I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 257 How could it be such a coincidence?

Gao Gong, Gao Yi and Ge Shouli were sitting in the study in the backyard of Gao Gong's mansion, discussing the land survey of the three garrisons in Shanxi, Datong and Xuanfu.

"Zhenshan Gong (Zhu Heng) sent a letter from Datong City, saying that the land survey in the three towns went smoothly."

Gao Gong stroked his iconic beard and spoke confidently.

"In Shanxi, Datong and Xuanfu, during the 43rd year of Jiajing's reign, a number of local tyrants and officials were executed during the investigation of the Gengxu Incident. Hu Ruzhen has been in charge of the three towns for several years, and Xiyuan's words are still effective."

Gao Gong's expression changed slightly at Gao Yi's words.

In the Gengxu Incident, he and Yang Bo, the two leaders of the Jin Party, were forced to retire and return home, which was a great hatred in their hearts. However, so much time has passed, and the resentment in their hearts has gradually dissipated.

It won't work unless it dissipates.

If you don't look forward and always look back, you can't make progress.

Gao Gong's expression just changed slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Gao Yi and Ge Shouli exchanged glances secretly and felt relieved.

Just let it go!

As long as there is no unsolvable knot in your heart, there will be no insurmountable obstacles in the world.

Gao Yi continued, "The border troops of the three towns are under the control of Xiyuan, and the government offices of Datong and other prefectures, states and counties dare not act rashly. There are pillars to suppress the sea above, and there are no ghosts and demons below, so the land survey is going smoothly.

Lord Zhenshan mentioned that 110,000 acres of farmland in the three town guards were occupied by the Jiangnan noble families.

Ge Shouli was shocked. "They are stretching their hands too far."

Gao Gong sighed and replied, "When the imperial court implemented the Kaizhong Law, merchants from the south of the Yangtze River opened up wasteland near the Datong Three Towns Garrison and hired people to cultivate the land as merchant settlements in order to obtain more salt permits.

Later, the French-Chinese border was in chaos, but the merchants in the settlements made a lot of money and were unable to stop themselves from taking over the land. Behind them were the Jiangnan families, whose power in the court was at its peak.

The local officials of the three towns of Shanxi also have to give them some face. Over the past few decades or even hundreds of years, the hands of the Jiangnan families have naturally reached that far."

Gao Yi and Ge Shouli shook their heads and continued discussing the issue.

"Two hundred years have passed since the Hongwu reign. Many things have changed over the years. The files in the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Five Military Commands' Office are piled up like mountains, more tangled than tangled hemp.

Military settlements, civilian settlements, commercial settlements, land reclaimed by the people, and land occupied by others were all a mess of accounts, mixed together and impossible to distinguish. The Lord of the Mountain and his men would get dizzy just by arguing about the origins of the land every day.

Yes, after so many years, how can you tell the difference?

However, when surveying the land, in addition to measuring the number of acres of land, it is also necessary to distinguish between the barrenness and fertility of the land, and more importantly, to identify the owner of the household.

This is the top priority.

The most troublesome thing is to register the head of household.

The government will collect land tax based on whose name the land is registered, the registered area, and whether it is barren or fertile.

After occupying farmland, the noble families would naturally hide the farmland and evade taxes. If they had to pay taxes according to the system after occupying the farmland, how could the superiority of the officials, gentry and the rich be reflected?
"This is a big trouble." Ge Shouli said with a frown.

"The key lies in the clerks who do the actual work. If they write one less word, hundreds of thousands of acres will be hidden; if they raise their hand slightly, the upper field will become the lower field, and the tax paid in a year will be reduced by half.

But these people are the most cunning, having been clerks for generations, and all kinds of fraud and self-interest are inherited from their ancestors. They are also extremely greedy, and in front of money, the laws of the country are nothing.

The officials in charge of supervision above may be deceived by them if they are not experienced enough. "

Gao Gong was very clear about the practical affairs of government and was well aware of the various tactics used by the clerks below him.

He continued with a dark face, "Official administration, official administration, officials must be familiar with practical matters, so that they will not be deceived by the people below; clerks must abide by the law, so that they will not be so crazy that they commit crimes."

Gao Yi and Ge Shouli couldn't help but sigh along with him.

If you want to do something practical, it is really complicated and difficult!
Gao Gong saw the expressions of the two men and said proudly: "Life is difficult. The more difficult it is, the more we must face the challenges head-on. If everything were easy, what would we, the capable officials, do!" Gao Yi and Ge Shouli exclaimed: "The Duke of Xinzheng is courageous!"

A servant stood at the door and reported, "Master, Master Zhang, a scholar from the Hanlin Academy, has arrived at the gate of the mansion and said he has something important to tell you."

Gao Gong said repeatedly: "Please come in quickly."

After a while, Zhang Siwei, who was dressed in a long shirt, came in. Seeing Gao Gong and the other two, he bowed and said, "Lord Xinzheng, Lord Nanyu, and Lord Yuchuan."

"Ziwei, why are you in such a hurry?"

"Something happened!"

"What's the big deal?"

Zhang Siwei took out a piece of newspaper and said, "This is the Commercial Daily published in Shanghai, which is published every five days. It is quickly delivered to various places by the transport agencies, water transport agencies and shipping agencies.

This is the latest issue of the Commercial Daily, published eleven days ago, and it reports a major event that happened twelve days ago. Mr. Xinzheng, please look at the second page.

Gao Gong took the newspaper without saying a word and began to flip through it.

Gao Yi and Ge Shouli looked at each other and asked curiously, "I heard that the Commercial Daily is run by the Southeast Office of the Coordination Bureau, and Yang Jinshui is behind it?"

"Yes, the Commercial Daily is sponsored and published by the Southeast Office of the Coordination Bureau. It spent a lot of money to invite famous people from the southeast to write. It also relies on the well-informed information of the Commercial Investigation Department to publish business conditions and interesting stories from all over the country, which is very popular in the southeast.

The student also ordered one.”

Gao Gong had finished reading. He slammed the newspaper on the table with a bang, stood up suddenly, and walked back and forth in the open space with his hands behind his back.

Gao Yi picked up the newspaper curiously and read it, then his face changed.

After reading it, Ge Shouli's face changed: "The Xu family is so arrogant and domineering that they actually forced the fourth-rank prefect, the co-prefect and the two county magistrates to kneel down at the gate of the prefecture.

What does Xu Dalang want to do? "

Gao Yi was lost in thought and had no time to answer his question.
Gao Gong walked around a few times, slowed down his pace, and suddenly said, "Songjiang prefect Cai Guoxi, I remember him. He was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing. That year, I was appointed by the late emperor as an examiner for the palace examination."

Gao Yi's eyes lit up and he asked, "I remember the chief examiner for that subject was Yan Yangzhai (Yan Ne). Was it him who nominated Cai Guoxi?"

"I don't remember. I need to look through the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations during the Jiajing reign to find out." Ge Shouli slowly put down the newspaper and shook his head. "Between the lines of the newspaper, it said that the Xu family had recently occupied tens of thousands of acres of good farmland and concealed and evaded taxes, and asked Huating and Qingpu counties to share the land tax, but the amount was too large and the people were extremely resentful, so the two counties and Songjiang Prefecture did not dare to obey.

Cai Guoxi led the two counties of Huating and Qingpu to the gate of Xu's house to petition. The Xu family ignored him, and Xu Dalang avoided him, so Cai Guoxi could only kneel down at the gate of Xu's house.

What's even more hateful is that the servants of the Xu family insulted him. A Jinshi who passed the imperial examination twice and a prefect of the fourth rank, in the eyes of the Xu family, is so unbearable! Is he worse than pigs and dogs? "

Ge Shouli's eyes were wide open, and he was extremely sad and angry.

Gao Gong was not as emotional as he was. He just frowned and said, "If the prefect kneels at the gate of Xu's house, the Xu family will become the target of public criticism. What's more, the newspapers reported that when Cai Guoxi knelt at the gate of Xu's house, Hai Rui witnessed it with his own eyes. In the end, he couldn't hold back and revealed his identity and asked to meet the eldest son of the Xu family."

Gao Yi sneered twice, "Xu's eldest son heard of Hai Gangfeng's fame and actually ran away through the back door. It is said that he ran all the way to Suzhou and hid in a villa somewhere in Taihu Lake.

Is this the Xu Dalang whom Shao Hugong praised highly and called the Xu family's Qilin son? "

Gao Gong said grimly: "What unicorn son? I think he is not even as good as Yan Donglou. In the past, many censors and upright officials submitted memorials to impeach the Yan family, but Yan Donglou refused to be outdone and plotted many schemes and schemes, killing many people of noble character and lofty ideals.

Xu Dalang caused such a big incident, and when Hai Gangfeng came to his door, he just slapped his butt and walked away! Such irresponsible, what kind of Qilinzi is this? He is worse than shit! "

Zhang Siwei reminded them, "You three, right now, the Xinzheng public is surveying the land in the three towns of Shanxi, and someone has revealed such a big thing about the Xu family's land. As luck would have it, it happened to Hai Gangfeng, who was inspecting the Southern Zhili area, and as luck would have it, it was seen by the people of the Commercial Daily, published in newspapers, and spread all over the country.

How could such a coincidence happen in the world? "

Gao Yi asked hesitantly, "What does Xiyuan mean?"

Gao Gong stroked his beard and said slowly: "Yes, Xiyuan's attitude is of vital importance!"

(End of this chapter)