Jiajing Chengming

Hu Zongxian was very kind-hearted and eventually helped the family pay the taxes.

The officers then let the family go.

This family is naturally very grateful.

But Hu Zongxian was not very happy about this, but felt heavy inside.

When they entered Huizhou City, they saw officials who had returned from collecting taxes elsewhere, and the escort agents who accompanied them were leading a group of boys and girls back to the city.

Hu Zongxian knew that this was because the people's tax burden increased after the land survey, which led to an increase in the number of people selling their children.

Otherwise, the pawnbrokers would not have suddenly bought so many boys and girls. After all, in recent years, thanks to the emperor's hard work and efforts to govern the country, the people's living standards have improved a lot, and the sale of children has become a rare occurrence.

Hu Zongxian didn't know whether these boys and girls would go to wealthy families or to brothels.

But he could not help but admit that the national policy of surveying land was really making the lives of local people worse and worse.

"quick!"

"quick!"

At this time, Hu Zongxian suddenly saw a large group of horse-riding police officers passing by him. Soon they were submerged in the city gate, and the people at the city gate were frightened and fled.

Hu Zongxian was feeling suspicious when he suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder.

Hu Zongxian couldn't help but look back and saw that it was his good friend Luo Longwen.

Luo Longwen was smiling at Hu Zongxian, but then he stopped smiling because he saw that Hu Zongxian's attention was on the cavalry leaving the city. He said:
"I have inquired about it. They are going to Jiekou Town to arrest people. There is a man named Tan Zhu in Jiekou Town. He led his people to resist taxes and killed officials, so the government sent a cavalry to capture him."

“Why resist taxes?”

Hu Zongxian asked.

Luo Longwen said, "It is said that the Tan family is a small family in the area and has no one to rely on, so the local gentry and the government added 300 acres of land to them in the name of land survey, which is more than 200 acres more than the original 90 acres! Tan Zhu refused to sell the land to pay the tax, and was humiliated by the official. He was impatient and beat the official to death. The official wanted to arrest all the members of the Tan family, but it angered all the men in the Tan family, so all the officials were beaten and ran away."

Hu Zongxian suddenly gritted his teeth after hearing this: "The court must stop the land reclamation immediately! If this continues, the village will be in chaos!"

"Who wouldn't think so? But the emperor is so powerful. Plus, Prime Minister Zhang is always strong and domineering, and the deputy Prime Minister Gui Anren is even more ruthless than him. Yang Xindu and others couldn't do anything to them, so who dares to offend them?"

"In Suzhou, more than ten big local officials were exiled because of the killing of Doctor Qingtian!"

"This shows the court's determination on this matter!"

"I advise you not to say too much about this matter. Besides, you and I are just a juren, not an official of the imperial court, let alone a censor!"

"In addition, the emperor and the ruling officials must have known that a thorough land survey would have such consequences, but in order to achieve merit and prove the justice of their rites, they naturally had no choice but to make the people suffer. After all, after thousands of years, no one really cares about these common people."

"If you sing a different tune now, you may be unpopular both inside and outside. The emperor and the ruling officials will look askance at you, thinking that you are against the land reclamation. And those bureaucrats and gentry who deliberately carried out the land reclamation in a disorderly manner will also hate you for exposing the truth and prevent them from taking advantage of the land reclamation to make a fortune."

“It is true that when prosperity comes, the people suffer; when decline comes, the people suffer.”

At this time, Luo Longwen spoke to Hu Zongxian with great emotion, and also persuaded Hu Zongxian to come.

Hu Zongxian heard this and remained silent, just watching the boys and girls who were taken away by the pawnbrokers being selected in front of a wealthy family's gate.

Hu Zongxian knew Ding Yikui. He had seen him at the Luming Banquet and knew that he had once served as a governor. Ding Yikui had bought seven children, two boys and five girls. He was laughing heartily, his old hands caressing a shivering little girl, and said:

"The imperial court's policy of surveying the land is a good one! It allows our Ding family to finally buy a vegetable man again. This is truly a great favor from the emperor!"

"We also thank Prime Minister Zhang for making life easier for us wealthy people!"

When Hu Zongxian heard the word "vegetable", his expression turned gloomy.

"Of course you are right, but in order to protect my hometown from wolves and tigers, I have to report this to the higher-ups!"

At this time, Hu Zongxian suddenly spoke up and responded to Luo Longwen's words.

Luo Longwen was shocked when he heard this and quickly pulled Hu Zongxian aside:
"Ruzhen! You and I really can't do anything about this. Not to mention the emperor and the elders, even the local prefect Nie Gong must have known about this, but why didn't he stop it? That's because he tacitly agreed to it! It's useless even if you report it."

"I plan to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor."

Hu Zongxian suddenly replied and left.

Luo Longwen stood there for a long while.

Winter moon.

Cold waves began to hit the country in waves.

The capital city became a huge cold storage. The number of pedestrians on the streets dropped significantly. Snow began to fall continuously under the leaden sky, falling in the extremely quiet city. Soon, the capital city was covered with a layer of white cloth.

At this time, Hu Zongxian and several other courageous candidates from all over the country came to the Dengwen drum.

Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
After a deafening drumbeat, Hu Zongxian and his companions knelt behind the drum, raised the memorial in their hands, and waited for the eunuchs from the secretarial office to take it, while shouting loudly:
"The land survey has brought great harm to the people, and the country is in turmoil because of it. The officials and gentry have used the name of land survey to increase the number of fraudulent payments and lavish money, and have severely oppressed the common people, turning land survey into a harsh policy of increasing taxes. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to suspend the land survey!"

As scholars, they had the power to submit memorials to the emperor to voice their opinions.

Historically, after Gui E was dismissed from office, a student in the Jiajing period submitted a petition requesting that Gui E be reinstated. Chongzhen's first shot against Wei Zhongxian's party was also launched after a student submitted a petition to impeach Cui Chengxiu, the then Minister of War.

Therefore, it was in line with the system for Hu Zongxian and others to truthfully reflect the local situation.

Luo Longwen did not follow Hu Zongxian to beat the drum to submit a petition. He just watched from a distance and felt uneasy for Hu Zongxian.

Zhu Houcong and Prime Minister Zhang Cong soon learned that Hu Zongxian and other candidates who came to Beijing to the imperial court had beaten the drum to submit a petition, and that they were submitting the petition to oppose the land reclamation.

Zhang Cong was furious and said to Zhu Houcong, "Your Majesty, please do not believe the one-sided words of these candidates. I am afraid they will continue to use the name of reporting the land survey problem to make the court lose its determination to continue the land survey throughout the country."

“But they are actually reflecting the facts.”

"My Jinyiwei also reported that in many places, land surveys have made the people even more miserable, especially in Huizhou Prefecture."

"Although the purpose of the nationwide land survey was to relieve the suffering of the common people and to equalize corvée labor, under the joint resistance of the bureaucrats and gentry, it could easily become a tool for them to further persecute the people."

Zhu Houcong spoke seriously at this time.

Then, Zhu Houcong looked at Huang Jin and said, "I heard that there is a man from Huizhou named Hu Zongxian among these candidates. Go and invite him in!" (End of this chapter)