In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 648: Effective

When the people don't have enough to eat, they will riot and even rebel. But the powerful families don't know how to restrain themselves and continue to seize the farmers' land on a large scale...

When Li Mingyuan took office as the prefect of Qingzhou, the land conflict had reached a critical point and was about to erupt. There were even small-scale incidents of killing officials and rebellion in various parts of Qingzhou.

To prevent this from happening again and to give the people a way to survive, Li Mingyuan quickly introduced a series of policies to crack down on land annexation.

In addition, Li Mingyuan also took action against some small landowners, finding a lot of evidence of tax evasion by these small landowners and forcing them to give up a lot of land they had acquired.

Then these lands were given to the people who had lost their land to cultivate, so that they could support themselves as much as possible.

As for why Li Mingyuan targeted small landlords but not large landlords or even powerful families...

The reason is simple: given Li Mingyuan's current power base, he simply couldn't deal with these powerful families.

These powerful clans in Qingzhou are all deeply rooted in history, and many of their members even hold positions in the imperial court. If Li Mingyuan dares to take action against them, there will likely be a flood of impeachments against him in the court.

He wasn't afraid of impeaching Li Mingyuan; what he feared was losing his official position. Once he lost that official hat, Li Mingyuan's ambitions would never be realized.

That is why Li Mingyuan abandoned the large families that owned the most land and chose to only take action against smaller landowners.

In addition to cracking down on land annexation, Li Mingyuan also vigorously rectified the officialdom of Qingzhou, severely punishing a number of corrupt officials and petty clerks. As a result, the atmosphere of the officialdom in Qingzhou improved significantly, and those officials who extorted money and bribes from the people became much more restrained, fearing that they would incur Li Mingyuan's punishment.

"Lord Li is truly a good official!"

Upon learning about Li Mingyuan's actions, Zheng Qing's eyes lit up. Just as he had predicted, Lord Li not only did not collude with powerful families, but also stood on the side of the common people, working for their well-being.

"With Lord Li here, I might really have a chance in the next provincial examination!"

Zheng Qing's eyes burned with passion, and he studied even harder.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Under Li Mingyuan's governance, although the land conflict in Qingzhou was not completely resolved, it was alleviated. Many people who had lost their land now had land to support themselves. Although the land was not their own but rented from the government, it was better than having nothing at all.

These displaced people, now that they have land to cultivate, can support themselves and avoid becoming refugees.

The people who already owned land were very grateful to Li Mingyuan, because during the three years he took office, he not only cracked down on land annexation, so that they no longer had to worry about their land being taken away, but also built a large number of water conservancy projects to help farmers irrigate their fields, bringing real benefits to the farmers.

It can be said that under Li Mingyuan's governance, the entire Qingzhou was revitalized. Although the people were still poor, they finally had a way to survive.

It was at this time that Zheng Qing embarked on his journey to the prefectural city to participate in the provincial examination.

Upon returning to the prefectural city, Zheng Qing sensed the difference in the city the moment he stepped through the city gate.

When he arrived in the prefectural city three years ago, the entire city gave him a lifeless feeling. No one had a smile on their face; all they had was numbness.

In addition, there are many beggars in the city. These beggars are all able-bodied people, and most of them are people who have lost their land.

When Zheng Qing returned to the prefectural city three years later, he noticed a difference. The city was still the same, and the people were still the same, but the expressions on their faces had changed. They were no longer as numb and lifeless as before, and even the number of beggars in the city had decreased significantly.

"Lord Li has done a very good job in governing the prefectural city!"

Zheng Qing knew that the great changes in the prefectural city were definitely related to Li Mingyuan's governance.

In fact, not only has the prefectural city changed, but the lives of the people in Zheng Qing's county town have also improved a lot.

After briefly looking around the city, Zheng Qing found a restaurant, booked a room, and settled in, studying diligently while waiting for the provincial examination.

Ten days later, the provincial examination arrived as scheduled.

Zheng Qing, dressed in a long gown, walked into the examination hall and sat down with many other candidates in this examination hall that would determine their lives.

only……

Sitting in the examination room, Zheng Qing glanced around at the candidates dressed in fine clothes, and her heart sank slightly.

There is actually a very simple way to tell whether a candidate comes from a prominent family: just look at their clothing.

Those dressed in linen robes like Zheng Qing are almost certainly students from poor families, while those dressed in exquisite clothes are all, without exception, from aristocratic families.

At this moment, in this examination hall, students from poor families like Zheng Qing accounted for less than 10%, while those from aristocratic families dressed in fine clothes made more than 90% of the students, which made Zheng Qing feel particularly heavy-hearted.

Zheng Qing had no confidence at all when competing with these scions of powerful families, because... what he competed with them was never knowledge, but rather their powerful connections!

"With so many scions of prominent families, I'm afraid I'll fail the exam again this time?"

Zheng Qing muttered bitterly to himself, "There are so many scions of aristocratic families that there are simply not enough places for the Juren degree. How can someone like me, Zheng Qing, who comes from a peasant background, compete with them for a place?"

Fortunately, just when Zheng Qing was in despair, the chief examiner for this provincial examination entered the examination hall.

As Zheng Qing watched the examiner slowly approach, his face was full of astonishment, because the examiner was none other than Li Mingyuan, whom he had met once before.

Zheng Qing stared blankly at Li Mingyuan, feeling both surprised and shocked.

He never expected that the person in charge of this provincial examination would be Li Mingyuan, which shocked Zheng Qing.

The surprise is...

This provincial examination is being presided over by Li Mingyuan, so doesn't that mean... Zheng Qing can have a relatively fair competitive environment?

"Why is it Li Mingyuan who is in charge?"

"Oh no! The chief examiner for the provincial examination has actually become Li Mingyuan?"

"It's over! I'm afraid I'm going to fail the provincial examination this time!"

"..."

Zheng Qing was overjoyed to see Li Mingyuan, while the expressions of the scions of those aristocratic families changed drastically.

Li Mingyuan and the powerful clans of Qingzhou have always been at odds; in fact, they are practically enemies. The fact that Li Mingyuan has become the chief examiner for this provincial examination is extremely disadvantageous for them!

Because Li Mingyuan, who is at odds with their family, would definitely not show them any favoritism, and without the examiner's favoritism...

The vast majority of them were simply not learned enough to pass the provincial examination!