Ma Youzhi stood beside the public case and was full of joy, looking at Li Mingshan's dejected appearance, Ma Youzhi couldn't cheer out loud, and chanted a poem to congratulate. The lobby fell silent again, and Li Mingshan hung his head slightly, staring at the blue bricks on the ground in front of him, without saying a word.

"Master Li, I have asked Captain Tian to send troops to guard all the exits of this county government, and no one can escape." Jiang Anyi's clear voice sounded. As if to verify Jiang Anzhu's words, noisy shouts sounded outside the lobby, and one of the loud noises was the most noisy, Li Dongjie.

When it was over, Li Mingshan's body weakened, he knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "Guilty of despicable duty." "I lost my car and was handsome, and this time I became the abandoned son of the family.

"Hahaha", Ma Yozhi couldn't hold back anymore, laughing loudly, full of pleasure and resentment laughter like a owl, floating over the lobby.

The results of the inventory were quickly reported to Yu Zhijie: Linyang County has 5,438 hectares of registered taxable land, 36 acres, 3 cents 7 centimeters and 4 millimeters, of which 3,928 hectares are fields, 1,130 hectares of land, and a number of mountains, dang, and wei. It was found that Li Mingshan had 323 acres and 78 acres of land under his name, all of which were purchased by Li Mingshan as the queen of Linyang County.

The results are self-evident, Li Mingshan, Li Dongjie, and Li Laiqiang are all in prison, and Ma Youzhi is back in power, busy eliminating dissidents and promoting cronies, these are county affairs, and it is impossible for Yu Zhijie and others to intervene.

The next day, Yu Zhijie personally went to Bofu to visit the old lady and had a secret conversation with the third master. In the afternoon, Bofu sent Steward Zhang and Tian Xiaostein, who had broken the law, and took the initiative to return the 523 acres and 80 acres of land that had been secretly accepted by the two of them in the name of Bofu. In just three days, a total of 1,021 acres of land under the name of the squire were found in Linyang County, accounting for more than 20% of the fields in Linyang County.

The best Yuepeng Inn in Linyang County temporarily became the yamen of the Qing Dynasty, there were soldiers guarding in front of the door, people came and went in the inn, and the sound of the abacus sounded together.

In the small courtyard behind the inn, Yu Zhijie looked at the account books sorted out and sighed: "The fields in Xiaolinyang County alone are as many as twenty percent and six points in the name of the squire, and this is not counting other drawbacks. From small to large, there are 230,000 hectares of land in Renzhou, and at least 20,000 hectares of land can be found to have been embezzled, and how many fields have been encroached upon by these corrupt officials and moths. ”

"The land tax does not exceed fifteen million taels a year, and in addition to paying hundreds of officials, paying soldiers' salaries and rations, and giving relief to the victims of disasters, the state treasury has nothing left of itself, and in the event of special events, it is often impossible to make ends meet. The palace is in disrepair, and the Son of Heaven can't come up with any money. Yu Zhijie sullenly put the account book back on the table.

Liu Yushan said with a smile: "Long live with the help of adults to clean up the accumulated evils, if you can re-clear the acres, the treasury will have an extra five million taels of silver every year, long live you can let go of your hands and legs to do a big job, Lord Yu is the first meritorious minister, will be trusted by Long live, and it is also possible to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister." An Yi has made great contributions this time, and the Son of Heaven will be rewarded. ”

Jiang Anyi rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Luck, if it weren't for Master Yu's timely arrival, I'm afraid it would have fallen short." ”

Yu Zhijie praised: "Anyi did a really good job this time, Linyang County was originally a difficult point in the battle of Renzhou, and it was overcome by Anyi. The most rare thing is that Linyang County was warped this time, and other counties were deeply shaken, and good news came one after another from the originally difficult clean-up work. Last night, I summarized the data, not counting Linyang County, more than 1,000 hectares of fields have been cleared. ”

Of the 62 counties in Renzhou, more than 1,000 hectares were found in Linyang County alone, and the other 61 counties combined were only more than 1,000 hectares. Liu Yushan smiled bitterly: "It's easier said than done, I went to Tuoyun County for a few days, talked to Feng County Linghao, and went to the field to count the amount, and only found eighty acres of land, which is ashamed of Anyi." ”

Jiang Anyi pointed to the data reported by Bofu and said: "Master Yu, as far as I know, there are more than these fields under the name of Bofu, do you want to continue to investigate." ”

The height of the station is different, and the angle of considering the problem is also different, Yu Zhijie waved his hand and said, "That's it." Uncle Yang is serving the country in the frontier, we can't let his family be in turmoil, he can report more than 500 hectares of land in the house has given us face, and other things let Uncle Yang and Banzai deal with it. ”

After praising the two of them a few words, Yu Zhijie's words changed and said: "Linyang County's Qing battle this time will inevitably startle the grass and snakes, especially the Li family." I have checked the Li family's fields in Renzhou before, and there are more than 13,000 hectares of land in the name of the Li family, and if you count their in-laws and branches, it is estimated that it will be no less than 20,000 hectares. ”

Jiang Anyi and Liu Yushan both took a breath of cool air, what is the concept of 20,000 hectares, which is more than twice the area of the entire Linyang County.

Yu Zhijie's gaze swept over the two of them, cast them outside the door, and several small birds flew noisily from the eaves and headed south. On the official road, a fast horse galloped towards Anqi County in the south.

Anqi County, the birthplace of the Li family. Since the Li family produced the champion during the Great Wei Dynasty, in the past three hundred years, the Li family has produced a total of one champion, three people in the list, 19 Jinshi, and 76 people. During the Great Wei Dynasty, the Li family had a prime minister; After the establishment of the Great Zheng Dynasty, the highest official of the Li clan was the secretary of the Criminal Department, and there were 19 officials above the fourth grade, and now there are as many as 36 officials above the ninth rank and three officials above the fourth grade.

The Li family did not live in Anqi County, but built a walled city covering an area of more than 500 acres ten miles away from the county seat. The walled wall of this Li Mountain city is taller and stronger than the city wall of the county seat, and outside the walled wall is the moat of flowing water, and there are Zhuang Ding patrolling back and forth on the wall.

The mountain city is divided into two parts, the outer city is the ordinary clan settlement, the inner city is rectangular, the front is wide and the back is narrow, in the middle of the inner city, it is the core of the mansion "Jishan Hall", the head of the Li family and the long house live in this courtyard.

Li Chengshi, the head of the Li family, was born in Jinshi, did the history of Chenzhou assassination, and then went home due to an incident, he is sixty-eight years old this year, and his face is still red and his voice is loud. The eldest son, Li Mingde, bowed down, listened to his father's lessons, and kept responding to them.

Li Chengshi slapped the arm of the chair heavily and scolded: "Li Mingshan is not good enough, he has more than one failure, and he was caught by Yu Zhijie, he really deserves to die." ”

After bending for a long time, Li Mingde felt a sore back, straightened up slightly, and said softly: "After all, his own brother, is the family helping him." ”

"How to help, I asked you to write to him earlier, let him be careful, he has been king and hegemonic in Linyang for a long time, and I am afraid that I will not even listen to the words of your brother. I know your thoughts, your unruly son was also arrested, did you want to save him? Li Chengshi said that he was excited, and couldn't help coughing again and again.

Li Mingde hurriedly stepped forward and patted his father's back gently, and it took a while for Li Chengshi to stop coughing. After taking a sip of tea, Li Chengshi rubbed his chest and said in a slow tone: "I'm old, I guess I don't have a few years to live, and you have to take care of this family sooner or later." ”

"Why did my father say this, your old man is healthy and healthy, and it is the blessing of your children and grandchildren to live a long life." Li Mingde said in fear.

"Alas, Mingde, you are a modest man, and you are an excellent housekeeper. But when today's son is looking at the family and is delayed, this time the clearing of the fields is a signal, if I blindly humble and forbearance, my Li family is afraid that it will disappear. ”

Li Mingde frowned and said, "No, even if you lose thousands of acres of land, it won't hurt your muscles and bones." ”

Li Chengshi slapped the chair hatefully and said angrily: "What if it's tens of thousands of acres? If you want to arrest all the criminals of my Li family and put them in prison, is my Li family still there? ”

Li Mingde said: "If you really want to do that, then only the fish will die and the net will be broken." ”

"What are you going to do?"

After being silent for a long time, Li Mingde said: "When my son thinks of something, please ask my father for advice." The first is to avoid its front, strictly order the clan to abide by the law during this time, and not to cause trouble for the family, and the beginning and end of the field must be dealt with. ”

Li Chengshi nodded, picked up the tea from the table, tasted it carefully, and motioned for Li Mingde to continue.

"The second is to take the initiative to show goodwill. Didn't Yu Zhijie take people to clear the acres of land everywhere in Renzhou, my Li family, as a big family in Renzhou, naturally set an example, give Yu Zhijie a face, and give Banzai an attitude, you might as well give up more than a thousand hectares of land, as long as people are okay, the fields will come back after all. ”

Li Chengshi nodded again and again, and said with a smile: "Mingde, you are very old, and what you said is good." People are fundamental, as long as people are fine, temporary losses are nothing. ”

Li Mingde continued: "Thousands of miles of officials are only for money, Yu Zhijie intends to be a scholar in the household department, and it is not easy to buy it, but those deputy envoys of the Qing War under him can try to buy it. If you like silver, you will give silver, and if you like women, you will give women what you like, as long as you take our things, you must listen to the command of our family. ”

"What if someone refuses to eat hard and soft, and insists on going against the Li family?"

Li Mingde's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he said: "Of course, you can't blindly show weakness, if someone really wants to catch the Li family, then give them a lesson, let them know that not everyone can touch the top ten families." Those offerings at home are not raised for nothing. ”

Li Chengshi slowly closed his eyes and muttered: "Mingde, I don't have to worry about your errands, I'm tired of my father, so you can go." ”

Li Mingde bowed deeply, turned around and left the main house. There were a few stewards standing in the courtyard, and when they saw Li Mingde coming out, they hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Li Mingde stopped, thought for a while, and ordered: "Go to the county and ask Xu Ye to come." ”

An hour later, a sturdy man appeared in Li Mingde's study, and the two talked secretly for half an hour, and the man left Lijiashan City and returned to his residence in Anqi County. The effort was not great, and a steward went out with Zhang Dahong's invitation card and went to the residence of Zhang Liangkuan, the deputy envoy of the Qing War.

Zhang Liangkuan is a native of Anqi County, and when he returned to Anqi to check the acres of land this time, he lived in his own house. The courtyard of Sanjin was given by his friend Xu Changhua after he got the Jinshi. The three-year-old son is clever and cute, Lai is coquettish by his side and asks for candy, and his wife Li is smiling and watching the father and son play, and the family is harmonious and beautiful.

The housekeeper sent an invitation, Zhang Liangkuan opened it and said with a smile: "Brother Xu invited our family to a banquet tonight, Li Niang, you can just go to see my sister." ”

Li smiled and nodded, Zhang Liangkuan didn't pay attention to the hidden haze in his wife's eyes.