In the music of a lively and festive "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix", the groom official Xu Jin led two big red sedan chairs into the house, after worshipping heaven and earth, the two charming brides were sent to the cave room, and Xu Jin stayed in the courtyard to accompany the guests to feast.

Xu Jin had lost his cowardice when he crossed over, and he had no relatives and sisters, and his hometown was far away in Shangrao, Jiangxi, so there were no relatives present to attend the wedding banquet, but at this time, the front yard of the Fei family was very lively, and fifty tables of wine were placed, because the brothers of the five hundred battalions came, and a group of big and old people drank and punched, and the people were full of voices.

There are also three tables of wine in the middle courtyard, but it is much quieter, because the people who drink here are civil officials, so they are naturally much more gentle.

It is said that although Xu Jin has not been in the officialdom for a long time, he has not yet spread out his connections, but after all, he is a celebrity around the emperor, and naturally some people are willing to stammer, so there are dozens of officials who came to the wedding banquet today, but most of them are small roles, among which the highest official position is Huo Tao, the head of the household department of Zhengliupin.

Huo Tao is a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, and is a rare talent at that time. At the beginning of the "Great Rites Debate" last year, Huo Tao wrote a letter to support Zhang Xuan, advocating that Emperor Jiajing should not recognize Xiaozong as the imperial examination, so he was suppressed by Yang Ting and one party.

At that time, the highest official who supported Zhang Chan was Wang Zhan, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and Yang Tinghe instructed the official to impeach Wang Zhan, and finally demoted Wang Chan to Nanjing as the head of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Chan was also transferred to the Nanjing Criminal Department by him.

In this way, Yang Ge Lao used his identity as the first assistant to rudely crush the opposition, Huo Tao saw that the opportunity was wrong, and immediately pretended to be his grandson, so he kept the position of head of the household department.

In the "Great Rites Discussion" turmoil last year, although Xu Jin did not directly participate in the debate, Zhang Zhang's "Great Rites" was handed over to the little emperor through his hands, so Huo Tao thought that Xu Jin was a person with him.

In the officialdom, officials with the same political views will naturally come together, and because of this, although Huo Tao is not familiar with Xu Jin, he still came uninvited today and went to Xu's mansion to drink happy wine. Of course, there is also one main reason that Xu Jin is a celebrity around the emperor, and Huo Tao naturally wants to connect with the little emperor through Xu Jin.

I believe that most of the officials who came to the wedding banquet had the same thoughts as Huo Tao, but some of them were purely because of like-mindedness, such as Xia Yan in the military department, he was a staunch supporter of Qingtianzhuang, and he had continuously supported Xu Jin's "Qingtianzhuang" initiative, but he opposed the ban on opening the sea.

At this time, in addition to Huo Tao and Xia Yan, there were also Liao Daonan, Jiang Rubi, Wang Ji and other fellow scholars, among which Xu Jin was most surprised that Zhejiang mad Lu Yan also came, but it was Yang Weicong, the champion of the same department, who declined the invitation.

Regarding Yang Weicong's refusal, Xu Jin expressed his understanding, after all, Yang Zhuangyuan is now very valued by Yang Ge's old man, and his relationship with Yang Tinghe is very stiff, and it is normal for Yang Zhuangyuan not to come to the banquet in order to avoid suspicion.

After three rounds of wine, the dishes were served with five ambiguities, and the atmosphere of the banquet was warm.

Xia Yan said in a deep voice: "Now a large amount of land in our dynasty has been invaded by relatives and local tyrants, and some cunning people have entrusted their fields to the nobles and gentry to avoid taxes. Compared with the Yongle Dynasty, my Ming Dynasty's taxes were reduced by more than half, and the treasury could not make ends meet. In the long run, I will be in danger! ”

As soon as Xia Yan's voice fell, Hanlin Shu Ji Shi Liao Daonan immediately echoed: "What Lord Xia said is extremely true, fortunately, Ziqian put forward the initiative of "Qing Grange" last year, and the emperor wisely accepted the advice, and at the beginning of this year, he issued an order to clean up the Grange and return the land to the people. Come on, let's have a cup of respect. Our generation of scholars should take Ziqian as a model, be loyal and outspoken, and make a life for the people. ”

Everyone raised their toasts to Xu Jin, and Xu Jin hurriedly said modestly: "Don't dare to be!" ”

Xia Yan put down his wine glass and sighed: "Although the emperor ordered the Grange to be cleared, how can it be cured without strong medicine?" I'm afraid that in the end it will be in vain. ”

Xu Jin's heart moved, he was not optimistic about the discounted Qingtianzhuang this time, it seemed that it was really not what he expected.

Hanlin Shu Ji Shi Jiang Rubi couldn't help but ask: "Why did Lord Xia say this, could it be that the matter of Qingtianzhuang has encountered a blockage?" ”

Xia Yan showed indignation on his face, looked at Huo Tao and said lightly: "Lord Huo is the head of the household department, and it has been more than seven months since the beginning of the year, dare to ask what is the result of Qingtianzhuang?" ”

Huo Tao's face was slightly embarrassed, "Qingtianzhuang" was presided over by the household department, and since February, the household department began to clean up the grange, Huo Tao, as the head of the household department, also participated in the cleaning of the grange in the area of Beijing.

It's just that most of the fields around the capital are owned by the relatives and Beijing officials, and it is not easy to clear them, so in a blink of an eye, more than half a year has passed, except for the emperor who took the lead in clearing more than 3,000 hectares of Huangzhuang, the rest of the official gentry and the relatives of the retreated fields add up to only more than 5,000 hectares.

Huo Tao coughed lightly and said: "Lord Xia's words are serious, in fact, Qingtianzhuang is still very effective, and the officials in other places are not clear, but the fields in the Gyeonggi area have been cleared at present...... Nearly 10,000 hectares! ”

Xia Yan's face darkened and said: "Lord Huo, don't avoid the important and take it lightly, as far as this official knows, the total number of fields in the Gyeonggi area has only cleared seven or eight thousand hectares of land, of which Huangzhuang accounts for nearly half. Like Shouling Hou and Jianchang Hou, these big relatives returned several dumps of land, do you believe it? What's more, my Ming Dynasty's current endowment of fields is more than four million hectares less than that of the Yongle Dynasty, where did the rest of the fields go? ”

Huo Tao couldn't hold back his face when he was questioned, and said unhappily: "What do you mean by this, Lord Xia?" ”

Xia Yan said with a cold face: "The reason why Qingtianzhuang is not effective is precisely because the officials of your household department are timid and afraid of things, and they deal with things perfunctorily. ”

Huo Tao's face was swollen and red, and he said abruptly: "Xia Gongzhen, Hugh has to talk nonsense." The emperor's holy decree stated that only the land and fields that had been illegally occupied since the Zhengde Dynasty were cleared, and others could provide proof of legal trading, could our household still be forcibly cleared? ”

Xia Yan said coldly: "This official knows if you have any shady transactions in private!" ”

Huo Tao couldn't help but be furious, slammed the table and said, "Xia Yan, you are slandering and insulting all the officials of our household department. If there is evidence, you should show it, but if there is no evidence, the judge will refer to you. After speaking, he grabbed a wine glass and threw it at Xia Yan.

Xu Jin couldn't help sweating, his hand was hurriedly stopped, and the old Liao Daonan also hurriedly persuaded: "Lord Huo, don't be impulsive, don't look at the face of the monk and look at the face of the Buddha, today is Ziqian's big day." ”

Huo Tao snorted angrily and sat down again, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Xu, are you going to judge?" ”

Xu Jin coughed lightly and said: "Then the official will be fair, Lord Xia's words have indeed passed, everyone knows that Qingtianzhuang has great resistance, and it is impossible to change anyone to achieve it overnight, isn't the household department still in Qingtianzhuang now, Lord Xia may wish to wait patiently, at the end of the year, the household department should issue a summary document, and how many fields have been cleared in the country, it will be clear at a glance." ”

Xia Yan obviously realized that he was talking too impulsively at this time, and arched his hand: "What Lord Xu said is extremely true, and the lower official lost his words on impulse, and I apologize to Lord Huo Tao here." ”

Huo Tao snorted coldly and didn't answer. In front of everyone, the two people who clashed were slowly pacified.

However, what made Xu Jin cry and laugh was that the upright Xia Qishi quickly quarreled with the crazy Lu Jun again.

It is said that Lu Yan is a coastal native of Zhejiang and knows the suffering of the coastal people, so he supports the opening of the sea ban, so that the coastal people can trade with foreigners to make a living. However, Xia Yan was opposed to the ban on opening the sea, and it was he who suggested the closure of the coastal city, so as soon as this topic was raised, the two immediately argued.

Lu Yan is known as a madman, he has a bad temper, and at first he argued with Xia Yan on the basis of reason, but as a result, they quarreled, and both of them quarreled and got angry, and they actually staged a full martial arts, and in an instant, wine glasses and saucers flew wildly.

Everyone tried to step forward to stop them, but they all suffered, and only Huo Tao gloated and watched the play on the sidelines. Xu Jin was extremely speechless, and finally called a few soldiers from the five hundred battalions to come in, and only then did he separate the two guys who were scuffling together.

It's just that these two goods beat each other so that their noses were blue and their faces were swollen, and they were embarrassed to stay, and after apologizing to Xu Jin, they left Xu's mansion angrily.