General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 199
Xishan County Government.

An old man in ragged clothes walked into the county government office tremblingly with his little granddaughter.

"Caomin, Caomin came to find Ning Qianxian."

The subordinate guarding the county government waved his hands impatiently and said, "Ning Qianxian has already finished his errands and returned to Nanjing, so you can go directly to Nanjing."

I heard that Ning Jue had left.

The old man knelt down in front of the subordinate staff with a "plop".

"Master, please do me a favor, think of a way to let the grassroots see Qian Xian, we two, grandpa and grandson, can't survive!"

The subordinate staff immediately panicked.

"How can you be a rascal, you old bastard? Ning Qianxian is in Xishan, can I call you out?! Let me think of a way, I can't fly, how can I think of a way for you?!"

"If you don't leave, I will beat you!"

Before the subordinate official finished speaking, a voice came from the county office.

"Why do you criticize the old man?"

Hearing, hearing and scolding, the subordinate staff's aura suddenly weakened.

"Hai Xianzun, he is here to find Ning Qianxian, and we are not the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Hai Rui waved his hand at the subordinate, and then dismissed the subordinate.

"Old man, what do you need to find Ning Qianxian? The court has laws and regulations. If you have grievances, you can just go to me."

The old man said with some panic: "Old parents, it's not that the grassroots are insane, it's really that the grassroots' affairs are too small, this... this, alas."

Ning Jue's image has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of Xishan people.

When encountering such a thing, the old man can only think of Ning Jue.

Hai Rui was startled when he heard the words, and said patiently: "Old man, how about this, please tell me about the case first, and if you really can't handle it, I will find a way for you."

The old man hesitated for a moment, then he sighed and spoke.

"Old parents, the little old man's family originally rented [-] acres of land from Li Tenant in the village."

"It's just that the court implemented a new law. The tenant wanted to increase the rent. The son and daughter-in-law felt that it was not worthwhile, so they returned the lease of 25 mu of land and went to Songjiang to ask for a living."

The so-called tenant rent is a special product under the preferential exemption system for scholar-bureaucrats.

That is, one field and two masters.

A piece of field is divided into field skin and field bone.

The field bone is the ownership, and the field skin is the permanent tenancy right. When the landlord gets the land, he will try to donate the field bone to the gentry and get a part of the discount, and the land skin he holds is the permanent tenancy right to continue subletting.

The part that holds the field skin is also called the tenant master. In the original history, this one-field, two-ownership system also died out with the demise of the gentry.

Hai Rui couldn't help being surprised when he heard the words, "You rented fifteen acres of land alone?"

"At first, we were already well off, but yesterday, tenant Li suddenly refunded our rent, saying that we won't be living there next year."

"Look at my old bones, and then let me stay in the house for a while. The little old man wants to vote for his son, but he is old. He really doesn't know the way, and he doesn't know where his son is in Songshan. That's why I wanted to bother Ning Qianxian."

Hai Rui couldn't help being shocked when he heard this.

"The farming season is just around the corner, how dare he refund your rent?! Does he still have the royal law of the court in his eyes!?"

"I'll order him to continue to rent the land to you, isn't it better than you going to Songshan in a hurry?!"

Hearing Hai Rui's words, the old man hesitated to speak.

"Old parents, we are tenants, the land of the tenants."

"The little old man is not from the village, he came here after fleeing from disaster in the early years. How can the little old man gain a foothold in the village in the future if you go back and make trouble like this? After all, it is not his own property. The little old man just wants to find his son... "

Seeing the old man's resolute expression, Hai Rui was speechless for a while.

"You..." After hesitating for a long time, Hai Rui took out a greeting card from his pocket, along with a few small pieces of silver.

"Old man, it's Xishan who can't help you. Take this money and go to the pier to take a boat. When you arrive at Huating, take my post to the county government. They will help you."

The old man stared at the silver in Hai Rui's hand, his eyes straightened.

The old man doesn't want it, but sometimes he can't help it.

Before the old man opened his mouth, Hai Rui gave the old man the silver and the invitation.

"You have a good trip."

The old man didn't speak any more, just knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and led his granddaughter away from the county office.

Not long after the old man left, Hai Rui's face turned ugly and frightening.

"County Honor, you..."

"How many villages are in the fields below now?"

The subordinate official was stunned, and then said: "You guys don't know."

"Who is their backstage?"

"This……"

Hai Rui knew that these subordinate officials lived in Xishan for generations, so they must have received more news than Hai Rui.

"But it doesn't matter."

"I heard that there are elders in the court and many nobles..."

"Just tell him Xu Jie's first and last name! I, the elder Ge who can reach out to Xishan in the Ming Dynasty, who else?!"

After saying that, Hai Rui wanted to leave the county government office, but was stopped by the subordinate staff.

"Hai Xianzun, the water here is too deep. One day, you will also have to hand in your job!"

"Just because they want to hand in their posts, are they allowed to act recklessly like this?! If they don't go to farm, what will the people of the world eat in the coming year?!"

Hai Rui knows that everything is changing, and people depend on food.

Seeing the subordinate officials bow their heads and remain silent.

Only then did Hai Rui walk towards the outside of Xishan City.
-
The Xu family of the capital.

The door of Xu Jie's study was closed tightly, and several of Xu Jie's personal attendants were also driven a few steps away by Xu Jie.

In the study room, kneeling in front of Xu Jie was Xu Ying, the youngest son of the Xu family.

And in front of Xu Jie, there are IOUs stamped with his seal.

"Crazy, is Xu Fan crazy?"

Xu Jie's forehead was covered with fine sweat, although his voice was trembling, he still tried his best to keep his voice down.

"Father, brother, this is a last resort!"

"After the reform by the imperial court, the gangsters in Songjiang will not let go of such a small interest. If we don't do this, our weaving farm will be divided and eaten by the people of Songjiang Mansion!"

"Then Xu Fan has the guts to take [-] mu of land and replant it with kapok?! The court blamed him, how many heads does he have?! How many heads do you and my father and son have?!"

Xu Ying gritted her teeth and said in a low voice: "Father! Just sit and wait for death. Our family can't even keep our ancestral property. If we fight, we still have a chance!"

Xu Jie slumped down on the Taishi chair.

I don't know how long Xu Jie pondered, and finally said exhaustedly: "Go back and tell Xu Fan to let go of his hands and feet, he only has this chance, understand?!"

Xu Ying was stunned: "Father, isn't the palace..."

Before Xu Ying could finish speaking, Xu Jie interrupted sharply: "Do you still know that there is a palace? Do you think that changing the [-] mu of land to kapok can hide it from the palace's eyes and ears?!"

After finishing speaking, Xu Jie picked up the black hat with trembling hands.

Seeing this scene, Xu Fan panicked.

"Father, where are you going?"

"What else can I do?! Of course, I will go to the palace and take the head to give you a chance of survival."

Xu Jie walked out of the study as if he had lost his soul.

Once the money was borrowed, there was no turning back.

There is only one way out for the Xu family, and that is to drag all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty into trouble.

Duxu's family borrowed silver, and the imperial court killed pigs and sheep, but if the whole court borrowed silver, no matter what kind of business each family was doing, it would not be easy for the imperial court to kill them.

It's useless to talk about this kind of thing by mouth. If Xu Fan becomes popular, he will gain momentum, and everyone will end up without talking too much.

Xu Jie knew very well that what Xu Fan needed most was time.
-
Monetary liquidity in the market surges as social wealth turns to production.

The weather in the entire south of the Yangtze River has changed drastically.

Time is becoming more and more important in the eyes of businessmen. In order to race against time, many businessmen have even given up entanglement with the imperial court on business taxes.

Thirty tax one, then thirty tax one, it is important to hurry.

More and more merchants and landless tenant farmers poured into Nanjing, and at the same time, a group of shopkeepers and managers who had tasted the sweetness also began to buy properties in Jinling.

As long as someone spends money, someone must earn money.

There are many poor people, and there are many rich people. There are many people who are not poor, and those who are not people are not rich.

In Daming, schools from all over the world are at the forefront. Many people have earned hard-earned money, and their first reaction is not to enjoy themselves, but to send all their children to the schools.

Even if the family background is not so strong, he chose the smartest one among the children and sent him to the school. The private school teacher who taught children to read and write became the first piece of sweet pastry in Ming Dynasty. In Jinling and Xishan It is hard to find a teacher.

Many students and scholars simply gave up the imperial examinations and concentrated on teaching and educating people at home.

Under the impact of Baiyin, the cock crowing meeting carefully arranged by Yang Shen, the number one talent of the Ming Dynasty, seemed to have no waves, and soon fell into silence.

A situation of vigorous vitality and all things competing for development is already in front of us.

"Since the new law, the livelihood of the people in Jinling has greatly improved, and the grain stored in Taizhou has rebounded for the first time since Emperor Xianzong."

"..."

Mai Fu recited the calculations sent by various ministries in front of Zhu Zaiyu with a look of joy.

To sum it up, there is only one sentence.

Jiajing has been on the throne for so many years, and the court finally has some food left!

The lives of the people in the city are changing even more visibly.

As he read it, Mai Fu began to cry.

"Thanks to the emperor's long-awaited sleepiness, today is the day. The minister went out to see the palace yesterday. Many people were wearing new clothes. It really is the Jiajing prosperous age, and the saint is virtuous!"

Not just Jiangnan.

The provinces are sending congratulations to the cabinet.

Since the new law, the imperial court has been swept away, and the soldiers and horses on the nine sides are also in the process of rectification. It seems that the Ming Dynasty has been rejuvenated.

This time, no one in the garrison hall picked on Jiajing.

Facts speak louder than words.

Daming's vitality is recovering, which is a fact that no one can deny.

On the huge hall.

Only Ning Jue was holding Chaohu and leaning against the pillar expressionlessly.

Zhu Zaiyu looked at Ning Jue suspiciously: "Master Ning didn't say a word, but there are still hidden problems in the court?"

"No, Haiyan Heqing, the world is peaceful, that's great."

After finishing speaking, Ning Jue cupped his hands towards Zhu Zaiyu and said, "Your Highness, I have been feeling unwell recently, so I will take my leave first."

Then Ning Jue cupped his hands and walked towards the outside of the hall.

A trace of displeasure flashed across the faces of Mai Fu and Lu Bing.

Daming finally put on a beautiful box worthy of the four characters "Heavenly Dynasty Shangguo", and everyone was amazed at the weather of the Celestial Dynasty.

But Ning Jue knew exactly what was in the box, but Ning Jue hadn't figured out how to open the box yet.

As soon as he left the palace gate, a scribe from the Metropolitan Procuratorate was already waiting at Chengtian Gate.

"Qian Xian, Xishan Haixian has arrived at the Metropolitan Procuratorate and wants to see you."

"Can I see you?" Before Ning Jue finished speaking, Hai Rui's voice sounded beside him.

Hai Rui, who was just ten steps away from the scribe, had already bowed.

"I'm afraid not, my subordinate Hai Rui, I have seen Qian Xian."

Ning Jue looked at this Hai Qingtian and took a deep breath: "You left your post without authorization and violated the rules."

"Xiaguan took the risk of being burned for ten years to come to see Qian Xian, and Qian Xian shouldn't see Xiaguan anymore."

(End of this chapter)