Two days later, when the officials in Jinan were still trying to come to the door to ask to see the governor, Lu Jin, the person they wanted to see, had already come to Qufu County, under the Yanzhou capital.

This Qufu County is also an old city with a long history, since the Spring and Autumn Period Lu Guoding capital is here, and has never moved the place since then, and because of a sage Confucius who "does not give birth to Zhongni, and the eternal times are as long as the night", and for thousands of years have been worshiped by countless scholars.

I don't know if it was affected by this psychology, Lu Zhen also faintly felt a solemn atmosphere when he rode his horse and stood in front of the gate of Qufu City, which was not very tall. Soon, however, he drove out this strange feeling, for he was not a pilgrimage, but on the contrary, he had come all the way from Jinan to deal with the descendants of Confucius.

Although along the way, for the sake of the safety of the governor, there have always been more than 20 good men of the brocade guards. But when they really arrived in Qufu, Lu Zhen still only passed with Yang Zhen and Qinggele, who were disguised again, and the others let them disperse into the city. Otherwise, it would inevitably arouse suspicion if so many people swaggered into the city at once.

Seeing that Lu Zhen was about to enter the city, Yang Zhen and the others took a step forward to look around to ensure safety. After all, this is the territory of the Kong family, and it is not a fault to be careful. Unexpectedly, just when they thought Lu Zhen was going to enter the city, he suddenly turned the reins and took the horse under his crotch and walked down the path on the other side.

Seeing this, the two quickly changed their direction and followed: "My lord, what do you want to do?" ”

"Don't go into the county seat first, go to those villages in the countryside and ask while it's still early." Lu Zhen said his intentions. He also thought of this when he was about to enter the city, after all, if it was about growing grain and paying taxes, the people who worked in the city could not be compared with the peasants outside the city, and from those villages should be able to inquire more about it.

The two of them also nodded their heads in the same way, and then followed him all the way along the not wide path, riding slowly, observing the situation around them.

At this time, it is almost the end of autumn, and the wheat and other grains have been harvested early, only a few farmers are still cutting the remaining grain, and some people are collecting the remaining straw and other things together, ready to take them home to be used as firewood, quite a kind of busy pastoral scenery of farmers.

Perhaps because there are few local people riding horses as freely as Lu Jin, which has attracted the curious eyes of many farmers in the field. It's just that because of their own shame, whenever Lu Zhen and them swept their eyes over, these people hurriedly lowered their heads again, not daring to make contact with their eyes.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen could only sigh that the ordinary people at this time were too honest. After walking for a while, he felt that he was already some distance from the county seat, he got off his horse, strolled to the edge of a field, and asked the sturdy farmer who was bending down to tie the straw: "This old brother is invited, dare to ask where is this place under the rule of Qufu County?" ”

When the peasant heard this, he straightened up, but his stature was not low, more than seven feet, and his face was full of honesty. Seeing Lu Jin, a noble son wearing a silk shirt and bringing a companion to talk to him, he didn't feel a little nervous, and he snorted for a while before nodding: "If you go back to Gongzi, this is Chenjiagou under the rule of Qufu County." ”

"Oh? Dare to ask the old man's name? After Lu Zhen smiled, he squatted down and asked, "Looking at the situation in this field, this year's harvest should be very good, right?" ”

"My surname is Chen, I don't have a big name, Xingqi, everyone calls me Chen Qi." Seeing that Lu Zhen was so kind, this one relaxed a lot, and when he asked what made him happy, he talked a little more: "Although it rained continuously in the first two months of this year, the wheat in my field was not greatly affected, and it was enough to have a good year." ”

"Oh? In this way, I want to congratulate Seventh Brother Chen. Lu Zhen said and arched his hand.

"Don't dare, don't dare." Seeing that he was so polite, Chen Qi was a little panicked, and hurriedly bowed and bent down to return the salute.

Once he got close, Lu Zhen continued to chat with the other party about the things in the field, and after asking a few gossips, he suddenly changed the conversation and said: "By the way, Brother Chen, I have always heard that the tax in Shandong is higher than that in other places, is your family's burden heavier this year?" ”

The farmers who farm the land naturally don't have as many twists and turns as Lu Jin, and the two talked about a bit of a contract, so he said casually: "That's all the old yellow calendar, my grandfather was indeed like this at that time, I heard that it was the rule set by Emperor Taizong back then." But then it changed, and the burden on our farming shoulders was much lighter. ”

Lu Zhen nodded knowingly, he knew what the other party was referring to. It is said that during the Battle of Jingjing, Zhu Di did not suffer much in Shandong, and just a Tie Xuan who guarded Jinan made his army go south lose troops and almost die under the city. So after seizing the world and becoming the emperor, the straight Yongle Emperor launched a crazy revenge.

He not only killed Tie Xuan and his people, but also angered the people of Shandong Province, setting their taxes far higher than those of other provinces, resulting in the people of Shandong really suffering a great crime in those years. To talk about it, Zhu Di and his father are really the same character, earlier Zhu Yuanzhang in order to retaliate against the people of Zhejiang who had helped Zhang Shicheng fight against him, he also used the means of increasing taxes, until now, Zhejiang's taxes are still one of the best in the thirteen provinces in the country.

"Look at Brother Chen, you are like this, this year's taxes should not be heavy? But someone from the county collected it? When Lu Zhen said this, he glanced at the other party carefully.

Chen Qi didn't have any other ideas, and when he heard this, he smiled and said: "This son obviously doesn't understand farming, how can any old man from the county come to the countryside to collect rent?" If they do, I'll be out of luck. ”

"Oh? What do you mean by that? Lu Zhen hurriedly put on an appearance of humbly asking for advice, so he deliberately said the wrong thing, in order to let the other party unsuspectingly tell what he wanted to know.

Sure enough, Chen Qi, who is a good teacher, told the fact that the rent was collected by the local grain chief on behalf of the government, and specifically mentioned that as early as half a month ago, the grain that should have been handed over to the government had been handed over in full.

"I see, but it's lonely and unheard. By the way, have all the rents in Chenjiagou Village been paid? Lu Zhen asked again.

"It's almost the same, there are still two or three families that are indeed a little difficult to owe, after all, everyone has a time for emergencies." Chen Laoqi nodded and said.

"By the way, who collected all the grain in this village?"

"Master Chen Qi, his house is in the east of the village, and the largest house is there." Chen Laoqi casually pointed to the east. Lu Zhen turned his head to look at it when he heard this, and sure enough, standing here, he could see at a glance that it was a big mansion that stood out from the crowd - among the low and dilapidated houses, the mansion covering an area of several acres was indeed very eye-catching.

Nodding, Lu Zhen chatted with the other party for a few more words, then got up to say goodbye, and led someone to the house again. When he arrived nearby, he pulled a passing villager to ask about the situation of Chen Qi's family, but this time, he didn't hear any valuable information, but made others a little vigilant: "Who are you, what are you doing inquiring about these?" ”

"Oh...... I am an official in the county, because I heard that the grain tax in my village has not yet been paid, and I think that Chen Qi may have embezzled it, so I came to find out. Lu Zhen casually found a reason.

Fortunately, he has his own official spirit, and this is easy to accept. After the villager nodded, he said again: "Did this old man remember the mistake?" Our village's grain tax has already been completed, why hasn't it been handed over yet? ”

"Is there such a thing?"

"I can remember this clearly, just five or six days ago, Master Chen asked people to take food on the road to the county seat, and I was still watching from the sidelines." The villager said this very accurately.

Lu Zhen was also stunned when he saw that he was solemn. Obviously, such a casually pulled villager will not lie, could it be that the grain here has really been sent to the county government? It's not right, this Qufu is the nest of the Kong family, how could they let such a thing happen?

You must know that those gentry and grain chiefs all over Shandong are doing things for the Kong family, and if he compromises with the government first, then their overall plan will completely collapse.

There's got to be something going on here! Lu Zhen thought about it, but he couldn't see the reason for it for a while, so he could only decide to go to the county town to inquire about the news. After a few more words with the people of the village, Lu Jinfang left from this Chenjiagou and set foot on the road to Qufu again.

Although it took a lot of time to make such a roundabout, at least one thing was completely determined - the grain that should have been handed over to the government was indeed privately withheld by these guys, and in this matter, ordinary people were also kept in the dark. This may also come in handy in the future.

Pondering countermeasures, Lu Zhen and the three of them came to Qufu City again. This time, he did not delay any longer, and immediately dismounted and walked slowly into the former capital of the Lu country.

When passing through the somewhat deep city gate cave, history seems to have crossed a thousand years, and a vivid Qufu county town is presented in front of his eyes.

I didn't imagine the scene of Chinese being polite and full of scholars, some were just ordinary people, and the peddlers and pawns were rushing back and forth on the street, and they looked no different from ordinary small towns.

Just when Lu Zhen was a little emotional, several soap-clothed officials suddenly surrounded him: "Who are you, why did you come to my Qufu County?" "It's a completely thief-proof attitude.

This made Yang Zhen and the two of them unhappy for a while, and Qing Gele even wanted to retort with a straight face. Unexpectedly, Lu Zhen stopped them at this time: "We are just students who came to study, of course we are here to admire the style of Sage Kong's hometown." Why, isn't Qufu going to let people in now? ”