The days are plain but happy, the autumn harvest is in a blink of an eye, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the wheat waves are rolling in the land of the river beach, and they are golden.

Due to the good sunshine and timely irrigation, all the fields on the river beach have a good harvest that cannot be compared with previous years.

Zhang Laoshi plucked an ear of wheat, rubbed it in his rough big hands, picked up a plump wheat kernel and put it in his mouth, closed his eyes and chewed carefully.

Plump and sweet.

Excitedly opened his eyes and said to Lu Shidao beside him: "Thanks to the master's blessing, this is a great harvest that has not been encountered in a hundred years, this acre of land will be more than one stone according to previous years, and the forty acres of my family can be more than 100 stones, I really don't know how to thank the master." ”

One hundred stone is more than 12,000 catties, under the social productivity at that time, the yield of one mu of wheat is about two stones, in this year of great drought, the extra four or five thousand catties is indeed the credit of this windmill.

Looking at the joyful laughter and happy eyes of the people on the left, Lu Shi has a sense of accomplishment, if he can't change history, then change his side, and now, he has done it.

Several children of the Zhang family were also happy, and the other children in the village kept cheering together on the ridges, and they cheered because they would not be hungry this year.

Zhang's honest aunt wiped her tears in the field, and the reason for wiping her tears was because he no longer had to worry about the last meal.

Zhao Dahai was also happy, and his joy was because of everyone's joy.

Opening the sickle is the most exquisite etiquette of the Zhuang family, one of which is the honor enjoyed by the elders of the family after praying for heaven and earth, and now this glorious role is given to Lu Shi by Zhang Laoshi.

Holding the sickle in both hands respectfully, he said respectfully: "The autumn harvest is open, please master carry it out." ”

Lu Shi was not hypocritical, he took the sickle reverently, he prayed, but the words of the wish were spontaneous, and he was even more friendly and pious when he heard it.

A sickle goes down, and it is a heavy wheat that contains infinite longing for life.

"Open the sickle-" The Zhang family father and son cheered together, and then began to sweat and rain in this sunny autumn day.

Stacks of wheat were transported to the threshing floor, and everyone they met along the way was a happy light.

Then it's crushing, lifting, and then carefully picking up each one and putting it in a pocket or an urn.

The busy time is hard but even more joyful, and when the last grain of wheat is carefully packed into the pocket, the Zhang family's dilapidated house cannot fit it.

The day of harvest is not a day to complete, Lu Shi, a layman of crops, has become a burden, everyone is giggling and driving him away, don't delay everyone's work.

Lu Shi and Zhao Dahai could only take their longbows and go up the mountain to hunt, of course, San'er was sent by Zhang Laoshi to wait without leaving Lu Shi.

This autumn is the time when the prey is obese, and it is a hearty meal to lay down a few times, and these days have eaten a few full meals in a row, and now everyone has been climbing the mountain and wading through the water, so they slowly went into the depths of the mountain.

Now Lu Shi's archery skills have made great progress, of course, it is still dominated by Meng, which makes Zhao Dahai, who is open-mouthed, very ridiculed, and even more embarrassed in front of San'er, who has outstanding archery skills.

Now there are only Zhang Laoshi and his mother-in-law in the yard, looking at this mountain of wheat, Zhang Laoshi has been squatting in front of the wheat stack, muttering to himself, calculating how much he can leave in the imperial grain and taxes, how much he can leave behind, how much to keep for famine, how much to exchange for some salt for daily use, whether it is time to make up some dowry, to the twenty-year-old son to say that he has a family affair, when he got married, but when he got married, he had him in fifteen or seventeen, all of which were difficult in these years to delay the major events of inheritance and succession.

"Yoh? Zhang is so happy, what's the matter, the autumn harvest is over? When Zhang Laoshi was fantasizing, a strange greeting from outside the courtyard gate startled Zhang Laoshi, and when he hurriedly stood up and looked back, it was a few Zhang Jiayong who walked into the courtyard under the leadership of a county official.

Zhang Laoshi saw that it was an official errand, and hurried to greet him with trepidation.

In the Ming Dynasty, the jurisdiction of the township mainly depended on the township clan or clan patriarch, and the Li Zheng of this Zhangjiazhuang was naturally the old man Zhang.

"It's a sin to come on a business trip and not greet you, little old man is here to apologize and sit in the yard quickly. The child is, hurry up to boil water, and wait for the official. ”

The second housekeeper of the Zhang family waved his hand and said: "You don't have to be busy, we don't have a fancy to your family's boiling water, and we don't have time to grind your teeth." ”

Zhang Laoshi nodded again and again and said, "Yes, yes, how can I, a small family, see it in your eyes?" You've seen the world, forgive me. ”

"No nonsense, let me ask you, Zhang Laoshi, this year's harvest is good."

"Thanks to the blessings of all the masters, this year is a rare and good harvest."

"Then it's time to pay the imperial grain tax." The housekeeper's yin and yang strange qidao.

"That's, that's, my family has been in the country for generations, when did you lack the imperial grain and national tax? This year is another good harvest, I am thinking about paying, and after the payment, the rest still wants to marry the eldest son. Although the words were humble, there was a little confidence on his face.

When the housekeeper of the Zhang family heard this, he pursed his mouth, and then said to the servant: "Your Excellency, please sit down for a while, and wait for me to calculate the amount of the tax and the emperor's grain and servitude for Zhang Laoshi's family." ”

Chongzhen ascended the throne at a young age, intending to make great efforts, but unfortunately there was a serious shortage of money in his hands, so he stipulated that the taxes of the provinces must be collected, and the local officials were not allowed to delay and delay. At the same time, Chongzhen and the Donglin cabinet believed that it was necessary to show the atmosphere of the new dynasty, and decided to investigate the arrears and shortcomings of the provinces, in order to make up for the gaps left by the previous dynasties.

That is, what is the matter that the people of the world owe money and grain to the court?

In Shaanxi, the Wanli Dynasty estimated that the grain per mu could be sold for about five cents of silver, and the tax per mu was about two cents of silver, plus two cents and seven cents of Liao's salary, and a total of four cents of silver to five cents of silver. In the Wanli year and the Apocalypse year, when there is a famine, not only will this be exempted, but there will also be relevant relief.

But Chongzhen and those Qingliu thought that this law was inappropriate, and it was this method that made the Ming treasury unable to make ends meet, and they were all hungry mice. In the first year of Chongzhen, the emperor's inner treasury has been unable to provide relief to the disaster areas in Shaanxi, not only that, Chongzhen and others believe that there may be a famine in Shaanxi, but it must be that the local officials exaggerated the facts, and now the country is about to prosper, and urgently needs money, so he also ordered to collect taxes and make up for the arrears without discrimination.

In the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the military food, weapons, and clothing of the military towns in Shaanxi were all raised by the military towns themselves, and after entering the Xiaoice River period, they were mainly subsidized by miscellaneous taxes collected by Wanli. Now that the source of the domestic currency is almost exhausted, the Donglin Party suggested that the tax should be distributed equally to the peasants in the disaster area of Shaanxi according to a whip rule, which is equivalent to two coins of silver per mu.

In the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up a horse administration in Shaanxi, and specially drew a grassland to prepare horses for military use...... There is not even a single horse bone, and the pastures have long since degraded and disappeared.

During the Wanli Dynasty, military horses were mainly purchased from the income from the mining tax of the domestic currency. The Taichang Dynasty Donglin Party sympathized with the hardships of the rich and abolished the mining tax, so they had no money to buy horses.

However, it is impossible for Ma Zhengyi to build 500,000 horses out of thin air in Shaanxi, but the Jiubian military town still needs a supply of horses. The Donglin gentleman put the blame for the waste of Ma Zheng on Wei Zhongxian, which was the fault of the eunuchs, and then told the emperor that the reason why he couldn't raise horses now. It was because the horse farms were occupied by the "Diao people" in Shaanxi to farm, so they suggested that the emperor increase the amount of money to buy horses according to an example.

Now is the Zhu family in the world, those princes can not go out of the city, is at home to marry a wife and have children, every year is to give birth to sons, after Yao Shun Jun Chongzhen came to power, the Donglin cabinet suggested that he according to a whip example, through the method of collecting and increasing taxes from farmers to make up for part of the needs of the clan. Chongzhen agreed to this vote, and Shaanxi had another bonus.

In addition, the Donglin Party claimed to increase the production of water control in Shaanxi, according to the whip example......

Moreover, the Donglin Party believed that the cost of transporting grain to the Ganshan military town should not be completely dependent on salt ......

And also......

Originally, in Shaanxi Province, which was assessed by Zhang Juzheng in the harvest year as having an income of four or five coins per mu, the total amount of taxes per mu set by the Son of Heaven and the Donglin Party for the peasants in the first year of Chongzhen was as high as two taels of silver. ……

In fact, this is the practice of previous years, the county allocates the share of each place, and then appoints it to a servant, and the servant adds some hard work, and then appoints it to the big underground household.

In this way, the servants are just tiger skins, and those foxes and wolves are the real errands.

The housekeeper took out an abacus at that time, crackling a clever calculation, Zhang Laoshi and his mother-in-law were dizzy, and finally, the housekeeper put the abacus away and said: "There are a number of original village households in this village, and now there are a number of escapees, and the fugitives should bear the burden of conscription taxes, burdens, imperial grain, taxes, Wang Zhuang offerings, conversion, foot transportation, rat consumption, finch consumption, way, tossing, hiding, filling in the gaps, discounts, 、、、、、 all have to be borne by your family, therefore, your family should pay 120 taels of silver and 30 yuan, and another Wangzhuang enshrines wheat 55 stones." ”

When he watched Steward Zhang's ten fingers flying, Zhang Laoshi's heart continued to sink, imagining the food he had worked so hard to build, and as the snow-white ten fingers decreased rapidly, cold sweat continued to flow out. The mother-in-law of the Zhang family can only rely on the door frame to stand.

After Steward Zhang reported the money, grain and rice that should be paid, Zhang Laoshi and his mother-in-law fainted completely.

At this time, the price of one stone of wheat is one tael or eight coins of silver, 120 taels, this is the whole harvest, where is there still half a bit left? There is also the king grain offering fifty stones, even if you smash the pot and sell iron, you really can't make up such a large amount.

There was no pleading, because every pleading could not touch the conscience of these black-hearted servants, and they looked like a dead corpse at the wolf-like Xiang Yong to empty his hard-earned hopes.

When the last grain of wheat was loaded into the car, the housekeeper came to Zhang Laoshi, who was almost lifeless, squatted down and said, "I gave you a bucket of wheat, it's eighty stones." ”

Zhang Laoshi argued in a low voice with empty eyes: "Master, that's one hundred and thirty-three stones and five liters." But when he said this, he was absolutely subconscious, and he had long lost the strength to argue.

The housekeeper ignored him and continued: "Converted into forty taels of silver." Then you still owe the official family fifty stone of grain, and eighty taels of silver