On the first day of the seventh month of the Song calendar, Wenzhang, the prefect of Jiangning in the Great Song Dynasty, walked into the courtyard and sat down on a square seat made of rectangular bamboo pieces. He picked up the pampa fan and fanned it gently. Just sitting like this, I already feel cool. The wind blows again, and the body feels cooler.

Just when Wen Zhang yawned comfortably, thinking about whether to simply sleep for a while. The secretary came in and said, "Prefect, here is another one to pay the fine." ”

Wen Zhang did not respond to the news, but asked, "How many are there?" ”

"This is the fourth."

"Four of the ninety-one came, and the others ...... Eighty...... Seven, send them another notice. ”

"Yes."

"By the way, how much of these four families have to pay fines?"

The secretary opened the notebook and glanced at it, "They need to pay a total of 135 acres." A total of 810 strokes were paid. ”

"Hmm. Send another reminder to the landlord's family who did not come to pay. Wen Zhang ordered.

Waiting for the secretary to leave, Wen Zhang leaned back on the bamboo mat and continued to gently shake the fan to rest. A total of 91 landlords had to pay fines this time, covering an area of 13,000 mu. Whether it is the four landlords, or the 135 acres of land for which fines have been paid, they have no influence on the overall proportion. With a big yawn, Wenzhang put down the pu fan, closed his eyes under the eaves of the courtyard and began to take a nap.

The courtyard felt a little cooler, and Duan Fengming, who was walking on the street, still felt the heat of summer. At this time, autumn has begun, and it can be added to autumn. Futian still continues. What's more, Duan Fengming didn't want to meet those elders of the family. This year, as long as you go to see the elders of the family, it is not a good thing, and the patriarch Duan Tiande also specially targeted Duan Fengming. It seems that Duan Fengming attracted the disaster of the Duan family.

Walking to the door of Duan's house full of unhappiness, the depression in Duan Fengming's heart became stronger and stronger. After standing outside the door for a moment, Duan Fengming suddenly straightened his waist. The big deal is that you won't interact with the Duan family in the future, what can be the big deal about this. Duan Fengming's status today is not due to the Duan family, but to his own hard work. With a strong anger and a firm will to tear his face, Duan Fengming went straight to the venue of the clan meeting.

He didn't even need to listen to the opening remarks, Duan Fengming knew what he was going to discuss this time. The Duan family has 1,000 acres of land to be abandoned, and according to the new agricultural regulations, one mu is fined six guan, and 1,000 mu of land is fined 6,000 guan. It is impossible for any family to turn a blind eye to the six thousand guan. Listening to the opening introduction of the clan elders, Duan Fengming didn't even look at them. A clan brother on the opposite side looked at Duan Fengming, Duan Fengming glared back unceremoniously, and the clan brother had to look away.

"Feng Ming, it's time for you, you are still in the mood to stare at people. Isn't it fun? One elder mildly criticized.

Duan Fengming lowered his head and said nothing. As a cadre of the Agricultural Bureau, Duan Fengming and his colleagues from the Agricultural Bureau were in Jiangning last year to promote the latest policies and regulations. Maybe some people don't know because they don't want to listen. Maybe some people don't think so, so they pretend not to know. But it can't be said that the government didn't talk about it, so everyone doesn't know.

Maybe it's because the Duan family's notice was sent by Duan Fengming, or maybe the Duan family still wants to nod face. At least they didn't say the accusation that the government didn't teach and punished, and everyone directly scolded Wen Zhang first, and listened to the fierce and meaningless curse. Then someone said helplessly: "Wen Zhang, a corrupt official, is cautious and can't catch him for being corrupt and perverting the law." If you can find it, tell the elders in your family. ”

Duan Fengming felt that it was really boring, and it was inconvenient to leave the table, so he took out a cigarette and lit it, took a puff, and felt a little more relaxed. Then I heard the elder say, "Feng Ming, you are now the biggest official in the clan, and you have to think about it for the clan......

The time is finally coming, Duan Fengming took advantage of the fact that his previous mood was not completely low, he spoke decisively, "Now everyone in the Jiangning Mansion knows that I am the Duan family, and if I dare to make any changes, I have already been told to be superior." I want to be an official, so I can be an official. After reading books for more than ten years, I just wanted to be an official, so I wouldn't do things that ruined my official career. ”

"What are you talking about?" Duan Tiande asked with some annoyance.

Duan Fengming felt that Duan Tiande might be a little weak-hearted, so his voice was a little urn-like.

"The clan is counting on you to rely on the Department of Agriculture to say a few words for the clan, who asked you to deal with Wenzhang. Do you think that the people of the clan don't understand anything? There are already several cadres in our clan, and you are also the biggest official among them, can you be an example for those people if you do this? ”

After listening to Duan Tiande's opinion, Duan Fengming was a little surprised. Is it difficult for Duan Tiande to change his sex? Thinking about it again, Duan Fengming felt that this might be seen as the Duan family felt that the situation was critical and had to admit it. Then Duan Fengming became even more dissatisfied. From the very beginning, he told the elders of the Duan family that Wen Zhang was genuine, and he was by no means perfunctory, nor was he making a fortune from the local government by pretending to implement new policies. As a result, the Duan family didn't think so at all, and now they have become the recognized opposite of Wenzhang and then admit it, so why bother.

He laughed in his heart, but because Duan Tiande didn't mess around anymore, Duan Fengming didn't say anything. Now whether it is the family or the government, there is no room for Duan Fengming to intervene.

The family meeting was held for a while and then adjourned. Duan Fengming was about to get up and slip away, but was stopped by the elder. After a while, Duan Fengming and the other three elders went to the back hall for a meeting. As soon as he sat down, the elder asked, "Feng Ming, you said angrily last time that you would sell those fined lands to the government." Do you think it's okay now? ”

Nothing shocked Duan Fengming more than this question. Did someone in the family take the wrong medicine? Or it was Duan Fengming who took the wrong medicine and hallucinated, how could such a thing happen. Duan Fengming asked tentatively, "The last time I said this, the patriarch shouted to drive me out of the family and remove me from the family tree." ”

"Huh. Mingfeng, we old men are talking nonsense in a fit of rage, do you take it seriously? Even if you take it seriously, you take what we do good to you seriously, and forget about it immediately. The elder spoke softly and reproachfully.

Thinking about it carefully, Duan Fengming had no impression of being treated well by the old men at all. He was only able to get to where he is today because his father had thirty acres of land in his hands and had also studied. Knowing that Duan Fengming couldn't get into the Jinshi, it was not easy to take the test for fame. The old man was also unwilling to let Du Fengming not study, so he let him go to the system. At that time, no one knew that the system department overwhelmed the Jinshi department in a very short period of time and became a smooth path to becoming an official. Duan Fengming came down from elementary school, middle school, and high school. Duan Fengming failed to be admitted to university, so he went to the agricultural college in Jiangning to study an intermediate major, and then was assigned to work in the Agricultural Bureau. Now he has become the highest official in the family, which is a completely unexpected result.

But it's not easy to get the old men to bow their heads. Duan Fengming didn't respond with an antagonistic attitude anymore, but asked, "Everyone is not joking, right?" ”

"Not kidding, you also know that our family has several pieces of land on the other side of the Qinhuai River, and there are more than 1,000 acres in total. We sold the land to the government, and according to the previous regulations, we didn't have to pay a fine. The elder said.

His family knew about his own affairs, and when he heard this, Duan Fengming almost couldn't help but want to roll his eyes. That land is rotten land with no water on dry days and flooded on rainy days. If there is a big flood, the water of the Qinhuai River will overflow the river embankment and completely submerge those lands. Having studied agriculture, Duan Fengming knew that the best place was not by the big river, but by the small river. Those places are close to the Qinhuai River, and every time the water recedes, the sediment accumulated there is very thick, and even stones are washed into the ground by the flood. Very difficult to clean up. However, the Qinhuai River is very dry in the day, and it is difficult to bring water from those places that are several tens of meters away.

Duan Fengming is not the only person in the Agricultural Bureau who has studied agriculture, he graduated from a secondary college, and the Jiangning Agricultural Bureau has a student who graduated from the Great Song Agricultural College. It's impossible not to know. Just when Duan Fengming was very embarrassed, the elder handed a letter to Duan Fengming, "We don't embarrass you, you just give this letter to Wen Zhang, as long as you can do it, you will make a contribution to the family." ”

First he looked at the elder in puzzlement, then took out the letter paper from the envelope that was not sealed at all, and after reading the content on it, it turned out to be the same as what the elder said. These Duan Fengming couldn't help but believe that this was true. He really couldn't refuse, so he could only accept the letter and leave.

On the way, Duan Fengming felt that something was wrong. But after thinking about it, I couldn't find a solution, and my irritability became fierce again. When his emotions were at his peak, Duan Fengming had the idea of giving up on himself again. The big deal is that he was removed from the clan, and he died early and took care of his life, so he just got this matter done quickly.

After thinking about it, Duan Fengming simply went directly to the prefect's compound where Wenzhang was. Not long after the ceremony, the secretary led him inside. It didn't take long to see Wen Zhang sitting calmly in the courtyard at the back of the compound, and that calmness made Duan Fengming unfathomable.

Wen Zhang had just woken up at this time, and he wanted to take a nap, but he didn't expect that he would sleep for more than two hours by himself. As soon as he came to his senses at this time, took the letter and read it, Wen Zhang said to Duan Fengming, "I know." Anything else? ”

Duan Fengming hurriedly got up and said goodbye. After Duan Fengming left, Wen Zhang asked the secretary to invite Cai Zijun, director of the Bureau of Agriculture, and he took this opportunity to read the letter again. It's a good thing that the Duan family is willing to give in, but no matter how you look at it, this matter is not right, and a professional must evaluate it.

Not long after, Cai Zijun arrived, read the letter, and the director of the vegetable bureau said: "The Duan family wants to sell the rotten land, and there is no need to pay a fine by the way." ”

"How rotten is that ground?"

"This year's drought has caused a lot of crops in those fields."

“…… But when I look at you, I don't think there's anything wrong with you. ”

"Those lands are very important to our planning, and when the planning is completed, there will be good land there." Cai Zijun replied with great confidence.