Xu Lizhang lowered his head and said humbly: "Xia Yan was a scholar who lived in the fifth year of Dade. He used to live in Songhua Lane, but there were many people in Songhua Lane. I only know that he died in the second year of Dazhen. There was only one daughter and son-in-law in his family.
I don’t know much about the others.”
Magistrate Zhai asked: "Does he have other relatives?"
"Of course there is. He was from the Xia family in Hongtian Village. He seemed to be buried in Hongtian Village after his death."
Magistrate Zhai finally understood why Zhou Man came to see him. This old guy Xu Lichang was dishonest.
As the head of the village, he not only knows the hundred households under his control very well, but also knows the relationships between each household and the clans behind them.
Otherwise, why would he become the chief?
The head of the village is either a highly respected person or a person whose family has deep influence and whose ancestors have lived here. How could he not understand the people under his rule?
They knew more and more detailed things than he, the county magistrate, could.
Magistrate Zhai is not new to Shangzhou, so he naturally knows Xu Lichang and the twists and turns involved.
He snorted coldly in his heart, glanced at Zhou Man and Bai Shan who remained calm, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and asked: "Then who lives at No. 23 Songhua Lane now?"
Xu Lichang stiffened and bowed: "The head of the household is named Xia Yi. By the way, he is also from the Xia clan in Hongtian Village. He should be a relative of Xia Yan."
"Does the house belong to him? Or did someone rent it to him?"
Xu Lichang glanced at Zhou Man and said, "It should be his, but I didn't hear that it was rented."
Magistrate Zhai sipped his glass and said with a smile: "Chief Xu is so unfamiliar with his subordinates? He doesn't even know if he is a tenant? This county remembers that the population is determined every spring, right?"
The population of tenants and the population of household heads are not counted together. They are two separate achievements.
The sweat on Xu Lizhang's forehead slid down, and he didn't know if it was because of the heat.
Man Bao and the other two sat quietly aside, no one said anything.
After a while, just when Xu Lichang was hesitating to speak, Magistrate Zhai had already raised his head and said: "Come here, go to Songhua Lane to invite Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu, and then ask someone to call Xia Yi. Well, I
The county remembers Xia Xia from Daxi Lane next to Songhua Lane. The county remembers that his family is also from Hongtian Village, right? Go and invite him here."
Man Bao and Bai Shan raised their lips. Sure enough, they still had to find the county magistrate. Is there a local snake in the world who is more awesome than the county magistrate?
Ahem, of course, they are not saying that Magistrate Zhai is a local snake.
Xu Lichang swallowed his saliva and said hurriedly: "Xia Xia seems to be seriously ill. I'm afraid he won't be able to get up."
Magistrate Zhai said nonchalantly: "Go and invite me first. If you don't come, please invite Xia Rui."
Man Bao then asked: "Who is Xia Rui?"
Magistrate Zhai: "Oh, he is Xia Xia's son."
Man Bao nodded and waited quietly.
Xu Lizhang, who was sitting on the stool at the bottom, wanted to open his mouth to speak several times, but he couldn't keep his face. The main thing was that it was beyond his expectation. Zhou Man appeared suddenly without saying anything, and he was able to find the county magistrate in such a short time.
Come and ask the county magistrate to stand up for her.
Xu Lichang pressed his thumb on the knuckle of his index finger, tightened and loosened his fist, loosened and tightened again, and finally opened his mouth to pick up the topic again, "I remember, Xia Yi's family has a property deed, so they are not tenants."
Magistrate Zhai glanced at Zhou Man and saw that she had no reaction. Then he took the house deed that he had been holding down and said, "What a coincidence, Mr. Zhou also has a house deed in his hand. How did he do it without the original house deed being invalidated?"
Obtained the new house deed from the county government?"
Xu Lizhang stared at the house deed for a long time and was speechless.
Magistrate Zhai had already given another order, "Let the household check it out."
He glanced at Zhou Man and then said: "Check the records from fourteen years ago to ten years ago, let's start from fourteen years ago."
The officer responded and left.
So everyone turned to look at Xu Lichang, and Magistrate Zhai said: "Xu Lichang, you don't know about this, right? Buying and selling a house requires the signature of the village chief."
Like Manbao and others, if they want to enclose land or buy land to build a house in the village, they need to report to the village chief. Even if they want to buy a shop in the county town, they must also inform the village chief.
Because property and population are important conditions for determining household status, and determining household status involves tax payment, there is a considerable difference between the taxes paid by the upper household and the lower household.
Every district chief has a score in his hand or in his heart. Magistrate Zhai seemed to sneer when he said he didn't know whether Xia Yi's family was a tenant or a householder, but etiquette restrained him.
The headman sighed, got up and knelt down to confess, knowing that he had made a mistake. He should confess more when he entered the county government office, and could not fool Zhou Man and the others like he did at home.
Xu Lichang said: "Xia Yi's house should have been lived in twelve years ago. The Xia clan decided to give it to him."
He said: "Sir, Xia Yan has no heir. After his death, the clan has the right to take back his land and real estate and redistribute it. Xia Yi's family is Xia Yan's closest relative."
This is true, but why should he hide it?
Magistrate Zhai looked at Zhou Man.
Zhou Man slid his cup and said softly, "My father is the daughter-in-law, so those fields and properties naturally belong to my parents."
Magistrate Zhai almost dropped his tea cup, marrying into the bride’s house?
Xu Lichang had expected that she would say this, and said without much change in his expression: "It seems that the Xia family saw Zhou Yin and Xia Xin leave and never came back, and no one visited the tombs of the Xia family and his wife, so
I concluded that they would not come back, so I divided the property among them."
Zhou Man then sat up slightly and asked, "Where are the tombs of my grandparents?"
Xu Lizhang didn't expect that she was asking this question, and thought she was trying to tell the difference between her parents. When she was at his house, she only said that her parents died early, but did not tell the reason.
Xu Lizhang paused, then finally said: "It's on Da'an Mountain not far outside the city."
That's not what he said before.
Man Bao and the other three glanced at him, but they didn't care. Instead, they asked carefully: "Where is it in Da'an Mountain?"
"On the east side of the mountainside, your parents erected a monument back then. You can check it out."
Man Bao frowned and asked, "Why not bury him back in Hongtian Village?"
When fallen leaves return to their roots, they are usually buried in the village.
Chief Xu did not say anything, but Magistrate Zhai comforted him by saying, "Da'an Mountain is also a good place. Many virtuous and talented people from Shangzhou are buried there."
Man Bao nodded.
While they were talking, the government servants who had gone out to invite people came back one after another. To Man Bao's surprise, another person was brought in lying on a wicker chair.
Magistrate Zhai stood up in surprise and introduced the three of them to Man Bao: "This is Xia Xia. He is a famous silversmith in our Shangzhou. There are many dignitaries who come to ask for a silver ornament with hundreds of gold in their hands."
."
When the talent was brought to him, Xia Xia had already squinted his eyes and looked around, but his gaze was fixed on Zhou Man, pointing at her and asking: "You, are you the eldest lady of the Xia family?"