Chapter 137 Separating paths and traveling together
Mrs. Wang babbled and took Zhao Hanzhang to the dining room, where a group of people had already been waiting. Four children were standing with Zhao Erlang.
When Zhao Erlang saw his sister, he immediately ran up to her and said, "Sister, I want to pick you up, but they don't allow me to go out."
Zhao Hanzhang looked him up and down, "Have you grown taller?"
Zhao Erlang also found that he seemed to need to lower his head to look at his sister, and his eyes suddenly lit up, "It seems so, sister, I am so powerful."
"It's quite powerful." Zhao Hanzhang looked at the other four children. They rushed over with Zhao Erlang and were standing aside watching eagerly.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled at them, reached out and took the little girl's hand and said: "Wubao is safe, you can rest assured, I will take you back in two days."
The four children breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly saluted and thanked them, "Thank you, third sister."
Zhao Hanzhang wanted to talk to Mr. Ji about something, but when he saw the dishes on the table, he sat down and had a meal with them first.
After finishing the meal and sending them away, Zhao Hanzhang and Ji Yuan went to the study to discuss matters.
The two exchanged information with each other. In fact, they had communicated during this period. Ji Yuan naturally knew that Zhao Hanzhang controlled Xiping County. At this time, he just talked about the matter in more detail.
Mr. Ji pondered, "So, Zhao Zinian is willing to cover for the girl?"
Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Uncle will not interfere in Xiping County affairs for the time being. We can completely follow our own wishes."
"What is the girl's intention?"
Zhao Hanzhang said: "It cost too much to build a fort in Shangcai. My grandfather devoted all the efforts of the family to build Zhao's fort. If I want to build the same one, it will cost a lot of time, not to mention the money.
Instead of doing this, it is better to get one directly, and Xiping County can be run as a Wubao."
"It's not good for the court to know about this matter."
"The imperial court is afraid that it has no intention of paying attention to us at this time," Zhao Hanzhang told the information received by Zhao Ming. Luoyang is now in chaos inside and outside. "If it really pays attention to us, there is Uncle Ming. He will tell us the truth."
Ji Yuan thought for a while and then agreed. With Zhao Ming here, they could escape completely, and even Zhao Ming would not be much injured.
Well, it may have a bit of a bad reputation.
Once the court finds out, they can just blame it on Zhao Ming. For example, Zhao Ming has no interest in political affairs and is lazy and slippery, so he leaves the matter to his family to handle...
Although this kind of thing would be criticized by people in the Jin Dynasty, it would not be punished. Maybe some people would think it was the behavior of celebrities.
After all, the wind has always been very erratic, even Ji Yuan sometimes can't be sure of the direction of the wind in the world.
Ji Yuan asked: "Should we invite Er Niangzi and Er Lang to live in the county town?"
"No," Zhao Hanzhang said: "Now is not the time. If they go back to Xiping, they will have to live in Wubao temporarily. I will be restricted by then, so they should stay in Shangcai."
After she has completely established herself in Xiping County, she will take people over.
"Go to Cai's side..."
"Please sir," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Autumn harvest, and don't be stingy. As long as there are suitable refugees, we will recruit them all. If we can't arrange them here, send them to Xiping for me."
Xiping made a registration list and counted a lot of unowned land. Now she is short of people.
"Do you want the slaves captured by the soldiers?"
Zhao Hanzhang thought for a while, then sighed and nodded, "Sir, just buy it if it suits you."
Soldiers catching and selling people was a major feature of this era. Many armies relied on this to generate income. If Zhao Hanzhang didn't buy it, they could sell the people to Jizhou or even Bingzhou.
Those two places are even more chaotic.
Mr. Ji remembered something, "Please hide all the new buyers. I heard from Magistrate Chai that the governor's office requested to increase the autumn tax. We..."
"Put it off first." Zhao Hanzhang thought of Zhao Hu who also owed taxes and could not help but sigh in her heart. Sure enough, interests decided her position. She decided to be more friendly to Magistrate Chai, so she said: "According to the registered
Let’s prepare for the autumn tax on the number of households, but don’t rush to give it to him yet, I still want to see if the governor is willing to contribute money to support the army.”
This will affect the way she goes next.
"Although it is difficult to pay taxes in Shangcai County, it is still somewhat manageable. The girl's Xiping County..."
"I have no intention of paying it," Zhao Hanzhang said, "I have posted a notice to waive the autumn tax in Xiping County."
Ji Yuan was surprised, "How is the girl going to explain to the governor?"
Zhao Hanzhang said: "Just write an official document to the governor's office to ask for help and money and food for disaster relief."
She said: "Xiping County doesn't even have a county magistrate, who can he hold accountable?"
Zhao Ming?
But after Zhao Ming was dismissed, she didn't believe he could find someone who could protect and manage Xiping County.
Ji Yuan couldn't help but sigh, "It's the right time for a girl to be born."
If the world hadn't been in chaos, Zhao Hanzhang's actions would have been seeking death. But with the world in chaos and the lack of information, the soldiers and horses in her hands became a magic weapon for victory.
"I don't know what Magistrate Chai will choose."
Chang Ning was also trying to persuade Magistrate Chai, "County Lord, although Zhao Sanniang has bad intentions, she is right on this matter. The tax increase can be kept secret for the time being."
He said: "This autumn tax is said to be used to raise troops, but in the end it will probably end up in the hands of the governor."
But Magistrate Chai didn't have the guts to resist the governor, so he hesitated, still hesitant, "If the governor gets angry..."
"County Lord, how can the governor still have the energy to take care of these things at this time?"
"Then what if Qiu Hou settles accounts?"
Chang Ning said: "Shangcai is heavily taxed, has a serious population loss, is suffering from disasters, has a bad harvest, or is being attacked by refugees. Any reason is acceptable. As long as we survive this year, we will discuss next year."
Magistrate Chai pondered.
Seeing that he was still hesitant, Chang Ning said: "County Lord, the situation in Xiping County is even more serious. Zhao Sanniang will definitely not be able to pay the increased taxes. With your alliance, even if the governor gets angry, there will be people who will bear the burden."
"Zhao Sanniang is not anonymous. If the governor wants to get angry, he can only get angry at Zhao Ming," Magistrate Chai said: "But is Zhao Ming afraid of him getting angry?"
Zhao Ming can not be afraid, but can he not be afraid?
Chang Ning was silent for a while and then said: "If the autumn tax is increased, I'm afraid more people will flee their citizenship this year and life will be even more difficult next year."
Magistrate Chai drank a glass of wine irritably, and finally broke the bottle and said, "Let's talk about next year."
Chang Ning sighed quietly.
When he learned that Zhao Hanzhang and the others were going back to the manor the next day, he hesitated for a long time, but he still went to see them off on behalf of Magistrate Chai County.
Chang Ning stood beside Zhao Hanzhang, looking at the people outside who were harvesting in autumn, and sighed: "This autumn and winter, I don't know how many people will leave their homes and abandon the land they depend on for survival."
Zhao Hanzhang raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, knowing that Magistrate Chai had decided. It seemed that he still did not dare to form an alliance with her.
Zhao Hanzhang turned around and saluted Chang Ning and said, "Sir, you have tried your best. The people of Shangcai County will also be grateful to you if they know this."
Chang Ning twitched the corners of his lips and thought sarcastically that only future generations would know whether his decision was right or wrong. After all, even he himself refused to do so.
As an aide to the county magistrate, he was actually suggesting that the county's big taxpayers were hiding their income from others, which was against professional ethics.
Chang Ning wants to return to his hometown, but he wonders if Magistrate Chai will allow him to resign.