According to Su Tiancheng's arrangement, the wealthy gentry in Jiangning County need to sell 400,000 stone of grain, and the average amount to the head of each household is basically about 10,000 stone. Of course, this does not mean that there are only forty gentry and wealthy households in the county, but that there are about forty households that have the strength to come up with so much grain.

Calculated together, the loss of each household is less than 1,000 taels of silver, for these gentry and wealthy households, this bit of silver is not worth mentioning at all, but Su Tiancheng's approach shows a more profound meaning, the gentry and rich households receive the favor of the court at the same time, but also know how to reciprocate, just asking for it will not work.

The place where the real stuck shell is also here, many gentry and wealthy families think that they are a privileged class, enjoy unusual treatment, and enjoy favors is a matter of course, as for the difficulties faced by the imperial court, it is a matter for the government itself to consider, otherwise, what do so many officials do, what do you want to do in the prefecture and county yamen.

Over the years, this understanding has been deeply rooted and recognized as the truth, and the most advocating for the existence of this truth is precisely the Donglin Party and the Fushe, which are precisely the so-called elites that everyone thinks.

The Ming Dynasty fell to the country, and the roots almost came out of this place.

As for some other superficial reasons, they are not necessarily the decisive factors, let's just say that this problem of corruption has existed in all dynasties, absolutely clean government, that does not exist, the government always has to serve a certain class, the privileged class will always exist, the rich are better off than the poor, if you think about it, forcibly reversing such a law, it will lead to a more violent backlash, and may even subvert the government.

Su Tiancheng will not do things against the law, his true purpose. It is to let the gentry and wealthy households of the Ming Dynasty understand a truth, there is a reward for paying, and in an unusual position, it is necessary to make corresponding contributions, and pure demand does not exist. You can live a good life, and you can even be a good person, this is because you study hard, or you are in a good family, and the government allows such a situation to exist, but in the current situation, the interests of the government are the greatest interests, and the government represents. It contains the interests and demands of vulnerable groups.

After the coordination meeting was convened, the situation was quietly changing, and some gentry and wealthy households, with the task list listed by the county government, specially found Su Pingyang, the household secretary of Jiangning County, and expressed their willingness to sell 10,000 stone of grain, but begged for secrecy for the time being. Su Pingyang reported to Su Tiancheng in time, and Su Tiancheng readily agreed. The county government was required to first buy grain, and then sell it to the merchants who dealt in the grain in the county.

It's hard to get started. There is always something to work around, and if everyone is used to it, everything will fall into place.

Wu Weiye suddenly came to Jiangning County.

At this time, it was already the beginning of August.

Wu Weiye's arrival attracted Su Tiancheng's great attention.

Su Tiancheng had long heard about some gentry in Jiangning County. They have not taken action, they are unwilling to sell grain, and they have threatened the rich gentry who are ready to sell their grain, saying that their actions are disorderly. It is the foundation that shakes itself.

The initiatives of these gentry and wealthy families were supported by the students of Donglin Academy and the Restoration Society.

In such a situation, someone must have put forward an impeachment opinion, and the gentry and wealthy families must fight back in order to protect their own interests, they are all people who understand and know that the matter of selling grain is just the beginning, and they may face more things later, and they need to make more contributions.

When Wu Weiye came to Jiangning County, he must have the meaning of patrolling, and the spearhead must have been aimed at the sale of grain by the gentry and wealthy households.

Although the relationship between Su Tiancheng and Wu Weiye is very good, there is one point, the class represented by Wu Weiye, and the views he holds, must be different, what does it mean that Wu Weiye was sent out by the imperial court.

Wu Weiye's mentor is the famous Zhang Pu.

This Zhang Pu is not simple, he is not very old, but he is thirty-one years old, but he is the founder of the Fushe Society, a famous literary scholar, and now he is committed to teaching, and his disciples are the most famous with Wu Weiye.

The ideology of the Fushe and the Donglin Party is almost identical, and they resolutely safeguard the interests of the gentry and wealthy households.

What is ridiculous is that the Fushe and the Donglin Party also demanded that the burden on the peasants be lightened, on the one hand, they demanded that the privileges enjoyed by the gentry and wealthy households could not be changed, and on the other hand, the burden on the peasants needed to be lightened, so that both the rich and the unrich people had benefited, and as for the imperial court and the state, it was put aside, as if the imperial court could create silver out of thin air and have inexhaustible money. In the specific implementation of the policy, their spokesmen controlled the government, the burden of the peasants continued to increase, the privileges of the gentry and wealthy families increased, and they did not bear any responsibilities and obligations, so that the Ming Dynasty fell, and they changed their bodies to serve the new court, and still advocated and shouted the system they promoted.

Wu Weiye must have been influenced by this trend of thought.

The imperial court sent Wu Weiye to Jiangning County, the meaning of which is actually somewhat clear, that is to say, Su Tiancheng's move, some officials in the imperial court understand it, and they will definitely not support it, they will definitely raise this matter to a certain height, let Zhu Youzhen agree, send officials to Jiangning County, reprimand themselves, and stop this practice.

How could Su Tiancheng give in easily, not to mention that Wu Weiye is here, even if the first assistant of the cabinet Wen Tiren is here, he will not back down, and he will definitely stick to his own approach.

Jiangning County Yasantang.

Wu Weiye is still smiling, in front of Su Tiancheng, he will never put on a shelf to patrol the imperial history, that is self-inflicted, think about what Su Tiancheng did, he almost became a soldier Langzhong, he and Su Tiancheng, although they are classmates, but in terms of political performance, they cannot be compared at all.

"Master Su, do you have any new verses lately?"

"Lord Wu said with a smile, where do you have time to think about these things now, there are too many things in the county government, it's too late to deal with them, and I can't think of other things."

"Yes, I feel the same way, but in more than a year, it has changed too much, I want to be immersed in literature when I was studying, and I really became an official in the court, and I can't be busy with daily things at all."

The more polite Wu Weiye is, the more Su Tiancheng feels that something is wrong, according to the relationship between the two, Wu Weiye is not polite, and if he doesn't get down to business, there must be something difficult, at this time, he has to take the initiative to bring it up.

"Lord Wu must have some task in patrolling Nanzhili, you might as well say it directly."

Wu Weiye's face showed a wry smile, looked at Su Tiancheng, and finally spoke.

"I don't know if Lord Lu Daosu asked the gentry and wealthy households in Jiangning County to sell grain so that the merchants could operate normally, can there be such a thing."

"It's true, Lord Wu said a little politely, I also said other words, the gentry and rich families have enjoyed the gifts of the imperial court, if they take it for granted, forget their own duties, and are unwilling to make the slightest contribution to the imperial court, the county government of Jiangning County will only ask about the affairs of these gentry and wealthy households."

Wu Weiye's expression became serious.

"I don't know what Lord Su has such an opinion about, I am a rich gentry in the Ming Dynasty, always pay attention to the affairs of the court, do my best for the affairs of the people, even at the expense of my own humiliation, abandon the glory and wealth, but also speak up, speaking of which, you and I are one of them, why would Lord Su say this."

Su Tiancheng shook his head a little disappointed, he knew that some of the views in Wu Weiye's mind happened to be the views of the Donglin Party and the Restoration Society.

"Lord Wu said so, I have to ask the simplest question, the so-called real contribution, how should it be measured, take you and me as an example, we are standing on a high place, waving our hands and preaching, showing the posture that everyone is drunk and I am sober, showing the posture of a clear stream, or serving the court and doing things for the people."

"I think that the two are not contradictory, they can be taken into account, the high temple is worried about the people, and the far away is worried about the king, the ancients have long had teachings."

"Lord Wu, you confuse the biggest difference, whether it is high in the temple or far away from the rivers and lakes, you can't make contributions on behalf of empty talk, for example, those officials who are Zhishi, after returning to their hometowns, if they still enjoy privileges and think that they are superior, the local government cannot interfere with their interests, and even condone their children's misdeeds, or many scholars, the carp has jumped the dragon gate, changed its identity, and become a member of the gentry class, and its own interests and needs are solidified, no matter who it is, can not shake their fundamental interests, enjoy the gift of the court, is a matter of course, as for the court to meet the difficulties, that is the government needs to consider, has nothing to do with themselves, if the officials do not do well, but also jump out to blame, in this case, how the government does things, how the officials govern. ”

Wu Weiye was dumbfounded and looked at Su Tiancheng.

"Lord Wu, Jiangning County requires the gentry and wealthy households to sell grain, and implement it to every household, but 10,000 stone of grain, the loss of less than 1,000 taels of silver, the county government requires this, but also to let the merchants who deal in grain be able to do business better, and the overall is for the development of Jiangning County, such a small contribution, some gentry and rich households, they jumped out, I can't stand it, then I have to ask them, when they enjoy the favor of the imperial court, they don't stand up for it, embarrassed to accept those favors."

"The gentry and wealthy households should have become an example for the ordinary people, righteous people first and themselves, saying one thing on their lips, high-sounding, but behind them is a dime, what they see in their eyes is their own interests, such gentry and rich households, what do many people think, what qualifications do they have." (To be continued.) )