Chapter 328 Envy and Inferiority

After a sumptuous lunch at the Jiang family.

Tan Yuan and others went outside the city to receive the barracks specially vacated for them by Shen Rendusi Mansion.

Zhu Di and his party, accompanied by Jiang Jinzhong, came to the outside of the county government office.

"Mr. Zhu, this is the county government office."

During Jiang Jinzhong's introduction, Zhu Di glanced at the county government office and turned to look back.

The buildings near the county government office were okay.

You can look a little further.

As far as the eye can see, there are low, messy, and thatched huts on the street that can't even afford tiles on the roof.

The shops on the street are like this.

The houses in other parts of the city can be imagined.

Turning around again, looking at the county government office.

The county government office was obviously newly renovated not long ago. Although it is not as luxurious as the houses of the gentry and powerful people in Jian'an where the Jiang family lives, it is also very well renovated.

In simplicity, it reveals majesty everywhere.

The county magistrate must be very comfortable to work and live in it on a daily basis.

...

The children looked at Zhu Di curiously, wondering what their master was thinking.

At some point.

Zhu Di walked up the steps, and everyone hurried to follow him.

Zhu Di asked as he walked: "How is the county school?"

In troubled times, some warlords could order that the renovated government offices in the city be used to run schools.

As the magistrate of Jian'an County, he could not immediately let the people of Jian'an live a good life.

If the environment of the place where the children of Jian'an studied was very poor, they could still find a way to improve it in a short time.

Of course, he could not give up the county government office.

First of all, this era did not allow him to do such things that were not in line with the times.

He did not want to do this and be accused of buying people's hearts.

Instead of doing this.

It is better to find a way to seize the time and improve the lives of the people of Jian'an.

Secondly, there were so many people accompanying them.

To be honest, except for the county government office, other places really could not accommodate so many of them.

Jiang Jinzhong understood Zhu Di's thoughts and said hurriedly, "Sir, the county school is on the west side of the county government office. It was also built by the first county magistrate of our Ming Dynasty with donations from the gentry of Jian'an..."

In order to pass the Tongsheng exam more easily.

Gentry would send their children to the county school to study.

How could the conditions be bad if their own children were to study there.

...

While talking, they visited the government office in front and finally came to the back house of the government office.

The back house is specially provided for officials, their families and accompanying personnel to live in.

Zhu Di looked at Xu Miaoyun, "Take the children to see the room and arrange accommodation."

Xu Miaoyun smiled and nodded, then led everyone away.

"Jinzhong, take me to the study."

Jinzhong? !

In the past, Mr. Zhu called him Jiang Qingtian, Jiang County Magistrate, Jiang County Master, and occasionally laughed and scolded him as Fatty Jiang.

But even Jiang Qingtian.

It was not as comfortable as Jinzhong.

Because he had something to do in the afternoon, he only drank a little at noon and didn't get drunk at all, but he felt a little light at the moment...

"What are you daydreaming about!" Zhu Di scolded with a smile.

Jiang Jinzhong came back to his senses and smiled, "Sir, this way..."

Jiang Jinzhong led the way and soon came to an elegant courtyard.

Pushing the door in.

Zhu Di saw the desk, bookshelf, incense burner...

The layout was very elegant.

Very suitable for reading.

Turning his head to look at Jiang Jinzhong.

Jiang Jinzhong smiled, "A few days ago, the previous county magistrate left. My uncle is the county magistrate of the county government. I used this relationship to arrange the backyard for you in advance..."

As he said that, he saw Zhu Di frowning slightly, and the topic changed rapidly, and he explained quickly: "Sir, all the expenses are paid by my family, and the county government has not spent a penny!"

He just wanted His Highness to live more comfortably.

He also knew His Highness's character.

How could he use the county government's money?

Zhu Di glanced at Jiang Jinzhong, walked to the desk and sat down, feeling the comfort of the wooden chair.

This chair is a fine product.

He raised his head and scolded with a smile: "I accept your kindness, but I tell you in advance that in the future, when I govern Jian'an, I will not give you any preferential treatment to the Jiang family. Moreover, because of our relationship, you must not only follow the rules I set, but also do better than others!"

Jiang Jinzhong smiled immediately, just sat down, and stood up and patted his chest to guarantee: "Your Highness, just watch it!"

The relationship between him and His Highness.

There is no need to please His Highness in this way.

It is not to exchange His Highness for any benefits to the Jiang family.

I just want His Highness to live more comfortably.

His Highness has a grace of rebirth for him.

Jiang Jinzhong before meeting His Highness and Jiang Jinzhong after meeting His Highness are two different people.

This is what his old fox father said in person after returning home from the funeral of his old mother.

The old fox father also said: This time he is not afraid of dying, he has ruined the Jiang family.

In the past, except being loyal to His Highness, there was no other way to repay His Highness.

Now His Highness came to Jian'an.

He finally found an opportunity.

If one day, His Highness wants to rebel against the emperor, he, Jiang Jinzhong, dares to risk these two hundred pounds of meat!

Zhu Di didn't know what Jiang Jinzhong was thinking, and pointed to the chair behind Jiang Jinzhong.

After Jiang Jinzhong sat down, he asked: "The situation in Jian'an is a little beyond my expectations. The people in the city are so poor, what about the rural people outside the city?"

"I think the wealth of your powerful families is not worse than that of the gentry in Jiangning..."

No, the wealth of these powerful families in Jian'an is better than that of the gentry in Jiangning.

"Tell me about it."

Jiang Jinzhong probed, "Your Highness, do you want me to call my uncle and we can report to you together?"

Zhu Di nodded.

Jiang Jinzhong immediately stood up happily, rushed to the door and shouted, "Uncle, hurry up!"

Soon, Zhu Di saw a young man in his twenties, younger than Jiang Jinzhong, holding a stack of account books, yellow books, and fish scale books outside the door.

Obviously, Jiang Jinzhong's uncle had been hiding somewhere outside, waiting for him to call. If nothing unexpected happened, it was arranged by this fat man Jiang again!

Jiang Jinzhong pulled the young man in quickly, "Your Highness, this is my uncle. He is young and has a high generation. After passing the examination, he was arranged by my father to serve as the county magistrate of Jian'an. This situation is very common here..."

Zhu Di listened carefully.

At the same time, he looked at the young man.

He knew that in the south, the county magistrate appointed by the court was a floating official, but the county magistrate with no development prospects was mostly served by scholars from local powerful families.

This was also a helpless move.

The local clan power in the south is stronger than that in the north.

At the same time, places like Fujian are far away from the emperor.

It is not easy for officials sent by the court to rule the local areas.

The second master, the county magistrate, appointed local scholars, which is the link between the county magistrate and the local tyrants.

Of course, this kind of thing has both good and bad.

The bad side is that local power can influence the court's orders, so that the court's orders will become unrecognizable after being implemented at the county level.

The good side is that local power can restrain the county magistrate.

In short, everything has its good and bad sides.

There is no absolute good or bad.

"The humble official Jiang Youxiao pays homage to the county lord." The young man held a pile of things and bowed.

Zhu Di smiled and said, "Put down the things and sit down to talk."

After thanking him, Jiang Youxiao placed the fish scale book and account book in front of Zhu Di and sat down next to Jiang Jinzhong.

Zhu Di looked down at the fish scale book and said, "Jinzhong, your uncle and nephew tell me about Jian'an."

After Jiang Jinzhong and Jiang Youxiao whispered what Zhu Di wanted to know, he spoke first: "Sir, our Fujian is a place with many mountains and little land. It has been poor since ancient times. To be honest, even if we make it into a rural village, we can only solve the problem of food and clothing by relying on the output of farming. It is difficult to get rich..."

...

"I see that the mansions of the powerful people around your house are all magnificent. Why are you rich, while the people in the city are so poor that they look hungry?"

Jiang Youxiao looked at Jiang Jinzhong in surprise, and then at Zhu Di.

Such a sensitive question, asked so directly?

Jiang Jinzhong was not at all reserved. He spoke frankly and told the whole story. "Sir, if our families also made money from land and a few shops in the city like the gentry in Jiangning, we would definitely not be able to live such a wealthy life..."

"Since the Tang Dynasty, maritime trade has emerged. In the eyes of our Fujian gentry, land is no longer important. The biggest purpose of annexing land is to ensure a way out. The way for everyone to make money is mainly maritime trade..."

Zhu Di understood.

After the court banned the sea.

The local tyrants in Fujian colluded with the government and pirates to engage in smuggling.

There was no sea ban before.

In addition to farming, the people of Fujian could also make some profit from maritime trade.

Now that the sea is banned, there is no chance for the people to share a little bit of the soup from smuggling.

On the contrary, although the local tyrants also suffered losses, they relied on smuggling to make less money than before, but they could still maintain a wealthy life.

The top tyrants in the past may have made more profits because of the sea ban.

This sea ban caused the current situation.

It is somewhat similar to the economic downturn.

The worse the economy is, the more wealth will flow to a few people.

He wanted to try to establish a rural village community and a shareholding system for hired workers in Jian'an, just to divide the direction of wealth flow.

Throughout the ages, rulers have actually been constantly exploring the issue of wealth distribution and trying to prolong their rule.

All capable and wise monarchs have dealt with similar issues.

Salt and iron monopoly, liquor monopoly...

There are also similar ways for the court to levy high taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The contribution of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is large, so the court can collect less from other regions.

But this method also has great disadvantages.

Officials intervened and corruption was rampant.

After reaching the center of the court.

If it was an old man who was not greedy for pleasure, it would be fine.

If it was an emperor who was greedy for pleasure, after layers of corruption, the land tax collected would eventually be wasted.

Just like the "unworthy descendants" Taoist emperors Jiajing and Yan Song.

The Yan party was corrupt.

Jiajing used the money from the people to practice Taoism and make elixirs.

He established the rural community and the share system in order to try to regulate wealth at the grassroots level without the "middleman" of officials.

…

At the same time when Zhu Di asked Jiang Jinzhong and his nephew about the current situation in Jian'an.

Xu Miaoyun also arranged accommodation for everyone.

Jiang Jinzhong had everything ready.

Even the new quilts in the children's rooms and the school where the children would attend classes in the county government were ready.

The school was on the west side of the back house.

It was next to the county school.

Going out of the west gate was the county school's wide field paved with bluestone for the children to play.

After seeing the residence and the school.

A group of children couldn't wait to run to the wide field outside to play idioms and poems.

"The sun sets behind the mountains."

"The Yellow River flows into the sea."

…

As they were playing, a group of children who were also playing in the wide field "came closer" and watched from a distance.

Mao Laoliu was responsible for the children's safety and watched from the side.

He scanned a group of dirty children and closed his eyes to bask in the sun after confirming that there was no danger. 'These children envy Dongxu and others! '

He saw these children at a glance, and when he looked at Dongxu and others, he tried his best to hide the envy in his eyes.

Envy Dongxu and others for being able to study!

Envy Dongxu and others for being clean even though their clothes were patched.

Jian'an County is so big, these children from poor families ran to play outside the county school. Maybe they are still confused now and don't know what studying means.

But they must have a kind of ignorant yearning for studying.

Given the current poverty in Jian'an, there must be many such children!

"My name is Yang Dongxu. I came from Jiangning with my master and his wife. Let's play together?"

At some point, Dongxu's voice interrupted Mao Laoliu's thoughts.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Dongxu, Yuanji and his boy walking up to the children watching and inviting everyone to play together.

This group of local children in Jian'an turned around and ran away.

Run further away and continue to watch.

Turning around, he clearly saw inferiority in the eyes of these children.

After hitting a wall, Dongxu and the other kids scratched their heads and returned to Mao Xiang, "Uncle Mao, we saw they wanted to play, so we invited them. Why did they run away?"

Mao Xiang smiled and rubbed Yang Dongxu's head.

Although the little guy is the king of the children who came to Fujian.

The best one.

But he is still too young.

They know how lucky they are to meet the young master and the young lady.

But this cognition is not profound at a young age.

When they grow up, they will really understand.

This group of envious and inferior children in the distance will also understand how lucky it is for them that the young master came to Fujian and governed Jian'an!

"Ask your master when we have dinner."

He was worried that his explanation would lead these children astray, so he let the young master explain it to the children.

...

Dinner.

The conversation between Zhu Di and Jiang Jinzhong, uncle and nephew, ended.

By the way, he asked them to stay and have dinner together.

Xu Miaoyun cleaned up a room and used it to eat with the little ones.

When Zhu Di arrived, the children had already prepared themselves around the table.

"Master, Jiang Qingtian!"

The three entered, and the children greeted them in unison.

Jiang Jinzhong knew the relationship between Zhu Di and the children, and was not surprised at all. He just blamed himself for not thinking carefully, and greeted the children with a happy smile.

Jiang Youxiao was shocked.

It was the first time he saw that the county magistrate took office with so many students, including female students.

And he ate with the students.

Looking at the dishes on the table, although the portions were large, they were simple.

You know, this county magistrate is the fourth prince of this dynasty!

Zhu Di brought the two to the adults' table and greeted them with a smile: "Jinzhong, it's not as good as what you treated us to at noon today, don't you mind?"

Jiang Jinzhong was very thick-skinned and smiled and took advantage of the situation: "Your Highness, if you agree, I would rather come and eat these simple meals with you every day in the future."

He was greedy for food.

But if he could eat with His Highness every day.

The psychological satisfaction can be intoxicating!

In the future, he can brag about it for the rest of his life.

"Then remember to pay for the food." Mao Laoliu joked with a smile.

Everyone started eating while chatting and laughing.

After eating almost everything.

Xiongying, Dongxu, Yuanji, Yangrong and other little guys walked up to Zhu Di, "Master, something happened today, Uncle Mao asked us to ask the master..."

Then Dongxu told Zhu Di what he had encountered.

"Master, why, they don't want to play with us, I think they seem to want to play with us."

The children looked at Zhu Di one after another.

Jiang Jinzhong and Jiang Youxiao were a little ashamed.

The children didn't understand.

But they understood after listening!

To ​​put it bluntly, it's all because of poverty!

Poor material life.

Let the children in Jian'an envy Dongxu and others, and at the same time feel inferior!

Jiang Jinzhong looked at Zhu Di, Dongxu and others are lucky.

Now the prince has come to Jian'an.

Their children in Jian'an are also lucky.

His Highness will definitely make the children in Jian'an dare to play with Dongxu and others without being humble or arrogant one day in the future!

Shen Zhi glanced at Jiang Jinzhong, and looked at Zhu Di curiously, wanting to hear how Zhu Di would answer the children's questions.

Zhu Di looked around the children, then retracted his eyes and said with a smile: "Your accent, living in the government office, and being clean..."

There are too many differences between each other.

The local children in Jian'an envy, inferiority, fear, and strangeness...

"Fourth uncle, do we also deliberately make ourselves dirty, so that those children of the same age are willing to play with us?" Zhu Xiongying asked with a frown.

Brother Dongxu and others are wearing patched clothes.

Playing with him, you have never felt inferior, right?

Everyone looked at Zhu Xiongying in surprise.

They were very surprised that Zhu Xiongying could come up with such a method.

Then, thinking of Zhu Xiongying's identity, it seemed reasonable.

Zhu Di couldn't help but smile and nodded, "This is also one of the methods."

"But Fourth Uncle doesn't agree with this method. This is a way to compromise with ignorance. It only achieves the goal of getting close to these children, but does not achieve the goal of changing their inferiority complex."

"Your Highness, if it were you, what would you do?" Shen Zhi suddenly interrupted.

Originally, it was just a question for the children.

But at this moment, he was also very curious.

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