The situation the old man described was rather unusual; it's hard to say who's to blame in this kind of thing.
A successful candidate in the imperial examinations could evade taxes by owning a certain amount of land, but this land would then be registered under the candidate's name. This was an opportunistic attempt to gain an advantage, but in the end, the land could not be recovered, and there was no way to seek justice.
Kangxi had Liang Jiugong pay the money and then asked, "Is all the land in your village registered under that person's name?"
"It wasn't like that originally. Later, the land in the same village was gradually bought up by the son of that scholar at a low price. Those who were forced to sell their land either died or moved away. Now, the people left in the village are just getting by."
Even in years without famine, some people in their village would inevitably starve to death; they simply lived on counting the days until the end of the year.
Kangxi asked in his weekday: "Forced to sell land?"
The old man explained: "Yes, they were forced to sell their land. Some people agreed to the scholar's suggestion to put their land in his name, but others felt it was inappropriate and kept the land for themselves. Later, the scholar died, and his son married a relative of an official. After that, people in the same village and even neighboring villages were forced to sell their land. They had no choice but to sell, as the other party was powerful and they had no way to survive if they didn't sell."
After carefully putting away the hairpin, Kangxi left and then ordered people to investigate the authenticity of the matter. If it was true, then this was no small matter.
Food is the most important thing for the people. He worked so hard for so long just to make sure the people had enough to eat, but in the end he still couldn't make sure they had enough to eat. Kangxi couldn't allow that.
...
"Honey, why are you back so early today?"
"All the hairpins were sold today. Business was good, so we came back early."
"Okay, wash your hands and get ready to eat!"
"well"
This old man is the one who spoke with Emperor Kangxi earlier today.
After finishing his meal, the old man said, "Today, when I was selling hairpins, I met a man who looked very wealthy and distinguished. He asked me some questions, and I told him about the situation in the village. I don't know if it will work out."
The old woman next to him sighed upon hearing this: "Don't get your hopes up too high. There are plenty of people who don't want to get involved in this mess. What's the point of saying anything? You might just get yourself into trouble. Don't forget how Jian'an died."
The old man said, “I’m just an old man now. If I die, I’ll die. I should leave something for my descendants. I made a mistake back then, otherwise things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”
"Even if you don't sign the contract, the result will be the same. Those who didn't sign didn't fare much better in the end either way."
The old man thought about it and realized that it was true; it was all the same, but things couldn't stay like this forever.
There is so much grain in the fields, which they have worked so hard to grow, but they still can't get enough to eat. This can't go on.
"That's true, I was too attached to appearances. By the way, I'll send some things to Jian'an's wife tomorrow. She's an orphan and a widow, we can't just ignore her."
"Okay, go to sleep! I'll send some coarse grains over tomorrow."
"Um"
The old man wasn't stupid. The reason he was willing to talk so much to Kangxi was because he felt that Kangxi seemed extraordinary. In addition, there were rumors in the city that a distinguished person had visited, saying that he was a high-ranking official from the capital and was staying at the post station. Otherwise, he wouldn't have casually told that kind of thing to anyone he met.
His cousin Jian'an, who was related to him by blood, went to report the incident to the authorities. He died not long after returning home. After that, the villagers became more cautious about the matter and dared not talk about it easily.
Originally, Emperor Kangxi did not intend to stay in Tianjin for long, but after hearing about this incident, he felt he couldn't just leave. He thought this was probably not an isolated case and that similar situations must have occurred in other places as well.
It would take time for Emperor Kangxi to send people to investigate this matter, as it happened in a village and required visits.
The next day, Kangxi took Youqing and Anle shopping and showed no intention of leaving.
Officials in Tianjin gathered together and couldn't help but start discussing it.
"Lord Liu, didn't you ask His Majesty's entourage? Shouldn't His Majesty be leaving by now? Why does it seem like he's going to stay for a few more days?"
"How dare I presume to guess His Majesty's intentions? His Majesty's thoughts are not something we can pry into at will. As long as I have a clear conscience, His Majesty is wise and mighty, and he would never wrong anyone. Lord Qiu, there is no need to panic."
How could Lord Qiu not be panicked?
Although he doesn't dare to commit serious crimes, he keeps making minor ones. If you really investigate him, he'll be lucky to escape with his life.
Moreover, he had heard that His Majesty had an all-knowing secret guard who could find out everything.
Emperor Kangxi was unaware that his failure to leave at the scheduled time had caused panic among the officials in Tianjin. However, even if they had known, they would have been pleased, as Kangxi had the greatest disdain for inactive officials.
"Your Majesty, here are the relevant files."
"Um"
Kangxi then picked up the file and carefully read through it. The more he read, the more his brows furrowed. This was no small matter.
That evening, Kangxi told Youqing what he had found out.
Do you remember the old man we met last time we bought the hairpin?
"I remember, what did you find?"
Youqing felt that this was probably no small matter.
"It was done by the prefect's brother-in-law, who wasn't exactly a proper brother-in-law."
Kangxi then explained the specific situation.
The prefect Ning Zhiyuan had a favored concubine who gave birth to a son who was greatly loved by Ning Zhiyuan. As a result, the concubine's family also became powerful and arrogant.
The concubine's surname was Zhang. Zhang had a younger brother named Zhang Xianghua. This Zhang Xianghua had no great abilities, but relying on his sister's favor, he took shortcuts and had crooked thoughts.
Zhang Xianghua had a daughter, Xiao Zhang, who married Li Zhaokun, the son of the scholar the old man had mentioned. Zhang Xianghua, through his connection with Ning Zhiyuan, colluded with his son-in-law Li Zhaokun to force the local people to sell their land at low prices. If they refused to sell, they would suffer in secret.
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