Early the next morning, there was a small court meeting in front of the Qianqing Palace.
"Since the edict exempting people from lowly status was issued to all provinces, Zhejiang was the most active. The Chief Secretary, Tiedingshi, followed the Inspector Jingqing, quickly checked the number of people with lowly status, and gave them the bodies of good men. People with the nine surnames of Yuge They have lived on fishing for generations and have been living on the water, unwilling to live ashore. The inspection officer Han Kezhong allocated fields and houses in the water port of Yuhuan Island to allow them to engage in farming and fishing!"
Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, sat on a round stool, peeking at Zhu Yunxi's face and said, "Huguang, Jiangxi and other places have been slower to respond, and they are still counting the number of people. Shaanxi, Shanshan, Luyi and other places in the north may be in some trouble!"
As he spoke, he paused and said, "For example, the Chief Secretary of Shandong Province was in trouble. After a person with a lowly status became a good citizen, he had a lot of disputes with ordinary people over the purchase of fields and houses. In each case, there was a person who was released as a good citizen. Lehu, I bought a house and fields in the countryside, but the local old man and his young men blocked the road and were not allowed to enter the village. If the local officials had not dealt with it in time, someone might have died on the spot!"
The old man in Li Zhigang's mouth is not a real old man, but a term of identity for a person.
Since ancient times, the imperial power has not been extended to counties, but after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the old man felt that his tragic situation as a boy was caused by the collusion between local tyrants and corrupt officials, so he imitated the Han Dynasty's three-elder system.
In the countryside, the people are allowed to nominate people with good character, high prestige, ability to convince the public, and literacy in writing as rural elders. The role of these elders is to coordinate and handle disputes and lawsuits in the countryside, and to assist the yamen in managing the countryside.
Of course, it also has the role of supervising officials. The Ming Dynasty Laws say that if an official dares to do something wrong, he will be punished.
For example, extortion, breaking into private houses, beating people without authorization, abusing power to embarrass people, dereliction of duty, etc. As long as it is verified, the old man from the countryside can be kidnapped directly with the young man and sent to the capital to be beheaded.
At this time, the world was still governed by people, so the elders elected in these places played a great role in stabilizing the local area and coordinating the relationship between the government and the people.
But there are advantages and disadvantages. These elderly people are extremely protective of their neighbors. Their three acres of land will not allow outsiders to peep. Many rural elderly people in Guangdong and Guangxi organize villagers to fight over disputes over farm water sources, causing headaches for the government.
They treat their own people as human beings, treat people with the same surname as relatives, and treat outsiders as enemies. Not to mention these lowly people who they never paid attention to in the past, but now suddenly changed their status.
"How will this matter be handled in the end?" Zhu Yunxi asked with a solemn face.
"The local government coordinated and finally refunded the money for buying houses and land, allowing the people with low status to find other places to live as good citizens!" Li Zhigang said, "There is also the Ningguofu area in Zhili, where the exemption from low status has just begun. , many squires in the countryside started making trouble, saying that the government was robbing their tenants, and the government had no choice but to arrest a few of the troublemakers before calming down."
"Didn't the local governments put up notices to encourage these good citizens who had just obtained their status to immigrate?" Zhang Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs who was watching, said, "No one wants to move?"
"This...it's hard for everyone to leave their homeland!" Li Zhigang said with a smile.
"The reason why it's hard to leave my homeland is that I still haven't seen any benefits!" Zhu Yunxi said, looking at Zhu Gaochi among his ministers and said, "How is the mission you were ordered to do?"
"The document has been written for eight hundred miles and has been sent to the chief secretaries of all provinces in the world!" Zhu Gaochi stood up and said, "All good people who are exempted from their lowly status are willing to immigrate to Liaodong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places, and be granted five acres of land per ding.
Five pieces of silver, free of land tax for five years."
"How come I don't know about this?" Li Zhigang's heart skipped a beat.
Although he was a deputy in the matter of exempting untouchables from status, he had always been personally responsible for it. On the surface, Zhu Gaochi was a hands-off boss. But he didn't expect that today a decree involving untouchable immigration was suddenly issued.
This is not a simple decree, it involves land and silver dollar rewards.
"The Emperor still doesn't completely trust me!" Li Zhigang was annoyed in his heart, and at the same time he pinched the note in his sleeve calmly.
"Hurry up!" Zhu Yunxi told Zhu Gaochi, "It is a good thing to be exempted from humble status, and a good thing cannot turn into a bad thing."
"I obey!" Zhu Gaochi said, cupping his hands, "I have one more thing to do!"
"Come on!"
Zhu Gaochi took out a note from his sleeve and held it up with both hands, "After the autumn trial last year, there were 7,200 prisoners across the country. In addition to 120 people with felony murders, there were also those who stole cattle and committed crimes.
, those who idle around and cause harm to the countryside, and those who resist taxes and beat up officials..."
"The murderer deserves his life!" Zhu Yunxi frowned and said, "As for the other prisoners, five thousand of them will be sent to Luzon Island, and the rest will go to sea with the fleet to build a harbor in Myanmar!"
As he spoke, he thought for a while and continued, "From now on, except for unpardonable crimes, prisoners from all over the country are not allowed to be sent into military exile without authorization. They must report to the Ministry of Punishment for resettlement!"
"What a waste of time! You obviously want to send those criminal prisoners overseas to harm others!" Zhu Gaochi cursed in his heart, but on his face he was respectful and said, "I obey the order!"
At this time, Zhu Yunxi suddenly noticed something was wrong with Li Zhigang's expression.
The throne was high above him, and he could see every expression and every move of his ministers.
"Li Aiqing has something to say?" Zhu Yunxi asked.
Li Zhigang stood up hurriedly and said seriously, "I have something to do. It is of great importance, and it is also related to the dignity of the court, so I have no choice but to..."
"What's the matter?" Zhu Yunxi didn't like this person's behavior. He would talk about things when he had something to say, and he would go out of his way to make things mysterious before saying something.
The person who makes a fuss is just trying to highlight his own merits or conceal his true purpose.
"It's also a matter of Shandong!" Li Zhigang frowned, with a look of embarrassment on his face, "It's a matter of Qufu, Shandong. There was a Lehu who had recovered his status as a good citizen. He went to the Yamen to complain as soon as he got his household registration..." As he said this, it seemed like someone
Difficult to say, he said, "Sue Duke Yan Shenggong!"
the Kongs?
Zhu Yunxi suddenly became energetic and said, "Speak carefully!"
"Yes, the Lehu family has been Lehu for generations. His mother was a famous local singer and she saved a lot of money. Having money is like buying land, but according to Ming Dynasty rules, Lehu households are not allowed to buy land. So.
They secretly gave a sum of money to a branch of the Yan Shenggong Mansion, and put the purchased fields in the name of this branch of the family!"
Zhu Yunxi listened silently. It was not a complicated matter. Just like the purchase restrictions in later generations, many people bought houses and put them in other people's names.
"The Lehu Family has purchased land for five consecutive years, and the total total is almost fifty hectares. We have made an agreement with the branch of the Confucius family that in return we will receive 30% of the land's output each year, and the rest will go to the Lehu Family."
Fifty hectares is not a small amount. If the Kong family were not descendants of Sheng Gong, it would be difficult for ordinary squires to buy this land, let alone Lehu. Even if they had money, they would not be able to buy it.
"In the end, the Kong family swallowed up the land?" Zhu Yunxi asked, already guessing how far he was going.
"Your Majesty!" Li Zhigang said, "In the seventh month of the previous year, when Duke Yansheng was renovating the Holy Temple, the descendant of the Confucius family who had fifty acres of land in his name actually sold the fifty acres of land directly to
Duke Yansheng's Mansion is used as public land for ancestor worship!"
"After the incident, the Lehu family naturally refused to give up, but their petition was ignored by the Yamen. And because they were from a lowly position, they could only tolerate it for the time being in the face of the intimidation from the disciple of the Confucius family."
"That's why they beat drums and complained as soon as they became good citizens!" Li Zhigang paused as he said, "Because this matter involves Yan Shenggong, the local officials did not report it directly to the Ministry of Punishments, but first sent it to the Ministry of Rites
As for the writing, I dare not do it myself, so I still ask the emperor to judge!"
This chapter has been completed!