Su Hao told Deng Kui to arrange the jǐng ring in case of accidents, and at the same time sent a messenger to rush back to Huai'an Mansion overnight to report to Hangul.

The matter of the landlord's concealment of acres of land is an open secret in Daming, and this kind of thing exists in all prefectures and counties, but the severity is different. The Daming Law stipulates: Anyone who deceives the grain and leaks the copyright will be punished with 40 lashes from one mu to five mu. For every five acres, add one grade. A hundred rods shall be paid to the sins, and the land shall be paid to the officials, and the hidden taxes and grain shall be levied according to the number. The rules are very strict, but in reality, such rules are basically non-existent. There are tens of thousands of landlords across the country who conceal their fields, and a few of them have really been found out and questioned.

However, there is a big difference between what the law provides for and what it does not. The difference is that once the government wants to make it difficult for anyone, it can casually pull out a law to use. Like Zeng Fengxian, he did too much, and Su Hao directly exposed the fact that he was hiding Tianmu, and he could only flee in a hurry.

Han Wen had long known about the following situations, and when he sent Su Hao to solve the land dispute, he didn't let Su Hao do things so desperately. But when he received Su Hao's report at this time, he was still excited all of a sudden, thinking that this might be a breakthrough for him to open up the situation in Huai'an Mansion. Early the morning after receiving the news, he sent Tian Younian, the general judge, to Andong County to deal with the matter on behalf of the government.

There was such a big incident, and Tan Yiheng, the county governor of Anton, couldn't sit still, so he took a group of officials to Sangyuanzhuang to understand the situation. Tian Younian and Tan Yiheng worked together and quickly put forward the following disposal opinions:

The eight acres of land occupied by the peasant Hu Lin were returned to Hu Lin, and the lower boundary posts were re-erected to determine their location; Most of the more than 3,400 acres of land verified by Zeng Fengxian's family were confiscated as official land and leased to farmers in the village for cultivation; Because the Zeng family's family did not know about the concealment of the acres, they were not held accountable, and left 100 acres from the Zeng family's fields as their ration fields, allowing them to support themselves; A sea arrest document was issued, arresting Zeng Fengxian and several of his personal entourage, who had absconded in fear of crime.

Among these opinions, the third one was suggested by Su Hao, who had a somewhat modern concept of "sin is not as good as the family", and could not bear to see those women and children reduced to official slavery because of Zeng Fengxian's crimes. Bi Jing handled this case by Su Hao, so Tian Younian and Tan Yiheng were willing to sell him a face. As for the family members of the Zeng family who were pardoned, they kowtowed to Su Hao like a peck of rice, and regarded him as a life-saving grace.

What happened in Sangyuanzhuang quickly spread throughout Huai'an Mansion, and the tremor caused by it was no less than the earthquake that occurred in Yancheng more than ten years ago. A wealthy gentleman with thousands of acres of fertile land was raided because of a foreign director of the Ministry of Works, and had to die in exile.

It is really more difficult to find a landlord in Huai'an Mansion who does not hide acres of land than to find a needle in a haystack. Prior to this, whether it was the government or the county government, they all turned a blind eye to such a thing, and as long as the landlord's filial piety money could be delivered in time, they did not join the union to investigate. But now it is different, there is a 2500 director of the Ministry of Works, with a group of soldiers who are good at surveying the land, to measure the land of the landlord's family. This is not counting, behind the head of the Ministry of Works, there is also a new prefect, perhaps the new official took office with three fires, and the attack is indeed vicious.

"What can I do about this!"

In Tangqiao Town, Yancheng County, Hu Yuanchong, a large landowner, worriedly discussed countermeasures with his housekeeper You Shengyuan, who had accumulated five or six thousand acres of land over the years, but when paying taxes, they claimed that they had only two thousand acres. If Su Hao found out about his house, his fate would be no different from Zeng Fengxian.

What disturbed him the most was that he also took advantage of the flood to occupy the land of a farmer in the town this time, and the farmer also went to Huai'an Mansion to file a complaint. If nothing else, Su Hao will soon be brought to Tangqiao Town to deal with this case.

"Dong Weng, according to Xiao Jin's opinion, let's return those few acres of land to Cui Erniu's family to avoid disaster." You Shengyuan offered advice.

Hu Yuanchong frowned and said, "Just a few acres of land, just give it back to Cui Erniu." What worries me is that it's too late to return the land. It seems that this Su Principal is not only trying to help the poor ghosts get back the land, he is holding back and wants to do the Qingzhang thing. This is what Zhang Shoufu of the imperial court wanted to do in the 8th year of Wanli and couldn't finish it. ”

"No, Qingzhang's matter is thankless, he is an official in the capital, what is the reason for this matter?" You Shengyuan said.

Hu Yuanchong shook his head and said, "I can't tell you what the origin of this surname Su is, I can't figure it out." I heard that he has a very hard background, maybe he wants to do something in Huai'an, so that he can go back and find a bigger official. ”

"Damn, if he wants to be an official, he will take us under the knife!" You Shengyuan said angrily.

Hu Yuanchong sighed and said, "What can I do, he is a Beijing official, and he has the support of the prefect, so it's useless for us to ask the magistrate for help." ”

"That'...... Could it be that we can only obediently hand over the fields? You Shengyuan said.

Hu Yuanchong said: "Didn't you hear it, just these few days, he has already checked five or six big households." Youjin handed over the excess land to the government, even if it was revealed. There are also people who want to play the famous hall and don't pay it, but they were detained by the government along with their property. Now the big families in Huai'an Mansion are all in a panic, and they don't know which turn will be their turn. I thought, after two or three years, they should come to our Tangqiao Town. ”

"What then?" You Shengyuan was dumbfounded, "Why don't you bring some silver to meet this Su Dajin and ask him to let us go?" ”

"I'm afraid it won't work." Hu Yuanchong said.

The master and servant Erjin was sighing for a long time, and when he was at a loss, the doorman of the family suddenly ran in, and said to Hu Yuanchong in a hurry: "The owner, there is a request to see outside." ”

"O!" Hu Yuanchong's eyes widened, so that he could not bear his breath, and he stammered and asked, "Yes...... Be...... Is it an official errand? ”

"It's not an official errand, it's a former ......member of Andong County," Menzi replied.

"Zeng Fengxian!" Hu Yuanchong's surprise was even worse than just now. Zeng Fengxian had heard about Zeng Fengxian's absconding in fear of crime, and Zeng Fengxian's wanted notice was still posted outside the gate of Yancheng County. When Hu Yuanchong chatted with the others, he speculated that Zeng Fengxian might have fled overseas with the silver, who would have thought that such an entry would appear at his door.

Andong County and Yancheng County both belong to Huai'an Prefecture, and Hu Yuanchong and Zeng Fengxian are both local wealthy families, and sometimes they attend some gatherings together, so they have known each other for a long time. Hu Yuanchong once visited Zeng's house, and Zeng Fengxian also came to Hu's house, which can be regarded as a relatively familiar relationship. Zeng Fengxian came to the Hu family at this time, what was the matter?

"Mr. You, do you think it's better for me to see him or not to see him?" Hu Yuanchong had no master of the six gods and asked You Shengyuan for advice.

You Shengyuan pondered for a moment and said, "Dong Weng, in my opinion, it is better for you to meet him and listen to what he wants to say." Wouldn't it be better if he could give us a trick that would work? If he wants to escape from us, we just kid him up and send him to the government, so that we and Na Su will have a chance to talk? ”

"Okay, it's up to Mr. Hu Yuanchong said that the friendship between these big families is nothing more than that. When necessary, it is completely possible to sell the other party in exchange for their own wealth.

After agreeing on the strategy, Hu Yuanchong asked Menzi to bring Zeng Fengxian and his entourage to his living room, and he took You Shengyuan to put on a warm appearance to welcome Zeng Fengxian's arrival.

"Oh, Brother Zeng, which gust of wind blew you here?" Hu Yuanchong saluted Zeng Fengxian and greeted him with a fake smile.

Zeng Fengxian was covered in dust and had a stubbled beard on his face, he casually bowed his hand to Hu Yuanchong, saluted back, and then sat down on the chair and said, "Brother Hu doesn't have to be so pretentious, brother's affairs, don't you know about Brother Hu?" ”

Hu Yuanchong was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Brother Zeng's matter, Hu said a few words by hearsay, and I don't know if it's true or not, I originally planned to send a family to Cháo River Town to inquire." ”

Zeng Fengxian said: "Brother Hu, now is not the time to say cool things, my brother took the risk to come to Tangqiao Town to meet Brother Hu, to relieve Brother Hu's misfortune." This Su Hao will come to Tangqiao Town if he doesn't rì, and when Su Hao arrives at rì, it is when Brother Hu's family is broken, is Brother Hu really not worried at all? ”

"This ......" Hu Yuanchong was blocked by Zeng Fengxian's straightforward words, and he didn't know what to say.

Zeng Fengxian actually didn't know how to be tactful, but these bad experiences made him impatient to pretend to be anything. He had to use the simplest method to get Hu Yuanchong to agree to form an alliance with him and jointly deal with a great enemy like Su Hao.

"Brother Hu, this Su Hao is very big, and the six relatives don't recognize it, so Brother Hu must not be lucky. At this time, we can only avoid this catastrophe if we unite and deal with it together. Zeng Fengxian said.

"What does Brother Zeng mean by uniting as one?" Hu Yuanchong asked.

Zeng Fengxian said: "I've already thought about it, for Su Hao, you can't hide, and sending silver won't have an effect." There is only one way to get him to stop, and that is ...... Chop off his black hands! ”

"Cut?" Hu Yuanchong was taken aback, "What Brother Zeng said, is it because you want to be tough with him?" ”

"Exactly." Zeng Fengxian said, "Zeng Mou is running around Huai'an Mansion just to unite the gentry from all hometowns, and everyone will join forces to deal with this Su Hao." Su Hao has more than 200 officers and soldiers with him, and we can't match it with any one of them, but if we can join forces, we can make him die without a place to be buried. ”

"Brother Zeng, you know, Hu Mou has always been a law-abiding entry, although there are some family members at home, but they are still good at taking care of the family, if they want to fight, especially with the officers and soldiers, they can't even point to it. Besides, killing officers and soldiers is a crime of treason, and it is a crime that will involve the nine clans, and this matter must be thought twice. Hu Yuanchong said timidly.