Chapter 246

"No play within today?"

"Not possible."

What to do? The original plan was disrupted. He Lingchuan's eyes turned, and he immediately made a decision: "Then hard on."

He whispered to the medicine ape Lingguang, who was clearly stunned, and nodded after hesitation.

So He Lingchuan whistled, and the Rock Wolf Lu Xin didn't know where it came back from.

"Set off, target Xinxian."

He Chunhua usually indulged his eldest son, but at critical moments, He Lingchuan couldn't drop the chain for him.

A quarter of an hour later, the group left Dunyu and galloped straight to Xinxian.

Jiao Tai was released from the dark prison two days ago, and there were pus sores in his wounds, which needed to be raised for two more days. Following He Lingchuan were five or six strong men besides Shan Youjun.

They were originally private soldiers of the Li and Shu families. After He Chunhua issued an order, both families had to disband their private armed forces on the spot. Most of the private soldiers would be conscripted by the army, but Shan Youjun introduced these people to He Lingchuan, saying that they were carefully selected from 1,500 or 1,600 people, and were hard in both strength and character, and had no burdens behind them.

Whether people are easy to use or not, only after using them will you know. So He Lingchuan very simply called them all to go to handle affairs together.

There was no snow or rain for the past few days, the road condition was good, the horses galloped with all their strength, and they arrived in Xinxian in less than an hour.

The Shefu of Xinxian was surnamed Zhou, and he was stunned when he saw He Lingchuan, secretly saying that his reputation was well-deserved. The other party rode a tall blue-red beast, held a monkey in his left hand and drove a wolf in his right, and followed by six or seven evil servants, the style of a wealthy young master patrolling the township and bombing the street was full.

This blue-red beast was also filialized by a small noble, of course, in name it was "sold" to He Lingchuan.

"Where is that village that doesn't know what's good?" He Lingchuan called his subordinates to let out a horse for Shefu Zhou to ride. "Lead the way."

Shefu is a tax official in the township. However, the township government establishment is small and the manpower is insufficient. Besides collecting taxes, he also has to do some miscellaneous work, such as coordinating the contradictions between the provincial government and the township, and between the township and the village.

The ground was still frozen, but the residual snow had faded, and He Lingchuan also saw a little new green in the mud cracks on the side of the road.

The woods and shrubs were still bare, but if you look carefully, some had already sprouted buds. Pheasants were scratching for food in the fields, and mother deer ate non-stop from morning to night, running away as soon as they saw people.

Just looking at these animals, you know that Dunyu is not short of grain. Although the taxes of farmers are heavy, they are still better than other places.

The cold winter is coming to an end, and spring is coming in threads.

On the way, He Lingchuan asked Shefu Zhou, "You said this Shuangyu Village refused to hand over the land and also threatened you?"

Shefu Zhou secretly said a bitter, this young master didn't even figure out the cause and effect before coming, what to do if things get worse? I heard that Young Master He's temper is bad, but Shuangyu Village is a hard bone to chew.

But on the surface, he had to explain: "Yes. A few days ago, the new government official appointed by the Chief Steward's Office purchased ten qing of good land from the villagers, with complete seals and contracts. But when collecting the land, Shuangyu Village didn't do it, saying that all the land sold by the village must be stamped by the village elders, otherwise the transaction is invalid; another thing is that those ten qing of land have been rented out, and the lease period is still seven years, so the provincial government bought the land bone, not the land surface, and cannot collect the land. Last time I followed the county assistant, even the county assistant was pushed to the ground."

"Yo, there is such a cow-like village?" The people don't fight with the officials, this is common sense. Why can Shuangyu Village go against the current? He Lingchuan only grasped the key points. "They don't have reason, right?"

"Can't say that either." Shefu Zhou was hesitant. "There are township rules in Xinxian, Zhaobai Township, and other places. For decades, the sale of land by villagers in the village must be agreed by the village, which is an unwritten old rule, and the villagers all recognize it. The new officials of the Chief Steward's Office may not be familiar with our place and don't know these ways."

He Lingchuan gave an "um." The old father removed quite a few old officials' black gauze hats as soon as he took office and put them on the newcomers, which had advantages and disadvantages. Although the official atmosphere was renewed, the new officials were more loyal to He Chunhua, but they were new to the place, and the pits were stepped on one by one.

Look, isn't this a small trouble?

"Who said the villagers all recognize it?" He Lingchuan sneered. "I think the few villagers who sold land to the provincial government didn't intend to recognize it. Where did these people go?"

"All abandoned the township and went south, and didn't come back."

He Lingchuan understood. "Cheated the state official, still dare to come back? This is a one-time deal."

During the days when rumors were flying, the hearts of the people in Dunyu and surrounding towns were floating, and many residents were planning to go south to avoid disaster, but later they were scared by

He Chunhua's city sealing order, and they really put it into practice.

Some sold, and the provincial government went to take over at a low price, called buying back public land.

Buying private for public, this practice was not created by He Chunhua alone. In the history of the Great Yuan, it had been operated at least twice, and the cause was that public land fell into the hands of the powerful for various reasons, and too much was lost, so the country thought of ways to buy it back.

However, the new officials appointed by He Chunhua didn't know the local township rules, gave people money, but couldn't collect the land.

As the victory report in the north spread to the wilderness, people who fled south thought about it and retreated to return home.

First, most people fled in a hurry and didn't have time to sell their houses at all. After thinking about it on the road, anyway, there were houses to live in when they returned, so let's go back.

Second, is fleeing comfortable? That kind of life of wandering around like a stray dog, being looked down upon, being despised, and being robbed, ordinary people couldn't bear it at all.

Unless it was a last resort, who would be willing to be a refugee? So when they heard that Dunyu was fine and the official troops also won a battle, 80% of the more than 10,000 commoners who followed the Zhan family to leave returned to their hometowns and entered the city in these few days.

However, the few Shuangyu villagers who sold land to the provincial government were cunning and naturally didn't dare to come back. These ten qing of land became a contradiction between Xinxian and Shuangyu Village.

"I'll ask you one more thing." He Lingchuan then asked the key point. "What connection does Shuangyu Village have with the Chuanyun Pavilion, this Daoist sect?"

Shefu Zhou immediately said, "Who in the ten miles and eight townships doesn't know that the Second Elder of the South Courtyard of Chuanyun Pavilion comes from Shuangyu Village!"

"So it is... Liang Zhanglao?"

"Exactly."

He Lingchuan gave an "oh." No wonder the old father secretly sent someone to urge him to come to Shuangyu Village, planning to handle this matter before Liang Zhanglao.

If it were another state official, he might have retreated.

He Chunhua wouldn't.

Shefu Zhou added, "Shuangyu Village and the Shu family in Dunyu also have some connections. This time they refused to admit it, perhaps..."

He Lingchuan sneered. "In other villages, they are obedient people, but here they are stubborn people!"

These wealthy families had suffered quite a few losses in He Chunhua's hands recently, perhaps wanting to take the opportunity to vent their anger and make things difficult for the provincial government.

Shefu Zhou hesitated again before saying, "The Land Cao Counselor also collected quite a lot of land from other places this time, and they must all be watching Shuangyu Village."

Government vs. Shuangyu Village, whether the government bows its head or Shuangyu Village admits defeat, has an exemplary role for the handling of such events in the future.

He Lingchuan hissed. "Isn't that nonsense?"

Galloping across the wide fields, Shuangyu Village arrived.

This village actually had more than 130 households, quite a few people. Shefu Zhou said that this was the largest village in Xinxian, occupying the best land.

Because of the trouble caused by buying land, the young and strong in the village were all there. Seeing He Lingchuan leading the crowd aggressively, they raised their farm tools to greet them.

He Lingchuan looked at the undisguised disgust and disdain in their eyes, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

The atmosphere was tense, and Shefu Zhou hurriedly stepped forward to speak: "The provincial government came to coordinate the sale of land, please invite the village chief!"

After a while, the village chief came.

Unlike the white-bearded old man in He Lingchuan's impression, the village chief of Shuangyu Village was only in his early forties, and although he had some wrinkles, he could be called strong.

He bowed as soon as he came up, but didn't reach the ground, and then invited He Lingchuan and others to enter the village for detailed discussion.

He Lingchuan looked around; Shuangyu Village was no different from ordinary villages, with chickens and dogs hearing each other, and smoke curling up. There were many people walking, and the thin ice on the ground turned into water, stepping on it was a foot of mud.

News spread fastest in such a place, so half a quarter of an hour later, He Lingchuan sat in the big house where Shuangyu Village discussed affairs, opposite were six or seven village elders, more than half of whom were older than the village chief.

The villagers were all surrounded outside the house, stretching their necks to hear something.

Village Chief Liang took the lead: "May I ask who this is?"

He Lingchuan sat like a horse and a knife, with two monsters lying on the side, and seven big men standing behind him with their hands behind their backs.

"I am the deputy of the Land Cao Counselor."

I see the Land Cao Counselor looks like your subordinate, of course the village chief didn't say this complaint, but gave him a ritual smile.

Shefu Zhou on the side immediately added: "He is also the eldest son of the new Chief Steward, Master He!"

The village elders all gave a long "Oh," with complex expressions. Why did the state official send his own son? Want to use power to suppress people? "Master He ordered me to coordinate the dispute over buying back public land. The Land Cao Counselor purchased ten qing of good irrigated land from seven residents of Shuangyu Village on behalf of Xinxian, with contracts and certificates, this fact is clear, right?"

The village elders opened their voices immediately, but they were talking all at once, and no one could hear clearly. He Lingchuan could only see that their emotions were a bit excited.

Village Chief Liang pressed his hands to let others stop talking.

It took a long while for the house to be quiet. Village Chief Liang said: "We have all seen those contracts, the Land Cao Counselor bought the land bone from their hands, not the land surface."

Ding Zuodong explained in detail to He Lingchuan yesterday what land bone and land surface were. In summary, the ownership of the land is called land bone, and the person who owns the land bone is the landlord; while the right to use is called land surface, and the person who owns the land surface is the tenant who rents the land. In the northern border of the Yuan Nation, the system of one land and two owners is implemented, and the land bone and land surface can be separated and bought and sold separately.

And in the south of the capital, this system has not been promoted, so the talents recruited from the capital by He Chunhua after taking office in the Xiazhou government suffered a dull loss.

He Lingchuan also read the land deed, although it was not specifically marked inside, He Chunhua and the officials of the provincial government also believed after research that this transaction should refer to the land bone transaction.

(End of chapter)