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"I mentioned it!" Zhang Fengyi immediately replied, "The emperor said that the next focus of the court will be to find out the hidden households. The southwest and northwest of the Ming Dynasty are mountainous, and most of the hidden households are hidden in the mountains. After the deadline, The imperial court will send troops to assist in the investigation."

Qin Liangyu nodded after hearing this. It was indeed a bit unrealistic for ordinary government officials to deal with hidden houses hidden in deep mountains and old forests. But what does this kind of thing have to do with her, the left governor of the governor's mansion?

Zhang Fengyi obviously guessed what her mother-in-law was thinking, so she immediately went on to explain: "The emperor will issue an order at that time. The military operations of the local army will be the responsibility of the military chief himself, and he will be responsible for training the troops. Of course, the local police will The court must send people to supervise, but must not interfere with military operations. The results of the local army's operations will be used as an assessment for the local generals, and will be decided by the mother-in-law, and then reported directly to the emperor."

Hearing this, Qin Liangyu couldn't help but be stunned, and then he was overjoyed.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, especially after the Tumubao Incident, the power of military officers and nobles has been increasingly squeezed out by civilian officials. Although nominally speaking, the duty of the Fifth Army Commander's Office is to train troops and assess officers at all levels. But in fact, after the assessment by the Fifth Army Governor's Office, it was reported to the Ministry of War, which made the final decision. The power to evaluate officers at all levels has actually been taken away by the Ministry of War without even realizing it.

But now the emperor's approach is obviously to return this assessment power to the Fifth Army Commander's Office. No matter what happens to the Ministry of War, under the current power of the emperor, it is impossible to compete with the emperor for power, right?

After understanding this, as a military general, how could Qin Liangyu not be happy.

So, she immediately followed the order and began to make preparations to break camp. The same decree should have been given to Zhu Xieyuan through the chat group. Once the order from Zhu Xieyuan arrives, he can set off back to Sichuan.

…

In the east, west and south of Shandong, there is a very famous place in later generations, which is Liangshan Bo. It consists of four main peaks: Liangshan Mountain, Qinglong Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, and Guishan Mountain, and seven branches including Hutou Peak, Xuefeng Mountain, Haoshan Mountain, and Xiaohuang Mountain. It covers an area of ​​nearly four square kilometers. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Yellow River burst many times, and the rolling river water poured into the foot of Liangshan Mountain, and connected with the ancient Juye Lake, forming an endless large water mooring, known as the "Eight Hundred Miles Liangshan Moor".

However, the scenery here is no longer beautiful. The Yellow River has changed its course. The water park here is not as good as before, but it has not reached the point where only the water park ruins are left like a wetland like in later generations.

Here, the periphery is already cultivated land, and villages live one after another. Among them is a small village with only about twenty households. It is the nearest village to the Liangshan side of Shuibo, called Liangjiacun. Most of the people in the village are related to each other. A family fled here and settled here.

Although Liangjia Village has a small population and little cultivated land, it can be seen from their houses and the clothes of the people that they are all relatively wealthy.

On this day, at noon, the July sun was a bit fierce, and the people were resting in their houses. A group of people, five strong men, each carrying a lot of things, came down from the mountain. They entered Liangjia Village by familiar routes and arrived at the door of a house in the east end.

There was a "bang bang bang" knock on the door. An older man who was the first among them knocked on the door and shouted in a low voice: "Uncle Liang, we are here!"

Hearing the sound, a person in the room came out with a little joy. It was obviously what the man said that had impressed Uncle Liang.

"Come on, come on, please come in!" Uncle Liang greeted warmly as he opened the door.

Five men filed through the door and piled the big bags on their shoulders in the yard. They opened the bags and revealed the contents, which were all good things from the mountains.

When Uncle Liang saw these things, the smile on his face became even bigger. He immediately said enthusiastically to the older leader: "Liu Wa, what do you want this time? Salt, right? What else do you want?"

When Liu Wa heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "It's the stuff I exchanged before. Besides, my wife is about to give birth. I want some fabrics. Is it expensive?"

"It's not expensive, it's not expensive!" Liang Bo said cheerfully, "Tell me what you want. I think there is one in the village. Go and get it for you!"

Uncle Liang is the leader of the village and the clan leader. He knows everything in the village. Every time these people from the mountains came to exchange things, he made the overall arrangements.

Just like that, after some communication, Uncle Liang immediately called the person's name, and the neighbor next door heard it. In just a moment, all the things Liu Wa and others needed were brought over by the villagers nearby. In just a short time, Uncle Liang's courtyard was filled with people.

When business comes to your door, everyone is happy and cheerful. There were also children who took the opportunity to come over and watch the fun and play in the yard.

When Liu Wa saw what was delivered, he suddenly frowned. He knelt down and looked at the bag of salt there. He stretched out his hand and grabbed a small amount. After taking a closer look, his face became a little ugly and he carefully put down the bag of salt in his hand. table salt, and then said to Uncle Liang: "Uncle Liang, we can't afford these refined salts, so we should replace them with the old table salts. Anyway, salt will do."

Uncle Liang smiled bitterly in his heart after hearing this. In fact, he didn't want to display these refined salts. But the key problem is that the county no longer sells the coarse salt it used to have. They are all made of this kind of refined salt, and the price is even cheaper than the previous coarse salt.

After hearing the question, Uncle Liang pretended not to care and said: "It's okay, we have been dealing with each other for so many years, so the price of these refined salts will be calculated based on the previous price of coarse salt."

When the other villagers heard this, they quickly agreed.

"Yes, yes, we have been friends for so many years, so you don't need to divide the refined salt and coarse salt. Anyway, I'll give you the same price!"

"Yes, your life is not easy in the mountains. We must take care of you as much as we can."

"..."

Their statement moved Liu Wa and others very much. Because in their impression, the price of this refined salt is several times the price of coarse salt. If they still exchange it according to the previous price of coarse salt, it would be too much of an advantage.

So, Liu Wa quickly said: "No, no, it's not easy for you either. How can I let you suffer after taking care of us for so many years! We don't want this refined salt, just coarse salt."

Upon hearing this, the people on Uncle Liang's side glanced at each other and started talking politely again.

"Don't be embarrassed. I'll give you the salt as I said. It's okay!"

"Yes, friendship is here, just take it!"

"Just think of it as coarse salt, it'll be fine."

"..."

As they were talking, the older one among a group of children playing in the yard suddenly stopped and said to Liu Wa: "Uncle Liu, there is no coarse salt in the county, all is this refined salt! "

As soon as he said these words, the courtyard suddenly fell silent.

The people on Liu Wa's side looked at the child in surprise, a little unbelievable. Does everyone in the county eat this refined salt? How can this be? How can the people in the county survive?

Among the people on Uncle Liang's side, one of them, the child's father, got a little angry. He slapped his child on the head and reprimanded loudly: "You have no business to interrupt what the adults are talking about. Why don't you interrupt?" roll!"

This child seemed to have reached the rebellious stage, and also reached the age of shame. Seeing his father scolding him in front of so many people, he immediately defended a little unconvincingly: "I'm not wrong, my mother said it, and now life It’s better, even this refined salt is much cheaper than the previous coarse salt, Your Majesty!”

The child speaks a little fast, but his words are articulated clearly and he finishes speaking in one go.

When the child's father heard this, his face turned red with anger, and he slapped him a second time. At the same time, he shouted loudly: "You little bastard, you still dare to be so stubborn! Let's see if I don't beat you to death!"

"Wow..." The child was beaten and cried immediately.

When Liu Wa saw it, he quickly stretched out his hand to block the child's father, and at the same time advised: "Okay, okay, the kid is not sensible, he just said something casually, there is no need to beat him."

He didn't believe what the child said at all, so he just thought the child was talking nonsense.

There is no coarse salt for sale in the county, only refined salt, and the refined salt is even cheaper than the previous coarse salt. This is simply incredible! How can it be!

Unexpectedly, the crying child, after hearing his words, cried again and said: "I am not a child, I have gone to a children's school! The teacher said, be honest, I did not talk nonsense..."

The child's father was going crazy. He dragged the child over and walked directly out of the yard. He shouted angrily: "How dare you talk back to me? I won't skin you when I get home." …”

After such a fuss, everyone on Uncle Liang's side looked a little embarrassed. Then Uncle Liang made the decision, and all the exchange items were given to Liu Wa at a slightly cheaper price. After the two parties concluded the deal, Liu Wa's side looked a little bit more embarrassed than before. Gained a lot more.

"It's really troublesome for Uncle Liang every time!" Liu Wa and others carried the exchanged things on their backs, and after sincerely thanking them again, they went back to the mountain with their things on their backs.

Uncle Liang and others arrived at the entrance of the village. After watching them go away, one person suddenly asked: "Do you think they will be suspicious?"

"How can you doubt it?" Someone else immediately replied, "How could you believe this situation a few years ago?"

As he spoke, the man pointed at the backs of Liu Wa and others and said: "Hermits like them have been hiding in the mountains for many years, and it is impossible to believe that they will have such a good life now!"

Uncle Liang listened but said nothing. Over the years, the village has made a lot of money by earning the price difference from its transactions with these hidden households. No one wants to destroy this situation.

At this moment, a child suddenly pulled Uncle Liang's sleeve and asked in confusion: "Grandpa, Brother Gazi is right, why are you still being beaten?"

Uncle Liang turned around and saw that it was his grandson. He wanted to explain, but for a moment, he didn't know where to start.

The other adults looked at the grandfather and grandson, but no one interrupted.

"Grandpa, are they bad guys?" The child was a little puzzled, "Our husband said that you should be honest, but when you meet bad people, you can't tell them everything!"

Hearing this, the sincere and simple smiles of Liu Wa and others flashed through Uncle Liang's mind. He suddenly sighed, touched his grandson's head, then looked around at his clansmen and said: "The deadline for the registration of hidden households stipulated by the imperial court is coming soon. We are not the only ones who know that there are people hiding in this mountain. When the deadline has passed and the imperial army assists in the investigation, they will definitely be exiled to a cold place. After all, we have been dealing with them for many years, what do you say? "

After he asked this question, no one said anything. Everyone looked at each other, a little undecided. But what they heard was the patriarch’s tendency?

In fact, some of these people are unwilling to tell, and even plan to report them later, so that they can get a share of the hidden house's wealth. However, the clan leader has already expressed his preference after all, and those who have these thoughts dare not speak out for a while.

Seeing that they were silent, Uncle Liang touched his grandson's hair and said: "Life is much better than before. We have also made a lot of money from these mountain people. And what's more important is that our juniors, They are all studying in a children's school. As elders, we should set an example and not teach the children bad things. They are our hope. We hope that one day they can also obtain fame. You don't want them to be the ones we resent in the future. Corrupt officials, right?"

Hearing his words, all the adults were silent. After a while, someone finally said, "Uncle Liang, I listen to you."

"I also listen to Uncle Liang."

"For the sake of my little dog, forget it, let's do something good!"

"..."

One after another, people spoke up and agreed with Uncle Liang's statement. Only a few remained silent, obviously not agreeing, but they did not stand up to strongly object.

Seeing this, Uncle Liang immediately called them by name and said, "Gouwa's father, you go after them and invite them back!"

"Okay, I'll go right away!" Gouwa's father agreed, his expression seemed to be much relaxed, and with a little joy, he spread his legs and chased the figure in the distance.

After a long time, Liu Wa and his party returned. After hearing the explanations from Uncle Liang and others, they still looked unbelieving.

Liu Wa and others listened as if they were listening to a book from heaven. Anyway, their faces were either confused or disbelieving.

"Uncle Liang, please stop making fun of us." Liu Wa said with a wry smile, "Although we are hiding in the mountains, who doesn't know what the government is like? Not to mention anything else, just the salary. In the past, our village was forced to death..."

"That's all from the old almanac!" Uncle Liang was a bit dumbfounded. He told the truth, but these mountain people still didn't believe it. "The Jianlu in Liaodong had long been exterminated by the emperor himself, and the Liao pay had long been cancelled. In the past few years, The changes have been huge, let me tell you about them..."

It was not until evening that Uncle Liang roughly recounted what had happened over the years.

Liu Wa confirmed with surprise: "Is this true? I heard that the emperor is not a young boy. How can he be so capable?"

"Don't be rude!" Upon hearing this, Uncle Liang hurriedly lectured, "The Emperor is descended from the Purple Star, how can he be judged by his age? You will send someone to the county tomorrow to have a look, and you will know. I am telling you, if you don't In a few days, the deadline will come. At that time, you can register again in hiding, but you will have to pay."

Thanks to Yiye Zhiqiu111 for the tip!