The July 15th Midyear Festival is fast approaching.

In the county government of Qi County, Shen Shuren set up dozens of simple banquets to entertain county officials and gentry.

As everyone knows, Lord Tongzhi is going to talk about the apportionment of military rations and the reduction and exemption of taxes today.

Fortunately, those gentry have already rallied around Yuan Zhongyi, who has a backstage, and have figured out how to fight with the government and engage in "non-violent non-cooperation".

In the evening, Yuan Zhongyi and dozens of gentry came to the county government on time.

"Zhao's parents, Jiang Zhixian, don't come to harm's harm, the two of you are really diligent and love the people, I heard that the newcomer Shen Tongzhi is young, so let the two of you worry about it."

As soon as he saw Zhao Yunfan and Jiangcheng, Yuan Zhongyi didn't see it, and directly got close to them.

His distant uncle was the former Daotai, a member of the fourth grade, and he also defeated Ma Shouying in Huangzhou. Although he has been transferred, Yu Wei is still there. As the spokesperson of the Yuan family in Jiangxi, he doesn't need to be cautious in front of the magistrates at all.

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng was also a little submissive for a while, and seemed to recall the days when he was suppressed by Yuan Daotai.

Zhao Yunfan was obviously more backbone, and said with a straight face: "Yuan Gongzi, don't bully Shen Tongzhi when he is young, he is a real two-list jinshi, and he is really capable of governance, otherwise he will not be reused by the officials."

Today's matter, please also restrain each family to focus on the overall situation, and I will try my best to help around, so as to take care of both of you. ”

When Yuan Zhongyi heard this, he felt three or four points unhappy.

But Zhao Yunfan has a good official reputation and is cautious, when Yuan Jixian was preparing for the Hubei Army, Zhao Yunfan helped raise logistics quite hard, and Yuan Zhongyi didn't bother with him for the time being.

"It seems that this Shen Shuren has some ability, and he has convinced Zhao Yunfan so quickly, but he can't hold it up for a while. Originally, I only heard that Shen Shuren was very young and his family was rich, so he should be an official who threw money and went to the door. Yuan Zhongyi secretly thought in his heart.

The guests soon arrived almost there, and Shen Shuren also appeared just in time, and the officials and gentry hurriedly greeted him.

Shen Shuren said a few words, and then announced the opening of the banquet.

Everyone was in a nervous mood, and always hoped that Lord Tongzhi would pick out the price code first, so that they could eat and drink with peace of mind. But Shen Shuren insisted on not saying it, and they had no choice but to eat unpleasantly.

However, Yuan Zhongyi and the others quickly noticed the abnormality.

Tonight's table looked plain, and the wine was a thin, cloudy wine, almost mash.

The vegetables are also mainly vegetables, and the locally produced lotus root and taro have been made up of three or five methods, and the only meat dishes are only a chicken and a fish.

The number of chickens is relatively small, only one chicken per table. There are more fish, there can be several at a table, and there are still several flavors cooked in different ways.

In fact, in the year of the catastrophe, this is not bad, but it is quite different from the lifestyle of those high-flying vampire gentry. Originally, when other officials wanted to apportion, how could they ask for a little better.

"What kind of medicine is sold in this gourd? Could it be that they are pretending to be poor and crying poor, forcing us to donate more and collect less rent? That's it, then let's pretend to be poor, and pretend that we can't even eat these chickens and fish at home! ”

All the gentry led by Yuan Zhongyi thought so, so they pretended to grab the chicken ribs and gnaw them very fragrantly, and carefully picked the fish with chopsticks and tasted it carefully.

In fact, they also want to pretend to eat fish and devour it, but they are not afraid that they will be stabbed to death by fish bones, so they have to retreat.

"This chicken is so dry and dry, and there is no chewiness at all, it is like eating bean dregs, how can there be such a chicken in the world?"

After Yuan Zhongyi took a bite of chicken ribs, his face collapsed involuntarily. His family has never eaten such stupid and fibrous chicken, and when he is unexpected, he will naturally reveal his flaws.

Most of the other gentry did the same, and they all showed unpalatable expressions after entering the mouth, and then realized that they should pretend to be delicious and pretend to be poor.

They were afraid of revealing their flaws, and after tasting them, they secretly looked up to observe Shen Shuren. But I saw that Shen Shuren also shared weal and woe with the people, and ate this kind of chicken and fish, and did not engage in specialization. Moreover, when Shen Shuren ate this kind of chicken, his expression was very calm, with only a hint of relief, and he didn't seem to be disgusted at all.

"This Shen Shuren has a hand in kung fu on the surface, I heard that it is the richest man in Suzhou, and even such a rotten chicken can be eaten without changing its color." The impression of the gentry on him has also changed slightly.

However, although the chicken was unpalatable, everyone soon discovered another benefit of this strange chicken - the meat on the chicken ribs was really thick.

Everyone hurriedly pretended to be poor and praised one after another:

"In ancient times, Yang Dezu said that chicken ribs are 'tasteless to eat, and it is a pity to abandon them', this is outdated today, the breast on this chicken rib is really thick enough, how much meat does this chicken get."

"If it weren't for Master Tongzhi, we wouldn't have seen this kind of fatty delicacy in our lives!"

Eating and eating, everyone seemed to make up for the unpalatable expression when they ate Indian chicken at the beginning, and the eating appearance became more and more ugly.

After the chickens finished eating, they began to concentrate on eating fish, also pretending to gobble up.

At first, everyone was afraid of being stuck by fish bones, and they were cautious when acting, but after eating a few more bites, they soon found that this fish was thick and fat, and only had large rib spines, unlike other crucian carp with fine spines.

So everyone's acting skills were even more exaggerated, and after a while, all the tilapia on the table was devoured, and there was not even fish soup left. The texture of tilapia is indeed okay, not like the Indian chicken just now, which only has a portion and no taste.

Shen Shuren waited for everyone to eat quietly before he began to get down to business.

He first smiled, and said sideways: "Everyone, you are all decent people in the top counties of Huangzhou, and this official has long known that you are clothed and fed.

However, in the year of the catastrophe, even His Majesty saved money in the capital and let all the civil and military officers get through the difficulties together, and the official had to prevaricate with these high-yield chickens and fish.

I also saw it just now, and everyone was embarrassed when they ate this new chicken, but the official told you a piece of news: this kind of chicken produces more meat than local chickens, and the growth time is much shorter, and it can also be raised. Ordinary tenant farmers raise a little three or five, and they don't have to worry about feed, so it is enough for the chickens to find worms and worms.

As for this fish, it is also known that its flesh is delicious, thick and has few spines, and it can grow in only five months from the production of fish roe.

These are all good varieties entrusted by the official to the Zheng general soldier of Haiphong, Fujian, and trade with overseas Hongyi merchants, and the origin can be traced back to the farthest place that Zheng He went to the West in that year, 'Zhubu'. These fish can adapt to brackish water, but they cannot fully survive in the sea for long periods of time.

This thousands of miles to get back, but to transport the fresh water of Zhubu together, the middle way Tianzhu and Manraga also replenished the fresh water twice, before and after more than half a year, it is not easy to come by.

However, this official wants to raise military rations for Liu Xiyao and Lin Yangyang today, so give you a chance, who can better respond to the call of the imperial court, and these good breeds will be given priority to cultivating them in the future.

In addition, the official also brought Hongyi potatoes and corn that have been introduced in many places in Fujian today. I see that there are few people planting in this vast lake, so the official will help people to the end. ”

The "bamboo step" mentioned by Shen Shuren is the "Juba" city in Somalia, East Africa in later generations, and the transliteration recorded by Zheng He when he went to the West is still "bamboo step".

Lord Tongzhi proposed such favorable conditions, and some gentlemen who were more active and could understand the benefits of introducing new species were immediately shaken.

If we can breed high-yield crops in advance in the future, we will still make money by giving up some tenant rents or apportioning some more military rations to the government in the next two years.

As for those crops native to Hongyi, although Fujian has them, most of these local gentry are not able to organize fleets to purchase goods in Fujian, and Shen Shuren has saved them trouble, so why not take a step back and strive for a win-win situation?

All of a sudden, many squires began to take the initiative to inquire about the price, wanting to test Shen Shuren's request: "I don't know how to cooperate with Lord Tongzhi." ”

Shen Shuren was also not polite, and finally tried to meet the dagger. He held out two fingers:

"I don't want many officials, and now Huangzhou is still in the war zone with thieves, and the imperial court doesn't need Huangzhou to pay taxes. This official only levied four buckets of military rations on one mu of land according to the original national taxes and salaries, which were used to fight against Liu Xiyao and others.

In addition, in the past month and a half, the official has organized the newly attached displaced people to resume the cantonment, and replanted the grange that had been abandoned due to the flight of the squire. The exact amount of such land has been registered. I hope you will claim that no rent will be collected from the peasants for two years on the land registered, and these peasants will only bear the military rations of the government!

In addition, fighting a war requires not only food, but also military resources, gunpowder, and steel. In addition to paying the grain, if they are willing to apportionment these military funds, the official will give them priority in chickens, fish, and potatoes. ”

After his conditions are opened, the rest depends on who supports and who opposes.

Some of the gentry from Qizhou, Qishui and other counties whispered after listening to the conditions, and soon a group of squires softened, and then the squires from Huangmei County also softened a little, and there was a tendency to be broken and spread and disintegrated by each other.

Yuan Zhongyi saw that his heart was in a hurry, and he hurriedly spoke:

"Tongzhi-sama! I'm afraid it's not in accordance with the rules. How can there be a reason why people can't come back to collect rent for two years because the head of the family left and the land was temporarily put on hold! Even according to the "Da Ming Law" and the law of the household department for many years, this is unreasonable!

It's not that we don't want to donate these buckets of grain, it's that once the people who occupy the land don't pay rent for two years, I'm afraid that the waist will be hard in the future.

As for the apportionment of military funds, it is naturally what we should do, so you can rest assured! ”

Yuan Zhongyi didn't dare to directly refuse in a comprehensive way, so in the end, he blocked Shen Shuren's mouth with "willing to apportion", and they also cooperated with the request of Lord Zhizhi.

But in fact, everyone knows that the "gentry apportionment" at the end of the Ming Dynasty was the same as Chongzhen asking courtiers to donate, and it would be good to give a symbolic point at the end.

Yuan Zhongyi really didn't miss this bit of food, he was afraid that those poor people would be relieved, and it would be even more difficult to take advantage of the famine land to annex in the future. Moreover, once the poor gain a firm foothold, they may become nail households, occupying the land and giving birth to other ideas, which will not be conducive to ruling in the future.

And even if Shen Shuren wants to sort the promotion of new species according to the amount of donations apportioned, he Yuan Zhongyi is not afraid.

Those ordinary squires who did not have waterway trade channels might have to count on Shen Shuren to give them eggs, fish and corn.

But his Jiujiang Yuan family, that is quite a waterway trade strength in Jiangxi, those rich merchants at the mouth of Jiujiang Lake, the goods through the entire Ganjiang River Basin, the southernmost business range is close to Fujian.

Since Shen Shuren said that he also entrusted the Zheng family in Fujian to get these things back, then Yuan Zhongyi didn't need to be blackmailed by Shen Shuren! He can completely let his inland river merchant fleet use the inland trade of the Ganjiang River to bring Fujian goods!

Maybe it can be sold to other gentry who are unwilling to cooperate with Shen Shuren at that time, so that they can continue to follow the Yuan family.

There are several state capitals on the border between Huguang and Jiangxi, who doesn't know that their Yuan family's fleet has a military backstage. What Shen Shuren can get, they can get it.

Shen Shuren didn't know his inner psychological activities, but after reading his statement, he knew that this guy had nothing to fear.

He was also really angry, but his face was smiling:

"I invite you to discuss today, and it is possible to talk about it. Everyone spoke freely. However, Liu Xiyao is rampant now, not as much as in previous years. The imperial court also has no money to deploy Jiang waterproof divisions in Huangzhou and Wuchang, and this official raises military rations and military funds for everyone's safety, and I hope you will do it yourself. ”