Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

Time passed day by day, and at the end of September, the autumn harvest was completed, and it was time to pay the tenant rent, taxes and grain.

Because of the drought, Emperor Jingfeng issued an order to exempt Sichuan from grain taxes this autumn and next summer, so that the people could recuperate and recuperate. The people who owned their own fields rejoiced and finally took a breather from the difficult livelihood.

However, those tenants who rented the squire's land were not so lucky, especially the tenants of the Chen family. When the village head came to collect the rent, they discovered to their sorrow that even though there was no drought in the second half of the year, the rent was still high. Generally at [-]% and above.

When some tenants heard that rents were high in summer, they were afraid that they would be in the same situation. They went to the Chen family to cancel the rent a few months ago. As a result, the Chen family raised the rent halfway, but did not allow the tenants to cancel the rent halfway, saying Agree with nothing.

The tenants had no choice. In order to avoid paying rent, they simply stopped growing crops on the Chen family's fields and relied on growing potatoes and doing odd jobs with the family's strong labor force.Although life is difficult, it is better than working for the Chen family and having to pay high rent.

Unexpectedly, the Chen family was so shameless that even though the tenants were no longer growing food on their fields, they still came to collect rent from the tenants.The tenants were crying and screaming as the brutal Chen family's thugs robbed them of their grain and forced them to sell their sons and daughters.In just a few days, thousands of families faced collapse.

The [-]% sharecropping means working hard all year round. After paying the rent, the food is only enough to sustain the family and prevent them from starving to death.If things continue like this, the slightest change in disaster situation may trigger public riots.

Xuzhou Prefecture has already experienced a drought this year, with grain production greatly reduced and countless families' wealth being wiped out. Chen Xunzhou's rent increase once was not enough, and he even raised it a second time, forcing the tenants to lose their families.

The tenants really couldn't survive. As the autumn harvest was approaching, public dissatisfaction arose, riots were about to break out, and Xuzhou Prefecture was in turmoil.

Gu Yunji angrily went to Chen Xunzhou and asked: "The rent increase in the summer is because you are worried about not being able to pay the court grain tax and being punished by the superior. So what is the reason this time?! The court has exempted Sichuan from taxes. Xuzhou Prefecture will be exempted from taxes this autumn." You don’t have to pay taxes and grain tomorrow, so why do you have to raise the rent?”

What else could be the reason? Of course it was because Pu Tingnan, the governor of Sichuan, was greedy. Chen Xunzhou needed to bribe him in the name of taxes and grains so that he could use his connections to change his registration record so that the word "Dai" in front of the label "Tongzhi" could be removed. .

Chen Xunzhou looked at Gu Yunji coldly: "The fields belong to my Chen family, and the tenants are also the tenants of my Chen family. Whether or not the rent will be increased is entirely up to me. In the final analysis, it is my Chen family's private matter. Gu Yunji, even if you have a background No matter how tough you are, you can't interfere with my Chen family's affairs."

Gu Yunji was furious: "The fields belong to your Chen family, but the tenants are still the people of my Xuzhou Prefecture, my people of Daxia! I, Gu Yunji, am the magistrate of Xuzhou Prefecture, and the people of this prefecture are in dire straits, so of course I have the right to intervene!"

"Chen Xunzhou, you are a native of Xuzhou Prefecture. You were born and raised here. Before you became a magistrate and before you entered the yamen as an official, you were also an ordinary citizen of Xuzhou Prefecture."

"Speaking of which, many of the tenants are related to you and have watched you grow up. The money you paid for studying and the money you donated to supervise students, none of it came from the rent they paid? Now you are so expensive As a member of the same government, you don’t want to give back to the hometown, but you want to eat their flesh and drink their blood. Do you still have a conscience?"

"Conscience? What is conscience? How many pounds and taels does it cost, and how much money can it be sold for?"

Chen Xunzhou laughed angrily and said sarcastically: "Gu Yunji, I'm too lazy to beat around the bush with you, and you don't have to show off in front of me. You are the son of a wealthy family. You don't have to do everything to please the superior like me. You have your own reputation." The elders are supporting you to climb up, so of course your waist will be straight."

"We could have been in peace, you were your gold, and I was looking for my own way out. It would have been better to just turn a blind eye, but now we have to rush to find trouble, and pretend to be so righteous. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

Chen Xunzhou's face turned cold and he said bitterly: "Accuse me? Gu Yunji, what qualifications do you have to accuse me? Among all the landlords and gentry, who didn't accumulate wealth by eating meat and drinking blood from the people? And the methods of some gentry in Jiangnan to oppress the people In comparison, I, Chen Xunzhou, pale into insignificance!" "Instead of blaming me here, why don't you go back and ask your mother, ask your uncles and brothers of the Gu family in Songjiang, but they have a clean reputation and have never received many honors from the common people. Needle and thread?"

The world is as dark as crows, and there are no innocent people among the exploiting class.

Of course, Gu Yunji knew that even his own family could never be completely innocent. There would always be some evil people oppressing the people in places he didn't know about.But he is not a flower in a greenhouse. He understands that there is no ivory tower in the world and that everything has a dark side.

After hearing what Chen Xunzhou said, Gu Yunji calmed down: "You want to provoke me? It's a pity that you miscalculated. Although in the family, everyone is prosperous and everyone suffers loss, but the faults should not be shared equally. Whoever makes a mistake must be punished. No one else should have to bear the consequences of the wrong things you did."

"Chen Xunzhou, when you desperately raised the rent, did you ever think about your Chen family? Do they agree with you? They agree with you driving the people to a dead end and destroying the Chen family's hundreds of years of business and prosperity. Foundation?"

Thinking of the fierce opposition he had received from his clan recently, Chen Xunzhou's expression changed, and he felt like something was stuck in his throat for a moment.

However, he couldn't care about that much anymore. As long as he could please the chief envoy and successfully establish a relationship with Pu Tingnan, he would not only be able to become a Tongzhi in a dignified manner, but he could also be promoted normally and become a bigger official in the future.
Compared with the official power that is close at hand, the resentment of the tribe is nothing.

Chen Xunzhou only wavered for a moment, but soon he was firm again, his heart was as hard as a stone, and he said, "... whatever you want to say, what I'm adding is the rent of my own land, you have nothing to do with it."

Gu Yunji's voice was cold: "Chen Xunzhou, don't be too proud. Even if I can't cure you now, I am still an official of the imperial court. I can report and impeach you to the Chief Secretary. If that doesn't work, you can also write to my cousin and ask the imperial court to intervene. This matter."

As if he heard something funny, Chen Xunzhou laughed sarcastically: "Report and impeach me to the Chief Secretary? You can try it and see whether the Chief Secretary will help you or me. As for writing letters... You can wait until you can deliver the letter as far as Sichuan."

Gu Yunji narrowed his eyes and noticed something was wrong: "You... actually got into a relationship with the Chief Envoy?"

Chen Xunzhou looked arrogant: "Anyway, I have a backer now, so don't think about overthrowing me easily."

There was no direct response, but it was regarded as acquiescence, and Gu Yunji's heart suddenly sank.

If Chen Xunzhou really relies on the chief executive, it means that the chief executive is not a good official. He is a dignified third-rank official, and the chief executive of Sichuan is not so easy to deal with. Things have become difficult. .

bang——

At this moment, the door of the government office's reception room was slammed open, and a group of unfamiliar officials broke in. The leader was wearing a blue official uniform, and his eyes swept over everyone: "I am handling the case according to the prosecutor's office, who is Chen Xunzhou?"