It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

In the court, the old woman and the steward were arguing fiercely. One said that the other had ordered her to do so, while the other said that the other had slandered her.

Outside the hall, people began to whisper and discuss the truth of the matter.

The entire courtroom was as noisy as a vegetable market.

At this moment, Zhou Yu slammed the gavel and said in a deep voice, "Silence!"

Afterwards, the yamen runners all struck the wooden sticks in their hands, making crisp sounds.

This sudden scene frightened everyone in and outside the hall so much that they shut their mouths and dared not make a sound.

Zhou Yu sat upright in the hall, looking solemnly at the steward and his followers, and sternly demanded, "As stewards, you don't treat the tenants well, but instead, blinded by greed, commit the evil act of oppressing innocent people and forcing them into slavery."

"Now that the evidence is conclusive, will you plead guilty and repent?"

The farm manager and others all bowed their heads in fear and confessed their crimes, begging the county magistrate to show mercy.

Seeing that they all confessed their guilt, Zhou Yu immediately ordered someone to bring the Wang family over.

Steward Wang, who had been waiting outside the county government gate for a long time, walked into the lobby of the county government tremblingly.

He fell to his knees with a thud. He first admitted that his family's negligence had led to such evil deeds on the farm, but he was still kept in the dark.

He then tearfully explained all the good deeds his Wang family had done in the past, indicating that this matter was definitely not instructed by the head of the family, and begged the adults to give the Wang family a chance to redeem themselves.

Zhou Yu held a public trial this time, firstly to make an example of someone else. In the past few years, wars were frequent and the people were living in hardship. Many people were displaced and had no choice but to become tenants.

They have to rely on wealthy families to barely make a living.

He originally wanted to go to the countryside for an inspection. Firstly, the summer harvest was approaching and he wanted to inspect the crops in the fields. Secondly, he wanted to intimidate the wealthy and gentry below.

Is he staring?

If anyone dares to force good women into slavery, he will not let him go easily!

It was just such a coincidence that the Wang family, the first to stand out, flew out first.

After catching a big one, Zhou Yu would definitely use the trick of making a big move to scare the tiger.

It turns out that the other person was indeed a kind person and knew how to handle current affairs.

Zhou Yu then asked calmly, "Oh, how does your Wang family plan to compensate these tenants who have been exploited by your Wang family?"

The old housekeeper wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said in a deep voice, "My master said that those tenants who suffered from the unforeseen disaster will be compensated three times the amount of fifteen cents a day, based on the number of days they worked on the farm."

"Furthermore, for the fields currently held by these tenants who have suffered from this unforeseen disaster, my family will only collect 30% rent per mu for the next ten years. If there is a famine or disaster year, and the yield per mu is less than 80 kilograms, the rent will be waived directly."

"As for the injured tenant, we can pay him five taels of silver as compensation!"

Zhou Yu looked at the tenants standing below, their faces filled with excitement. "Can you accept this kind of compensation?"

The tenants were very happy at this time. They were originally worried that this would offend the Wang family. Even if they got justice, what would they do if their land was taken back?

Now, not only will they continue to farm for them, but they will also only charge 30% of the rent, and the tenants all agree.

Everyone nodded happily and responded hurriedly: "Sir, we accept it, we accept it!"

Zhou Yu couldn't help but feel a little amused when he saw that they agreed so quickly.

He looked at Steward Wang again and said, "I have also heard that in addition to the grain that the tenants pay, after the autumn harvest every year, in addition to the straw from the fields, they also have to go to the mountains to cut grass and send it to the master."

Zhou Yu originally knew nothing about these mundane affairs.

It was also when he took office that he learned from the tenants during his inspection tours in the countryside that these tenants not only had to pay grain, but also had to pay a lot of fodder to the landlord every year because the landlord raised a lot of livestock.

Some tenant farmers on the farm would even send some of the chickens and ducks they raised at home, and fresh vegetables grown in their gardens, to the manager.

Although there are no explicit regulations on this, the consequences of not sending it are obvious.

The tenants suddenly realized that they were so happy that they had forgotten about this matter. It was indeed wise of the adults to consider their plight so carefully.

Steward Wang quickly replied, "We don't have any of these."

Zhou Yu nodded and looked at the tenants whose faces were filled with excitement. "Are you okay with this?"

The county magistrate stepped in to resolve their predicament and alleviated everyone's worries.

The persecuted tenants present nodded in unison, without a single response.

Seeing that their predicament had been resolved, Zhou Yu then asked, "What about those tenants who were owed wages?"

Steward Wang hurriedly said, "Don't worry, sir. We will settle everything today."

"Also, my master also said that due to the years of war, he lamented that life has been difficult for the people, so he decided to collect 50% rent from all tenants of the Wang family's land!"

"As long as he's here, this rule won't change!"

The tenants standing outside the lobby to collect their wages were all in an uproar.

Originally, they were somewhat envious of the persecuted tenants in the hall. If they only collected 30% of the rent, they would definitely be able to save enough money and food within ten years to buy land for their family.

Now they no longer have to envy each other, as they can also collect rent at 50%, which is a 20% reduction at once.

If you simply calculate the yield based on 200 catties per mu, you can pay 40 catties less, which means you will have to pay 400 catties if you rent 10 mu of land.

If one is very frugal, four hundred kilograms of food is enough to feed two people, one adult and one child, for half a year.

How could this make them unhappy?

Many of the onlookers also put aside their previous suspicions and praised: "Mr. Wang is still very kind and righteous."

"That's right, that's right. A few years ago, when we suffered a snowstorm here, the Wang family even provided porridge to the affected people outside the city!"

"It seems that this matter must have been deliberately deceived by that cunning slave in order to gain personal gain!"

Song Zhi raised the corners of her lips. The Wang family had smart people who knew that they had touched the county magistrate's sore spot. So they took the initiative to show weakness to reduce the county magistrate's anger and please the county magistrate.

Song Zhi looked at Zhou Yu who was sitting majestically.

Sure enough, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up when he saw it.

At this moment, Zhou Yu was indeed very satisfied with the Wang family's understanding.

As the local wealthy family, the Wang family is now willing to take the lead in reducing tenant rents. Should those big landlords also consider reducing their rents?

Or do those wealthy people dare to force good people into slavery behind the scenes like the Wang family did?

No need to think about it, just spread what happened in the lobby today.

As long as those people dare to do it, they have to consider whether there will be any tenants who will sue them!

Just look at what the Wang family spewed out and you will understand.

After careful consideration, they dared not act arbitrarily again.

That’s right, the Wang family was the chicken he killed to scare the monkeys.

Zhou Yu was very satisfied. He slammed the gavel and the noisy lobby instantly became quiet.