Chapter 147 Exploitation
Chapter 147 Exploitation

Even in the small courtyard, no inch of land is wasted, and all kinds of green vegetables are planted in every corner.

Both of Xu Erdan's parents are already in their eighties, but they have dark skin and only wear thin linen clothes.

The two children, aged eight or nine, looked skinny due to long-term malnutrition. Only their pair of relatively bright eyes were staring at the white rice porridge being sprayed out on the low table.

As for Xu Erdan and his wife, the only two middle-aged people in the family, they were not much better, being just skin and bones.

Ye Xuan looked at it while walking into the low thatched hut.

The room was filled with a foul stench and a damp smell of decay, and there was not a single grain of rice left in the opened rice jar.

Only on the stove, a plate of dry biscuits was still being warmed by the remaining fire.

Ye Xuan thought carefully and found that there were indeed only two bowls of white rice porridge on the table, and Xu Erdan's family was not there.

It seemed that all the remaining rice porridge went into his stomach.

After walking out of the thatched hut, Ye Xuan felt quite unhappy.

"Lord Yao, are all the farmers in the imperial farm living in such a hungry state?" Ye Xuan said angrily.

Xu Erdan's family were all stunned. They thought that this adult from Yingtian Prefecture, whose title was so intimidating, would be furious because of the poor hospitality.

In the end, he was indeed angry, but not at himself.

Yao Guang was stunned, and then hesitantly spoke.

Ye Xuan did not press the issue any further as he already knew the result.

After Ye Xuan came to the Ming Dynasty, he also gained some understanding of the lives of the people of that era. Generally speaking, farmers who cultivated government fields only needed to pay 10% of the rent and corresponding taxes, and the rest of the harvest belonged to the farmers themselves.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang was also a peasant, he treated peasants relatively well.

In the middle and late stages, the rent of official fields increased by between 20% and 30%.

Moreover, Ye Xuan had exchanged a few words with Xu Erdan during the day and knew that their family was cultivating 15 acres of government-owned land.

If we calculate the rent of 10% plus taxes, the maximum harvest would be around 30% of the total.

In other words, Xu Erdan's family should still have enough harvest from the ten acres of land to support their family.

Although this number is not enough to make one well-off, it is still enough to fill one's stomach and not to live in such poverty.

"Yao Guang, you are an official of the Ministry of Revenue after all, you should know what the Jinyiwei does!" Ye Xuan said with a cold face.

Yao Guang shuddered all over and quickly knelt on the ground: "Sir, I am just a small official. It is really not my turn to be involved in the corruption of government land!"

"It seems that you have confessed yourself. Tell me in detail." Ye Xuan sat down again, stared at Yao Guang coldly and said, "As long as you tell me everything, I can guarantee that as long as your crime is not serious, you will be safe."

Upon hearing this, Yao Guang thought about the rumors about the Jinyiwei while he began to organize his words and tried his best to avoid the main points and talk about the situation in Beishan Royal Farm.

It turned out that when Li Guodong first came to lead Beishan Royal Farm, he was quite diligent and hardworking.

Not only was he an honest official, but he was also compassionate to the farmers on the manor and never engaged in corruption or exploitation.

But after two years, perhaps because of the fact that he was in the center of the court, Li Guodong realized that no matter how hard he worked, it would not be the foundation for his own success, so he began to slack off. In the end, he even began to embezzle the harvest of the imperial farm and even secretly increased the rent of the farmers.

Because the Beishan Imperial Farm had already been awarded to Zhu Di at that time, the imperial court and the Ministry of Revenue no longer intervened.

Whether Zhu Di himself sent someone to take over and count the accounts resulted in the lawless Beishan Imperial Farm becoming the world of Li Guodong alone.

Here, Li Guodong is the boss. If he says to increase the rent, then the rent will be increased, and no one dares to disobey him.

This also led to the people of Beishan Huangzhuang living in increasingly difficult lives.

Ye Xuanwenyan immediately understood. No wonder Li Guodong was so hostile towards him when he just arrived at Beishan Royal Manor.

I didn't think much about it at the time, but now it seems that because of my identity as a Jinyiwei, Li Guodong might be afraid that my crimes in the imperial manor would be exposed, so he wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible.

"Yao Guang, do you dare to take responsibility for what you said?" When Ye Xuan thought of this, his eyes towards Yao Guang suddenly became sharp.

"This...this..." Yao Guang stammered, not knowing what to do.

But Ye Xuan didn't give him any time to think, and said: "It's too late for you to regret now. Do you think that your reversal of your confession will end here?"

"Not only will the case be investigated further, but if His Majesty investigates, I'm afraid you, the subordinates, will also be held responsible!"

Although Yao Guang repeatedly claimed that he did not collude with the evil, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's character, he would still be punished if he knew about the crime but did not investigate.

After thinking it through, Yao Guang realized that he had boarded Ye Xuan's pirate ship, and it was too late to get off.

So he had no choice but to kneel down and said, "I am willing to take responsibility for what I said and report Li Guodong, the corrupt official!"

"very good!"

Ye Xuan nodded, looked at him with satisfaction, and Yao Guang comforted him, "After Li Guodong is captured, I will recommend you to manage Beishan Royal Manor. I hope you can perform your duties conscientiously and be worthy of the people of Beishan Royal Manor!"

Upon hearing this, Yao Guang looked at Ye Xuan in disbelief, and only then did he realize what was happening.

It turns out that what Ye Xuan said to Li Guodong at the beginning, that he could have a say next to Zhu Yuanzhang, turned out to be true!
Oh my God, what kind of big shot did I meet!

The worries he had originally had about going against his boss disappeared without a trace at this moment, and all he was left with was the immense excitement of having a relationship with Ye Xuan.

The next day, Wuying Palace.

"Bastard, this villain actually dares to treat our people so harshly under our noses!" After listening to Ye Xuan's report, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the imperial desk and said angrily.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was still a farmer, his parents and brothers died of starvation or illness due to exploitation by officials.

When he established the Ming Dynasty, he always thought about making sure that people all over the world could live a good life, so that after his death, future generations would remember his kindness.

However, in Yingtian Prefecture, which was right under the emperor's feet, less than thirty miles away from Beishan Imperial Farm, officials actually exploited the people.

Moreover, it can be seen from Yao Guang's confession that Li Guodong had been exploiting the people for three years.

This incident happened in Guantian, the farm granted by Prince of Yan Zhu Di!

If it was a place far away from the emperor, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was just thirty miles outside Yingtian Prefecture!

(End of this chapter)