Most of the people in Yancheng County moved to Suzhou during the Hongwu period, and the people called it "Hongwu's relocation". The major families in the territory include Wu, Yang, Zhang, Wang, and Zhou Wu families. If there is something wrong with the government, they usually discuss with the patriarchs of these five families. However, if other small families have fame and reputation, they also have the right to discuss.

When Zhou Dalang first arrived in Yancheng, there were only more than 4,000 people in Dingkou. After the five years of Dalang's management, refugees were recruited. Now there are more than 8,000 Dingkou, and the remaining minors are also 3,000. Half of the residents in the Neizhong County were scattered in the countryside, each forming a town, and the main management of the local government. The Ming Dynasty, men were from sixteen to sixty to sixty, women were entrusted, and the government sent silver to entrusted, and the labor service was based on Dingkou. Dalang was able to increase the Dingkou in the county by half in five years, but it was a rare material management.

Most of the gentry in Yancheng County had fame and had official positions in the Ming Dynasty, but after all, it was a land in Jiangbei, and it was definitely not as rich as Jiangnan, and it was gathered in great officials. Therefore, most of these gentry were low-level officials, such as Chen Zhiyuan, a native of the gentry, who was the head of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, and Yang Deqing was the school official in a county in Xuzhou Prefecture of the Chongzhen Dynasty. Others were Zhao, who was once the magistrate of Dengzhou, Yang, who was the county magistrate of Songjiang County, and there were one or two scholars who were famous, and there were only five or six scholars.

On that day, all the gentry arrived, and Dalang summoned them at the Yamen. Because he asked the servants to explain it clearly in advance, all the gentry from the five major surnames were all called, and the rest of the small surnames had fame and fortune, and all the people in each village were also sent, and no one was missing.

The gentry first made a collection of Dalang. The Qing Dynasty recognized the fame of the Ming Dynasty and was willing to be an official, and even higher than the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Zhou Dalang, the magistrate, could not stand the gentry kneeling because he didn't know which of them would suddenly want to leave the Qing Dynasty. Now Yancheng has returned to Ming Dynasty, the fame of these people has come from the Ming Dynasty. Dalang dared not neglect them. He only accepted half a tribute from the gentry and made humble concessions. As for the gang, they all kowtowed before they could get up.

After Zhou Dalang signaled everyone to sit down, he said quietly: "My elders, I'm summoning you to come today not for another matter, but just to issue a strict order for the court to avoid you from suffering from the disaster of no injustice. Therefore, this county specially invites you to talk about this matter."

All the gentry had news in the yamen that they knew that Huai'an Prefecture had come to document Zhou Dalang to rectify the salt affairs, but they did not know the specific regulations on how to rectify the law, so they didn't say anything, just looked at Dalang waiting for him. No one answered, Dalang felt bored, and coughed lightly, and slowly talked to the gentry.

Seeing that everyone was attentive when they heard this, Dalang nodded slightly and said, "Now the Ming Dynasty is revived, the Nandu is restored, the government is clear and the government is smooth. The salt affairs have been in chaos in the past, and now we must rectify it. The superiors have issued strict orders, and this county cannot ignore it." Speaking of this, the topic changed, but said, "I know that many of you have some connections with salt vendors. Before, this county turned a blind eye, as long as you are not too out of order. Now it is not possible. The merits are very strict, you must stop and never fight against the king's law. Take the soldiers seriously, and you are still suffering. This county advises you not to make a flies for the sake of a little bit of a flies.

It has benefited the lives of the whole family. In addition, there is another saying in this county: If you want to bring to those fugitives, there is no law to flee. From now on, everyone will be the people of the Ming Dynasty. No need to hide from Tibet anymore. Just report to the county. This county has made a book for you, and from then on, it has been put into the yellow book, and you will divide your fields and farm and feed the food. How sad is there? If you hide in there, boil salt, carry and sell it, and run into the checkpoint patrol soldiers, why are you afraid? Live in the east, hide in Tibet, flowing around, and staying safely for a day, hiding your head and tail, and finally you will be asked to take it by the officers and soldiers, and you will not be able to do anything."

"What the county master said is that we will bring what the county master said."

Whether they were willing or not, the gentry expressed their understanding of the magistrate's kindness.

Zhou Dalang took the tea bowl beside the case and drank it smoothly, and said: "You should know now that rectifying the salt affairs is the most urgent task in our county. The imperial court has specially set up a salt ambassador to be responsible for this matter. Local officials also regard the arrest of private salt as the assessment for the next year. Therefore, this county attaches great importance to the matter of salt arrest and asks you to help. Don't harm others because of being confused. You must understand the power of this law, so as not to lose your life and regret it."

After speaking in one go, Dalang felt that he was not completely speaking, nor was he touching. He said it clearly, without any written text, which made people feel unreal. He looked up at the gentry and the gentry. Seeing that they were all focused and realized something, he couldn't help but feel happy. After a moment of calming down, he asked loudly: "I have said everything in this county, do you have something to say?"

The county lord said this, of course, was not the case for the righteous people. The gentry looked at each other. Later, Yang Zhiyuan stood up and said to everyone: "This private salt harms others and oneself. The county lord's advice is very reasonable. We have recorded it."

After hearing this, Dalang raised his hand and said, "It's not enough to just remember it. After you go back, you must advise the clan's subordinates not to sell salt. The fugitive salt vendor will come to the yamen to report it themselves, so as not to cause trouble. If you are involved, the county will not be protected and will not be implicated by then."

Yang Zhiyuan nodded quickly and said, "We understand, don't worry, the county lord." After saying that, he owed his body slightly, thinking that Dalang had already made the words clear, so he wanted to take a break with everyone. However, Dalang waved his hand and said, "No hurry, there is another matter in the county to discuss with you."

The gentry was stunned, and Yang Zhiyuan asked, "What else do you have to explain if you don't know the county lord?"

Zhou Dalang glanced at the gentry and said slowly: "This is definitely not achieved by just admonition. Most salt vendors are outlaws. Many people must regard the good intentions of the county as a donkey's liver and lungs, and they are not in the king's law, so they continue to do the illegal things. Therefore, the county must send troops to suppress the attacks. However, the county is insufficient money and food, and the matter of sending troops is not the power of the county. It is inevitable that they will invite troops to garrison in the government. Therefore, you must be able to recommend the money and food matters to solve the urgent needs of the county. In addition, some strong men from all families should be invited to participate in this matter."

Dalang made this clear, but he asked a group of gentry to donate silver and grain, and he gave up. After hearing this, the gentry suddenly showed a look of embarrassment. He was good at his own money and grain, who would be willing to pay for it for nothing? This silver and grain were not something that fell from the world.

Zhou Dalang looked at Yang Zhiyuan and said a few squeaks, refusing to express his opinion. The rest of the people were either looking left or looking right, but none of them wanted to share the worries of the county magistrate.

County Magistrate Deng Guowang looked around, anxious, and winked at Zhou Dalang, wanting to come out to be the black-faced man, but Dalang signaled not to hurry, and only looked at the gentry with intriguing thoughts. Dalang could not bear to see this, and finally someone stood up and spoke.

"It is a good thing for the county to catch fugitives who boil salt, but I will not hide it from the county master. Now that the green and yellow ones are not accepted, each family has limited money and grain. After the wheat harvest, they have to be busy buying seeds and summer plowing. All expenditures are really not small. I am afraid it will be difficult to help the county master at this time. I also ask the county master to understand. After the autumn grain is collected, each family will have surplus, and we will share the worries of the county master."

The person who spoke was Zhao, who had been the magistrate of Dengzhou. He was quite old and was a juren in the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, so he was quite qualified. Although he was not very high when he was in office, he was very prestigious among the gentry. After he said this, several people immediately agreed, saying that each family had enough money and food, and it was unlikely that it would be difficult for the county to help the county in the short term. He also asked the county to be tolerant. With these gentry leaders, who dared to speak nonsense, the hall was full of excuses.

Dalang was unhappy, but he remained silent. He pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "I know this is difficult for you. Well, there is no need to hurry to arrest the private salt dealer. I will report some to the prefecture first. It cannot be really difficult for you. After all, this county is a civilian official, not a harm to civilian official."

As soon as these words were said, the gentry all breathed a sigh of relief. They said that the county magistrate was polite to the people, but they were thinking in their hearts why they asked me to donate money? Do you think those salt dealers are so furious? They were so anxious that they pulled the flag and rebelled and killed the county town. You, the county magistrate, ran away, but it was not so hard for us local people. Another reason why the gentry refused to donate money and grain was that many of them were named gentry, but they were actually the biggest private salt dealers. Without these local snakes, they were involved in the salt dealings to make huge profits. Do you think those salt dealers could gain a foothold in Yancheng?

In order to ease the atmosphere, Yang Zhiyuan and others said a few more words of scenes. Dalang heard it and was cursing in his heart. After a moment, Dalang finally lost his patience and served tea again. When County Magistrate Deng saw it, the magistrate of the county magistrate hurriedly said to everyone: "I will discuss this today. You should leave. After you go back, please forget the county magistrate's advice and must ask the people in the clan to stop and not do anything illegal."

"So, we will take a leave!"

Everyone hurriedly stood up to salute Dalang. Dalang also smiled and acted as if to send everyone outside the hall. Everyone said, "Stay on the county lord". Dalang stopped after making a few polite words, and then watched everyone leave.

After everyone left, Dalang's face was pulled down. Seeing this, Deng Guowang stepped forward and said in confusion: "Sir, these old guys are sophisticated. It is difficult to expect them to donate money and food. I wonder why the lords donate the officials to come forward and threaten them. If that's the case, how are these people willing to donate."

Dalang said something murderous, and he said, "The official documents in the mansion are clearly written. This time the rectification of salt affairs is the court's intention. The King of Qi personally took charge. With the tiger and wolf men of the Taiping Army, these old guys dared to jump around? The reason why this county kept them a little sympathetic was to ask them to go home and think about it carefully. If we really don't understand the love of our county, we will make up our minds. This new dynasty has just been established and the law has just been implemented. If you don't kill the chicken to warn the monkey, do you think it's easy to do?"

After hearing this, County Magistrate Deng happily agreed: "What the county master said is very true. This old man relied on his fame and fortune, so he thought he could be a mighty man in the countryside and sell private salt. He did not take the county master into his eyes. When the county master used thunderous means, they would know that they were afraid. This is called "not eating a toast and punishing wine!"

"This time the rectification of salt affairs is not a matter of my Huai'an. I heard that the King of Qi sent a salt affairs ambassador to come to my Huai'an. The county has just returned to the public, but I dare not be careful. If there is any delay, I will not be able to report it to you. Your head will not be around your neck. If the government sends troops, the money and food will be consumed in a small amount. The county has a lot of money and food. If these people donate, how can they deal with those soldiers? But it is difficult to ask them to donate too much. Ordinary scaring will be difficult to work. This time, I have to really cut off a few heads."
Chapter completed!