Bury the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 236 Because the emperor is good!
Ke Zhiming replied without hesitation: "The lives of the people are very stable. According to the information provided by the Tiandihui and Jinyiwei, the lives of the people everywhere are much better than those in Qian Deaf years."

Zhu Jinsong also felt that something was wrong.

When the deaf old dog brought money all the way north, he had seen the life of ordinary people. Although he didn't inquire about the price of food, he didn't see any people who couldn't afford food, and he didn't hear any people complain about the price of food.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Jinsong simply said to Zeng Cheng and the others: "Everyone put on their clothes, and today we, the rulers and ministers, will come for a private visit in micro-services, and go to the people's homes to have a meal."

After someone brought the clothes, and asked Zeng Cheng and others to change them in the Wenhua Palace, Zhu Jinsong took Zeng Cheng, Liu Huaiwen and others out of the Forbidden City, shot a feint in the direction of the south of Beijing, and then headed for Yanjiao. go.

By the time the group arrived at Yanjiao at full speed, it was almost noon, so Zhu Jinsong, in the name of Wanyan Agutai, swaggered and led people to an ordinary family's house, took out some precious money, and expressed that he would have a meal meal.

It's just that the chickens, ducks and geese raised by this old man in Kang's family suffered disaster after Zhu Jinsong took out a hundred-yuan bill.

While Zhu Jinsong couldn't stop boasting about the meat's fragrance, he intentionally or unintentionally said to the old man Kang: "I heard that the rice in the pass costs two or three cents a catty?"

The old man Kang, who was dragged by Zhu Jinsong to the table, smacked his lips and said: "Indeed, this rice is cheap now, from the original ten yuan to two or three yuan a catty--I don't think the nobleman knows the price of rice? I thought noble people like Ye didn't know the price of rice."

Zhu Jinsong chuckled, and then asked: "Didn't the cheap rice hurt the farmers? The food is cheap, what can you do with your livelihood? Why don't you tell the emperor about it when I arrive in the capital?"

The old man Kang laughed loudly, shook his head and said, "Tell the emperor about this? It's useless to tell anyone! This grain is at this price now, not to mention the emperor, even if the Jade Emperor is here, isn't it still at this price? "

Zhu Jinsong's heart sank, and he was about to speak, but the old man Kang went on to say, "Do you know the reason why the price of grain hurts farmers, and the price of grain hurts farmers even more? Besides, how old is it that cheap grain hurts farmers? Almanac?"

"Food is cheap now, everyone can afford it, and we have less money to grow food, but it's not like I just grow food and do nothing else."

"You see, in addition to growing food, I also planted an orchard under the guidance of the farmers' association, and raised chickens in the orchard."

Speaking of this, the old man Kang pointed to the chicken in Zhu Jinsong's hand again, and said: "The chicken you eat now is raised in my orchard. I eat some bugs on weekdays. In winter, I will go to the county to buy some bran." It’s a lot of money to sell eggs and chickens every year.”

"Life is better now, and eggs are also selling well. Although they are a bit cheap, they are also easier to sell than in the Qing Dynasty."

"So, if the food is cheap, it's cheap. Anyway, I don't count on that little land."

Zhu Jinsong shook his head and said, "That's not what I said."

"Look, old man, your family has land, fruit trees, and chickens, ducks, geese and other creatures, but other people can't be like you? If the food in the world is cheap, those who can only grow land Wouldn't the people of the country lose money?"

"So, expensive grain hurts the peasants, and cheap grain hurts the peasants. There is some truth to this statement—you don't think I have been outside the customs for a long time, but I have also read books."

The old man Kang laughed loudly, gave Zhu Jinsong a thumbs up, and praised: "They are all uncles of the country, and the nobles still care about the lives of us mud-legged people, which is really rare."

"However, the nobles don't know that the food is cheap, it depends on how cheap it is - if it was like that in the Qing Dynasty, the common people would not be able to live because of other things. Expensive, not worth the money."

"But it's different now. Now everything is cheap, money is valuable, and the money you earn from growing food seems to be less, but you also have less places to spend your money. Especially the imperial court has reduced or exempted taxes, so ah, relying on farming , it’s no problem to make an old snack wear worry-free.”

Speaking of this, the old man Kang couldn't help being happy again: "This is right. When I was young, I heard my grandfather talk about ancient times. He said that before the Ming Dynasty, the price of food was not high, especially Before Lord Wanli, the price of food was about the same as we are now, and the lives of ordinary people were good."

"Later, it gradually died down. Natural disasters lasted for more than a year, and the price of food slowly rose. Later, when Jianlu entered the customs, the price of food went crazy."

"It's strange to say it. It stands to reason that with such high-yield things as corn and sweet potatoes, food prices should drop, but it's really surprising that they can't."

"Don't believe me, my lord, the old man's grandfather passed the examination of scholar and studied, unlike me, the old man, who never went to school when he was young."

Zhu Jinsong asked curiously: "If the old man had passed the examination of a scholar, why didn't the old man go to school?"

The old man Kang sighed and said, "Why do you go to school? If you can read, you will know more. If you know more, you will be annoyed. I heard that in the Ming Dynasty, it was okay for scholars to scold the emperor. You are praised, but what kind of a bird is the Qing Dynasty?"

"If you write bright characters in your poems, he can arrest you as an anti-Qing and Fuming rebel. My grandfather told me about Qingfeng's illiteracy many times, saying that the more you read, the easier things will be. , it’s better to be honestly illiterate.”

Zhu Jinsong nodded thoughtfully, but the old man Kang went on to say: "You see, when you get older, it's easy to talk nonsense. You just talked about the fact that the cheap grain hurts the peasants but not the peasants, but then you talk about it again." To the body of the Qing Dynasty."

"Anyway, I don't know about other places, but the price of food here in Zhao's housework is like this. In the Qing Dynasty, it was more than ten yuan per catty. Gradually, it dropped to two or three Wen a catty, and it hasn't changed much in the past two years."

"At the beginning, I didn't think about it. If the food is cheap, doesn't it mean that the family can earn less money?"

"It was only later that I found out that this was not the case at all. The price of food had indeed dropped, but the life of Zhao Jiawu was much better than it was in the Qing Dynasty."

Zhu Jinsong suddenly became interested and asked, "What's going on?"

The old man Kang said: "What else could be the matter? Because the emperor is good."

"Think about it, in the Qing Dynasty, if you planted one mu of land and harvested one hundred catties of grain, you had to use sixty catties of grain to pay the rent, and another thirty catties to pay the emperor's grain. It took a whole year of hard work. , you only have ten catties of grain in your hands, how do you think you live?"

"Okay, you may say that there are many people who own their own land and don't need to pay rent, right? But think about it, even if you don't need to pay rent, the remaining [-] catties of grain are yours, then you can Don't eat or spend?"

"Besides, the government of the Qing Dynasty is so good. When Qian Deaf was 40 years old, they dared to collect taxes for 90 years of Qian Deaf. I heard that some places have received Qian Deaf for 140 years, and there are five times for Qian Deaf. Jiangnan, where did all this money come from?"

"Those mud legs who don't have their own land, no matter how much they exploit them, they can't get any money. The landlords are not something that the yamen servants can provoke. Didn't they exploit those who have their own land in the end?"

"So, throughout the year, those who have no land can save about ten catties of grain per mu of land, and those who have land can only lose about ten catties, let alone thirty catties. When the year is good, they can make do with it. If the times are not good, you will become a refugee, and your life and death depend on God's will."

Zhu Jinsong hummed and said: "It's true, like our Sauron tribe, we are also used to being bullied by the Qing Dynasty. Like you, you can still farm land, like us, you can only fish and hunt, and you don't even have land. Let's plant."

The old man Kang said: "Look? Look? Isn't that what happened? By the way, it's time for you to divide the land now, right?"

After getting Zhu Jinsong's affirmative answer, the old man Kang went on to say: "This land has become the people's own home, and there is no need to pay rent to the landlord. If you collect one hundred catties of grain for one mu of land, you only need to pay ten catties." The remaining [-] catties of imperial food are yours, how can you live a good life?"

Zhu Jinsong hummed, but then asked again: "Then the government won't play any tricks?"

The old man Kang curled his lips and said, "What kind of tricks are you doing? When it's time to pay the grain, the Tiqi from the Jinyiwei, the inspecting censor from the Yushitai, and the Ducha Yushi from the Dudu Yuan come to the village one after another. Who dares to play tricks under their noses?"

"Besides, don't there still be peasant associations? The emperor said in the newspaper that if the government plays tricks, the peasant associations will take the lead in resisting taxes and donations, and even tie the official to the capital for trial. How dare the official play tricks?"

Zhu Jinsong nodded and said: "What the old man said makes sense. From this point of view, as long as the burden on the people is reduced and the government makes less trouble, the lives of the people will be better. Not that important?"

The old man Kang nodded, but what he said next aroused Zhu Jinsong's interest: "No fuss? How can the government not make trouble? If it doesn't make trouble, can it still be called the government?"

Zhu Jinsong hurriedly asked, "What is the government doing?"

The old man Kang said: "What are you bothering about? Building social studies, building roads, digging ditches, digging reservoirs, planting trees, and persuading the people to have more children. Anyway, there are only things I can't think of, and there is no other government that doesn't bother."

"Also, the government put us who can't read a few words into some kind of literacy class. Damn it, you say I'm an old man in his seventies and eighties. I haven't been to school in my life, but I have to Being persuaded by the government to read and write, and still in the same class as my 50-year-old son, what do you call this? Isn’t there something wrong with that?”

When the literacy class was mentioned, the old man in his 70s was also swearing in anger.

Zhu Jinsong let out a chuckle, and then asked: "The government's troubles have affected the livelihood of the big guys? Let me tell you, old man, the Emperor Ming is my brother-in-law. This time I came to Beijing to see him." Yes, if you have anything, I can convey it to the emperor for you."

The old man Kang shook his head and said, "What effect can it have? Those officials and gentlemen who are not sons of men, they don't care about these messy things during the busy season, and they don't care about us. What impact."

"By the way, if you can see the emperor, my lord, then you have to give him a favor for me? Please tell him for me, the people of our Zhao family are all looking forward to his old man's longevity, and the country forever. .”

Zhu Jinsong nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, I will definitely bring you the words. By the way, since the government is tossing about social studies, has your child ever gone to school?"

The old man Kang looked at Zhu Jinsong as if he was looking at a fool: "What is the nobleman talking about? Since there is an opportunity to study, why don't you go to study?"

(End of this chapter)