General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 174 Daming's Blessing

With the fall of rich man Wu, the bridgehead is already in chaos.

The four long-term workers who were standing next to rich man Wu immediately surrounded Ning Jue.

"Leave him alone...Gulu...get me first...Gulu...Master, I don't know how to drink water!

"Don't let this guy get away!"

"..."

Changgong, who came back to his senses, jumped into the water with two "plops" and "plops", and fished rich man Wu out of the small ditch shoulder-deep.

A moment later, rich man Wu, who was panting heavily on the bluestone by the river, pointed at Ning Jue with trembling hands and said loudly: "Where is Chief Jia?! Take this man to me! Everyone who does it will be rewarded with [-] yuan!" A catty of millet!"

As soon as these words were said, the eyes of the people around looked at Ning Jue and Gu Qingnong suddenly became strange.

Gu Qingnong fumbled into the baggage casually.

"Chaohu, yes, Chaohu."

The only thing in Gu Qingnong's hands that can prove Ning Jue's identity is Chaohu.

Gu Qingnong, who was forced by the villagers to retreat towards the bridge, took out Ning Jue's chao wat from the bag.

"Don't lean any further..."

Before Gu Qingnong could finish speaking, he felt that his hand was empty, and someone took away his Chaohu.

Looking back, Ning Jue had already walked towards rich man Wu with a chao wat in his hand, cursing.

Don't wait for the two long-term workers next to rich man Wu to see clearly what Ning Jue is holding in his hand.

The ivory-shelled chao wat slammed into rich man Wu's face with a "slap".

Then the clear words "Cha Yuan Qian" appeared on the face of rich man Wu.

This was definitely the scariest night that rich man Wu had ever experienced in his life.

Floating in the river without knowing how to swim, he watched in horror as a snow-white board was slapped towards his big face again and again. He wanted to hide but was afraid of being washed away by the river, so he had no choice but to die against the wat. Deadly hugging the bluestone on the shore.

And the young man holding the whiteboard looked like Bai Wuchang, asking questions over and over again.

"What happened to the food price this year?!"

The rich man Wu, who was about the same age as Jiajing, burst into tears with a "wow".

"I, I don't know either!"

"Originally the Zou family told us that it was five renminbi a stone, but who would have thought that it would become four renminbi a stone after a few days."

"After so many days of busy work, it's easy to earn such a little money!"

Before the words fell, there was a "pop" and then fell again.

"Are you still wronged?! You are divided into three hundred catties for an acre of land, and you are still wronged?! I can go to hell."

Ning Jue slapped the wat board on rich man Wu's left hand holding the bluestone.

Rich man Wu suffered from pain in his left hand, but he didn't dare to let go.

"Are you blind?! Hurry up and save me!"

The moonlight was exceptionally bright.

The rich man Wu, who was soaked in the water, desperately asked for help, but all the long-term workers around him stopped.

Because they saw that the unknown thing in Ning Jue's hand under the moonlight was exactly the same as that held by the Dragon King and the God of Wealth in the temple.

Lianyue's father pulled his daughter's sleeve and asked repeatedly: "Ninny, what kind of fairy is this young man you brought back!"

"Father, this is Ning Qianxian who was sent by the imperial court to inspect Yingtian. This is the one who wanted to kill Zou Yuanwai a few days ago."

"Oh..." Father Lianyue came back to his senses, and hurriedly said: "This Wu Dashan is a sage in our village, he dare not just be drowned like this!"

"That's right, we were hit by a disaster a few years ago, and the rich man Wu lent our family food to survive today. You can't be unconscionable."

Before Lianyue opened her mouth, some people couldn't sit still.

"My lord, rich man Wu is a kind person in our village, what is the crime?"

Ning Jue, who was holding the wat, was stunned.

"What the hell?"

"Is this old bastard still a good person?"

Leaning on crutches, an old man walked up to Ning Jue.

"There is nothing wrong with Wu's family borrowing grain in a disaster year, not to mention this matter, a stone of grain in the neighboring village is only three cents and nine cents of silver, and fire consumption is three cents per tael of silver."

Ning Jue said loudly: "The food is all rented by you! So what if he lends it to you?"

"But the land belongs to others!"

Ning Jue opened his mouth to speak, but he saw the complex expression of the old man clearly through the moonlight.

Is there anyone in the world who knows where food comes from better than the rent-payer?

It's not that they don't know that the food that the Wu family lent them was all grown by their hard work.

But so what?
Killed rich man Wu and Yuanwai Liu.

After all, this land will be bought by others, but it is definitely not bought by them.

At least rich man Wu is more anthropomorphic than other masters!

Ning Jue glanced at Rich Man Wu in the river with some disgust.

"Go up."

After soaking in the water for a while, rich man Wu was able to go ashore.

"You are Ning Qianxian, right? I have heard your name in the county."

One of rich man Wu's shoes soaked in the water was washed away, and he vomited several times after struggling to climb ashore.

Ning Jue lowered his head and gasped for air, looking at rich man Wu who was sitting on the ground like a dead dog.

"What's going on with the grain prices in Xishan this autumn?"

"Caomin really don't know what you're talking about!"

Ning Jue's face was gloomy, and he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "Isn't it still hard to talk, tied up, go back to the county government to behead!"

Rich man Wu hurriedly said: "Qian Xian, don't do anything! I'll say it all, I'll say it all!"

"Go to my house, I have an account book, and Qian Xian will understand when he looks at it."

Ning Jue casually inserted Chaohu back into his waist.

Following rich man Wu, he walked towards the largest mansion in the village.

The house is well-behaved. There are some melons, fruits and herbs drying in the yard, and there are several granaries in the house.

In the slightly unrestrained study and dining room of rich man Wu, Ning Jue took the account book from rich man Wu who was still dripping with water.

"Co-author, do you eat tenant money every year?!"

Rich Man Wu said with a wry smile: "Qian Xian Mingjian, that was in previous years, but this year I didn't even think about taking more money!"

Rich man Wu lowered his head and said, "Qian Xian doesn't know something. In the past, the folks in the village generally didn't sell grain, and even if they did, they didn't sell much."

"We are the only ones who have surplus grain to sell at home. I can't help them with their work for nothing."

Many tenant farmers and self-cultivating farmers may not know how much money they can sell for the grain they grow in their entire lives.

Because they have too little grain, even grain merchants will not directly do their small business.

Before the whipping method, it was not even necessary to pay the land tax, but to pay the grain directly.

When their families were anxiously waiting for money to use, they could only take their own grain to find nearby landlords, sell the grain to the landlord at a low price, and then the landlord handed it over to the grain merchant for sale.

The price difference in the middle was naturally earned by the landlord.

"Every year when the autumn harvest comes, the price of grain drops. This year Zou Yuanwai shipped so much rice, so the price of rice in Xishan has risen a bit. This is all because of the new policy of the imperial court!"

Listening to rich man Wu's words, Ning Jue frowned gradually.

"Shouldn't the imperial court thank you?!"

"That's not necessary..." Realizing that Ning Jue was staring at him, rich man Wu shut his mouth wisely.

"In previous years, when the grain was harvested in autumn, one stone was worth seven renminbi. Why did it drop to four renminbi this year? Are you hiding anything?"

Rich Man Wu fell to his knees with a "plop".

"A lesson from Qian Xian! We didn't expect the price of grain to fall so fast!"

"We discussed that it might have something to do with the floods in the first half of this year. The imperial grain was paid by Zou Donghu, but the fields in the first half of the year were not completely flooded. After the water receded, many villages just reduced production and grabbed a lot of wheat. .”

"As soon as the whipping method came out, the people didn't know it, and they went in. When they heard that the price of grain had dropped, they all sold it. They were afraid that it would be even cheaper if it was sold late. The grain of the two seasons of the year rushed out this time. Can the price of grain be high?"

Ning Jue frowned and said, "The common people won't keep it until the price of grain rises and then sell it?"

Rich Man Wu smiled wryly and said, "Where to save...where to save it? It's almost reached the limit."

"The sun is still high right now, and the grain can still be dried in the sun. When winter comes, the south of the Yangtze River is no better than the north. When the humidity comes, all the grain will rot in my own hands."

Ning Jue bowed his head and remained silent, but the rich man Wu still said: "Qian Xian, the conscience of heaven and earth, we are really loyal to the imperial court wholeheartedly this time!"

"Faithful?"

"By forcefully raising the food price in Xishan while Beppu has not implemented the whipping method, is this called being loyal to the court?!"

Rich Man Wu was at a loss for words for a while.

Perhaps Zou Wang really came here to show his loyalty to the imperial court.

But while expressing his loyalty, he did not forget to earn money himself, but the money was not earned in Xishan.

"Just say that the pilot project in Xishan was successful or not!"

"We are doing this for you and the court!"

"Then the imperial court is still experimenting so much?!" Ning Jue shouted angrily, and rich man Wu was speechless immediately.

"Grain merchants, grain...grain." Ning Jue's voice stopped abruptly, and then he raised his head to stare at Rich Man Wu.

"Master Wu really has a sharp mouth."

Sweat dripped from rich man Wu's forehead.

"Qi... What does Qian Xian mean by these words?"

"Keep your mouth shut. What you say is all about the grain merchants. Every word and every word cannot avoid the grain merchants. I still think that Mr. Wu is the grain merchants in Xishan."

"Master Wu, why didn't you mention the rent? You gave it to the people?"

"Grass people are stupid... don't understand what Qian Xian means."

Ning Jue casually threw away the ledger in his hand.

"The grain merchants are not clean, but Mr. Wu, are you clean? Is the rent added to the tenants by the court?!"

"It is you who have passed on your family's consumption, color, and land tax to the tenants with rent!"

"Without the pressure of so many renters, would the people be so anxious to sell grain?!"

After all, rich man Wu is just a landlord.

For whipping, he still almost instinctively resisted it.

In a few words, the problem was pushed to the grain merchants.

Sweat dripped from the forehead of rich man Wu: "But there are so many people and so little land! Even if I raise the rent, they don't plant it, and some people rent it!"

Just like what the common people think, if this rich man Wu is killed, there will be Li Yuanwai.

They are just symptoms, not the root cause.

The real root of the disease lies in the whipping method.

It was the whipping method that gave these landlords an opportunity to take advantage of the loopholes and re-transfer the land taxes originally allocated to them to the tenant farmers.

And the patch that can make up for this loophole is called a patch.

Ning Jue, who stood in front of Rich Man Wu, was silent for a while, but then applauded and laughed, "Good opinion, Rich Man Wu!"

Ning Jue laughed at Rich Man Wu's heart.

"Qian Xian, if you have something to say, you should say it directly."

"To put it bluntly, this year Xishan not only needs to use the whip method, but also needs to be divided into acres."

(End of this chapter)