Since the Tang Dynasty, a large number of intellectuals in the north have moved to live around Nanzhili in order to escape the war in the north, which has produced many Dashi clans, such as the surname Chen.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were many officials surnamed Chen in the territory of Nanzhili, compared to Chen Zilong in front of him, as well as Chen Mingxia, who was an official in the Manchu Qing court in the north, he was a native of Liyang County, Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Chen Qia, the secretary of the military department during the Xuande period, was a person from Changzhou Mansion in Nanzhili. There are also the Haining Chen family and the Hangzhou Chen family, all of which are amazing big families.

As for the Chen family in Huating, Songjiang Mansion, where Chen Zilong is located, there have been several squires and scholars in his ancestors, and Chen Zilong's Laozi Chen is the squire of the Ministry of Industry during the Chongzhen period, so it is not surprising that there is an uncle of Chen Zilong here in Suzhou.

Ma Cheng listened to Chen Zilong's explanation and then asked the old man: "Old man, how much is the land rent?" Is it enough for daily life? ”

The old man heard the middle-aged man say that Chen Juren was his uncle, where did he dare to say bad things about Chen Juren, and hurriedly said: "Chen Juren is known as Chen Dashan, and the given rent is fifty percent, and it can be reduced or reduced in the case of a famine year, which is a really good person!" ”

"Fifty percent of the ground rent? It's high enough, why didn't the old man want to save some silver to buy some land by himself, how can it be said that the taxes of the imperial court should be less than this, right? ”

The old man sighed and said: "It's not a secret, the old man also had more than a dozen acres of land ten years ago, but the imperial court taxes were too heavy, and the old man had no choice but to entrust people and serve under Chen Juren, which would be enough for the family." If Chen Juren hadn't taken him in back then, the old man's family would probably have died in the county jail! ”

"Heavy taxes in the imperial court? Isn't it the fifty tax set by the imperial court? ”

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, because the national war had just ended, Zhu Yuanzhang set the agricultural tax to one-thirtieth in order to develop production. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the agricultural tax rate was even less than one-fiftieth. Of course, this is not the emperor's mercy to lower the agricultural tax for the common people of the world. In fact, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, a large amount of land was concentrated in the hands of the Dashi clan and large landlords, who co-opted the intellectuals of the court and the central government, and in the name of reducing the burden of the people, reduced the agricultural tax to one-fiftieth of the Wanli period.

The old man chatted with Ma Cheng for a long time, relaxed his vigilance a little, and said with a smile after hearing Ma Cheng: "Fifty taxes and one?" That's the old yellow calendar, the little old man heard the old man in the family say that there was a fifty tax in the Wanli years, but that was just a positive endowment, and there were other miscellaneous things, about three dollars of silver per mu. ”

The productivity of the Ming Dynasty was low, because Jiangnan could plant two seasons of rice every year, so the yield per mu was about two stones, and one stone of rice in ordinary years was one or two five dollars, removing artificial seeds and other raw materials, and the net profit per mu was about one or two silver. Therefore, the silver of three cents per mu is about 30 percent, which is not bad.

"The previous days were difficult, but they could still be maintained, but in the year of the Apocalypse, the tax collectors from the county said that the imperial court would collect what Liao, go to Liaodong to fight, and charge an extra penny of silver per acre, but this is nothing, it is nothing more than a few months of dry rice at home!"

"But in the year of Chongzhen, the imperial court will start to collect salaries and salaries, a total of four more dollars per mu of silver, so I can't live anymore, there is no way for the little old man to take the land to serve Chen Juren, after all, Chen Juren doesn't want anything else except fifty percent of the land rent, and you can give us tenants some wine and meat during the New Year's Festival, which is easier than before

And much more! ”

After speaking, the old man looked at Chen Zilong behind Ma Cheng from the corner of his eye, knowing that this person was Chen Juren's nephew, and he felt that he still had to say a few good words for the owner.

"At that time, fortunately, Xiao Lao'er served Chen Juren, and I heard that the Xu family and Zeng family in the city were very dark-hearted, and the land rent was received seventy percent, which is no longer for us tenants to live!"

Ma Cheng didn't care how the other landlords in the city collected the rent, and the purpose of his coming today was not this, he pointed to the surrounding land and asked, "Old man, is the land around here all owned by Chen Ju's family?" ”

"Yes, there are more than 1,000 acres outside of Suzhou, and I heard that there are still some in Wujiang County!"

"What about the Xu family and the Zeng family?"

"That's a lot, Xiao Lao'er heard that the Xu family's land is tens of thousands of acres, and the Zeng family is about the same, Xiao Lao'er doesn't know the specific number!"

Hearing that there was no useful news for this old man, Ma Cheng smiled and said: "Okay, thank you for the old man today, you go and get busy, I wish you a good harvest next year!" ”

The old man saw that Ma Cheng had no problem, so he reluctantly left with his two sons and continued to farm their land.

Ma Cheng waited for the old man to walk away before he asked in a deep voice: "Mr. Chen, you have been a county magistrate, do you say that what this old man said is true?" ”

Chen Zilong groaned for a while, and then said: "My lord, what this old man said is not only true, but the situation is more than that, in fact, the facts are far beyond what he said. These lands in Nanzhili are fertile, with two seasons a year, and although the land rent is as high as seventy percent, the rest is enough for the people to live. But the north is different, the annual land output is not enough to pay the taxes of the imperial court, and I heard that some prefectures and counties in Shandong have already paid taxes to ten years later, and they are also called probe taxes! ”

Ma Cheng turned around and stared into Chen Zilong's eyes and asked, "Mr. Chen, the imperial court has already knocked on the marrow, and the tax has been received for ten years, but why is the annual tax during the Chongzhen period only seven or eight million taels of silver?" Where did all this money go? ”

Chen Zilong's family is the landlord, he naturally knows where the money goes, it is nothing more than into the hands of those families who do not pay taxes.

"Mr. Chen, how much land does your family have?"

"I don't know the specific number, but there are still five or six thousand acres!"

Chen Zilong's grandfather was a lifter, Lao Tzu was a jinshi, and he was also a jinshi, and three generations of talents had accumulated 5,000 acres of land, which was already considered poor. The Xu family, which is also in Songjiang, is also the home of Xu Jie, a famous minister during the Jiajing period, and the first assistant got more than 200,000 acres of land. There are also Qian Qianyi's family in Changshu, there are also 70,000 or 80,000 acres of land, and Taicang's royal family also has 50,000 or 60,000 acres.

Ma Cheng looked at the farmers who were working in the fields and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Chen, what do you mean by the Huangming Jingshiwen Edition?" ”

This five-hundred-and-four-volume compilation of the Huangming Jingshiwen was edited by Chen Zilong, and some of his friends from several societies, such as Xu Fuyuan, Li Wen, Peng Bin, He Gang and others, co-edited. The purpose of compiling this book is just like what Song Zhengbi wrote in the preface to this book, "This book is not a famous religion, that is, it is to control chaos and leisure"! This book is not a reference book for rulers like the Zizhi Tongjian, but to find the root of how the world works, why China must live three or four

It's going to be chaotic once in a hundred years? Why can we only be cured after the chaos? What are the ways and means to solve these problems?

Chen Zilong thought of the more than 500 volumes of the emperor's masterpiece edited by himself, but it was not as profound as Ma Cheng's words. In order to find a fundamental way to solve the problem of China's transformation from rule to chaos in previous dynasties, Chen Zilong searched a large number of historical documents. But I didn't expect Ma Cheng to explain the problem so thoroughly in a simple sentence of the official gentry who paid the grain and returned to the public with fire consumption, and Chen Zilong is really on the ground for the five bodies that Ma Cheng admires now.

"My lord, I am twenty years old in the middle of the people, and I am twenty-eight years old in the middle of the jinshi, and now I know that the talent of the adult is not below the people, which is really admirable!"

Ma Cheng was secretly proud in his heart when he heard Chen Zilong's admiration, and he could let such a great writer as Chen Zilong say words of admiration, and he would have a result this time. However, Ma Cheng didn't come here today to pretend to be forced, his fundamental purpose was to win Chen Zilong's heart and make Chen Zilong willing to die for himself.

Ma Cheng emotionally took Chen Zilong's hand and said: "Brother Chen, this world is so dirty, only Brother Chen attracts the younger brother like a clear stream in this troubled world!" Brother Chen, you are deeply educated by Confucianism and know the suffering of the people, and now the younger brother wants to ask Brother Chen to abandon his family and his status as a jinshi, and just want to do something for this country and these suffering people! ”

After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he knelt in front of Chen Zilong with a bang, which frightened Chen Zilong. Chen Zilong hurriedly helped Ma Cheng and shouted: "Why is this so, please get up!" ”

"Brother Chen, Mr. Chen, if you don't promise Ma Cheng today, Ma Cheng will kneel and die here!"

Ma Cheng did this to make Chen Zilong embarrassed, when he compiled the Huangming Jing Shiwen in the past, he just wanted to remind the people in power to carry out gradual reforms, not like Ma Cheng, beat all the scholars and officials to death with a stick. Chen Zilong's family is a big landlord, and it is impossible for him to betray his family and his own class. At the same time, after Chen Zilong's contact with Ma Cheng in the past few months, he knew that this Ma Cheng was definitely not willing to just be a supervisor, and it was likely that he would be ruined if he helped him. Although Chen Zilong is not afraid of death, it does not mean that he is willing to watch himself fall into disrepute and be recorded on the pillar of shame in history.

Ma Cheng knelt on the ground for a long time, and found that Chen Zilong did not move, but bowed his head and said nothing. More than ten minutes passed, and Ma Cheng knew what Chen Zilong was thinking, and it turned out that this guy was reluctant to take refuge in himself.

Ma Cheng performed very well just now, and even knelt down for Chen Zilong, who knew that Chen Zilong didn't know how to lift, the angry Ma Cheng jumped up and scolded: "Chen Zilong, Chen Zilong, Lao Tzu used to have a deep friendship with you in Nandu, I thought you were a good official who was worried about serving the country, but I didn't expect you to talk about it all the way with those officials, and when it doesn't involve your own interests, you really want to move your own interests, and it will be cloudy immediately!" Count Lao Tzu as having mistaken you and made the wrong friend of yours! ”

Ma Cheng jumped to his feet and scolded, comparing Chen Zilong to the traitorous Yan Song, it stands to reason that Chen Zilong should be angry even if he has a good temper, but Chen Zilong did not get angry, but raised his head and smiled: "Brother Xian, you are so anxious, how can you achieve great things?" ”

After Chen Zilong finished speaking, he knelt on his knees in front of Ma Cheng, and said loudly: "Ming Gong, Zilong has nothing to do, Ming Gong is very grateful, Zilong is willing to die for Ming Gong in his lifetime!" ”