The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 174
The next day, early in the morning, the twelve teams of officials in Dingyuan County left the county office one after another, heading for their assigned towns.

Xu Fu belonged to a team of 12 people, led by a civil official of the eighth grade, who took the ten taels of silver allocated by the county magistrate, hired two strong men, and sat in soft sedan chairs, enjoying it very much.

Xu Fu and the other two ninth-rank officials each hired a mule to ride on them, while the other seven junior officials had to walk.

It's not that they don't want to sit in a sedan chair and ride a horse, or that they don't have money to hire, but that they are not high enough, and rashly sitting in a sedan chair and riding a horse will easily offend the officials.

However, a few people still chipped in and hired two big men to carry the ropes for measuring the land and a lot of pens, ink, paper and other items.

The group of people only walked ten miles before they came to Sanhe Town where they were located. Looking around, there were large paddy fields on both sides of the river, and several landlords in the town had been waiting for a long time.

"Master Liu, my lords, you have worked hard all the way. I and a few fellow villagers have already prepared some drinks in the town. Please respect me, my lords."

"That's right, my lords, the weather is hot, so I'd better go to town and take a rest. After eating, it's not too late to do my errands!"

"Alright! Since everyone's kindness is hard to refuse, then I will disturb you."

The leading clerk got off the sedan chair and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Seeing that the big guy was also sweating profusely, he nodded and did not refuse.

When the group arrived in the town, the leading clerks, Xu Fu and other three top grade nine were directly invited by several gentry and landowners to have a drink in a house, accompanied by several upright maids.

Seven small officials from the ninth grade also set up a table of food and wine, but they were accompanied by the housekeeper of the landlord's house, and there were no maids to serve them.

Even the five hired strong men gave each of them two steamed buns and a bowl of water.

In the side hall here, after three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, Xu Fu and the four began to hug the maid and raised their hands. Several gentry and landlords looked at each other, and one of them, an old man with gray hair The official said: "Master Liu, please raise your hand this time, and be accommodating. The old people will be grateful, and please don't think too little of Master Liu and everyone."

As he spoke, he took out a banknote and put it on the table.

The smirk on the official's face was also put away, and he pushed the maid in his arms away, looked at the 500 taels of silver note on the table, and asked calmly, "How do you guys want to accommodate?"

Xu Fu and the other three also put down the maids in their arms, and the old man waved his hand, and the maids retreated, and then said: "I have three thousand acres of land under my name, most of which are dry fields, and there are some barren hills. , adding up to about ten acres."

"There are more than [-] mu of land under my name, most of which are dry fields..."

Several other gentry and landowners also reported their own land, which was only about [-] mu in total.

"Hehe, the huge Sanhe Town only has [-] mu of land, and most of them are dry fields. Do you think the county magistrate will believe it? Will the court believe it?" The official sneered.

"Hehe, Mr. Liu was just joking. How many mu of land is not determined by a few adults? Could the county lord and the court send someone to measure it again?" The old man also laughed dryly.

"You may not know that the decree issued by the cabinet is very clear, and it will be checked one by one afterwards. The civil servants recruited by the official department are not idlers, and they are not easily fooled, so if you plan to do this Ban Nong, this favor, several officials really can't help, and dare not help."

After the civil official finished speaking, he pushed the bank note back.

He is not stupid, the Ministry of Officials has recruited thousands of talented literati these days, and His Majesty also brought hundreds of literati when he went south. If Ma Shiying was just talking, he would not believe it if he was killed.

For a mere 500 taels of silver, with my own official life, or even the whole family, I am afraid that even a fool would understand which is more important.

What's more, some of the 500 taels of silver were given to the three and other minor officials, and filial piety was indispensable in the county magistrate. It would be good to get half of it in the end, and it was not worth the risk at all, even a ten-thousandth risk was not worth taking.

After all, he still has some property in his hometown, and he earns several hundred taels of silver every year. Now he also has a salary of ten taels of silver every month. The annual bonus is also true. After working for a few years, he might be able to get promoted, which is completely unnecessary. For this little money, take your own future and destiny.

Xu Fu and the other three also disapproved of this outrageous number of acres. If the civil servants were obsessed with obsession and insisted on agreeing, they would secretly report it so as not to implicate themselves in the end.

Several staff members frowned, the old man gritted his teeth, took out another 500 tael bank note from his sleeve, put it on the table, and looked at the official.

"Mr. Lu, it's not a matter of more money and less money." The clerk still shook his head and didn't even look at it.

"Then I don't know what Master Liu's opinion is?"

Seeing this, the old man also knew that he was not just pretending, but that he really couldn't do it, so he could only sigh and ask.

"All the fields in Sanhe Town must be re-measured. The difference between [-] mu and [-] mu should not exceed [-] mu. Otherwise, it would be malpractice for personal gain, so there is no need to discuss this point. Sangtian can be distinguished at a glance, so it is absolutely impossible to cheat Yes, I believe you are not willing to cut down all the mulberry trees, right?
But paddy fields and dry fields... Now that the early rice has been harvested, if you drain all the water in the fields and leave them in the sun for a few days, it is normal for you to be unable to distinguish them for a while. "

The official said slowly.

After listening to it, several members of the staff frowned, obviously not very satisfied. Although dry fields pay less tax than paddy fields, they still have to pay after all.

But do the math, at least 1000 taels a year will be paid less for 1000 mu, and now it seems that spending [-] taels of silver is not a loss.

So he asked again: "Then I don't know the wasteland...?"

"I'll talk about the wasteland later, and now I'm only responsible for measuring the fields." The civil servant interrupted with a wave of his hand.

Everyone immediately understood that this guy must still want to make a fortune at that time, and they were full of curses in their hearts, but they had no choice but to force a smile.

"Then it's up to the adults!"

Seeing the agreement of several members, the civil servants and Xu Fu all smiled again, the civil servants also put the banknotes in their arms, and the four maids also left and returned again.

The atmosphere on the wine table became even more harmonious, and the drinking lasted from morning to evening. In the end, the four of Xu Fu were all drunk and supported by the maids, and each went to the guest room to rest.

The four of them slept until noon the next day, and only after lunch did they officially start measuring the land.

It is a matter of wealth and life. No matter whether it is a civil official or Xu Fu and other officials, small officials, they dare not slack off when measuring the fields. The landlords and gentry had no choice but to watch helplessly.

It took only half a month to measure the 3 mu of land in Sanhe County, [-]% of which belonged to a few big landlords in the town, and only two to three thousand mu of real dry land belonged to ordinary people. Look down on these dry fields.

Regarding the dry fields of these ordinary people, the civil servants did not falsify. Firstly, it was unnecessary, and secondly, the common people could not squeeze much oil and water.

When Xu Fu and the others returned to the county government office after completing their tasks, almost all the other teams came back. Looking at the data of each county's fields, Wu Hong frowned and said to the twelve responsible officials: " Jiangnan is known as the land of fish and rice. Although our Dingyuan County is not comparable to Yangzhou, Suzhou, it still belongs to Jiangnan. There are many rivers and few mountains in the territory. There are more than 40 mu of land, and more than 30 mu of it is dry land. His mother Yes, don't talk about fooling Ma Ge, I'm afraid even the Queen Mother and the old man can't fool him?"

In the end, Wu Hong couldn't help but swear.

The twelve clerks were also very embarrassed. They didn't expect that other teams were even more outrageous than their own.

"Then I don't know what adults think is appropriate?"

"I'm not responsible for the specific measurement, how do I know? If you think there is no problem, then I will report it like this."

Wu Hong said coldly, obviously wanting to leave everything behind.

"No, my lord, please be tolerant for a few more days, and allow the officials to check again."

The civil servants were also in a hurry, knowing that today is different from the past, and reporting such outrageous data to the Ministry of Households in this way may not be much different from sending them to death.

"Up to five days, the official will report it, everyone should hurry up and check it!"

After Wu Hong finished speaking, he turned around and left the hall, just to scare them. Even if he was killed, he wouldn't dare to report this kind of data directly.

Everyone also found out the pissing nature of the magistrate, and knew that he would not accept the money for filial piety at this time.

So the 12 people made a total calculation and returned to the towns they were in charge of again to negotiate with the gentry and landlords.

The gentry and landlords from all over the country were naturally scolding their mothers angrily, accusing these civil servants of breaking their promises and reneging on their promises.

The clerks were wronged, so they had to patiently explain that the change must be changed, and it is impossible to refund the money, and it is impossible to refund a part of it.

In the end, there were more than 40 mu of land, except for mulberry fields, paddy fields accounted for [-]%, and dry fields accounted for [-]%.

"Although floods and droughts account for half and half, it is normal in other provinces, but in the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, there are still some abnormalities, which need to be checked again."

Seeing the much better data, Wu Hong's face also looked better, but he was still not satisfied, so he called back again and asked the officials to get it again.

The civil servants were all about to cry, but Wu Hong didn't nod, so he could only do it again, so they went back to the town to negotiate.

The money will also not be refunded, not a cent will be refunded. This time, the gentry and landlords everywhere have the desire to kill, but if the people do not fight with the officials, they can only compromise in the end.

Of course, if there are officials in the family, the civil servants can only refund the money honestly, and if there are high-ranking officials, they will do things even without receiving money.

In the end, paddy fields accounted for [-]% and dry fields accounted for [-]%. There were more paddy fields than dry fields. Finally, it made sense. Wu Hong finally nodded, collected the data, stamped it with a big seal, and sent it to the Nanjing household department.

(End of this chapter)