With such a group of wide-eyed Zhuang Tou watching, Ji Hu was not afraid that these tenant farmers would dare to lie about the number of old people in the family.

Wangzhuang has a total of 6,000 acres of registered fields, and there are 35 registered tenant farmers. After the list was distributed, more than a dozen tenant farmers suddenly came, and they kept saying that they were also tenant farmers of Wangzhuang here, but their names were not registered. Wu Laofu immediately dripped, as if he wanted to defend himself. Ji Hu glanced at him coldly, this time the grain reward was indeed his intention, the number of tenants in Wangzhuang has not increased over the years, but the harvest has dropped year by year, he has long felt that there is a cat in this. This time, since there is a chance, I simply find out.

Duoyou has taken the head of the village and a team of guards, and went out to find the dozen tenant farmers to measure the land. The next day, the newspaper reported that there were more than 600 acres of fertile land in Wangzhuang, plus 13 tenant farmers. And some people reported that Wu Laofu and several other stewards had purchased their own land outside, but it fell into the name of relatives.

"You people were originally born as slaves of criminal ministers, and you were taken in by the Zhou royal family to get to where you are today, and you don't want to repay the lord's kindness, but hide the acres of land and private tenants, and you are really good slaves." Wei He's cold words were very meaningful.

Everyone kowtowed and pleaded again and again. Wu Laofu knocked his forehead bruised, raised his head and said: "It's all the little ones who have been blinded by lard, and the minions know that they are wrong, and they immediately sold their personal grange to confiscate ------."

"Nonsense! Is the king coveting your acres of land? Wei He shouted and scolded.

Several stewards continued to kowtow. Ji Hu softened his tone: "Say, where did those tenants come from?" "In the past few years, there have been no major floods and droughts, and Zhou Li does not advocate migration, is there something hidden behind this? Ji Hu was puzzled.

"Your lord," Wu Lao Fu didn't dare to lift his head: "They were originally homesteaders in the well field, but because the field could not be planted, they abandoned the well field and ran here." ”

"Really? You're not talking nonsense? Ji Hu frowned and asked incredulously.

The Jingtian system has been practiced in the Western Zhou Dynasty for a hundred years, and the fundamental point is that nearly 100 acres of land in the middle are the public property of the Zhou royal family, and the surrounding acres of land are owned by Chinese homesteaders and noble lords. Generally speaking, land is the life of the peasant, if it is not really unbearable, how can the yeoman farmer abandon his own field and take refuge in Wangzhuang to be a black household? It seems that there must be something going on behind this.

Ji Hu made up his mind: "Go, find the heads of the dozen or so tenant farmers, and I have something to ask." ”

"No!"

Ji Hu sat behind the main case in the middle hall, his eyes scanning the more than ten tenants kneeling at the bottom of the stairs. These peasants are all in rags, and their faces are full of ravines and valleys, engraved with the wind and frost of time and the difficulties of livelihood.

"Don't be afraid, and elect one person to answer Lone's question." Seeing them trembling, Ji Hu couldn't bear it, and said comfortingly.

Everyone below looked at each other, and after whispering for a while, an old man stepped forward on his knees, knelt down and said, "Grass people Bailishi, reply to my king's words!" ”

"Lonely asks you, where did you make a living before? Why did you abandon your ancestral business and go here? You tell the truth, don't be afraid. ”

"Back to my king, the grass people were originally self-cultivated farmers in Weinan Jingtian, and they had dozens of acres of fertile land at home. Later, not only did he default on the government's taxes, but it was also difficult for the family to make ends meet, so he had to flee to Wangzhuang as a tenant. When the hundred-mile old man said this, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Under-harvested?" Ji Hu and Wei He glanced at each other, both puzzled: "The four-story ditch structure of the well field is complete, and the Wang Tian in Weinan has not reported a poor harvest in the past two years, so how can there be only a poor harvest on the land of the self-cultivated farmers?" Moreover, Wang Tian is in the middle of the well field, and if the canal is not passable, it will not be irrigated, and Gu has never heard of it. What's going on? ”

"The king doesn't know anything," the Baili old man seemed to have been prepared for King Zhou's question, and explained unhurriedly: "The well field has a four-layer water network, a well canal, a li canal, a community canal, a canal, and an external river. Among them, the well canal is connected to the river, the inner canal irrigates the Wang Tian, the community canal is connected to the square field acres, and the canal is connected to the field acres. Every spring sowing season, the noble lords will always instruct their minions to block the canals connected to our fields and acres, and monopolize the water source. When the crops appeared, I could not irrigate them with canal water, so I could only watch the spring seedlings dry up and fall down. ”

"Is that so?" He was horrified, he knew the greedy and selfish nature of the nobles, but he never thought that these people would act so recklessly, he shouted angrily: "Why don't you sue the officials, or dig the ditch and dam yourself? ”

"O king," the old man burst into tears: "How dare we fight with the noble lords when we are small people, who have no power or power?" The more daring ones can only quietly dig ditches and dams when there is no one at night, and they are afraid of being seen by those minions! They did this so that we would have no harvest in the field, so that we would have to sell our land to the nobles at a low price. In this way, their land was joined together, and we were transformed from yeoman farmers to tenants, and from generation to generation they were reduced to slavery. ”

"How can this be justified, how can this be justified!" Ji Hu's face was pale, and he smashed the case with a punch, striding around, and a series of roars shook the hall with a buzz: "Moth! All of them are moths of the Great Zhou Dynasty! The food of the king, not thinking about protecting the territory and the people, not thinking about contributing to the society, but for the sake of their own small profits, forcing the common people's industry, is unbearable! ”

In the huge hall, in the face of the thunderous anger of the young emperor, everyone was so frightened that they didn't dare to squeak, and the silence was as quiet as a deep mountain valley, and everyone's breath could be heard.

Wei He had never seen Ji Hu so angry, and he couldn't help but be shocked and excited. A king can so clearly understand the stakes between the security of the country and the livelihood of the common people, and the world can only see it! But for now, it is still necessary to appease the anger of the Son of Heaven, ask things clearly, and then make a decision. He coughed lightly and asked the old man, "If this is the case, why don't you stay in the local area as tenants after you sell your fields?" Instead, flee to Wangzhuang? They are all tenants, so why should they leave their homeland and stay away from the graves of their ancestors? ”

The old man replied in a snort: "This ------ old man, my land was pawned and sold to the priest's family, and his housekeeper was like a wolf and a tiger, and he became a tenant of his family------ not only the rent of the field was two or three percent higher than that of the Zhuangzi next to him, but the steward also made the tenant farmers do private work for him at every turn, and asked for money and people during the New Year's holidays, and he had to increase the rent when he met the beginning. A head of the village humiliates other people's wives and daughters, it is really inferior to beasts! The old man would rather take his wife and children to Wang Zhuang than stay and let others rub them to death! ”

"A mere steward, how dare you go so far?" Ji Hu's face was stormy and gloomy, and he pointed to the person kneeling behind the old man and asked, "What about you?" Did you also sell the land code to the priest? ”

Two or three people responded yes, and a few others said that they sold the land to the Zhou family, and one of them answered differently: "I ------ sold it to the Zhaogong Mansion." ”

Ji Hu couldn't believe his ears: "What did you say? Summoning the public? Is it an auxiliary government to summon the public? ”

The man heard King Zhou's unhappy tone, and hurriedly bowed down and said: "The little one doesn't dare to lie, it is indeed the Zhaogong Mansion, and it is the same as Uncle Baili's suffering." ”

Ji Hu's heart was desolate, and he muttered in a low voice: "The young father is also involved, I am in the world of the Great Zhou, is there really no loyal minister?" His words were so light that no one heard him except Wei He, who was standing close to him.

Wei He whispered and comforted: "Don't worry about the king, summoning the prince of the country to be confined to the state affairs all day long, and these things of taking care of the family property must be handed over to the people below." Negligence is also a common occurrence. ”

Seeing that Ji Hu was silent, but his face was slightly gloomy, Wei He continued to ask: "Tell me how the lords who occupied your land treated the tenants. According to the truth, not a word is allowed to lie. Say it one by one, everyone has to say it. ”

The old man opened his mouth first: "I'm afraid that the king will panic when he hears those things." In the cold winter, the family has no firewood, only relies on a few single clothes to keep out the cold, and children die of frostbite; Because of the heavy rent money, the elderly are reluctant to eat, and some starve to death; That's it, men who have labor, women who have to work in the fields all day long—"

The man who had just mentioned the summoning mansion complained with tears in his eyes: "I am so sick that I have to cough up blood and have to dry, my feet have to dry when I am frozen, and the child is crying heartbreaking and hungry in the house, and I have to dry ------."

"O king, the tenant farmers don't want to fight, but there is a loud government above, and there are wolves, jackals, tigers and leopards thugs Zhuang Tou, and the tenant farmers are screaming to death, and they don't know where to go to complain, and they have been pressed down several times, but they are forced to be more ruthless."

"King, as the saying goes, settle down and relocate, we have no way to ask for help, and sooner or later, the tenants of the sacrificial family will be gnawed to the bone. I have to go to Wang Zhuang, so Wu Zhuang won't force us to death, right? The Baili old man finally concluded.

Ji Hu's fist clenched tightly under his sleeve------

After sending away the Baili old man and the others, Ji Hu's face was so blue that he was afraid. Wei He asked tentatively: "King, what should Wu Laofu and the other Zhuang heads do?" ”

Ji Hu replied angrily: "Lonely and unpro-government, you should ask the young father!" A look of resentment.

Wei He smiled: "This is Wang Zhuang's business, not a national government, and the king can be the master at any time." ”

Ji Hu rubbed his brows, which had been frowning for a long time, and said, "Although they are greedy for some land profits, they are still measured, and they have never persecuted tenant farmers to death. ”

Wei He nodded: "In the past two days, I have walked around, and most of the tenants in this Wang Zhuang have lived a pretty good life. There were no children who sold their daughters, and no one starved to death. Wu Laofu's gang of guys don't seem to be very bold, at most they are thieves who love petty theft. The king's meaning, is that it? ”