The scorching sun was in the sky, the sea breeze blew, and Zaohu Village, a corner of the salt farm on the coast, Xiyang Wang Yuwen Wen was inspecting the village to understand the people's conditions. Guangzhou Governor Yang Ji and a number of officials accompanied him, and the sides of the village road were full of helpless villagers.

The villagers in this village are all stoves. Both men, women, young and old have dark skin, dove-shaped face, fluffy hair. If they weren't wearing brand new cloth clothes and new cloth shoes on their feet, they would really make people think they were beggars.

Throughout history, whenever local officials go on a patrol and inspect the people's conditions, someone will make arrangements in advance to whitewash the peace. Especially those poor families who are so poor that their families only have a decent set of clothes, they will send them out clothes at a surprise, and then organize the people to cross the roadside to welcome Shangguan's inspection.

Several families will also be arranged in advance, and the government will fund the house to repair the house, clean the inside and outside, fill the empty rice jars with rice, put on half-new and old clothes, change into old furniture, cooking utensils and even window paper, and teach these families in advance what to say and what not to say, or how to answer any questions someone asks.

Then he planned the route and happened to walk near these families, so he "temporarily" went into the house to take a look. Then he saw the family with enough food and clothing. He felt that his rule was indeed peaceful. He was relieved and would also highly appreciate the officials below.

What's more, in order to prevent the "troubled people" from performing poorly on the spot, they directly transferred these families and replaced them with eloquent men, women, and young people who were old and moved in, dressed up as a family to welcome the visit of their parents.

Shangguan came with anticipation and left happily, and then the things he arranged temporarily were cleared. The poor households were still the same poor households, and the family still had only a decent set of clothes.

This trick has been staged in the Central Plains for thousands of years, and even in the new century, this kind of thing often happens. Yuwen Wen hates it deeply, so after entering the village, he looks like a fox, and he feels something wrong everywhere.

He worked as a parent official in Huangzhou (Bazhou) for nearly eight years, and he had to understand the people's conditions from time to time. He was really "going to the grassroots level", in the fields, in the streets and alleys, and on the farmland. He was a clerk's tricks that deceived the superiors and concealed the subordinates.

When he moved into a yard, Yu Wenwen did not rush into the room, but walked around the yard and kicked it on the wall to see if it was solid.

When I entered the kitchen, I didn’t go to see the rice jar, but rolled up my sleeves and reached into the stove and touched it. I made sure that the stove had a long-term fire. Then I picked up the rice steamer for cooking and rubbed the dust on the bottom of the steamer with my fingers to see if it was replaced or had been used for a long time.

Looking up at the roof, paying special attention to whether there are spider webs on the beams and corners of the walls. Then, open the rice jar, wash your hands and fishing them out, and take out a few grains. After sniffing it was indeed rat shit, Yuwen Wen clapped his hands and turned to the living room with satisfaction.

Poor families don’t pay much attention to it. The so-called living room is the place to sleep. In front of everyone, he lifted up the straw mat on the couch, looked carefully at the sweat stains on the wooden board, and then matched the sweat stains on the straw mat.

Confirm that the straw mat was not a "props" for the scene, Yuwen Wen started talking with the household head, and the question he asked was very tricky: What night did you make with your wife last time? How many times did you do that night?

Such a noble person actually asked such a dirty question, and the officials who acted as a quarrel were dumbfounded. The head of the household, who was already nervous, was sweating and incoherent after hearing the officials' remarks.

"Why, I can't remember when I had sex with my wife the last time. Could it be that these two are not husband and wife? This family was temporarily pieced together?"

Yuwen Wen asked lightly, frightened to urge the owner of the household. The other party came to his senses and whispered the answer. Yuwen Wen signaled an aunt who was watching the fun outside to come in and ask the owner of the household with the same question.

After the two of them had the same answers, Yuwen Wen's stern face calmed down: "Don't be afraid, if anyone dares to bully you, I will make the decision for you!"

The head of the household shook his head like a rattle, saying that since the new government rectified the salt farm, the stove households have been much better. The government has distributed clothes, grain, and repaired the houses for them for free. Now it is too late to be grateful, so there is no grievance.

Yuwen Wen stared at the other party's eyes while listening. After confirming that there was no problem, he nodded. Not far after walking out of the yard, he moved into another family. The same thing happened again, and several families were like this. The accompanying officials were shocked when they saw this and thought to himself that this person was really a difficult master to fool.

But no one is worried about anything, because everyone is indeed not fake, because Guangzhou Governor Yang Ji has been here many times before to supervise the comprehensive rectification of the salt farm, eliminate accumulated corruption, and severely punish corrupt officials.

I don’t know what method this Yang envoy used to make the dirty things in the salt farm clear, and suddenly summoned the stove households, the officials of the salt farm and the wealthy households in nearby villages to hold a meeting.

What meeting was held? The debt clearance meeting, all the stove owners in the salt farm had owed a lot of debts, and they couldn't pay it back until the generation of grandsons. Yang Envoy asked everyone to clean up the debts in one go.

Who are the creditors? The big households in nearby villages and some officials in the salt farm.

It is normal for big investors to lend usury, so why do even some officials become creditors? It is very simple, because these people also lend usury.

In Nanhai County, Guangzhou, there have been salt farms in the coastal areas since the Qin and Han Dynasties. The salt farms are under the jurisdiction of the government, and the people who cook salt are woven into stoves and have been cooking salt in the salt farms for generations.

The stove households have a daily salt boiling quota, with a daily wage of nearly 100, or a few rice are used instead of wages. However, if they cannot pay in full, they will be punished. Even if they pay in full, they may not be able to get the wages or rice in time.

How can you not pay wages if you have so much salt in the salt farm? But the word "official" is right, and it makes sense to say it. The stove owners cannot get wages or rice, but they have to live, otherwise the whole family will starve to death. What should I do?

Borrow money for emergency response.

In fact, it is just borrowing usury loans, nine out and thirteen returns. Some officials in the salt farm are very considerate and say that they can’t pay wages, but they have money to lend. Anyway, the wages they should pay in the month will always be paid for ten days and half a month later, so it’s okay to borrow money first and slow down, right?

Wrong, because the wages are slowly delayed, and the longer it is delayed, it is common for the wages to be delayed for half a year before not being paid. The profits of usury are not worth paying back the money. Even if the wages are paid later, the interest rate is not enough, where can I get the money to buy food?

In fact, it is the unscrupulous official who lends the wages he should pay as the principal of usury to the stove owners, and uses this method to force the stove owners to ow debts and then continues to borrow usury to repay the money.

It was so profitable that the stove owners owed countless money to their grandsons, and since then they became slaves to some officials and wealthy lenders in surrounding villages.

Their grandchildren have been owed a lot of debts since they were born and will never be able to pay them off. There is no hope but despair until the new government sent someone to make decisions for them.

If you settle the accounts, everyone will do it. After checking the real accounts of Qingshen Field, Yang Ji, the governor of Guangzhou, checked the real accounts of Qingshen Field, and according to the rules of nine out of thirteen, he calculated the accounts with the officials who owed wages and loans, and calculated how much the wages were owed, and the money and profits should be paid. Then these people knelt down.

The people caught the snatched the snatched the other ones, and the remaining large-scale loan sharks in the surrounding villages were trembling. Yang Ji summoned everyone to a meeting and did some calculations.

Many stove owners have paid back the money they have paid off over the years, including normal profits. Yang Ji asked the big investors with the accounts whether the profits that would never be paid off in life would have to pay back the money they had to pay for their lives.

No one dared to take on such a thing, so the government decided to clear the debts of the stove households and burn them on the spot. From then on, no further withdrawals are allowed. As compensation, the salt farm will distribute appropriate amounts of sea salt to the big households to "stop losses".

Looking at the debt deeds that had turned into ashes in the fire, many stove owners cried and knelt down to Yang Ji. After the salt farm was vigorously rectified by the government, they looked completely renewed from top to bottom.

The government allocated grain and clothing to the stove owners for free, and also mobilized wood to repair the houses. Everyone was grateful. So when they heard that Yang Envoy's boss, "King of Sunset", was coming to understand the people's sentiment, they were excited to go out to welcome him.

Now when you see, this "Sunset King" doesn't seem to be here to understand the people's sentiments, but instead seems to be trying to deal with a life-threatening case, so many people are a little dazed.

Under the big tree at the entrance of the village, Yuwen Wen called the villagers (stove households) to have a meeting. He looked at the men, women, young and old in front of him and asked loudly: "Is the new government good?"

Tongshi turned his words into dialect and shouted again, and the stove owners shouted without hesitation: "Okay!"

"Very good. I am very satisfied with the situation of Yang Enjun's remediation of the salt farm, and I am also very satisfied with everyone's current situation, but I am very dissatisfied with the output of the salt farm! Next, by the end of the year, do you have confidence? "
Chapter completed!