Old Yuan Tou did some calculations. After buying all these things with the money he borrowed and planting the fields, he still has half left, just in time for the autumn harvest. There is no need to pay rent this year. After paying off the spring seedling loan, if there is still some left

, life will be better next year.

But not every farmer is as lucky as him.

"Listen, the imperial court doesn't have that much money. If you haven't received it yet, you haven't caught up."

After the county official said this, he sat there guarding the cattle, waiting for the farmers to bring money to rent. However, those farmers had not borrowed the Spring Miao Loan, so they whispered to each other, not knowing what to do.

Lao Yuantou had been away from home for many years and was not familiar with them. He was in a hurry to drive his cattle and didn't mind other people's business.

The next day, he met fellow villagers who had all borrowed spring seedling loans and started farming one after another.

After asking about it, I found out that another person from the county came to solve the problem. They said it was "similar to Chunmiao Loan" and they could get the money by pressing their fingerprints and depositing the land deed.

Old Yuan Tou said: "That's what happened. It's convenient for you. You don't have to go to the county again."

Two months later, Lao Yuantou dug a lot of wild vegetables in the mountains and went to the county school to see his son.

Although the county school provided room and board, the Yuan family was not wealthy after all. Yuan Zhiyuan usually took on small chores such as writing and doing calculations to earn some money to supplement his expenses. Fortunately, now that Dongdu's business is booming, there are always people on both sides of the Luoshui River.

You can find work.

Generally speaking, their food and clothing are not as good as the slaves in the Cui family, but they are better than living a life of hope, dignity, and happiness.

Finally, Yuan Zhiyuan said: "Last time I saw Du Langjun, he also said that if he had time, he would go to Xiangshui Village to meet my grandpa."

"How can I bother Mr. Du to come over?" Old Yuan Tou rubbed his hands and asked hesitantly: "How about I go to see Mr. Du?"

"Then I'll take grandpa there."

The father and son actually walked to Luoyang City on the same day, slept in Datongpu in the post house at night, bought two steamed buns, and didn't spend much money in total. They didn't arrive in Luoyang until the next day.

After tidying up their appearance beforehand, they went to Du's house to ask for an audience.

Du Wulang had no airs at all and met them immediately. When he found out that they were coming on foot, he was deeply moved.

"I wanted to go to Shou'an County to see you, but I've been slacking off during the Chinese New Year and have already gained two pounds."

"How can I let Mr. Lang make a trip? I should come and pay homage to Mr. Lang."

"I don't have anything else to do." Du Wulang said, "I just wanted to go over and ask you how you are doing lately."

"Okay." Old Yuan Tou said: "The fields have also been planted. At first, the land was very uncultivated. It was not easy to open up the wasteland. It took two months of work before it looked like something, but the little man felt comfortable looking at it."

Du Wulang smiled cheerfully and asked again: "By the way, this is the first year that the imperial court has issued a spring seedling loan. Can you take it?"

"I've got it. Not to mention it's a great harvest year. As long as the villain is willing to use his strength, it will be better if you understand."

"Have everyone in the village received it too?"

"Yes, there are more than fifty households in Xiangshui Village than last year. They all say that the interest rate is lower this year. In the past, if they wanted to borrow money, the interest rate would be high."

Du Wulang just asked a few questions casually. Come to think of it, Luoyang Mansion is now at the foot of the emperor, so there can be no trouble. The court is most worried about other places.

Nowadays, some local officials have corrupted the Chunmiao loan, loaned money to relatives at high interest rates, or simply neglected their duties. This is why Fenghui Bank approved the money, but there are still many people in the world.

In Xiaozhou County, Fenghui Bank does not have coverage or does not have the manpower.

"As long as Shouan County is doing well." Du Wulang turned to Yuan Zhiyuan and asked, "What about you? How are you preparing for the exam?"

"Students have confidence."

Yuan Zhiyuan agreed, thought for a while, and then asked: "Lang Jun, I heard that the Cui family has been pushed to the forefront because of me?"

When this matter was mentioned, Du Wulang felt a little guilty towards Cui Dong.

Yuan Zhiyuan passed the county examination, and the reason why he became a slave of the Cui family was also revealed.

The Cui family took advantage of the calamity and lent a handful of grain to buy the land owned by the old Yuan Tou. Later, they also bought people as slaves. In the past few decades, there have been countless people like this who escaped from their households and were hidden as slaves.

Including, when the imperial court reduced the number of temples, the Cui family protected many monks.

These are not serious sins, and they are generally done by wealthy families, but this is a typical example. The Cui family happened to be pushed to the forefront, and they could only admit that they were unlucky.

Du Wulang could no longer help Cui Dong out of friendship, because he knew that Xue Bai wanted to use this matter to implement the New Deal.

I'm afraid this time it's not a minor reform, but a tax law.

Of course, I am afraid there will be considerable opposition in the court.

"It's not because of you." Du Wulang came back to his senses and said to Yuan Zhiyuan: "But because... the general trend is."

~~

The next day, Yuan Zhiyuan returned to the county school from Luoyang.

In the dormitory, Lin Ji was discussing something with his classmates.

"I would say that the root cause of the incident lies in land annexation."

"The rich and powerful families annexed fertile land and hid the population. The court could not collect taxes, but its expenses increased day by day. The national treasury had no money, and its control over local areas naturally weakened, and chaos emerged."

"If we want to eradicate the long-standing abuses, there are only two ways. One is to clear out the acres of land and collect taxes according to the amount of land; the other is to simply take the land back to the court and re-divide it..."

Yuan Zhiyuan asked: "What are you talking about?"

Lin Ji turned around.

He is still very young, and although he always pretends to be mature, his demeanor and words still inevitably reveal some childishness, and his thoughts are also naive.

But what he has is enthusiasm.

"We are talking about the topic of policy discussion, which is to change the old tune and replace the bad with the new!"

Yuan Zhiyuan asked: "Is this a question asked by Mr.?"

"No." Lin Jidao, "This is the title of this year's Spring Festival."

They are not yet qualified to take the Jinshi examination. Yuan Zhiyuan always feels that it is still far away. He has to pass two more exams before he may be eligible to study in the Imperial College and then take the provincial examination.

Now that he is preparing for the exam, he has gradually lost his energy because he realizes that the gap between himself and those students is too big.

Even compared to Lin Ji, he felt inferior. Although Lin Ji was born in a poor family, he went to the school of Jimin Society, and all he learned was how to run a country and help the world. And he spent too much time trying to figure out how to serve.

My dear, I have too many distracting thoughts.

"It seems that the imperial court really wants to change the law." Yuan Zhiyuan said, thinking of what Du Wulang said about "the general trend."

"It's not that I want to." Lin Jidao, "It's that we have started a long time ago. In the past two years, the court has promulgated many new policies. We will gradually see the results gradually."

~~

Shouan County, Xiangshui Village.

It was already dark when Lao Yuantou came back. He saw that Liu Fu's house at the entrance of the village was still bright, so he looked inside and found many people gathering around to gamble money.

The bets among the villagers were very small, and they didn't have much money in total, so they passed it around in each other's hands.

Old Yuan Tou also wanted to go up and have some fun, but after all, he was different from others. He wanted to provide a son who was studying. After thinking about it, he finally held back.

Before going home, he took another look at the wheat. The summer grain was almost ripe, which made people full of longing.

"Dong dong dong!"

At night, there was a knock on the door suddenly. Lao Yuantou stood up and opened the door, and saw a shirtless Liu Fu standing outside.

"Old Yuan Tou, your son is a scholar, are you literate?"

"I……"

Old Yuan Tou still wanted to speak, but a deed was delivered to him. Liu Fu couldn't wait to ask: "Look, how much interest is written on this IOU."

"Two points?" Old Yuan Tou said, "I still recognize these two characters."

"Then what's the word after this?"

The two of them looked at it under the moonlight for a long time, but finally could not recognize the words.

Finally, Old Yuan Tou said: "Just tell me, what happened? Is there anything wrong with the IOU written by the county office?"

"Today, two people came to the village to gamble. I overheard them saying that this was not a spring seedling loan from the county office, but a loan shark from Mr. Hu."

"Who is Hu Gong?"

"You say he is a great person." Liu Fu looked frightened.

Old Yuan Tou comforted him and said that such a thing was impossible and how could the government lie to people.

He also followed Du Wulang's words and said that this is the emperor's feet. Who dares to take the idea of ​​Chunmiao Loan?

"Don't worry, my son will come back after taking the exam in two months. I'll ask him to show you this IOU..."

In the blink of an eye, the summer grain was harvested, and Xiangshui Village was full of joy, but the joy was mixed with uneasiness.

On this day, Lao Yuantou was working in the fields when he heard someone quarreling at the entrance of the village from a distance.

The sound became louder and louder, so he went over to take a look with his sickle in hand.

"See clearly, this is the IOU signed by you in black and white, one thousand dollars, two cents interest per month. Now four months have passed, you need to pay back one thousand eight hundred dollars!"

"No, no, we borrowed the spring seedling loan from the county office."

"Don't make a mistake. What you are borrowing is our Alang's money. The note is clearly written on it. If it doesn't work out, you will give your land to me, Alang. Do you want to default on the debt?"
To be continued...