Zhao Shiheng, a large landowner from Qimin Township, Qingcheng County, looked at that day's "Shandong Daily" with his hands trembling.
Zhao Shiheng's five adult sons sat on either side of Zhao Shiheng, with desperate looks on their faces.
Li Zhi finally made a fortune in Junping, Shandong.
This impact is too great. For many gentry, many of the original fields were donated by small people. Once Li Zhijun leveled the land tax, those small people who donated it would refuse to pay high land rent and demand to pay the land rent to the yeoman farmers.
On par.
Li Zhi made it clear in the newspaper that all the land donated by unruly people to the gentry will be confiscated as public land. Unruly people can continue to cultivate these public fields, and the rent of the public fields is one mu of rice and flour per acre per year. Obviously, the value of this dou
The land rent of public land was far lower than the land rent originally charged by the gentry.
In order to retain these small people who contributed and prevent them from going to court to turn the land into public land, the gentry could only charge a lower rent than public land, with a maximum of eight or nine liters of rice and flour per mu of land. The land tax per mu of land was
It's seven liters and five combined. Excluding the land tax, the land rent collected by the gentry is really not very profitable.
Zhao Shiheng was a civil servant. Since the year he won the exam, countless people have brought their fields to donate to him every year. Over the past 20 years, he has accumulated more than 3,000 acres of fertile land. He originally received 30% of the land for these fields.
Land rent. Compared with the extremely high land tax that the government officials imposed on the peasants one by one, the land rent offered by Zhao Shiheng was very attractive.
In the past, Zhao Shiheng could earn more than 700 kilograms of rice and noodles a year, which is equivalent to one or two thousand taels of silver. Some of it was used by Zhao Shiheng to honor the county magistrate, and he could still keep more than a thousand taels of silver. Zhao Shiheng relied on this money to marry six wives and concubines.
, gave birth to more than 20 children over the past 20 years. The Zhao family is really a big family, and they live entirely on these fields.
As soon as Li Zhi leveled the land, Zhao Shiheng was finished.
More than 3,000 acres of land can only receive a low rent of less than one bushel, and each acre of land can only earn more than one liter after tax. With more than 3,000 acres of land, the real income that the Zhao family can earn is only a few dozen dan.
There are more than fifty people in the house, including more than a hundred servants. What are we going to eat now?
Li Zhi suddenly killed the Zhao family.
Zhao Shiheng's eldest son looked at the other brothers and stood up. Although Zhao Shiheng's eldest son was only twenty-four years old, he had married three wives and had five children. He was now the head of a large family. He
He asked Zhao Shiheng, "Dad, what should we do now?"
Zhao Shiheng's face turned pale, he clutched the newspaper and closed his eyes.
Zhao Shiheng and his sons were in a daze in the main room, but suddenly they heard a noise coming from outside.
"The master and the young masters are discussing something! You can't go in!"
However, before the servants' voices could be heard, Zhao Shiheng saw a dozen farmers rushing into the main room. These peasants' shoes were covered with mud, and they were holding hoes and sickles in their hands, standing menacingly on top of the main room.
The leader was a farmer with a round head and a big face, wearing short brown clothes. He was Yuan Laosan from Yuanjia Village. Yuan Laosan held a hoe in his hand and shouted loudly: "Zhao Shiheng! Now the land tax of the people outside has been reduced to seven
Sheng Wuhe, we quit, the fields are no longer in your name, we want to get our own fields back!"
Zhao Shiheng looked at Yuan Laosan and was so angry that blood rushed to his head.
When he won the title of Juren, the land could be exempted from the tax. Yuan Laosan asked someone to guide him and tried every means to donate it to his name. At that time, Yuan Laosan was oppressed by the government servants and had to pay high land rent every year. Zhao Shiheng wanted to
His land was under his own name, so he had to spend money to clear the way for county magistrates and government officials. In the end, Yuan Laosan knelt on his way to attend the poetry meeting and kowtowed to himself three times, so Zhao Shiheng reluctantly accepted him as his disciple.
.
Yuan Laosan made a good point when he was kowtowing at that time, saying that Zhao Shiheng would be his master from now on, and his life would be in Zhao Shiheng's hands.
In the past ten years, Yuan Laosan has only paid 30% of the land rent to Zhao Shiheng every year. How many land taxes and corvees have he escaped?
However, as soon as Li Zhijun's policy of flattening land taxes came out, Yuan Laosan immediately changed his face. He actually led other farmers into the main hall of the Zhao family and threatened Zhao Shiheng with a hoe!
If Zhao Shiheng was frightened by these unscrupulous people and returned the land to these farmers, the Zhao family would have nothing, and in the end they would not be able to receive the land rent of several tens of dan!
Zhao Shiheng's eldest son was furious. He stood up and pointed at Yuan Laosan and cursed: "Yuan Laosan, what do you want to do when you break into my house with a hoe? Do you know the king's law?"
Yuan Laosan glared at Zhao Shiheng's eldest son and said with a smile: "Zhao Huaishi, don't think that you are superior to others because you are a child. Now the county magistrate who values your scholarly family has been abolished by the Duke of Jin. Today's court of the Duke of Jin is
For those of us who make decisions for the common people, can your family of landlords compete with hundreds of us tenant farmers?"
Zhao Shiheng's eldest son slammed the coffee table angrily and said loudly: "How outrageous! Yuan Laosan, let me tell you, no matter how bad Jin Guogong's court is, it still uses Ming law to judge the law. You dedicated your land to my Zhao family, and now
We have to pay ground rent to the Zhao family. Even if it is a small rent, we still have to pay it after all!"
Zhao Shiheng watched his son speak. He never imagined that at the last moment, he would have to rely on the Tianjin Public Court to protect his private property. He couldn't help but close his eyes sadly.
When Yuan Laosan heard this, he looked at the farmers behind him. Unwilling to stay in the Zhao family to pay the rent, they took another step forward, waving their hoes and sickles, and said loudly: "We will not pay the rent to the Zhao family."
Rent, we want to get back our land deeds! Become yeoman farmers!"
When Zhao Shiheng heard this, he was filled with anger. He opened his eyes, stood up suddenly, and shouted at Yuan Laosan: "Yuan Laosan, come on! Beat me to death with your hoe! If you beat me to death, you are robbing me."
Land robbers, let’s see how the Duke’s court deals with you unruly people!”
Seeing Zhao Juren's fierceness, Yuan Laosan was stunned.
He was a little scared. The prestige that Zhao Shiheng had accumulated over the decades was still there. After all, the hoe in Yuan Laosan's hand was used to scare people. How dare he really swing it? Zhao Shiheng took a step forward, and Yuan Laosan took a step back.
, and finally took three steps back.
In the end, when he almost lost his foothold, Yuan Laosan shouted: "Even if we don't return our land deeds, we can only collect eight liters and five taels of land rent. If it is more than one taho, we will surrender to the Jinguo Court and pay the rent for that year."
Consecrated land becomes public land!”
Zhao Shiheng glared at Yuan Laosan and said nothing.
Yuan Laosan said loudly: "Liang Xiucai from Xinliang Township now collects land rent at the rate of eight liters and five liters combined."
Zhao Shiheng's sons looked at each other with desolation in their eyes. If the land rent was collected at eight liters and five liters, there wouldn't be much left after excluding the land tax. What will the dozens of people in the Zhao family eat in the future? All men will eat.
Going to the county town to do some cooking and miscellaneous work? What should the women of the Zhao family who are used to living a wealthy life do?
Zhao Shiheng's face turned red with anger and he yelled: "Get out!"
