General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 171 Precedents
Garrison Hall.

"Mr. He, the little one hasn't reported to his ancestors yet."

He Qian, who had two swollen cheeks, didn't even bother to open his mouth, and broke into the garrison hall.

At the moment He Qian broke into the garrison hall, Mai Fu, who was standing in front of the desk holding a pen, was dumbfounded.

"Are you...Mr. Jiyang? The food is good recently, and I haven't gained a lot of weight in two days."

Seeing Mai Fu, the old man couldn't stop crying immediately.

"Mai Gonggong, you have to let the old man decide!"

After He Qian finished talking about his experience with snot and tears.

Only then did Mai Fu raise his head in disbelief.

"You...is this smoked by Ning Qianxian?"

"Eunuch Mai, just say you don't care! If you don't care, just pretend that the old man is here to ask for leave today."

Mai Fu put down his pen at any time, and hurriedly said: "It's fine to take a leave of absence, just go home and rest for a few days."

"Rest? Still resting, the old man will go to Beijing to sue the imperial court. If His Majesty does not see the old man, the old man will just find a place to hang in Chengtianmen and will not come back."

Mai Fu frowned when he heard this.

"No, that's unlucky, ah no, we have to take this matter slowly."

He Qian slapped the table on his own.

"He himself admitted that the old man was finally hit by Ning Ke, and it was Ning Ke who set the fire in the academy last night."

"What are you waiting for?"

Mai Fu took a deep breath and thought carefully.

He wanted to cover up for Ning Jue.

But this matter is too extreme, and Mai Fu really doesn't know where to start.

"Ah, he hit you, you probably read it right..."

Mai Fu clapped his hands.

"Mr. Jiyang, who can prove that Ning Qianxian set the fire last night!"

"The three disciples of the old man saw it with their own eyes! He Ning Ke finally entered the academy with wine! The academy uses high-quality wood, and there is no way to light it without wine and kerosene!"

And when He Qian heard Mai Fu's next words, he was dumbfounded.

Mai Fu looked at He Qian with a cheeky smile and said, "Arson is a big case, so you can't be convicted just because of two people with red lips and white teeth, right?"

He Qian stared at Mai Fu dumbfounded.

He has worked in the Ministry of Criminal Justice for almost five years.

For so many years, how to determine the punishment has always been his own word, and this is the first time it is his turn.

"Then he even slapped the old man! This old man is a third-rank member of the imperial court!"

Mai Fu looked at He Qian dumbfounded.

"Mr. Ji Yang, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, what crime should one be guilty of slapping a colleague?"

He Qian was silent.

Only the little servant behind him said in a low voice: "Old Ancestor, there is no record in the Law of the Ming Dynasty."

At that time, even though Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about it, he never thought that the civil servants of Ming Dynasty would be so full of martial arts in the future.

"Then following the previous example, who was the last person in Ming Dynasty who was slapped?"

"Ma Shun, the commander of Jinyiwei, is also the third grade."

"How did Ma Shuna's case end?"

"It hasn't been judged yet."

The garrison hall was eerily quiet.

After a long time, Mai Fu looked at He Qian with a little guilt.

"Mr. Jiyang, it's really not that I don't let you decide... You know this precedent, don't you?"

"Hurry up, two short-sighted things, quickly come over and help Mr. Jiyang. Later, our family will find an imperial physician to prescribe two medicines for Mr. Jiyang. Let's take care of it first."

Before He Qian came back to his senses, he was "helped" out of the garrison hall by two Ti guards.

After being escorted out of the garrison hall, Mai Fu still did not forget to add a sentence.

"If Mr. Jiyang really wants to go to the capital, Mr. Jiyang, don't forget to inform our family."

With a sound of "Bang!", the door of the garrison hall was closed from the inside, as if he was afraid that He Qian would break in again.

He Qian, who came out of the garrison hall, sat down on the slightly dilapidated white marble steps.

Until now, he has not recovered from Ning Jue's two slaps, and his brain is almost in a state of stagnation.

After blowing the wind for a while, He Qian's brain barely recovered.

"Mai Fu, Ning Jue, you two are bullying too much together, I want to see how long you can wear this pair of pants!"

Originally, He Qian was planning to report illness and return home, but with just these two slaps, it will take some time for He Qian's "Beg for Bones" to be published.

He Qian sat on the jade steps for a long time before walking outside the palace.

More than [-] servants in green clothes and small hats of the He family were waiting outside the palace with sticks in their hands.

"My lord, I've already found everyone. As long as you give an order, the little ones will rush into the office of the Ministry of War and drag Nan Ningke out. It will be a fat beating!"

With a swollen face and eyes closed, He Qian gritted his teeth and climbed into the carriage.

"Go away, go home."

After finishing speaking, He Qian suddenly raised his foot and kicked the carriage.

"drive!"

"Here."

There were only more than 20 people outside the palace gate looking at each other.

And Ti Wei, who was guarding the gate of the palace, had already noticed that this group of people holding sticks didn't look like good people.

"Why are you looking at me? Follow the master and go home!"

"Here!"
-
The largest box in Heming Tower.

This was Zou Wang's first return to Jinling since Xishan Litian, and he felt somewhat different in his heart.

"Donghu, Eunuch Mai really didn't say anything?"

Hearing Hua Linxiang's worry, Zou Wang was noncommittal.

Zou Wang knew why he was able to live until today. The emperor didn't want Zou Wang, but a group of businessmen.

As for Hua Linxiang, as long as he is willing to jump ship, Zou Wang can only hold his nose and smile and accept it.

"The meaning of not saying anything is that we will do whatever we planned to do."

Hua Linxiang was a little puzzled and said: "But this Ning Qianxian doesn't look like a good friend at all!"

"Ning Qianxian is Ning Qianxian, we are us, Haiyue don't think so much."

Ever since he heard about the decree from the imperial court and Xishan pilot project, Zou Wang has been inquiring about the news to determine the specific policy for this year's autumn grain. He only asked Mai Fu a few times, but Mai Fu was noncommittal.

Zou Wang could only turn his head to find Ning Jue, and only then did he confirm the news.

"But I just don't understand why Eunuch Mai is avoiding us!"

Zou Wang picked up the wine cup impatiently and drank it down, then said in a low voice, "Why else? Do you think Eunuch Mai didn't see that we didn't say the whole thing?"

"The reason why Eunuch Mai saw it but didn't ask in detail is that Eunuch doesn't want to get involved with you and me in the matter of Xishan whipping."

"But..." Hua Linxiang still spoke worriedly.

Since swallowing such a large sum of land from those nobles.

Hua Linxiang felt as if he was walking on the street with his butt naked.

There is only one person behind the buttocks, Mai Fu.

Hua Linxiang always felt chilly in his crotch.

"What is it? The imperial court took such pains to get Zou out of the execution ground, not to find another reason to kill you and me all over the house. Just do what you and I should do."

Now that Zou Wang had said that, Hua Linxiang had no choice but to shut up.

Until the wine has passed three rounds and the dishes have tasted five flavors.

Then Zou Wang looked at the people in front of him and said: "Since the new law of the imperial court has been finalized, let's not be in a daze, it's time to get busy, first sell the rice in the warehouse, and exchange some salt to attract it." No matter whether it is transported to several nearby prefectures for sale, Zou has nothing to do with it, but before the autumn rice comes down, our rice warehouse in Xishan will be at least [-]% empty, do you know?"

The south of the Yangtze River did not eat wheat, but in the Song and Ming Dynasties, the main farming mode in the south of the Yangtze River was summer wheat and autumn rice. The land will be idle for a period of time, and multiple cropping of wheat and rice can maximize the potential of the land.

"Please don't worry, Mr. Zou, don't make trouble with Yin Zi if you have trouble with anyone."

Everyone immediately burst into laughter, only Zou Wang sat upright and said, "It's not for money, it's for devotion to the king's affairs."

The people who were originally laughing became serious and said in unison: "I will understand."

What Zou Wang was talking about was a profitable business, so these merchants naturally said nothing, they scattered back to their hometowns to transport rice after eating.
-
That is, when Xishan merchants gathered in the Heming Tower, a group of eunuchs gathered in the garrison hall that He Qian had just left.

The sound of the abacus beads being plucked one after another.

Mai Fu frowned and said impatiently: "It's better to stop it in the future, don't let anyone put it in, if He Qian delays for a while on the road, wouldn't it just break in?"

"Yes, my son understands."

Only then did Mai Fu look up at the people in front of him and asked, "How is the situation in Xishan estimated?"

"Eunuch, there is not much difference from the previous few times, there should be no problem."

The so-called whipping method is that the imperial court discounts all the corvees and taxes borne by the counties, and then lists a general ledger, and the imperial court only collects money.

In this way, the imperial court can bypass the "village sages" such as grain chiefs and village chiefs, and collect taxes directly from the people.

Regarding the disadvantages of whipping, Mai Fu and Jiajing have already had a guess.

It's just been unproven for some reason.

That is during the autumn harvest and summer harvest, because all farmers are selling grain, so the price of grain will drop accordingly, and some people will definitely sell wheat and rice at a high price before the autumn harvest, and after the autumn harvest, they will sell it at a low price. It is inevitable to collect grain and replenish warehouses to make profits.

The question between Mai Fu and Jiajing is whether the fluctuation of food prices can be borne by the court.

According to the past few trials, after the whipping method was implemented, the price of grain dropped by half, and even the people who sold the grain didn't care much.

After all, he really went to serve corvee, but it's not just this loss.

After meditating for a long time, Mai Fu stood up and told the people in front of him: "The emperor assigned a new job to Dongchang earlier, to supervise Nanjing food and goods, report once a month."

"Today, our family has the right to do it. I will add a job to you. I will record all the grain prices in Nanzhili this year until the autumn grain harvest in Xishan, and report it to Junfu later. Are you willing?"

Mai Fu speaks in person, who dares to say no.

This is also the reason why Mai Fu kept a distance from people like Zou Wang for the time being.

Because only one county or prefecture tried the whipping method, when the grain price in the pilot county fell, these merchants would immediately resell the grain to other counties, thus affecting the pilot results.

When the whipping method is implemented and there are depressions everywhere, it will not be counted as depressions. The fluctuation range of food prices must be completely different from that in only one or two counties.

Mai Fu needs to know how much it will affect the whipping method if merchants are allowed to pursue profits.

(End of this chapter)