In Mengpo Zhai, a scribe held a folding fan in his hand and looked at Jia Lan with slight surprise.
This person looks to be in his thirties and is wearing a green round-collared robe, which is different from the t-shirt worn by students. It shows that this person has the status of a candidate, so the people call him "Qingpao Yilan".
The most impressive thing is his elegant appearance. He is truly a classically beautiful man. He exudes a sense of outstanding self-confidence. He is playing with an unopened paper fan in his hand and stands silently with his hands behind his back. He stood and looked at Jia Lan attentively.
Feeling the other person's gaze, Jia Lan cast his gaze towards him. Their eyes met briefly, and then they looked at each other and smiled, both of them a little surprised.
Jia Lan thought to himself: "Is this a new Qing guest invited by my grandfather? Or a Juren? It's really strange!"
Careful clues revealed that this person has a very good aura, and he even feels similar to Jia Zheng next to him, but Jia Lan's aura is not the same. Although Jia Zheng has been an official for many years, he does not have Li Xuan's or Sheng Hong's aura. The "official aura" in others is more of the nobility that comes with being a noble person.
The aura of the middle-aged scholar in front of him is neither "official" or "noble", nor is it the "literary aura" exuded by the heads of the Confucius family, Kong Jirui and Sheng Changbai, but a brand new kind of Jia Jia. An aura that Lan has never encountered before.
With great interest, Jia Lan unconsciously observed the opponent's aura.
The growth of knowledge often comes from such inadvertent discoveries, and Jialan was immediately immersed in this feeling.
The middle-aged Juren was also frightened at this time.
He accepted Jia Zheng's appointment, among other reasons, more because he was somewhat curious about Jia Lan, and wanted to see if this new member of the new society was just his name. Now that they met, he, who had seen countless people, was immediately attracted by it. Jialan was attracted by the unique temperament on his body.
When Jia Lan was freed from that inexplicable feeling, he felt a little rude and decided to find a casual topic, so he asked Jia Zheng about the current situation of Bu Guxiu, Shan Pinren and Hu Silai, the three Qing guests. .
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Jia Lan felt that the atmosphere had changed. Except for the middle-aged Juren, Jia Zheng and the remaining Qingke showed a little embarrassment on their faces.
After a brief silence, Jia Zheng coughed lightly and said to Jia Lan with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "The three ministers have already said goodbye to me due to family matters."
"Oh..." Jia Lan's thoughts moved slightly. He nodded and did not ask any more questions. He raised his hand to the middle-aged Juren whom he had never met before: "I am Jia Lan of Rongguo Mansion. May I ask for your name?"
Jia Zheng seemed to be waiting for Jia Lan to speak. He immediately took over the conversation and introduced enthusiastically: "This is Mr. Fang Dongsheng from Kuaiji, Southern Province. His courtesy name is Jingzhai. He was elected in the first year of Chunzhi. He is your senior."
Master Kuaiji!
After listening to Jia Zheng's introduction, such a term popped into Jia Lan's mind.
The literary style in Kuaiji was flourishing, which meant that there were many scholars. Therefore, the competition in the imperial examinations was very fierce, resulting in a folding effect. A large number of talents who were top-notch elsewhere could only be classified as middle-class in Kuaiji. It was not easy to get ahead, and the locals were not interested. They were from the countryside, so many of them became masters.
In the late Ming Dynasty, Gu Yanwu wrote in his writings: "Today, all the people in the thirteen divisions of the Ministry of Household Affairs are from Kuaiji."
They have no official position but can participate in political affairs, and gradually become a phenomenon-level culture.
[Could this person in front of me be the master invited by Jia Zheng? 】
"Hey! Dong Weng's words are really killing me." Fang Jingzhai smiled and stood up with his hands clasped in his fists: "Xian Sun wrote books and essays at a young age. He was also famous for his unparalleled talent in poetry competitions and ranked first on the apricot list.
On the way to the imperial examination, a person who has no previous achievements can be my teacher. How can I have the face to pretend to be a senior in front of Mr. Huiyuan?"
When he spoke, he didn't speak quickly or slowly. He didn't have the aloofness or arrogance. Instead, he had a unique style that made people feel good about him.
Jia Zheng's smile did not diminish and he kept praising: "Sir, Mr. Tonggu has great talent, how can he belittle himself?"
The Qingke ministers on the side also nodded in agreement: "Brother Fang has the tools of the country, and he is not a talent of hundreds of miles."
"Yes, yes!"
"Brother Fang, don't be too humble!"
Jia Zheng said: "Lan'er, you don't know that Mr. Fang gave my grandfather several advices on the matter of clearing my father-in-law's land, which allowed me to get through the difficulties several times!" Jia Zhengshang said with a hint of fear, and
Hearing the admiration of Fang Jingzhai, the latter once again bowed his hands in humility and couldn't help but say: "Dong Weng is overly praised!"
Although the words were flattery, coming from Jia Zheng's mouth, the corners of Fang Jingzhai's mouth couldn't help but turn up, and his smile deepened.
Here it comes! Jia Lan concentrated for a moment, and finally talked about Qingzhang's affairs, pretending to be curious and asked: "There are various rumors about Master Qingzhang's land in various places in Shuntian this time. Some people even lied about it.
There are worries about shaking the foundation of the country. I wonder if my grandfather can help his grandson solve his doubts?"
Jia Zheng said "hmm" and stroked his beard. His grandson's curiosity did not arouse his disgust or uneasiness, but instead made him feel somewhat comforted.
Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly glanced at Fang Jingzhai beside him and changed his words: "Lan'er, you might as well ask Mr. Fang about this."
Seeing Jia Lan's eyes turning to him, Fang Jingzhai smiled slightly, twirled his wrist and shook the folding fan that had not been opened in his hand: "May I ask Huiyuan Lang, should this land be cleared?"
Seeing Fang Jingzhai asking him questions like a teacher, Jia Lan blurted out: "Of course it is necessary to clear the father-in-law, but how to clear the father-in-law and whose father-in-law is to be cleared, there may be some considerations in this."
"oh?"
Jia Lan's answer was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations. Fang Jingzhai was even more impressed with Jia Lan, and one of the Qing guests had his eyes shining brightly, nodding slightly and showing a satisfied smile.
Jia Zheng, who was also unexpected, was stunned at first, and then said impatiently: "Lan'er, please tell me."
Jia Lan said: "Mencius said: 'Benevolent government must start from the economic boundary. The economic boundary is not straight, the wells and the ground are not close, and the salary is uneven. Therefore, the tyrant and the corrupt officials will slow down their economic boundary. Since the economic boundary is straight, the land and salary can be divided.
Just sit still.'"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Could it be that Huiyuan Lang wants to use the ancients to reform the system and restore the well field system?" Fang Jingzhai asked coldly, and Jia Zheng's eyes also changed when he heard this.
"Of course not..." Jia Lan waved his hand: "The well field has been abandoned for more than a thousand years, and there is no way to restore it."
Fang Jingzhai said: "During the reign of Emperor Gao, there were many fields in the Central Plains. He ordered the provincial ministers to discuss and allocate land to the people. He also set up the Agriculture Department to take charge of the reclamation of the Central Plains. He assigned officials to go to the countryside to test their ability and give them according to the number of acres. No permission was given.
Annexation; also recruited refugees to cultivate land near the city, and were given fifteen acres of land, two acres of vegetable land, and rent-free for three years; the old system of Lishe in the Song Dynasty was also adopted, either dividing Lijia according to the society, or dividing the land into settlements by relocating people
To divide Li Jia.
Are all these things not the system of Duke Zhou?"
Hearing this, Jia Lan knew that Fang Jingzhai was telling the truth, so he shook his head and said: "Sir, you are wrong. At the beginning of the country, there were few people and little land, so we could still do it. However, after the founding of the country for a hundred years, there was peace and the population increased.
In the end, it was not appropriate. Moreover, since the Taizong Dynasty, there have been few large-scale land grants in this dynasty. This is because the land does not belong to the officials but to the people. Over the years, annexation has become a common practice. As a result, the land is uneven. The rich are deprived of it day by day, while the poor are cut off day by day.
Insufficient land tax is a danger that will shake the foundation of the country."
After a pause, Jia Lan emphasized his tone: "It is imperative to clear the father-in-law. However, rich people and slippery officials are treacherous due to fate and have many tricks. The countryside is full of falsehoods and human relationships are intertwined. You must pay attention to it. You must think twice before acting."
"
"good!"
Fang Jingzhai opened the folding fan in his hand with a swishing sound, and smiled at Jia Zheng, who was stunned from ear to ear, and said, "It will be a great pleasure for Dong Weng to have such a virtuous grandson!"
Then he asked Jia Lan: "I wonder if Hui Yuanlang can respond?"
Jialan laughed and said: "Sir, it's hard for Jialan. I just read some books and know that the Master said, 'No one is poor, no one is widowed, and no one is safe.' As for the real practice, we have to rely on my grandfather and others."
Gentlemen." After saying this, he bowed his hands to everyone.
Zhan Guang and others quickly bowed and returned the greeting.
"It's rare that you, Lan'er, have such thoughts." Jia Zheng praised: "It was only after I took office that I figured this out through the advice of the Governor and Mr. Fang."
Afterwards, he briefly told Jialan about Qingzhang.
Indeed, as Jia Lan said, it is imperative to clear the land, but how to choose the direction of clearing the land is very particular.
Whenever Sheng Hong goes to a place, he first checks the cadastre and household registration, and compares the yellow book with the fish scale atlas.
But don’t even think about it, these two books are just bad books.
It was simply difficult for the governance level of ancient bureaucracies to manage such a huge and complex archive system. Therefore, although the system was a good system, it changed beyond recognition as soon as it arrived at the local level. In the more than 200 years before the Ming Dynasty, the system that was most commonly used was revised three times.
"Minghuidian".
Therefore, Shenghong only took a rough look and took an approximate view. The key is to measure on the spot.
However, doing so is tantamount to directly touching the interests of local powerful people and easily arousing local backlash. These people raise many objections, create public opinion and slander Qingzhang Field as a "hundred-fold harassment", and do everything possible to obstruct Qingzhang's work.
Unfortunately, what they bumped into this time was the eager Emperor Chun Zhi.
Shenghong's thunderous methods dealt with several examples of particularly huge amounts of hidden land, which shocked some people and at the same time stepped up the land clearing.
After hearing the first-hand information, Jia Lan nodded silently: "Master, you are really both strong and soft in your actions."
In fact, he has heard that in this purge, the people who were generally affected were small and medium-sized landowners. Their relationships often stopped at the county level. They were unable to resist the imperial envoys. But for most powerful people, Sheng Hong did not say anything.
To be open-minded, at least treat them differently.
As to why the worldly Master is willing to take on such an offending job, we can only say that the Holy One has His Majesty’s considerations, and the Master also has his own calculations.
The corners of Fang Jingzhai's mouth raised slightly, and he naturally heard what Jia Lan meant.
…
After leaving Jia Zheng's office, Jia Lan had just passed through Eryi Gate and was about to go to Jia Mu's courtyard when someone called him down at the corner of the hall.
Looking back to see this person clearly, Jia Lan nodded: "Mr. Cheng!"
The other party smiled and bowed.
The visitor was none other than Cheng Rixing, the Qing guest minister beside Jia Zheng.