Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 57 They dared to betray everything

“Since I took office in Ningyang County, more than three months have passed. In these three months, the entire Ningyang County has only received five rainfalls. The water flow of the Dawen River and Guang River has also gradually decreased. Drought is a foregone conclusion.”

Yang Shaofeng and Wang Qiong rode side by side, saying as they went, "There's no other way. I can only have the people dig an artificial lake first. We must store some water to ensure the bean harvest."

At this point, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but smile and said, "To be honest, I am ashamed to say that I am unwilling to serve the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, so I have no experience in being an official. I do many things on a whim, which has led to quite a few laughs."

"For example, when I first took office, I asked the people of Ningyang County to help me collect a batch of chicks and piglets. At that time, I not only had the piglets castrated, but I also thought that I would eat a chicken every month. Looking back now, I realize how foolish I was."

"And then there's the matter of making the people build an artificial lake. I even had the people dig irrigation ditches at night to store water, but I forgot how far and troublesome it was to haul water from the Da Wen River to the artificial lake. As a result, now I have to make the people go back and dig the irrigation ditches from the Da Wen River to the artificial lake again."

"There are quite a few other embarrassing incidents as well, but the common people dare not speak out because of my official position, which has made Wang Sheren laugh at me."

But the more Yang Shaofeng said this, the more ashamed Wang Qiong looked: "Magistrate Yang has the people at heart. I am ashamed of myself, ashamed of myself."

The two traveled south along the Dawen River. When they reached the vicinity of Liumiao Village, Yang Shaofeng pointed in the direction of Liumiao Village and said, "This is Liumiao Village. There are a total of 35 households in the village, with a population of 90, of which 50 are able-bodied adults and the rest are the elderly, women and children."

Then, Yang Shaofeng pointed to the west of Liumiao Village and said, "About ten miles further west is Xihe Village, which has 46 households and a total population of 160, including 80 able-bodied men and women and children."

Pointing to all directions around Ningyang County, Yang Shaofeng described the situation of the eight communities outside the county and the sixteen neighborhoods inside the county, including the names of each community and neighborhood, the number of households, and the number of people, so that Wang Qiong could have a general understanding of the situation in Ningyang County.

“During the Song Dynasty, Shandong had 1.34 million households and a population of over 7 million,” Yang Shaofeng said after talking about Ningyang County. “Before Xu Xiang and Chang Pingzhang’s Northern Expedition, Shandong had only about 500,000 households and a population of less than 2 million. I suppose Wang Sheren must have seen quite a lot along the way.”

Wang Qiong hummed in agreement, and after a long silence, said, "The roads are all overgrown with weeds, and there is no sign of human habitation. Bones are exposed in the wilderness, and not a rooster crows for a thousand miles. Originally, I thought these were all exaggerations, but after traveling along the way, I have come to realize that they are true."

The two walked on in silence until they passed Liu Temple. Then Yang Shaofeng suddenly chuckled and said, "Geng Jinshi said that I had people whip the able-bodied men, and the unlucky guy who was whipped was from Liu Temple Village. Actually, I can't entirely blame him for this. I also bear some responsibility. At the time, he made a bet that he could eat fifteen buns mixed with meat. I was afraid he would eat himself to death, and I was also angry that he was betting on gambling. That's why I had Brother Lame 5 whip him ten times, thinking that this would stop the gambling craze."

The term "guanpu zhi feng" refers to the gambling craze that was prevalent during the Song and Yuan dynasties.

Su Shi wrote in his "Petition for Not Distributing Green Seedling Money": "Furthermore, the officials are incompetent. When distributing the money, they always order the wine department to set up drums, music and actors, or to put up signs for selling wine. Some farmers even go home empty-handed."

Wu Zimou also recorded in "Menglianglu: January": "The neighbors went door to door singing and shouting about food, utensils, hats, combs, collars, satins, flowers, toys and other items."

To put it bluntly, gambling is all forms of gambling, and the fact that gambling can be listed alongside drugs shows how harmful it is.

In order to prohibit gambling, both the Song and Yuan dynasties employed various methods.

The Song Dynasty Criminal Code stipulates: "Those who gamble with money shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane. Those who steal large sums shall be punished according to their share, and shall be treated as thieves. Those who stop the owner or those who play the game of Nine Harmony shall be punished in the same way."

The Yuan Dynasty Code, Chapter 19, Prohibition of Gambling, states: "Anyone who gambles with money or goods or engages in gambling or other illegal activities shall be arrested and brought to justice, and each person shall be sentenced to seventy-seven strokes of the cane."

The Ming Dynasty had just been established, and the "Great Ming Code" had not yet been promulgated. There were no proper provisions for dealing with gambling. Local officials either dealt with it "according to usual practice" or according to their own mood. Most of the time, they turned a blind eye, and no one cared at all.

Now that Yang Shaofeng has suddenly mentioned strictly prohibiting gambling and betting, Wang Qiong, while secretly admiring him, can't help but be a little curious: "Does Magistrate Yang seem to be very averse to gambling and betting?"

Yang Shaofeng smiled and countered, "If the people all go to gambling and tournaments, who will come to cultivate the land? If no one cultivates the land, where will I collect taxes? When the court holds us accountable, who among those who run gambling and tournaments will be punished for me?"

Wang Qiong nodded, then pointed to the numerous farmlands along the roadside and asked, "Since I arrived in Shandong, I have seen mostly wasteland. It is rare that the people of Ningyang County have been able to resume production so quickly. I suppose Magistrate Yang has also contributed a great deal of effort?"

Yang Shaofeng smiled and didn't hide anything: "Actually, I used a little trick. When the gentry and landlords all fled with the Tartars and no one wanted the land in Ningyang County, whether it was official or private, I distributed all the land to the people."

Wang Qiong frowned slightly and asked, "These lands... seem to be newly reclaimed land? It's one thing for the original government lands, but the local gentry also let their private lands lie fallow?"

Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement: "It depends on the situation. Some brainless idiots, in order to get closer to the Tartars, will change their names to Tartar names, speak Tartar language, wear Tartar clothes, and deliberately leave their land uncultivated to be used as pasture."

"And some are simply greedy and wicked—they leave the land barren not to become Tartars, but because they are unwilling to rent the land to the people. When the people can no longer survive, they then buy the land from the people at a low price."

"As for whether the common people will rise up in rebellion, or follow the Tartars to the north to escape like they are now, that is not within their consideration."

"Yang recalls a wise man surnamed Ma who once said that as long as there is a 100% profit, those unscrupulous merchants and powerful figures will dare to trample on all the laws of the world. If there is a 300% profit, they will dare to sell everything, including their conscience."

Later generations often say that the Ming Dynasty perished because of the civil service group—but this is an extremely absurd statement, because the civil service itself had a large number of factions, and these factions fought each other to the death.

In reality, the Ming Dynasty perished because of a group of vested interests, which included not only civil officials, but also local gentry, nobles, and eunuchs, but not the emperor and the common people.

Wang Qiong also fell silent.