Grain Chief, Grain Chief......

As soon as the thought in Sun Yuan's heart moved, he immediately thought through what he had taken to become a dear, and the risks implied in this matter.

sneered in his heart: I thought that I was the support of Zhou Zhixian to make me the chief of grain, but now it seems that it must be a poisonous plan that Lei Tai and Mao Cheng came up with. Hehe, the grain chief system was a policy formulated by the Ming Dynasty when it was founded, and it was implemented for nearly a hundred years, and it was no longer in existence when Yingzong was in vain, and no one mentioned it again after Zhang Juzheng implemented a whip law. I'm afraid that the people who know about this system are limited to people in the officialdom! If I hadn't read so many history books in my previous life, I would have been deceived by these two villains. Hehe, is it really true that Sun Yuan is just an ordinary peasant kid who knows a few words?

No, this grain chief can't do anything, and now, he should find Zhou Zhixian as soon as possible and ask him to accept the meeting. Now, my Sun Yuan only has the big tree of Zhou Xiangchun to lean on.

Thinking about the joints, Sun Yuan showed a grateful look on the surface, and replied: "What did you say, talking about the events of that day, or am I Sun Yuan young and vigorous, I don't know anything, I just want to give you three cups and make amends!" ”

Mao Cheng: "Hehe, we are Brother Liangshan, we don't know each other if we don't fight, and the more we fight, the more affectionate we become." In this case, go to the bar. ”

I also sneered in my heart: It's really a fool who doesn't know anything, this time you don't know how to die.

He stretched out his hand to hold Sun Yuan's arm.

Sun Yuan broke free and said with a smile: "Don't be busy, I forgot one thing, the county lord said when he admitted Sun Yuan, he asked me to go to him on the day I went to the city." It's noon, and there can be no more delay. However, since my eldest brother is so enthusiastic, if I shirk it, it will be a refutation of my brother's face, or else......"

He turned his head and said to Sun Li, "Mother, it's already lunch time, or you can go with Mao Baozheng, and I'll come to the restaurant to meet you later." ”

"Mother, go ......" Sun Yuan's mother was stunned.

Sun Yuan smiled and glanced at Mao Cheng again: "Baozheng, Sun Yuan will come over when he goes." ”

Mao Cheng glanced at Sun Li's family, and shouted in his heart: This old beggar is covered with mud and ash, if I sit at a table with her, it won't make people laugh to death!

The plan that allowed him to stabilize Sun Yuan and make this kid not have a trace of suspicion was explained by Lei Tai. As soon as he thought of his brother-in-law's gloomy face, Mao Cheng was afraid in his heart, nodded again and again, and said with a forced smile: "Yes, yes, I will accompany the old lady to eat first, Brother Sun Yuan, you have to go back quickly!" ”

"Definitely, definitely." Sun Yuan nodded again and again, ignoring his mother's shouting from behind, strode out of the Ximen Guancang, and strode towards the county yamen.

Along the way, when I thought of this, I was blown by the wind, and the cold air seemed to blow through me.

"It's so vicious, it seems that the two villains, Mao Cheng and Lei Tai, not only want my Sun Yuan's surname, but also want to destroy my Sun family!"

The so-called grain chief is a kind of tax system drummed up by Ming Taizu in the early days of the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court implemented a system of taxation in kind, stipulating that all places where 10,000 or thousands of stones of grain were paid were divided into a district, and each district had a grain chief, who was assigned by the government to serve as the large household with the most fields in the district.

The main task of the grain chief is to preside over the collection and liberation of grain in the region. However, in the following fifty or sixty years, the grain chief successively added the following various functions and powers, such as: drawing up the rules of the field endowment, compiling the fish scale atlas, reporting the number of disasters and famines, reporting the number of households that have escaped servitude, and persuading the peasants to work hard to cultivate and pay the grain on time; Later, in some areas, grain chiefs often took charge of local affairs and held the jurisdiction of the villages. Crimes committed by food chiefs are generally subject to cases that are far less serious than those committed by civilians.

It can be said that the grain chief of a place is the grassroots organization of the actual ruling class of the Ming Dynasty, and his power is much greater than that of the squire, the li, and the chief. Therefore, at that time, it was mostly held by the patriarch of the local noble family.

Later, there were even cases where the chief of grain served as a provincial envoy.

Unfortunately, later, especially in the south of the Yangtze River, with the annexation of a large number of land, a large number of small yeoman farmers went bankrupt, and the noble families who owned a lot of land had the privilege of tax exemption. As a result, there are fewer and fewer tax sources available at the local level, and once the annual tax payable by each prefecture and county is verified, it is generally not allowed to change without the consent of the central government.

As a result, the taxes collected are becoming less and less, and it is becoming more and more difficult to complete the tax collection tasks approved by the imperial court. As a direct manager, the grain chief is bound to be under great pressure.

In addition, the wages of the porters who transported the grain had to be paid by the grain chief himself, and after the summer and autumn grain was transported to the field and put into storage, the upper head would pay a certain amount of winding according to the proportion, that is, the freight. But the Ming Dynasty government was notoriously stingy, and this proportion was generally below 10%, so low that it could be ignored.

In the past, when there was no large number of land annexations, the grain chief could still rely on his privilege to exploit the common people, and he could make a fortune after a trip to liberate it. But later, due to the decrease in the amount of money and grain that could be collected, being a grain chief gradually became a loss-making business. In the end, once in Beijing, the money that the grain chief accompanied in the transportation reached seventy percent of the grain escorted. It can be said that once you become a grain chief, it will be a big disaster that will destroy your family.

In view of this, coupled with the implementation of Zhang Juzheng's whip law, the grain chief system gradually disappeared in the long river of history.

This year, the northern provinces were robbed of a blank land by Houjin Jiannu, and were plagued by the peasant army, and the autumn harvest was already hopeless, and the capital and the northern provinces immediately fell into the dilemma of material shortage. Because of this, the imperial court re-established the levy in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, hoping to solve the urgent need of the people in the capital to eat.

The actual levy inevitably involves transportation issues, so Lei Tai simply asked Sun Yuan to be the grain chief. On the surface, Sun Yuan seemed to have a great opportunity, from an ordinary farmer to squeeze into the ranks of the gentry.

But in fact, if Sun Yuan really became a grain chief, he would not need to escort grain and rice to Beijing, he would only need to lead the team to walk hundreds of miles, and there would be a huge deficit in the consumption along the way. Sun Yuan's family is surrounded by walls, and when the time comes, he will only have to jump into the river.

For now, I can only go to Zhou Zhixian and ask him not to send himself as an envoy.

Although Sun Yuan is now a student of Zhou Zhixian, and Zhou seems to like his calligraphy very much. But Zhou Xiangchun has to accept dozens of students a year, and Sun Yuan is only good at handwriting, and he is not an outstanding person, but it is not so easy to see Zhou Zhixian.

When I arrived at the county yamen, I posted a post, and after waiting for about an hour, a government official came out and said that the county was just empty and could see him. But the eldest man was busy with official business, so he told him not to bother too much.

Zhou Zhixian's admission of Sun Yuan at that time was just a whim, and he didn't take it to heart afterwards. But I didn't want Sun Yuan to come to the door again after half a month, plus he had just woken up from a nap, and he was angry to get up, so he was unhappy in his heart, and asked, "Why are you, what are you doing in this county?" You just passed the county exam, but your knowledge is very shallow. If you are motivated, you should study at home. ”

Sun Yuan hurriedly fell to the ground and cried: "Old parents, I don't know what the student has done wrong, which has caused your displeasure. If the eldest master wants to punish the students, he will teach them in person, but why should he send the students to a grain chief errand. Not to mention that the post of grain chief has been abandoned for many years, even if it is really to be re-established, it should be filled by a local gentry with high moral integrity. How can students be worthy of this responsibility if they are shallow? In addition, the student's family is poor, if I really become a food chief, doesn't this mean that I will die? For the sake of the teacher's mission, even if the student gives up his life, it doesn't matter. It's a pity that there is still an old mother at home who needs to be supported, and the student thinks of his kindness, and his heart is like a knife, so he asks the old man to accept his life. ”

Sun Yuan was trained in office politics in later life, and he worked as a businessman for a few years, and his face and heart were extremely strong, crying when he cried, laughing when he laughed, and his acting skills were naturally first-class.

Hearing him mourn and mention his mother, Zhou Zhixian was also sad in his heart, and exclaimed: "Why are you the chief of grain, your family has no money to spare, and you have no fame, which is not in line with the system!" You wait here, the county will go to the house to see, if there is no major problem, you will be spared this errand. ”

It was about after the afternoon nap, and his body was a little uncomfortable, and Zhou Zhixian also wanted to move his muscles and bones, so he walked out of the study and went to ask about things.

Hearing Zhou Zhixian's words, Sun Yuan breathed a long sigh of relief, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said in his heart: Fortunately, I came quickly, if I am a few days late, and wait for the county yamen to issue a notice, it will be over. Sun Yuan, Sun Yuan, your acting skills won the Oscar.

When Zhou Zhixian arrived at the house, he asked who the candidate for the chief of grain to deliver the autumn grain this year was, and after confirming that Sun Yuan's name was among them, he asked the housekeeper to cross out his name.

According to the old system of the national dynasty, each place set up a grain chief for a district according to 10,000 or 1,000 stones.

Yangzhou Mansion is the Ming Dynasty's financial powerhouse, in addition to the salt tax, Tianfu is also the first few in the Jiangnan region, with a rated figure of 200,000 stones. Rugao is the upper county, and it is set to be 30,000 stones. This time, the liberation of autumn grain is divided into three districts, with three grain chiefs.

Of course, except for Sun Yuan, the other two grain chiefs were the leading figures among the squires in the county.

The housekeeper didn't move, but only looked at Zhou Zhixian with a smile.

Zhou Xiangchun wondered in his heart: "What?" ”

Warden: "This Sun Yuan's name can't be crossed out." ”

"Can't cross it out?" Zhou Zhixian sneered: "This county is dignified and knowledgeable, on behalf of the herdsmen of the Son of Heaven, Baili Hou, who will not send whom, and who is not up to me to decide?" ”

Warden: "He just can't cross it out, this grain chief must be appropriate." ”

Zhou Zhixian was furious: "How can this be reasonable, you have made it clear." ”

Warden: "Let Sun Yuan be the chief of grain, but Lei Zhu Bo means." ”

"It's just a big deal, is it still bigger than Lord Ben?"

"No, no, didn't the county lord forget, Lei Lord Bo used to represent the impostor to walk around the scene."

"What the deputy said?" Zhou Zhixian was shocked.

"Some trivial matters, how virtuous the deputy envoy is, how can he ask." The warden said: "Don't forget, sir, so much filial piety every year is because Lei Zhubo goes to the house to ask for it back, and this etiquette is never lacking." Moreover, this time the autumn grain is transported, and the family can afford to pay for this, and the adults still have to give the thunder lord a thinner face. ”

Zhou Zhixian: "Well, that's it." ”

"That'...... Sun Yuan is a grain chief? ”

"You don't have to worry about it, the official has his own plans."