"Brother, we cannot agree to this request."

Seeing Zhu Yunfei's request brought by Yuan Shu, Hou Ke, the second eldest son of the Hou family, started to protest on the spot.

"Brother, our family's three thousand acres of land is the ancestral property of several generations. Why should we hand it over to Zhu Yunfei if he just says a word?"

The fifth eldest son of the Hou family, Hou Xi, also shouted angrily.

"Yuan Boying, is it too unkind for you to do this? This Zhu Yunfei arrested my fourth brother and took the opportunity to blackmail him. Does he really think that my Hou family is easy to bully?"

Hou Bian, the third eldest son of the Hou family, frowned when he saw his eldest brother's face was solemn and his second and fifth brothers were excited. He looked at Yuan Shu, who was leisurely drinking tea in the hall, and sneered in a bad tone.

"Hou Laosan, I have a clear conscience about this matter. I fully support the Admiral in collecting land and paying taxes."

Yuan Shu put down the tea cup in his hand, looked at Hou Xun and said calmly.

"Brother Taizhen, Suiyang City is your hometown and mine, and it is also the land of the Ming Dynasty."

"Now that Henan has almost fallen, the ant thieves can attack at any time. I, Yuan Shu, am not sure whether Suiyang City can be defended next time."

"But I know a saying, no egg is left unfinished when the nest is overturned."

"To be honest, my Yuan family has 1,300 yuan worth of land, and I have already donated it to the health center."

"It's not for anything else, just to let the people of Suiyang have a bite to eat."

"This is also the original intention of the Admiral to collect land and pay taxes. In recent years, the court has imposed excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and natural disasters and military disasters have continued."

"No matter how much hardship the common people endure, they still can't survive. They have no choice but to become thieves, which eventually makes the thieves' power worse."

"As officials of the Ming Dynasty, shouldn't we do our best?"

The impassioned Yuan Shu looked at the brothers of the Hou family with cold eyebrows and said with emotion: "Admiral Zhu once said, 'Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of a country.'"

"You are all people who have read the books of sages and sages. When this country is in ruins, shouldn't you do something for the Ming Dynasty?"

"Thinking about our sages in Suiyang, aren't you ashamed?"

"Having said that, Admiral Zhu said that I will give you one day to consider whether you want to betray the imperial court or do your best. You can think about it yourself."

After saying that, Yuan Shu strode away.

"Yuan Boying is generous and generous, just like his father." Looking at Yuan Boying's leaving figure, Hou Xun sighed and stood up slowly.

"Suiyang is now on the front line. No matter how much farmland you have, you can't take it away. Instead of dying in your hands, it's better to turn some cash into money and make arrangements to buy property in Jinling and Suzhou and Hangzhou."

"What the father said is true, and the child also believes that the south of the Yangtze River is rich and prosperous with humanities. Even though famous people in Donglin are in the mountains, they have the title of prime minister in civilian clothes."

"If my father wants to make a difference in Huguang, he cannot do without the support of Jiangnan Shilin."

Hou Fangyu, who had been silent until now, suddenly stood up and expressed his opinion.

Hou Fangyu's literary attainments are unquestionable in history.

In the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty, the fact that he was appreciated by Jiangnan scholars is enough to show that he is not an ignorant and ignorant playboy.

Although his current opinion is of no benefit to the country or the people, it is obviously harmful to Hou Xun who is about to take charge of Huguang.

If Hou Xun, the commander-in-chief of Huguang, can get support from the Donglin faction in Jiangnan, he will not be able to restrain Zuo Liangyu.

But he can also gain a foothold in Huguang. Otherwise, for an old scholar like him, when he went to Huguang to supervise the division, Zuo Liangyu's group of arrogant and powerful generals would not even look at him seriously.

"Chaozong, I'm very pleased that you have such knowledge." Hou Xun glanced at his son with admiration and said in a deep voice.

"Except for paying taxes, all the rest of the Hou family's property was sold, and our family went to Jiangning County to buy property and settle down."

In exchange, the Hou family handed over 1,200 qing of land and transferred 2,000 qing of land to Guide Guards at a low price.

Zhu Yunfei also released Hou Shu and Hou Yan from the Hou family.

However, Zhao Guosheng, the chief steward of the Hou family, and his nephew Zhao Xiaosi were sentenced to execution.

The prefect of Guide, Yue Qijie, showed up and sentenced Zhao Guosheng and others for crimes such as selling salt and iron, smuggling money, and forcing girls into prostitution.

He also posted a notice telling the people in the city that all money and rent owed to the Hou family and Zhao family would be cancelled.

As soon as the news came out, the people in the city unanimously cheered and supported him.

At the same time, the Guide Guard Station also posted a notice that anyone willing to farm the land could rent the guard's military land.

Those who lease military land at the garrison can farm the land with their military household registration after signing the contract.

The health center will provide oxen, and after the autumn harvest, only 30% of the harvest will be paid.

Thirty percent may seem like a lot, but compared to the exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes levied by the court today, it is completely negligible.

And because the Hou family and Yuan family took the initiative to pay for the occupation of military land and make up for the natural tax revenue from previous years.

In just half a month, Zhu Yunfei not only recovered 100,000 acres of farmland, but also recovered an additional 50,000 acres of official land.

The price paid was just some official positions.

For example, the fathers of the Song family, Li family, Shen family, Xu family, Wu family, and Zhang family in Suiyang all served as high-ranking officials in the court.

But nowadays, most of the family's children have not achieved fame. These people have money and land, so they just want to get an official position.

In order to meet their needs, Zhu Yunfei asked Chen Qianfu, the patrol censor, to conduct a thorough investigation of these people.

A group of talented people including Shen Zhenxing, Zhang Wei, Xu Zuolin, Wu Boyi, and Wu Boyin were selected from them and awarded nine-rank official positions in the government offices, county offices, and guards.

Under the command of Zhu Yunfei, and with the cooperation of Yuan Shu, Yue Qijie, Chen Qianfu, and the army, the work of collecting land and paying taxes in Guide Mansion was carried out smoothly and orderly.

During this period, Zhu Yunfei sent a letter to Zeng Ying, recommending the achievements of Yuan Shu, Yue Qijie, Chen Qianfu and others.

He also recommended Hu Dawei to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Henan Dusi.

In early April, Zhu Yunfei had been staying in Guide Mansion for a month.

Seeing that the farming work of the people in the prefectures and counties of Guide Prefecture was almost in progress, and when he was preparing to return to Jinan Prefecture, Song Qing came from Jinan Prefecture in a dusty journey.

"General, I have brought you some news, some good and some bad. Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?"

"Let's hear the good news first." Zhu Yunfei said calmly.

The good news that Song Qing said was that Huang Shu, Liu Guangxian, and the assistance of General Li Huajing.

Successfully retrieved the copper coins worth up to 5.8 million taels hidden in the private residence of Zhou Wang Zhu Gongqi from Wei Hui Mansion.

The bad news is that the money has just been sent back to Jinan Prefecture.

Zeng Ying transferred 1.5 million yuan and sent it to the imperial court to supplement Shandong's autumn grain tax last year.

"Old Song, is this considered bad news?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunfei couldn't help but wave his hands and smile, not taking it seriously at all.

He had no intention of using this money for personal use, otherwise Zeng Ying would not have known about the existence of this money.

"General, actually, this is just the first news. What I am going to say next is the bad news." Song Qing glanced at Zhu Yunfei with a guilty conscience, and then said sarcastically.

"You're a coward, aren't you? Just finish your words quickly." Zhu Yunfei frowned and glared at him.

"Haha, General, please calm down. I am not afraid of you because I am not happy with the bad news coming next. Let's just make a joke first." Song Qing had been with Zhu Yunfei for a long time and knew his temper.

After making a little joke, he slowly spoke with a solemn expression.

"The imperial court appointed Gong Dingzi from the Donglin faction as the envoy to the right of Shandong, and also appointed Wei Zhouzuo as the censor of Shandong."

"This Wei Zhouzuo is Wei Zhouyin's biological brother."

"The original inspection was approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs according to the request of Yushi Bi Maokang to become an official."

"In addition to Cai Hongming, a left-wing political advisor in Shandong, as well as several prefecture and prefectural magistrates, the imperial court also arranged candidates."

Having said this, Song Qing looked up at Zhu Yunfei and saw that he didn't express anything, so he continued to talk about the third piece of news.

If the first two news are not too bad news.

So this third one is news, which is really bad news.

The third news is that Gao Qiqian, the commander-in-chief of the army appointed by the emperor, has arrived in Handan.

As soon as Gao Qiqian arrived in Handan, he sent a military order, asking Zhu Yunfei, the admiral-in-chief, and Yang Yan, the general-in-chief of Linqingguan, to go to Handan to meet him.

Zhu Yunfei was also asked to take 500,000 taels of military pay and 300,000 shi of food and grass to the labor force.

This clearly treats Zhu Yunfei as a fat sheep ready for slaughter.

Gao Qiqian, the eunuch who oversees the army, is known for his knowledge of soldiers.

He once led the army together with the commander Yang Sichang, and later supervised the army in Lu Xiangsheng's army. At the critical moment of Lu Xiangsheng, he did not save Lu Xiangsheng.

Afterwards, they even shirk responsibility and falsely accuse Lu Xiangsheng of not obeying orders.
Chapter completed!