"Change, have things been going well recently?"

In the second hall of the Huai'an Prefecture Bureau, Han Wen sat in the top position and asked Su Hao in a pretentious manner. Su Hao sat under him, and opposite Su Hao, was Fang Mengjin, the master of Hanwen who had just come to Huai'an Mansion, and he and Su Hao were also old acquaintances.

"Everything went well." Su Hao said, "Governor Pan is quite appreciative of the strategy I put forward to control the river, and Duwen has come up with a plan to divert the Yellow River, and they will wait for the Yellow River to freeze and start construction." If this project can be successfully completed, the water level of Hongze Lake can drop by more than one zhang, and the millions of Li people in Huai'an Province will no longer have to live with a basin of water on their heads. ”

"Great, if this can be done, the upstream provinces of Sizhou and Fengyang can also avoid the misfortune of the Huai River flooding, which is a matter of benefiting millions of people." Han Wen sighed.

Su Hao said: "There are still some details to be worked out in this project, Xiong Experience, Duwen and Jingxi are now busy day and night, I think it should not be a problem to finally complete this project." ”

"Alas, the flooding of the Huai River has brought too much suffering to the people of Huai'an and Sizhou. What's damning is that those powerful people are still taking advantage of the disaster to rob. It has only been a few months since the government took office, and it has received hundreds of complaints about disputes in this area. In some cases, the government clearly knows that the bitter lord has grievances, but there is no way to redress their grievances, which is really a negative grace. Han Wen said, when he said these words, his eyes seemed to glance at Su Hao inadvertently, just waiting to see if Su Hao had this understanding.

Su Hao noticed Han Wen's hint, he sat up straight, and asked, "Fu Zun, I don't know what the situation is in these cases, the student may be able to help Fu Zun." ”

Han Wen laughed, what he was waiting for was Su Hao's words. Since he met Su Hao, Han Wen has been very comfortable in all aspects, and his official position has been promoted from the seventh rank to the fourth grade all of a sudden, which is something he never dreamed of before. He already regarded Su Hao as his lucky star in his heart, so when he encountered something, he thought that Su Hao might be able to help him.

"Recently, there have been several cases, all of which involve the forcible occupation of farm land. Master Fang, you go and bring the file to change it. Han Wen turned his head and said to Meng Jin.

Fang Mengjin answered, got up and went out. After a while, he returned with a few rolls of materials. He handed the materials to Su Hao and said: "These are all cases that have been tried in the following counties, and the county ruled that the plaintiff lost the lawsuit. ”

Su Hao took these materials, looked through them carefully, and couldn't help frowning.

These cases occurred in Qinghe, Yancheng, Andong and other counties under Huai'an Prefecture, and there was no obvious connection between the parties in each case. However, these cases have a common feature, that is, the powerful landlords forcibly seized the peasants' fields, while the county government refused to seek justice for the peasants on the pretext that there was no evidence.

Originally, private fields were evidenced by title deeds. These title deeds are in the hands of the owners and have a copy in the hands of the government. In the event of a dispute over land ownership, the owner can take the title deed to the government to ask for justice, and the government will determine the ownership of a certain piece of land according to the title deed in his hand. This method of dealing with land disputes has been used for many years in China's history and is acceptable to everyone.

However, there was a fatal flaw in the title deed at that time, that is, the definition of the location of the land in the title deed had to rely on some eye-catching local objects, such as what river to the east and what slope to the west, so that it could be located when the lawsuit was filed. If these markers are changed, the original title deeds become a mess. When the time comes, if someone moves the stone monument that divides the land boundary, the owner will not be able to find a place.

This is the case with these lawsuits received by Hangul. Due to the flooding of the Huai River, all counties downstream have been affected, and many small rivers have been buried by sediment accumulation, and some places that were originally flat land have become rivers. When the flood came, many peasants fled with their families, and when the flood waters receded and these people returned to their homes, they found that their fields had been incorporated into the boundaries of the powerful landlords' families, and they had a piece of land in their hands, but they could not take back their land.

Under such circumstances, the landless peasants would naturally choose to file a complaint with the government and ask the government to recover the land for them. The officials of the government went to the place indicated by the owner with the title deed, but they could not find the marker indicated on the title deed, so they could not make a judgment, so they could only maintain the status quo and let the victim find evidence to prove the location of his land.

From owning a few acres of thin land to having nothing, the farmers certainly can't accept such a reality. Unable to win the lawsuit in the county government, they flocked to the Huai'an Mansion, hoping that the government would administer justice for them. These days, Hangeul has to receive this kind of paper every day. These peasants were also homeless anyway, so they simply dragged their children and daughters to sit outside the door of the government office, begging, while waiting for the Qingtian Lord to make decisions for them.

"In the opinion of the government, are these peasants wronged?" Su Hao put down the file and asked Han Wen.

Han Wen said: "I have read their land deeds, and they are all true, so their grievances must be true." However, they claim that the land occupied by the powerful landlords is their original land, but this matter is difficult to determine. The following county government judgments are also the same reason, and as the prefect, it is difficult for me to grasp any of their handles. ”

"Master Fang, what do you see?" Su Hao asked Meng Jin again.

Fang Mengjin said: "This matter is actually very clear, taking advantage of the flood to privately move boundary monuments in order to forcibly occupy other people's fields, this kind of case is not uncommon. In these cases, there may be a few cases where the farmer is unable to find his own land, or the field has been destroyed by water and cannot be cultivated, so he wants to take advantage of the chaos to encroach on other people's fields to make up for it. However, according to the old man's judgment, the vast majority of the rest are colluded by the officials and gentry, making the powerless people suffer dumb losses. ”

"Is Master Fang convinced? The ** of the officials is as good as Si? Su Hao asked, the following magistrates are all subordinates of Han Wen, and when Fang Mengjin said this, it was equivalent to beating Han Wen's subordinates.

Fang Mengjin said: "The flood washed away the markers, this is something that cannot be helped. However, if the government intends to make decisions for the peasants, it can still restore the original land boundaries by finding more villagers to understand the situation. These officials and servants blame each other, and one of them must have the advantage of being strong and powerful. In other words, you know too little about officialdom, and this kind of thing is too common. ”

Han Wen coughed lightly and interjected: "Master Fang, don't generalize, there are still some Qing officials in my Ming officialdom. ”

"That's, that's, otherwise how can I be able to settle down so far?" Fang Mengjin hurriedly changed his words, he knew that this was just Han Wen's official words in front of Su Hao, and in private, Han Wen often lamented that there were no officials and no greed in the officialdom.

Han Wen turned his head to Su Hao and said: "Then again, when it comes to this Huai'an Mansion, this official rule is indeed a little broken, and this mansion has been in office for a few months, and I have been deeply touched by this." Natural disasters in Huai'an Province continued, and it was difficult for officials to make political achievements. Without political achievements, it is difficult to be promoted. There is no chance of promotion, so it is natural to ponder some crooked things. This verse, can you understand it? ”

"I see." Su Hao nodded and said, he patted the files in his hand and asked, "Fuzun, how do you plan to deal with these disputes, and what can students do?" ”

Han Wen said: "As the lord of the government, it is my duty to be the master of the people under my rule. Since these cases have been brought to the government, the government naturally has to take care of them. Not only must it be managed, but the government must also give justice to these people, and if the government finds out that the officials of the prefectures and counties below have corrupted and bent the law, it will not be spared. ”

"Uh-huh, that's as it should be." Su Hao responded perfunctorily. Han Wen just said that the rule of officials had collapsed, and he was deeply touched, and now he said that "if the government finds out", he would have already investigated it, and he would have waited until now. The officials in the Ming officialdom are intertwined, and they affect the whole body, Han Wen is just a prefect who has just been promoted, and he has no foundation, if he is smart, it is impossible for him to rectify his subordinate officials on a large scale.

Han Wen's words just now really only showed an attitude and determination, and he didn't take it seriously. After saying this, he continued: "Of course, the investigation and punishment of officials is not something that can be done overnight. The first priority is to find a way to return the farmers' fields so that they can live and work in peace and contentment. Now the city of Huai'an is full of displaced people, and if there are lawbreakers who take the opportunity to instigate, it will cause chaos. ”

"However, the state and county governments can't determine the ownership of these lands, so what can the government do?" Su Hao asked.

Fang Mengjin said: "What others can't do, change it, you have a way to do it." Don't you have a survey camp in your hand, this survey and mapping is your forte. Dong Weng's meaning is to ask you to go to the townships and villages to clean the fields, and by the way, the land dispute will be resolved. ”

"This ...... Are students overstepping? Su Hao hesitated.

Han Wen said: "Change, you just need to say whether you are sure to do this thing, as for whether it is your business, the government will coordinate it." Governor Pan is also here to rule the river for the livelihood of these millions of Li people, and I think he will agree. Besides, you just said that the Huai River crosses the Yellow River into the sea, and you also want to dig a river channel into the sea in my Huai'an Mansion, right? Isn't it your job to do some river surveys beforehand? ”

"Uh...... What Fuzun said is reasonable. Su Hao admitted defeat. In fact, after listening to what Han Wen said, he also wanted to help these poor landless peasants, but he was hesitant whether he was qualified to do so. Now that he heard Han Wen say this, he felt that he couldn't excuse himself. Governing the river is for the people, and the land is also for the people, and the two things are not in conflict.

Han Wen saw that Su Hao nodded, so he said happily: "Okay, change it, you go back first to make some preparations, pick some capable people to come out, and prepare to go to the states and counties to clear the fields." I first sent a document to the prefecture and county, saying that the government should send personnel to resolve these disputes and let them cooperate. Once you've contacted the following states and counties, you're ready to go. ”

"Respectfully follow the arrangement of the government." Su Hao responded.

"You have to bring more people, some of the heroes below may be strong to fight, if you don't have a few people at hand, I'm afraid you will suffer." Han Wen admonished again.

Su Hao said: "Fuzun, please rest assured, the students know it in their hearts." ”

"I've always been very relieved of you." Han said. After saying these things, he picked up the teacup, took a sip lightly, and then said seemingly casually: "The little girl has already arrived in Huai'an with Master Fang a few days ago, to change it, didn't you say that there is still something to ask her to help with?" ”

"Help?" Su Hao was a little confused, he came over today to get the news that Han Qian had arrived in Huai'an, but he never said that he wanted Han Qian to help him. However, he was only stunned for a moment, and immediately understood, and hurriedly smiled and said, "Exactly, exactly." The students have recently expanded the survey camp, and the embroidery workers have also added a lot of manpower. Miss Han's embroidery skills are outstanding, and the student's embroidery team was trained by Miss Han. Therefore, the student dared to ask the Fuzun for permission and asked Miss Han to take the time to come to my survey camp to instruct the embroidery team. ”

"This is the right thing, how can this government not allow it?" Han Wen twisted his beard and pretended to be reserved, "Change it, the little girl is in the back office, if you have something, go and tell her in person." ”

"Thank you." Su Hao stood up and bowed respectfully to his father-in-law.