Boss Xu was stunned for a while when he saw the golden gold bar in Zhou Zhenghao's hand.
After thinking about it, he took the gold bar from Zhou Zhenghao's hand, bit it with his teeth, and cursed: "It's really gold, Zhou Zhenghao, how many people have you cheated over the years? You are so rich!"
Zhou Zhenghao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Boss Xu taking the gold bar. He reluctantly glanced at the gold bar in Boss Xu's hand, got up from the ground, and went to fetch water again.
Zhou Zhenghao had bribed countless officials with money and goods over the years. He subconsciously felt that as long as he spent money, the matter would be settled. He also had to fetch water for his thirsty grandson.
Unexpectedly, Boss Xu suddenly shouted loudly: "Zhou Zhenghao has escaped!"
"Zhou Zhenghao entered the village to steal water!"
In the small village, there was a sudden uproar. The enemy of Xujia Village, Zhou Zhenghao, was not caught by Jin Guogong? Did he escape to Xujia Village? He also stole water? Door after door was suddenly opened, and men one after another
He rushed out with a hoe and pole in hand, looked at the door for a while, and then rushed towards the well.
Zhou Zhenghao pointed at Boss Xu and was so angry that he was speechless: "You...you...why don't you obey the rules?"
Boss Xu cursed: "To hell with your rules that oppress the people! Duke Jin is here, and we Huai'an people will no longer follow your rules!"
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Li Zhi looked at the thousands of peasants kneeling outside the city and wondered why these people came and knelt.
Several strong farm men grabbed Zhou Zhenghao and handed him over to the Tiger Army behind Li Zhi.
Three gray-haired village elders walked up. The leader was leaning on a cane and looked to be in his seventies. The leader walked up to Li Zhi, bent his knees, and tried to kneel down tremblingly, but was stopped.
Li Zhi supported him.
“No gifts for the elderly!”
The old man stood upright holding his crutches and said: "My lord, this week Zhenghao is a well-known bully in Huai'an Prefecture. He wants to escape to Yangzhou while the city is in chaos. My lord is here to punish these bullies. We will give
The Duke of Guo has captured him and handed him over to the Duke of Guo."
Li Zhi nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, folks!"
The leader of the old man looked at Li Zhi with his crutch, thought for a moment, then suddenly threw the crutch and knelt down on the ground. Seeing this posture, the two old men behind him also knelt down.
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, but he didn't know why these old people knelt down again, so he could only help them again.
The old man at the head refused to get up. He just raised his head and said, "Since the Duke has captured the city of Huai'an, don't leave! We, the people of Huai'an, all hope that the Duke will take control of Huai'an and restore peace to Huai'an."
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment before he understood why these farmers came to kneel to him.
The people in Huai'an also hope to live the same good life as the people in Shandong.
After Li Zhi took control of Shandong, the living standards of the people in Shandong changed year by year. First of all, the heavy land tax was reduced. Because Li Zhijun flattened the land tax, the land tax that used to be three or four bushels per mu became eight liters per mu.
The income of farmers suddenly increased a lot. This increased income suddenly changed the poor people in Shandong from not having enough to eat to having enough food and clothing. They can eat meat and make new clothes during the New Year.
Li Zhi also opened up water conservancy projects in Shandong and continued to expand the farming area of farmers. The new fields irrigated by these water conservancy facilities not only increased the income of the people who planted the new fields, but the old fields vacated by the farmers who planted the new fields also increased the income of other fields.
The per capita cultivated area of farmers. With more fields planted, the income of Shandong farmers is getting higher year by year.
Not to mention that the courts, which enforce the law impartially, protect the property rights of small farmers and prevent bad guys who try to annex small farmers from showing up. Farmers can safely store fertilizer on their fields and build ditches and canals for irrigation without worrying about the fields being too fertile.
It's easy to be targeted by bad guys.
Under the combined effects of various factors, the income of people in Shandong is getting higher year by year. To say that farmers' income has increased by 50% on average in the past four years is a conservative estimate.
Huai'an Prefecture is different from other southern Zhili prefectures and counties. Huai'an Prefecture directly borders Shandong. Although the squire and civil servants resisted Li Zhi's Shandong Daily, it was still too close after all. News from Shandong always came through private visitors.
The news spread to Huai'an Prefecture. The people of Huai'an Prefecture all knew that Duke Jin had benefited the people of Shandong.
The people in Huai'an Prefecture even learned about the situation in Tianjin from visitors from Shandong, and they knew that the people in Tianjin were extremely rich.
The people of Huai'an dreamed that the Duke of Jin would go south and take control of Huai'an.
Now the army of the Duke of Jin has really arrived, but unfortunately it is not here to govern Huai'an. The people of Huai'an heard that the Duke of Jin was ordered to march south to arrest the rebels, and they thought to themselves that the Duke of Jin was just passing by.
If Duke Jin could stay, the people of Huai'an would no longer have to be oppressed by the squires and could live a carefree and peaceful life.
Therefore, taking advantage of the limelight of Zhou Zhenghao's arrest, farmers in the countryside gathered outside Huai'an City and asked Li Zhi not to leave, and begged Li Zhi to bring Huai'an under his jurisdiction.
Li Zhi looked at the farmers who were kneeling in a large group and was silent.
However, when Li Zhi turned around, he found that the citizens watching the excitement at the gate of Huai'an City had also knelt down. The citizens were more informed and understood how the people of Tianjin and Shandong who followed Li Zhi were changing with each passing day.
"Don't let us Huai'an people rejoice in vain by coming and going again!"
"My lord, please take charge of Huai'an. Those gentry are really bad!"
"If no one takes care of Huai'an, Huai'an will definitely become chaotic like Henan and Huguang!"
Li Zhi thought for a while and said nothing while standing among the kneeling people.
When Zhong Feng saw the people showing such a posture, he immediately said: "Commander, you see the people are like this. If you don't take control of Huai'an and save the people from the fire and water, it will be really unjustifiable."
Zheng Kaicheng said worriedly: "But the Emperor has strictly ordered us not to occupy South Zhili for a long time. If we disobey the imperial edict, I am afraid that the Emperor will be disappointed and make unpredictable moves."
Li Laosi took a breath and said: "However, the hearts of the people of Huai'an also come from their hearts. As soon as we leave, those gentry will come back, and these people will receive double revenge. How can the boss do what is right for heaven?
Are you going to sit back and watch the common people being bullied by the gentry?"
"Although Huai'an is the capital of Southern Zhili, it is actually close to Henan. There have been frequent famines in recent years. If the owner doesn't care, I'm afraid it won't be long before the same chaos as Henan will happen."
Li Zhi looked at the people kneeling down and nodded.
"The people of Huai'an must be saved!"
"We reported to the emperor that we should build a tax bureau in Huai'an to equalize land tax and set up courts so that the people of Huai'an would no longer be bullied by the gentry. However, we do not run newspapers, set up officials, build schools, collect commercial taxes, or station in Huai'an.
Army. I believe the emperor will understand our good intentions after reading our memorial."
