Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 316 The North Wind Who Blows

The spring of March is like a teenager, and it is the most playful to know good fortune.

There is nothing wrong with wisdom and willow catkins, and Taoism is naturally full of flowers.

The gardens of Jinxiang are rich and noble, and the fairy courtyard is full of moonlight.

God is as long as spring and March, and you will not frown when you play in the world.

March in Yangchun is the most beautiful scenery in the world.

The flowers planted in various parts of Rongguo Mansion have begun to herald the spring, especially the two peach blossoms adorning the Dongkua courtyard, which makes people feel very happy.

Jia Cong welcomed Liu Hong and Liu Shuo into the yard, and sat around in a few tables on the porch, with a cup of tea and the scent of the incense burner, quite comfortable.

Liu Hong suppressed the suspicion at the meeting in front of the door, looked at Jia Cong who was wearing a Confucian uniform, and said with a smile: "You look a little less arrogant today, and a little more bookish, which makes me not used to it. .I don’t know what it would be like if you beat someone up in this Confucian uniform? It’s interesting to think about it.”

Jia Cong grabbed the snacks on the plate, gave one to Liu Shuo, and started to fill his hunger with one.

While clicking and clicking, he rolled his eyes: "Fourth brother, I am the head of the case in Daxing County, half a scholar, a serious scholar, how can I beat someone?"

"Okay, you are a scholar, the future Liu Yuanlang, you don't want to hit people easily. Even if you want to hit, you will change your clothes before hitting."

Liu Hong winked, Liu Shuo ate his mouth full of sesame seeds, and grinned foolishly.

Oh, teasing me, right...

"I heard that the empress dowager and Yang Niangniang have already chosen the princess for the fourth brother. Which noble girl is it? Did the fourth brother go to see if she looks good?"

"Brother Shuo, I heard that His Majesty taught you your homework a few days ago, and you were beaten again. Has the injury on your butt healed?"

hiss!hurt each other?

Liu Hong's face and neck turned red. The shy young man had just begun to fall in love, and he was planning to take a sneak peek at the girl his grandmother had chosen.

As for Liu Shuo, his mouth was puckered, and he couldn't help touching his buttocks, wanting to cry but not crying.

"Ahem, don't talk about this, don't talk about this..."

Liu Hong coughed lightly twice, then changed the subject and asked about today's poetry meeting.

Naturally, Jia Cong, Lin Ruhai, and Xu Jin's plans would not be hidden from Liu Hong. After all, one of the purposes of today's poetry meeting is to expand Prince Liu Hong's influence among newly promoted Jinshi and talented scholars.

"Reciting poems and composing poems are indispensable, but today's highlight is a new play in a while, and then I will invite the fourth brother to come on stage in person and talk about last year's disaster relief in Gyeonggi."

Ok?
Liu Hong understood the reason for doing this after a little thought. It seems that Xu Qingteng has never forgotten the issue of land annexation in Gyeonggi.

"Okay, but you have to tell me clearly first, what is the reason for doing this?"

Jia Cong looked up at the sun hanging in the sky, and smiled: "Fourth Brother, let's go, let's go to the theater. Today's play, Fourth Brother will definitely be surprised!"

……

"The north wind blows,

The snowflakes flutter,
The fluttering snowflakes.

When the new year comes, the day when Dad goes out to hide from the tent for the whole seven days,

At [-], I still haven't returned it that night.

The wind blows that snowflake,

outside the door,
The wind blew at the door and the door opened by itself.

I hope daddy will come home soon,
Happy new year,
Happy new year..."

The tune is very different from the current opera, but the novel tune still makes people more interested.

The two theaters in the front yard and the back house were staged at the same time, and the theater troupe of Zhongshun Palace perfectly performed Jia Congmo's revised version of "The White-haired Girl".

"My daughter has flowers to wear,

My father has little money and can't buy it.

Pulled on the two-foot red-headed rope,

tie me up
Hey tie it up. "

At the beginning, the rhythm was quite lively and cheerful, and the tune was beautiful and smooth. Jiang Yuhan, who played the role of Xi'er on the stage, vividly expressed the joy of looking forward to her father's return.

Whether it is the literati in the front yard or the wives and daughters in the back house, it is the first time to see the lives of poor people on the stage, some are novel, some are disdainful, and some are thoughtful.

Because this cheerful rhythm is extremely inconsistent with the background of howling north wind and heavy snow, especially the word "debt avoidance" in the mouth of "Xi'er", which made many people feel strange.

Sure enough, with the development of the plot, the warm and cheerful scene took a sharp turn for the worse.

"Heaven alone kills the unicorn,
The flood flooded the single-plank bridge,
I have only one woman in my life,

I can't live without Xi'er! "

Some of the female relatives in the back house have already begun to wipe away their tears...

Especially many women and maids in the Rongguo Mansion, some even forgot their errands, and cried silently on the shoulders of the people beside them.

"The wind and snow blow hard,

Nine out of ten houses were dimly lit.

Let's celebrate the New Year,
The Chinese New Year is not ordinary for the rich and the poor.

There is wine and meat in Dongjiamen,
There is no rice or noodles in the tenant's house..."

The unscrupulous gentry Huang Shiren robbed the women of the people, Yang Bailao committed suicide on New Year's Eve, and Xi'er was raped by Huang Shiren on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Fortunately, others helped him escape from the Huangfu...

The plot was staged on the stage one after another, and the spectators below were already angered by Huang Shiren's evil deeds.

Compared with the reaction of the women in the backyard, the guests in the front yard were even more angry.Especially the group of newly promoted Jinshi and young officials, some even picked up their stools to rush to the stage to kill the actor playing Huang Shiren.

The corners of Xu Jin's mouth rose slightly, and he smiled at Lin Ruhai.

The enthusiasm of young people is not cold, perhaps the reform and new policy that will change the world will officially start from the enthusiasm of these young people.

Xi'er turned into a "white-haired fairy", living off the incense offerings and fruit offerings in her grandmother's temple.Huang Shiren colluded with the government and businessmen, lost Xi'er, Huan'er, Hua'er, and still lived his life of being rich and unkind and oppressing the people.

Until Dachun defied life and death and begged all the way to Beijing, he rang the Dengwen drum standing at the gate of the palace.

The emperor, who loves the people like his son, sent Lord Qingtian to go out of Beijing by order, and took the emperor's sword to kill Huang Shiren and the county magistrate who bribed and colluded with him, so that the people under the haze were relieved.

Xi'er finally met her sweetheart, Dachun. Everyone thought that Xi'er, who had a hard life, would live a happy life with Dachun.

But when the imperial envoy left, other people's gossip repeatedly poked Xi'er ruthlessly in the heart of Xi'er who had lost her "virginity".

Dachun had no choice but to sell his family's land and took Xi'er away from his hometown to seek refuge with relatives in Lin County.

I don't want Huang Shiren to die. After a bizarre flood, Dachun, who just bought Susukita, mortgaged the land to the village chief to ask for ten catties of millet in order to survive...

Xi'er eventually became a "white-haired fairy", and Dachun died of exhaustion on the land of the Li Chang's family, which originally belonged to his family.

call……

When the last line was sung, the front yard was silent.

The guests no longer had the initial outrage, because this ending was beyond their expectation.

Kill one Huang Shiren, there will be a second, a third...

With one white-haired girl, there is a second, a third...

It seems that my hometown often hears and sees the dirty things of being forced to pawn their wives and sell their daughters, and often they just swear, or they just read a few words of saints.

There are even some families who hire tenants to farm for themselves. After a year, their families are extravagant with big fish and meat, and those tenants can survive, thank God.

Are you Huang Shiren?Is there a Xi'er in the family?
When Prince Liu Hong stepped onto the stage, everyone woke up from their trance.

"This play should be both unfamiliar and familiar to you, at least I heard and saw a lot of it last winter..."

Liu Hong did not talk about what he did during the disaster relief in Gyeonggi on the stage. Instead, he pressed the words he had prepared in his heart and sighed: "Everyone should know why Emperor Taizu Gao raised the army back then. Lord of the Central Plains, bullying the Han people. The majestic China is full of fishy smells, and the people are suffering unspeakably. Taizu, Taizong and the emperor's grandfather worked hard to govern and restore the people's livelihood. This is the prosperous age of Zhaoyuan. But this prosperous age is really Prosperity?"

"Mr. Ivy..."

"Chen is here!"

Xu Jin got up and bowed to Liu Hong.

Liu Hong invited Xu Jin to the stage, and said with a sigh: "Mr. Qingteng has traveled to every corner of the capital, and today I ask you to explain to my palace. How are the people of my Great Xia doing? This Zhaoyuan prosperous age Is it the prosperity?"

Xu Jin nodded, then shook his head again, finally let out a long sigh, and asked someone to fetch a huge wooden box.

"You may be very puzzled, why do you invite you to watch such a play in today's poetry meeting?"

Everyone nodded subconsciously, but after Xu Jin asked someone to open the box, he first took out a long scroll.

"This is the "A Thousand Miles of Hunger and Death" drawn by Tang Yin, the editor and editor of the Imperial Academy. Gentlemen, the scene in this painting is what His Highness actually saw when he arrived in Fangshan County, the worst-hit area in Shuntian Prefecture, last winter. scene."

"Reciting poems and composing Fu can't fill the stomachs of those naked and hungry people, and can't kill Huang Shiren who oppresses the people, and can't save Xi'er, the 'White-haired Fairy'."

Everyone nodded subconsciously again, and then saw Liu Hong took Xu Jin's words.

"I have just seen the indignation of all benevolent gentlemen towards Huang Shiren, and I have also seen your righteous indignation. We are all the children of saints. Confucius said that benevolence and Mencius are righteous. Today, I will talk to you about helping the victims of disasters in the cold winter of last year. about..."

The poetry meeting seemed to have turned into a lecture polemic, at least in the front yard.

If today's guests in the front yard of Rongguo Mansion were mainly officials from the court, the outrageous "White-haired Girl" that made people cry would probably be sung in vain.

But I can't stand that this is a freshly baked new Jinshi, and this group of passionate and righteous youngsters.

The natural disasters caused by man-made disasters made everyone want to kill Fangshan County criminals and Wang Qingtang and others, and the disaster relief methods of the prince Liu Hong, Wen'an County Lord Jia Cong and others made everyone amazed again and again.

The model of work-for-relief has been implemented in the imperial court for two years, and everyone is concerned about current affairs, so they are not unfamiliar.

Only the family contract responsibility system of Huangzhuang and Guantian, which Daiyu presented to the prince, refreshed everyone's understanding.

This kind of rent and interest can not only enable the landless people to live and work in peace and contentment, but also allow the court and the royal family to have stable taxation. It is indeed a good way to resettle the people under the steady flow of water.

However, these are only implemented in Gyeonggi and Nanzhili, where Huangzhuang and Guantian are rich. I want to promote...

Could it be that the prince deliberately cut the knife on the body of the local gentry? That's not allowed!
Because the vast majority of them are the families of wealthy gentry.

On the one hand, his family's interests were threatened, and on the other hand, his conscience was tortured. The atmosphere in the front yard fell into an extremely strange situation.

Lin and Xu didn't express their attitudes. Liu Hong just raised the issue of whether the local rent was too heavy and whether the rent and interest should be reduced. Except for a few people who agreed, the silence accounted for the vast majority. part.

Liu Hong was not in a hurry either, he just smiled faintly, and sat with Jia Cong, listening to other people's discussions.

Compared with the front yard, the atmosphere in the back yard seems to be more harmonious. As a witness of the relief in Gyeonggi, Daiyu also came to the stage and told a lot about her experience in Wang Pingkou.

Including the poor people she saw, those children supported their big heads with their slender necks, and their bulging but empty stomachs.

Until she talked about the relief methods that the emperor and His Royal Highness allowed her to propose, as well as the support of those clan princes and princesses.

In front of the stage in the backyard, many ladies have already heard the meaning of Daiyu's words.

……

"Shuntian Mansion Relief and Resettlement Guide" became famous in the capital in a very fast time.

The new play "The White-haired Girl" at the Rongguo Mansion Poetry Fair was staged in major theaters in the capital. Jiang Yuhan performed three performances a day, and each venue was full of audience.

Then the word spread, and there were also the sages of Prince Liu Hong, the first-class son of Sishui County Jia Cong, and the head of Wen'an County.

And those princes and princesses who participated in reducing rent and interest to resettle refugees, when they are mentioned by the people in the capital, they always say benevolent and virtuous.

The Enke Palace Examination has passed, and the candidates in Beijing not only did not decrease, but regrouped.

Sitting in the private room of the largest restaurant outside the Imperial College, Jia Cong laughed helplessly as he listened to the furious speeches outside.

"Brother Cong, is this going too far? Even though I won't be punished for my words, if scholars discuss politics, or gather people to write letters, will it arouse the resentment of the court officials?"

Daiyu also came out with Jia Cong today. "Shuntian Mansion Relief and Resettlement for Refugees" was completed by her and Jia Cong together, and they put in a lot of effort.

It's like raising a baby, whoever cares about the baby.

Jia Cong replied: "At the very least, most of the courtiers will propose to dispatch the Dragon Guards to suppress it."

The discussion outside seemed to have reached its climax. Through the thin door of the elegant room, Jia Cong and Daiyu heard the passionate words of urgency and righteousness.

"The national thieves and ghosts don't care about the life and death of the people. They sit on thousands of acres of land, and the people's fat and people's anointing are fat to them. The resettlement has been spread for so long, and they are indifferent, and even hinder His Royal Highness. The implementation of the new law. "

"My lords, we are the true disciples of saints, with benevolence and justice in our hearts, and justice in our bodies, should we continue to remain silent?"

"It's just a reduction of rent and interest. My family has more than 2000 mu of land in Dangyang County. I have written to my family. From this year onwards, I will rent it as an official farmland and reduce the rent and interest."

"Brother Fang is benevolent and righteous. Naturally, my younger brother can't lag behind. According to His Highness the Crown Prince's proposal, the official land and private rent can also get preferential land tax from the court, and it can also fill the stomachs of the tenants at home. Why not do it? It's just a few bucks less land rent. , who lives on land rent?"

Hearing this sentence in the private room, he nodded and whispered to Daiyu: "Speaking of the point, in fact, according to the proposal of His Majesty and Fourth Brother, if the rent is really determined by the rent of the official land and the tenants, the tenants By reducing rent and interest, the imperial court will not only reward benevolence and righteousness, but also reduce or exempt the land tax of this family. It may even use the fertile soil in Liaodong to replace the land, and realize the official management of private land.”

well!Jia Cong shook his head helplessly: "It's a pity that families with large land properties often don't live on rent at all, but they are remote and unable to see through the reality. For this petty profit, His Majesty is forced to use the knife."

……

The voices in the capital supporting the implementation of the "Relief and Resettlement of Shuntian Mansion Refugees" are getting louder and louder. Naturally, the emperor, Xu Jin, Lin Ruhai and others are pushing for this, but more is the enthusiasm of the group of supervisors in the capital.

Many officials in the court wrote to the emperor, saying that the official in Beijing had no status, criticized the government, and should send troops to suppress it.

It's a pity that the emperor kept all those documents and did not publish them, and let the officials gather to discuss. The Secretary of General Administration has received joint letters from the officials for several days in a row. Send a new round of letters to the officials.

On the second day of April, the Shuntian Mansion Examination began.

A few days later, a shocking news came out of this year's Shuntian Mansion Trial.

The topic of the third policy discussion was personally drafted by Wei Qinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet--land to the tiller.

For a while, there was an uproar in Beijing.

Jia Cong also did not expect that Mr. Wei would suddenly come out and express his opinion. It was still in this special way that the young officials were directly excited. On the second day after the government examination, he began to give speeches around the capital to gather the hearts of the people. A vigorous plea for the people.

Among the bustling officials in all parts of the capital, there is still a group of people who are waiting for the Shuntian Mansion to try to release the list.

This time, the reviewing speed was extremely fast, and on April [-]th, the Shuntian government office posted the list.

This time, there was no surprise at all. Jia Cong, who had compiled the "Relief and Resettlement Guide for Refugees in Shuntian Prefecture", once again won the first case in the Shuntian Prefecture Jinkefu Examination.

No.2 is a real poor student named Zhou Ba Niu.

Zhou Baniu and his sincere words impressed the chief and deputy examiners. If it weren’t for the fact that his practical strategies in policy theory were not as good as Jia Cong, maybe the leader of the case was this brother Ba Niu who entered the examination room relying on the support of the whole village. .

This time, Baoyu only came to the bottom of the exam. After the exam paper was posted again, it was not Jia Cong, the leader of the case, who was hotly discussed by thousands of officials in the capital. .

When Jia Cong saw the posted test paper, he was dumbfounded.

He stared at Baoyu whose face was flushed with wide eyes: "Second brother Bao, you... you... you... no wonder you are reluctant to write out the strategy for the third game silently. It turns out that you are so courageous, so you are not afraid of two Uncle beat you to death with a big stick!"

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I spent the whole afternoon in the hospital today, there are too many people in the hospital.

　　I came back late and only wrote [-] words.Sorry, I will continue to update the codeword tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)