jdhmnovel Chapter 191
Chapter 191
Guo Xi and Fang Peilin looked at each other, and Guo Xi shouted, "Stop the car!"
With the people recommended by Fang Tairu going to the countryside these days, every day has been calm, so when they encountered some strange things, both of them were a little excited.
Guo Xi walked towards the ladies and said kindly, "Aunts, I came to this village to visit distant relatives. I just heard that you said you wanted to raise the rent. What's going on?"
The aunt who was the first to complain said, "Well, to be honest, the rent increase is reasonable. Wasn't it a disaster a few years ago? Then there was corvée labor. Except for the slightly more affluent Guojia Village, we all had a hard time."
The aunt at the side continued: "Yes, although the landlord's rent increase this time is a bit steep, but in the difficult years a few years ago, we relied on him to survive."
"That's right. I heard that some village officials embezzled most of the money sent to the village by the government, leaving us ordinary people with only a little porridge and water. It's really hard to survive. In this case, our landlords are still good people."
Fang Peilin handed the cakes in the carriage to the women.
This is the art of being a human being, which my grandfather taught me.
She looked at Guo Xi again and saw that his brows were furrowed, as if he had taken his aunts' words to heart.
At first, he thought that the landlord of Liujia Village deliberately raised the rent in order to enclose land, but now it seems that he is a good man. As for the corruption of the head of other villages mentioned by the woman.
That was a very common thing. The connection between local gentry and government offices was intricate.
Just like there are many collusions between high-ranking officials in the court and officials in the city, just to fill their own wine bags.
As long as there is no order from above, these corruption cases will be left unchecked.
Or maybe someone will come to the government office and knock on the drum in front of the door before something is done.
"Let's go." Fang Peilin looked at Guo Xi.
The two got on the carriage, and Guo Xi said, "Don't you think this is very strange? We have been to the village that Auntie mentioned, but found nothing. Is it that the people don't want to talk about it, or is it that someone is oppressing them and not letting them talk about it?"
Fang Peilin shook his head and said, "Guo Xi, I advise you not to take this matter too seriously. They dare to be greedy because they have people above them, and there are people above them. It is complicated and difficult to sort out."
My grandfather suffered from these things when he was young, so they try to avoid them.
Guo Xi was surprised and said, "Pei Lin, didn't you go to the countryside to gain experience in order to benefit the people? Why do you avoid talking about it now?"
Then he said, "Anyway, no matter what you think, I will ask Mr. Liu to take me to visit the rumored landlord Liu, and find out what the thread of these things is."
……
The house where Landlord Liu lives is much larger than it was three years ago, and he has several more concubines. At this moment, Landlord Liu is flirting in his concubine's room.
"It's really a relief to have a moment of leisure in this busy life. It's so rare that the woman has returned to her parents' home. Come, let me see how you look. You seem to be more haggard than in the past few days. It really makes me happy." Landlord Liu held the woman's face and was about to kiss her.
"Master! Master! Someone is coming!" The servant ran in breathlessly, interrupting the landlord's actions.
Landlord Liu looked at the servant unhappily and kicked him in the heart, "Why, is there something important you want to talk about now?"
The servant fell to the ground, then quickly got up again. There was no surprise on his face, as if he was used to such things.
He knelt on the ground and said, "The grandson of the Tairu from the county town and the younger brother of the young lady from the next door Guojia Village are here. They are brought here by Mr. Liu."
"What!?" Landlord Liu shouted, his voice a little more torn, "Hurry up and prepare the tea. Don't let anyone find fault with us."
After that, he lifted the concubine's chin and said condescendingly: "Wait for me to come back."
The concubine's face turned even paler.
Guo Xi and the other man followed Mr. Liu into the house. This was the first time he had entered this house. He had not been here before when his eldest sister broke off the engagement.
As I walked and observed carefully, I found that although the decoration of this house was rich, it was not exaggerated. It was very suitable for the status of the landlord and there was no inappropriateness.
The servants and maids in the house were in a hurry. Their clothes were neat and made of high-quality materials. It was obvious that the servants were not treated unfairly.
But would such a kind-hearted person really abuse his concubine?
This was the reason why they didn't want their eldest sister to marry into the family.
Or is it that Landlord Liu just concealed it well, so it is not talked about by outsiders?
He kept thinking about what kind of person Landlord Liu was, and his steps were faster than the servant who led the way in the mansion.
"Young Master." The servant reminded in a low voice.
As soon as he finished speaking, Landlord Liu appeared before them, looked at Guo Xi and the other two enthusiastically and said, "I'm sorry that you three have come to my humble abode, but I haven't had time to prepare anything yet. If I've failed to entertain you well, please forgive me."
Guo Xi looked at the fat and big-eared man in front of him who was less than half a head taller than him, and couldn't help but frown. Is this the man his eldest sister was almost going to marry?
He said coldly: "We are here to ask you something."
Mr. Liu immediately tried to smooth things over, "It's like this. When Mr. Fang and his companions first entered the village, they heard the ladies praising your kindness and occasionally mentioned the surrounding villages, so they wanted to find you to inquire about the situation."
Landlord Liu smiled flatteringly and said, "The two gentlemen really came to the right place by looking for me. I am very familiar with the surrounding villages and have some connections with the people in charge of the villages."
Guo Xi frowned and was about to say something.
Fang Peilin said first: "Thank you very much. I heard that a few years ago, Guojia Village was the only wealthy village. Therefore, the relief grain distributed to Guojia Village was transferred to several other surrounding villages. I wonder what the grain was used for at that time?"
He signaled Guo Xi with his eyes not to speak. Before coming, he had asked his grandfather for information to understand the basic situation of these villages.
However, this basic information was far from enough, so he went to the yamen and found a familiar bailiff to learn some information.
Landlord Liu looked at Fang Peilin and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that he was worthy of being the grandson of Fang Tairu. Compared with Guo Xi, he was truly a smooth person.
Then he smiled and said, "You are right to ask me these questions. At that time, Guojia Village wanted to distribute grain to the surrounding villages, and our Liujia Village asked for the least. Because of the joint efforts of me, the village chief and others, the situation in our Liujia Village is not that bad."
"The village that asked for the most food was Zuojia Village downstream of the river, but their village had the most deaths. It's really strange. Logically speaking, with so much food asked for, the number of deaths should have been much less."