The so-called "children" is a scholar.

Zhao Xu looked at the two gangs not far away. However, they picked up each other's weapons and confronted each other. The war seemed to be about to break out.

The two leaders on both sides, one is a half-bian, with a hunched back and a strong aura; the other is a strong middle-aged man, quite tall, and he is arguing with the old man.

Zhao Xu waved his hand, pressed down on the person behind him, and walked forward.

Chenpi was startled and whispered in a low voice: "It's dangerous not to bring people in the countryside."

Zhao Xu kept walking and said, "It's not important, just get closer and listen."

Chenpi was worried, so he asked Hu Zhongwei to bring a few more people, only a little further away.

After Zhao Xu came to a tree near him, he heard the dispute between the two sides.

The old man raised his head and said angrily: "This is the ancestral property of our Lao Chen Village for generations. Why do you measure it?"

The middle-aged man's voice was low and said, "You are a scholar. Don't you know that under the sky, are you the king's land? Are you the king's ministers in the shores of the earth? Why can't you be able to do this land?"

The old man snorted coldly and said, "You are quibbling! You are trying to plunder the people's wealth to make you rich, but I won't agree!"

The middle-aged man said: "This is the major policy of the imperial court, and Kaifeng Prefecture knows it! Besides, we are just measuring the land, who wants to steal your land?"

The old man raised his head and said arrogantly: "The land of Lao Chen Village has not moved for a hundred years, why did it suddenly move? It's not your treacherous gangsters who deceive the emperor and the people! Tell you that you dare to move the land here, unless you step over my body! I am Tong Sheng, the court's rules, if you can't punish me, you will know the consequences if you touch me!"

The middle-aged man looked ashen and said, "You should have read the mansion report just sent by the court! You are talking about people like you, who have no family and country in their eyes, they are just selfish! I tell you, I must be a slap in this place today!"

Lao Tongsheng was furious when he heard this, and said, "Bah! Zhang Dun is a big traitor! He dares to break the ancestral system at will. He is disloyal and unfilial. Sooner or later, he will be dismembered by the five horses! I don't recognize a single word of the mansion he wrote! If you dare to touch my village today, I will fight you!"

The middle-aged man saw that Lao Tongsheng was obviously unreasonable and looked bad. A yamen runner stepped forward and whispered: "County magistrate, this man is just a rogue. Be careful. If you make trouble, you will say that you will not have any trouble, which will hinder your future."

The middle-aged man seemed to have not heard it, stared at Lao Tongsheng and said directly: "Now, I will give you two choices, let go and cooperate with the county government to measure the land; or I will take you and ask the bandit suppression army to come over and flatten all the scoundrels in your village!"

Old Tongsheng jumped his feet and roared with a ferocious face: "Try it! I sued the court, I don't have the best fruits you have!"

More than 20 people behind Lao Tongsheng quickly picked up shovels, sickles, sticks, etc., looking fierce.

The middle-aged man was the magistrate of Yongqiu County. Zheng Hezhi, his face was hard, took a step back, and said in a deep voice: "Take them all down!"

The yamen runners could not bear it for a long time. More than twenty people, plus more than ten people in the measuring team, and nearly forty people, they drew their swords together and surrounded the group of people.

When Lao Tongsheng saw it, he was shocked and angry. He sat on the ground and sternly said: "Zheng Hezhi, come on, kill me, and go to Zhang Dun for credit. In the future, you will not have a good result!"

Zheng Hezhi ignored him at all, stared at the more than 20 villagers, and said coldly: "Disaster and illegal to attack the official officer is a death sentence, and it will harm his relatives. You have figured it out!"

In the case of attacking officials, few people except those who are in a stern manner have such courage. Moreover, there are obviously more officials than them, with more than twenty people, and they can see each other clearly and hesitate.

"Everyone, put down your weapons, otherwise you will be killed without any hesitation!"

Zheng Hezhi looked at them and suddenly shouted loudly.

Bang

Someone was frightened and slipped his hand and threw away the stick in his hand.

"Catch it!" Zheng Hezhi waved his order without giving them time to react.

The yamen runners and the people from the measuring team rushed over and knocked more than 20 people to the ground, controlling them very quickly.

This kind of action is extremely proficient and seems to have been practiced many times.

Lao Tongsheng lay directly on the ground and shouted that he had killed someone.

Zheng Hezhi ignored him at all, and asked someone to make him strong and said, "Send it to the Kaifeng Prefecture Grand Office."

Several yamen runners responded and took more than 20 people away.

Old Tongsheng yelled, shouting for his fame and reputation and cursing, which would cost Zheng Hezhi.

Zheng Hezhi cooked the old Tongsheng in a straightforward manner, looked at the village not far away, thought for a while, and said, "Take more people, and you will enter the village today. If you have any obstacles, you will catch them first!"

The leading yamen runner responded, looked at the big tree where Zhao Xu and others were, and whispered: "County Master, there are still people there, I have been watching for a while."

Zheng Hezhi turned to look at Zhao Xu, but he couldn't see clearly whether it was far or near. He looked at a large group of people in the distance, frowned, and said lightly: "It was probably sent by the superiors to inspect. He just came here and pretended that he didn't see it and continued to do things."

The intensity of the imperial court inspections is unprecedented. Not to mention the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, the other six ministries, and even the Political Affairs Hall have sent people. They are really everywhere and overwhelmed.

The yamen runner nodded and prepared to enter the village.

Zhao Xu took all the things he had just happened, smiled and said, "This Magistrate Zheng is pretty good..."

Chen Pi was standing aside and smiled and said, "I heard that this magistrate Zheng is known for his straight temper and does not delay his work. Mr. Zhang specially recalled him from Lingnan."

Zhao Xu nodded, wrote down the name of 'Zheng Hezhi', and said, "Continue to move forward."

Hu Zhongwei responded and waved his hand to let the subsequent guards follow up.

Zhao Xu led people across, shocking Zheng Hezhi and the people around him.

There are more than 300 people in Zhao Xu, especially the guards in Linli. They have never seen this situation before. Even if the husband of the current dynasty comes down, there is no such situation, right?

The yamen runner looked at the fierce guards and felt a little uneasy. He whispered to Zheng He: "County Master, is this a big man in the city?"

Zheng Hezhi looked at Zhao Xu walking in front, thought about the big man in Kaifeng City carefully, shook his head, and said, "I don't know you. But don't mess with them, let them go."

The yamen runners nodded one after another, who dares to provoke such a big shot?

Zhao Xu didn't plan to meet anyone. Now, he just wanted to see the reality with his own eyes.

When Zhao Xu was visiting everywhere, Cai Bian arrived in Zhongmu County and only brought the guards and civil servants.

He acted decisively and directly dismissed more than 20 officials from all over Zhongmu County. At the same time, he added alternate officials at all levels and directly appointed village chiefs from many villages.

This action made Zhongmu County very panicked, because the court in the past would not interfere at this level. When Cai Bian revealed that he would go deep into the Baojia, Zhongmu County was shocked, suppressed the rest of the country and expressed his opposition calmly.

"Baojia" is the lowest-level organizational structure now, and it is all served by people with local prestige. If outsiders are sent, many things will happen.

Cai Bian just tried and did not force himself to come, and then went to the front line to observe and measure the situation of the land.

The magistrate of Zhongmu County and officials of all sizes dare not be careless. They accompany each other throughout the journey, be cautious and cautious.

Now because of measuring the land, Zhongmu County is in chaos and has everyone. For example, the county magistrate finally had time to go home to visit him a few days ago, but was stabbed by an old servant in the mansion for more than ten years and almost killed on the spot.

The old servant confessed because the county magistrate measured the land.

Now, the county is in panic and everyone is in danger. Everyone is afraid that the people around them will suddenly jump out and give them a knife.

Cai Bian was really shocked after learning about the incident. Unexpectedly, things would develop to this point. If it went on, it would be a proof of the "new law and evil politics".

Cai Bian did not let these people lead the way, worried about being fooled, and tried every means to find out the clearest situation.

Suddenly, I changed the route and saw some farmers, gentry, and even spread "spoke boxes" everywhere, welcome anonymous letters, etc.

The next day, Zhao Xu came to Taikang County, an important place in Kaifeng Prefecture and produced a lot of grain.

But when Zhao Xu walked in the fields, he saw wastelands, not the kind of mountain wasteland. These lands looked good at first glance, with ditches and overgrown weeds, but no one cultivated them, and there was no head at all.

Zhao Xu walked away for a long time but didn't see a family, abandoned acres, and at least thousands of acres of land were seen.

After leaving for a while, he finally arrived at a family. Zhao Xu held the person away and took Chenpi and Hu Zhongwei forward.

This is an elderly family with no children and no children.

The old man had more than 60 people, hunched over and smiled very nicely. Seeing Zhao Xu and others coming over, he opened the door and said with a smile: "Customer, are you lost?"

Zhao Xu looked around and raised his hand shyly, saying, "I want to hide it from my father-in-law, I want to go to Taikang County, but when I got here, there was no one to ask for directions."

The old lady came out with a crutch, with white hair and a cheerful smile, "It's not the first guest, come in and have a cup of tea and take a rest."

Seeing them enthusiastic, Zhao Xu raised his hand and said, "Thank you, old man."

The two old men were very enthusiastic and welcomed Zhao Xu in, poured three cups of tea for Zhao Xu and the other two.

The old man was making something like a dustpan in his hand and said with a smile to Zhao Xu: "There are often lost here. If the guests want to go to Taikang County, they have to turn around."

Zhao Xu took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "It seems that we have taken a lot of detours. By the way, my father-in-law, I have not seen anyone along the way. Is there no one growing so many places?"

The old man sat not far or near, busy in his hands, and said, "It has been abandoned for more than ten years and no one has grown."

Zhao Xu was stunned and said, "There is no one to farm such a good land? If the people don't farm, don't those rich families? The court doesn't care? I have always heard that Taikang County is rich and is a big grain-producing county."

The old lady came out with a plate of steamed buns and handed them to Zhao Xu and the other two. She smiled and sat down at the table, saying with some emotion: "This land is a big family, but there are many big people and few people, so she can't grow it. In addition, those people used to have poor land, can't sell it, and can't grow things, so they had to run away. So, over time, it's like this."

Zhao Xu was a little enlightened that there were too many lands that could not be planted; there was little land or bad land, and he had to pay taxes if he couldn't plant it. There was nothing he could do except escape.

Chen Pi looked at Zhao Xu and didn't dare to speak.

Zhao Xu thought in his heart, picked up a steamed bun and took a bite.

A smell of alkaline, unpalatable and hard, Zhao Xu ate slowly without hesitation, and suddenly asked again: "Why did Taikang County produce grain? "

"I don't know this old lady, anyway, those husbands have a way." The old lady said.

The "Mr." she mentioned is not the court, but the official.

Zhao Xu nodded and slowly pondered in his heart.

He remembered a record, which was a conversation between the Zhenzong period.

'This matter cannot be done immediately. People say that the taxes in the world are uneven. Those with powerful people have more land but less taxes, while those with poor land are weak and heavy taxes. Therefore, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Wang Dan said: The uneven land tax is true as the order is advanced, but we must gradually make a decision and cannot be accomplished overnight.'

Simply put, when Emperor Zhenzong asked about Tianmu, the priest Wang Dan said that there were things, but they needed to take it slowly and should not be too hasty.

In other words, land annexation was already very serious during the Zhenzong period, but no effective measures were taken to deal with it, and it has been delayed until now.
To be continued...