Ling Chi's execution was a very technical work, and it took three days before and after, and it was enough to cut 3,600 knives, and even if it was one cut, the executioner would be severely punished.

At noon, when the yang energy was at its strongest, and when the Dragon King raised his head, the executioner cut off Wei Zhongxian's throat with a knife, saving him from calling and influencing his play.

Then he took a paper-thin knife in his hand, first cut it from his arm, the knife light flew, like art, with skin, meat and oil, which really made people wonder if it was cultivated by Quanjude, who had specially cut roast duck.

Around the Fatai, there were countless people watching the excitement, they stretched their necks, staring at Lao Wei being tortured, some didn't dare to look, but they couldn't help but be curious, and looked through their fingers.

Blood splattered, slices of meat flew together, and the sword light flickered, dazzling and chilling.

Suddenly, someone shouted loudly below: "Official, reward a piece of old gelding meat!" ”

The executioner's apprentice nodded, threw a piece of meat over, and the man grabbed the piece of meat with tears rolling down his face. He suddenly took out a strip of cloth with blood written on it from his bosom and opened it in public.

"Zuo Gong Guangdou, there is a spirit in the sky!"

The man fell to the ground, wailing.

"The teacher has gone all the way, and Wei Gelding has finally been retributed!"

After crying bitterly for a while, he suddenly grabbed the piece of meat, threw it into his mouth, and held a jar of strong wine in his mouth, and poured it into his mouth.

"Eat the flesh of the enemy alive and drink the blood of the eunuchs! Happy, happy! ”

Many people below felt that this person was too mastery, and they shouted one after another, begging for Wei Zhongxian's meat. Gradually, the apprentices saw that Lao Wei's meat was simply a strange commodity, and he was willing to throw it out.

"I'll give you money!"

Someone even threw money on the stage, like copper, and then broken silver, ingots, just to get a piece of meat. Once you get it, you gulp it and get drunk.

"It turns out that the world hates our family so much. can leave a stench for 10,000 years, our family is content! ”

Wei Zhongxian closed his eyes, and a tear flowed out of the corner of his eye, and the nine-thousand-year-old who had been in power for a while ended in such a tragic way......

"Yongzhen, in the past few years, I have been dealing with silver, and I know that my previous knowledge has been in vain, what is the way of Confucius and Mencius, where can it compare to the way of yellow and white!"

On the opposite side of the execution ground, the teahouse is a private room.

Zhang Ke and his brother-in-law Deng Wentong sat opposite each other. Sun Jiawen stood around with a few guards, protecting the prince and Lord Deng.

"Brother-in-law, it seems that you have learned again?"

"Well, that's true, otherwise I wouldn't have run to the capital to find you." Deng Wentong took a sip of soju and enjoyed the hot and spicy excitement.

"Yongzhen, my next words may be too shocking, and I have to drink two cups to strengthen my courage."

"Hahaha, brother-in-law, just say it. I'm bold and not afraid! ”

"Okay, Yongzhen, I ask you that it's all a mess, it's a cycle of days. Do you know what's behind the number of days? Deng Wentong took a deep breath and asked solemnly.

"This, the so-called alternation of chaos, in my opinion, should be a land issue. If there is no land, there is no people, and if there is no people, there is no country. The common people's land was taken away by the big bureaucrats, and they changed from homesteaders to tenant farmers. Then they changed from tenant farmers to outcasts, and finally had to embark on the road of rebellion, as was the case in the late Han Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty, and the late Yuan Dynasty, when the surging peasant uprisings overthrew the imperial court, eliminated the former bureaucratic landlords, and redistributed the land. After two or three hundred years, the cycle begins again. ”

Deng Wentong listened, and gradually smiled.

"Yongzhen Gao saw it, and he saw blood for a while. However, we might as well use the yellow and white way to look at the alternation of chaos. The so-called land can be counted in silver, as well as houses, clothing, and grain. Suppose that when the country was founded, the families were poor, and some of them had about the same amount of silver. However, after decades and hundreds of years of development, some people became rich and powerful, so they annexed land, bought houses, and more and more silver in their hands, and some people were not good at management, or they were unlucky, and their wealth became less and less, just like Yongzhen said, from homesteaders to tenant farmers. ”

Deng Wentong said with a smile: "But, you have become a tenant farmer, and you can still rely on labor to eat, Yongzhen, you also know that our people have long become cowardly and numb after the way of Confucius and Mencius, the lessons of the Three Platforms and Five Constants, and no one will dare to rebel until the last moment." What drove them to a dead end? ”

This question made Zhang Ke stunned, he only noticed the circulation of the land with the experience of later generations, and as for anything else, he really didn't think about it.

Deng Wentong saw that Zhang Ke was also a little confused, and almost laughed happily, his brother-in-law is so wicked, there are really few people who can make him unable to speak.

"Two words, debt!" Deng Wentong revealed the answer.

Zhang Ke's eyes lit up suddenly, and he suddenly remembered the "rent reduction and interest reduction" movement in later generations, in addition to the land rent, there was another item for the peasants, that is, the deadly usury, the donkey rolling!

"Hehe, Yongzhen, it's not terrible to have nothing, it's terrible to have a debt, and you can never pay it off." Deng Wentong said with emotion: "We often say that it is natural to repay debts, but there is a fatal problem with this. If you add interest, borrow one or two, repay one or three dollars, or even five or eight dollars, then it will be different. ”

Speaking of this, Deng Wentong took another sip of wine, his face became more and more ruddy, and his breath became heavier.

"An ordinary farmer, renting ten acres of land, at the end of the year, can have two or three taels of silver left, it is good, if he borrows three or five taels of silver, a few years of pressure, it is enough to bankrupt the family, forced to a dead end."

As soon as Zhang Ke was reminded, he also suddenly realized.

That's right, when he transformed the fields in Liaodong, didn't he also forgive a large amount of debts, otherwise, the common people would not be able to breathe at all.

"Brother-in-law, are you saying that the people of Daming can no longer bear the pressure of debt, and there are beginning to be a lot of signs of bankruptcy?"

"It's not a sprout, but a beginning, I sent someone to touch the situation in Jiangnan these days, and found that the merger is becoming more and more strict, and the people are displaced, but fortunately, there is still a boom in industry and commerce in Jiangnan, which can give the displaced people a way to live, and in the Central Plains, the problem is only ten times stricter!"

Deng Wentong said this, and said with a smile: "Let's talk about this matter later, what I want to sue Sù Yongzhen is that the debt of the people is not a big deal, the real big thing is the court." ”

"The Imperial Court? The imperial court has been quite short of money in recent years? ”

"It's not just a lack of money, it's almost running out of oil."

Zhang Ke was shocked, he had always subconsciously thought that there were still twenty years before the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and the large-scale refugees had not yet appeared, which might not be bad, but after listening to Deng Wentong's words, he realized that the situation seemed to be stricter than imagined.

"Yongzhen, in addition to increasing the three salaries over the years, the imperial court has also borrowed tens of millions of taels of silver from big households and money banks, and the specific amount is not clear to anyone."

"Really? Why haven't I heard? ”

Deng Wentong laughed: "This is not a face-showing thing, except for some officials in the household department and the cabinet, there is not much clear, even if I have heard it, the scholar is ashamed to talk about profits, how can he be placed in the public!" ”

"Die to save face and suffer sin!" Zhang Ke said disdainfully.

"Yongzhen, according to my calculations, not to mention that the debt can't be repaid, and even the interest is not enough, it costs two or three million taels a year, which accounts for almost half of the imperial court's annual income." Deng Wentong looked outside, and countless people were flocking to the execution ground, crowded like canned sardines. The big guys scrambled to share Wei Zhongxian's flesh and blood, and they were extremely happy.

Deng Wentong just smiled contemptuously: "The world says that the eunuchs are greedy for ink, but in fact, a large amount of silver goes into the pockets of big families to repay the interest, but the court is afraid to say it because of face." Why are you dang when the salt tax has been reduced year after year, and the people in the court are confused? No, most of this money is plugged in holes! Wei Zhongxian is just a scapegoat, and the world will soon find out that killing Wei Zhongxian will not solve the problem at all. ”

It's fucking exciting!

Zhang Ke stretched out his hand and grabbed the wine jug directly, and poured it into his stomach violently, Deng Wentong wanted to be brave, he needed it even more at this moment! After pouring most of the pot of wine, Zhang Ke let out a long breath.

But Deng Wentong obviously didn't want to let him go, and continued: "If you can't pay the money, the creditor will take someone to kill the door to force the debt, if the court can't pay the money, what should the creditor do?" ”

Zhang Ke's eyes suddenly widened, and the wine jug fell to the ground and fell to pieces.

"Yes, it will overthrow the court! Brother-in-law, didn't you say that the White Lotus Sect was supported by the creditors of the imperial court this time? ”

Deng Wentong didn't answer directly, but just sighed: "Shanxi people can do anything!" (To be continued......)