Lu Ming

Chapter 526 The Daily Life of Shopkeeper Wu ([-])

The one who entered the door was a middle-aged man with a yellow face, a kind face, and a solid figure.When this man entered the door, he was still holding a whip in his hand, a short knife was pinned to his waist, and a leather sheath was wrapped around his calf for mountain driving.

The He family is a Han clan that moved south to Guangdong since the Five Dynasties. Now that it has been passed down for hundreds of years, the He family has already become a local.And He Tong is the head of this generation, the most traditional landlord in China.

"Oh, it's Master He who's here."

Seeing the proprietor enter the house, shopkeeper Wu hurriedly got up to greet him.

"Hehe, I just came back from the mountains, and when I entered the door, I heard Xike. No, I'll hurry over here."

He Tong is younger than the two people in the room, and his seniority is also a generation younger, and his voice is loud.He said with a smile, while taking off his heavy coat, and then sat down without notice and turned his back on the customer: "Uncle Zhong, send someone to my room and tell me to bring some dishes. Today I want to talk to shopkeeper Wu Have a good time talking about the old days."

Since shopkeeper Wu has been dealing with Guanshi He for many years, he naturally knows He Tong, and the relationship between the two parties is not bad.In ancient times, caravans were originally an important way to transmit information. A place like Hejiazhai needed not only the goods of the caravan, but also information. People like He Tong would naturally not let go of any opportunity to collect information from the outside world. .

Unsurprisingly, the first topic that Zhuang Zhu talked about after he arrived was still the matter of suppressing bandits, which had greatly stimulated the minds of the surrounding people.

The result of sweeping out the bandits in the area overnight is that the people are even a little uncomfortable.Now Zhuangzhu He dares to take people to inspect the small farmland industry in the mountains. It is conceivable how much the suppression of bandits has brought about the great changes in the lives of the people.

After feeling a lot about the current stable and peaceful environment, Mr. He, who was in a good mood, drank two glasses of wine, and as soon as his voice changed, he began to explore the latest situation around the county.

All kinds of information in the Chengguan area are equivalent to various policy decisions issued by the capital of later generations.It's just that later generations have telecommunications, and people in remote areas can also grasp information at the same time. In the Ming Dynasty, Hejiazhai could only rely on businessmen. After all, the Hejia could not afford to open overseas offices.

Knowing that this was the meaning of the question, shopkeeper Wu calmly drank wine and vegetables, chatted, and told stories of all the big and small things that happened in the county recently.

As a result, the original two-person dinner became a three-person one, and with He Tong's arrival, the atmosphere became lively again.

But then, shopkeeper Wu slowly felt something was wrong.Master He seems to be chatting here, but intentionally or unintentionally, he always brings the topic to the recent corvée.

"Master He, Xu is in the matter of corvée, is there any inconvenience in Zhuangzi?"

Everyone has known each other for many years, so when shopkeeper Wu noticed something, he asked it outright.

Realizing that the other party noticed his own thoughts, He Tong just gave a wry smile at this moment, then shook his head without saying a word, and raised his wine glass.

Manager He on the side saw that He Tong was not talking but drinking, and knew that his master was upset, so he took up the topic and said: "Brother Wu didn't know something. Send someone to serve. Sigh, the farmers don’t want to move because of the New Year’s Eve.”

"Oh"

When Shopkeeper Wu heard this, the old driver immediately understood everything.

In the early and mid-Ming Dynasty, the systems of "Liangchang" and "Lijia" were still implemented.In the late Ming Dynasty, the government's control power was greatly reduced, and these systems gradually collapsed.

Nowadays, in some remote places, powerful landlords who have money and food in their hands have almost confiscated most of the government's local rights, especially in terms of taxation.These people are usually responsible for errands such as local food chiefs, and they profit from them.

This is also the case in Hejiazhaizi.Don't look at his gentle face, but He Tong is actually the overlord of this piece of land. He said nothing, and without his nod, the government would not receive a single grain of rice or a single mouthful from the small basin where Hejiazhai is located.

However, this year's situation is a little different from previous years.

First, the bandit suppression movement has optimized the environment. The people in Hejiazhai here haven't been happy for a few days, but a real official came to the door and came to Hejiazhai, a remote place where only white servants used to come.

The official came to the door to ask for taxes as usual, and incidentally conveyed an important instruction recently issued by the county lord: the corvee of the next year will be collected in advance, and the service money will be doubled.

Regarding the previous tax issue, He Tong didn't care.As the food chief of Hejiazhai, he has to go through this twice a year anyway, and he has long been used to it: fighting famine with the county government when collecting taxes, complaining about hardships, pushing back and forth, and finally bargaining and paying some similar amounts That's it.

However, another policy in the county troubled him: corvée.

At that time, He Tong learned part of the truth about the corvee from the official: this time the county government doubled the amount of the corvée, and its purpose was to get people, so as long as they were registered as Dingkou, they probably couldn't escape, and they had to go to the service.

Not only that, but this time the corvee will be confiscated according to the records in the real fish scale book in the hands of the household house, so that the people in the county government's official book who have lived more than 100 years old should not come out to embarrass themselves.

In the past years, the corvee was paid by the clan. If there were no one, the corvee would not only waste time and time, but also cause various unpredictable things to happen, such as work-related injuries and deaths.

But not this year.The official told He Tong clearly that even if he paid double the amount of money, people would probably go there: "The large construction site outside Guangzhou and the Great Wall of Yizhou are short of people."

In this way, facing the crazy county government, He Tong had a headache.

Of course, there are still many ways for landlords to deal with this kind of thing.The simplest and most effective way: Drag the word.

But still the same sentence, today is different from the past.

Mr. He delayed this matter for a while, but shortly before the New Year's Eve, the official came to the door for the second time and said that the matter of suppressing bandits is not only convenient for the people, but the official can also go to places that he dared not go before. .

This time, the officials were not so easy to talk to: "All the lords in the county and the surrounding areas have all sent their farmers to serve. Mr. He, those who have not yet applied for the service are those like the He family. Zhaizi is waiting for someone from far away."

"Hmph, Mr. He, ask more questions. I'm afraid it won't work if you try the old tricks again. This man must be recruited! Otherwise, the next time you come, it won't be our men. , hum, farewell!"

Finding that the county government's attitude changed overnight, He Tong felt that he could no longer just sit idle about this matter, so he recently began to inquire about the news from various sources.

However, the development of the matter was the same as what the officials said: the big households around the county had already sent their people there according to the regulations, and according to the gossip, the county government went crazy this time, and there were people behind it.

While He Tong was surprised, he still hesitated. In the end, he was asked to wait for Shopkeeper Wu after the New Year's Eve. This was the reason why he hurriedly sought out Shopkeeper Wu for news as soon as he arrived.

(End of this chapter)