He Laosan picked up the teacup, but was reluctant to drink it. After thinking about it, he put the teacup down again.
He Laosan is a self-cultivated farmer in Jixiang Town. He came to the tea shop to listen to the "Shandong Daily". This Shandong Daily can only be heard in the Liu family tea shop in the town. A cup of tea here costs a penny. After drinking it, there is no reason to wait.
On the table.
But if you don’t drink a sip, no one will chase you away. After all, many people buy a cup of tea and sit down to listen to the newspaper. The waiters are used to it. There are tables everywhere in this town, and the cost of running a tea shop is
It's very low. The tea shop has a long table outside the shop, which can seat many people.
People who listen to the newspaper will give rewards to those who read the newspaper when they hear the highlights, and the owner of the copper coin tea shop also shares in the reward.
The reader stood on the high stage, opened that day's Shandong Daily, coughed, and read loudly:
"There was a severe drought in Shaanxi. Li Zicheng came out of the Taihang Mountains and gathered 30,000 people to capture Luonan County!"
Hearing this news, the people listening to the newspaper let out a cry of exclamation. These days, there are more and more famines, either droughts here or locusts there. The court is unable to provide disaster relief and does not care at all. I heard that there were severe droughts in Shaanxi last year and this year, and the people in southern Shaanxi were easily affected.
Li Zicheng actually took advantage of this famine to cause trouble again, and now the court had another headache.
Shandong has not been harmonious in recent years, and there have been constant minor disasters. Won't thieves come to Shandong? If Shandong is also attacked by thieves, it will be over. Once Li Zicheng is gone, where can there be normal social order? As soon as he enters the city, he will
If all the food is robbed, if you follow the thieves, you will have a mouthful to eat; if you don't follow the thieves, you will starve to death.
The tea guests listened with their ears pricked up as the newspaperman finished reading the headlines on the front page, and everyone paid great attention to it.
Li Zicheng's capture of Luonan County was only ten days ago. "Shandong Daily" reported it today. At such a speed, Sanwang Daily is far unable to keep up. Sanwang Daily has to wait for the governor of Shaanxi to report this matter
, the memorial arrived in the capital and was handled by the emperor. It was disclosed a few days later, and then spread to Shandong before being published in the newspapers. Within a month, the Three Kings Daily would not publish news about Shaanxi.
Sometimes news from the public reaches us, but Three Kings Daily has no response.
The newspaper reader finished reading the headlines, read a few more about major world events, and then began to read the commentator's articles. He Laosan didn't listen carefully to the previous articles, but the last article caught He Laosan's attention.
"Equalizing the land tax, 90% of the people in Tianjin will have an average burden reduction of 50%."
This article talks about how the people's burden has been greatly reduced after Tianjin equalized land tax. This matter is also of great interest to the people, and the farmers who drank tea listened very seriously.
"After the equalization of land tax, the burden of the small people who were originally burdened by unfair land tax was greatly reduced. Even the farmers who originally devoted themselves to the gentry also experienced the benefits. In order to avoid the confiscation of their fields, the gentry actively and passively
The land rent has been reduced to less than one dou. Compared with the original land rent of two or three dou, the burden of these contributing farmers has been greatly reduced."
"A policy of equalizing land tax has actually made Tianjin's towns prosperous. The towns that were once empty are now full of tea shops and wine shops. Previously there were only vendors selling meat, cloth and oil.
It existed in the city, but now it can be seen everywhere in the towns.”
When the commentator introduced the situation in Tianjin, the people who listened to the newspaper were all silent. Who doesn't want to pay a few less land rents and eat more meat? Seeing that the people in Tianjin have become rich because of the policies of the Duke of Tianjin, and
The farmers in Shandong are still enduring the oppression of the gentry. This contrast
If it weren't for newspapers like "Shandong Daily", farmers in Shandong would not even know that such earth-shaking events had happened in Tianjin. If only Shandong could one day equalize land tax, then life would suddenly get better.
Then some farmers shouted loudly and applauded Tianjin's policies. Seeing the good atmosphere, the shop owner took out an iron basin to accept the reward money. Farmers who were not well-off would throw a penny into the basin as a reward. In the end,
Throw on a thin layer.
He Laosan was reluctant to reward the copper coins. After listening to the last editorial in the newspaper, he sighed. He drank the tea on the table in one gulp, stood up with a clap of his hands, and walked towards his home village of Liuhe.
When he reached the entrance of the village, he saw seven or eight men and women from the village standing next to Mr. Liang's servant Liang Qi, listening to Liang Qi reading "Three Kings Daily".
Mr. Liang is one of the largest landowners in the area, with countless fields under his name. Since the publication of "Three Kings Daily", Mr. Liang has sent his servants to several nearby villages to read newspapers for free, always reading articles from "Three Kings Daily" as soon as possible.
Communicate to the villagers.
Some farmers who had nothing to do often gathered around Liang Qi to listen to newspapers.
However, the content of the "Three Kings Daily" is a bit boring. It is full of empty sermons about the morals of saints. In the past half month, fewer and fewer people have listened to the newspaper.
As a small farmer with private land, He Laosan has a very heavy land endowment. Over the years, Mr. Liang's accountant often hinted that he would donate his land, but He Laosan refused to listen. He relied on his ambition to bear the pressure on himself.
unfair land tax.
Seeing Liang Qi coming to promote Three Kings Daily again, He Laosan snorted coldly and walked up to listen to what Liang Zhengdao was reading.
"In my Ming Dynasty, scholars and the emperor jointly rule the world. On national affairs, not only the emperor can judge, but also Jinshi and people can discuss it loudly. Local affairs can not only be managed by officials, but also people in fine clothes can stand up and organize and participate. Scholars rule the world, and the emperor
Give preferential treatment to scholars and exempt them from land tax and corvee service."
Hearing this, He Laosan burst out laughing.
Liang Qi was a little frightened when he saw He Laosan again. He snorted coldly: "He Laosan, why are you laughing?"
He Laosan shouted loudly: "If I hadn't gone to town to listen to Shandong Daily, I would have been deceived by you. Shandong Daily said that our Ming Dynasty has never had a policy of exempting scholars from land tax. It was all bribery by the gentlemen.
Lies made by officials!”
"The gentry did not pay the land tax, so the land tax fell entirely on us, the common people. The common people had no choice but to contribute, and as a result, the land rent of the common people who did not contribute would be higher. So the gentry took the opportunity to increase the land rent of the common people and contribute to the land rent.
, one ring after another, and in the end all the people will be severely exploited."
"We, the common people, are living so hard because of you tax-evading gentlemen!"
Hearing what He Laosan said, the people looked at Liang Qi suspiciously.
Liang Qi was furious, pointed at He Laosan and cursed loudly: "He Laosan, you are talking nonsense! This is a newspaper run by princes!"
The villagers all know that He Laosan has an upright temper. When He Laosan said that the Three Kings Daily was not good, the villagers who had been listening to it indifferently looked at each other, were too lazy to listen anymore, and left in a hurry.
Seeing that He Laosan had told all his audience to leave, Liang Qi flushed with anger. But He Laosan was not a tenant farmer of his family, and he had no choice but to angrily walk away.
