From a villager, he has become his deputy, even Tian Ergeng feels a little dizzy.

Although this promotion speed is far from being comparable to him, Tian Ergeng himself is a Jinyi guard who has been enshadowed in, and his starting point is already very high, but before he took refuge in Wei Zhongxian, it was just a false position.

The promotion speed of this Ye Qi is about only comparable to Cui Yingyuan, who is also from the same market. But Cui Yingyuan had a future that was only bought by doing dirty work for Wei Zhongxian, and as soon as there was a stir, he would be thrown out to appease the anger of the scholars.

And Ye Qi is in charge alone, and he is a special performer, and he is a prisoner of the country. Even Tian Ergeng could see that Chongzhen was planning to work hard to cultivate him.

As long as this Ye Qi doesn't make a mistake, there will definitely be a place for him in the future Jinyi Guard. It's no wonder that this Gao Qiqian showed favor as soon as he met, and he didn't have the slightest frame as a close attendant by His Majesty's side, this was to take the opportunity to turn him into his own person.

After Gao Qiqian finished conveying Chongzhen's message, he hurriedly stepped forward to help Ye Qi up, and said with a smile: "In the future, don't call yourself a small people, you have to be a lowly or an official, you go to the wing room first to change this official uniform, and then we will continue to talk." ”

Seeing Ye Qi looking dazed and at a loss, Gao Qiqian turned around and said to the entourage eunuch behind him: "Xiao Zhao, you took Ye Zongqi to change this clothes, and by the way, teach him this basic officialdom etiquette." ”

"Yes, sir." The entourage eunuch immediately led Ye Qi to the side room. Gao Qiqian was watching the two enter the wing, and a somewhat resentful voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Is Your Majesty doing this too much? Although this Ye Qi has a lot of talent, but such an unconventional promotion, I'm afraid it will cause criticism? ”

Gao Qiqian glanced back at Tian Ergeng, looked at him with a strange look in his eyes and said: "Lord Tian has forgotten our identity, our factory guard is His Majesty's eagle dog, not the official of the imperial court, whether he is promoted or not, it just depends on His Majesty's mood, who dares to criticize?" ”

Tian Ergeng realized that he had unconsciously spoken out loud in his heart. He smiled at Gao Qiqian awkwardly, and when he was thinking about how to change the topic, Gao Qiqian seemed to remember the relationship between the two that had just formed an alliance now, and hurriedly added.

"Lord Tian doesn't have to mind, from the perspective of the miscellaneous family, Your Majesty is just following King Yan Zhao and buying bones with a thousand gold. This Ye Qi is just in time for the big luck, a mere farmer, he is still supporting the plow in the morning, and he can enter the court at night, which is really a step to the sky. ”

Tian Ergeng had already sobered up at this time, and that bit of anger had long since disappeared. He opened the subject, talked to Gao Qiqian, and adjusted the atmosphere again.

When Ye Qi returned to the living room in a formal uniform, Tian Ergeng instructed his subordinates to change the hot tea, and then the three of them sat down again and began to talk.

Tian Ergeng once again mentioned the issue of the collection of rent for autumn millet in Huangzhuang. Hearing this question that he was most concerned about, Ye Qi suddenly forgot the official uniform on his body that made him feel nervous.

Gao Qiqian didn't answer immediately, but asked quietly: "So how does Tian Baihu plan to adjust?" ”

Tian Ergeng himself didn't care about such trivial matters as field rent, even if it was his own grange, it was handed over to the housekeeper, so he didn't know how much it was appropriate to reduce the field rent.

Tian Ergeng coughed, and then said: "Regarding the matter of land rent, let Ye Zongqi explain it, he is still familiar with this aspect of affairs." ”

Ye Qi did not shirk, and explained for Gao Qiqian: "The types of fields in this dynasty are divided into two categories: official fields and private fields, and Huangzhuang belongs to the genus of official fields. Guantian is taxed at 5 liters per mu, and since the implementation of a whip law, it has become 3 cents of silver per mu, plus consumption, Zhuangtou often receives 2 buckets.

The land rent collected by the Huangzhuang has always been 5-6 buckets, the yield per mu of autumn millet is about 2 stones, after the husking, the corn is up and down, the field rent is 5 buckets, and the imperial tax is 2 buckets, which adds up to 7 percent of the yield per mu, plus the people collected by the government, the income of the village is only 1-2 buckets.

Villain... He thought that if the land rent of the imperial village was fixed at 5 percent of the mu yield, and the imperial tax was borne by both sides, and the banker could get 4 percent of the mu yield, then the bankers in the imperial village would look forward to His Majesty's benevolence. ”

Now that he got the idea of meritorious service from Tian Ergeng, Gao Qiqian also changed his original idea of perfunctory.

After listening to this, he said seriously: "Your idea is very good, before the miscellaneous family left the palace, His Majesty also gave instructions." The land in the north is barren, and the yield has always been inferior to that in the south, although the amount of tax and rent is less than that in the south, but because the yield is too low, the proportion of tax collection exceeds that of the fertile land in the south. Your Majesty thinks that the land rent plus the royal tax should not exceed 3-4 per mu of production..."

Ye Qihuo raised his head and said excitedly: "If this is really the case, then Your Majesty's kindness will be praised by all the people." ”

Ye Qi was excited, and planned Gao Qiqian's words without manners, but it did not cause Gao Qiqian's unhappiness, he shook his hand to stop Ye Qi from continuing to praise.

"However, Your Majesty thinks that this is a long-term goal, and it can't be done now, or it can't be done yet."

Gao Qiqian said this, deliberately paused, observed Ye Qi's expression, and found that although the new Jinyi Wei Zongqi was a little lost, he was still able to keep calm.

"Your Majesty believes that although it is important to improve the livelihood of the villagers, it is not yet possible to completely feed the villagers. Although several Huangzhuang in Shunyi are located on both sides of the Chaobai River, they have not built water conservancy for many years, and they are still in the stage of relying on the sky for food. His Majesty thought that this situation needed to be changed, and that it was necessary to build water conservancy to prevent floods and droughts.

And the road between Huangzhuang and the post road and Shunyi City should be repaired to facilitate the transportation of production. In Huangzhuang, hospitals should be set up to treat villagers and schools to educate children, all of which are important things that can only be done by pooling money and food.

Therefore, for the time being, the money and grain are fixed at 4:6, the dealer takes 40%, and the Huangzhuang takes 60%. The tax is paid by the royal bank. Among the 6 percent of the harvest handed over, 7 percent will be used to pay taxes, build water conservancy, repair roads, hospitals, schools, and 3 percent will be used as the reserve of the imperial village, which will not be collected into the palace for the time being. ”

When Tian Ergeng heard this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Chongzhen Ken let go, these villagers who had increased some harvest would inevitably support and cooperate with his restructuring work more actively. With the villager's banker as an example, the bankers in other villages naturally have little resistance.

Before Tian Ergeng left the capital, he thought that the biggest opponents of the reform of the imperial village should be the eunuchs in the palace whose interests were damaged, as well as these village leaders and companions who had lost their financial resources.

But when he really walked into the Huangzhuang, he found that the people who opposed the reform the most were actually these bankers who were struggling on the death line.

Although these bankers are looking forward to a change in their lives, they are the most resolute and staunch opponents of change.

Tian Ergeng originally didn't know why he was obviously here to help these villagers, but he was opposed by these helped.

It wasn't until Ye Qi joined him that he understood the reason a little. To be honest, reform is a matter that only those who do not have to worry about food and clothing can enjoy.

For these bankers, who are between hunger and food and clothing, they simply cannot afford even one failure.

If the reform fails, it will be like a disaster year with no harvest, and these bankers who have no savings will have to sell their children and their families will be ruined.

Therefore, these bankers refused to accept the fruits of reform that they had not seen with their eyes, and risked their lives in the empty words of several officials.

For those who oppose the change, the brocade guards and sergeants brought by Tian Ergeng can arrest them. But for these dealers, he really didn't dare to do it.

It inspired the popular uprising in Gyeonggi, and it was not enough for him to cut off a few heads. Tian Ergeng could only try to convince his subordinates to convince these stubborn villagers. On the other hand, it is to report to Chongzhen, hoping to reduce some land rent. Obviously, now Chongzhen has given him more responses than he had hoped for, how could this make Tian Ergeng not excited.

Ye Qi was even happier than Tian Ergeng, as a villager, although their family could barely mix a level of food and clothing because they made wine for the steward eunuchs.

But in the township, the miserable life of those villagers in the neighborhood often makes him feel sorry for it. Sometimes he even hazily felt that maybe Dongyu came in and killed a group of dignitaries, and maybe their lives would be better.

When His Majesty the Emperor sent someone to implement the reform of the Imperial Village, he was still a little skeptical. When Tian Ergeng arrested the Zhang brothers, His Majesty sent back the eunuch who had exterminated humanity, and prepared to punish him in front of the villagers, which finally restored Ye Qi's expectations for His Majesty the Emperor.

Although Chongzhen rewarded him with an official position and a quota for entering the country, Ye Qi only increased his good impression of Chongzhen, and most of his excitement was pretended to be shown to the attendants beside His Majesty.

As a semi-businessman who often deals with restaurants, Ye Qi clearly knows that after these dignitaries reward their subordinates, what they want to see is the expressions of gratitude from their subordinates.

And His Majesty's reward from the Emperor will not be an exception, but it is just that after accepting the reward, he behaves as a close attendant by His Majesty's side.

However, His Majesty's pity for the peasants finally touched Ye Qi's heart, which gradually became cold and hard because he had seen too many tragic stories of villagers.

Ye Qi's eyes were a little red, but this time he didn't show a lot of exaggeration, but instead got up calmly and waved his hand towards Gao Qiqian, and then said solemnly: "Your Majesty is so benevolent, you must do your best to assist Lord Tian to complete the reform of the Imperial Village." ”