Seeing them come in, a group of uncles, elders and brothers all put on humble smiles, which made Wang Gui at a loss. Wang Xian saw that they all held land deeds in their hands, but he already understood what was going on.
When I entered the main room, I saw my third uncle and my father sitting in the front seats, and a group of elders from the clan were sitting with them on the left and right.
"You came just in time." Dad said to Wang Xian: "Hurry up and draw up some documents."
"Yes." He nodded calmly. Wang Tong moved a chair for him, and Wang Jin polished the ink for him. Wang Xian sat down steadily and said, "Father, please give me your instructions."
"First draw up three adoption documents." Dad coughed and said, "Then we will draw up some land transfer documents."
"I wonder who is going to be adopted to whom?" Wang Xian glanced at his father and said, "You don't want to discuss such a big matter with me!"
"Ahem." Dad coughed again and said, "Wang Jie, Wang Ling, Wang Jin, haven't met your dad yet."
"Hey." Then three young men came forward obediently, kowtowed to Wang Xian and Wang Gui, and shouted: "Dad..."
"Cough cough cough..." Now it was Wang Xian's turn to cough, almost unable to hold the pen.
"Dad, what are you talking about?" Wang Gui said with wide eyes, "Wang Xian is not married yet."
"There is no difference..." Dad waved his hand and said: "These children from your brother's family will be adopted into our family in the future. Two will recognize you as their father, and one will recognize your brother as his father."
"Why?" Although Wang Gui was submissive to his father, he was still shocked.
"Ahem," the father glared at him and said, "Having more children and grandchildren means you are blessed. Where do you get so many and why?" Then he looked at Wang Xiandao: "When you look at the waiter, you don't ask why."
"Wang Gui, that's what happened," the third uncle explained to him: "Look at these three boys, they are all studying. If you want to study, you have to register with the government, but if you register with the government, you have to do corvee service. ...In order to allow them to concentrate on their studies and to honor our ancestors, the Wang family, I will adopt them into your brother's name."
"Oh..." Wang Guicai realized that it turned out that it was because of his family's exemption quota. The Ming Dynasty was a privileged society. The higher the official rank, the greater the privileges. For example, a first-rank official in the capital could get 30 dan of free food, and the number of people was 30 dan. The number of people decreases one level at a time. When you reach the ninth rank official, you will be exempted from six dans of food and six people, and the number of foreign officials will be reduced by half. Therefore, dad has the privilege of three dans of free food and three dings. And Wang Xian is like this If you are an official, you can also get one stone of food for free, and one person for one person...
Therefore, the four fathers and sons can be exempted from four people in total, and they do not include the two of them. Wang Gui naturally has to occupy a quota, and the remaining three have long been considered by the people of Wangjiacun... Although they can avoid taxes and levies by working as gangsters, but Not having a legal identity means that you do not enjoy the various rights granted by the Ming Dynasty. For example, if you take part in the imperial examination, serve as an official, or even if you disappear, the government will not accept it because there is no such person in the household registration file!
For poor people, as long as they can make ends meet, it is enough, no matter whether they have files or not. But wealthy households need legal status to protect their property, scholars need legal status to participate in the imperial examination, and businessmen need legal status to go out to do business. But once After being named in the government register, you have to bear heavy labor... Every year after the autumn harvest and before spring, for as short as one or two months and as long as three or four months, you have to work as cattle and horses for the government, which is miserable.
Are there any people who can enjoy legal status without having to perform hard labor? Yes, there are royal family, nobles, officials, civil servants, scholars... The old Zhu family gives them the privilege of tax exemption and exemption, and in many cases even exceeds the amount they should bear. This extra privilege has naturally become the target of competition from other classes.
There are no vassal fiefdoms in Zhejiang, and there are no hometowns of nobles, but there are countless officials with honors. The common people often join the officials as slaves, but scholars cannot do it, because slaves are lowly and are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination for three generations. There is another way.
, that is, he is adopted as a son, but for the sake of fame, he even disowns his ancestors, which is very despised.
The best situation is that there are officials from the same clan, and everyone has the same ancestor, so naturally there is no reputation. Moreover, there are few people studying in Wangjiacun, no more, no less, exactly three... This is normal, and there is no accumulation of three generations.
If you can't afford scholars, three scholars in one village is a lot.
Therefore, the third uncle discussed with Wang Xingye and asked him to adopt the three boys. Wang Xingye could not refuse unless he was ready to break with the clan. Therefore, there was no need to discuss with the two sons and directly adopted the third grandson.
.
'I have made a promise to Wang Jia, and now my second son Wang Jie is willing to be the son of his brother Wang Gui. I am afraid that I can't prove it, so I set this up as proof. On the first day of the first month of the tenth year of Yongle, the middleman Wang Jichang and the guarantor Wang Jiye.
'
'I made a promise to help Wang Ling, my youngest son, and now I will give my youngest son Wang Ling to his brother Wang Gui as his son. I am afraid that I can't prove it, so I set this up as proof. On the first day of the first month of the tenth year of Yongle, the middleman Wang Jichang and the guarantor Wang Jiye.
''
'I made a promise to Wang Ba, and now I will give my third son Wang Jinyuan to his brother Wang Xian of the same clan as his son. I am afraid that I can't prove it, so I set this up as proof. On the first day of the first month of the tenth year of Yongle, the middleman Wang Jichang, the guarantor Wang Jiye.
''
As a household scribe, such documents are naturally at hand. Wang Xian drafted the three-thirds document and drafted another three-thirds document to avoid future disputes among his stepsons:
"Now Wang Jie is Wang Jia, and Wang Gui is also his son. If Wang Gui has another son, Wang Jie cannot inherit. However, he still has the responsibility to support his parents. The middleman is Wang Jichang, and the guarantor is Wang Jiye."
'Now the king's order is to help the king, and the king's noble family is also his son. If the king's noble family has another son, the king's order cannot inherit. However, he still has the responsibility to support and care for his parents. The middleman is Wang Jichang, and the guarantor is Wang Jiye.'
‘Now Wang Jin is Wang Ba, and Wang Xian is also his son. If Wang Xian has another son, Wang Jin cannot inherit. However, he still has the responsibility to support his parents. The middleman is Wang Jichang, and the guarantor is Wang Jiye.’’
The person concerned signs his name where his signature should be, and puts his fingerprint on the place where his fingerprint should be. The rest of the procedures will be completed after the Chinese New Year, when Wang Xian takes it back to the household house...
But it's not over yet, this is the first half - in addition to the four exempted people, there is also a four-stone tax!
Although it is nothing compared to the high-ranking officials, the four-stone grain tax is actually quite a lot. A low-income family can only pay five dou of grain a year. In addition to their own family, the Wang family can also exempt seven other families from the grain tax.
And don't forget, once you don't have to pay taxes, you don't have to pay all the other exorbitant taxes and fees attached to taxes and grains! This is the real reason why the tribesmen are so enthusiastic and flattering.
Seeing that the adoption was completed inside, the tribesmen outside came in with the land deeds and surrounded Wang Xingye and said, "Fourth Grandpa, you want my land!" "Fourth Uncle, my land is the fattest!"
"Fourth Uncle, I watched you grow up..." "Nang Qiu, Lao Qi, your family is so rich, and you are still robbing us!" "Why, Fourth Grandpa and I grew up playing together!"
"Shut up, don't you be embarrassed!" Seeing the chaos, the third uncle knocked on the ground with his cane and cursed: "Isn't it just three stones and five buckets of food? The fourth child and I have already discussed it, and we will help the most difficult ones first.
Come, and the rest will wait until two years later, when Lao Si and Wang Xian have been promoted, we will take over your fields."
The patriarch's prestige is still not small. The third uncle named eight lower-class servants. Although the others could not hide their disappointment, they did not dare to talk nonsense.
Wang Xian had no choice but to continue drafting documents for the purchase and sale of land. Of course, it was not a real sale, and Wang Xingye did not pay. Of course, the land still belonged to the original owner, but it was just transferred to the government. In this way, the original owner was nominally renting their property.
Of course, in return, half of the tax and grain payable should be given to Wang Xingye as rent.
In this way, the interests of the imperial court were harmed, but Wang Xingye and the original owner benefited from it. Wang Xian didn't like to do this. After all, he was also a civil servant in charge of the household registration of the county's land, but these guys asked him to help them
Taking advantage of loopholes to evade taxes really made him uncomfortable.
But everyone, including his father, took it for granted, and he could only do it...
After lunch, the family will take a boat back to the county town. Of course, the three sons will not follow.
On the way back, my father saw that Wang Xian was a little depressed, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Why, Sir Sihu, you are not happy that you have to work for a few buckets of rice?"
"No." Wang Xian shook his head and said, "My son is not mentally ready to be a father yet..."
"Fuck you!" Dad almost kicked him into the river and ignored the kid.
Of course Wang Xian didn't tell the truth. In fact, he just thought that the Ming Dynasty treated its officials favorably, but they still had no sense to poach its corners. In the end, it was this kind of land annexation that became more and more intense, which depleted the country's tax revenue and displaced the people.
, leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Is this kind of kindness useful? It can be said that it is useless, but it will cause endless harm. It is a pity that I can't see Emperor Yongle, but I guess even if I do, the willful emperor will not listen to me. Unless I make him believe that the Ming Dynasty will
Therefore, they perished. In that case, Emperor Yongle believed it or not, but his whole family was bound to perish first...
Thinking of this, Wang Xian laughed self-deprecatingly, "Why am I so idle? Anyway, the Ming Dynasty still has more than 200 years of imperial rule. My grandchildren will be fine, so I might as well live my own little life..."
While he was lost in thought, he smelled the fragrance of chrysanthemums. When he raised his head, he saw Lin Qing'er looking at him with concern and asked softly: "What's bothering you?"
Wang Xian looked at the picturesque little face and said with warmth in his heart: "Sister, our little nest is almost ready. You and I will go see what we need to buy tomorrow..."
Lin Qing'er's face was slightly red, and she couldn't hide the excitement on her face, but she said, "Why is it so troublesome to buy household items?"
"Yes." Wang Xian nodded.
"Then just be casual..." Lin Qing'er's eyes darkened.
"Sister, you misunderstood me again," Wang Xian said with a smile. "I mean, there are so many things I want to buy, but the house is so small, it is difficult to choose!"
"Disgusting!" the beauty said lightly, making people feel sad...