Bidding farewell to Jia Rudao, Chen Yizhong left Lin'an, but came to Pingjiang Mansion, which was hundreds of miles away from here.

The terrain of Pingjiang Mansion is gentle, because it is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the sea breeze blows a large amount of water vapor, resulting in the staggered river and port in its territory, and the water transportation is extremely developed, and many lakes have been formed, the most famous are Taihu Lake and Cao Lake in the west corner, Dianshan Lake and Cheng Lake in the east, Kuncheng Lake in the north, Yangcheng Lake, Jinji Lake and Dushu Lake in the north.

In the past, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal excavated by Emperor Yang of Sui ran through the entire urban area.

With this unique condition, this Pingjiang Province is a famous high-yield rice area, and agriculture is also quite developed, and it is known as "the water town Zeguo", "the granary of the world", and "the land of fish and rice".

Since the Song Dynasty, it has the reputation of "Suhu is ripe, and the world is full".

Renting a small boat, Chen Yizhong boated on the river, looking at the scenery on the shore, but it was a little strange, after all, in the cultivated farmland, few people worked, and this moment was the most important time for spring ploughing, which made people look too weird.

"Boatman, if I'm not mistaken, it should be spring ploughing time now, why can't there be any people in the farmland?" Pointing to the riverbank, Chen Yizhong asked.

"Alas. Isn't it the Guantian who caused the harm?"

"What's going on?"

Chen Yizhong was a little surprised, the official land was set up by the imperial court, and its purpose was to purchase public land so as to revitalize agriculture, so as to enrich the treasury and not cause the imperial court to run out of money and grain.

According to what he had done before, when the public land law was implemented, this farmland should be a busy scene of people coming and going, and it should never be the withered scene in front of him.

The captain chuckled lightly and replied, "Ha, it seems that you should be a guest from Lin'an, no wonder you don't know these things." Pointing to the large field that had already been overgrown with weeds, the fisherman looked angry: "It's not that the official field has been made, so we don't dare to farm?" At this moment, he was at a loss, looking at the barren field, and sighed: "It's just a pity that such a good fertile land has been abandoned like this!" ”

"Why did you abandon it?" Chen Yizhong said strangely.

Since ancient times, farmers have not been able to farm land, and they have only heard of reclamation, but they have never heard of abandonment.

The captain shook his head and said, "Why don't you abandon the wasteland?

"How can this be the case?" Chen Yizhong asked.

"You are an official of Lin'an Jing, so you must also know the Gongtian Law. ”

Chen Yizhong nodded, indicating that he knew, and the fisherman also continued: "The imperial court stipulates that if each household owns more than 100 acres of fertile land, it needs to sell the excess land to the government, and it is not allowed to hold it privately, you should know this." ”

"Of course, I know that. ”

Chen Yizhong frowned slightly and nodded.

The law was established to discourage mergers and to be able to purchase more farmland and thus solve the problem of financial pressure.

"That's good. Do you know how much the government will pay for one acre of land?"

Chen Yizhong asked in a low voice, "Two hundred?"

Before coming here, he did an investigation and knew that the purchase price of the land was based on 200 guan per mu as a subsidy.

"Two hundred? Wrong, wrong! It's forty yuan! You know, these are all good land, and they are not sold to the government, but they are sold to other people, and they are worth 400 yuan. The man stretched out four fingers, shook them in front of Chen Yizhong's eyes, and saw a look of disbelief on his face, and added another sentence at the end of the day: "And what Guantian gave is not money, it is all degrees, confessions, and meetings." You say, isn't this tantamount to robbing openly? I'm not a monk, so what's the use of asking for that kind of resignation and resignation?"

Chen Yizhong was stunned for a moment, and shouted directly: "Isn't this equivalent to a robbery?"

It was only at this time that he understood why Cheng Yuanfeng would oppose this public land method.

"Isn't it? It seems that this "nothing" method has been done by the Guantian Office. Poor I used to have some land, but all the people in the official field were taken away, so I had no choice but to get a small boat, and I relied on helping people to ferry to earn a few mouthfuls of food on weekdays. ”

Probably too angry, the captain picked up the oars and stirred in the river, as if he was the owner of the official field and wanted to kill him completely.

"Alas. I used to be a good farmer, and I managed more than 30 acres of land in one day. It's a pity that those 30 acres of land are gone now!"

"No, but you only have thirty acres of land, how can you also be confiscated?"

"Hmph. It's not that the official covets my farmland, so he specially reported some more land in my name, which just met the standard. Then I lost my own land, so I could only make a living by fishing and ferrying people on this Taihu Lake. ”

Chen Yizhong stared at it and saw that the man's hands were covered with calluses, and there were some fine scars on them, which was obviously the hand of an authentic farmer.

"Alas, it seems that this public land law is indeed harmful. It's just that the rich businessmen and gentry? Isn't it that they have also been confiscated from their wealth?"

"How is this possible?"

The captain shook his head again and again, revealing a little annoyance: "You also know that those people are either relatives of those high-ranking officials and nobles, or several, and there are several officials in Lin'an. How dare the group of people who bully the good and fear the evil in the Guantian Institute dare to provoke?"

"Yes!"

Chen Yizhong was extremely gloomy, his family had been quite poor since he was a child, and he naturally knew that for those officials, these low-class people who had no ability to resist were the best targets for bullying.

While the two were talking, the fishing boat also came to the Heian Mansion.

This Heian Mansion is worthy of the "Venice of the East", many waterways have been opened up from the city, both sides of the waterway are made of bricks and stones, several feet above the water surface, wide enough to accommodate four or five people walking side by side, and there will be an arch bridge every other distance to facilitate people to walk.

On the river, many students are gathering.

These students walked out of the city in groups with paper umbrellas and baskets in their hands, with delicate snacks in the baskets.

At this time, it is the beginning of spring, the weather is cool, and everything is relapsing, which is a good time to visit spring.

But haven't they noticed the changes that are hidden in the darkness?

Chen Yixin sighed secretly, and the sorrow between his eyebrows never dissipated: "Boatman, you should dock in front." “

"Howler. “

The captain sang, and only gently supported the bamboo pole in his hand, and the boat stopped steadily on the edge of a slipway.

Coming down from the boat, Chen Yizhong took out some silver taels: "This trip, thanks to you, was able to talk to me so much." That's a treat for you. “

"It's a few words, and it's not important. The captain was not hypocritical, he accepted it calmly, and when he was about to leave, he instructed again: "It's just that you need to be careful." After all, according to the attitude of those people, if you provoke the other party, I am afraid that it will be difficult to get out. Got it?"

"Thanks for the reminder, I remember. “

Chen Yizhong replied, and there was a trace of fear in his heart.

This is the place under the jurisdiction of the other party, and they have no other reliance except for the identity of a Beijing official, not to mention that there may be more existence hidden behind the other party, and now that they hear that they are coming, they will definitely carry out all kinds of actions, if they ignore it, they are afraid that it will cause more trouble.

With worries, Chen Yizhong did not arrive at the mansion in a hurry, but was wandering around.

He didn't let the people in the city notice, but he let the catchers in the dense city pay attention to him, and quickly reported it to the prefect of the city.

"You say that guy is only hanging around the city?" Li Xiao asked.

Regarding the movements of Lin'an, he has always kept it in mind, and he has placed eyeliner in Lin'an, so that he can control the movements of Lin'an, so when Chen Yizhong has not yet left to arrive at Pingjiang Mansion, Li Xiao already knows about this person, and then he sketches and paints a picture album to let his subordinates pay attention to whether this person appears in the city.

No, Wang Rui, the head catcher in this city, quickly noticed the existence of the other party.

"That's right. And the man didn't buy anything, and it was just a stop-and-go along the way, which made my subordinates a little lucky. Wang Rui complained: "It's just that I'm curious, what is the other party's origin that makes you so afraid?"

"It's not a big deal, but it's an eyesore after all. In order to avoid being discovered by him, you should keep an eye on him, you know?" Li Xiao advised: "Otherwise, after being reported to Lin'an by this person, we are afraid that our heads may fall to the ground, understand?"

"The subordinates understand. “

Wang Rui was obviously taken aback, and quickly opened his mouth to reply, leading the order to leave the place.

Seeing Wang Rui leaving, Li Xiao also breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly thought: "Chen Yizhong, who are you? Could it be that you are really a legendary figure that Ding Daquan can't fight against, just since you are here today, then I can't let you find out about these things, otherwise I won't be in danger!"

After more than ten years, although the matter of the Six Gentlemen of Taixue has long been forgotten, it is still deeply engraved in the heart of those who have witnessed all this.

Li Xiao is also the witness of the year, knowing that Chen Yizhong is not an ordinary person, but a person who will not give up until he achieves his goal, otherwise why would he be so close to the enemy?

After carefully considering these things, Li Xiao's mind was surging, but he didn't dare to slack off, even when he was sleeping at night, he didn't sleep peacefully, after all, the other party would come to visit at any time, and he couldn't sneer at the other party.

Sure enough, on the second day, Li Xiao got up from the bedroom, pushed open the door and was about to ascend to the office. , but I saw that there was a person sitting in front of the desk.

"Who are you?"

Li Xiao had just woken up from his sleep at this moment, his spirit was a little sluggish, and when he was about to scold the other party, he saw that the man slowly raised his head, staring at himself with clear eyes.

This time, Li Xiao's whole body naturally seemed to be thrown into the ice water to the bone, and his whole body was cold.

"It turned out to be Lord Chen Yushi, but I don't know why Lord Chen is here today?"

There was a Song Dynasty, although the imperial history of the Cheng was in charge of the picket of hundreds of officials, but because of many restrictions, especially it is very easy to offend people, so ordinary people are not willing to hold this position.

Chen Yizhong was given this official position, and he is obviously also a representative of being left out in the cold.

But for Li Xiao, this is not the case in the imperial history, no matter what the other party is, he is also an official position from the third grade, but it is much stronger than his official position from the fourth rank of the prefect of Pingjiang Mansion.

He still has the idea of continuing to improve, so he naturally doesn't want to offend the other party and block himself for no reason.

Only then did Chen Yizhong raise his head, glanced at Li Xiao as if he was a little reproachful, and immediately complained: "I said Governor Li, it's already three quarters now, and the sun is already hanging in the sky, are you just here now?" In the words, there is no hiding rebuke.

Li Xiao's face was bitter, and he couldn't help but lower his head, and defended: "Chen Yushi, it's not that I don't want to, it's really that I worked too long yesterday, and I didn't rest until the end, so I delayed the time, and I also ask Chen Yushi Mingjian, don't let the loyal ministers be wronged!" He didn't dare to say that the reason why he got up so late was only because he was planning countermeasures with his subordinates.

"So that's the case? Then tell me, what is it that makes you so anxious that you have to fight at night?" Chen Yizhong smiled at the corner of his mouth and continued to ask.

Li Xiao sighed slightly in his heart, "This guy is amazing, he actually asked this question directly?" , Fortunately, he had already prepared for it, so he said the previously typed draft: "Qiyu Chen Yushi is mainly about Tian Fu." There was pain in his voice, as if he also had a lot of grievances, just hoping to impress the person in front of him.

"You also know that I have just gone on a northern expedition, and the treasury has been exhausted of money and taxes, if it continues like this, I am afraid that there is a danger of collapse, in order to prevent such a thing from happening, I naturally sleep at night, and I dare not have a trace of slackness, just to be able to complete this matter in time, don't let this kind of thing happen. “

His sonorous voice, coupled with that vivid expression, really makes people feel that the person in front of him is a rare Qing official in the sky.

"I see? I've been thankful for you all these days. “

Chen Yizhong smiled, and even bowed to the other party, indicating his recognition of the other party's work.

He has also been tested by officialdom for a long time, so he naturally doesn't think that the other party is really like this, but if he is polite, he will too, so he might as well give the other party a look, which can be regarded as lowering the other party's vigilance.

"It's just that you don't have to forget, we are parents and officials, although we need to complete the task given by His Majesty first, but maybe to protect the water and soil of one side, and protect the safety of the people, you know? After all, water can carry boats and overturn boats, if the people are forced to hurry, then we will be unlucky. Got it?"

"What the imperial history said, the subordinates must take it to heart. “

The sonorous and powerful answer seemed to be proving himself to Chen Yizhong, but for Chen Yizhong, these superficial statements were still too weak after all, and he was still thinking about the purpose of his coming here.

"Is it really possible to find the key to a breakthrough here?"

Falling into contemplation, Chen Yizhong didn't know whether what he said and did was correct, that is, the impassioned impeachment of Ding Daquan back then, and now it has become a stagnant water, this situation makes him start to be afraid, and he doesn't know what he will become.