In the city of Jiaozhou, outside the state yamen.

"Brother Burren, don't come unharmed!" A stocky man bowed to Chamberlain.

"Alas, Brother Domeng is worried about the virtuous brother, and he just escaped for his life." Chamberlain let out a long sigh.

After going to Jinan to meet the emperor, Li Bolun's eldest son Li Yanxiu went to Qingzhou Mansion as a county magistrate, and his second son Li Yanlang stayed in Jinan Mansion as the chief bookkeeper, and Li Bolun returned to Jiaozhou alone. However, a few days after returning to Jiaozhou, the Wenxiang Sect suddenly rebelled, and the Wenxiang Sect rebels came to Jiaozhou.

At that time, some people persuaded Chamberlain to leave the country manor and take refuge in the city of Jiaozhou. Chamberlain had a lot of eyes, and did not choose to go to Jiaozhou City, but took his wife and servants south to Jiaozhou Bay and avoided his own seaside courtyard. The Li family is mainly engaged in business, this annex is an important warehouse, there is a wharf outside the courtyard, and the Li family's sea boats are parked on the wharf all year round, what is safer than hiding in the sea?

Sure enough, not long after Li Bolun's family arrived at the beach, the news came that Jiaozhou City was attacked by the Wenxiang Sect anti-thieves, and the Li family's manor was also looted and burned by the anti-thieves, and a group of anti-thieves were killing towards the seaside. Chamberlain immediately took his family on a sea ship and hid on an overseas island, until the Praetorian Guards pacified Jiaodong and recaptured Jiaozhou City, and then returned with his family.

The manor has been completely burned down, the businesses in Jiaozhou City have also been robbed, the goods have been looted, the shopkeeper has disappeared, and the Li family has suffered a heavy blow.

Fortunately, the goods in the seaside courtyard are still there, and several sea ships are still there, so they still have the capital to turn over.

"Brother Bolun, have you heard, that Lord Ma of the Smelling Fragrance Sect is none other than Ma Yilong, a man from Zhucheng!" Lu Changde said.

"It's this!" Chamberlain exclaimed.

The Li family and Ma Yilong have a feud, the Li family's land was almost completely annexed by Ma Yilong's honor guard, or the third son Li Yan was directly admitted to the Wujinshi and was reused by the emperor, the Ma family did not dare to persecute again, the Li family was relieved, and it took a few years to expand the family business.

"My nephew is now working as a scribe in Jiaozhou Yamen, what he said to me should be right, that Ma Wang Ye is Ma Yilong, but it's a pity that this guy fled to Laoshan with the remnants of the Xiangxiang Sect and didn't know what happened." Lu Changde sighed.

"Isn't your nephew a talent from Qingzhou Mansion? How did you enter the Jiaozhou Yamen? Liberenci said.

"After the Chinese New Year, my nephew went to Jinan Mansion to study, and it happened that the emperor was recruiting officials in Jinan, and my nephew was really not good at studying, and he thought it was difficult to get into the Jinshi, so he took the exam in Jinan, and was lucky to be a clerk and was sent to Jiaozhou City as an official." Lu Changde explained.

"Your nephew has a bright future ahead of him." Chamberlain praised.

"It's just a bureaucrat, what kind of future do you talk about." Lu Changde smiled bitterly, "I would rather he continue to study and take the examination for the Jinshi, this is the real glory of the ancestors." ”

"No, Brother Changde is wrong, in the future of the Ming Dynasty, there may not be any future for raising people to become scholars," Li Bolun said in a low voice, "Brother Changde should know that the gentry in Jiaozhou, and even in the entire Laizhou Mansion, are almost unlucky this time, and there are few who can survive." ”

"Why?" Lu Changde looked around and asked in a low voice. Lu Changde knew that some of the gentry were robbed and killed by the Wenxiang Sect's anti-thieves, and he also knew that many of the gentry who survived the Wenxiang Sect rebellion were raided by the newly built government yamen.

Ten days ago, the Praetorian Guard defeated the Wenxiangjiao rebels and drove into Jiaozhou City, and many of the Jiaozhou officials who survived under the Wenxiangjiao butcher's knife were thrown into prison before they had time to rejoice. In just a few days, there was a sharp earthquake in Jiaozhou, and the former high-ranking officials and gentry were arrested one after another, which made Lu Changde very puzzled. Maybe there are really officials and gentry who collude with the Smelling Fragrance Sect, but how can it be that all the officials and gentry have an affair with the Smelling Fragrance Sect?

"It's just a feeling, let's wait and see." Chamberlain refused to say more.

"Brother Boren, what did you say about the government summoning us people this time?" Lu Changde asked in a low voice.

Li Bolun smiled and said, "Isn't the nephew on an errand in the Jiaozhou Yamen?" Why did Brother Changde still ask me. ”

Lu Changde said distressedly: "My nephew has a very strict mouth, and he won't say a word to me that shouldn't be said." Besides, he is only a third-class official, so he may not know much. Brother Bolun, one of the sons of Ling is a county prince, one is the chief bookkeeper, and the other is a dignified chief soldier, and the news is much better than that of the younger brother. ”

Li Bolun shook his head and said: "My son is not in Jiaozhou, how can I know about the Jiaozhou Yamen?" Brother Changde Xian is calm and impatient, and you will know what is going on in a while. ”

At this moment, twenty or thirty people gathered outside the yamen, all of whom were well-known businessmen in Jiaozhou, and there were really few gentry. The businessmen gathered together in twos and threes, talking quietly, all of them looking a little panicked.

After another moment, the gate of the yamen was opened, and some officials invited everyone in.

"In Xiajiaozhou, Zhu Youlan, the acting chief bookkeeper, all the celebrities in Jiaozhou are polite." An official in a cyan official uniform shouted at everyone.

"Meet Lord Zhu." The merchants hurriedly kowtowed. Knowledgeable people can't help but feel a sigh in their hearts, Zhu Youlan, whose name is only one word different from the current emperor, is obviously the clan!

"A lot of things have happened in Jiaozhou in the past few months, and the celebrities are frightened, but fortunately, His Majesty has sent the Praetorian Guard to quell the rebellion, and Jiaozhou has returned to stability.

However, Jiaozhou City was captured by anti-thieves, and there were many casualties among the officials in the city, and there were many thieves, even the urban and rural gentry also had many thieves. At the behest of His Majesty, this official acts as the chief secretary of Jiaozhou, and his duty is to rebuild the Jiaozhou government, which still needs the support of all celebrities. Zhu Youlan said solemnly.

"Where does Master Zhu say, if there is anything we need to do, just ask."

"Yes, Lord Zhu, if you want money and things, you can say it, as long as we have it, there will be no ambiguity."

The merchants said one after another that it was really what happened to the gentry that frightened them, for fear that their homes would be raided again and they would end up like the gentry.

His Majesty was deeply shocked by the rebellion of the Wenxiang Sect, and after sending people to investigate in detail, he learned that the real reason why so many people participated in the rebellion was because the land annexation was too serious.

The gentry of Jiaodong, with too much land, often cross the prefecture and county, covering an area of thousands of acres or even tens of thousands of acres abound, the rich are even strange, the poor have no place to stand, once they encounter turmoil, the people will take risks without food and clothing, and there will be a rebellion of smelling incense.

After thinking about it, His Majesty decided to carry out land reform in Shandong, and all illegally annexed fields would be taken into official ownership, and the gentry and landlords were encouraged to donate their fields to the government.

Starting this year, each household is allowed to keep 20 acres of land, and those who exceed 20 acres will be subject to heavy taxes, and each mu of land will be taxed on one stone of grain, and within 20 acres, the field tax will be paid normally. ”