Liu Muzhi said in a deep voice: "Fisherman? Mr. Tao, are you hiding in the fishing village?"
Tao Yuanming shook his head: "That's right, that's not so. I hid with a fisherman's family in Yedu for two days. I recognized that fisherman's family, and they also knew my identity and covered me for two days. If Brother Mu
If you need to verify, I can take you there."
Liu Muzhi smiled slightly: "I believe this fisherman family will definitely confirm Tao Gong's statement. It seems that Tao Gong has a long history in Jingzhou. Even at this time, you can find someone to protect you.
"
Tao Yuanming laughed: "After all, I am from Jingzhou. I have been teaching in Jingzhou and Jiangzhou for more than ten years. I was born and raised here, and I love to travel in this area.
I also know some of the villagers, because I don’t have the pomp and circumstance of ordinary officials. I am alone or with friends, traveling in groups of two or three, and I also live in village B&Bs, so that I can know the people’s livelihood and their sufferings.
, otherwise where would the source of these poems and songs of mine come from?”
Yu Yue curled up her lips and said, "Mr. Tao, aren't you afraid that there will be bandits and bandits on the road? These are troubled times, and there are many bad people outside. If I don't have hundreds of followers to protect me when I go out, I won't be able to do anything.
I don’t dare to walk around at all.”
Tao Yuanming smiled and said: "Yu Gong is the head of a big family. He was also a young master in the past. He is well-known for his fine clothes and fine food. Naturally, he will attract the jealousy of thieves, because your hundreds of guards are shouting in front of you and swaggering through the market. There are hundreds of people behind you.
Everyone here will know that you are passing by, which will of course attract the attention of thieves. However, under the rule of Jin Dynasty and during the peace period, no large group of thieves with more than a thousand people would dare to attack you, let alone the secret guards of your Yu family.
In addition to these hundreds of people, they will also have already checked out any strongholds, thieves, and foreigners wherever they go. The garrison in the place where the meeting is located will be dispatched to escort Yu Gong all the way. I'm not wrong."
Yu Yue's face turned slightly red: "Uh, um, um, after all, I have an official status and a title. The court is required to provide certain protection according to the law. It is not against the rules."
Tao Yuanming waved his hand: "Don't worry, Mr. Yu, I didn't say you violated the rules, but I said that under the laws of the Jin Dynasty, children of such aristocratic families with official status and titles can travel across the state and county.
For such a ostentatious person, there will also be garrison to provide protection. This is the legitimate treatment of our Jin Dynasty to the children of aristocratic families and gentry. However, this will also reduce many opportunities to contact the people at the bottom, and it will be less likely to know the sufferings of the people.
"
"As for me, Tao Yuanming, my family is in decline. Although I have the status of a nobleman and am a registered scholar, I cannot enjoy such benefits. Moreover, I am indifferent by nature. I travel around the world to increase my knowledge and understand people's livelihood, so that I can serve the people.
The so-called love between mountains and rivers also includes people who are in these mountains and rivers. In fact, even the children of big families who visit privately incognito and travel around the world with a few guards are not individuals. Just like Xie An, Xie Xianggong, the prime minister at that time.
That’s it.”
Yu Yue swallowed a sip of saliva: "Ah, this, Xie Xianggong, he is not a mortal, how can we compare with him? And Tao Gong has a noble temperament and is famous all over the world. I think no thieves would dare to harm you, you kind of
I can only admire the way you travel, but I can’t learn from it.”
Tao Yuanming nodded and said calmly: "Yes, when I traveled, I didn't have a large number of guards, I didn't have any gold or silver with me, and I didn't have official rune certificates. In fact, I encountered strong men who blocked the road two or three times, and even
I was taken captive to a stronghold, but in the stronghold, I saw mostly poor people who were forced to make a living and had no choice but to become bandits. Therefore, I can talk openly and honestly with those thieves about the world and agree to plead for their lives.
, and in the end I was sent down the mountain with gifts, because they knew that I really didn’t have much to gain from me.”
Yu Yue's eyes widened: "Is this okay? Didn't I hear that these thieves are so vicious that they kill lone merchants and passers-by, and even use murder as a sign of surrender?",
Tao Yuanming looked at Liu Muzhi: "Brother Mu should know that the so-called thieves also have their own ways. The Jin Dynasty was still peaceful most of the time. As long as it was peaceful and the government did not increase too many taxes and servitude, the people could have enough food and clothing.
Yes, there won’t be many people who will become thieves. Therefore, the number of thieves and bandits in the world now largely depends on Marshal Liu and Brother Mu. You have a long way to go."
Liu Muzhi said calmly: "Since the success of Jianyi and Marshal Liu taking power, we have asked ourselves that every policy and decree is issued from the perspective of the people, so that they can live a better life. Tao Gong
Since you have traveled around the world for so many years, why would you say such a thing? Are the people of the world now not as good as before?"
Tao Yuanming sneered and said: "Brother Mu has probably been aloof for too long and no longer knows what the people are like now. The reason why I am unwilling to serve Marshal Liu is because his great cause of restoring the Central Plains and expelling the Tartars requires the sacrifice of countless small people."
The happiness of the people can only be bought by the people. Let’s not talk about anything else. Let’s talk about the Northern Expedition to the Southern Yan. In order to regain the lost land, the various states’ laws to increase taxes and collect grain will make it unbearable for many people and force many families to sell their children.
If you give away your daughter, you may not even be able to survive, what if you turn the grass into a bandit?"
Liu Muzhi shook his head: "The tax increase laws we formulated took into account the affordability of the people's livelihood, and most of them were funded by wealthy families and powerful landowners from various places.
We have also been investigating, and there are very few cases where people flee due to so-called tax increases and become unsustainable. Mr. Tao, I don’t know where you came from the investigation."
Tao Yuanming laughed: "Brother Mu, you are also from the bottom, do you still believe in the figures reported by various places, Dingkou? Those taxes you have increased will be increased at each level in the state, county, and county.
The aristocratic families who collect taxes, or the powerful landowners, will take the opportunity to lend money, making it unbearable for the people. They can only sell their land and sell themselves into slaves. This kind of thing is not just a family. Yu Gong, your Yu family's manor is like this
It has expanded a lot in the past few years, isn’t it based on this method?”
Yu Yue's face turned pale and his voice stuttered: "This, these are voluntarily donated by the people. Well, it's not us, it's not our Yu family who wants to occupy people's fields. They, they really can't afford to increase taxes and increase taxes."
He had to pay more grain and rice to offset the burden of labor, so he sold his land and came to our Yu family to be a villager. This is not just our family. This is true for many people in Wu. Brother Mu, you know that."
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This chapter has been completed!