But it was said that Jia Cong pretended to be Gao Li's nephew and saw many nonsensical tax brochures from Ping'an Prefecture from Angu County Magistrate Li Wen.
Where to stay, he said: "We are going to Beijing to buy birthday gifts for the old lady. I'm afraid it will be inconvenient to store these things elsewhere. I wonder if it would be convenient for you to borrow your yamen to store them overnight."
Li Wen agreed hurriedly and said with a bit of embarrassment: "It's just that we don't have much to entertain in our remote country."
Jia Cong said: "Your Excellency, there is no need to be busy. There are restaurants in your county. I would like to treat you to a meal as a thank you for my uncle."
Li Wen had never heard of a high-ranking official and his family treating a small county magistrate to a meal? At first, he had a vague doubt in his heart, but now it was all gone.
Gong Kun asked: "I wonder if there are any better inns in your county? There are quite a few people on our trip."
Li Wen smiled bitterly and said: "Of course there are inns, but they are not really good." Then he thought about it and said, "How about we invite Master Gao to spend a night in the county government office?"
Jia Cong said: "I'm afraid I won't be able to live there. Just leave a few of them in the county office. I'll take a closer look at what all these messy taxes and fees are at night."
Li Wen hurriedly agreed, and arranged for the carriages and horses from outside to come in and clean up the house with them. Jia Cong, Jia Huan, Gong Kun, Yao'er, Liu Feng, Xiaoxi, etc. were preparing to check the accounts in the evening, so they stayed in the county government office; everyone else went to live outside.
For a while, Li Wen took them to the best restaurant in the county. According to Jia Cong, he thought it was just a farmhouse, but the taste was quite good. Before leaving, Gong Kunte judged the price to be either a little more or less.
He gave a lot of money. Seeing that many people came down to eat and drink for free, even this incident made Li Wen sigh for a long time, and Jia Cong suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
After returning to the county government office, Jia Cong took charge, and several people checked the accounts unscrupulously. Li Wen only thought that he was a precocious young man, and it was unusual to think that he could buy birthday gifts for the old lady alone;
She hoped that he could exempt the county from miscellaneous taxes and give him whatever he wanted. Later, Gong Kun quietly added some ingredients to the old man's boiled water and let him sleep first.
Yao'er looked at the long account book and sighed: "If Du'angu County is like this, it will be fine. If it is like this everywhere, the world will collapse."
Jia Cong said with a smile: "No. This is a poor county. Even if there is a civil unrest, it cannot cause much trouble. Now that the world is rich, it will not collapse in decades or even hundreds of years if we just increase taxes."
Jia Huan gave him a sideways look: "Will you die if you don't tell me the truth? Tell me quickly."
Jia Cong curled his lips: "Have you ever betrayed me? You haven't had time to say it yet. People in the world are extremely patient. Judging from this account book alone, I'm afraid it's the evil we committed two years ago. These taxes are all from us."
The plan started to increase gradually in the following year." He sighed, "Because the six kings were worried that the emperor would be destroyed, they must secretly want to raise soldiers. Raising soldiers is the most expensive thing in the world, and they need money more than before.
The Gao family is probably a die-hard loyalist to the Sixth Prince, so naturally they started to scrape the territory of Ping'an Prefecture for their master. He started scraping, but if he couldn't protect it, he also scraped other places. Alas, he accidentally made a mistake."
Everyone couldn't help but remain silent after hearing the words. After a long while, Jia Huanqiang smiled and said: "It may not be... that we can't guarantee it..." He couldn't say any more and patted his forehead, "That's all. If you are wrong, you are wrong. I admit it."
Jia Cong said: "Fortunately, I heard that there is a civil uprising somewhere. It's probably not too late for them to stop."
A cold light flashed in Gong Kun's eyes and he said: "Third Master, those who achieve great things don't stick to trivial matters. This is in our favor."
Jia Cong turned his head and glanced at him: "Is this a small section?"
Gong Kun said: "The world is at peace. The emperor has nothing to rule over, so he is the only one to make his own decisions. This is what you said."
Jia Cong said: "Yes, I said that. But I didn't say that if the world is in chaos, it will not be the emperor's arbitrary decision. Now that our country is rich, a few princes and princes cannot squeeze it out in just ten years. Exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have existed since ancient times.
Yes, Liu Hedong once did it. How about taxes at that time? However, his article wrote that the Tang Dynasty would not fall until a hundred years later. I have said many times that the people in the world are extremely patient. Life is not as good as before, but they can endure it; if they can't survive,
They can endure it; they only have food and clothing left to live, and they can still endure it. Moreover, they can still live as slaves. Unless most people in the world cannot survive, there is no food at home, and there is no wild food in the countryside to feed themselves, and they are like the yellow scarf.
Only when we give orders will people rise up and rebel. What’s the point of an ordinary small county civil uprising? You can just summon a bunch of people to destroy it.”
Jia Huan frowned and said: "According to you, there is nothing we can do? What if the saint really bullies our family in the future, or is dragged down by Dongfu?"
Jia Cong said with a smile: "As long as the princes do not commit turmoil, the princes are rich and the emperors are poor, no matter whether the world falls apart or not, they can all hold the hands and feet of the saint."
Gong Kun said: "Isn't it like this now that the princes are rich and the emperors are poor?"
Jia Cong said: "The wealth of the princes does not lie in the princes' mansions, but in the people under their rule, and in the princes' own popularity. The world is rich, and businessmen and travelers can make money, so why bother to take away the land of ordinary people? No matter how bad it is, you can still rob the rich and give to the poor.
Of course, it is not a natural thing to rob the rich and give to the poor. It is just robbing the enemy, even if it robs the court tax money. In my opinion, the current situation has nothing to do with the end of the dynasty. Twenty years ago
It will be extremely difficult to disband the imperial court in ten years. Only by taking the path of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the dynasty will still be there, but the emperor may not be stronger than the princes in terms of money, food, soldiers and talents, so that we can tie his hands and feet so that he does not dare to act rashly."
Gong Kun thought for a long time after hearing this: "It seems to make some sense."
Jia Cong said: "It's our idea to combine verticals. We have to clean up this mess ourselves." He turned back and looked at Yao'er, "I'm afraid we have to trouble brother Yao'er to intervene."
Yao'er thought for a while: "Since our lack of thinking has caused great trouble for the world, it doesn't matter if I come forward. But if I remind the Sixth Prince for no reason, won't it make him suffer? I can't trust him, I'm afraid he will
Thinking that our hearts are for the people, we are accustomed to using innocent people to force each other in the future, which will become more and more difficult to handle."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Xiaoxi clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Brother Yao'er is also stubborn. Wouldn't you use this to exchange for your brother's wife with the Sixth Prince?"
Everyone was stunned.
Xiaoxi said: "After all this time, my eldest brother has also been sent there. There are so many beauties of all kinds there, and I haven't seen him even have the slightest thought about anyone else."
The corners of Jia Cong's eyes drooped: "Don't you go to the creek often?"
Xiaoxi said: "Sir, he goes there often, so naturally I go with him."
Jia Cong and Jia Huan all rolled their eyes at Gong Kun. Gong Kun said with a smile: "Xiaoxi is a girl. If you want to achieve great things, you should see all kinds of things in the world. A brothel is the place where girls should see the most.
Place."
Xiaoxi waved his hand and said: "Don't change the subject. Even though the six kings are united, there is always someone who wants to be the leader. I'm afraid the sixth prince has more serious ideas than the others, because it was his suggestion in the first place. I think the eldest brother
He is an infatuated person, and it is possible that no one knows about the Eighth Prince's scheme against him. Why don't Brother Yaoer make a deal with the Sixth Prince, and help the elder brother get his daughter-in-law within two years? I think two years will be enough time for Sixth Prince.
The prince cut off the sister and the eighth prince completely - it would be too dazzling to attract people immediately, and I'm afraid it will make the eighth prince suspicious." Seeing that everyone was stunned, she hummed, "I knew it,
You just coaxed the eldest brother to get over it, and no one paid attention to what he was thinking."
After a while, Yao'er said: "I heard from my father that the marriage was canceled and that saying it every two years was just an excuse to make him gradually understand."
Xiaoxi said: "What if he doesn't understand it after two years?"
No one in this room has ever been in love. Jia Cong had been in love in his previous life, and the breakup only lasted half a year. He forgot about it after entering World of Warcraft, and couldn't help but look at each other. Jia Huan muttered: "It doesn't seem worthwhile, such an important one."
*ug, just change it to an ordinary woman."
Yao'er waved his hand and said, "Although that woman is ordinary, my brother is very important."
Liu Feng also said: "That's fine. If Brother Yao'er takes his brother very seriously, the Sixth Prince will definitely not have any more ideas about his family unless he is stupid."
Jia Cong nodded and said: "Actually, I also feel a little bit at a loss. This deal is not cost-effective. Anyway, we are making up for our own mistakes. If it is cheaper, it will be cheaper."
The matter was agreed upon. They looked at the account books for half the night, and because they had a rare opportunity, they all saw the dawn. Before Li Wen woke up, they all climbed onto the kang to sleep. Fortunately, Li Wen's family members were all in his hometown, so they also invited
No one noticed if the servant girl couldn't afford it.
On the other side, Wu You was not idle either. He was already an old thief. During dinner, Gong Kun only inquired about Li Wen through gossip. The man who relied on the fact that someone in the court did not pay taxes was named Pan, and the head of the family was Dingcheng.
The uncle of the third grandmother of the Hou Mansion. Since this man is not among the relatives of the Rongguo Mansion, who is still polite to him? It was Wu You who led a group of brothers to climb over the Pan family's courtyard wall easily - compared to the high wall of the Rongguo Mansion.
This place is almost flat. I pried open the warehouse and sneaked in to take a look: there was nothing good, just some worthless furniture and ornaments. Wu You and others were too well-informed to even look down on it. Besides, Li Wenque now
What he wanted was money, these things were useless. He was brave and went straight to the accounting room, but only found a hundred or so taels of silver. They discussed it for a while, and even the accounting room didn't have much money.
, the only option is to find the rightful owner.
Just now I heard from Li Wen that this old man Pan was already sixty-five years old, and he actually had a wife with six rooms! They wandered around and broke several windows before they found him, sleeping with a concubine in his arms. Wu You
Pushing the pin in front of the door, he went in quietly with his face covered. He first raised his hand and knocked the concubine unconscious. Seeing that Old Man Pan was about to wake up, he suddenly pinched his throat. Old Man Pan couldn't utter a word.
.Wu You said in a hoarse voice: "Where is the silver?"
Old Man Pan just stared.
Wu You tore off a piece of curtain and stuffed it in his mouth, then twisted his arms together with his backhand, took some small clothes and tied them up, and kindly put a big robe on him, and whispered: "Get the money."
Exchange your life, otherwise I can kill you and find your own way."
The old man still stared at him motionless.
Wu You thought for a while and realized that he was a miser. He was worried that it would be too laborious to ask questions, so he shook the concubine awake.
The concubine woke up in a daze, and suddenly saw a masked man in front of her. She was shocked, and when she was about to speak out, Wu You covered her mouth with a hand: "Do you know where this old man hid the money? If you tell me, will you still say it?"
If you can survive, you can go underground to accompany him."
The concubine hurriedly said: "There is a secret compartment in the master's study, and there are a lot of silver coins in it."
The old man immediately screamed and rushed towards him. Wu You pinched him with one hand and sneered: "Half of your body is going to be buried. This little lady is only seventeen or eighteen, and she is not afraid of being immoral!"
After hearing this, the concubine burst into tears and looked at Wu You with pitiful eyes. Although Wu You was young, he was still a romantic man. He smiled and said: "This little lady, what has he done that is so heartless?"
What’s the matter?”
The concubine hurriedly said: "How many! In my early years at home, I often heard that he robbed other people's land, seized their livestock, and even killed people! I was also robbed by him..." Yin Ying began to cry.
She was about to elaborate further, but Wu You didn't have time at the moment, so he hurriedly said: "Being beaten to death is enough." Then she reached out to pinch Old Pan's collar. Old Pan whined and struggled violently.
stand up.
Wu You smiled and said, "Aren't you going to give me back the money?"
Old Man Pan nodded repeatedly.
Wu You hummed, "Did I ask you to give me the money earlier?" Then she asked him to put on his shoes and pushed him to the study.
When they arrived at Pan's study, Old Pan trembled and opened the secret compartment. There were many silver ingots neatly arranged inside, at least a thousand taels. Wu You was not polite, raised his hand, knocked him out, and whistled.
, the brothers all came in, divided their portions evenly in a familiar manner, and left.
Wu You then carried the old man back to the concubine's house with one hand. The concubine had already changed her clothes. Wu You asked her, "Is there anyone in your family?"
The concubine said: "Father and brother are both here."
Wu You frowned and raised his hand to knock her unconscious again.
Even though he is smarter than ordinary children, he is still just a young man. He is acting alone for the first time tonight. He is just a rookie, quite reckless, and has many ill-thoughts. Now he cannot deal with this woman, so he has to tie up Old Man Pan first.
While on the kang, I went to the study to get some paper and pen, and wrote in the moonlight: "There is a beautiful person, surrounded by green forest, overwhelming the stronghold, just like arrogantly touching my uncle, he will destroy your whole family."
One of the brothers laughed and said, "Brother Wu, are you going to take her into the stronghold?"
Wu You waved his hand and said: "Where did we bring anyone? It was just a feint. You go back first, and I will place this woman in place."
Everyone was young and didn't think much after hearing the words. As expected, they returned to the inn first. Wu You put the note threatening Old Man Pan on his concubine's dressing table; because when he visited the place in the afternoon, he had already discovered that there was someone in the county.
There were many empty houses, and he sent the woman to an empty house quite close to Pan's house before shaking her awake.
The woman was knocked unconscious by him twice in one night, and she was a little scared and huddled on the kang. Wu You then explained what had just happened, and finally said: "My great king, everything must be decided by asking both sides. But this time
I will not interrogate him, so I don’t know if he really has a life on his hands and it is not convenient to deal with it. He was frightened tonight and will definitely be panicked for a while tomorrow. If you take these pieces of silver, there are hundreds of taels, and tomorrow morning
Put some ashes on your face and run out of the city. I left a message to scare him." He explained the note in detail, "It's on your dressing table. He doesn't dare to mess with your family after seeing him."
Then, seeing that the woman was still in a daze, she didn't dare to stay for long, so she ran away. I went back and thought about it for a long time. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there were many omissions in this matter, and I was so worried that I couldn't fall asleep.
Early the next morning, before Li Wen got up and Jia Cong and others had just fallen asleep, someone started beating the county government's grievance drum loudly, and there was a lot of wailing at the door. "The thieves who seek death have killed my master~~~"
The Yamen servant hurriedly came in and woke up Li Wen, and said in a panic: "Sir, it's not good, the old man of the Pan family was killed by thieves last night!"