Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

When the two Jinyi guards heard this question, they also turned to look at Sun Jiao, also wanting to know which big shot of the court was standing behind Sun Jiao.

Although no high-ranking official in the imperial court now dares to openly oppose the emperor, civil servants have always been insidious, but it is unknown which big boss is behind it.

Kill them all, these hypocrites should all go to hell.

"It's true that I promoted them, but what does that mean? Which official of the Literature and Selection Department doesn't take care of his own people? As for what they did and why they wanted to assassinate Liu Zhong and Wang Zhi, I have no idea!" Sun When Jiao heard this question, he immediately closed his eyes silently to show his unwillingness to confess.

When Mou Bin saw that Sun Jiao was really unwilling to reveal the truth, he smiled and said, "Don't you know? You may not know one thing yet!"

"What's the matter?" Sun Jiao felt a little uneasy in his heart, so he opened his eyes again and asked.

Mou Bin narrowed his eyes and looked at Sun Jiao, and he said every word: "I am a first-class expert in torture, and there is no mouth in the world that I can't pry open!"

Speaking of the last word, he deliberately bit it very hard, which inadvertently put more psychological pressure on Sun Jiao.

"Mo Bin, you want to persecute Zhongliang, aren't you afraid that history is like iron?" Sun Jiao asked angrily, knowing that Fusi's torture instruments in Beizhen were terrifying.

Are you Zhongliang? Haha...you are Zhongliang!

A laughter full of contempt rang out in the passage of the cell, and Mou Bin stopped talking nonsense to this shameless civil servant, and immediately asked his men to take him into custody, and strode towards the interrogation room filled with eighteen kinds of torture instruments.

As for the historical pen being as iron as iron, he knew that these civil servants indeed had the ability to confuse black and white, but he also believed that future generations would eventually be able to see through the falsehoods and directly hit the historical facts.

Even if Sun Jiao and other scholars continue to smear Cheng Hua as mediocre and the Holy Emperor is cruel now, the rise and fall of the times will tell everything. What he has to do now is to help His Majesty pry Sun Jiao's mouth open.

In mid-July, cotton flowers bloom.

The silver light indicates a good harvest, and the stars shake like melting snow.

Who can warm up the fragrance wrapped in plain clothes, and enter the covered time and space with ease.

…

While the Ming Dynasty was still full of undercurrents and overt and covert struggles, the land of Gyeonggi had already ushered in the harvest season.

Since there was no locust plague in North Zhili this spring and summer, and cotton is a drought-tolerant crop, the yields of cotton-growing households in Gyeonggi Province are encouraging.

Although the vast majority of Wu Xun refused Zhu Youtang's call to plant cotton, many people at the bottom were actually quite obedient, so they cooperated with Shuntian Fu Yamen's call to plant cotton.

In fact, as early as the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had already noticed the value of cotton, so he attached great importance to cotton cultivation and even issued a government decree.

At that time, the imperial court ordered that people should plant half an acre of mulberry, half an acre of hemp, and half an acre of cotton on their fields between five and ten acres, and twice as many as ten acres or more.

According to historical records: In the 20th year of Hongwu, the output of cotton cloth in the seven prefectures of Zhangde, Weihui, and Guangping in Henan was as high as 11,803,000 kilograms.

In the seventeenth year of Yongle, the imperial court confiscated a total of 1,26,887 pieces of cotton, 246,57 jins of silk cotton, and 583,324 jins of cotton velvet. .

Cotton has long become an important economic crop in the Ming Dynasty, and it is also a strong guarantee for the Chinese people to survive cold winters.

Many people know that the Ming Dynasty and the ethnic minorities in the west made tea horses, but cotton cloth woven from cotton was also welcomed by them, so the Ming Dynasty would also use cotton cloth to exchange horses with ethnic minorities.

In fact, cotton cloth has always been the hard currency in Ming Dynasty's trade with other countries or tribes large and small.

Zhao Laosi is an ordinary citizen in Beizhili and has made a living by farming here for generations.

Because he was a law-abiding man, he always spent every penny he had. If he had no money, he would dig weeds to make ends meet. However, he managed to preserve the twenty acres of land passed down from his ancestors.

During the spring plowing this year, he responded to the call of the Shuntian Government Office and received some free cotton seeds and used two acres of the land to grow cotton.

When it was harvest time, his two acres of land, like other people's cotton fields, also ushered in a bumper harvest.

He took his two sons and two daughters-in-law to the fields to pick cotton. Picking cotton seemed to be a very interesting thing, and as a result, his grandson and granddaughter came to help.

Facing this cotton as white as snow, the family always feels the joy of a good harvest.

Due to manual picking, they can avoid stray branches and branches very well, making the cotton picked back very clean. It only takes one day of exposure, followed by removal of seeds and impurities, to obtain cotton that can be sold.

After weighing, the two acres of cotton field turned out to be a full 600 kilograms. If it is processed into a quilt weighing six pounds, this harvest alone can be turned into a hundred quilts.

But before that, he needed to notify the grain chief and the clerk of the Wanping County Yamen Department, who would come to collect taxes.

Born in the Ming Dynasty, no matter what crops his twenty acres of land were used to grow, he had to pay taxes at the standard of "thirty taxes to one", and the same is naturally true for cotton now.

However, this year's situation is quite special. The imperial court has introduced preferential tax policies for cotton.

If the cotton grown at home has a good harvest, the tax can be paid according to the preferential tax rate of six kilograms per mu set by the Ministry of Household Affairs, that is, twelve kilograms of cotton can be paid directly.

If special circumstances occur and your cotton fields fail to harvest, you can choose to pay taxes to Wanping County according to the traditional "Thirty Taxes and One" method.

Zhao Laosi did some calculations and found out that if he followed the standards of the Ministry of Revenue, he would only have to pay twelve kilograms of cotton to the court, but if he followed the traditional method, he would have to pay twenty kilograms of cotton.

Zhao Laosi knew that the policy of thirty taxes to one tax formulated during the Taizu period was already very kind, so he decided not to take advantage of the imperial court, and immediately paid twenty kilograms of cotton in the traditional way.

After paying the tax, I was left with 580 kilograms of cotton.

It’s just that cotton cannot be used as food, and a family has ten mouths, so cotton needs to be exchanged for money to buy firewood, rice, oil, salt and vinegar to ensure the family’s daily living expenses.

Zhao Laosi sent his eldest son to the capital to find a second cotton dealer to sell cotton, then picked up a hoe and prepared to go to the cotton field to do the final cleaning work.

"Run! Shuntian Prefecture Yin brought several government officials to the entrance of the village, and they are looking for you by name!"

"Why is Shuntian Prefecture looking for me, and why should I run away?"

"Have you forgotten that when we were young, we peeked at Widow Liu taking a shower? Those legs, buttocks, and chest were so white..."

…

Zhao Laosi couldn't help but think of forty years ago, when his body was really white, and he still can't forget it, as if it was a dream engraved in his bones.

Thinking that his reputation would be in jeopardy for most of his life, he and Zhu Laoliu were ready to flee to the other side of the village, but suddenly realized something was wrong.

This old guy is lazy and has become a tenant. He looks the same everywhere, but his twenty acres of land are still growing in the ground. Can he still take it with him?

"Are you Zhao Laosi?" Song Cheng came on horseback and confirmed his identity to Zhao Laosi who was kneeling on the ground.

The accompanying Wanping household clerk took a look at Zhao Laoliu and saw that Zhao Laosi was so nervous that he couldn't speak. He immediately assured him: "Master Fu Yin, he is Zhao Laosi!"

Zhao Laosi has lived in this land for decades. Although he was lucky enough to see the county magistrate of Wanping from a distance, he had never seen Mr. Fu Yin at all, let alone Mr. Fu Yin talking to him.

At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground, his head buzzing all the time.

Zhao Laosi knew that he could no longer hide the fact that he had peeped at Widow Liu taking a bath, so he immediately begged for mercy: "The common people know their mistake, please ask Mr. Fu Yin to punish the common people!"

"This is not a big mistake! It's just that the reason why the new dynasty implements preferential tax policies is to benefit the people. If there is a good harvest in the future, you can just pay it according to the quota of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Can you take the initiative to pay twenty The surrender of kilograms of cotton is enough to prove that you are a kind-hearted citizen of the Ming Dynasty, and His Majesty's Sacred Heart is very pleased. The difference will not be refunded this time. This is a newly issued Hongzhi cloth ticket from the Ministry of Household Affairs, which can be regarded as a token of your kindness from the court. A gift from the people. Because the first batch of cotton cloth from the Royal Weaving Factory has to be traded with foreigners, this ticket will not be valid until August. At that time, you may send someone to the Royal Cloth Factory with the ticket to exchange for it. Any piece of cotton!" Song Cheng handed it to the accompanying officials with a wink, and then explained seriously.

This time he went to the countryside, he was actually in a good mood.

The imperial court has always wanted to exploit more from the people, and even tried every possible means to impose more taxes on the people in a clever way. Only the new dynasty is still worried that the people will suffer losses, and even issues additional Hongzhi cloth tickets to subsidize it.

This is indeed good governance. People like Zhao Laosi know that they can pay eight pounds less cotton by paying according to the preferential tax policy, but they still insist on paying tax at the rate of 30 to 1. They really should not be the ones who suffer.

ah? Reward?

Zhao Laosi was stunned for a moment and accepted the cloth ticket sent to him in disbelief.

At first glance, you can tell that this piece of cloth note is not ordinary. Not only does it look like a Ming Dynasty treasure note, the quality of the paper is surprisingly good, with the words "a piece of cotton cloth" clearly written on it.

When Song Cheng saw that the matter had been settled, he got on his horse and planned to go to the village ahead to continue to reward cloth tickets. In that village, there were also two households of honest villagers who did not choose to "take advantage of the imperial court."

It has to be said that the people of China are actually very simple. With such kind-hearted people as their foundation, how could the Ming Dynasty not create a prosperous age?

Zhao Laosi sat on the stone in front of his house, watching the team disappearing around the corner, and found that everything had become so unreal.

"Our Lord Fu Yin actually came to our village in person. He is really a good official who is rare to see in a hundred years!" Seeing Lord Fu Yin leave, Zhao Laosi's wife Zhang came out and said with emotion.

Zhao Laosi glanced at his wife and immediately said with a serious face: "What do you know as a woman? Mr. Fu Yin is a good official, but we actually met a good emperor!"

"Dad, what does this have to do with the emperor?" The second son suddenly looked puzzled when he heard this.

Zhao Laosi glared at his second son, and then preached: "Song Fuyin can be Shuntian Fuyin at such a young age and with such little qualifications. I heard that Song Fuyin also came from a poor family. Do you really think that Song Fuyin himself can do it?" Can you sit in the position of the Governor of Shuntian? The Governor of the Song Dynasty also said just now that this cloth ticket was issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs and was given to our family by the Emperor. This is the good governance of the new dynasty, and we must be grateful to Your Majesty."

After all, after living for most of his life, he knew who was in charge of all this.

"Master, can this cloth ticket really be exchanged for a piece of cotton?" Mrs. Zhang asked for the cloth ticket to examine it, but she expressed doubts.

The eldest daughter-in-law, who had been silent all this time, said crisply: "Mom, I went back to my parents' house a few days ago and saw this kind of cloth coupons in the hands of my sister-in-law. The employees of the Royal Weaving Factory distribute monthly money, and they can also Choose cloth tickets. The cloth tickets are discounted based on the ex-factory price, so my sister-in-law chose two! The Royal Weaving Factory and the Royal Cloth Company are from the same company, so these cloth tickets can definitely be exchanged!"

"If that's the case, let's go get the cotton cloth back then, and I'll make new clothes for my two grandsons!" Mrs. Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly accepted the cloth ticket.

At this time, the eldest son Zhao Wu hurried back, but he didn't pay attention to everyone staying at the door, and ran directly into the kitchen without even saying hello.

Fortunately, he was not looking for a kitchen knife, but scooped up a ladle of water and stood at the door to drink it. Then he reported with a smile: "Dad, I just found out clearly that the cotton market is very good this year. I just entered the city gate, When I learned that our family had 600 kilograms of cotton, a group of cotton dealers surrounded me. The price has been negotiated. They will come to our village at noon tomorrow and take away our 580 kilograms at twice the previous purchase price. Ten pounds of cotton, a total of ten taels of silver, and a deposit of one tael has been forced on me!"

"Blessed by the Bodhisattva! The cotton market has been so good this year, and our Zhao family will finally have a good life!" Seeing the many happy events today, Mrs. Zhang immediately moved in the direction of the Guanyin Temple and expressed her gratitude.

Zhao Laosi took the one or two deposits as if he was in a dream.

In the past, after working hard for a whole year, even though I could still have some money during the harvest period, it was money that would last until the next season's harvest, so I had to break a copper coin in half to spend it.

It's just that now the new dynasty has not only stopped making excuses to lure away more cotton, but has also given preferential tax policies. The purchase price of cotton this year can still be so high, causing money to suddenly become looser.

Although the latest policy of the imperial court only allows him to devote half of his land to planting cotton and other cash crops, as long as the cotton market maintains, life will definitely get better and better in the future.

Zhao Laosi looked up at his dilapidated thatched hut and immediately made a decision: "Our family will continue to grow cotton well and strive to build a new house in three years!"

After hearing this, Zhang and others suddenly felt that their lives were finally promising.

"Dad, I bought some cumin and pepper back from the city. I heard that grilled fish with a little cumin and pepper is very delicious. Even the dignitaries in the capital are eating it. It is said that the emperor is eating it! I will go to the pond now Touch two fishes, and our family will grill them tonight!" The eldest son took out a little pepper he brought back and said happily.

Zhao Laosi readily agreed when he heard that it was eaten by high-ranking officials in the capital, especially the emperor.