My country, you can pinch it

Good policy?Rejoice?

The surrounding scholars couldn't help being ridiculous when they heard this, and they didn't even want to refute.

Seeing their expressions, Shang Xiaoshuang frowned and asked, "Why, you don't believe it? Do you think Lingling is lying?"

Even the examinees who came together showed doubts, "Young Master Shang is right, whether it is the exemption law or the seedling suppression law, in Yongliang, the people really have no resistance. People who asked about it all said that it is a law that benefits the people. Policy."

"Yeah yeah!"

These candidates are not blind to things outside the window. Although they are not handled by the new law, because they are scholars, they will always pay more attention than ordinary people.

"It's really stupid. If the people of Yunzhou couldn't bear it, who would dare to say that the New Deal is not good? It's not for the sake of the government's achievements, to show the court, and to force the people to swallow their bitterness."

"The Shang family protects the family and defends the country. The Xiling Lord is a hero, but he is also the family of the Zhongding Junhou. How do you understand the sufferings of the people and the people's poverty? Master Jiao, if you look around the countryside and ask, you will know Your own words are so ridiculous!"

Shang Jinling blinked, feeling inexplicably amused by the indignant scholar in front of him, he asked back, "How do you know I haven't been to the fields or the countryside?"

The scholar said proudly and contemptuously: "You are dressed in rich clothes and fine food, you go out to call your slaves and maidservants, and you have your elder sister to protect you. Who is it if it's not Young Master Jiao?"

Shang Jinling nodded, "I see, we judge people by their appearance."

"You... did I say something wrong?"

Shang Jinling smiled and said: "In Yongliang, since the implementation of the Exemption Law in April last year, until the end of this year, a total of more than 260 people have been subjected to corvee service, which is divided into time periods, such as repairing city walls, building roads, and expanding rivers and canals. Waiting for water conservancy projects takes 5000 days per capita, a total of about 100 million man-hours. The Yongliang government collected about 5000 taels of service money. Calculated on the basis of ten yuan per work day, a total of [-] taels were paid to the laborers. The three meals and lodging during the service period, as well as the subsidy for government servants, left about [-] taels in the Yongliang Bank...Master Qin, is there any discrepancy between what I said and what you recorded in the new law office?"

Qin Yue shook her head, "Although it's not detailed enough, it's basically the same."

But this passage made the surroundings quiet down instantly, and even Mr. Hua, who didn't think so at first, showed surprise on his face.

The scholars looked at each other and asked involuntarily, "How do you know?"

There is no need for Shang Jinling to answer this question. One of the candidates said, "After the Spring Festival, the government will form a notice and post it at the gate of the yamen. People can go and check it."

"Not only at the gate of the yamen, but also at the entrance of the market, at the gate of the city, and places where people come and go. There are literate yamen servants next to them to help explain. Moreover, the scope and number of corvee requisitions, as well as the working hours and days, are issued. It’s all recorded, and everyone knows it.”

"In addition, the next corvee will involve neighbors and villages. If there are no accidents, we will notify the villagers half a month in advance, so that the villagers can prepare."

"How is this possible?" The Yunzhou scholar was shocked when he heard this.

"You can go and see if you don't believe me, but we are in a barren land, I'm afraid you won't condescend." The scholar who came to Yunzhou for the exam for the first time was still discriminated against, and couldn't help speaking with a touch of anger.

Seeing this, Shang Jinling waved his hands, he paced slightly, and then continued: "Furthermore, the seedling-stimulating method was implemented at the end of autumn last year, just before the end of the new year, and the people whose financial resources were difficult enough to survive the winter spontaneously went to the government to borrow money. , I remember that there are more than a thousand households here?" Shang Jinling looked at Zhang Zhigao, another new law enforcement officer.

Zhang Zhigao replied: "A total of 420, 930 households have been recorded. Most of them are poor people who really have no money to spend the winter. There are not many borrowers. Generally, they are in the lowest level of [-] cash. I am afraid that they will not be able to pay in the coming year. A total of [-] loans have been borrowed." Three taels of silver."

Shang Jinling nodded, "This amount of money is not much, it's just a trial run of Yongliang's Seedling Respiration Method. The government advocates doing according to one's ability, accruing interest and splitting the interest..."

"Why two points, not two and a half?" Someone suddenly asked.

I only heard Qin Yue add: "Because His Royal Highness King Ning subsidizes the interest for the other half, in order to allow the people to spend the winter and the New Year better and reduce their burden. His Highness warned the people, don't look for private high profits, and if there is something wrong, the government will fight and try to help!"

"So that's how it is!" A Yongliang scholar suddenly said, "No wonder I was thinking that the official document clearly stated two and a half cents of interest, but why did the Ximiao treaty that my neighbors brought over to me say Two shares." Then he raised his hand in the direction of Yongliang, "His Royal Highness King Ning really has good intentions, and he cares for me and other poor people!"

"His Royal Highness Prince Ning's kindness, we have nothing to repay."

"In just one year, our life in Yongliang is very different from the past."

The flattery made Liu Ke, who was strolling on the street, sneezed three times in a row. He rubbed his nose and said in displeasure, "I don't know which bastard is swearing at me behind my back again."

Shang Jinling looked at the dazed Yunzhou scholar, and at the one who called him Young Master Jiao first, and smiled gently: "I'm really not in good health, and I can't do these hard, tiring and trivial things. But In Yongliang, there is a special new legal office, as well as officials from top to bottom. They go to the mountains and the countryside, go to the people, measure the land one by one, and count the number of households and household levels in each township and each square. They are stationed in the market. For the sake of public welfare, I told every commoner about the New Deal and new laws and regulations, and let them understand that the New Deal is not just a poisonous strategy for the court to collect money, regardless of their life and death. Freed from a hundred years of heavy corvee! The Xi Miao Fa should have been a glimmer of hope for the poor from the imperial court when they had nowhere to go, and they had no crops, not a claw to push them into the abyss of hell!"

Shang Jinling's voice was not slow or urgent, and the volume was not high, but there was a confident force that attracted others to listen, "There is no law in the world, it depends on who does it and how it is done. If you generalize, it is either black or white. Then there is no good policy in the world, and you should ask yourself, when you first saw the new policy, did you look forward to it with joy, or did you hate to resist it?"

This question turned everyone down, and people's first impression was the deepest.

As scholars of the imperial examination, they naturally would not fail to understand the regulations in the new law, but their affirmation and expectations at that time were completely disappointed when the government repeatedly violated them.

Shen Shusheng sighed to Mr. Hua: "Although Yongliang is located in the border area, what Mr. Shang said is absolutely true. If Mr. Hua and you brothers don't believe it, you can ask the merchants who come and go to Yongliang. What they saw with their own eyes is always true. How much can you believe it?"

After Shang Jinling said this, he bowed his hands and saluted, and also smiled at the scholar who had despised him and ridiculed him before, then turned and left, and the candidates from Yongliang followed after being stunned.

"Wait." Master Hua suddenly shouted, "Young Master Shang."

Shang Jinling stopped and looked back at him.

Master Hua said: "May I ask in Yongliang, who advocated this new law?"

"Gao Xueli." Shang Jinling replied.

Master Hua frowned and thought, "This is..."

All the scholars shook their heads, they had never heard of this name.

"His father is Gao Zixiu."

Hua Fuzi suddenly realized, "It turns out that he is Mr. Gao Zixiu's son, no wonder he has such insights."

Gao Zixiu's reputation is too great, even though he has been dead for many years, he is still awe-inspiring when mentioned, and his New Deal is naturally more convincing than Yang Shenxing.

As soon as Shang Jinling and the others left, a scholar from Yushan Academy reminded him, "Master Hua, what should we do now?" The surrounding scholars also looked at him.

Master Hua looked at the receding figure on the other side, thought for a moment and said, "No matter what, I'll see the head of the mountain first before making a conclusion, everyone, just wait."

"Yes."

Hundreds of scholars gathered in front of the yamen slowly dispersed with the departure of Yushan Academy.

Seeing this, the guard went into the room and told: "Master Yang, everyone is gone."

Yang Shenxing nodded, and the guard stepped back, but his brows still remained unfurled.

Fang Jinyu said: "Grandfather, I don't understand. A mere academy, plus hundreds of scholars, has no soldiers and no power. Why do you have to be so afraid of them and negotiate with them again and again? You are the chief assistant of the court. , hand-picked imperial envoys, as long as the riots are quelled, can't they return to Beijing to report to the emperor?"

Yang Shenxing glanced at his grandson, shook his head and said: "You think too simply. Although the riot is peaceful, it is not peaceful. The people are not to be afraid of ignorance, but I am afraid that these scholars will stir up another turmoil. If so, I will return to Beijing. Your Majesty I can’t explain it there. I’m afraid you don’t know it. The head of the Yushan Academy holds the petition of the rioting people in his hand. The words are blood and tears. The chaos in Yunzhou is watched by the court. ...I'm afraid it will end without a problem."

"Isn't it enough to punish corrupt officials? At worst, kill Liang Chengye and vent their anger!"

"Liang Chengye's death is not important anymore. The most important thing is to eliminate the people's resistance to the new policy. Otherwise, even if this old man becomes the magistrate of Yunzhou, it will not be able to implement it."

Fang Jinyu finally said: "Then what should we do? Do we have to accept the conditions of Yushan Academy and temporarily suspend the implementation of the new policy here in Yunzhou?"

"No, Yunzhou slows down, and other places will also ask for the same. What is the difference between this and failure?" Yang Shenxing refused, "Yu'er, the old man can stand in the court now because of the New Deal. It's gone."

This will not work, and that will not work, Fang Jinyu couldn't help but said: "What is the meaning of this Yushan Academy? Why didn't there be any words before the riot? Didn't it mean that there were people in the court?"

Yang Shenxing laughed when he heard this, and looked at his grandson with admiration, "You finally see the key."

"Grandfather?"

"When the New Deal was still in existence, we strongly advocated it. Naturally, many people opposed it. The nobles opposed it, and the scholars also opposed it. This Yushan layman was one of them. He felt that the New Deal hurt the foundation of the country and moved the foundation of the country. , things built behind closed doors are easy for people to take advantage of, and local corruption is even more serious, so that the people are struggling to survive."

"But today's Dashun, if there is no innovation, it will only decline further and further. The royal family is too lazy to work, officials eat corpses, and the people are already overwhelmed! Can't they see it?"

Yang Shenxing shook his head, "I haven't seen it, it's just that Gao Zixiu and I advocate scraping the bone to treat the poison, but they hope to treat it slowly."

"Slow treatment and slow treatment? But how to treat it, how to treat it?"

Yang Shenxing laughed and said: "Look, choose talents and talents, purify the court, choose wise kings to serve, and comfort the monarch to follow the example of the ancestors. Perhaps we are still looking for other more gentle methods."

"What's the difference between that and waiting to die?"

"This is where the contradiction between us lies, and under the new policy in Yunzhou, corruption has indeed increased, making people's lives miserable, and making their words come true." Yang Shenxing said here, with sadness in his eyes, "This is the old man's Wrong, one wrong step, wrong step by step, subject to King Duan, allowing the three divisions to act recklessly, making the New Deal completely unrecognizable."

Fang Jinyu clenched her folding fan tightly and lowered her head, "It's my grandson and mother's fault."

Yang Shenxing waved his hand, "Okay, it's meaningless to mention these things again. It has nothing to do with you. This time I brought you out, it's nothing more than seeing the place and gaining experience for the township examination in two years. Don't worry, there is always a way .” He patted Fang Jinyu on the shoulder and comforted him.

Fang Jinyu forced a smile and said, "Yes, then I'll go around the street and see what those scholars are doing."

"Alright, come here."

The servant came in, cupped his hands and said, "Master."

"Send a letter of greeting to Yushan Academy. Tomorrow, the old man wants to visit Yushan Layman."

"Yes."