Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 138: Farming for the emperor is definitely more stable!

Zhang Ning opened it and saw that it was indeed a visiting card from Hou Wei, the Captain of Puzhou Captain's Office.

Zhang Ning chuckled, it was just as he had guessed.

"Invite him in."

"Yes, sir."

Soon, the anxious Hou Wei was led to Zhang Ning by the servants.

Just as Zhang Ning said, after Hou Wei learned that Wang Yan and others had arrived in Pingyang Prefecture, he was so anxious that he jumped around the house.

Occupying military households' land is a capital crime. If Wang Yan finds out that he has occupied so much good land,

After reporting to the court, he will definitely be killed!
Hou Wei was so anxious at home that he was at a loss what to do. Then he thought of Zhang Ning, the largest landlord in Puzhou County.

He has so much land under his name, it's impossible that all of them came from Haodao, right?

Hou Wei thought that he and Zhang Ning were in the same boat, so he immediately brought a visiting card and came to the Zhang family compound.

After seeing Zhang Ning, Hou Wei hurriedly asked for help.

"Mr. Zhang, the imperial court has come to survey the land. If they find out everything, what shall I do?"

Seeing Hou Wei so anxious, Zhang Ning knew the time was ripe.

So he told Hou Wei again the plan that he had just mentioned to Wang and his son.

After hearing Zhang Ning's plan, Hou Wei's eyes lit up.

He exclaimed in surprise: "This is a good idea. Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. I will fully cooperate with you."

In fact, Hou Wei didn’t know whether this method was good or not, and whether it would be effective.

But he was now at a loss and completely confused. At this moment, he thought that any method was a good one.

Zhang Ning smiled at Hou Wei and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you from now on, Master Qianhu."

"Why are you still talking about this now? Helping Mr. Zhang is actually helping myself."

Hou Wei relaxed, exchanged a few words with Zhang Ning, and then said goodbye.

On the other hand, Wang Yao also followed Zhang Yi to take away some supplies needed from the north from the Zhang family’s warehouse.

There is enough tea in the Zhang family’s warehouse, but the iron sheets and grain will have to wait a few more days.

The iron sheets they mentioned were wrought iron that had been forged, about three feet long and less than two inches wide, and each piece was very thin.

One glance at this piece of iron will reveal it is a semi-finished product of a saber.

You just need to add a handle and sharpen the blade with a whetstone, and you will have a good knife that can be used in battle to kill the enemy.

Wang Yao sent his tenants to the Zhang family's warehouse. After taking away all the necessary things, all that was left was to wait for other supplies to be prepared and then they could be transported to Xuanfu.

Within a few days, Wang Yan, Yang Jizong and others had completed the survey of the farmland in another county under Pingyang Prefecture.

Afterwards, Wang Yan and others did not rest and rode non-stop to Puzhou County.

Like the prefect of Pingyang Prefecture, the magistrate of Puzhou County, Wu Yong, also claimed to be ill and did not go out. He did not even meet with Wang Yan and others, let alone help them.

There was no other choice but Wang Yan and others could only check on their own.

At first, the people of Puzhou felt both fear and curiosity when they saw the gentlemen in official uniforms busy in the fields.

Everyone stayed away and no one dared to disturb them.

The people were also very curious. They only knew that these officials were measuring the land, but they didn't know why they were measuring the land.

Seeing this, Zhang Ning felt that the time was ripe, so he asked Zhang Yi and Wang Yao to start inciting their respective tenants.

After receiving the order, Zhang Yi and Wang Yao each gathered a group of tenants from the Zhang and Wang families and started telling lies without blushing.

Incitement is not an order, and words cannot be said too bluntly, but the tenants are all uneducated, and words cannot be said bluntly either.

So not only do you have to say it, you also have to act with your face, but more importantly, you have to have people cooperate with you.

Zhang Yi personally came to the fields and spoke to the tenants who had gathered together with a heavy face.

"Fellow villagers, I regret to tell you that you can no longer farm our Zhang family's land."

"Ah?! Why, Master Zhang!"

The Zhang family's tenants, who were originally squatting on the edge of the field with numb faces, became panicked after hearing these words.

"Master Zhang, is it because we didn't pay enough rent?! But the land can no longer grow any more food!"

"Master Zhang, please don't take the land back. If you do, we will have no way to survive."

"Master Zhang, please be kind and leave us a chance to live!"

"..."

All the tenants of the Zhang family knelt down in front of Zhang Yi and begged with tears in their eyes.

Zhang Yi also had a worried look on his face, and he explained to the tenants with a sigh.

"It's not us, the Zhang family, who are unwilling to rent the land to you."

"The truth is, these lands will no longer belong to our Zhang family."

"The imperial envoys from the court have arrived. They want to take our land back and make it the emperor's estate."

"Do you know the imperial farm? That is the emperor's land. Only the emperor's people can cultivate it."

"From now on, these lands will have nothing to do with us, and you can no longer cultivate them..."

Before Zhang Yi finished speaking, his trusted aide who was assigned to the tenants shouted, "Then all these lands have been planted by the emperor. What should we plant?!"

"We have no land to farm, so won't we starve to death?!"

When the tenants of the Zhang family heard Zhang Yi's words, it was like a bolt from the blue, and they felt as if the sky was falling.

In the feudal dynasties, the emperors and ministers fought against each other, and people from various aristocratic classes left a strong mark in the history books.

But no one cares what kind of life the vast majority of working people, the most ordinary people, actually live. The underlying color of the feudal dynasty is exploitation, and the people have been exploited for a long time, and have become accustomed to it, as if they were born to be exploited and it is natural.

For example, what do the ordinary people of Jinzhou have to do with them, the world-famous Shanxi merchants?

Like ordinary people in other places, they toil in the fields all day long, working from sunrise to sunset, and after a busy year, they can only manage to have enough food and clothing.

The only difference between them and people in other places is that they are exploited by different people.

The common people in the south of the Yangtze River are exploited by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

The people of Guangdong and Guangxi are exploited by the landlords of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The common people of Bashu were exploited by the nobles of Bashu.

The people of Jinzhou were also exploited by the merchants of Jinzhou.

There is no difference.

The Zhang and Wang families of Puzhou rose to prominence during the Hongwu period, managed Puzhou for hundreds of years, and annexed Puzhou's land for hundreds of years.

These tenants of the Zhang family have had no land since they were born and have been making a living by renting the Zhang family's land.

Although these tenants lost their land and became tenants, they were exploited by the Zhang family for a long time.

But by relying on farming for the Zhang family, they can at least get enough food and clothing throughout the year and still make ends meet.

But if the emperor took away the land, they would really be left with nothing.

"The emperor cannot take the land back. Our ancestors have lived on this land for generations!"

"That's right! The emperor already has so much land, why would he want to take our little piece of land?!"

"Oh my God! How am I going to live like this from now on! Oh God, please open your eyes!"

"..."

There were wailing sounds all around, and Zhang Yi was standing among them with a sad look on his face.

Seeing that the mood was right, Zhang Yi looked at his trusted tenants.

Upon receiving the order, the trusted tenants immediately jumped out, raised their arms and shouted: "Fellow villagers, do you want to starve to death?!"

"No, of course I don't want to!"

"Who wants to starve to death? I just want to have a safe meal. Why is it so difficult?"

"Fellow villagers, do you want to continue farming?!"

"Yes! Of course I do!"

"Who doesn't want to farm?! Having a safe piece of land to farm is better than anything else!"

"Fellow villagers! Can you allow the emperor to take away all the land you have cultivated?!"

"what?!"

The people kneeling on the ground were stunned and looked at the trusted tenant in astonishment.

"Do we have the final say on whether the Emperor approves or not?"

"The emperor wants to take the land. What can we do? We can only try to rent the land from others."

"You said, the emperor can't farm the land himself, right? Then his land also needs people to farm it. How about we farm for the emperor?"

"I think it's a good idea! Farming for the emperor will definitely be more stable!"

Zhang Yi was dumbfounded and glared at the confidant fiercely.

The confidant was also very embarrassed. He had yelled so loudly just now that he almost shouted out "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers any different kinds of people?"

There was no other way, the confidant could only guide him in a different way.

"Don't be so wishful thinking. The emperor has so many people under him. How can it be your turn to cultivate the royal land?"

"Why don't you think about this? If the emperor wants to take back the land, will he only take back the land of Mr. Zhang's family?"

"I tell you, the emperor will take back the land of Mr. Zhang, the land of Mr. Wang, and the land of Mr. Hou... and even the entire Puzhou land, and make them the emperor's farm!"

"Who else can you farm for? Do you want to take your wives and children and run away to other places?"

The confidant's words really worked, and the tenants were extremely panicked.

"Ah? How could this happen?!"

"We will...really have no land to farm in the future?"

"Then what should we do?!"

"..."

The people are ignorant. They believe whatever others say without thinking whether it is reasonable or not.

The confidant continued to incite: "There is only one way now, and that is to get those officials who seized the land from the imperial court to get out of Puzhou."

"Ah? Then how can we get the people from the court to get out of Puzhou?" someone asked.

The confidant didn't beat around the bush and directly told him the method.

"Let's surround the post station where the imperial officials live, so that they can't take the land. They will naturally withdraw from Puzhou!"

"Really? Is this all right?"

"Let's surround them. Nothing will happen to us, right?"

"Is this method reliable? Will it really work?"

"..."

The people were very timid, but after being instigated by their confidants, they finally decided to go and stop Wang Yan and his men from measuring the land.

In fact, if their confidants had not exaggerated and extinguished all the hope in their hearts, they would not have dared to do such an outrageous thing.

(End of this chapter)