vrcanaries Chapter 485: Land Seizure
Chapter 485: Land Seizure
With the previous example of Li Yian, after hearing such explosive remarks, everyone has learned their lesson and is no longer in a hurry to take sides.
And I want to wait and see. Now the matter is clear. So many people came together to beat the drum today, they must be here for King Huai.
"Tell me in detail, which land did King Huai occupy, and how did he kill people?" Song Qingci gently guided the woman. The voice was so gentle that it was surprising.
It was as if the person who spoke harshly before was not her.
"My husband's surname is Liu, and everyone who knows me calls me Aunt Liu. I'm originally from Qianzhou. Three years ago, a nobleman came to our village. At that time, he said he was a grain merchant who came to collect grain."
"Our place is relatively remote and backward, and grain merchants are reluctant to come. Every time we sell grain, we have to walk a long way to the rice and flour shops in the city. Not only is it hard, but we are also maliciously forced to lower the price. So, when that nobleman came, everyone was very happy."
"The village chief even brought chickens and ducks from the village to prepare a delicious meal for the grain merchant. Everyone sold all their seasonal rice to the nobleman at a price that had never been lowered."
"This is a good thing! How can you, a woman, not tell the difference between good and bad?!"
Some people heard this and raised questions.
Aunt Liu looked at the man who questioned her and continued with a fake smile, "If the matter ended like this, it would naturally be a good thing. However, the nobleman who claimed to be a grain merchant did not leave."
"The nobleman said that he would also buy our grain next year at this year's price, but we have to sign a contract with him. This will ensure the interests of both of us."
"This is a reasonable request! Once the contract is signed, neither party can go back on their word. Didn't you, woman, fail to keep your promise?"
"We are not the ones who did not keep the agreement!" Aunt Liu was questioned again and again, and she could no longer suppress her anger, and her voice unconsciously became louder.
"It's those nobles who don't take our lives seriously! The contract he signed with us was not a contract to collect grain, but a contract to sell land!"
"He tricked us into signing the land sale contract without paying a penny! From the beginning to the end, he just used the original price to take away the grain we had at the time!"
"By the time we found out, it was already too late!"
Having said this, Aunt Liu seemed to have lost her temper and became dejected.
"That man has been in collusion with the village chief for a long time. The village chief's family is the only one in our village who can read and write. When we signed the contract, it was the village chief who helped us read the documents. We were all tricked into signing the contract."
"Just in the spring, when our villagers were preparing to start farming, some people came to collect the land. My husband and children died at the hands of those people because they tried to stop them from collecting the land."
"It's not just our family. Many people in our entire village died because we tried to stop them from reclaiming the land. Some young and strong people were not beaten to death, but were arrested by the government. Now, the only people left in our village are the elderly, the weak, women and children. We have no land, and it's only a matter of time before everyone starves to death."
“Isn’t this just seizing land and killing people?!”
For farmers, land is life. If the land is taken away, it is no different from taking away their life.
Aunt Liu reached out and wiped away her tears. She had cried too much these days. If she continued crying, she might not see the day when those evildoers were punished.
"This only proves that your land was forcibly occupied by someone, but it can't prove that it was King Huai who did it?!" Someone listened to it from the beginning.
The person who used this method is indeed guilty.
Dachen has laws that stipulate that arable land can only be used for farming and cannot be easily damaged. In addition, the sale and transfer of land must be carried out with the knowledge of both parties.
According to what Aunt Liu said, their land was indeed stolen from them.
"That jade pendant is the evidence! It was worn by the person who deceived us. It belonged to Prince Huai's mansion. And the person who came to our village to deceive us was also a servant of Prince Huai's mansion. This matter is closely related to Prince Huai!"
Aunt Liu didn't know these things at first.
Her husband and sons are all dead, and she is the only one left in the family.
She had long since given up the idea of continuing to live.
If someone hadn't found her, brought her to the capital, brought her here, and asked her to personally seek justice for her family, she might have died in her own dilapidated house that was leaking everywhere.
What I said today was also what that person taught me. As long as I say this, I can get justice for my family and myself.
"You! You are talking nonsense, woman!" King Huai had been patient until now, but he couldn't bear it anymore. However, the most he could do now was to scold her.
No matter how many things there are, he simply can't do them now.
Princess Ling of Huai Wang's face became uglier and uglier. She was just like the king. She could only endure it for now.
At times like this, the more you do, the more mistakes you are likely to make.
"This is too much of an exaggeration, isn't it? King Huai has lived in the capital for a long time, why would he go to a place like Qianzhou to seize land? This doesn't make sense at all!"
"Qianzhou is at least a thousand miles away from the capital. Let alone King Huai, any official in the capital would not do such a thankless task, right?"
Aunt Liu ignored the questioning voices and looked at Emperor Chengtian who was sitting at the highest point. "I beg Your Majesty to make the decision! Give justice to those who died because their land was taken away by fraud."
"Be patient, I will definitely give everyone an explanation today. Now that you have finished speaking, let's move on to the next person!"
Following the examples of Fan Kang and Aunt Liu, other people also came forward one after another and told about what happened to them.
Some, like Fan Kang, had their children die in the Prince Huai's mansion. Some of these children were sold into slavery, but after a month or two, there was no news of them.
The next news they received was from a nanny from Prince Huai's mansion who came to them with silver and said that the child had been beaten to death or sold because of a mistake he had made.
Anyway, the child will never come back, so this money is just compensation.
Some children were kidnapped in the street and then lost contact. Finally, a kind person told them that all the children died in the Prince Huai's mansion.
Some people had similar experiences as Aunt Liu, all of whom had their lands stolen. Some died, some were injured. Some were from Qianzhou, some from Chenzhou, and some from Meizhou. Without exception, they were all from relatively remote villages.
The scammers used different methods, but the final clues all pointed to Prince Huai's Palace.