When Zhu Pingjin arrived at the city of Qiongzhou, Xu Kongtu, the governor of Qiongzhou, Hu Heng, the patrol of the Shangnan Branch, and Yang Tianguan, who was hungry, had already rushed to the city gate to greet him. Qiongzhou, along with the neighboring Meizhou, Yazhou, Jiading Prefecture (now Leshan) and Luzhou, are the five Zhili prefectures directly under the Sichuan Buzheng Division. Zhili Prefecture is a little different from the scattered prefectures under the prefecture, such as Chongqing Prefecture under the CD Prefecture that Zhu Pingjin passed through yesterday. However, as long as it is not the capital government, the official products of the prefecture are generally about the same, and they are all from the fifth grade. The sub-patrol road is generally concurrently served by the judge, and there is not necessarily a separate yamen. Hu Heng works in the Yamen of the CD on weekdays, and he also met on the Zhengdan pilgrimage, so he is no stranger to Zhu Pingjin. After the Lantern Festival, he drove Jane from Qiongzhou and Jiading to inspect the work, but he didn't expect to arrive in Qiongzhou one day before the prince.

Seeing the magistrate, Zhu Pingjin did not lay out the pedigree of the prince of the vassal at all. As soon as the two adults of Zhizhou and Daotai led the team to kneel, they got out of the car and helped them up one by one, and met cordially with the state and county officials and local celebrities, without any appearance of "bullying the locality". Through the introduction of Lord Xu, Zhu Pingjin met an old man who ranked first among local celebrities, this is Yang Shen in the Wenxuan Shilang of the former Ministry of Officials, who is known as "Yang Tianguan".

Yang Shen, Zhu Pingjin, had heard Master Shu mention it before. He is a son of the Yang family in Xishu, and his ancestor Yang Shi'an was awarded the prefect of Baoning in the Xuande Dynasty, and later entered the military department. Yang Shen lost his father and mother when he was a teenager, and passed on to his uncle Yang Shoujing, a jinshi in the year of the apocalypse, who took the first place in the state examination, and after being appointed as an official, except for a short period of time in Jiangnan, he has been serving in Beijing for more than ten years. In the winter of the previous year, Yang Shen resigned and returned to his hometown to fulfill his filial piety due to the serious illness of his father Yang Shoujing. Because both father and son have served in the Ministry of Officials, the local government has erected a large stone archway of "father and son heavenly officials" in Qiongzhou.

"Father and son heavenly officials", Zhu Pingjin sneered in his heart. In the past ten years, from a sixth-grade director to a fourth-grade director, this official does not seem to be big, and the progress is not fast. However, the Ministry of Officials Wenxuan Qing Officials Division is known as the first division of the world in the Ming Dynasty, and the power of more than 20,000 civil officials in the world is mainly concentrated in the hands of the Ministry of Officials and Wenxuan Shilang, and there is no way to interfere with the deputy positions such as the Ministry of Officials, so the power of Yang Shen is as big as it can be said. There are people in the DPRK who are good officials. For a locality, there is an official in charge of officials in the central government, and the local officials are still trying to curry favor? Now Yang Shen's official has resigned, but the energy is still there. The humble and even flattering attitude when Xu Kongtu introduced Yang Shen just now, Zhu Pingjin had clearly felt it.

After the meeting, Zhu Pingjin resolutely postponed the banquet of Xu Kongtu and Hu Heng, but said that the surrogate mother inspected Wangzhuang, and the father and the princess had a strict order that the place must not be harassed. The prefect knew about the rent, and he also knew that the Shu domain had always been cautious and never willing to connect with the local government. The righteousness of his own monarch and ministers has been completed, and he can leave. So Xu Kongtu despised it, and hurriedly gave the main owner Yang a look. Yang Shen, a retired division-level cadre, hurriedly stepped forward and warmly invited the prince to visit his family's garden in his private capacity.

In the famous Tianguan Garden in Qiongzhou City, although it is the early spring when a hundred flowers are withering and new greenery has not yet appeared, you can still feel the flowers, brocade clothes and jade food of the owner's life. Next to the Liantang Water Pavilion, in the Yating Pavilion, the small copper stove of charcoal bakes the room warm, Zhu Pingjin and Yang Shen sit opposite each other, and have a cup of tea.

This Tianguan Garden is quite an elegant taste of the literati of the family. How to say that Yang Tianguan, who is old and refined in front of him? Zhu Pingjin thought a lot. Zhu Pingjin thought about it, and then talked about his itch first: "I heard people in the house say that there is a Zhiju Temple near my Mengding Wangzhuang. When Yang Gong traveled to Mengding Mountain, he had left the word "Kuanglan" in ink, which was engraved on the stone cliff on the side of the left stream in front of the temple. This son went to Mengding Mountain, just to stop by to observe. (Note 1)

Leaving ink in famous places is where Yang Shen is proud. He laughed and said, "The son of the world has praised the old man." The old man climbed here and looked back. I saw the fertile fields under the cliff, which were boundless, so I sighed in my heart and wrote down the two words by hand. It's just the meaning of 'unobstructed and open-minded'"

"Yang Gong has been the master of Beijing for a long time, the Son of Heaven is trustworthy, hundreds of officials are praised, the people are praised, the officials are people, and they are all exemplary by the court. Resign and fulfill filial piety, return to the countryside, and 'enter to help the world.' If you retreat, you will be alone', such a mind really makes this son admire. Zhu Pingjin's praise for Yang Shen is sincere. Yang Shen is an official in the court, he is cautious and persistent, and his official reputation is good. In his hometown, he donated to the orphans and the poor, built bridges, and did a lot of good deeds. It can be said that Yang Shen's behavior is completely in line with the value pursuit of Chinese literati doctors. So Zhu Pingjin said again: "This son happened to encounter Diao Min on the road to make a rent, some trivial things, it is nothing, please Yang Gong don't mind." ”

When the prince came up, he gently revealed his hidden worries, which made Yang Shen a little surprised. However, Yang Shen was still modest, and the Tao was shocking to the world's car, which was a great crime.

Zhu Pingjin stopped Yang Shen's apology and said with a smile: "There are a lot of Yang Gong Grange, and a few subordinates are not thoughtful, do things impatiently, cause some trouble, and disturb Yang Gong's reputation. There are some unscrupulous slaves and maids in my palace, and they also do some things to bully others. Today, the son of this world encountered rent for the first time, and almost made a joke. When he saw the hundreds of peasants gathered together, all armed with sticks, hoes, and iron forks, he thought that he had encountered a large number of thieves on the road to rob, so he ordered the guards to form a formation, ready to rush to the death. The son of this world also abandoned the cart and got on the horse, holding a knife in his hand......"

Yang Shen hurriedly asked about the situation behind.

"The peasants were not alarmed when they saw my army lined up. They neither fled nor rushed over, but stood still. Ben Shizi had doubts in his heart, so he sent the Chinese case to ask for clarification. Those farmers said that they were not rebelling, but because the landlord was chasing the arrears of rent during the spring famine, and the tenant rent was as high as 70%, they could not survive. I saw a peasant woman holding a child, dying, and dying of hunger. This son heard what happened, so he couldn't bear it, so he had to take out his dry food to help the victims. Ben Shizi was afraid that after leaving, those farmers would find Yang Gong again, so he used a little trick to take away the four brothers who took the lead in making trouble. ”

Yang Shen is not a rebellious person without knowledge. He didn't wait to finish speaking, he already understood what Zhu Pingjin meant. "tyrannizing the common people and provoking popular uprisings", if Zhu Pingjin deducts a big hat from him, he will not be able to bear it politically and reputationally. If there is a civil uprising, not only will his image of a good man among the scholars and people in his hometown be ruined, but it may also shake the foundation of the Yang family in Qiongzhou for 300 years. Thinking of this, Yang Shen hurriedly left the table to apologize.

After Zhu Pingjin helped Yang Shen to sit down again, Yang Shen complained: "The old man boasted of prudence and perseverance all his life, who knew that today he would surprise the world!" In all fairness, although the old man has the crime of lax royal duties, he has never robbed his wife or invaded other people's property in his life! These tenants all came to the tenants themselves, and the old man did not force him to wait. The tenant and tenant signed a contract and filed it with the state and county yamen. After the autumn harvest last year, some tenants resisted rent and did not pay, and the subordinates were anxious to urge food, and the old man said slowly, not to come to the door during the New Year, and was said to be not benevolent enough. The tenant ratio set by the old man is neither higher than in previous years, nor higher than that of other families, all of which are rules handed down by the ancestors over the years! As the son of the world said, the highest in the old husband's family only received seventy percent, and some families received seventy percent or even eighty percent......"

Zhu Pingjin interrupted Yang Shen's self-defense with gestures, and said: "Yang Gong's official reputation is a person, and this son has heard of it for a long time. The master of this prince was full of praise for Yang Gong. Zhu Zi said: 'Heavenly law, national law, human feelings', Yang Gong's law of tenants, in the law of heaven and the law, impeccable. However, the world is sophisticated, and the world cannot know everything! Such as my palace, 'Shuzhong Duoxian King', the Son of Heaven is praised, and the world is called. However, the thieves crossed the border, and the slaves of the two Wangzhuang in my Renshou County all fled. He is poor! The desire to cover people's hearts is to have enough food, warm clothing, high-ranking officials, generous houses, beautiful families, many sons, many grandchildren, many blessings, and many longevity...... Therefore, although the saint is edified, although the court adds an axe, it will be reversed if it is not fed and clothed! Yang Gong has been in power for many years, and the principle of governing the country is the same as the principle of governing the family? ”

Zhu Pingjin's words surprised Yang Shen. Yang Shen's parents died early, but his uncle liked him very much and regarded him as a parent, one of the reasons was that he was very smart when he was young, and his uncle thought that he would have a future career. He is middle-aged and has traveled in the sea, and now he is twenty-two years old, and he has long known the destiny of heaven, and he dare not say that he can penetrate people's hearts. Now a kid actually talks about state affairs and world affairs with people's hearts, how can he not be surprised.

"Two days ago, the prince of Japan saw Futai and submitted a document, saying that now the thieves have broken Bazhou and are fleeing eastward. Whether this sacrificial thief will go out of Sichuan through Kuimen again, or will he return to the hinterland of western Sichuan, there is no news from the governor's yamen. The most worrying thing in this world is the resurgence of thieves in Henan. Di Bao said that the thieves had broken through the counties of Yanshi, Lingbao, Xin'an, and Baofeng last month, and this son was very worried......"

Zhu Pingjin's words aroused Yang Shen's thoughts. He was an official in Beijing and was surrounded by Tartars several times. Soldiers come, thieves go, and robberies, this is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty. In Jingshi, what he heard most was not the sacrifice of thieves, but the Tartars and thieves. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, after the thieves were defeated by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting in the southern plains of Tongguan, they disappeared for a long time. The imperial court breathed a sigh of relief, and naturally shifted the focus of the encirclement and suppression to the sacrifice of thieves. Now everyone in Sichuan knows that Yang Sichang is incompetent, and the hope of encircling and exterminating the sacrifice thief in Sichuan has been completely shattered, so he only wants to send the sacrifice thief away as soon as possible. If the thieves enter Chu, the thieves enter Yu, and the Tartars enter the customs, then Zhu will really be in chaos tomorrow.

Yanshi, Lingbao, Xin'an, and Baofeng counties are all around Luoyang. "But Luoyang is in a hurry?" Yang Shen asked.

"At present, there is no news from Luoyang in the newspaper. Even if there is news, it will not be known until a month or two later. This prince is the same as Yang Gong, worried that Luoyang will not be protected. Zhu Pingjin sighed: "The ancient capital of the Nine Dynasties in Luoyang, as well as the Fuwang Domain." If Luoyang is lost, the world will inevitably shake. ”

Yang Shen shook his head and said: "Luoyang is a big city in the world, and there is an uncle today, there will be no loss." ”

Zhu Pingjin said: "Yang Gong may have misjudged this time. I heard that Henan has been strange for three years, and it has never been heard of for eternity. Villages and towns starved to death, and cities killed people and ate (Note 2). The land of Henan has become the hell of Fengdu. When the thieves arrive, the hungry people will be like clouds. This prince is willing to make a bet with Yang Gong, if Luoyang is not lost this year, this prince will make a special trip to Qiongzhou to make amends to Yang Gong. If Luoyang loses ,......"

Yang Shen said: "The son of the world, please say, the old man must obey his fate." ”

Zhu Pingjin said with a smile: "Yang Gongnian is highly virtuous, how can this prince let Yang Gong go to the palace to make amends?" Why don't you share the tenant proportion of Duke Yang in the future according to the rules of my palace? How is it? ”

Of course, Yang Shen knew that this was a trick under Zhu Pingjin, but he was not afraid to get into it. The small landlord follows the rules of the big landlord, and he follows the flow of the Shu Wangfu, and others can't say anything.

So Yang Shen also smiled: "The old man and the son of the world are determined." Can the old man ask now, what is the highest tenant share ratio in Wangzhuang? ”

Zhu Pingjin smiled bitterly: "Seventy into five." ”

Yang Shen laughed: "In this way, the old man still has to collect half a percent, right?" ”

"Please stay a few months!" Zhu Pingjin said, his smiling face gradually gloomy. He said: "The son of this world must persuade his father and mother to reduce the tenant division, at least to five or five cents!" Otherwise, if I don't wait for the thieves and thieves to be killed, the people themselves will rebel! In addition, Yang Gong does not have to chase the rent from the tenants who are renting today. Ben Shizi promised them, and the rent they owe, Ben Shizi, will pay it back! ”

This time, Yang Shen didn't laugh.

He suddenly felt a fear that he had never felt before.

Note 1: The inscription here may still be there.

Note 2: "Three years of strange famine, unheard of. The villages and towns starved to death, and the cities were killed and eaten", is the description in a letter to King Fu from Lu Weiqi, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department who lived in Luoyang at the time.