Most of the people of Yancheng County migrated to Suzhou during the Hongwu period, and the folk called it "Hongwu Relocation". The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info the big surnames in the territory have Wu, Yang, Zhang, Wang, and Friday, and if the government has something, it is usually discussed with the patriarch of these five big surnames. However, if it is a person with a meritorious name in other small surnames, he also has the right to discuss.

When Zhou Dalang first arrived in Yancheng, there were only more than 4,000 people in Dingkou in the county, after five years of governance in Dalang, recruiting displaced people, now there are more than 8,000 Dingkou, and the rest of the underage Ding also has three or four thousand, half of the residents of the county seat in the inner county, and the rest are scattered in the countryside, each into a market town, and the Li is in charge. In the Ming system, men from 16 to 60 were Ding, and women were mouths. Dalang can increase the county's Dingkou by half in five years, but it is a rare treatment.

Most of the gentry in Yancheng County were famous in the Ming Dynasty and had a career, but after all, it was a place in the north of the Yangtze River, and it was definitely not as rich in humanity as the south of the Yangtze River, and there were many officials, so these gentry were mostly low-level officials, such as Chen Zhiyuan, a squire who was a native of Nanjing, and Yang Deqing who was a scholar in a county under Xuzhou Prefecture in the Chongzhen Dynasty, and Zhao who had been sentenced to Dengzhou, and Yang who was a county in Songjiang, in addition to one or two people who made meritorious contributions, and there were only five or six people who showed talent.

On this day, all the squires arrived, and Da Lang summoned them to the Yamen. Because it was clear to call the servants in advance, the squires with the five surnames were all complete, and the rest of the small surnames with meritorious names were also called to come, and all the people in each room were all there, and no one was missed.

A group of squires first made a series for Da Lang. The Qing Dynasty recognized the fame of the Ming Dynasty, and was willing to be an official to the official, and even a level higher than the Ming Dynasty official, so in the past, Zhou Dalang, the county magistrate, could not stand this group of gentry kneeling, because I don't know which of them would suddenly want to be born in Shiqing, and now Yancheng is back to the Ming Dynasty, and the fame of these people is from the Ming Dynasty, Dalang dare not snub them, and only accept the squire's half courtesy. As for the gang of Lizheng, they all had to get up after kowtowing.

After Zhou Dalang motioned for everyone to sit down, he said: "Fathers, I have summoned you here today not for anything else, but for the sake of the strict decree issued by the imperial court, so as to prevent you from suffering that unjustified disaster, this county specially invites you to come and talk about this matter." ”

A cadre of squires had news in the yamen, knowing that Huai'an Mansion had come to the official document asking Zhou Dalang to rectify the salt affairs, but they didn't know how to rectify the law, so they didn't speak, just watched Dalang wait for his next step. No one answered, Da Lang felt bored, coughed lightly, and slowly spoke to the gentry.

Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, Da Lang nodded slightly and said: "Now that the Ming Dynasty is prosperous, the southern capital is restored, the government is clear, and the upper and lower levels are smooth." This salt matter has been chaotic in the past, and now it must be rectified, and a strict order has been issued from above, and this county cannot afford not to do it..."Speaking of this, the conversation changed, but said: "This county knows that many of you are somewhat colluded with salt dealers, and this county has turned a blind eye before, as long as you are not too out of line." But now it can't be done, the order is strict, you must stop, and you must not fight against the king's law. When the real GIs come, it is you who suffer. This county advises you not to harm the lives of your family for a little profit. In addition, there is a saying in this county, you have to take it to those fugitive salt dealers, that is, there is no escape method now, everyone is a Ming citizen from now on, no longer need to hide in Tibet, just go to the county to report, this county will make a register for you, and from then on on the yellow book, divide your fields, cultivate and pay grain, what is the hard life? If you hide there and cook salt privately, pick up and sell it, and bump into the checkpoint patrol, why bother to be frightened? Living in the east, hiding in Tibet, flowing back and forth, not a day of stable dwelling, hiding the head and showing the tail, finally asked the officers and soldiers to take it, and it was even impossible to commit it. ”

"What the county lord said is that we will bring what the county lord said."

Whether the squires were willing or unwilling, they all expressed their understanding of the county's kindness.

Zhou Dalang took a sip of the tea bowl on the side of the case, smoothed his breath, and said: "You must know now that the rectification of salt affairs is the first urgent task of this county, and the special salt ambassador of the imperial court is responsible for this matter, and the local officials also take the arrest of smuggled salt as the key performance in the coming year. Therefore, this county attaches great importance to the matter of salt seizure, and I also ask you to help, do not harm others because of your own confusion, and understand the power of this law, so as not to lose your life and regret it. ”

After saying it in one go, Da Lang felt that what he said was not incomplete, nor did it mean that he was not moved, but also said it clearly, not in the middle of the text, which made people listen to it unreally, raised his eyes to look at the squires and the Li Zheng, and saw that they were all concentrating and angry, as if they had understood, and couldn't help but laugh in their hearts, and after a moment, he raised his voice and asked: "This county has said everything that should be said, do you have anything to say?" ”

The county lord's words were naturally not asked by the people, the squires looked at each other, and later Yang Zhiyuan got up and said on behalf of everyone: "This private salt harms others and yourself, and the county honor's advice is very reasonable, and we will write it down." ”

After Da Lang heard this, he raised his hand and said: "It's not enough to just write down, after you go back, you must persuade the people under the clan not to sell salt anymore, and ask the fugitive salt dealer to come to the yamen to report by himself, so as not to cause trouble. ”

Yang Zhiyuan nodded hurriedly and said, "I'll wait until I understand, and the county will rest assured." After speaking, he bowed slightly, thinking that Da Lang had made his words clear, and he was going to retire with everyone, but he didn't want to, but Da Lang waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, there is still something that the county wants to discuss with you." ”

The gentry were stunned, and Yang Zhiyuan asked, "I don't know what else the county lord has to explain?" ”

Zhou Dalang glanced at the squires and said unhurriedly: "This will definitely not be possible by persuasion alone, most of the salt sellers are outlaws, and there must be many people who regard the good intentions of this county as donkey liver and lungs, and they have no king's law, and continue to do that illegal thing." Therefore, this county must send troops to suppress and arrest here, but the county is short of money and food, and the dispatch of troops is not the strength of the county, so it is inevitable to invite the garrison in the house, so you must be able to praise one or two things about this money and food, solve the urgent needs of the county, and also invite some strong men from each family to participate in this matter..."

Da Lang said this clearly, but he asked the squires to donate silver and grain plus people, and the squires suddenly showed embarrassment after hearing this, their own money and food are good, which one is willing to pay for nothing, and this silver and food are not falling from the world.

Zhou Dalang looked at Yang Zhiyuan, squeaked twice, and refused to express his position, and the rest of the people were either looking left or right, and no one was willing to share the worries of the county lord.

County Cheng Deng Guowang looked at it from the side, his heart was anxious, and he glanced at Zhou Dalang, wanting to come out to be this black-faced person, but Dalang signaled that he was not in a hurry, and only looked at the squires intriguingly. couldn't bear Dalang's opinion, and finally someone stood up to speak.

"It's a good thing for the county to catch and boil salt escapees, but don't hide from the county, now the green and yellow are not accepted, the money and grain are limited, and after the wheat harvest is busy buying seeds for summer ploughing, the expenses are really not small, this time and a half will be afraid that it will be difficult to help the county one or two, but also ask the county to be considerate of one or two, and after the autumn grain is paid, each family has a surplus, and we will share worries for the county."

The one who spoke was Zhao, who had been sentenced to Dengzhou, this old man was quite old, and he was a person in the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, so his qualifications were quite old, although the official was not big when he came out, but he was very prestigious among the squires. When he said this, several people immediately echoed his words, saying that all families were short of money and food, and they were afraid that it would be difficult to help the county in the short term, and asked the county to be tolerant. With the presence of these squire patriarchs, who dared to talk nonsense, and the hall was full of prevarication for a while.

Da Lang was unhappy, but he remained silent, pondered for a moment, and said with a smile: "This county also knows that this matter is difficult for you, and it is not urgent to arrest the smuggler for the time being. ”

As soon as these words came out, all the squires breathed a sigh of relief, saying that the county respected and sympathized with the people, but in their hearts they thought why do you want me to donate money, do you say that those salt dealers are easy to provoke? It's urgent, pull the flag and rebel and kill the county, you, the county official, patted your ass and ran away, it's not that we, the locals, are suffering. Another reason why the squires are unwilling to donate money and grain is that many of them are named gentry, and they are actually the biggest smuggler of salt.

In order to ease the atmosphere, Yang Zhiyuan and others said a few more words, Da Lang listened to it and said haha in his mouth, but he scolded his mother in his heart. After a while, Da Lang finally lost his patience, served tea again, Deng Xiancheng saw it, knew what the county respected, and hurriedly said to everyone: "Today is here, you are scattered, after you go back, forget the county respect's advice, you must ask the people in the clan to stop their hands, and they can no longer do illegal things." ”

"So, I'll retire!"

Everyone got up and saluted Da Lang, Da Lang smiled and got up, and after sending everyone outside the hall, everyone said "County Zun stays", Da Lang stopped after two polite sentences, and then watched everyone leave.

After everyone left, Da Lang's face fell, Deng Guowang saw this, stepped forward and puzzled: "My lord, these old guys are old and fine, it is difficult to expect them to donate money and food willingly, I don't know why the adults don't let the lower officials come forward to intimidate them, otherwise, how can these people be willing to donate." ”

Da Lang said a murderous word, he said: "The official document in the palace is clearly written, this rectification of salt affairs is the intention of the imperial court, it is the king of Qi who personally handles the knife, and there are tigers and wolves from the Taiping Army, these old guys dare to jump?" The reason why the county left them a little affection was just to ask them to go home and think about it, if they really didn't get the county's affection, the county would be ruthless. This new dynasty has just been established, the decree has just been implemented, don't kill chickens and monkeys, what do you do? ”

After hearing this, Deng Xiancheng happily agreed: "What the county zun said is very true, this old guy has a meritorious reputation, so he thinks that he can really be a prestige in the countryside, and he sells smuggled salt, and he doesn't look at the county zun in his eyes, and when the county zun uses thunderous means, they will know that they are afraid." This is called toasting, not eating, eating and drinking! ”

"This rectification of salt affairs is not a matter of my Huai'an, I heard that the king of Qi sent a salt ambassador to my Huai'an, this county has just returned to Ming, but I dare not be cautious, if there is a delay to ask someone to report, you and I are not on the neck... If the government sends troops, the money and food consumption must not be a small number, the county has a lot of money and food, if these people donate, how can they cope with the soldiers, but it is difficult to ask them to donate too much, and it is difficult to be afraid that ordinary scare is difficult to work, but this time it is necessary to really cut off a few heads. ”

Da Lang said and sighed and turned around, his eyes fell on the plaque hanging in the hall, but it was the four words "Mirror Hanging", and he was about to open his mouth and talk about the joints with the good materials, but a soldier came to report, saying that he had caught a fine work from the north.