"At the end of the year, you have to pay more than 10 catties of grain for summer grain, and 50 or 60 catties of grain for autumn grain, and you have to serve them for ......."

"Lord Bo, you have to take care of it!"

In the field, listening to the complaints of the people, even if Zhu Gaoxu had been prepared, he couldn't help but feel a sour feeling in his heart.

Daming's field endowment is a fixed amount, but the literal levy figures and the actual levy figures are often different.

In the context of this era when it is difficult to train scholars, there are only five nominal officials in a county, and it is impossible to rely on five people to collect taxes, so Zhu Yuanzhang will allow the county to collect 20 to 70 officials.

The salary of the officials is not low, but they can't stand the greed of people's hearts, Zhu Gaoxu remembers that he wrote some stories in the "Hai Rui Collection" he read in his previous life.

If ordinary people want to do something, they need to give some silver taels as gifts to the officials, so as to open up the joints and avoid being troubled.

This situation began in the early Ming Dynasty and became common in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The big and small yamen, whether they are officials or officials, have developed the old rules of suppressing cheap purchases, and taking the needs of the people to do things as a common practice.

When it comes to taxation and transportation in summer and autumn, it is a good opportunity for the filthy officials to get their hands on it.

The people who paid the taxes often had to pay an extra part of the money on the grounds of "fire consumption" to honor the officials in charge to keep them safe.

In addition, there are a large number of helpers to squeeze the people, because the number of officials originally stipulated in the late Ming Dynasty is no longer enough to govern a huge country, so the emergence of helpers is inevitable.

A large number of unstaffed helpers began to obey the orders of the yamen, and these people had no wages, so their daily life depended on oppressing the people to obtain profits, and in addition to that, they colluded with the local gentry.

The gentry and the officials can still be regarded as colluding with each other, but these gangsters are the dogs of the rich and powerful, which is also one of the reasons why the late Ming Dynasty has never been able to collect taxes.

Zhu Gaoxu knew the general tax problems of the Ming Dynasty, and the two years that he came to this world to study with Zhu Yuanzhang made him understand some small problems belonging to this era.

Combining the two, Zhu Gaoxu naturally knew where the burden of the people was, but he didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty had only been founded for more than 30 years, and there had already been such signs in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Looking at his old farmers and people, Zhu Gaoxu knew that there were too many such people in the world.

His heart was sour, but there was no way to sweep them away at the moment, because he didn't have so many people to replace.

"Jin Kui ......"

"Mark it in!"

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, and a hundred household officials beside him responded, and all the peasants looked at them with blank eyes.

"Take a few brothers to Qilinmen to transfer some people, strictly investigate and punish those people that everyone said, and then transfer three brothers from Bohai to serve as grain chiefs and lieutenant chiefs, and Jiangning County Lords, don't let everyone be retaliated against."

"The brothers who have been transferred will still be promoted in two years according to the original payment."

"Yes!" Jin Kuizuo responded, and then trotted all the way back to the official road, and rode a few brothers to the Qilin Gate.

"Wait a minute, I won't let you be retaliated against."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said to the old farmers, at this time, Rao is old farmers are sluggish, but he also knows that the person in front of him is probably not as simple as the main book, after all, he just said that he wants to replace the master of Jiangning County, if he is only the master book, how can there be a reason to replace himself.

Facing Zhu Gaoxu, who did not know his identity, everyone was much more restrained for a while, and Zhu Gaochu also took the opportunity to ask many questions.

During the exchange, Zhu Gaoxu had a deeper understanding of the burden of the people in this era.

It has been a few years since Zhu Yuanzhang migrated to the wealthy households, and those who had migrated had bought many fields in the outer city of Nanjing, and some people had even purchased fields outside the city.

Obviously, Lao Zhu's idea of reorganizing their wealth failed to materialize, and although most of the tens of thousands of wealthy households have become 'commoners' in the capital, there are not a few who take the opportunity to continue to expand their assets.

However, Zhu Gaoxu was not worried, after all, if he wanted to expand his assets in such an era, political donations were very necessary.

When the students of Liaodong raise their heads, it will be time for them to settle accounts with the officials, and the assets of these rich families will be confiscated and finally divided equally.

Only in this way can the strong period of the Ming Dynasty become longer-term, so that a group of talented students in Liaodong and Bohai can improve basic science and enhance national strength.

Zhu Gaoxu thought like this, and an hour passed.

When Jin Kui came, the old peasants' hanging hearts were relieved, because they saw more than 100 armored cavalry brought by Jin Kui.

can mobilize the army, which means that the person in front of them is probably a big man they will never see in their lives.

"Lord, all the offenders have been taken into custody for investigation, and these are the three brothers who will preside over the village and town in the future."

Jin Kui came to the field with three scribes in their early twenties and wearing round-necked robes, and Zhu Gaoxu also said to the three of them when he saw this:

"The three of you need to be pleaded with every day, if anyone is looking for you trouble, ask the brothers to go to the court and give it to me, and I will solve it for you."

"Don't worry about the affairs of Yulu, you just need to do your duty, and then write a note to me every month where the people are in distress."

"The minister and the ......" The three of them responded, and the title made the old farmers behind them dumbfounded.

"Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live......"

The people didn't know the difference between "teaching" and "edict", and when they heard this group of people calling themselves ministers, they all regarded Zhu Gaoxu as the current emperor and knelt down in a row.

"I'm not the emperor."

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't cry or laugh, and then said to Jin Kui: "You take the brothers to escort them home after farming, and I will return to the East Palace first." ”

"Please rest assured, Your Highness!" Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu's identity was almost exposed, Jin Kui no longer hid it, and directly returned the salute.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything, and after appeasing the old farmer for a few words, he returned to the carriage of the official road and recorded today's events in his book.

"Let's go back to the East Palace."

As he spoke, the carriage and the procession also turned back towards the capital, leaving only the old peasants who were looking from afar.

Two hours later, as the carriage drove into the inner city, and it was nearly dusk, the drums of the curfew began to sound.

Listening to the sound of the drum, Zhu Gaoxu got out of the carriage and entered the palace from the Donghua Gate in a golden chariot, and then placed a golden chariot in Chunhe.

It was only when he entered the Chunhe Hall that he saw Empress Xu and Guo Yan sitting together chatting.

"The son of the minister to meet the mother's ......"

Seeing Empress Xu, Zhu Gaoxu bowed five times and bowed three times, and then got up and walked in front of them.

"Outside the city?"

Empress Xu saw Zhu Gaoxu's mud-stained shoe, and asked with a smile while asking:

"I know about you cleaning up Gao Sui this morning, your father came to me to complain, I think you did a good job."

"If it weren't for your father and eldest brother spoiling him on weekdays, he wouldn't have done anything with you, and he said some bastard things."

Compared with Zhu Di's pampering and preference, Queen Xu can understand Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts.

She motioned for Zhu Gaoxu to sit aside, and after he sat down, she explained: "I didn't come today to talk about Gao Sui, I know that you are sure in your heart, so I came to urge you this time." ”

As soon as she said this, Guo Yan, who had been chatting with her for an afternoon, blushed.

Seeing Guo Yan's red face, Zhu Gaoxu knew what was going on, so without waiting for Xu to speak, Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "Don't worry, mother, son-in-law will fight." ”

"It's just that it's not good to say it verbally, Emperor Taizu Gao inherited the Tang system, so the prince can choose to serve two people: two Liangdi, six Liangyuan, ten Chenghui, sixteen Zhaoxun, and twenty-four Fengyi."

"I've been here a few times in your palace, except for the crown princess, there are only two Fengyi, which is really less."

"You and the crown princess should pay attention first, and when you want to choose a concubine for your father next year, you will just fill up the selection for you."

"I'm here today to ask you what you like, and I'll be able to select it for you next year."

Empress Xu just said a few words, which made Zhu Gaoxu feel that her waist was empty.

It is true that he likes beautiful women, but he has been a little tired from years of dealing with government affairs, and if he really fills up the fifty-eight electors, he really doubts that he will follow in the footsteps of his eldest brother.

"Just fill up Fengyi, you can't handle it all with your son."

Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to discuss with Empress Xu, and Empress Xu only scared Zhu Gaoxu, and didn't really plan to find him fifty-eight attendants, so he nodded with a smile: "Then listen to you, just choose twenty-six more Fengyi, you first tell your mother what you like." ”

Empress Xu asked curiously, and Guo Yan on the side also looked at it curiously, after all, she and Zhu Gaochu were politically married, and she couldn't tell what Zhu Gaochu liked.

"It's enough to be slim and plump, and the height should not be less than five feet."

Zhu Gaoxu only said that he had requirements for his figure, after all, the system of selecting concubines in the Ming Dynasty was perfected by Lao Zhu, who traveled from south to north, and it can be said that it is an extremely perfect beauty pageant standard in itself.

From his figure to his posture to his appearance and voice, Lao Zhu's aesthetics need not be said, but there is no woman who can go through the steps of choosing a concubine in the Ming Dynasty, and there is no one who is not good-looking.

"Everyone likes small and delicate, but you actually like tall women."

Empress Xu listened to Zhu Gaoxu's words, and then looked at Guo Yan: "So you are all matched." ”

Guo Yan has been in shape since he was seventeen years old, and he is five feet three inches (169cm) tall, inheriting the genes of the old Guo family, and rarely getting sick, so he also likes Zhu Gaoxu.

After all, he himself is in his early two meters, if he finds one of more than one meter and five according to the standard, then Zhu Gaoxu really can't do it.

"Okay, I'm relieved to know what you like, you guys live your little life, and I won't delay you."

As she said, Empress Xu was not worried about Zhu Gaosui's affairs, but came to inquire about the concubine's request and then got up to say goodbye to Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan sent her out of the palace and got into the car, and only after watching her leave did they detour to the former dormitory.

As Queen Xu said, Guo Yan has also grown up, if Zhu Gaoxu gives birth to a grandson at this age, he will have time to grow up with him, and when the old man retires in the future, at least someone will help him share government affairs, so he can't sleep all night.

But when he couldn't sleep, Zhu Gaosui, who was put on the big church, couldn't sleep at all.

"Zhu Gaoxu, straight thief!"

In the dark room, Zhu Gaosui, who smelled the smell of sweat and almost suffocated him, couldn't help but curse in his heart.

At the moment, he was huddled with ten people on the fire, although it was not very cold, but this 'bad' environment made it difficult for him to sleep, not to mention the snoring next to him.

He wanted to leave after he was taken to the big teaching field today, but Li Shi, Li Qi and others, who were explained, didn't care about his identity as King Zhao at all, grabbed him and began to practice fiercely.

Zhu Gaosui, who was limped by Zhu Gaoxu's kick, survived an afternoon in the abuse of Li Shi and others during training.

He swore that this was the most scolded day in his life, except for his father and mother ancestors who were not greeted, any organ in his body was greeted by Li Shi and others.

"You wait for my dad to react, wait for him to react, he must ......"

With full of hatred, even if Zhu Gaosui hated the snoring sound, he fell asleep unconsciously.

"Beep-"

"Bell, bell, bell!"

In the early morning of the next day, when the wooden whistle and the gong sounded, the soldiers on the kang turned over and got up one after another, and put the mandarin duck battle jackets on their bodies.

After being greeted by Li Shi and the others, they didn't care about Zhu Gaosui's identity as King Zhao at all, and stretched out their hands to shake him awake.

"Bastard, who woke up Lonely!"

Zhu Gaosui had a dream, dreaming that Zhu Di took him back to the palace and asked Zhu Gaoxu to apologize to him.

Just as he was about to hear Zhu Gaoxu's apology, the shaking of the soldiers woke him up, which made him very angry.

It was only when he saw what he saw clearly in front of him that he realized that he was still in the barracks, and the things in front of him were just a dream.

"King Zhao, if you sleep again, you will be trained."

"Hahaha......"

While dressing, the soldiers taunted Zhu Gaosui, making Zhu Gaosui's face blush.

He reluctantly got up and put on the mandarin duck jacket that was full of yesterday's sweat, only to feel uncomfortable.

When he followed the team out of the dormitory and began to line up, his ugliness began to show.

Faced with the command to take a break and turn backwards, he was full of ugliness, attracting many people to laugh at him.

His face was almost red and dripping blood, and the two who came to inspect Li Shi and Li Qi also saw his embarrassed appearance.

"His Highness won't be upset about training him like this, right?"

Li Qi was a little worried, but Li Qi smiled without conscience: "No, Your Highness said, as long as you don't train him to death." ”

"You see, we waited all night, didn't we wait for His Majesty's will, which shows that His Majesty also agrees with His Highness's approach."

"Anyway, as long as you don't die, you will practice to death."

Li lost and took Li Qi to inspect other dormitories, and Zhu Gaosui, who had been trained alone, finally figured out those basic instructions and began to run with the team to the playground.

However, once the team runs, Zhu Gaosui looks out of place, not only in terms of pace, but also in the swing of his left and right arms.

"It's good that it's not a crutch."

On the school platform above the playground, Li Shi, who returned here, glanced at Zhu Gaosui's team with a telescope, and sighed a few times: "It's strange to say, why do the three children born to His Majesty have the courage of ten thousand people?" ”

"You have to ask Your Highness." Li Qi glanced at Li Loss, took a sip of tea from the teacup, moistened his throat, and said:

"After the running, military drill and firearms training of the morning exercise, this King Zhao will not be tired and cry, right?"

"That's not it, it's not a." Li lost standing and talking without backache, but Zhu Gaosui on the playground was like a bellows at the moment, constantly inhaling and breathing, and his lungs and trachea were hot and uncomfortable.

"Hold on, there's still one lap and five miles!"

"Beep-"

The sound of drills and wooden whistles made Zhu Gaosui tired, and he wanted to sit down and rest, but the big teaching field really dared to beat him.

In the first four laps, whenever he stopped, it was a flying kick on his ass and legs, how did he scold angrily, and the response he got was only: "Are you still King Zhao?" You're just a big soldier now! ”

After Li Yan's loud voice, everyone knew that Zhu Gaosui was demoted to the big teaching field because he worked with Zhu Gaoxu.

For the Jurchen Eight Guards who respected Zhu Gaoxu, it was already good that they didn't practice killing Zhu Gaosui yesterday.

Not to mention that his little flag officer wants to kick him, there are at least 10,000 or 20,000 people in the entire big sect who want to kick him.

"Don't wait for me to get out, I'll kill you when I get out!"

"Zhu Gaosui! Are you a? Grinding and chirping! ”

"Take a good look for yourself, how many people are waiting for you here!"

Before Zhu Gaosui's ruthless idea was realized, he was scolded by the officials of the hundred households who had already reached the end of the line.

For a while, thousands of people in the entire playground looked at him, and Rao is Zhu Gaosui thought very highly of himself, and he couldn't help but be stared at and lowered his head.

Gritting his teeth, he finally ran five miles at the end.

Without waiting for him to rest, the hundred household officials immediately ordered: "Go and get the armor and ordnance, and the military formation will be trained in half an hour!" ”

"Yes—"

The response was deafening, but in Zhu Gaosui's ears, it was life-threatening news.

Gritting his teeth, he could only follow the team to get the armor weapon.

Half an hour later, when he wore more than 50 pounds of armor and stood in the middle of the army with a three-pound spear, he only felt that his hands and feet were heavy, and it was very difficult to toss and jump.

He used to think that he was quite brave, but after putting on this heavy armor, he immediately felt that he was inferior to ordinary soldiers.

This was his delusion, because he had not trained in armor, and because he hated the food last night, he was training on an empty stomach at the moment, so he felt weak in his hands and feet.

"Zhu Gaosui, I heard that you dare to do something with His Highness?"

The hundred household officials walked in front of Zhu Gaoxu, looked at him with a flushed face, and couldn't help but mock: "Your Highness is a person who can fight a hundred people in double armor, and you don't want to challenge Your Highness with your strength?" ”

"It's your business!" Zhu Gaosui became angry as soon as he heard the news of Zhu Gaoxu, after all, he would have such an encounter, all thanks to Zhu Gaoxu.

Moreover, when Zhu Gaochu was mentioned that he had killed 100 people, Zhu Gaosui only felt that the place where he was kicked yesterday was still faintly painful.

"Hehe, do you still have the strength to scold people? It turns out that you're not an eggless, so hurry up! ”

The hundred household officials deliberately bullied Zhu Gaosui, but Zhu Gaosui always felt superior in his heart, and gritted his teeth to train.

After holding on like this for two quarters of an hour, when the whistle blew at the end of training, he only felt that his whole body had no strength and lay directly on the ground.

The people next to him saw that he could still gasp for breath, so they didn't bother to pay attention to him, and let him lie down for a quarter of an hour, and then the whistle began to sound.

"Beep-"

"Firearms drill!"

The disgusting whistle and the voice of the hundred household officials sounded, and Zhu Gaosui could only get up in embarrassment, and then lined up according to the array just now.

After he got up, he noticed that there were many wooden targets dozens of paces away, but he didn't care about them, just held his spear and waited for the military order according to the steps he had just trained.

In front of him, soldiers armed with strange weapons passed them and walked to the first row.

"Ready...... Beep! ”

When the whistle sounded, the people next to them began to use fire breakers to help them light the arquebus, and at this time Zhu Gaosui already knew what their weapons were, thinking that Zhu Gaoxu could sing all the way south arquebus.

"Bang Bang Bang-"

In an instant, the smoke filled with smoke, obscuring everyone's view, and the sound of gunfire continued to be heard, and after a long time, the musketeers in front began to retreat.

They crossed over to Zhu Gaosui and the others and came behind them.

"Beep-"

The whistle sounded again, and all the pikemen stuck their spears on the ground and pointed diagonally at the sky.

Zhu Gaosui also painted a scoop according to the gourd, and squeezed together with the pikemen, forming an impenetrable spear array.

It was only when the smoke cleared that Zhu Gaosui saw the wooden target that had been almost completely broken.

"Hiss......" Zhu Gaosui gasped, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at the one-person tall arquebus.

If he had this thing, what kind of fierce general would Rao be, wouldn't he have to die under the gun?

"Boom, boom—"

Suddenly, the cannon rang out, which frightened Zhu Gaosui.

When he heard the sound, he saw that there were hundreds of artillery pieces not far away.

They didn't shoot stone bullets, but air cannon training, but even so, it still made Zhu Gaosui's heart palpitate.

During yesterday afternoon's training, he had already seen the appearance of the artillery firing live ammunition, and all the baggage trucks were pierced by them, not to mention people.

"If you want to rebel, do you have soldiers and horses? Do you have a team? ”

For a while, Zhu Gaoxu's words sounded in Zhu Gaosui's ears, and only then did he understand how big the gap between himself and Zhu Gaoxu was.

Thinking of the rebellious words that Gu Sheng said to himself, it seems so ridiculous in retrospect.

But even so, Zhu Gaosui still disagreed with Zhu Gaoxu, in his opinion, Zhu Gaochu was just lucky.

If he was canonized to the Bohai Sea, he might be able to do a better job than him, but he just didn't have this opportunity.

"Hmph, look at how I get people out of you."

Scanning the Jurchen Eight Guards around, Zhu Gaosui's eyes were greedy.

"If I can control this army, let alone Zhu Gaoxu, even my father will have to talk to me well......"

Zhu Gaosui thought about it, but he didn't want to think about what kind of status Zhu Gaochu actually controlled this army and horses.

"Beep-"

"After the training, return the armor and weapons, and eat in the cafeteria."

It was not until the end of the firearms training that Zhu Gaosui breathed a sigh of relief.

Exhausted, he no longer had the strength to insult, so he could only follow the team to return his armor and weapons, and went to the fifty canteens in the big hall to eat.

After queuing up with a wooden bowl the size of a human face, the barracks food that Zhu Gaosui regarded as filthy yesterday was now more fragrant than the bear's paw he ate in King Zhao's mansion.

A pound of rice, a Yangtze River fish, a spoonful of stir-fried vegetables, a spoonful of small amounts of chicken, and a chicken soup with almost no foam in the oil made up his lunch.

Since the chairs were occupied, he could only go to a tree and squat, squeezing food into his mouth in embarrassment.

It was definitely the worst meal he'd ever had in his life, but it was also the most fragrant meal he'd ever had in his life.

(End of chapter)