30% rent, no land tax. Duan Tiande's eyes widened, this sudden accusation made Duan Tiande no longer care about Li Yuanwai's bad attitude, but began to suspect that he had something wrong with his ears. He said almost to himself, "Is it wrong! ”

Li Yuanwai shouted: "What do you mean to be mistaken." At first, someone said that Duan Fengming was doing this, but I was afraid that I would make a mistake and wronged him. I went to see someone who knew Duan Fengming, and I talked to him, and I was definitely not mistaken. ”

Duan Tiande listened to Li Yuanwai's words, and his heart gradually stabilized. He didn't think that Li Yuanwai would lie, and he was no longer flustered. After Li Yuanwai finished shouting, Duan Tiande responded: "Do you think I sent Duan Fengming to rent land on the official mansion?" ”

"What kind of official land, that's my family's land!" Li Yuanwai said angrily.

"If it's your land, why don't you stop it? The government dares to rent your land directly? ”

"That'...... It was my family's land, but it was sold to the government. Li Yuanwai's arrogance was suppressed by Duan Tiande's calmness, and his voice became lower to a normal level.

"That's a matter of your family and the government, why do you want to say that my family deliberately forced you." Duan Tiande tried to turn the tide in favor of his dominance.

As soon as the words fell, the family ran in, "The head of the family, the fourth elder has arrived." ”

"Ask him to come in." Duan Tiande's face turned gloomy. This time the land sale was not only Li Yuanwai's family, but the Duan family also sold a lot of land. Now that the government has begun to deal with the Li family, the Duan family will definitely not be able to escape.

Sure enough, the Duan family elder who was sitting in the fourth position among the elders rushed in quickly, and after seeing Duan Tiande, he didn't care that there was Li Yuanwai next to him, and he came up and shouted angrily: "The government sent someone to rent out our family's land under our noses, as long as it is 30% rent!" Too much deception, too much deception! ”

If it was normal, Duan Tiande naturally didn't want others to see the elders of the family lose their temper like this. In the current situation, he completely ignored the elder's gaffe and asked loudly, "What the hell is going on, let's be clear." ”

The four elders hurriedly talked about the latest situation. Li Yuanwai next to him listened for a while, and found that the situation encountered by the Duan family was the same as that of Li Yuanwai's family, and the land that had just been sold to the government was immediately used by the government and sent personnel to rent out those lands. There is one thing that Li Yuanwai did not explain to Duan Tiande that the government sent personnel, but it was the local retired soldiers who presided over the rental.

After Zhao Guanjia came to power, he ordered all villages to provide soldiers, and all the recruits were from good families. The good family of this era was a homesteader with land, and the Song army implemented the retirement system. These servicemen retired after three years in the army. Some of the retired soldiers went to the city, and some returned to the countryside. Those who returned to the township were appointed to positions and took on some positions. They were responsible for receiving the guarantee, and this time they were responsible for calling the villagers to rent the land.

The elders of the Duan family denounced these 'thieves with troops' for causing trouble in the township, and disturbing the villagers with 30% of the land rented and no land tax. Listening to the elder's angry scolding, Li Yuanwai felt that every word was in his heart. There are these bad people who make trouble, make people's hearts unancient, and make the world sinister. The once simple villagers were taught evil by them.

Duan Tiande saw Li Yuanwai's gradually softening expression, so he said to the elder, "Has our family abandoned tenants?" ”

When the elder mentioned this angry seven-hole smoke, he gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Hundreds of acres of land, of course, are abandoned. Even the tenants who did not defect to the government were also impetuous. When they asked the abandoned land, they dared to ask for 30% of the rent. It's really a big dog! ”

Duan Tiande did not speak immediately, but fell into deep thought. The fourth elder of the Duan family asked eagerly: "I have to come up with a way, if it goes on like this, something must happen." In two months, we will start to lose money, and if the government borrows grain at a low price like last year, our family will not be able to release it. ”

Last year, the government borrowed grain from the people at a monthly interest rate of 1 percent, and it was able to borrow grain with the guarantee of retired servicemen and three local families. This kind of borrowing at 12 per cent per annum is much cheaper than borrowing at 50 per cent per annum by the landlords, and many poor people are already borrowing grain.

Seeing Duan Tiande's unfathomable silence, Li Yuanwai couldn't help but say: "Duan Yuanwai, the government not only borrows grain, but those tenants who can't afford to pay back the grain can also go to the construction site of the government to work in winter, and replace the grain owed after working for a month. In our village, there are tenants who work on government farms and bring hundreds of catties of grain to their homes every year. We lost almost half of our lending income last year. What do you say about this? ”

Duan Tiande still didn't speak, and Li Yuanwai finally returned to his previous weak appearance, which made Duan Tiande very satisfied, but this satisfaction was nothing compared to the huge pressure created by the government. The Duan family also faced the situation that Li Yuanwai said, in the past, the tenants had to rely on the Duan family to survive, but now the tenants have an extra government to rely on, and they began to get rid of the Duan family. Spring is a good time to lend money, and tenants have to borrow money to do many things in order to cultivate the land. Now there are forty percent fewer people borrowing money from Duan's house. Money has to be rolled in order to have interest, and it is useless to keep it empty in your hand.

Faced with this unprecedented situation, Duan Tiande also felt overwhelmed. Just when he felt flustered, another family member came in to report, "The head of the family, the second elder asks to see you." ”

"Ask him to come in." Duan Tiande replied a little weakly. If the second elder also came to talk about the situation in the countryside, Duan Tiande also felt that he couldn't stand it.

The second elder's expression was quite normal, and when he saw Li Yuanwai and the fourth elder there, he swallowed what he wanted to say into his stomach. Duan Tiande felt that he should create an atmosphere of common hatred and hatred at this time, so he said to the second elder: "Just say whatever you have." There are no outsiders here. ”

With this saying, the second elder said in a joyful voice: "The head of the family. Wenzhang is stepping down this year and going to Hangzhou. ”

"God has eyes! God has eyes! Li Yuanwai looked up to the sky and sighed happily.

The news is true. In the original official system of the Great Song Dynasty, performance was evaluated every three years. Those officials were going back to Hangzhou to seek a new job. The new official system also evaluates performance every three years, but errands are arranged by the ministry. Positions like prefects are generally held after three years and then leave. Even Wenzhang is the same.

It is not only the people in Jiangning Mansion who are concerned about Wenzhang's appointment and dismissal, but also a large number of people in the Hangzhou court who are also concerned about Wenzhang's appointment and dismissal. Unlike most of the officials in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Zhao official family now has the power of the prime minister, and he has absolute power over the appointment and dismissal of officials in the imperial court, and he also has great power over the personnel arrangements of the state capitals as Wenzhang's eldest brother. Wen Tianxiang watched Zhao Jiaren read the list of state officials one by one, and his heart was also worried.

Zhao Jiaren read Wen Zhang's latest position, raised his head and said to Wen Tianxiang: "Is the arrangement of Wen Zhang to the tax bureau discussed by the society?" ”

"Yes. After the discussion of the society, I felt that Wenzhang had a firm attitude towards tax collection in Jiangning, and was not moved by the local village sages at all......"

"Humph! Xiangxian! Zhao Jiaren couldn't help but interrupt Wen Tianxiang's words, "The so-called village sages are just five beetles." When the Mongols came, Song Rui sold his property and served the country. There are many people in the army, such as those who have left home and have not returned home for five or six years. After the retired soldiers returned to their hometowns, they also farmed, and they had never heard people call them village sages. But without them, the village tenants would have to pay more ...... to the landlords, oh, how much interest to pay to the villagers. The tenants were already poor, and every grain of rice and every penny of interest was taken from their mouths. If you say virtuous, those who serve the country are virtuous. Xiangxian, Xiangxian. A group of bastards who don't do anything about production, how can they be called virtuous. ”

When Wen Tianxiang heard this, he felt that he had something to do with me, although Zhao Jiaren's words were full of malice, but Wen Tianxiang felt very likable. However, after all, he loved Zhao Jiaren, and felt that the official family would be regarded as mean if he spoke like this, so he persuaded: "The official family, it is the minister's words that are wrong." Wenzhang is not afraid of people's words, but he can be a tax collector. ”

Zhao Jiaren didn't feel Wen Tianxiang's mood, he continued indignantly: "This kind of thing is a product of the weak power of the imperial court. At first, those village sages criticized Shang Ying's new law, and Shang Ying mercilessly gave the village sages that vote to the army to garrison the border. A few years after the implementation of the new law, another group of village sages jumped out to praise the new law, and Shang Ying did not hesitate to exile these people. When these village sages are all gone, the Qin State can make great strides forward. In the future, the imperial court was not allowed to use the word Xiangxian. All land owners. ”

“…… Compliance. Wen Tianxiang responded.

"Although Wenzhang's appointment is not bad, I still feel that it is inappropriate. He doesn't specialize in this, and it's better for the tax officer to be in charge. Familiar or not raw, since he is from the state capital, he will do what he is familiar with. ”

"What does the official mean?"

"Your officials are in charge of this, and you will discuss it again."

Wen Tianxiang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, for his younger brother's arrangement, Wen Tianxiang was afraid that he would be criticized if he was promoted. At this moment, I got Zhao Jiaren's instructions, and I didn't have any other worries. He replied, "Yes." What do the officials think of the arrangements of the new Jiangning prefect? ”

"Lu Feizhi should have been a county magistrate and a tax officer."

"Yes." Wen Tianxiang responded. Then there was some vigilance in his heart, Zhao Jiaren was very clear about the resume of the official.

"Let him come to me." Zhao Jiaren ordered.

In the afternoon of the same day, Lu Feizhi appeared in front of Zhao Jiaren. This is a young man in his early thirties. At least in Zhao Jiaren's opinion, he is a young man and the second generation of officials under Zhao Jiaren. After graduating from university, he started from the grassroots level step by step, and the reason for his promotion was that there was a big flood in his county, and Lu Feizhi, who was the deputy director of the Water Conservancy Bureau, did not go down the embankment in accordance with the regulations, and carried sandbags and the people until the water receded. At that time, several officials such as the magistrate of the county did not go up to the embankment because they were afraid of death. After the water receded, the county magistrate and other officials were promoted to the end. Lu Feizhi became the temporary magistrate of the county, and then became a regular. It's a new generation of officials.