Chapter 992: Deception

"Miss, why are you blaming the officialdom?" the laborer grumbled. "The authorities can't seek justice for us because Feng Ban Cheng holds troops, and he's seizing farmland for the Emperor. Even the county magistrate and the Prefect can't touch him—what the officialdom has done, offering us state land as compensation, is already their utmost effort."

Xue Shao asked gently, "Do the villagers greatly appreciate the officialdom?"

"Of course they do," the laborer straightened his chest. "That's why our village pays full land taxes every year, and voluntarily adds one sheng per mu as extra tax."

Xue Shao and Pan Yun fell silent; beside them, Xi Jin opened his mouth wide, wanting to speak but holding back.

The landlord pulled out a bamboo tube of wine from somewhere, poured a bowl each for Xue Shao and Pan Yun, and chuckled, "Don't mind them—they're fools blessed with fortune. Their hearts hold no resentment, no hatred, no anxiety; when the heart is at peace, life isn't so bitter."

Pan Yun didn't correct him, only asked the laborer, "How long have you been paying this?"

"Seventeen or eighteen years, maybe. I was still in my mother's womb back then. Every year our village head led all the men and elders to the county to pay grain—the county magistrate always praised our village," the laborer said. "Compared to us, Da Chun and the others live far worse—they have to farm so much land, and if there's war, they're sent to the battlefield."

Xue Shao told them: "Military households… shouldn't be something everyone flees from. The founding Emperor decreed that each military household is allotted fifty mu of land; the imperial court provides seeds, oxen, and farming tools. Soldiers on guard duty at the garrison receive housing, are exempt from land taxes, and need not perform corvée labor. Soldiers receive monthly grain subsidies, and military academies within the garrisons offer free education to military household children…"

The laborers stared, dumbfounded, forgetting to eat their fish: "If military households are this good, why do they still run away?"

"Yeah, I never heard Da Chun say they had land. If they had land, why would they farm so much for Feng Ban Cheng?"

The formulation of policy is one problem; its continuation is an even greater one.

Xue Shao and Pan Yun exchanged a glance.

Zhu Yuanzhang's policy was sound; the problem lay in how to implement it properly and ensure its continuity.

The landlord glanced at Xue Shao and Pan Yun, who offered no reply, and sneered: "Enough, enough, don't ask. When the founding emperor was seizing the realm, he told his brothers they'd share the empire. But once he won, he cut them all down. Promises unkept are like taking off your pants to fart—what's the point of asking them? They're not the Emperor, they're not officials."

Xue Shao hurriedly said, "That's a false rumor. The founding Emperor targeted only the most vicious, corrupt officials. The vast majority of other meritorious subjects died peacefully."

The landlord set down the bamboo tube. "The storytellers don't say that."

Xue Shao: "Storytellers spread misinformation…"

"If storytellers spread misinformation, then what you say is truth?" The landlord firmly believed the gossip he'd heard. "They even say the county magistrate who compensated you with state land was a good official."

The laborer startled, immediately retorting: "How is he not a good official?"

"Good official? Pfft. He gave you state land to appease you, but secretly colluded with Feng Ban Cheng to steal your best farmland. You were lucky—the later county magistrates never seized back the state land, and the censors were blind and deaf. Otherwise, the land they gave you would've been confiscated, and your entire village would've been arrested and convicted. That extra sheng of tax you pay every year? Who knows who's pocketing it."

The laborer's long-held belief shattered. He dropped his chopsticks with a clatter, stood up, and shouted: "You're lying! County Magistrate Wu was a good man! He's been gone over ten years—my father mentions him every year, prays for him. How could he be evil?"

The landlord: "So the magistrate you mean is surnamed Wu? Was his name Wu Fusheng? Funny—I was forced to flee to sea by him!"

The landlord slammed his chopsticks down and stood up, glaring at the laborer.

Seeing them roll up their sleeves and prepare to fight, Pan Yun interjected: "For an old county magistrate you never met, are you willing to fight the landlord? Win, you pay damages and move out. Lose, you get hurt and move out?"

The laborer's sleeve-rolling halted. He said nothing.

Xue Shao pulled the landlord aside: "You just said they're fools blessed with fortune. Now you're quarreling with fools—doesn't that make you one too?"

The landlord immediately brushed off his hand: "I'm not quarreling with fools."

The laborer had just sat down, but hearing that, rolled up his sleeves again: "Who are you calling a fool?"

"Enough, enough, stop arguing," Pan Yun glared at Xue Shao, thinking he had zero skill at mediating. She grabbed the laborer's arm and slammed him back onto the bench with a thump. "Do you know the imperial court is auditing military affairs? State farmland is the top priority. Has the Guangdong Regional Military Commissioner sent anyone to investigate him?"

"What's the Guangdong Regional Military Commissioner?"

"How would commoners like us know about such things?"

"True enough," Pan Yun nodded slightly. "Then what else do you know?"

One laborer: "Why are we the only ones telling you what we know?"

The landlord chimed in: "Yeah, why?"

Pan Yun: "You can ask us too. Whatever you want to know, we'll answer fully and without holding back."

"You're asking so many questions—are you really planning to challenge the Feng family to a duel and become their son-in-law?"

Pan Yun glanced at Xue Shao and smiled. "I'm considering it."

The laborers immediately crowded around, eager: "Young Master Xue, if you become the Feng family's son-in-law, don't forget us—we've shared a room together, after all, there's bond of shared lodging!"

"Young Master Xue, if you become son-in-law, give me the monthly chores of hauling and transporting your household goods—I carry things steady, won't let them get dented or broken, and I'll charge you two wen less."

"Get lost! Young Master Xue is now Feng family—why care about two wen? Young Master Xue, let me handle your chamber pot!"

"What chamber pot? It's night soil! You don't even know the right name! Young Master Xue, don't give it to him—give it to me!"

Xue Shao, overwhelmed, finally agreed to all: "If I can become part of the Feng family."

The next morning, Xue Shao went to the county school gate, found Huang Quan, and was taken by him straight to the Feng family's villa.

Pan Yun changed into a Daoist robe, unfurled her own fortune-telling and wandering physician banner, and stepped out, carrying Pan Xiaohei.

As soon as she stepped out, she shouldered the banner and headed toward the thousand-household office.

The main duties of this local thousand-household office were guarding the city gates, training troops, and suppressing bandits to protect the people.

But as she walked past the gate, she saw only a few old soldiers lounging lazily; their uniforms suggested at most the rank of small flag officer, with no official title.

Turning back, Pan Yun simply shouldered the banner and began chatting with them: "Say, gentlemen, your rheumatism looks serious—will you treat it?" (End of chapter)