Yunzhong is also a medium-sized county, with more than 100 villages under its jurisdiction, and if you say that you can turn every village again, it will not be possible to do it in a short period of time.

The only way to solve it is to pick a few out of your feelings as an understanding.

After Xie Zhi and his entourage came out of the county seat, they went to a village named Xuezhuang in the north of the city.

Now this season, at this hour, most of the people in the village are working in the fields, Xie Zhi and the others did not enter the village, and went directly to the fields.

Most of the fields were planted with wheat, followed by millet.

A few people walked a few steps and saw an old man drinking water from a ceramic jar.

Xie Zhi walked over quickly and shouted: "Uncle, I have been on the road for a few hours, and my mouth is really dry, can you..."

Begging for water is only secondary, and using begging for water as an excuse is almost the key.

The old man was also generous, handed over the clay pot, and said, "A few nobles don't dislike it." ”

Although the clay pot didn't look clean, Xie Zhi was not a hypocritical person, took the old man's clay pot, poured a few sips, and after drinking it, there was a trace of sweetness in his throat.

Xie Zhi asked in surprise, "This water?" ”

The old man said proudly: "This is the general well water, the water in my Xuezhuang is different from other places, and it is born with some providence, the noble person has just arrived here, right?" You may still know that the tofu in Xuezhuang is the most famous, and many big households will come here to buy it. ”

It's really hard to know about such a situation unless you come out in person.

Hearing the old man say this, Zhu Houzhao was curious, took the jar from Xie Zhi's hand, and said, "Really? So magical? Let's try it. ”

There was only half a jar in the clay pot, the old man drank some, Xie Zhi drank some more, and Zhu Houzhao saw the bottom before he took a few sips in his hand.

Zhu Houzhao looked regretful.

The old man was also enthusiastic, and immediately called out to a group of children running and playing not far away: "Huzi, Huzi... Then go and fetch the altar and bring in the water. ”

One of the children heard the shouting, ran to get the jar and ran in the direction of the village.

"Wait a few dignitaries." The old man spoke.

Xie Zhi was also polite and took the lead in sitting down at the ridge and said, "If you are not in a hurry to make a living in the field, the old man will also sit down and rest?"

The old man put down the hoe in his hand and sat on the ridge with Xie Zhi.

After the old man sat down, Wang Shouren and the others also sat down.

The old man took the lead in asking, "Where did the nobles come from?" Where to go? ”

The truth can't be said, Xie Zhi told a lie, and replied: "A certain person came out of Jingshi, planning to go to Datong Mansion, there are batches of transactions at home to go to Datong Mansion to hand over, and the transaction is not very urgent. ”

Xie Zhi and his party are all dressed in brocade clothes, and they have to find a suitable identity.

The old man did not ask any further.

Xie Zhi opened his mouth and asked, "Is this the old man's own field?" ”

The old man sighed, laughed at himself and said: "Little Lao'er has no power and power, how can he have his own land, this piece belongs to the Ma family, and Xiao Lao'er is just renting seeds." ”

This is the second time Xie Zhi has heard of the Ma family?

Xie Zhi asked curiously, "Ma family? The rich man in the county. ”

The old man is also a talkative person, and after Xie Zhi just asked briefly, the old man blurted out like pouring beans into a bamboo tube.

"Sort of, most of the land in the city is in his hands, a small amount is in the Yunzhong County King, some of the small people in the hands of all are just some mountain streams and valleys and forests, or there are no crops, but the annual court taxes and grains are paid on good land, a hard year, the whole family's belly may not be able to fill, many families have lost their fields and fled."

If you just stay in the county and look at the official documents, how can you know these things?

The king of Yunzhong is the descendant of the acting king Zhu Gui, and the eldest son inherits the title of acting king, and the concubine is named the king of the county.

Xie Zhi asked again: "What about the situation like the old man renting the stallion's field?" ”

The old man sighed again and said, "It's just barely full." ”

It is good to see that the crops are rising, and the people are also working hard, but how can they know about these conditions unless they inquire carefully.

In this case, Xie Zhi and others can also guess it.

Those powerful and wealthy aristocrats, businessmen and magnates will be squeezed by ordinary people, depending on the degree of this oppression.

Xie Zhi then asked, "How can this Ma family have so much fertile land?" ”

The old man did not hesitate, full of grief and indignation replied: "Ma Jia's son Ma Jinxue and the county that was transferred away are the same examination people, since the Yang Zhixian Zhiyunzhong, the Ma family father and son have robbed the fertile land in various ways, saying that it is a sale, in fact, the land price is low and pitiful, the little old man's ancestor also passed down ten acres of thin fields, the Ma family Ding did not buy the field, so he went to the house to provoke, and the young son scuffled with it.

But he was falsely beaten to death, was arrested and put in prison, his mother was anxious and didn't come up, the little old man in order to save the young son out of the cage, he could only compromise with it, and sold the thin field handed down by his ancestors, but unfortunately the young son was tortured too heavily in prison, and he went a few days after he came back. ”

When the old man talked about the emotion, the old tears were vertical and horizontal, and the sadness came from the bottom of his heart.

As he was talking, a strong man came up from the field and said, "Dad, let him go after the matter has passed, don't be sad anymore, take care of your body so that you can wait for the day of Tianqing." ”

Xie Zhi raised his head and asked, "Your Excellency?" ”

The old man wiped his tears and replied, "This is the eldest son of the little old man." ”

Xie Zhi arched his hand and asked, "I don't know your surname?" ”

The strong man replied: "It's not expensive, a certain surname is Zhang." ”

Xie Zhi shouted: "Oh, it turned out to be Brother Zhang, something like this happened in the family, and the county was in cahoots with the Ma family, why don't you go to Fuzhong to complain, it's really not good, you can also go to Beijing?" I heard that there is a big drum outside the palace, and if you beat it there, you can go straight to the front of the palace. ”

The strong man was surprised and asked, "Can you still directly sue without Jingzhong?" ”

Xie Zhi actually didn't know if it could be like this, he only knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had set it up when Ying Tianfu built Beijing, and as for whether Zhu Di had set up this matter after moving the capital, he really didn't know very well.

After the strong man asked, Xie Zhi turned his head to look at Zhu Houzhao.

The entire palace belongs to his family, and he certainly knows best whether he can sue like this.

I didn't expect Zhu Houzhao to ask three questions.

It was Wang Shouren who opened his mouth and said: "But there is such a thing, but if it is a civil lawsuit, it will be punished first." ”

Zhu Houzhao opened his mouth at this time and said: "What bullshit regulations, besides, it's the Ma family who is suing, not an official." ”

Zhu Houzhao's words made the old man and the strong man father and son quite nervous, and they looked at Zhu Houzhao with dripping eyes.

Xie Zhi and the others are very calm, and the bullshit rules are also set by your family.

In response to Zhu Houzhao's idiotic question, Xie Zhi replied: "Why do you want to sue the little Ma family directly to the emperor, isn't it the inaction of the officials in the county and the government?" In this case, it is not the same as suing the people. ”

After Xie Zhi explained, Zhu Houzhao didn't ask any more.

The strong man sat down directly on the ground, and said: "If you go to sue the official in the house, you will also be beaten, when this incident first happened at home, a certain person and some people in the township have also been to Datong Mansion, but there is no news of it, if you know that you can go to Beijing to complain, even if you are beaten, you should also try, then Yang Zhixian and the Ma family can still cover the sky with one hand in Beijing?" ”

Zhu Houzhao said indignantly: "The prefect of Datong has also been bought? ”

The strong man shook his head and said: "I don't know about this, I heard that Yang Zhixian has a backer in Beijing." ”

The old man sighed at the end and said: "Don't toss, if you go to Beijing and have three long and two short, what should you do with the tiger, the little old man is old, and he can't raise a tiger, don't let the Zhang family's incense be cut off here with you." ”

The strong man hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and responded: "My son knows." ”

As he was talking, Huzi ran to the little old man with the clay pot and shouted, "Father, the water is coming." ”

Xiao Lao'er took the jar and handed it to Xie Zhi.

Xie Zhi drank a few more sips before giving Zhu Houzhao.

When several people took turns to drink water, Xie Zhi said again: "A certain family also has some connections in the court, after returning to Beijing, a certain family will ask the elders in the family to take this matter in the clouds away, if you can, try to directly hand over a fold to Your Majesty, rest assured, your grievances will definitely have the day when the truth will be revealed." ”

The news in the old man's mouth is completely sufficient.