Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

In the carriage, the two sat on each side. He Sheng didn't dare to look at Shen Zheng, but Shen Zheng looked at him without any concealment.

He had a good-looking appearance and was quite tall for a man. Although he was wearing a coarse shorts, he still looked very upright.

"You said your last name is Yin?" Shen Zheng said slowly, "The surname Yin doesn't seem to be very common."

"My adoptive father's surname is Yin. He was from Dongtao Village and passed away three years ago." Although Yin Hesheng lowered his head, his voice was very clear: "Master Shen, I'm sorry..."

Seeing that he had directly brought the matter to light, Shen Zheng also spoke frankly, "There's nothing to be sorry about. Smart people have smart ways, and stupid people have stupid ways. As long as it can protect one's rights, it's a good idea. What happened between you and Old Man Wei... tell me about it?"

Yin Hesheng didn't expect that her mind was as broad as the rumors said.

In comparison, I feel like a mouse trying to steal rice from a rice jar, not at all likable.

Then he told the story of Dongtao Village.

Although Dongtao Village is some distance away from Shangjing, if you calculate it literally, it can be said that "land in the capital is expensive", after all, this area is collectively called "the suburbs of Beijing".

Just like the saying “more people means more trouble”, a “prosperous” small village also has a lot of pomp and scheming.

"Fang Lizheng became the Lizheng of Dongtao Village six years ago," Yin Hesheng said with a look of nostalgia. "In a village like Dongtao, where there's no clan, competition for the position is fierce. It's not just about having more experience that gets the job. As far as I can remember, all the Lizhengs who have served have come from wealthy families and have had some connections to the capital's government offices."

Shen Zheng nodded after hearing this.

This large area outside Beijing has a special management department called "Jingji Yamen", also known as "Jingxian".

The Jingji Yamen was directly under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture. Unlike ordinary yamen, there was only one Jingji Yamen in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty. The Jingji Yamen was located wherever the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty was.

The uniqueness of the region also destined the capital's government office to be extraordinary, and the power of the village heads under the government office also grew accordingly.

This guy, once he has a lot of power, he becomes arrogant.

According to Yin Hesheng's description, since Fang Lizheng took office, he has forcibly seized a lot of people's land in the name of "high land prices in the capital", and there have been several cases of "those with land are not taxed, and those without land pay taxes".

Unfortunately, his Yin family was among them.

Along with the Yin family, the Du, Wei and other families were also unlucky. These families had one characteristic in common, that is, "there were no young and middle-aged laborers in the family."

The lack of "young and middle-aged labor force" is equivalent to the lack of ability to cultivate land. In the words of Fang Lizheng, "the land will be wasted if I give it to you."

"Young and middle-aged?" Shen Zheng looked at Yin Hesheng carefully. "Six years ago, you were considered a young and middle-aged labor force, right?"

In ordinary farmers' families, it is considered too late for children to start working in the fields at the age of ten.

Yin Hesheng smiled bitterly and shook his head. "My father picked me up, and I never got a household registration. But because there was an extra person in the family, the head of the house kept asking my father to pay two taxes. My father wanted him to register me, so he didn't dare question or resist. Later, as soon as my father left, the house and land were taken back. My cousins wanted to adopt me, but the head of the house disagreed. In fact, he didn't want the land to end up in my hands."

"So, you still don't have a household registration?"

Shen Zheng didn't expect that there were so many "illegal households" under the emperor's feet.

Yin Hesheng nodded. "Besides that, the Fanglizheng is also colluding with many landlords, renting land to them under his own name, favoring the rich and oppressing the poor."

Shen Zheng pondered and asked, "Have any citizens reported his crimes to the Jingji Yamen or Jingzhao Prefecture Yamen?"

She thought that the oppressed people must have resisted, but to little avail.

"Yes." Facing Shen Zheng, Yin Hesheng didn't want to say the government was incompetent, but just said implicitly: "People are intercepted before they even get close to the government. The government also prioritizes cases. While waiting for the trial, several trumped-up charges were brought against the farmers, so they naturally dared not go again."

Shen Zheng was silent for a moment and began to reflect on himself.

Could it be that something similar is happening in Tongan County, somewhere she can't see?

Several faces flashed through her mind. She shook her head and said, "What else can I do? Tell me all about it."

Next, Yin Hesheng recounted some of the evil deeds of Fang Lizheng.

These include but are not limited to delaying the burial of the deceased, inducing family members to pay money to issue "travel passes", verbally harassing orphans and widows in the village, and favoring village ruffians.

I have to say that Fang Lizheng is a very sensible person.

He doesn't do all the bad things right from the start, but while doing bad things, he also uses small favors to keep you hanging, making you feel "bullied" but also feel "still bearable."

Shen Zheng pressed her knuckles against her brow.

The more I listen to Fang Lizheng's methods, the more they sound like mind control. However, it is really inappropriate for such an incident to happen under the feet of the emperor.

"I know everything." Shen Zheng lifted the curtain and glanced outside. "I will report this to the Ministry of Revenue and the Jingzhao Prefecture government office for you. If the situation of 'those with land are exempt from taxes, and those without land pay taxes' is true, the court will give you justice. And your land... will also be returned to you."

Yin Hesheng slowly closed his eyes.

He had been planning today's events for a few days, and finally...he got the result he wanted.

But the joy he had imagined did not come, and what filled his heart was the loss and regret that everything had settled.

There is really nothing to do now.

"Thank you, Lord Shen." He whispered his thanks.

Shen Zheng hummed softly, then curiously asked, "Were you the one who planned today's actions? You brought Wei Lizheng and the others here to cause trouble, expecting Fang Lizheng to be found, and also expecting the Xianhuan Society and this official to not sit idly by and do nothing?"

There was no point in covering it up, so Yin Hesheng admitted directly, "I've been thinking about it for several days and I think this method is the safest. No matter what method we use, as long as we can make this matter a big deal, the people from the court will come forward no matter what."

Shen Zheng smiled and said, "You are very smart."

This wasn't the first time Yin Hesheng had been praised for his intelligence. He skillfully replied, "I shouldn't have shown off in front of you, sir. Thank you for not pursuing my fault."

......

After Yin Hesheng left, the sacrifice was almost completed.

Diwu Nazheng was pushed to the back of the stage. Shen Zheng went over to say a few words to him, then took a car to the Ministry of Revenue.

After leaving the Ministry of Revenue, she took advantage of her vacation to visit the Yongning Earl's Mansion.

Not surprisingly, as soon as she entered the door, she had two more bracelets on her hands. This time she did not refuse, but accepted them happily, thinking that after getting the rubber tree, she would make some non-slip shoes for the old man and the old woman.

Yu Shizhang talked to her a lot.

The printing house doesn't occupy a large area and doesn't require many buildings, so construction can begin soon.

As before, the printing house's ink, thread, paper and other raw materials were all provided by the fifth house. Because it was located in Shangjing, a lot of transportation money was saved, and the printing cost was lower.