Chapter 118: People collect money to meet Ouyang Lun, and I will take care of it (please subscribe!!)
After seeing the benefits of cement roads in Yong'an Mansion, Zhu Yuanzhang began to plan to build cement roads near the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, he did not do it himself, but chose to cooperate with "Kaiping Construction", but "Kaiping Construction" only provided road construction For materials and technical support, the road construction workers had to be found by the court itself. Naturally, Zhu Yuanzhang could not offer high wages like Ouyang Lun. Of course, even if he could, Zhu Yuanzhang would be reluctant to give up, but this matter could not stop Zhu Yuanzhang.
According to Zhu Yuanzhang's logic, this cement road was not built for me, Zhu Yuanzhang, but for all the people of Ming Dynasty. You people of Ming Dynasty must do your best!
Then with a wave of his hand, he recruited corvees! !
Recruiting corvees for road construction is a basic operation of the past dynasties. I have never seen the emperor give money. It is excellent to be able to take care of the food. In most cases, not only do you have no money to be a corvee, but you also have to prepare your own dry food!
The same is naturally true for Ming Dynasty. This is the basic operation.
As a result, the Ming Dynasty began to recruit corvees from all over the country to build roads. Everything was normal, just recruiting corvees from around the capital was enough. , repairing canals, transporting food, etc. all need people.
Normal corvee work can only be used to build cement roads. In order to store dams, build canals, and transport food to disaster areas, the court has insufficient manpower. The scope of corvee work is getting larger and larger, and it is getting heavier and heavier!
In the early Ming Dynasty, corvees were organized according to households and so on, so they were all assigned corvee, so they were also called "equal corvee". Corvees included Lijia officials and miscellaneous servants. Miscellaneous servants were servants for local government and were dispatched by Lijia households. .
The law of egalitarianism sets household rules based on the number of people and the amount of tax and grain. The servants are assigned uniformly. Those with more grain and grain are assigned to the upper household, and are classified as the middle household. Those with the smallest amount are classified as the lower household. One household may be compiled into one household, or several households may be compiled into one order of rounds is often scheduled at the same time as Lijia, once every ten years or every three to five term of service is in the fifth year after the completion of full-time service in terms of specific implementation, there are slight differences between the north and the south. The south uses Dingtian as the benchmark, and the north uses Dingliang as the benchmark.
Licha means that the service households personally serve. Common names include servants, jailers, disciples, grooms, postmasters, etc. Most of them are in the local area, and the gentry has the privilege of exemption from service.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, there was no problem with this. The people had the responsibility to contribute to the construction and development of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, Yong'an Mansion also received a task from the court to send more corvees.
Ouyang Lun would not care about these matters, and left all the power to Zhao Tianming, the general magistrate of Yong'an Prefecture. And Zhao Tianming had no way to deal with the corvee. This was all decided by the imperial court, and every place had to follow it.
Therefore, the Yong'an Mansion Yamen issued a notice in accordance with the wishes of the court. However, the task of sending additional corvees had been issued, which aroused strong resentment among the people!
"Why is there corvee again? Wasn't it already done once this year?"
"Yes, I remember it very clearly. This year's corvee has already been levied. My neighbor's child has already gone to serve. Why is it still being levied?"
"Who dares to refuse the order of the imperial court? As mentioned in the announcement, the Ming Dynasty now needs to build roads, canals, and dams, and also needs to send grain and grass to the disaster areas. We also need people for the war in the north, so we have to collect corvees for the second time. of."
"Hey - a corvée service lasts for at least several months. Not only is there no salary, but you also have to spend your own money to eat. How much does it cost?"
"My current salary is five taels, and the construction site also takes care of food and accommodation. I can save 60 taels in a year. If I have to do corvee and waste time, I will lose at least 100 taels of silver."
"We can't just think about ourselves. The country has problems now, and we, as ordinary people, have to do our part. It would be great if there were other ways."
"Dare to escape the corvee? That is a violation of the Ming Dynasty's criminal law! We will arrest you without any discussion!"
"That is, once you escape the corvee and join the village, it will not only harm your family, but also affect the entire village."
"I heard that those who escaped from corvee service were either caught by the government and exiled to the army, starved to death outside, or fell into trouble as bandits. In short, none of them had a good ending."
"It is our responsibility to contribute to the country. There is nothing to say, but the corvee is too heavy and puts too much pressure on ordinary people like us. Even the emperor must be reasonable!"
"How about we ask Mr. Ouyang? He is a powerful man. Maybe he has a way?"
"It is true that Mr. Ouyang is capable, but he is just a local magistrate. In our eyes, he is a high official. But compared with the emperor, how can he speak for himself?"
As soon as these words came out, the people gathered outside the Yamen bulletin board became sluggish one by one, and their eyes dimmed, as if they had suddenly lost their disappointment.
"I heard that Mr. Ouyang is still a prince-in-law! That is His Majesty the Emperor's son-in-law. Is there still a chance for the son-in-law to beg his father-in-law?"
"What you say makes sense!"
"If Mr. Ouyang is willing to speak for us, maybe there is a solution to this corvee!"
"Let's go to the government office to find Mr. Ouyang."
Soon a large group of people headed towards the government office.
Among the crowd of common people, Mao Xiang and Xiaohu were also there.
"Boss, the consort Ouyang Lun has a very high status in the eyes of the people!" Xiaohu said with emotion.
"What's the use of high status? Corvee is the foundation of the country. Even if Ouyang Lun goes to ask His Majesty, Your Majesty will never agree to reduce it." Perhaps because he saw Ouyang Lun's too many successes, Mao Xiang actually hoped to see Ouyang Lun in his heart. Fail once.
He also had a headache recently. The two princes, King Yan and King Xiang, came to Yong'an Mansion. On the one hand, he had to find a way to protect the safety of the two princes. On the other hand, he had to keep an eye on the two princes to avoid being ruined by Ouyang Lun. If something happened to the two princes in Yong'an Mansion, he might not be able to return to the capital in his lifetime, and he would have to find a way to collect relevant information about Ouyang Lun.
"Let's go and have a look!" Mao Xiang whispered, and then he and Xiaohu mingled with the crowd of people and headed towards the government office.
Perhaps due to their aversion to corvee service, more and more people joined the crowd, and soon the Yong'an Mansion Office was surrounded by water.
"What are you doing here?"
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Zhao Tianming hurriedly came out to take a look. He was frightened when he saw a dark area full of people outside the Yamen.
"Master Zhao, we want to see Master Ouyang!"
"Yes, we want to see Mr. Ouyang!"
"Everyone, I am Zhao Tianming, general judge of Yong'an Mansion. Some of you should know me!" Zhao Tianming said quickly: "If you have anything, you can tell me! Let's not disturb Mr. Ouyang, okay?"
Zhao Tianming said with a smile.
"Mr. Zhao, we know that like Mr. Ouyang, you are a good official who cares about our people. However, it is useless to ask you for this matter today. Your official is too young and you will definitely not be able to control it!"
"That's right, I have to ask Mr. Ouyang for help with this matter!"
Hearing this, Zhao Tianming was not happy. In the past, when he was the ninth-rank governor, others said that he was a junior official, and he had no objection at all. But now he is the general magistrate of Yong'an Prefecture, and he is a full-fledged sixth-rank governor, and now he However, he is fully responsible for the government affairs of Yong'an Mansion, and his power is no different from that of a fourth-grade prefect. He actually says that he is a junior official!
"What a joke! I am now in charge of the affairs of Yong'an Mansion. I am the largest official besides Mr. Ouyang. You actually say that my official position is junior?!" Zhao Tianming glanced at the people in front of the government office and said angrily: "Hurry up and tell the problems you encountered. Speak up and I will help you solve it, and then disperse quickly!"
"Since Mr. Zhao has said so, let's just say it!"
"The main reason why we are like this is because the court's corvee is too heavy, and common people like us really can't afford it! Can Mr. Zhao help us talk to His Majesty the Emperor to cancel the corvee, or use other methods to solve it!"
"Is this request okay, Mr. Zhao?"
Forehead.
Hearing the people's demand, Zhao Tianming was also stunned. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the people really dared to say this, and he seemed to have said it too early!
"Ahem, it is indeed more appropriate for you to go to Mr. Ouyang for this matter." "But it is possible for so many of you to enter the government office. How about you choose a few representatives and follow me in to see Mr. Ouyang?" Zhao Tianming said awkwardly.
Soon, several representatives were selected from the crowd of common people. They all seemed to be honest common people, aged between twenty and forty.
Seeing this, Zhao Tianming reminded: "There is no problem in taking you to see Mr. Ouyang, but you have to think about it. This corvee is an order from the court. Even Mr. Ouyang cannot cancel it. You really want to see me. ?”
"I want to see you!" Several people's representatives nodded in unison.
"Okay, I'll do it for you guys." Zhao Tianming nodded.
But just when these people were about to enter the government office, the government officials showed no intention of getting out of the way.
"Master Zhao, what does this mean?"
"Why won't the yamen let us in?"
"Could it be that you have regretted it?"
Seeing the excitement among the people, Zhao Tianming quickly asked: "What's going on with you guys? Why don't you get out of the way."
"Master Zhao, it's not that we don't want to let him go, but Master Ouyang has a rule. Anyone who comes to see him for the first time must pay an entrance fee! They don't charge an entrance fee, so we can't let them in!" A government official said quickly.
"Well" Zhao Tianming was stunned for a moment, and then said helplessly to the people: "Everyone, you also know Mr. Ouyang's character. Since these are the rules set by him, please abide by them, otherwise I will let you go see Ouyang. Sir, even the government officials won’t let me!”
"I've heard about this. If you want to enter Mr. Ouyang's house, you have to pay 2000 taels of silver. They are here to find Mr. Ouyang on our behalf. Why don't you guys come together and share the 2000 taels? One person can't pay To half a pound."
"agree!"
"no problem!"
"As long as we can tell Master Ouyang about the matter, we will pay for it together!"
The people immediately collected money on the spot, half a tael for you and half a tael for others, and soon they collected 2000 taels of silver. After paying the entry fee, several people's representatives walked into the government office under the leadership of Zhao Tianming!
Ouyang Lun was wearing an apron and was making pork rib soup for Princess Anqing in the kitchen.
"master!"
"Thousands of people gathered outside the government office just now. It seems that it was because of the corvée issue. Master Zhao couldn't solve it, so he had to bring a few people's representatives in to see you!"
"Do you want to see me?"
Zhou Bao ran in in panic.
"Has this finally happened?"
Ouyang Lun muttered, and then said: "Zhou Bao, help me watch the fire. This winter melon and pork ribs soup needs to be simmered for a while. Don't let the fire go out!"
"Oh, okay sir."
After Zhou Bao nodded, Ouyang Lun had already walked out of the kitchen.
soon.
Ouyang Lun met with several people's representatives in the hall.
"The common people come to meet Master Ouyang!"
Seeing Ouyang Lun, these people's representatives immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Ouyang Lun, their eyes full of admiration.
"Guys, get up quickly. We don't want to kneel down right now. If you have anything to say, just say it."
Ouyang Lun said softly with a smile on his face.
Seeing that Ouyang Lun had no official airs at all, and was very gentle and friendly, several people's representatives felt warm in their hearts, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.
Zhao Tianming took the initiative and said: "Returning to your lord, these common people are representatives of the common people gathered outside the government office. They came here today just to ask your lord to help them speak good words to the court and see if they can reduce the corvee."
"My subordinates have already explained to them that this corvee is set by the imperial court and is the same everywhere. It cannot be changed because of personal likes and dislikes. Even you, my lord, cannot do it!"
After saying that, Zhao Tianming winked at Ouyang Lun, and his meaning was very clear. As long as Ouyang Lun followed his words, he could easily send these people away, and this matter was considered understood.
Ouyang Lun thought for a while and said with a smile: "This matter is not non-negotiable."
As soon as these words came out, Zhao Tianming's eyes widened and his mouth opened wide.
Sir, are you awake?This is corvée!If you dare to tamper with this, it is equivalent to digging into the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. It is much more serious than helping people change their household registration. If His Majesty the Emperor finds out, it will cause thunder and blood to flow like a river! !
Several people's representatives were full of joy. You must know that they actually felt that there was no chance of this matter. They came here just to find comfort, but they never expected that Mr. Ouyang actually said that there was a chance to discuss this matter! !
"Sir Ouyang, it's not that we are unwilling to contribute to the country, but the delay is too great. If possible, we are willing to spend some money to avoid these corvees!"
"That's right, by spending some money, we can do things more safely!"
Hearing this, Ouyang Lun laughed and said, "We, the people of Yong'an Mansion, are honest and kind. Since you are willing to spend money to avoid corvee, then there will be more room for maneuver in this matter!"
"This matter is left to me."
sweat!
Zhao Tianming almost rushed up and covered Ouyang Lun's mouth, but in the end he took a step slower, his feet were a little weak and he almost knelt down.
My lord!
I know you like silver, but it depends on the situation.
This is corvée!
If you dare to attack this, not only will your head be saved, but your subordinate’s head will also be lost!
(End of this chapter)
