"In that case, I wonder if you can show me the scale book?"

Seeing that Li Xiao let down his vigilance, Chen Yizhong put forward his own request.

Li Xiao's eyes moved slightly, revealing a little nervousness: "Fish Scale Book? Could it be that Chen Yushi still has doubts about my work?"

"It's not. ”

Chen Yizhong saw the other party's thoughts, and immediately shook his head with a smile, so as to reassure the other party: "It's just that I uphold the name of the prime minister and go to various places to check, in order to ensure whether the Gongtian Law is really going smoothly? Then he spread his hands again, so he complained as embarrassed: "Of course, if you are afraid, you can also watch from the side, right? After all, I also have to give an explanation to the prime minister, if I just turn around and leave, won't I lose the way to be an official?"

"Okay, then I'll get the scales. ”

When Li Xiao heard the name of Najia Rudao, although he refused in his heart, he could only accept it helplessly, and ordered his subordinates to go into the warehouse, and soon filled a carriage with account books and pulled it to the front of the hall.

Chen Yizhong's eyes lit up, he walked up, took out a fish scale book from it, and said, "That's all?"

"That's right. The situation of a total of 36,782 households in Pingjiang Prefecture is recorded here. Li Xiaolang replied.

This fish scale atlas was compiled by the Song Dynasty in order to be able to levy and determine the ownership of land, and it was also one of the important means for the Song Dynasty to maintain its own rule.

In this fish scale album, because the fields and ponds are arranged one after another, and the hills and sections are drawn together, indicating all people and four solstice, it is called "fish scale atlas" because it resembles fish scales. It is also known as "fish scale book", "fish scale map", "fish scale book", "fish scale book".

And if we want to implement the public land law, we must naturally have a basis, otherwise if we rush to expropriate it, won't it be a mess?

It is precisely for this reason that Chen Yizhong will ask to check the fish scale book.

Chen Yizhong looked at this pile of fish scale books, and couldn't help but hesitate, there were too many fish scale books, and if he was alone, he was afraid that he would not be able to check them in a short time, so he had to ask: "By the way, do you know where the fish scale books of the Cheng clan are?"

"The Cheng family, may I also ask Chen Yushi, what you are asking for is not the family of Prime Minister Cheng Yuanfeng Cheng today?" Li Xiao was obviously stunned, looking at Chen Yizhong's expression, obviously a little scared.

Chen Yizhong smiled softly: "What's the matter? Can't I check it?"

"No, it's just that the Cheng clan is not trivial, and I think Chen Yushi doesn't need to pay attention to it, doesn't it?" Li Xiao tried hard to squeeze his face, trying to make himself laugh.

Chen Yizhong snorted lightly and reprimanded: "I have my own plans for this matter, you don't need to dissuade it." With a threat in his eyes, he warned: "And do you really think that I don't know what you've done? If it's reasonable, I might let you live, and if you don't know how to lift, then don't blame me for not knowing how to lift." ”

"This!"

Li Xiao obviously wanted to say something, but seeing that the other party was not good, he had to keep his mouth shut.

After retreating, Li Xiao saw that the officials around him were all standing restlessly, and waved his hand and shouted: "What are you doing in a daze? Why don't they all come up to work?"

The group stepped forward together and began to rummage through the information on it.

After getting the help of this group of people, Chen Yizhong quickly found the fish scale book, flipped through the information in it, and couldn't help laughing: "Only thirty hectares of good land? I didn't expect this Cheng family to be a poor and obedient family?"

According to the regulations promulgated by the Song Dynasty, a first-grade official can own 50 hectares of fertile land, and according to the grade decrease, each drop will be reduced by 5 hectares, so that the nine-grade official is only 5 hectares.

Cheng Yuanfeng is the prime minister, and only thirty hectares is indeed quite conscientious.

Li Xiao didn't say a word, but there was a little disdain on his face.

Chen Yizhong looked in his eyes and asked suddenly, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Since this is a record, there can be no mistake. ”

Li Xiao was shocked in his heart, and hurriedly opened his mouth to reply, as the person in charge of the fish scale book, he naturally knew what the data in it was, but he didn't dare to seriously explain the reason inside.

Chen Yizhong smiled, flipped the fish scale book in his hand, and replied: "Since this is the case, then I will take this fish scale book." ”

Although Li Xiao wanted to stop it, he couldn't screw the other party after all, so he could only watch the other party's fish scales in his arms.

"It's still early at this moment, and Governor Li must still have important things to deal with, so I won't accompany you, so let's say goodbye. After getting what he needed, Chen Yizhong waved his hand at Li Xiao and left from here.

Li Xiao saw all this in his eyes, although the wind was gentle and the sun was shining, he felt as if he was in a storm, and he found that Wang Rui and asked him to send the news to the Cheng clan, so that they could be prepared.

Here, after Chen Yizhong left the prefect's yamen and established a card, he rented a small boat, and did not recruit anyone to help, so he supported the pole by himself, with a leisurely attitude, as if he wanted to take advantage of this leisurely time to appreciate the prosperity of Pingjiang Mansion.

This kind of appearance also made Wang Rui, who got the news, feel confused, and he didn't know what the other party's plans were, so he could only convey the news to the patriarch of the Cheng clan and let him prepare.

Hearing the news, although the patriarch was a little nervous, he didn't take it seriously, thinking that the other party was just a corrupt official, and wanted to take this opportunity to blackmail himself, and then extort some money, so he sent his subordinates to look around, wanting to find Chen Yizhong, and then plug the other party's mouth.

At this time, Chen Yizhong also held the boat and came to the place where the Cheng family's farmland was located.

When he came to this time, he saw a young man standing on the shore, and the man jumped into the lake.

Chen Yizhong looked strange, and immediately helped the man and rescued him.

The man didn't know why, although he was rescued, he still kept struggling, and his mouth kept shouting, "Why did you save me?" , "Let me die" or something like that.

This performance made Chen Yizhong more interested, and asked: "You are also a young man with sound hands and feet, why did you seek death?"

"Hmph, even if I live, what can I do? Fortunately, after a year of hardship, there is not much food left, and I am hungry myself, and there are three good children and mother-in-law at home to eat. In this case, you let me do chores? Why don't you just jump into the river and get rid of it!"

"Well, I walked along the road and saw that the crops were growing vigorously, even though they were only three or five acres, although they were not rich and rich, but they could also get by. Why do you say you can't eat?"

Chen Yi was overjoyed, secretly said that this was the case, and continued to ask.

The man snorted lightly and scolded directly: "Eat enough, even if you can eat well, it's just delusional to want to eat enough!"

"If that's the case, could it be that your family has too little land to get enough of it? In that case, can you tell me that the field is yours? Perhaps, I have a way to help you solve it?" Chen Yizhong pointed to the fertile fields on the bank of the river and opened his mouth to ask.

He had read the fish scale book before, and knew that all these fertile fields belonged to people with owners, so he asked this question.

The man shook his head and vetoed directly: "Fields, where are there any fields, these lands are all owned by the Cheng family, we are also a tenant, where do we have our own good land?" When he talked about this, he was a little envious.

If he could have his own fertile land, why did he become like this?

Chen Yizhong said strangely: "All of them are from the Cheng family, I don't know what to say?"

"You don't know, but this is a well-known thing to us. The man opened his mouth and replied, looked up and down, and then realized: "I almost forgot, you are not a local, so naturally you don't know these things!"

"But I remember, because of the newly promulgated public land law of the imperial court, all these fertile fields have been sold, why do they still belong to the Cheng family?" Chen Yizhong asked.

The man shook his head and replied, "Hmph, it's just a gimmick." The Cheng clan just hung this fertile land under our heads, and it actually belonged to them. And you don't know, in the past, we only had to give 40% of our income to their family, but since then, because we have more fields in our name, we have to give the remaining 40% to the official land! 10% of the income, and in the end only 20% is left? In this way, how do you let us live?"

He is just an ordinary man, and it is already the limit of three or five acres of land on weekdays, and after paying the Cheng family, the food he gets is barely able to survive, but when he is made by that official field, it is really a problem to even eat.

"Sure enough!"

Chen Yixin sighed secretly and asked again: "Although this is the case, since the Cheng clan has hung the land under your head, haven't you thought of resisting?"

"Hmph. But you don't know that although the Cheng clan frankly said that they would hand over the land to us, they asked us to sign the Qingmiao money, saying that it was to buy the land, otherwise we would refuse to trade. Even though the land belongs to us, because of this thing, we will still give them four of the grain we get every year, and it will not change at all from before!"

"I see?"

Chen Yizhong sighed secretly, it seems that the Cheng clan, how could they obediently act according to the law, and naturally they would come up with various means to avoid these restrictions.

"In that case, you didn't think of resisting?"

"Resist? How to resist? The Cheng clan is huge, there are hundreds of young people in the clan alone, how can a person with a foreign surname like me fight? Moreover, the other party has even more people in the court, and he can't fight at all. ”

With unwillingness, the young man seemed to be still venting his dissatisfaction.

Chen Yixin sighed slightly, and sighed in a low voice: "Sure enough, is this Gongtian method really ineffective?"

Everywhere he went, everyone he saw was extremely insulting about it, especially the people at the bottom, which made him wonder if he should wade into this troubled water.

"In that case, then you should keep those green seedling money and the land deeds of the transaction, in that case, why don't you show me?"

took advantage of the situation and put forward his own requirements, and Chen Yizhong looked at the other party a little nervously.

The man also felt that Chen Yizhong was not a bad person, so he naturally closed his head and replied: "Okay, then you can come with me." ”