I want to be a grandson

Chapter 342 Duke Yan, is it worth it?

Bao Zhao was a little puzzled, and asked, "Brother, why are they collecting money here? The imperial court didn't collect taxes, so how could they collect them!"

The businessman quietly pointed around the pier, "Did you see, this piece of land is all owned by the Kong family. They bought the land here and set up gates to collect money..."

Bao Zhao asked for two snacks from the tea stall, put them in front of the merchant, and said while eating, "Don't the Kong family have a lot of land in Qufu, why do they have it here?"

"There are hundreds of miles from Qufu to Jining, and their family only has so many fields?"

The businessman also picked up a piece of pastry and brought it to his mouth, "If you want to talk about land, who has more land than their family? At least there are [-] to [-] hectares!"

Bao Zhao said: "Brother, this is the closest to the canal. I also saw good fertile land along the way, and there is river water for irrigation. It can be said that the harvest can be guaranteed in drought and flood. Will people sell this kind of land?"

"Hehehe..."

The businessman smiled and said, "Brother, you still haven't seen the sinister heart..."

"How do you say that?"

"The people here are not stupid, how could they sell land!"

The businessman said mysteriously: "Let me tell you, one year the people here were robbed by bandits, who robbed them of all their food and money, and they didn't eat their last meal. At this time, people from the Kong family came."

"It is said that the old man of the Kong family is celebrating his birthday, doing some good deeds to accumulate virtue, and lending food and property to the people free of charge, so that they can repay the full amount after harvesting the food..."

Bao Zhao had a joyful expression on his face, "So the Kong family is very good. They lend out for free, as long as the capital is needed. This is a kind deed..."

"You think it's a good deed, don't you?"

The businessman said with a smile on his face: "The common people think so too, so they signed the contract happily and took their own land as mortgage."

Seeing his expression, Bao Zhao asked, "Brother, it's normal to take the land as collateral... Is there something hidden in it?"

"Hmph, of course it's normal, they don't have anything valuable, so they can only use the land as collateral, but when the wheat is yellow in June,
The people here were ready to harvest the crops, but one night a fire was suddenly found and the crops were burned up! "

Bao Zhao frowned, and said involuntarily: "The weather is hot when harvesting crops, and it is the easiest to catch fire. I don't know if it was an accident...or someone did it on purpose..."

The businessman picked up his teacup and glanced around secretly, but he didn't find anyone beside him, and he couldn't hear his words.
Only then did he say boldly, "It's definitely not an accident. There was more than one place on fire, seven or eight places were all on fire, and it was the same night..."

Bao Zhao's eyes widened, and he said incredulously, "You mean someone set fire?!"

The businessman took a sip of his tea and said slowly, "Then I don't know... But what's interesting is that the people from the Kong family came to collect their debts the next day and wanted to collect their land..."

Bao Zhao rubbed his hands, his face was still a little unbelievable, and he said to himself: "Even if someone made a bad move, the people will not sell all the land..."

He looked up again at the boats passing by the pier and the busy businessmen, pretending to be joking,
Said: "If I were the people here, I would sell an acre of land and buy some grain to pay them back. Even if the people borrow from them, how much can they borrow..."

Ordinary people's homes, especially when life is difficult, have extremely low living standards.

Especially in this era, the land is the capital they rely on for survival, and it is also the hope of the family for generations to survive.

Therefore, they would never sell the land unless it was a last resort, unless it was really impossible to survive!

Because they understand that once the land is sold, their descendants will become tenants and slaves of others!
The businessman shook his head and smiled, "Sell the land? The land has been mortgaged to the Kong family, so why sell it?"

Bao Zhao was full of doubts and said: "Impossible, which of the common people does not have ten or eight acres of land? If you borrow the grain from the Kong family, even if you mortgage the land, you can only mortgage one and a half mu at most. "

"Such a high-quality field, if there is less than [-] guan of an acre of land, it is absolutely impossible to get it. Even if it is for food for living, the common people can't mortgage all the land at home!"

What Bao Zhao said was the truth.

Land is the biggest capital for people's life, who would mortgage all the fertile land for that little food!
Just like borrowing money from later generations, for a loan of one hundred and eighty thousand, it is impossible to mortgage all three houses in the family!
Although the people are poor, they are not stupid. How could they do such irrational things!

The businessman sneered: "The common people will not mortgage all the fields, but the contract brought by the Kong family is written in black and white that the common people will take all the land as collateral, and their fingerprints are still on it..."

A frightened expression appeared on Bao Zhao's face, "You mean they changed the... contract?!"

"Can Yan Shenggong's family do such a scandal?!"

"Is that how the common people recognize it? Don't they know how to sue the officials?!"

Seeing the expression on Baozhao's face, the businessman laughed and said, "Of course they sued the government, but it's written in black and white, and the government can't do anything about it..."

Bao Zhao frowned, "Even if the government can't help it, they can mediate, even if the Kong family insists on taking the land,
The government can also take out some food and return it to the Kong family first for the people, and then the people will return the food to the government in the coming year! "

The businessman patted Baozhao on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Brother, I don't think you often run to the north, and you don't think about it. Even if you know that there is something tricky in the government, do they dare to take care of it?"

"Obviously know that the Kong family is behind the scenes, but how many officials have the guts to offend the Kong family?"

Bao Zhao fell silent, unable to say another word...

Everyone understands that there must be something wrong with that contract!

Even if the members of the Kong family changed the contract seamlessly, it would not be difficult to resolve this matter.

As long as the government extends a little helping hand and gives a little bit of assistance, everything will be solved easily!
But it's such a small effort, some officials turn a deaf ear to it!
Want to entrap an ordinary person, let him go bankrupt, and then live in debt for the rest of his life,
It's too easy for the rich and powerful!

There are too many ways!

If the government continues to turn a blind eye, it will not only fail to uphold justice, but also condone evil, then the people will really only be trampled into the mud...

At this moment, Bao Zhao only felt that his heart was full of anger!
The evil gentry do evil and harm the people, and some officials cover up the criminals and condone the lawlessness. They are simply unscrupulous!
These people are Daming's moths!
It is the bane of the dynasty!

Seeing his appearance, the businessman explained, "Who can control the Kong family? Don't think about it. If they find out, it might make things difficult for you..."

Bao Zhao's voice was a little hoarse, he nodded and said, "Thank you, bro..."

"It's almost time, I should go too, we will meet again by fate."

The businessman didn't say any more, stood up, shook his head helplessly, turned around and walked away...

Maybe there is justice in his heart, and sympathy for the common people,
Unfortunately, it is always helpless...

A gust of cool wind blew by, and Bao Zhao felt a little cold in his body, so he couldn't help tightening his clothes...

Looking at the lake in the distance, I can see...

"My lord, we can just go there for a while, why do you have to go in person?"

A small boat sailed slowly towards the north, and many ships and pedestrians could be seen far ahead.

Where the lake and the canal meet, it seems to form a pier.

At this time, Bao Zhao was sitting on the boat, leading two followers, heading towards the pier.

Hearing the words, he said: "It's not easy to learn on paper, but I never know that this matter has to be practiced. Lu Fangweng is right. What you read in books, what people say, and what you experience yourself are two different things after all."

The entourage asked suspiciously: "My lord, is this really the tax customs set up by the Kong family? How dare they have such courage!"

The reward looked at another follower and asked, "Li Cheng, what's the news about your inquiry?"

The entourage named Li Cheng replied: "My little one also heard that people from the Kong family have been collecting money here for several years, and the money collected has been extremely high. All the people who pass by here will collect... "

"My lord, is this really the Kong family in Qufu?"

Bao Zhao also had a somewhat complicated expression on his face, "Who will look at it first and then talk, it's too early to draw conclusions..."

In the silence, the boat swayed with the waves in the lake, getting closer and closer to the pier.

When it came to the front, the small boat also slowly followed the other boats, all of which were close to the shore and passed slowly.

A table and a few chairs were placed on the shore of the pier, and a few people who looked like rogues sat there and ate peanuts and melon seeds, which made the ground covered with shells.

"This boat of yours, three people, five hundred Wen!"

When it was Bao Zhao's turn to pay, the other party directly quoted the price.

Bao Zhao was surprised, bowed and said: "My lord, we are not a merchant ship, but just three people passing by on a boat. Is this too expensive?"

"expensive?!"

The strong man on the opposite side grinned, showing his yellow teeth, and said with a smile: "I know you are not a merchant ship, if you are a merchant ship, the price will not be the same!"

Bao Zhao said with a smile: "Master, did you make a mistake, why is it so expensive..."

The brawny man continued to smile and said: "A hundred cash per person, plus the things you brought... Seeing how poor you are, you probably don't have much value.
I won't search anymore, let's count it as [-] Wen, isn't that exactly [-] Wen! "

Bao Zhao widened his eyes and said, "One hundred coins! Just passing through here, do you need one hundred coins?!"

The strong man glared at him, and said displeasedly: "One hundred Wen per person, no matter the old man or the young child, as long as it is an individual, it is one hundred Wen!"

"What, you think it's expensive? That's admitting that you're not human? Hahaha..."

"Hahaha……"

Several accomplices sitting around the table also laughed together.

Bao Zhao looked at them, bowed his hands again and said, "Master, we didn't bring anything, just the two pieces of clothes that we carried with us. If you don't believe me, you can have someone check it..."

The strong man looked at him, as if he wanted to see a fool, and said with a sneer, "Clothes count as money! Anyone who passes by here, even a fly, has to leave money!"

"But we are just two pieces of clothing, which is not worth 200 yuan..."

"Then I don't care! You just pay for it!"

With an embarrassed expression on Bao Zhao's face, he turned around and took the burden from his entourage, and bowed his hands again,

He said very humblely: "Master, do you think this is okay? I don't want these two clothes. Can I get rid of the two hundred Wen?"

"Hehehe... Then I have to let the master see, whether your clothes are worth money or not!"

The strong man was amused by him, took the package casually, and looked through the two pieces of clothing inside.
Originally, I thought that if it was silk clothes, I could make some money even if I sold them.

They have also encountered this kind of situation. The other party has no money, so they have to pay with something.

But what came into view were the two clothes that were washed white, extremely rough, and barely patched!

"Pooh!"

The strong man's face changed, he threw the burden on the ground, and said angrily: "Shit! What kind of ragged clothes! How dare you show yourself to grandpa! How much are these clothes worth?!
Two hundred Wen is not less than a big man! "

Bao Zhao bent down to pick up the burden, and pleaded: "Master, if I throw this clothes away, then the two hundred cash will be exempted, I really can't get it..."

The brawny man said impatiently: "Stop talking nonsense! Think you'll be fine if you throw it away? How dare you think about it!"

"Not only the clothes you can carry with you, but also the clothes you wear on your body and the shoes you wear on your feet. You have to pay for it! Hurry up! Stop talking!"

Bao Zhao was helpless, the words had already reached this point, so he could only honestly pour out copper coins from his purse...

You must know the normal situation during the Hongwu period, you can sell two shi of grain for a consistent amount of money!
The three of them were charged five hundred Wen just for passing by, which is a stone of grain!

One acre of land is paid for, and after all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are removed, there is almost only one stone of grain left!
This is the harvest of one mu of land for the common people!

As the weather gets warmer, the crops in the fields grow lush and lush, and this is also the time when the crops grow the fastest.

Bao Zhao stood beside the canal, on the bank of the river was fertile land, looking at these crops, his heart was full of complexities.

Such a good farmland, such a good land, was taken away from the people by some people by means of insidious means!
Although the crops are good and the harvest is high, how much of it will fall into the hands of the people?
If you become someone else's vassal by relying on the avatar of the land, even though you will give some food to the master's family, it's okay to say that at least the acres are still in your own hands, and at least you can generally live with the food left.

But if the land is lost, the people will become slaves of the aristocratic family and be squeezed desperately by them!
If it is a labor force in the prime of life, it will be used by them to work and plow the fields in order to collect the maximum benefits.

But those old and weak women and children will become useless!
And the grain left by the master to the tenants is pitifully small!
If the owner was harsher, the food would not be enough for them to feed the whole family!

On one side is the bustling wharf, charging an unknown amount of money every day, and on the other side is a black heart that drips blood!
Is this really what the Yansheng family did? !
Bao Zhao couldn't believe it...

As a scholar, I will pay homage to the most holy teacher several times a year, and I am familiar with the Confucian classics by heart!

The most holy teacher is the object of admiration for scholars all over the world. I don’t know how many people have been surrounded by him for thousands of years.
I don't know how many people take the teachings of sage teachers as their life criterion, let alone how many people practice the teachings of sages all their lives...

All over the world, there are Confucian temples, enjoying the incense and offerings of scholars, and the descendants of the saints are also called "Yan Shenggong"...

At this moment, Bao Zhao had a doubt in his mind, if these things were really done by the Kong family...

What is the face of a saint?

Do they still deserve the title "Yanshenggong"?
(End of this chapter)