Hua Xie Yu looked at the information, thought about it, and said: "The small people who donated the land are cunning and deceitful, which increases the burden of other farmers who honestly farm, and is in the same stream as the gentry who evade taxes. This is the sin of these people who give themselves to the lesser people. Now that we have corrected the tax evasion channels of the gentry, they want to get their land back. ”

"If these small people stay under the gentry, they are gentry who collect land rent cheaply for nothing. The gentry are the main culprits of tax evasion, and it makes no sense for them to benefit. However, if the land is simply returned to the small people who donated the land, it has encouraged the habit of these treacherous small people to take advantage of policy loopholes. There is no punishment for these treacherous acts of land donation. ”

"The land that was surrendered at the beginning was not an ordinary sale, but the stolen goods of the crime of tax evasion. It is a crime for the small peasants and gentry who surrendered their land to unite to evade taxes and entrap other heavily taxed peasants! Once the evidence proves that it is a tax evasion field, all the land will be confiscated. The gentry who evaded taxes were not allowed to keep the land, nor were the small people who gave it to their benefit. The confiscated land was placed under the name of the General Military Administration, and the small people could continue to rent it, but the land rent was one bucket of rice per mu, which was higher than the general tax. ”

Cui Changwu heard Hua Jieyu's words, and arched his hand and said: "My lord is wise, in this way, it not only punishes the gentry who evade taxes, but also educates the treacherous people, and expands the income of the general military government. Hua Xie nodded and said, "Convey our policy to the various courts." If a similar case is encountered, it will be handled in this way. ”

Next, the Dali Temple announced that it concentrated its firepower and began to publicize the benefits of the "Dali Temple Court" in Shandong. King Yan wants to control Shandong, and he doesn't just need to tax Shandong. Of course, commercial taxes and land endowments are very important interests, but at the same time, King Yan also needs to obtain the judicial power of Shandong. Only by controlling the right to adjudicate criminal lawsuits in Shandong Province can King Yan truly expand his power to Shandong.

Judicial power is the premise for various affairs such as public opinion control, tax collection, industry management, and even school management. Without judicial power, what if the local officials directly embezzled King Yan's property in the lawsuit? What should the officials do if they make it difficult for those who support King Yan? Only by abolishing the power of Shandong civil officials to adjudicate lawsuits can King Yan truly establish a fair and just social order in Shandong and show his strength.

Of course, the court of the Dali Temple of King Yan was not only a tool for King Yan's rule, but also a strong pillar for King Yan to establish a fair and just social order for the people. The officialdom of the Song Dynasty was corrupt, and local officials were often influenced by power and favor in handling cases, and the real small people were very easy to be bullied by the powerful in such a social atmosphere. Society as a whole simply does not have convincing security of property rights. If you have the power, you can sue and rob the weak of the industry. A skilled craftsman must spend a lot of money to bribe those in power in order to survive.

In such a social atmosphere, only officials and businessmen can develop. Efficient and advanced production methods and productive forces are made difficult everywhere under the unfair social order, and it will not be long before they will fall apart and return to the original point.

The court of Dali Temple of King Yan gave the people and businessmen a fair and fair social environment. Under the protection of the courts, farmers can rest assured that they can fatten their fields without worrying about the powerful coming to encroach on their good land, and craftsmen and workshop owners can rest assured that they can improve their production and no longer worry about the encroachment of the powerful. Even small traders are able to put more goods on their carts and no longer have to worry about blackmail.

Therefore, the first thing that King Yan wanted to build in Shandong was the court. The announcement of Dali Temple was in full swing and began to introduce the benefits of the court. The social chaos before the court and the order after the court in Yanjing have been reported repeatedly. After the establishment of social order, the people's property and personal security have become safer. Public order has improved, social production has expanded, and the people have become richer.

After Tianjing New City had a court, some classic cases were published and publicized by the Dali Temple bulletin to various places. On this day, in a teahouse in Jinan, the newspaper reader held a newspaper and read it aloud in a low voice: "Before there was no court, the city lord was in chaos, and everything could be robbed." Song Ning, a small oil merchant in Jinghai County, Tianjing New Town, did business at a fair price, and he was not bullied, and his business was good and his life was well-off. But because of his beautiful wife, he was remembered by a thousand households in Jinghai County. This is all bent on bankrupting Song Ning, snatching Song Ning's wife as a concubine, and bribing the servants to do things in front of Song Ning's store every day. ”

Song Ning was worried and frightened, abandoned the family heirloom shop and fled to Tianjing New Town to take refuge, working as a fire-burning man in the restaurant of relatives and friends, and was destitute. One of his sons and a daughter died of illness due to lack of food and clothing. When the tea guests in the teahouse heard this, they didn't react. The officialdom of the Song Dynasty was not as corrupt as it was in the early Ming Dynasty, the social order was very chaotic, and any good things would be remembered. Marrying a beautiful daughter-in-law is very eye-catching, and ordinary people who have no power will have an accident sooner or later if they have a beautiful daughter-in-law.

For Song Ning's encounter, everyone is not surprised and accustomed to it. However, the newspaper article was written here, and the conversation changed. The newspaper reader read: "However, in the third year of Xianping, King Yan opened the Dali Temple Court in Tianjing New Town, and the judges were upright and fair, eradicating the evil and suppressing the powerful, and the social order was gradually established. Song Ning had been cornered, so he took his murder to court with a try-and-see attitude. ”

"Who knew that the court acted impartially, and actually ruled in favor of Song Ning, arrested Du Tou with a fine of 50 canes, and sentenced Du Tou to compensate Song Ning with 120 taels of silver. Song Ning realized that Tianjing New Town had changed greatly, and returned to Jinghai County with his wife to re-operate the oil shop, and now he has become the best oil shop merchant in Jinghai. In March this year, Song Ning's wife gave birth to a son for him again. ”

Hearing the end of the story, the tea guests in the teahouse were very surprised. It is a scandalous thing for a powerful person to take a wife. But at the end of the Ming Dynasty, no one cared about such things at all. Tea customers are small people, and who doesn't want to see such chaos stopped? Unexpectedly, in Tianjing New Town, the people of Tianjing New Town have enjoyed such a just social order.

Everyone looked at each other for a while, and they were all a little embarrassed. Suddenly, someone shouted, "Good! The court of Dali Temple of King Yan is good, when will I have such a court in Shandong? The crowd looked at the shouting tea customers, but no one spoke.

The newspaper reader shook the newspaper and read: ""The rich man is desperate for what happened after his death, and the court of Dali Temple keeps the family business for his heirs" "Zhao Fenting, a pottery merchant in Cangzhou, has been running the 'Zhao Ji Pottery Shop' for 36 years, and the trade has spread all over Cangzhou. Zhao Ji pottery is made of solid materials, fine workmanship, high quality, and the people like it very much, and it is a famous commercial product in Cangzhou, and the goods are even exported to Gyeonggi. Zhao Fenting accumulated 21 branches and thousands of taels of goods, and before his death, he was very worried that he would be divided by traitors after his death, and he was worried that his two sons would not be able to inherit the family property, so he could only force his two sons to take the test to gain fame. The two sons have studied hard for more than ten years, but they have never been admitted to Xiucai. ”

"Zhao Fenting passed away in despair, and before the first seven days passed, his two sons immediately ushered in relatives and friends who robbed the family property, and within a few days they were occupied by sixteen shops, and the 'Zhao Ji Pottery Shop' suddenly collapsed. However, at this time, the court of Dali Temple had become famous, and the two sons of the Zhao family took the robbers to court, and finally won a complete victory. ”

"The Zhao family's family business was finally recaptured, and the descendants of the Zhao family were able to continue to hire men to run the family heirloom 'Zhao Ji Pottery Shop'."

Hearing this, the tea guests in the teahouse cheered loudly. Zhao Ji pottery is a famous commodity in Cangzhou, and some people in Jinan have heard of it. The old business of Zhao Ji pottery shop has been inherited, and it is not only the two sons of the Zhao family who have benefited, but also the people of Cangzhou.

An old man dressed as a businessman stood up tremblingly, his face flushed with excitement, and said loudly: "If the court of Dali Temple protects private property, I, Jiang Jianshen, will be the first to support King Yan to open the court to Shandong!" Everyone glanced at each other, and secretly said that this was Jiang Jianshen, a famous silk merchant in Jinan City. Now the businessmen have also begun to support Yan Wang? On the second day of August, in the county government of Qidong County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong, the gentry and celebrities of Qidong County gathered together, and the second hall of the county government was full.

These bigwigs in Qidong County got together to discuss how to resist the "Dali Temple Court". Now there is only one announcement of Dali Temple left in Shandong, and King Yan can easily influence public opinion in the province. During this period of time, the announcement of Dali Temple hyped up the benefits of the "Dali Temple Court" in Tianjing New Town, published countless cases of the "Dali Temple Court", elaborated on the great changes in Hebei before and after the court, and expounded the great benefits that the people of Hebei got from a fair and equal social order.

Nowadays, more and more people in Shandong are listening to the newspaper. It only costs one or two pennies to listen to a newspaper in a teahouse, and citizens and farmers can afford it. After the official announcement was destroyed, the number of listeners to the announcement of Dali Temple increased considerably. Today, Shandong's influence can be said to have penetrated into every corner of Shandong.

The announcement of Dali Temple is so popular, and it is full of publicity for the "Dali Temple Court", and the people of Shandong have been looking forward to the arrival of the "Dali Temple Court" more and more. Shandong struck while the iron was hot, and the arrangements for the "Dali Temple Court" in Shandong were all published:

In Shandong, the court will have a local court in each county, an intermediate court in each prefecture, and a senior court in Jinan. Dali Temple announcement introduced: If you feel wronged after the lawsuit in the low-level court, you can also file a complaint with the higher court, so that the higher court can invest more manpower and material resources in the investigation and give a more authoritative judgment. As soon as the people who heard the newspaper heard this posture, they knew that such a system ensured that individual judges could not engage in favoritism and irregularities, and they would be more aware of the fairness and justice of the Dali Temple court, and the mood of looking forward to the opening of the court would be more urgent.

The carpet bombing of public opinion propaganda and the court system that really benefited the people made the charm of the Dali Temple court withered. In many prefectures and counties, there are already people who have been oppressed by the powerful and oppressed who are secretly collecting evidence, and they are waiting for the Dali Temple court to go to Shandong to redress their grievances.

This is undoubtedly bad news for Shandong's civil officials. King Yan not only had to control public opinion in Shandong, but also had to compete for the judicial power of the local magistrates. If the local magistrate does not have the power to judge the lawsuit, and the people will appeal to the Dali Temple court as soon as there is a dispute, who will take the magistrate in the eyes in the future?

Is it tolerable or intolerable? However, Yang Peng's soldiers are strong and strong, and he has just cut down more than 100 newspaper writers in Jinan, and it is really dangerous to fight against Yang Peng. Shandong's magistrates, though angry, were collectively silent.

At this time when thousands of horses were in the dark, Wang Siyong, the county commander of Qidong County, decided to stand up. Wang Siyong, a county magistrate, has a reputation for being honest, strictly abiding by etiquette and law, always benevolent and righteous, not greedy for money and not lustful, and is called virtuous by Shandong scholars. Wang Siyong felt that Hua Jieyu couldn't catch any tricks for himself, and other magistrates were afraid of being caught by the Dali Temple announcement, but Wang Siyong was not afraid at all.

In the second hall of the county government in Qidong County, Wang Siyong glanced at the gentlemen and celebrities, stroked his beard and said: "This time this order has summoned you here to discuss the court matter mentioned in the announcement of Dali Temple. Before Wang Siyong's words fell, an old man wearing a silk round collar and gray hair on the left slammed his cane and said loudly: "Even if the county lord doesn't look for us, we also want to find the county lord." Yang Peng, the king of Yan in Hebei, why did he come to Shandong to run a court? He is a king of Yan, does he still have to care about my affairs in Shandong? Is there still a court law in his eyes? ”

He smacked his crutches again and said, "What Yang Peng wants to do is not a court, but to turn Shandong into a second Hebei." Today's announcement, tomorrow's court, the day after tomorrow will be the collection of our tax-exempt fields. I am afraid that the set of things that Yang Peng added to Yanjing will all have to be moved to Shandong. ”

The old man who spoke was a native of Han Ju in Shanqian Township, and he was also a famous figure in Qidong County, known as his prestige. When the gentlemen present heard Han Juren say the word Tian Fu, their faces sank. Hua Jieyu controls public opinion and robs the judiciary, which can be tolerated. But if King Yan finally wants to collect taxes from the gentry in Shandong, he can't bear it.

Look at how miserable those gentry in Hebei ended up after being charged with land endowments? The originally wealthy and prosperous family instantly lost its income and dispersed. In extreme cases, some gentry with many wives and children not only could no longer afford to support their subordinates, but even had a problem with the family having enough to eat.

If the problem of money reaches a certain level, it is a matter of fate. A middle-aged gentleman jumped out and said loudly: "Yang Peng thought that killing more than a hundred people in Jinan would scare my Shandong scholars, but he didn't know that the scholars in my Qilu land were not soft bones. If Hua Jieyu dares to set up a court in Qidong County, I will be copied by Hua Jieyu and the three clans will also take the family to smash the court of Dali Temple. ”

Another Xiucai arched his hand and said: "Even if it is the court of the Yang thief who spattes blood, I will not sit idly by and watch the Yang thief annex Shandong." I want the officials to know that what the Yang thief has done in Shandong has reached the level of common anger of people and gods. ”

The words of the two aroused the applause of the other gentlemen. However, although the other gentlemen present applauded, they were not as excited as these two people. The world knows that King Yan is arrogant and murderous, and even if several talented landlords in Qidong County are killed by Hua Jieyu of Dali Temple, they can't stir up much turmoil, and they can't stop Hua Jieyu from opening the court to Shandong.

If Hua Jieyu scares the other gentry by killing on a killing spree, it will do bad things. Everyone looked at Wang Siyong, the magistrate. Although Wang Siyong is only a county order, he is a well-known incorruptible county in Shandong, even if the governor of Shandong sees Wang Siyong, he has to give him a few points. In Shandong, Wang Siyong has an excellent reputation among the people, and he has been a county magistrate in two counties in Shandong for more than ten years, and his reputation for selflessness is widely spread. The old women in Shandong, who doesn't know that there is a Wang Qingguan in Qidong County?

If Wang Siyong stood up against Li Thief, Yang Thief might still be afraid. Wang Siyong saw that everyone was looking at him, nodded, and said, "I summoned you here to announce the old man's decision. The old man has some reputation in Shandong, and the officials and gentry everywhere give the old man a little thin noodles. Since the old man has received everyone's courtesy, he will never be silent at this critical moment. ”

"Yang Peng, a Yan King, what reason is there to reach out to Shandong? The old man has decided to take the lead against the court of the Yang thief. The old man would soon write to the officials and gentry in various parts of Shandong to call on the entire Shandong gentry to stand up against the court of the Yang thief in his personal name. If the court comes to Qidong County, the old man will rush in with his crutches and fight with the minions of the Yang thief! ”

"Everyone in the world says that the old man is a clean official. The old man wants the world to see clearly how Yang Peng treats the old man, a clean official. "If Yang Peng kills the old man, the old man will die for the people of Shandong!" The people of Shandong will see clearly the face of the Yang thief and see clearly the lies of the announcement of the Dali Temple. The gentry of Shandong shouted in unison and smashed the court of the Yang thief together with the people. As long as the matter is big, the Son of Heaven will also understand the disaster of the Yang thief for the country and the people, and he will definitely send a large army to crusade against the Yang thief. ”

Hua Jieyu listened to the report of the secret guard ambassador Han Jinxin and frowned.

This Wang Siyong, the magistrate of Qidong County, made Hua Jieyu feel a little tricky. This person is not greedy for money and is not good for women, and abides by Confucian etiquette. Although he was born as a gentry, he never favored the gentry and enforced the law impartially when the people and the gentry had lawsuits. Not only that, but this man practiced benevolent government to the people, and although he also exempted the gentry from land taxes with preferential treatment, on the other hand, he never persecuted the small peasants who could not afford to pay the land taxes. Many destitute people have not paid their land arrears for several years, and he will not punish them.

Wang Siyong is in this way, and the land tax collected is naturally less. However, he made a lot of silver from the vassal king's farmland. The feudal kings of Shandong, Zhuangtian, were managed by local officials, and only some of them were given to the feudal kings, and most of them were used by the local officials. Wang Siyong held on to this amount of silver, not allowing his subordinates to embezzle it at will, but handed it over as a field endowment.

In this way, Wang Siyong can barely complete the lower limit of the imperial court's collection of land taxes every year, although the officials are always evaluated lowly, but they will not lose their official positions. Wang Siyong was born and worked for decades, and he has always been a seven-grade county magistrate, but his temper has not changed at all.

Wang Siyong became an official, and the local people naturally praised him, and the people of Shandong called him a Qing official. He has been an official in Shandong for more than ten years, and his reputation is well known to women and children.

Such a person took the lead in opposing King Yan's court, and his influence was very great. Zhong Feng was embarrassed when he saw Hua Jie's words, and said loudly: "My lord, who is not a life?" I led my soldiers to cut him down. Lin Qing'er chirped: "Zhong Feng, use your brains, how rare is it to be such a clean official in today's world?" How high is the status in the hearts of the people? If you go and cut him down, what will the people think of us? When the time comes, as soon as the gentry instigate, there is a possibility of a popular uprising. ”

Zhong Feng said with a smile: "The people's rebellion is the people's rebellion, and the suppression is enough." Lin Qing'er said: "The official position of King Yan is King Yan, and it is unjustifiable for us to infiltrate Shandong in the court." Forget about a smooth handover, if we provoke a large-scale civil uprising, the officials may send troops to crusade against us. When the time comes, hundreds of thousands of us will fight against millions of border troops, and we may not be able to fight them. Even if you can fight, it will go against the original intention of King Yan."

Zhong Feng said with a smile: "Sooner or later, we will fight, so let's fight with the imperial court." Lin Qing'er was stunned and scolded: "Dog kills, if you don't talk nonsense, you're itchy, aren't you?" Zhong Feng's eyes widened, but Hua Xie Yu waved his hand to tell the two not to quarrel. Hua Xie Yu asked Han Jinxin: "Lord Han, it is impossible for this Wang Siyong to conjure up silver from his pocket out of nothing, since he exempted the gentry from the field tax, it is impossible not to hurt the interests of the people." You didn't find out any problems? ”

Han Jinxin has made a lot of contributions to Yang Peng over the years, and Yang Peng has put Han Jinxin in front every time he reports his merits, and now he has been promoted to the commander of the secret guard and served as the general of Yang Peng's army. The official is big, but Han Jinxin is more respectful in front of Hua Jieyu. He thought for a while and said, "My lord, this is indeed a clean official, and his subordinates can't find out the problem." ”

Hua Jieyu thought for a while and said: "He exempted the gentry from the land and did not persecute the poor, and in the end he must be short of silver." If there is a shortage of silver, there will be problems everywhere, so start from here to check. Han Jinxin said again: "The yamen of Qidong County is indeed poor, and a signing room collapsed in the county yamen the year before last, and it has not been built until now. The monthly money of the officials in the yamen is enough to feed and clothe these people. Even the city wall of the county town was washed down by heavy rain and there was no money to repair it, and later Wang Siyong called on the gentry to contribute money and the people to contribute to make up the city wall. ”

When Lin Qing'er and Zhang Xiang heard Han Jinxin's words, they glanced at each other, their faces full of surprise. I didn't expect that there was such a clean official in the Great Song Dynasty, which was really an exception. However, such an alternative is always a gentry person, and he still has to fight to the death with King Yan. Hua Xie snorted coldly and said, "Helping the gentry evade taxes, this is stealing the country's finances." Putting on the posture of a clean official everywhere, deceiving the world and stealing fame, it seems that he does not persecute the small people, but in any case, he cannot cover up the lack of financial funds after tax evasion for the gentry. If there is no problem here, there will be a problem. ”

Han Jinxin thought for a while, and then said: "The road post station and port terminal in Qidong County have not had money to repair them over the years, and they are very dilapidated. The academy in the county is also in tatters, but the scholars have not complained because of the reputation of the county order. ”

Hua Xie Yu nodded and said: "These are not enough to make the people angry, think about it again, has there been any major incident in Qidong County because of lack of money." Han Jinxin arched his hand and said, "My lord, wait a minute, I'll go down and ask those informants from Qidong County." Hua Xie Yu nodded, and Han Jinxin retreated. After an hour, Han Jinxin ran back sweating.

"My lord, I have a question, I asked it." Hua Xie Yu nodded and asked, "How?" A servant who was dismissed by Wang Siyong because of alcoholism said that the embankment of the Daqing River in Qidong County was broken, and the local gentry proposed to repair it on a large scale the year before last. But Wang Siyong had no money, so he only strengthened it in key parts. As a result, last year, a river embankment burst in the Great Flood, and although the people made concerted efforts to rescue and make up for it, the flood gushing out still drowned more than 60 people. ”

"This flood is considered a natural and man-made disaster, and most people don't pay attention to it. Only the officials who knew the inside story knew that the old embankment breach was caused by lack of money and not repairing. Hua Xie Yu laughed and said: "This Qidong County's finances are like this, and it is impossible for the gentry to have no problems." This Wang Siyong deceived the world and stole his name, and he just demolished the east wall to make up the west wall. More than 60 people were killed at once, and we helped him publicize and publicize it, but he couldn't do it as a county order. ”

"Huan Yihua, the announcement of Dali Temple in the past few days has been full of firepower, and it is good to report on Wang Siyong's affairs. Talk about how Qidong County is in dilapidation day by day because of his self-righteousness, talk about the impact of the disrepair of roads and wharves on the economy, and talk about the impact of paying taxes on the national finances every year with the lower limit. ”

"The most important thing is to let the people of Shandong understand that the more than 60 lives drowned in the flood were all caused by this Wang Siyong's fame!"

Huan Yihua agreed loudly, and then pulled Han Jinxin down to write a report. On 11 August, in the slightly depressed county seat of Qidong County, a newsboy ran down the street with his head down, trying to deliver the newspaper to various teahouses. A small trader who knew the newsboy suddenly grabbed the newsboy and asked, "Liu Xiaoer, what is the newspaper talking about today?" ”

The newsboy's face turned white, and he didn't answer the vendor, but lowered his head and wanted to run. But the little trader would not let the newsboy go, and dragged him and asked, "Don't run!" What's being reported today? Is there any big news? Liu Xiaoer looked in the direction of the county office, his body trembled, and he leaned into the ears of the small trader and said: "Brother Zhang, something big happened today, and today's headline is "Qidong County County Commander Wang Siyong deceived the world and stole his name, killing sixty-two innocent people." ”

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.