Zhuang Zhong’s plan of pretending to be an ordinary businessman to observe people’s sentiments was ended early because of the Porcelain incident. Although there are no mobile phones in this era, there are still channels for news to be transmitted. There are still a few days before the real time to take office, Zhuang Zhong is not in a hurry, and walks around Mei County to check the customs here.
Fang Yingying's solemn rush made Fang Yingying go to the county first, but Fang Yingying was unwilling and insisted on following, saying that it was interesting to watch him solve the case, and she could help if she met another female victim. Zhuang Zhong didn't stop her anymore. Although Mei County is remote and remote, the scenery is very beautiful. Different from the plain area of the capital, this is a hilly area, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, and birds singing and flowers fragrant.
A group of people came to a mountain top, and the refreshing mountain breeze rushed towards them, carrying a faint earthy fragrance.
Fang Yingying stood on the edge of the cliff, opened her hands, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "It is said that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Now I understand. I used to like to read miscellaneous books, especially landscape annals. I thought I could I have experienced different landscapes from the book. Now that I am here, I realize how simple the things I read in the book are, and it is not worth mentioning. This place is just too beautiful!"
Zhuang Zhong smiled: "You didn't say that when you saw the centipede yesterday."
There are many mountains and forests here, and snakes, insects, rats and ants are also very powerful. Even if the smoke is smoked, it cannot guarantee that there will be no such things in the house. Fang Yingying felt her leg itching badly when she was sleeping last night. When she got up, she saw a centipede lying on her leg, which scared her so much that she almost went crazy, screaming and jumping. Seeing Zhuang Zhong, she rushed over. His face was bloody from crying.
Fang Yingying felt lingering fear. But he straightened his neck and said: "Even so, it can't hide the beauty of this place, but yesterday was too scary. In the future, Meixian will not be full of these things, right? If you encounter poisonous ones, wouldn't you die in the middle of the night?"
"That's not the case. The inn yesterday was too dilapidated, that's why it happened. When the time comes, find a good house, clean it carefully, seal the windows with gauze, and you won't be afraid of spraying medicine every day."
Fang Yingying breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, I can't stand such a scare anymore."
"There is a village in front of it, and Li Guo is just across a mountain. Let's go there and have a look, and then we can go back to Meixian County tonight."
Although Mei County has a small population, the land is sparsely populated, which is why it takes so long to walk around.
Fang Yingying laughed inexplicably, "Is that where King Sizhao's army is stationed?"
Zhuang Zhong did not understand the ridicule in her words, but pretended not to know: "There is a small army guarding there, and the base camp is relatively close to the county seat."
Fang Yingying smiled without saying a word.
Obviously at the top of the mountain, I saw that the small village was at the foot of the mountain, but it took me a long time to get there. This small village is obviously much poorer than the previous ones. They are basically small bamboo buildings or thatched huts. The children ran around the village naked, and when they saw Zhuang Zhong and his party, they surrounded them curiously. After a while, the adults in charge came out, and an uncle in his forties greeted him solemnly in awkward Mandarin.
"Where are you guys from?"
Zhuang Zhong did not hide it, "I am the newly appointed county magistrate, come and take a look."
The man was even more respectful, with his waist lowered, "The villain is Qian Sanhao from Cuizhu Village, I have met you before."
"Don't be too polite, we've walked all the way, can I ask for a drink at your house?"
Li Zheng didn't respond, he quickly led Zhuang Zhong to his home, and the clan elders gathered at Li Zheng's home after hearing the news. Because they had gotten the news a long time ago, they knew what the newly appointed county magistrate looked like, so no one questioned it.
Although it is Lizheng, the family is not much better than other families.
Qian Sanhao's grandson was only three or four years old, and he looked at Zhuang Zhong with his fingers in his mouth, with a curious expression on his face.
Zhuang Zhong took out the candy from his pocket and handed it to him, but he shrank behind Qian Sanhao with a timid face, but his eyes were full of anticipation. She stuffed it to him with a solemn smile, "Take it."
Qian Sanhao quickly expressed his thanks, and patted his grandson on the head, "Thank you, Master Guan."
The child quickly thanked him.
"Don't scare the child." Said solemnly, "Uncle Qian, we are here after dinner, can we have something to fill our stomachs with you?"
Lizheng refused, and hurriedly asked his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to cook quickly. There are only two meals a day in the countryside, which is not their meal at this time. Zhuang Zhong ordered people to take out the food on the carriage and hand it over to them for cooking.
When the things were taken out, the eyes of the onlookers widened. In fact, it is not a rare thing, it is just white rice and meat, but it is precious to the people in this small village. Although they also grow rice, and many people raise chickens and ducks, very few people actually eat them. Most of them are taken out and sold, and then exchanged for some cheap brown rice and bran to satisfy their hunger.
Feeling embarrassed, Li Zheng scolded angrily: "I haven't seen white rice and meat, we all go back to find our mothers."
The group of children laughed and said: "Have you seen it before, Uncle Lizheng, can we pick up the bowl for you later?"
Helping to pick up bowls is to get some leftovers, and this kind of work after the banquet is the most popular. People with better and more generous family backgrounds will entrust this job to others, and those who can get this job are those who have a good relationship with the host family. Generally, the host family will deliberately leave some meals as a reward, which is a custom in Meixian County.
Li Zheng had a serious face, "Don't embarrass yourself in front of the official, hurry up and leave!"
Zhuang Zhong didn't wear an official uniform, plus he was slender and handsome, and looked good-tempered, so the group of children were not afraid, they just laughed and laughed, and didn't leave until they were dragged away by their own mother.
The room was full of men, so Fang Yingying went out to the yard to look around, and even went into the kitchen. The daughter-in-law in Lizheng didn't know what to do when she saw her. Mrs. Li took the initiative to help, and Mrs. Li was very agile, she took the initiative to ask this and that, and got along with the women every time she came and went.
Lizheng's daughter-in-law stopped to greet Fang Yingying, while the younger generation continued to work, and the county magistrate was still waiting for dinner. There are so many good things, although there are a lot of people who come, there must be a lot left, and they will be able to taste it at that time. Thinking about it, the women in the kitchen have more dexterous hands and feet, and they didn't eat it even during the Chinese New Year. Had such a good thing!
Fang Yingying looked at it to herself, and groped here and there, and asked curiously: "I just heard what those children said in the book. Doesn't anyone in your village leave rice for themselves?"
Although Fang Yingying now dresses much more plainly than before, she told the people in this village that the material of the clothes is excellent, and her demeanor looks different, she must be from a wealthy family. Asking this must be because they don't understand the sufferings of the people, and Lizheng's wife also felt ashamed, blushing and said: "This, this is also something that can't be done."
Fang Yingying blinked, not quite understanding: "How many fields do you have in your family, are these fields not enough for your own food?"
Lizheng's wife sighed, "We have a lot of mountains, so it's good for each family to have a few acres of land. Our family is not bad, and the fields are all our own, so we don't have to pay rent. But every time we pay There is not much left after the tax is paid, how much food can be grown in one mu of land, I am not afraid of your jokes, I have never eaten white rice in my life, and I can drink some white rice porridge soup for a long time."
Fang Yingying couldn't believe it, "Isn't your family Lizheng? Doesn't Lizheng have white rice?"
Although Lizheng doesn't even have a rank, the person in charge of the village will live better than other people in the village. Even Lizheng's life is so bad, let alone other people's families.
The daughters-in-law of the Qian family shook their heads one after another, looking at the rice cooked in the pot, all of them were hungry.
A daughter-in-law with a more outgoing personality said with a smile: "So we are also afraid that the white rice will not be cooked well, and we have never cooked it before. We need this old lady to help, otherwise we are afraid that it will be a mistake, and we will not be able to cook it properly. These."
Mrs. Li said generously: "What's the matter, if you have time, go to the county, and I'll teach you. Today's time is tight, if you remember, follow along."
Regardless of whether it is true or not, it will be ironed out after listening to it, and the daughters-in-law are very happy from the bottom of their hearts, and thank you one after another. I feel that the elder sisters of the new county magistrate are so talkative, and I think the new county magistrate is not a harsh person.
Someone couldn't help sighing at this time, "Even if you learn it, it's useless. How can we afford these on weekdays?"
"I see that there are so many chickens and ducks out there, so they are worth a lot if they are sold, right? Haven't been able to eat a good one all day long?" Fang Yingying asked, "I remember that a chicken is worth a tael of silver."
Pooh-
Everyone laughed, "Miss, you have been deceived! If it's worth so much, why would we worry about it?"
Fang Yingying was not happy at this time, and began to ask about prices and other matters. The daughters-in-law of the Qian family didn't care, they just came together one by one, and in the end they even talked about how much food the land would produce, how much tax they would collect, and so on. Women are always rambling when they chat, but they often reveal a lot of information.
After a meal, Zhuang Zhong and his party left. There are quite a lot of things left, and the happiest thing is the daughter-in-law of the Qian family. They don't care about face, the most important thing is to let their children and men eat well.
Until the village could not be seen, solemnly sat on the front of Fang Yingying's carriage.
"Sister, how are you doing?"
Fang Yingying lifted the curtain and said with a triumphant smile, "Is there anything I can't do? What about you?"
Zhuang Zhong shook his head, "Same as before, not telling the truth."
"I just asked. Like the previous village, the land is basically occupied by that surname He. The rent is very high, and the tax is four or five times higher than the imperial court. If the grain production in Mei County is not bad, otherwise Don't talk about providing for yourself to eat, I guess it will have to be paid upside down." Fang Yingying said with righteous indignation. Although she is a boudoir girl, because she likes to read messy things, and because of the information that Zhuang Zhong provided her along the way, she also knows the general situation of the field yield and so on.
"It's no wonder that so many refugees in Mei County are unwilling to register. The tyrannical government is fiercer than a tiger, so they can only hide in the mountains." Zhuang Zhong frowned. "It seems that the situation in Mei County is more complicated than I thought. No wonder it has been so poor all these years. It turns out that someone is causing trouble."
Dayou's land tax is only 1 out of 20. Because Yunzhou experienced war before, it was 1 out of 30, which made the pressure on farmers not so great. When Yunzhou was recovered, it even distributed the land under the name of the former Zhennan King and some nobles to the common people, and also ordered that as long as it was independently opened up wasteland, the first three years could be exempted from taxation. This move should make life easier for farmers Gradually get better.
The land in Yunzhou is fertile, and the grain output of the top-grade fields can even reach four stones per mu, which is an excellent statistic for Dayou as a whole. On average, the territory of Yunzhou generally can produce about three stones per mu. Although it is not worth mentioning in modern times, it is very good in Dayou.
But the peasants here are clinking poor. This is all because some people are obedient and oppressive, and the superiors conceal the result of oppressing the inferiors.
Mei County usually reported that the output per mu was at most two stones, and most of them were around one stone, and the tax revenue was often insufficient. If it wasn't for Zhuang Zhong's investigation all the way, he would only think that this is a remote place, which is why it is so poor here!