Before Lu Zhen could really make up his mind, things changed again, and the Kong family actually made another move!

Because of the influence of public opinion, the opening of the port had to be postponed for the time being, and seeing that the day of the autumn harvest and the government's collection of autumn grain and autumn taxes had also arrived, Lu Zhen had no choice but to make concessions for the time being, and put the focus of the various yamen back on the collection of grain taxes and other matters.

Unexpectedly, the matter had just begun, and at the end of September, it encountered obstacles, and then the state and county officials from all over the country complained to their superiors, and finally all the problems were fed back to the Yamen of the Political Division, so that Gao Duzhong, a provincial domain, had no choice but to come to the governor again to discuss countermeasures.

Before he sat down in front of Lu Jin, our Gao Fantai had already put on a bitter face: "Lord Futai, this time you have to help the officials, otherwise the life of the officials in the whole territory of Shandong will not be easy." ”

Lu Zhen looked at him with some surprise and He Yuan, the prefect of Jinan who came with him with a bitter face: "Two adults, what kind of problem are you encountering?" Why is it so serious? ”

"If you go back to your lordship, there is a big problem with this year's autumn grain collection." After He Yuan glanced at Gao Qianzhong, he said in a low voice: "It has been seven or eight days since the grain was collected, but compared with previous years, it is not even thirty percent of what should be received. Moreover, there is also news that all prefectures and counties are in arrears this year, and the grain money handed over may have to be discounted in half......"

"Is there such a thing? Is it so unfortunate for me this year? Lu Jin asked thoughtfully, of course he knew that there must be a reason, but he still asked such a sentence in a rounded way.

"Of course it's not because of the time. Although it was indeed rainy before, which affected the harvest in the fields, it did not drop by nearly half. It's really because someone is getting in the way that it has become like this. "Knowing that he couldn't come to Futai with Lord Futai, Gao Duzhong had to tell the truth.

What do you mean by that? Whether it is a peasant or a common people, isn't it a matter of course to pay grain and taxes? Do they still dare to resist taxes? Also, our government could have sent someone to collect it, why are you so embarrassed? Lu Zhen frowned and asked.

To be honest, although Lu Zhen has been an official in Daming for many years, and has served as many local officials, he really doesn't know much about the doorways in terms of grain taxes. Because he was an official in the past, whether it was in Guangling or Ulzhou, there was no problem with taxation, which made him never think that there could be any problems with collecting grain and taxes.

When the two subordinates heard this, they couldn't help but glance at each other, and in addition to being surprised, they also looked very helpless. In the end, He Yuan had to carefully explain to Lu Zhen the problem of collecting grain taxes in the Ming Dynasty.

Since ancient times, the Central Plains Imperial Court has had a tradition of not going to the countryside for imperial power, which can greatly reduce the pressure on the local government, but at the same time, it also boosts the power of some big families. And this point became more and more obvious in the Ming Dynasty.

For example, every autumn, when the imperial court and government want to collect taxes, they assign this important task to the grain chiefs of each township and village, who collect grain from the hands of the same village and township for the government, and then send it to the county seat.

When the Hongwu Dynasty first established the grain chief system, there was actually a rotation, and often every few years, people with high moral standing in the village would be selected to collect grain on behalf of the government. However, in the subsequent development, this system showed its disadvantages, that is, the grain chiefs could use this power to their own advantage, and they could easily collude with the officials inside and outside the government, or oppress the people, or shoddy, so as to put the grain that should have been handed over to the government into their own pockets.

With such a big benefit in front of him, the position of the grain chief has naturally become a fat meat coveted by everyone, so those families with higher status and status took action, quickly snatched it up, and once they got it, they were no longer willing to let go.

With the advancement of the times, all the rules set by Emperor Taizu were broken by later generations, and the system of grain chiefs was naturally no exception, and it completely became a bargaining chip between the local gentry and the government.

As long as the imperial power does not change its thinking that it will not go to the countryside, the government can only rely on these grain chiefs to collect taxes and grain, and in this way, these people will have the capital to clamp down on the magistrates. If a dispute arises between the two sides over something, they can use it to counteract, and if the time limit is exceeded and the food is not collected and sent to the capital, the promotion of the magistrate is quite worrying.

Therefore, every autumn is a hard and difficult day for the magistrates, and they always have to worry about what problems will arise in which township, so they can only rely on their subordinates to negotiate with those grain chiefs, and try not to have disputes. And the officials also obtained the capital to compete with the officials.

In fact, when he went to Ulzhou to serve as an official, Lu Zhen was likely to encounter similar problems. It was only because of Wang Zhen's letter at that time that he was able to get through the trouble of collecting grain safely, otherwise it would be enough for him to drink a pot.

It's just that he can hide from the first day of the new year, but he can't hide from the fifteenth, this time he came to Shandong as the governor, and the trouble of collecting grain has come again, and it seems that the situation is quite serious.

After listening to He Yuan's explanation, Lu Zhen couldn't help frowning: "According to common sense, even if some gentry really resist taxes, it should be a very small minority, why is the scope of the impact so large this time?" ”

"Of course, this is because someone from above instructed those families not to cooperate with the government. In my Shandong, there is only one company that can do this......" Gao Duzhong couldn't care about anything else at this time, and pointed out the problem.

Lu Zhen immediately understood: "The Kong family, you mean, this is completely the Kong family supporting those families to confront the government?" ”

"It should be like this, otherwise this thing will not make sense."

"Hmph, Kong family...... What a daring! Lu Jin's face suddenly became extremely ugly, obviously this was for himself to see, and it was for his own disadvantage. I didn't expect that before I made a move, the other party's follow-up tricks came over again, and it seems that they are determined to win themselves.

"My lord, the grain tax is the top priority in Shandong now, and once the full amount cannot be collected by the end of October, then after entering the winter moon and the wax moon, they will be able to find all kinds of excuses to make things difficult. In this way, it may be difficult for local officials to give an explanation to the imperial court. I hope that the adults can show the way for the lower officials! Gao Duzhong said, then stood up with He Yuan and bowed deeply to Lu Jin.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen quickly got up and stepped forward to help the two of them: "The two adults don't have to be like this, since this official is the governor of Shandong, he should work with you to solve this problem at hand." ”

In fact, the three of them all knew that it was not difficult to solve this problem, and they only needed to express Lu Jin's attitude - as long as he announced that he would stop the matter of opening the port and opening the sea, the problem would naturally be solved.

However, Lu Zhen would never have made such a decision, at best, it was related to the future national fortunes of the Ming Dynasty, and at worst, it was also related to his own future, so how could he make concessions because of this difficulty?

It's just that these two subordinates are looking at themselves like this, which also makes Lu Zhen very embarrassed. Although he is the governor, the sin of poor grain collection does not fall on his head, but the matter of opening the sea still has to be carried out by their subordinates, and it is naturally not good to ignore their troubles.

After some muttering, Lu Jincai said: "Then there was no shortage of grain in the past?" ”

"Of course there is. However, that is only a few, so the county government can also send people to the township to urge the levy, and even those who have repeatedly refused to pay enough can also be used to beat the board or take them into custody, until his family makes up the grain that should be paid. He Yuan replied.

"In that case, why didn't the yamen act in this way this time?"

"It's impossible." Gao Qianzhong shook his head lightly: "Because there are too many people who owe food taxes this time, the yamen can't send so many people at all." And ......" said another meal.

"And what?" Seeing that he was still so smuggling and talking at this time, Lu Zhen glanced at him with some dissatisfaction.

Feeling the governor's displeasure, Gao Duzhong had no choice but to say truthfully: "And as far as the lower officials know, in fact, the ordinary people of all towns should have handed over all the grain. It's just that the grain chiefs who helped the government collect grain deliberately concealed it, which caused today's problems. ”

The Chinese people have always been the most docile and obedient, as long as they can get by, they will definitely not be short of the imperial court's taxes and grain. In many cases, there is no need for anyone to urge, and the food will be handed over on time and in quantity. This point is naturally very clear to Gao Duzhong, who has served as a local official for many years.

"In that case, why don't you send someone to the house of the chief of grain to ask for food? If they refuse to cooperate, they can be subdued by dealing with the people. ”

"This ...... There are also difficulties. These grain chiefs themselves are not low-status, and many of them even have meritorious reputations, and it is difficult for the local government to do anything to them. Moreover, if they are really offended this time, next year, the year after that...... Trouble will continue, and officials everywhere will not be able to take such risks. He Yuan explained with a wry smile, he obviously had a deep understanding of this.

"I see, they just rely on their own privileges, so they dare to argue with the government, and the so-called Diao people are nothing more than that." Lu Zhen spit out such a sentence with some indignation, but at the same time, he was helpless.

These problems do not arise overnight, and they cannot be solved overnight. Even if he is the governor of a province with military and political power, when faced with such a problem, it is impossible to really use power to force them to obey, this is the rule of the game.

However, the problem is difficult to solve......

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