The first assistant of the poor family

Chapter 314 Confronting the Gentlemen

Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang was born in bitterness, and he couldn't bear to collect heavy taxes. The taxation of the Ming Dynasty was also the lowest in all dynasties.And a money bag that will never be added will limit the death of future generations.

Ming Taizu's original intention was good, so that the common people of the Ming Dynasty could have enough food and clothing to keep warm.

But the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.

The result of this is that when the treasury of the Ming court has not been filled, most of the time it is barely tight.Sometimes they even have to borrow money from big households in the suburbs of Beijing.

This is an absolute shame and humiliation for an emperor.

But the emperor had no choice. Once he wanted to increase taxes, the civil servants would block the emperor back with a sentence that the law of the ancestors cannot be abolished.If the emperor is not willing to make some small moves, the civil servants will attack him in groups and drown the emperor with spitting stars.

As for why civil servants support the law of the ancestors so much, it is actually easy to explain.

Because they themselves are groups with vested interests.

Civil servants themselves are big landlords. Because they can be exempted from taxes, they often have a heinous amount of land under their names.

It is said that there is no king's land in the world, but in fact, except for those Huangzhuang, the real civilian land has probably been annexed by civil servants.

This is why the emperor of the Ming Dynasty cried poor, that is really poor.

Civil servants can return to their hometowns to be landlords leisurely and leisurely after the officialdom of the court is over.But the emperor couldn't retire, so he had to hold on.Among them, the grievances are probably only known to the emperor himself.

Since Xie Shen is the magistrate of Lu'an, sooner or later he will have to deal with these rich local Lu'an families.

Seeing you later is worse than seeing you sooner. Since Li Tongzhi has already taken the lead this time, he should be given this face.

Thinking of this, Xie Shen told Lu Zhongtian, "Go and report to Li Tongzhi, and just say that I will change clothes and go to the front office."

Magpie Tower is the largest restaurant in Lu'an Fucheng.

The three-storey restaurant can accommodate hundreds of people drinking and eating at the same time.

Of course, like many restaurants, there are not only a lobby for ordinary diners to drink, but also a private room for dignitaries to gossip.

Today, the entire restaurant was packed up, and the empty lobby seemed a little deserted.

In a private room facing the street on the third floor, a group of Lu'an gentry were chatting with each other, and the atmosphere was very lively.

At this moment, a restaurant clerk hurried to the third floor and came to the private room to report: "Fu Zun is here!"

Everyone was stunned, a fair-faced man in his forties who was wearing a lake-blue Zhejiang silk gown coughed and said, "Everyone, why don't you come together to greet the lord?"

"Brother Zhai Pang is right, the Fu Zun must be greeted when he comes!"

"Let's go to meet Fu Zun!"

A group of people whimpered and came to the mysterious ladder, just in time to catch up with Xie Shen and Li Xiaoji walking upstairs.

The middle-aged man who was called Brother Zhai Pang was the first to rush to Xie Shen and Li Xiaoji to salute, saying: "Caomin has seen Fu Zun and Master Tongzhi."

Li Xiaoji introduced with a smile: "Master Xie, this is Huo Yihuo Yuanwai, the president of our Lu'an Fengshun Chamber of Commerce."

Xie Shen nodded and said: "I have heard of Huo Yuanwai's name for a long time, and I heard that Huo Yuanwai donated a lot of money during the earthquake. He is really a good example."

"The Fu Zun praised it absurdly. This is what the grassroots should do."

Huo Yi didn't dare to ask for credit at a time like this, God knows if Zhifu Xie was trying to test him, and the answer was tight in one sentence.

Xie Shen's words are very thought-provoking. Doesn't the deeper meaning mean that the local gentry can contribute more money to help the government with disaster relief?
Li Tongzhi introduced a few more people to Xie Shen, all of them were famous people in Lu'an, not to mention rich as an enemy, but their wealth is not an exaggeration.

A group of gentry surrounded Zhifu Xie and took the seat, and they dared not sit down until Xie Shen was seated.

Even so, they only sat on the stool with half of their buttocks, as if they were ready to be ordered at any time.

This was the first time these local gentry met the new magistrate.Without exception, they have a feeling that the new magistrate is really young.

Judging by age, this magistrate is definitely not twenty.

It is really unprecedented to be a fourth-rank official at the age of less than 20 years old.

People are more angry than others, thinking of their own children at the same age but spending time and drinking like a dandy, these gentry sighed secretly.

The atmosphere of the banquet was relaxed and pleasant.Huo Yihuo took the lead in toasting Xie Shen and said: "Fu Zun solved the epidemic just after he took office, he is really a great benefactor to the people of Lu'an. Caomin thanked Fu Zun for his great kindness on behalf of the people of Lu'an."

Xie Shen thought to himself that these gentry are indeed old-fashioned fritters, and they speak well, but I don't know if they can maintain this attitude if they are asked to pay for repairs and damaged houses.

After the "epidemic" is resolved, the most difficult problem is housing repairs.

Tunliu and even the whole of Lu'an suffered a strong earthquake. As a result, most of the houses and government houses in the county towns and Lu'an prefecture were destroyed.

The Yamen official building has been repaired under the auspices of Li Tongzhi, and the money is naturally paid by the government.

But the repair of the houses is very tricky.

It stands to reason that the damaged houses should be repaired by the people themselves.However, the earthquake in Lu'an was so strong that the houses were seriously damaged, and it was difficult for ordinary people to spend a large amount of money to repair the houses.

But it is impossible for the government to pay the money.The amount of money is huge, and it is not easy to get into the account. No matter how you look at it, you are cheating yourself.

But it’s even worse if you don’t cultivate.

Since Xie Shen is in power, the issue of people's livelihood is naturally the most important direction of investigation.If the people don't even have a place to live, he, the magistrate, has failed too much.

Therefore, the houses must be repaired, and Xie Shen plans to ask the local gentry for the money.

Asking for money is always a bit embarrassing.Xie Shen is not thick-skinned enough to ask for money without blushing.

Therefore, he pondered for a moment and said: "The strong earthquake in Tunliu, everyone in the government and the people are worried. Naturally, His Majesty is the most worried."

Xie Shen cupped his hands towards the north and said in a deep voice.

"Since I am the new magistrate of Lu'an, I should naturally think about what the people think and worry about the people's needs. After the earthquake, the houses and houses were seriously damaged, and it is not appropriate to delay the repair. I hope that you can donate some money, Help the people in this prefecture to repair the damaged houses."

As soon as these words came out, the private room fell into silence for an instant.

The gentry, who were still very enthusiastic before, stared at each other and kept silent.

Xie Shen sneered in his heart, thinking to himself that these gentry are indeed stingy cocks, they are obviously rich but they just don't want to spend money to do good deeds.

Getting them to take the money out is as hard as hell.

But Xie Shen had already made up his mind, how could he change it easily, so he said in a deep voice, "What do Yuanwai Huo think?"

He had already seen that Huo Yuanwai was the leader of the local gentry, and as long as Huo Yuanwai agreed to donate money, the rest of the gentry would surely follow suit.

　ps: I recommend the book "The Strongest Emperor in History" by the author of the same group, "The Strongest Emperor in History", and "The Crown of the New Han Dynasty" by the giant in battle robes~
　　


(End of this chapter)