It wasn't that he didn't report it to the authorities, but with the prefect's backing, even Ning Zhiyuan himself didn't know what his "brother-in-law" had done, and his subordinates smoothed things over for him.
Those who reported to the authorities all met with bad ends. The most tragic was a man named Li Jian'an, who was originally a scholar with the title of Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). He refused to submit to the authorities and ended up dying. Now, he left behind a wife, children, and elderly parents who suffer endless hardships. They rely on their relatives for food and clothing, but how much can they help? It's just a drop in the ocean.
Li Zhaokun and Zhang Xianghua joined forces to force villagers in several villages to sell their land. The two of them owned nearly two thousand acres of land, all of which was stained with blood and tears.
After hearing this, Youqing was also stunned. So that's how it is. This is indeed not a small matter, it can even be said to be a big matter.
"Now that this matter has been investigated, it cannot be tolerated. However, I think there must be many similar cases. People with official titles can be exempted from taxes, and it's not just people from this place who want to take shortcuts. We didn't know before, but now that we do, we can't just ignore it."
When the imperial decrees are first issued, they are certainly intended for the benefit of the people. However, there are always countermeasures to policies. Nowadays, information is not readily available, and ordinary people are unwilling to report to the authorities unless absolutely necessary, as it is shameful to deliberately get into legal trouble.
Rural areas rely more on clan-based governance. The policies are good, but it's hard to say whether they can truly benefit the people.
Tianjin is close to the capital, so fertilizer was introduced to the area relatively early, and the people started using it. However, in the end, some people still didn't have enough to eat.
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