This concubine can eat too!

Chapter 11

Outsiders are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall, but the villagers of Fengnan Village agreed to build an extra large front hall outside for banquets when the ancestral hall was being built, so Gu Changyan and the others followed Zhao Lizheng to the ancestral hall the lobby.

Fengnan Village and several nearby villages are close to the river, the soil is fertile, and there are naturally abundant grain harvests, so the villages in the east have always been quite rich, so the ancestral hall here is not simple at all, and the place is also quite clean. Zhao Lizheng ordered People moved some tables and round chairs out for them to rest, and they also made some tea.

Zhao Lizheng was busy, and if he waited for half an hour, several big men who were assigned to find tenants came over by each of the villagers. It was clear that men came to see Gu Changyan.

Before seeing Arc Changyan, those tenants who were usually full of confidence in Ren Shouqing's pretentious behavior during his reign could go back fiercely, pretending to be pitiful, and never paying back the rent owed in the past. Seeing the flimsy man in very expensive clothes, everyone looked at each other, knowing that Ren Shouqing had served in the army and served as the deputy general of the general of the town. Dare to pretend, hand in some rented land and settle down. Now the new Marquis, that is, the son of Ren Shouqing, has heard that he is weak and sick before, but now the director is just asking for trouble, and the corners of their mouths are clearly raised .

They didn't even have proper etiquette, just bent down and gave a casual salute: "Caomin see Lord Marquis."

Zhao Lizheng was shocked, and hurriedly shouted: "Presumptuous, you have to kneel and salute when you see Lord Hou!"

There was playfulness in Gu Changyan's eyes, and he took a deep look at the tenants. She really didn't think of herself as Ren Moxian, let alone as the Lord Marquis, but she was not someone to be bullied. She came here as Lord Marquis, How dare these people omit the basic ritual of kneeling and worshiping. It is conceivable that Ren Shouqing was not respected by them in the past.

My mother taught her that if she has strength, she can be arrogant and arrogant, but at the same time, the little mother taught her that no matter what high position she reaches in life, she must treat others with respect. Now that the people of this country don't take her seriously, it arouses her anger agree.

When everyone thought that Gu Changyan would give up, Gu Changyan went against his will, and said with a soft smile while holding a teacup, "Zhao Lizheng still understands etiquette, Zhao Lizheng will kneel when he sees this Marquis, you...you are really brave. "Laughing at the end, Gu Changyan's face was cold, a layer of anger floated in his black eyes, and he threw the cup in front of them.

With a clang, the cup shattered into pieces on the ground.

If it wasn't for Gu Changyan to restrain the internal force in time, the cup might not only be broken into pieces, but powdered.

This throw also frightened Song Ruolan a little. Before she came, Gu Changyan would only put on a show, and planned to let her negotiate other matters, using her princess status to suppress these tenants.

She looked at Sanqi's face with her mouth tightly shut, a pair of beautiful sword eyebrows wrinkled upright, and there was an unexpected aura in her eyes.

Similarly, Xiao Feng and Die Er, who were waiting on both sides, also looked at Lord Hou differently.

As soon as the cup was broken, the normally confident tenants were intimidated by Gu Changyan's might. The timid one even knelt down immediately, and the others followed suit, with their foreheads stuck to the ground. , please forgive me, Lord Hou! Please forgive me, Lord Hou!"

After the leader finished speaking, the people behind also begged Gu Changyan for mercy.

"You say you're rude and don't know how to be polite. Okay, I can forgive you once today." Gu Changyan put away the anger between her brows, and returned to her feminine smile, but she looked at Song Ruolan asked softly, "Is the princess frightened? Didn't she frighten the princess?"

Song Ruolan glanced at her, hehe in her heart twice, Dajiguai is better at acting than her.

"A little bit, you don't need to be so angry with a group of rough people. It's more important for the son-in-law to pay attention to your body." Song Ruolan took another cup with her soft and boneless hand, poured a cup of tea and handed it to Die'er. She gave Zhao Lizheng a tael of silver, and she smiled and said, "Ren Hou hates people who don't understand etiquette the most. He broke the cup in a moment of anger. There is some kindness here. It should be enough for Zhao Lizheng to buy a few sets of cups."

Zhao Lizheng, who was also shocked by Gu Changyan, was sweating all over his body. At the moment just now, he was already afraid. Ren Shouqing ordered him to collect the rent and taxes, and pay him wages on time every month. For wages, Ren Shouqing would give him an extra half a copper coin every time he came to inspect. He came twice a month, which can be regarded as a bit of money, but when Ren Shouqing died, he felt that he didn't have the money for a while, so he didn't think he needed to do his duty. The effort to recover is just passing by...

Will Lord Hou hold him accountable?

He smiled stiffly, and took the tael of silver from Die Er. The princess said that it was a little kindness, and it was just a broken cup, and the compensation was a full tael of silver!

"Caomin, thank you Princess Jin'an!" Zhao Lizheng knelt down and kowtowed after accepting it.

The princess asked him to kneel down well, unlike the usual rush to tell people not to be polite, what she wanted was to let the tenants know that the newly appointed Marquis is not easy to bully!

The kneeling tenant had the guts to sneak a peek at Zhao Lizheng for a tael of silver, his eyes glowed with envy and jealousy, and at the same time he speculated in his heart that the reason why Ren Moxian was suddenly in high spirits was that he was destined to marry the princess who was most favored by the emperor at that time. I was thinking, the princess must be in charge of the Hou Mansion now, the princess looks very generous, maybe she will relax the treatment of their arrears of rent, so that they don't have to pay back the arrears of rent.

They thought about it as usual, but in fact, seeing Gu Changyan throwing the cup, Song Ruolan gave up her idea of ​​making a move. She wanted to see how capable the person chosen by her father was.

There was a scene in which Zhao Lizheng received a tael of silver, and the people kneeling on the ground relaxed a little. They looked at each other, thinking that they saw through Ren Hou as a fox pretending to be a tiger, and the real talker was the princess. With a kind heart, they only need to repeat the old tricks, pretending to be pitiful, saying that their parents are sick, their children are young, and the magnanimous princess will definitely sympathize with them!

The tenant secretly felt good about himself, and Gu Changyan ordered Xiao Qi to take out the ledger of the leased land, flipped a page between his fingertips, and read out the entry on it: Every mu of land needs to pay five dou of rent grain every year, or five taels of silver instead, but last year only paid two shi of rent grain? The annual rent payment is not complete, and Ben Hou has calculated it for you. Since you rented the land for ten years, the rent owed to the Hou Mansion is nearly [-] shi. Chen Yi, do you know that according to the lease contract, Ben Hou The field can be taken back immediately, and you can be sentenced to fifty rods through the government, and you can be imprisoned for one month."

The old accounts were turned over, and Chen Yi heard that he had owed the Hou Mansion twenty shi over the past ten years, and he was a little dazed at the moment. Lord Hou never pursued it. Who knows that he has owed a huge sum of money over the years!Moreover, the current Lord Hou wanted to chase after him for the owed food, so frightened, he burst into tears and snotted his nose, knelt down and cried, "Master Hou, spare your life, Lord Hou, please forgive me! There are six members of the Caomin family, and there are two children aged When I was young, I read sage books in school, and Caomin's old mother needed to see a doctor all the year round. If Caomin paid all the rent, I am afraid that Caomin's wife, children and mother would starve to death! Lord Marquis, Princess, look at Caomin Please don't confiscate the fields of the grassroots, and don't arrest the grassroots and put them in jail!"

After some seemingly pitiful words, others might show a little sympathy, but Gu Changyan looked indifferent, like watching a monkey play, picked up the cup and took a sip of tea. After putting down the cup, she ordered in a flat voice: "Xiao Flag, did someone bring it here?"

Xiao Qi bent down to tell her: "Go back to Lord Hou, Mother Chen is already outside."

"Please come in, Mother Chen." Gu Changyan glanced down at Chen Yi, who was kneeling in front of her. It was visible to the naked eye. When Chen Yi heard that she had invited Mother Chen, his demeanor, which was still crying just now, suddenly became terrified. panic.

Mother Chen was supported by a female shadow guard sent by Xiao Qi. The female shadow guard usually works as a cleaning maid in the Hou Mansion. The reason why she was sent there was that the female shadow guard was delicate and harmless. If she goes to contact the old man, the old man will not be surprised.

It is said that the female shadow guard is supporting Chen's mother, but in fact Chen's mother walks like flying, married and had children at a young age, so this year she is only a little over 50, her hair is still black, and only a few strands of white hair can be seen from a closer look.

The female shadow guard brought Chen's mother to Gu Changyan. Chen's mother was about to kneel down to salute. This time, Gu Changyan immediately said: "Mr. Chen, you don't need to kneel. Come here, bring a chair." Surrounded Her servant moved very quickly, took a chair from the other side and helped Mother Chen to sit down.

"Old...body...see Lord Hou...see Lord Jin'an." Mother Chen was a little nervous and dared not raise her voice as usual.

"Don't be afraid, Mrs. Chen, the Marquis invited you here just to ask something, you can tell everyone the truth." Gu Changyan still respected Mother Chen very much, took a cup and poured her a cup of hot tea.

"What did Lord Hou ask, I will tell you the truth." When Chen's mother came in, she saw her son kneeling with some neighbors whom she had seen in leisure time, so she knew something must have happened.

"Okay, my question is very simple. I don't know how Chen's health is? Do you often see the doctor to take medicine?"

Chen's mother was puzzled by the question asked by Master Hou. She thought that Chen Yi had committed something, so she asked her to come over for questioning. When she told her with an expression, the girl who brought her over happened to block Chen Yi a little, so she didn't see Chen Yi and hoped that the old mother would say nothing.

"Your Majesty has a heart. My old body is in good health. All my ailments are old waist problems accumulated when I went to the fields when I was young. You can just apply medicinal wine. When the harvest season comes, I can also go to the fields to help. Although it can't help much, it can also alleviate it. burden on the family."

Chen Yi, who was kneeling, was heartbroken, and he also felt that many people kneeling with him looked at him with contempt.

"Ah, it sounds like Chen's body is stronger than Benhou's. Benhou, I often have to ask the doctor to take the pulse and drink medicine every four days." Gu Changyan coughed twice after finishing speaking, which made her A pale face is more pale.

Chen's mother smiled, she also heard that Ren Hou was born prematurely, at least he was seriously ill, and had to take medicine almost every day when he was a child, as a mother, she also felt sorry to hear this.

Gu Changyan chatted with her a few more words about her experience in seeing doctors, then she glanced at Song Ruolan, Song Ruolan seemed to know what she was thinking, and asked Die'er to give her a certain amount of silver from the purse, and she held it with her own hands. Chen's mother put the silver in her hand: "Mr. Chen, you are coming over today. This is a little kindness from Lord Hou. Take it back and buy some good medicinal wine and tonic."

A tael of silver was heavy in her hand, and Mother Chen was so frightened that she wanted to decline, but she was forced to go back by the princess's maid, and the girl who brought her here just now kindly accompanied her home.

After Chen's mother left, the front hall was completely silent, no one dared to say a word, and they couldn't help but breathe the lightest.

Gu Changyan was not in a hurry, took another sip of tea slowly, put down the cup with a clang, and said with a chuckle, "Seeing a doctor all the time? Mrs. Chen looked better than Benhou just now, haha."

"Master Hou, my mother has a lot of ailments..." Chen Yi still wanted to quibble.

"Chen Yi, do you still want Ben Hou to invite your wife and daughter out to have a chat? You don't know about the fact that the two of them will go to the biggest weaving workshop in the city to make money when they are not in use. Hou heard them talk about how much they can earn every month?"

Chen Yi's face is now paler than Gu Changyan's. He didn't expect Ren Hou to find out all about his family's background.

"Grassmen deserve to die, Lord Hou, please forgive me, please forgive me, Caomin shouldn't deceive Lord Hou, should not default on rent, please forgive me, Caomin can't go to jail!" Chen Yi panicked and slapped himself. Baba played unambiguously and loudly.

When he hit his cheeks flushed, Gu Changyan stopped him with disgust on his face: "Enough, Benhou's father was also born in a peasant household, he knew that as a peasant, he had to pay rent, pay taxes, and support his family. It's very laborious, so when my late father was alive, he would collect five buckets of rent per acre of land. Compared with other places that charge one stone, you have already paid less than others, but this Marquis did not expect that you would take advantage of your late father's money. Zhai Xinren Hou defaulted on rent and food with an excuse, and Benhou hasn't settled the unpaid tax and food with you yet!"

She immediately looked at the people kneeling on the ground, and after Song Ruolan looked through the accounts, none of these people had paid their taxes and rations in full, and some even owed them from the previous year.

The people on the ground were finally scared, and they kowtowed to admit their guilt, and begged Gu Changyan to give him a lighter sentence.

"Chen Yi, together with the previous year, you owe me a total of [-] shi for rent. Now I order you to pay all the previous year's rent within ten days. As for the remaining [-] shi, it will cost you more Pay three shi for rent, until the full amount is returned, of course, if you want to pay back the taels of silver, it’s up to you.”

When Chen Yi heard that he had to pay an extra three shi every year, he regretted it. He was indeed in arrears with the rent and had nothing to say. This time he sincerely thanked him with tears in his voice: "Thank you, Lord Hou, for your kindness. The grass-roots will definitely pay all the rent in the future. , no longer in arrears.”

With Chen Yi acting as the chicken to scare the chickens to the monkeys, the others don't have to work hard alone. She handed over the account to Xiao Qi, and asked him to count how much rent each person owed, and how to pay it back, but According to the princess's previous countermeasures, all the rent arrears from previous years must be paid within ten days, and the rest of the accumulated debts will be repaid slowly by paying more each year.

Their way of collecting debts is very merciful compared to some borrowing money shops, and the matter that Ren Hou brought Princess Jin'an to rectify it spread to several villages after Gu Changyan let go of those tenants. The residents here have already started to tremble. They are also in arrears of taxes every day. Over the years, the money is quite a lot!

The tenants were flying away, and Zhao Lizheng wanted to excuse himself to go back, but before he could speak, Song Ruolan stopped him, "Zhao Lizheng, don't leave in such a hurry, this princess has something to tell you."

Well, it's Zhao Lizheng's turn to frighten the tenants.

Knowing the crime, Zhao Lizheng immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "The grassroots are guilty! The grassroots did not fulfill their duties to collect rent and rations. The princess will punish the grassroots, and the grassroots are willing!"

Song Ruolan's vermilion lips curled up lightly, and her phoenix eyes with eye makeup tilted up, making it hard to see what emotion she was in. She said plainly, "Zhao Lizheng is very knowledgeable about current affairs, since you know what mistakes you made, This princess and Lord Hou will not pursue it this time, but if this kind of thing happens again in the future, then don’t blame Lord Hou for being cruel and dragging Zhao Lizheng to the government to receive punishment.”

"Thank you, Princess Marquis, for your kindness! The grass people will definitely do their part in the future!" Zhao Lizheng broke out in a cold sweat again.

"Okay, it's getting late, son-in-law, it's time to go back, do you have anything else to tell Zhao Lizheng?"

Gu Changyan rubbed his chin, which had no roots at all, and smiled and said, "Zhao Lizheng is quite self-aware, so let's add an extra [-] yuan to his monthly wages in the future, and then he will do a good job of collecting rent for me. about food."

Zhao Lizheng never thought that he would be paid extra for doing something wrong!Surprised and delighted, he kowtowed again, "Thank you Lord Hou, thank you princess!"

Song Ruolan thought there was nothing else to do, but Gu Changyan added another sentence that made her feel tired.

"By the way~Zhao Lizheng, what kind of pastries and snacks do you have in Fengnan Village? I'm a little hungry, so I want to buy some to eat on the way."

Xiao Qi, Xiaofeng, Die'er and the twenty shadow guards who followed were sweating on their foreheads. They all secretly looked at Princess Jin'an, and what they saw was that the princess's complexion was tight and her face was darkened.

As Gu Changyan wished, before leaving, Zhao Lizheng went to get some sweet mung bean cakes and salty crispy pancakes from Fengnan Village, and wrapped them in oil paper separately and gave them to her.

He also personally sent them to the entrance of the village, and he returned to the village with peace of mind when he saw Princess Hou Ye get into the carriage.