses for the people to return to their hometowns have been settled." Sun Chuanting said this with a half-smile, a little creepy.

Seeing this, Zhou's staff also bowed holding the greeting card: "Then the humble officer will go to the yamen to arrange a dinner first."

"Go..." Sun Chuanting waved his hands, and Zhou's staff and Sun's entourage also retreated.

After they left, Sun Chuanting walked to the back of the female wall, looked at the team of victims that stretched for several miles, and couldn't help clasping his hands behind his back...

------

"This Sun Chuanting has also begun to win the hearts of the people."

"If you want to blame it, blame us for being slow."

In the backyard of the chief secretary's yamen, Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang, who were asked to resign, wore Taoist robes and walked back and forth in the guarded yard.

Liu Yuyou looked at the closed courtyard door from time to time, while Pan Shiliang was sitting on a stone chair in the courtyard, with a tea stove and hot tea on the stone table in front of him.

The tea was boiled by the fire of the tea stove, and mist with the fragrance of tea rose up, covering most of Pan Shiliang's face.

"Do you still want to drink tea?"

Liu Yuyou looked at Pan Shiliang's appearance, and quickly walked to his side:
"If you can't handle what Mr. Gu Ge told you, your life and mine are out of your hands."

"Do it? What can we do?" Pan Shiliang asked Liu Yuyou:
"Furthermore, the lives of you and me can be affected by just more than [-] disaster victims?"

"Don't forget what Gu Ge said in his letter."

"You and I took office last November, and it's only been ten months now. What big things can we accomplish in ten months?"

"You and I, at best, will be punished for the crime of lax governance and neglect of the people."

"Speaking of it at a high level, it's a reduction of jobs for the people, but at a low level, it's nothing more than three levels in a row."

"There are people in the court, so what's the point of dropping six levels in a row? It's only a matter of time before they get promoted."

Pan Shiliang calmed down at this time, but Liu Yuyou still glanced at the courtyard gate worriedly, then sat down and whispered:

"Although I said that, the matter of the military and civilian farms..."

"If you really want to talk about this matter, the Imperial Horse Supervisor, the gentry, the Jinyiwei, and the East and West Factory, their responsibility is not greater than ours?" Pan Shiliang snorted:

"It was refreshing when I was cashier, but now I want to get rid of the crime? It's too late..."

"Besides, can they not move at all?"

"The Sixth Division of the imperial court can arrive in Chengdu at most one month. At that time, the Sixth Division will have a joint trial. As long as someone is determined to protect us, we will not be guilty of death. But they are different."

"It's not a day or two since the higher-ups want to take the gentry's strong and powerful. If one is bad, whether the gentry and powerful in Chengdu can survive is a problem."

Pan Shiliang and Liu Yuyou analyzed the current situation, but at this moment the chief secretary's office suddenly became lively.

Hearing the lively voice outside the courtyard, Pan Shiliang picked up his teacup and took a sip leisurely:
"Look, the people outside are more anxious than the people inside..."

The teacup was put down and collided with the stone table. The sound was dull, almost the same time as the opening of the chief secretary's yamen gate.

"The Li family in Xicheng is sympathetic to the difficulty of the government, and deliberately paid taxes in even numbers, and donated another 3000 taels of silver..."

"The Wang family of Nancheng is sympathetic to the difficulty of the government, and deliberately paid taxes in even numbers, and donated silver..."

"East City..."

As the sun set, all the gentry and powerful gentry from the two prefectures and thirty counties of Chengdu came to the chief secretary's yamen.

Others do not have such great energy, so they donate more silver, as little as a thousand taels, as many as thousands.

All of a sudden, more than [-] powerful families in Chengdu sent out invitation cards one after another, and Sun Chuanting also changed into ordinary clothes and stood at the door to welcome the guests.

Facing the powerful gentry who came, he smiled happily and bowed to welcome him, but his eyes looked at the gifts from time to time.

It has to be said that Sun Chuanting, who is nearly two meters tall, is very tall, especially in this southwest land.

In the past, the gentry was no more than five feet tall. While his height of more than six feet made people look up to him, it also added a lot of pressure.

Just facing him, the gentlemen didn't have much pressure.

First, because the autumn harvest was approaching and they had money and food in their hands, if Sun Chuanting wanted to offend them, it would inevitably disturb the time for tax payment, and the delay in tax payment would cause problems for the military rations and military salaries in the four southwestern provinces.

The second is that most of the gentry in Chengdu are powerful, and they have also trained their own Sichuan Party officials in the imperial court. Although the Sichuan Party is a small party, a few third and fourth ranks can also be pulled out.

They were confident and greeted Sun Chuanting one by one.

Such a welcome did not come to an end until dusk slanted west and the sky gradually emerged with scarlet sunset.

After welcoming the last gentry, the smile on Sun Chuanting's face faded, and he glanced at the gold and silver that the gentry next to him said was donated to the government office.

Walking up to this pile of gold and silver, picking up a few gift slips at random, the number is shocking.

Zhou's staff has been accompanying Sun Chuanting, looking at the pile of gifts, he couldn't help but say:

"The imperial court banned bad practices and embellishing pens, but they didn't want the local government to bribe them by donating to government offices."

"There are at least 9 to [-] taels of silver here. If they do the same to Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang on weekdays, then coming to Chengdu to work can be called a fat job..."

"The Tao is one foot tall and the devil is ten feet high..." Sun Chuanting closed the gift list with a sullen expression on his face:
"The imperial court and these powerful gentry are nothing more than chasing obstacles and checking for leaks. Whoever takes the first step can restrain the other party for a while."

"Although the 9 to [-] taels of silver is a lot, compared with their hidden fields, tenants, and the taxes they evaded, it is nothing more than a drop in the bucket."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked into the chief secretary's yamen, Zhou's aides also followed after seeing this, and ordered someone to close the door.

In the bustling yamen, even the seats are graded.

Those who donated silver and paid taxes exceeding 5000 taels sat at the table of Sun Chuanting, those who paid more than 3000 taels sat at other tables in the conference hall, and those who paid more than 2000 taels sat at the two tables at the entrance of the conference hall.

The rest are all sitting in the yamen courtyard.

In a short time, more than ten tables of food were set up, and everyone was seated according to the amount of money they donated.

Sun Chuanting walked around the screen wall, with a smile on his face again.

He changed into that amiable appearance again, bowing to the powerful gentry coming and going.

After finally waiting for him to walk to the hall and take a seat, Zhou's staff also introduced:

"Governor, this is Li Gongsheng from the Li Mansion in the West City, this is Wang Juren from the South City, and this is Zhang Gongsheng from the East City..."

"Disrespect, disrespect..." Sun Chuanting apologized, and the largest gentry in the Chengdu Mansion also got up to return the salute.

They laughed and sat down with Sun Chuanting, and Zhou's staff also turned around to greet the food to the table.

Li Gongsheng, who was over fifty years old when he saw Zhou's aides passing on the dishes, said with a smile:
"Governor Sun has done a lot of hard work. He came here this time, hoping to solve the livelihood of more than [-] disaster victims in Chengdu."

"I can't wait. I came here to donate money. Apart from the ones at the door, these are all from my heart."

As he said that, Li Gongsheng took out a new gift list from his sleeve first, and other people also took out a new gift list.

Sun Chuanting took it with a smile, opened it and glanced at it. The words written on it were basically rice and wheat, ranging from hundreds of stones to thousands of stones.

Just the gentry at this table has provided food for more than [-] disaster victims in Chengdu for a few days.

It's just that Sun Chuanting didn't feel grateful for their overtures.

The gentry Haoqiang is a group of guys who cannibalize people without spitting out their bones. They are willing to bleed in order to quickly calm the 10,000+ disaster victims. They don't want to be seen by the officials of the Sixth Division after a month.

How to solve it is Sun Chuanting's business, they are only responsible for the money and food for a period of time.

After this period of time has passed, how will the victims survive in the future?Then it has nothing to do with them.

"Hehe..." Sun Chuanting suppressed his temper and smiled, put the gift list aside, and then said:
"There are more than [-] victims. If you want to appease them, this amount of money and food is just a prerequisite. The most important thing is to get back the fields of the Yumajian."

"Look for it! Of course I want to look for it." Wang Juren quickly echoed, but Li Gongsheng's smile froze, and he discussed with a little bit

"The army farmland cannot be bought or sold. All the poor people here rent the land and sign the contract..."

"Besides, after the Yumajian field was leased, I paid the taxes honestly, and there was nothing wrong with it."

"If the imperial court says that the land of the Yumajian cannot be leased, then we can return it, but the imperial court has not said so far. If we return it, it will naturally be a loss of money and food."

From Li Gongsheng's words, it seems that they have become good people who pity the people, and they rent the land for the sake of the people's survival.

Sun Chuanting had seen this face a lot, so naturally he could bear it.

He raised his wine glass with a smile, and said with a forceful smile to the gentry around him:
"Li Gongsheng's words are naturally reasonable, but the court has made up its mind to take back the matter of the army's farming, everyone..."

"Of course it's okay to charge, but after all, we paid money to rent the land, so I hope the imperial court waits for us to recoup the cost before reclaiming the army's land." Li Gongsheng picked up his wine glass and responded with a smile.

Sun Chuanting saw that he refused to accept his softness and toughness, so he narrowed his eyes and asked:

"If the fields are not recovered, what will happen to the disaster victims below and the people who have lost their fields?"

"This..." Li Gongsheng thought for a while, then stroked his beard and said calmly:
"We are willing to recruit them as tenants and distribute them according to the June Fourth rent."

"Sixty percent is..." Sun Chuanting asked knowingly.

"Thirty percent of the sixty percent belongs to the imperial court, and the remaining thirty percent of the land, we are willing to donate twenty percent to the government to resettle other disaster victims, and the remaining ten percent is the cost. Although the tenants only have forty percent, we can divide the land by ten percent." Mu to them."

When Li Gongsheng said this, he still did not forget to touch himself:
"Ten acres of land, even if the harvest is poor, as long as you work hard, you can still get six or seven shi of rice a year."

"Is it possible for one person to plant ten acres of land?" Sun Chuanting put down his wine glass, but Li Gongsheng continued without knowing it:
"Get up at Mao to plant, go home at You, and the planting should be finished in six hours. Besides, if they can't finish the planting, they have wives and children at home. With the help, they can definitely finish the planting."

Sun Chuanting smiled, he picked up the jug and filled it up for himself, and asked with a hint of alcohol after filling the glass:
"Li Gongsheng, what do you mean, for a family of four, is six or seven stones of rice enough for a year?"

Li Gongsheng didn't know it, and continued to respond with a smile:
"Women and children can't eat too much. Although six or seven stones a year are barely enough to eat, women can raise mulberry and silkworms to weave cloth during the slack season. They can weave two bolts of cloth a year. part-time job."

"It's really not possible. They can go hunting in the mountains in their spare time. Anyway, the imperial court has exempted the miscellaneous taxes for hunting in the mountains."

"After a year like this, they can not only support themselves, but also buy new clothes, and eat meat from time to time in the coming year. Why not do it?"

"Chengdu's million males, are there so many day laborers for them?" Sun Chuanting stopped laughing and asked with a stiff face.

"This requires Governor Sun to strategize. Didn't the court provide relief with work?" Li Gongsheng asked back, and then generously said:
"The road from the county to Qingcheng Mountain has not been repaired for 60 years. It is inconvenient for the people in the city to go to Qingcheng Mountain to burn incense. If Governor Sun is willing to repair this road with work relief, then I am willing to pay 500 taels of silver. "

"Yes, yes, I am willing to wait!"

"I, Mrs. Wang, are willing to pay 200 taels."

"I, Mr. Zhang, can pay 300 taels."

"My He's family property is not as good as yours, and I am willing to give 100 taels."

"I……"

All of a sudden, the gentry at the table "generously donated money".

However, in the year of the catastrophe, it is difficult for the people to even eat, so how many people are willing to burn incense?
It is said that it is for the people, but in fact this road was built for the gentry.

The imperial court gives money, and the common people contribute their strength. The roads built by the two are not for the imperial court and the common people, but for the gentry...

The gentry at this table are powerful, and in order to bribe Sun Chuanting, they can give out 9 to [-] taels of silver, and then tens of thousands of shimimai, but when it comes to working for relief and solving the problems of people's livelihood, they all become stingy one by one. Search it up.

Not to mention, the road was built for them.

If it was not built for them, but simply built for the common people, I am afraid they would not even be able to part with the several hundred taels of silver.

Sun Chuanting didn't answer, but picked up the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp.

At this time, Zhou's staff who went to deliver the food also returned with dozens of servants carrying the food.

It's just that the meals they serve are extremely poor, with five or six people per table, but there are only simple three dishes and one soup.

The dishes are simple fried cabbage, fried melon, and a scrambled egg, and the soup is wild vegetable soup.

As soon as the three dishes and one soup were served, everyone's expressions froze.

"In the year of the catastrophe, this meat, two vegetables and one soup is the best banquet the government can offer. Please forgive me."

Zhou's staff said "sorry", but no one could see that his actions were sarcasm.

Facing the ridicule, Li Gongsheng and the others stopped pretending. He knocked the wine glass on the table heavily, and ironed with a bit of anger:

"If the yamen is out of money and food, you can discuss it with us. Although our family is poor, it is not a problem to help the government yamen."

There was something in the words, in Li Gongsheng's words, it was obvious that he regarded the Sichuan officials as his own servants, with a tone of charity.

In their view, if Sun Chuanting was not backed by King Qi and the Emperor, they would not be so polite to Sun Chuanting at all.

What Western Army Governor of Sichuan?What governor of the seventeen provinces?What Sichuan chief envoy?

To put it bluntly, don't you still have to rely on their gentry to receive taxes?

If you want to tear your face, then don't collect the autumn tax and land tax.

"This year's drought, the harvest is not good, I hope the government can give me some time to wait."

Li Gongsheng stopped being sarcastic, but tidied up his clothes:
"There are still some people waiting for us at the imperial court, and they will go to school collectively at that time, and will not embarrass Governor Sun."

If the previous sentence was to let Sun Chuanting recognize his status, and the postponement of taxes was to let Sun Chuanting recognize his needs, then Li Gongsheng's current sentence is to tell Sun Chuanting that "there are people behind them."

It's not that they can't do without Sun Chuanting, but they think it's most convenient to find you Sun Chuanting directly.

If you can't get things done, then everyone will have nothing to talk about.

The atmosphere froze for a moment, Sun Chuanting held back his breath and drank the wine glass in one gulp, then said flatly:
"Taxes cannot be postponed, and the military farmland must be returned in full, and it must be before the autumn harvest. As for the lack of money and food in the yamen, I will apply to the imperial court for allocation, so you don't have to worry about this matter..."

"Bam—"

When Li Gongsheng heard Sun Chuanting's refusal to enter, he immediately took the case and asked with a gloomy face:
"Governor Sun wants to compete with the people for profit? Don't give the people a way out?"

"It's not me who doesn't give the people a way to live. You have your own decisions about who it is." Sun Chuanting poured the wine by himself, and Li Gongsheng and others stood up immediately after hearing the words:

"Then there is nothing to talk about. We will discuss the matter in Sichuan with officials in the court and let them decide what to do."

After saying that, Li Gongsheng and others turned around and were about to leave the hall, but at this moment, the sound of armor came from behind the screen wall in the courtyard.

Two teams of the Western Army's Gongwei Battalion trotted out from behind the screen wall and surrounded the courtyard.

"What do you want to do?!" Li Gongsheng subconsciously looked at Sun Chuanting, but Sun Chuanting suppressed his anger and swallowed a mouthful of strong wine by himself: "Good question..."

"Sun Chuanting, let me tell you! I am the tribute handpicked by Emperor Shenzong during the Wanli period..."

Li Gongsheng hadn't finished saying the word "tribute" when Zhou's aides appeared behind him at some point, pulled out a short knife and cut his throat.

Blood spurted out, splashing Wang Juren, Zhang Gongsheng and others all over. The guards of the Western Army on both sides of the courtyard also drew their knives and rushed into the banquet to hack.

The gentry in the meeting hall tried to resist, but they were knocked to the ground by Zhou's staff and the boy who had served the food earlier with a knife.

The food on the table was spattered with blood, and a gentry's blood spattered half of Sun Chuanting's face, but he picked up the wine glass without blinking and drank it down in one gulp.

At this time, no one mentioned which emperor's hand-picked Gongsheng or Juren they were, and everyone ran around to avoid swords.

Some got under the table and were dragged out by the legs and hacked to death. Some tried to jump over the wall and were shot to death on the spot with bows and arrows.

Most of the gentry in Chengdu did not live here.

Wu Youxing, who came in a hurry, saw this scene and ran into the meeting hall.

Looking at Sun Chuanting whose face was covered in blood, he knew that the matter might not end so easily...

　The second update is around 10:30 p.m.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)