Qielu County is located in Liaoxi County, one of the northernmost counties in the Zhao Kingdom. It has a cold winter climate, and the territory is mountainous and swampy. In the early years, it was often invaded by barbarians, and the people's livelihood was in decline. The entire county has only more than 5,000 people in total.
, basically live in towns or villages near cities.
It was not until the past two years that Zhao State reduced taxes and the living standards of the people in Qieli County improved slightly.
But that's all.
Qielu County has a sparse population and a remote geographical location, so it is not taken seriously by the imperial court. Until now, there is no official road. In order to pave official roads in Qielu County as soon as possible and promote local development, the new county magistrate personally led the people to survey the route and formulate the road.
The plan was then submitted to the court for approval.
Heijing worked with the county magistrate for a whole day, and when it got dark, he returned home exhausted. His son, who had just learned to walk, saw his father coming back and trotted into his arms.
Hei Jing happily picked up his son and kissed him twice on the cheek. All the fatigue in his body seemed to disappear at this moment.
"Let's eat first, I'll wait for you." The wife put the hot meal on the kang.
This fire kang was built under the promotion of the government. At first, everyone was quite repulsive and unwilling to build it. Later, I found that the fire kang is really easy to use. It only requires a handful of firewood and will keep you warm throughout the night.
With this thing, even the elderly don’t have to worry about freezing to death in winter.
Moreover, Liaoxi County is vast and sparsely populated, with vegetation and trees everywhere, so there is no need to worry about running out of firewood.
"Where's mother?" Hei Jing asked.
"She's in the back room. She was talking about you just now. I'm going to call her right now," the wife said.
"I'll call you, please rest for a while." Heijing said. Just as he was about to get up, his mother was already here.
Heijing quickly served his mother a meal, and the family sat together happily.
"Why are you back so late today?" Mother asked.
"There is still a little bit of road left. It's not worth running for another day tomorrow. The county magistrate will take us to complete the survey." Heijing said.
"Will the road be built in a few days?" Mother said happily.
"It's hard to say. I heard from the county magistrate that it still needs approval, and the official channels are not under the jurisdiction of the county. It has to be reported to the governor or even the court for approval. Even if it is finally approved, construction will not start until the spring of next year. But the county magistrate is sure
We will find a way, we don’t need to worry about this." Heijing said.
"Mom believes in the county magistrate and also believes in the court. If it hadn't been for the Zhao State a few years ago, our mother and I would have starved to death long ago." The mother said, looking at her daughter-in-law.
"My son also believes in Zhao Guo." Heijing said.
A few years ago, Heijing followed the army to attack the State of Zhao. In the end, the army was defeated and all the soldiers were left behind in the State of Zhao and became prisoners.
Hei Jing had just gotten married at that time, and he thought that his wife would run away and his mother would die because there was no one to take care of her.
As a result, when he returned home, not only was his wife waiting for him, but his mother was also well taken care of by her.
His mother and wife said that during the years he was in the State of Zhao, the State of Zhao would send people to deliver food to his home every year. Although it was not much, because the family was full of women and their appetites were small, it was enough to eat.
And because Zhao Guo sent people over, the villagers knew that he was not dead, so they did not dare to bully the two of them too much. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the two women to survive in troubled times.
Heijing was therefore extremely grateful to Zhao Guo. Without Zhao Guo, his mother and wife might have died long ago, let alone such a lovely son.
When the government recruited people, even though it was stated that there was no salary due to the government's poverty, Heijing still chose to sign up and worked with the county magistrate from morning to night every day, enjoying it.
The government has not levied a penny in taxes for two consecutive years, and this year it has directly canceled the oral tax. How can the amount of tax reductions and exemptions be compared with the small amount of wages.
"Dong dong dong!" At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and then a voice from inside came, "Is Saburo at home?"
Heijing is the third eldest child in the family, so everyone calls him Sanlang.
Heijing quickly stood up and invited the mayor into the room.
"If the mayor doesn't eat, he'll deal with the two of them at home." Heijing said.
"I've eaten." The chief waved his hand and looked at Heijing, "I'm mainly looking for you for one thing this time. After that, I'm going to other people's homes."
"What's the matter?" Hei Jing asked.
"Tomorrow the village is going to summon everyone to the city to boycott the unification of weights and measures and the unification of writing. Will you go?" asked the village chief.
"What? I'm not going." Heijing heard this, his face changed, and he said firmly.
It doesn't matter which weights and measures he uses. In the past few years when he was in Zhao State, he had always used Zhao State's weights and measures. He had long been accustomed to it, so there was nothing wrong with it.
Moreover, the difference in weights and measures between Yan and Zhao is not particularly big.
As for unified writing, it has nothing to do with him. He is simply illiterate.
"Are you from the Yu family, are you from Yan?" Li Chang's face darkened.
"I'm not from Yan, I'm from Zhao." Hei Jing said firmly.
"Have you forgotten that your ancestors have been Yan people for generations and have lived in the Yan country?" the chief said angrily.
"So what if our ancestors are Yan people for generations? What kind of life did we live in the past? Exploited by the government, suppressed by the gentry, without enough food and clothing, two of our six brothers and sisters froze to death, and two were killed by barbarians.
, now only my youngest sister and I are left. Without Zhao State, my mother and wife would have starved to death a few years ago. I didn’t see you standing up before, but now that Zhao State has come and reduced our taxes, you have to stand up.
Come out and resist."
"Don't think I don't know. Isn't it because you rebelled against the State of Zhao because you hid farmland secretly, but the government discovered it and took it all back? Don't talk about the State of Yan. If it was for the State of Yan, as early as the fall of the State of Yan, you
Just stand up instead of waiting until now." Heijing said loudly.
The village chief has been a squire for generations, and nearly half of the entire township belongs to the land of the Yu family where the village chief resides. When the State of Zhao sent people to liquidate and remeasure the land, the village chief and his family only reported 200 acres of land, leaving the rest
Thousands of acres of land were all hidden, thinking that this would reduce taxes.
Who would have thought that Zhao Guo would not follow the routine. Since your family only reported two hundred acres of land, then your family will only have the two hundred acres of land that you reported, and the remaining several thousand acres will all become ownerless.
The land was collected as official farmland and distributed to the landless refugees.
After that, the village chief and others kept reporting to the government that they were wrong, but the government did not accept their ideas.
Now that you have made a choice, don't think about going back on it.
The Yu family also thought of other methods, such as uniting with all the gentry in Qieli County to raise grain prices in an attempt to trigger a civil uprising and make Zhao State retreat. As a result, the Zhao State government had not yet taken action, and the Chamber of Commerce saw that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so they shipped goods from other places.
A large amount of grain came and was sold to the squires.
In the end, all the squires involved in this incident went bankrupt and had no choice but to sell off their property to pay off their debts.
As for directly inciting the people to rebel, it is even more impossible. Only fools will rebel if they can have enough to eat.
As for privately increasing taxes to keep the people from having enough to eat, in order to stimulate conflicts between the people and the government, some people have done this. As a result, all three tribes were killed and nine tribes were dragged to fill the border.
As for assassinating the county magistrate sent by the State of Zhao, the squire of Jilu County also thought about it, but later gave up. It was a last resort and should not be done unless it was a last resort.
Once you do this, it means that you are completely broken and there is no way out.
As a result, not long after, news came from Liaodong that a county magistrate was killed and the entire county was purged.
The squires of Qielu County broke out in a cold sweat, but at the same time breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they did not do this, otherwise they would have died.
Although they are a little miserable now, at least they are still alive.
Upon hearing Heijing's words, Li Chang's face instantly turned darker than the bottom of the pot.
"I have been the chief for so many years, and I have never treated Saburo badly, right?" the chief said.
Heijing snorted twice but said nothing.
Although the head of the village has not helped his family over the years, he has not bullied them either, which is considered good.
However, this does not mean that the village chief is a good person. In fact, in recent years, the Yu family has suppressed local people and snatched land. Otherwise, where would so much land and property come from?
As for why they didn't suppress their family, it was just because they didn't have anything that the Yu family could like.
The only land available was not fertile.
"You come with me tomorrow, so you don't have to go next time." The chief said.
If it were someone else, it wouldn't matter if he went or not. But Heijing's identity is rather special. He has been following the county magistrate during this period and is known to many people. If he stands up to oppose it, it will be a huge blow to the county magistrate's reputation.
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"I won't go." Hei Jing said decisively, "For the sake of our friendship over so many years, I advise the head of the village not to go. If you make a little noise, it will be of no use. If you make a big noise, the imperial court will send you directly.
The army suppressed it. Do you think these hundreds or thousands of you are the opponents of Zhao Jun?"
"...Then we can't let the government just take over our land." The village chief was silent for a moment and then said.
Heijing didn't say anything. Zhao Guo occupied the Yu family's land, but not his family's land. Besides, everyone knew exactly how the Yu family's land came from. Most of it was taken by force. What should they think?
Innocent.
"You should think about it again. I'll come find you again before leaving tomorrow." The chief patted Hei Jing on the shoulder and stood up and left without waiting for Hei Jing's reply.
The next day, Heijing had just finished breakfast when the head of the village came over.
"Didn't I say I wouldn't go?" Hei Jing said displeasedly. He had already planned to report to the police if the chief continued like this.
"It's not what I said yesterday." The chief said sheepishly.
"What's that?" Hei Jing asked.
"The imperial court gave out dumplings to everyone during the Chinese New Year this year. The county asked us to send some people from each township to collect them. I was thinking that you are familiar with the county magistrate, so I thought of calling you to come with me." said the head of the village.
.
"You didn't lie to me?" Hei Jing didn't believe it. Over the years, I had only heard of the imperial court collecting things from the people. When had I ever heard of the imperial court taking the initiative to give things to the people?
What's more, they were just occupied by Zhao State for only two years, and they didn't even provide taxes to Zhao State.
"It's true, it's all written in the slanderous newspaper, and every household has it. It's distributed per person, two pounds per person. It can't be wrong." The village leader handed the slanderous newspaper to Heijing.
"I am illiterate." Heijing did not accept the slanderous report, "Are you not going to resist the unification of weights and measures?"
"Most people are not willing to go." The Lichang sighed. He did not expect that Zhao Guo would win the hearts of the people so quickly. Many people simply did not listen to him as the Lichang, and also listened to the government.
"Lao Yu, let's go." At this time, several people nearby also drove over with bullock carts.
"Is the imperial court really giving out dumplings?" Heijing looked at the others, still a little unbelievable. In the past, the government would have given them food if they didn't cut their bones and suck out their marrow. When did the government give them food?
This kind of thing never happened even in the era of saints praised by Confucianism. Whoever dares to say bad things about Zhao State or to restore Yan State in the future will be his black enemy.
"Of course it's true." Other village chiefs also said with a smile.
Only then did Heijing happily follow the village chief to the county and collect dumplings according to the registered household registration. After returning to the village, he had to deliver these dumplings door to door.
After receiving the dumplings, the villagers must sign or fingerprint the list. The county will send people to conduct random inspections in the future. If the dumplings are distributed but the villagers do not receive them, the district chief and village elders will be dismissed.
Under normal circumstances, no one would take risks just for a few kilograms of dumpling collars.
"There are two bags left. Let the chief take them home. You have many families." After the distribution, Hei Jing saw two bags of dumplings left in the car and said to the chief.
"Let's take a bag each." The chief picked up the dumplings and handed a bag to Heijing. He sighed and said, "The Zhao State and the Yan State are really different. When other countries come over, they all levy and extort money. I can't wait to kill them."
We squeezed everything to death. The State of Zhao first exempted and exempted taxes for a few years, and during the Chinese New Year, we even gave out dumplings. If we didn’t have to, I really don’t want to go against the State of Zhao.”
"If there is any compelling reason, just let it go. Maybe the Yu family will develop better in the future. If we go against Zhao Guo, it's hard to say whether there will be a Yu family in the future." Heijing said.
"Sanlang also knows that our Yu family is a large family, with a total of more than thirty people and servants. Zhao Guo has left two hundred acres of land for our Yu family..." The head of the village sighed again, so
It’s difficult to even order food for everyone, let alone other expenses.
"Deserves it!" Hei Jing thought in his heart, but said, "In fact, the Yu family can be divided, and the government will redistribute the land to the separated families."
The head of the village did not say anything. The Yu family would not take this path unless absolutely necessary.
Separating a family means that the family's strength becomes weaker, its influence decreases, and it may even collapse.
And if some things are not handled well during the family separation process, the two separated families may even become enemies.
This is an unbearable blow for any family.
But this has nothing to do with Heijing. He is going home to eat dumplings with his wife and children.
When his wife was pregnant, he reported it to the government. After the birth, he was registered directly, so his family received eight kilograms of dumplings at one time, and together with the bag in his hand, it was ten kilograms.
Many families whose children are not registered do not receive as many dumplings as his family.
"Wait until the spring of next year, and then pave the way for the government or improve the Liaohe River, and I can earn another fifteen yuan a day..." Hei Jing thought to himself, with a faint smile on his lips.