Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Chapter 137 Miniature
Fengyang Mansion, Dingyuan County.

Li Jin came down with a mission this time. He was not in a hurry to report to the local government. Instead, he was dressed in civilian clothes and prepared to go deep into the people to investigate the situation.

this day.

It was really late.

It was obviously too late to reach the county seat, but fortunately a farmer at the foot of the mountain took him in.

But Li Jin was a little curious as to why there were farmers here. He had done a lot of homework before coming to Fengyang. There should be no acres of land in this mountain that could be used for farming.

This farmer is a father and daughter, named Hu.

The father is Hu Bin, an honest farmer, and the daughter is Hu Ye, who is young but unexpectedly sensible.

"It's time to eat." Hu Ye came out with two bowls of porridge and placed them on the table.

Then he took out two pieces of potatoes from his pocket and placed them on the table. Maybe they were a little hot, so the girl blew on her red hands, and then grabbed her earlobes with her hands.

"Where's Uncle Hu?" Li Jin looked up and asked. "Why don't you ask him to come and have dinner with you?"

The girl didn't look up. She peeled the potatoes in her hands and replied, "He's working. I left the pot for him. I'll take his place after eating."

"Ah? It's already this hour and you're still working in the fields?" Li Jin had a look of surprise on his face.

But the girl looked calm and said: "We farmers are like sparrows. We live by counting grains. If we are lazy for a day, we may starve to death."

"It's so serious." Li Jin said subconsciously.

Although Li Jin was not very wealthy before, Ma San Dao was still a real marquis, so he could still guarantee that he would have enough food and clothing.Life was tight, and a large part of the reason was that Ma Sandao used all his salary and salary from his official position and title to support the widows and orphans of his dead comrades.

"I found that you scholars really don't understand anything." The girl looked at the completely peeled potatoes in her hands and said. "Li Shusheng, since you are a scholar, you must have heard of Mr. Yang, the prefect of Yangzhou."

"I heard that Mr. Yang is a good official." Li Jin said.

"Yes, Mr. Yang is the best official in the world. If Mr. Yang from Yangzhou had not brought crops like potatoes to our people, life would have been even more difficult. Unfortunately, potatoes cannot pay taxes."

The girl took a bite of the potato in her hand, raised her head and looked at Li Jin, and then said: "Let me tell you, scholar."

"When our family had five acres of land, my father, my uncle, and a cousin were three strong men. Although life was tight, we could still manage."

"Isn't this good?" Li Jin said.

For ordinary people in this era, it is indeed very good to have food to eat and clothing to wear.

The girl sighed helplessly: "But the government's taxes are heavy. In addition to the regular taxes twice a year, there are also some miscellaneous taxes. There are also corvee services. People are busy all year long, and there is nothing left."

"As a result, just the year before last, my uncle and cousin went to do corvee labor. One died of illness at the construction site, and the other suffered from the root cause of the disease. Our family's strength has been reduced by half, and we don't even have enough people to farm."

Li Jin was silent.

At the same time, I silently recorded this matter. When the Ming Dynasty was built in the early days, there were too many places that required manpower, so the corvee was particularly heavy.

Recruiting corvees will occupy the young and strong labor force of the people. In the process of serving, it is very likely that situations like Hu Ye's cousin and uncle will happen.Losing young workers is a devastating blow to a family.

Li Jin listened silently.

The girl then said: "After paying the government taxes, I won't even have money to buy seeds next year. What should I do about this?"

"Borrow it." Li Jin replied.

This was the only way he could think of.

The girl nodded and said, "But like us, friends and relatives around us are also having difficulties. For us, the only thing we can borrow is usury money."

The so-called usury refers to loan sharking.

Since each return had to be stamped with a stamp, people called it "usury money."The usury money accrues interest every day and is an exponential function, doubling faster and faster.

As the saying goes: one loan will be repaid three times; the interest will be compounded and it will be repaid every year; one year's borrowing will be paid back in ten years; several lifetimes will not end!
In A Dream of Red Mansions, Wang Xifeng did this.

Li Jin was silent.

He knew that it was not easy for a farmer, especially a farmer who had lost two young and strong laborers, to survive on the food left after paying taxes every year.It will definitely not be able to repay the usury.

Sure enough, Hu Ye continued to say: "We borrowed money from Lan Daguan's family. Not to mention paying off the debt, we later couldn't even pay back the interest. In the end, we had to sell the land. In the beginning What we sell is second-grade sloping land.”

"But this can only solve a temporary emergency. The interest rate is too high. It keeps rolling back and forth, and in the end it is not enough. I sold out all the slope land, sold water to irrigate the fields, and finally sold out all the fields, so I reluctantly I barely managed to pay back the usury money."

"We wouldn't come to this mountain to clear up wasteland if we didn't have to."

After listening to Hu Ye's words, Li Jin finally solved his initial doubts. No wonder there are still farmers here. It turned out that they were forced to open up wasteland.

Li Jin finally understood in his mind why Yang Xian said that the Ming Dynasty's tax system must be changed, otherwise it will be difficult to recover.Nowadays, the new tax reform has only been piloted in a few places in Su, Song, Jia, and Hu. Zhu Yuanzhang sent these scholars to all parts of the country. He also had a hidden intention, which was to let them go there to see whether the new tax system It is really necessary to promote it nationwide immediately.

During the scientific examination, he used a lot of what Yang Xian said.

But at that time, Li Jin didn't feel deeply. Only by going deep into the grassroots like now and actually seeing these things happening around him, or even happening in front of his own eyes, can he truly understand what Yang Xian said. The weight of words.

After losing their land like the Hus and their daughters, all they can do is either work as tenants for wealthy households, or flee to other places and become refugees.

Or just like their father and daughter, they came to open up wasteland in this barren mountain.

"Are there many situations like Miss Hu's in Dingyuan County?" Li Jin asked after being silent for a moment.

"A lot."

"In that case, wouldn't it mean that the rich have more and more land, and the land in the hands of the common people is getting less and less." Li Jin said.

The girl raised her head and glanced at Li Jin. These scholars like to be rare and strange.

"That's right. Go to Dingyuan County and take a look. The land of a few gentry and wealthy businessmen is not connected in one piece. What about us ordinary people? We ordinary people's land can only be found here and there."

(End of this chapter)