When we first gathered in Fan Yang and headed to Luoyang, there were dozens of scholars in total, and they all brought their servants and family members to salute their carriages and horses. There was constant tossing and dragging along the way.
When this trip returned to Hebei, only Gongsun Xun, Gongsun Yue and Zhen Yi returned together... The latter was older and just wanted to get a good name after studying for a year. In fact, Zhen Dayin's family also had
Wife and children... Therefore, it was inevitable to feel homesick along the way, and even the Gongsun brothers had to speed up.
In this way, after traveling through various states and counties, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at Wuji, Zhongshan.
"You two junior brothers, since you are here, you might as well stay for a few days and let me show my friendship as a landlord." The first one to breathe a sigh of relief was Zhen Yi.
"Fortunately nothing happened, I was about to make some noise."
"As it should be."
The Gongsun brothers didn't have any objections. After all, after the classmate came back after a year, the friendship between the two parties had already changed. Moreover, the Zhongshan Wuji Zhen family was also a well-known wealthy family in Hebei, so there was no need for anything else.
.
In this way, the motorcade moved into Wuji County together, and the atmosphere became more comfortable.
"Brother Da Yin, why were you in such a hurry along the way?" Gongsun Yue, who was riding beside Zhen Yi's car, asked curiously. "Even before, you suddenly wanted to return home with us, and it seemed a bit hasty."
"I let Brother Yue see it." Zhen Yi shook his head and smiled bitterly. "To tell you the truth, something happened at home after I left. I really couldn't bear it anymore, so I decided to come back as soon as possible."
"I see, I dare to ask..."
"I won't hide it from you, but after I left, my wife suddenly gave birth to a daughter for me. It has been more than a year since I left, and I am very anxious!"
Gongsun Yue was so astonished that even his horse inadvertently stopped for a moment, and then he followed the opponent's car again and said sternly: "I see, brother Dayin, don't worry, you and I are brothers, but if you need anything, just speak up...
...If your wife comes from the same county and a wealthy family in the neighboring county, and it's not convenient for you to do it, just leave it to our brothers. And the 'daughter', if you can't tear her apart because of face, just leave it to us. My aunt is a human being.
Excellent, how about we take her to western Liaoning and raise her, and we won't let you see her again in this life?"
Zhen Yi sat in the car, looking at a loss for a long time, and then suddenly she held her hand on the car eaves and said angrily: "What the hell are you talking about, you idiot? My daughter was born nine months after I left home, so the date is right."
Yes, why do I need you to help me kill my wife and children?!"
Gongsun Yue was extremely embarrassed and apologized repeatedly.
Of course, this kind of thing was just an interlude after all. The group of people still walked straight forward along the official road in Wuji County without any delay. However, everyone was speechless until they arrived in front of the magnificent gate of Zhen Mansion.
He discovered that one of the main leaders of this trip, Gongsun Xun, had disappeared. After careful questioning, he found out that as soon as he entered Wuji County, he took a few companions to inquire about the customs.
"Brother Dayin, don't worry about my brother." Gongsun Yue also looked helpless. "Whenever he arrives in a new place, he must go to the countryside to ask about the customs, look at the local population and geography, and ask the locals about their customs.
As a tax collector, we also need to secretly check whether there are many abandoned babies in the local area, whether Taiping Road and Buddhism are prosperous... Let's go visit your elders first, and let someone who knows him wait for him at the door!"
"Yeah, that's fine." Zhen Yi originally wanted to say something, but in the end she was homesick and stepped through the door of her own house first.
It is said that spring plowing is approaching at this time, and the people in the countryside are almost out in full force, plowing the ground and drying the soil. Gongsun Xun and others came from the countryside early. Looking around, there is a busy scene everywhere. At this time, the horse is stationed in a
Looking out at the past from the hillside, I felt even more emotional.
"Hebei is a flat river." Han Dang sighed slightly. "But compared with outside the Great Wall, there are still more rivers. While the cavalry is roaming here, they must also explore the geography in advance to prevent them from falling into a dead end."
"The land of Hebei is full of fertile fields and farmers. Unexpectedly, it is so rich and prosperous." Lou Gui on the side turned pale because of the jolting of the horse. It took him a long time to regain his composure, and then joined in the chatter. "Guangwu entered Hebei alone.
Based on this, we can look at the world from the Yellow River and dominate the world in twelve years. It is not without reason."
"You..." Gongsun Xun, who had been looking at the Taihang Mountains to the west, couldn't help but shook his head when he heard this. "You are still too young. And he is from the Wanluo clan, and he has high vision and low hand. Although Hebei is the foundation of the king, but
Isn’t it childish to say that this place is rich and prosperous just by looking at people plowing the fields?”
"Fields are the foundation of the world. If you don't care about this, what should you care about?" Lou Gui said unconvinced. "Gongsun Shaojun has just been crowned, so he may not be as mature as me, right?"
"Look at the abandoned babies!" Gongsun Xun said his thoughts seriously. "To see whether a place is rich or prosperous, you must first see whether there are many abandoned babies compared to the population... You must know that reproduction is the key to success.
Human nature is that unless there is really no way to feed them, no family is willing to kill or abandon their own flesh and blood. In today's world, it is nonsense that there are no abandoned babies, but if there are too many abandoned babies in one place, even if it seems
Prosperity is just an illusion!"
Lou Gui lowered his head and said nothing, as if thinking of some situations in his hometown... He had a "Qizhi" very early, and after he became an adult, he kept recruiting desperadoes, because he vaguely noticed that there was something wrong with the world.
It was a sign of collapse, but he had never thought about what was wrong and why.
While I was thinking about it, there was indeed a companion who reciprocated and told in detail the number of abandoned babies in this remote place... This is not the first time these people have done this kind of thing. According to them, this place is actually no different from other places in Jizhou.
Different, the proportion of abandoned babies is frightening.
"I thought about it." Lou Gui asked with a puzzled look on his face. "As Gongsun Shaojun said, when babies are abandoned to a certain extent, the people must be in dire straits... But why does this happen? The fields in Hebei are so fertile.
The business is well developed, and Zhongshan County abolished the state-run county two years ago, and the county governor it uses is also quite virtuous. It seems that he is not someone who can do things that harm the people, right?"
"Since you don't understand, then just let me ask!" Gongsun Xun couldn't help but shook his head and said. In fact, he had written to his mother for advice a long time ago, and learned the logic behind it from her...
But, since I have nothing to do, I might as well accompany Lou Gui for a walk.
It was said that he wanted to ask, but it was not like Lou Gui wanted to ask the farmers in the fields. On the contrary, Gongsun Xun led his men, tall horses, swords and bows, and actually broke into a nearby temple.
The so-called temple does not mean a temple, but refers to a public office, an office, or a public residence. In fact, the temple originated from the temple of Honglu Temple, which also means public office. So a township temple is naturally where the officials of a township live.
It's the office.
When Gongsun Xun and his party broke in directly, the village officials were so shocked that they were at a loss and came out to greet them. Just when Lou Gui was curious about how to ask questions, he saw Gongsun Wenqi pouting at Han Dang.
, the latter suddenly jumped on his horse and carried the leader of the country Qiangfu up, then tucked it under his arm, turned around and left... just like a bandit!
Afterwards, Han Dang left first, and the others pulled out their knives one after another, signaling to the villagers not to move forward, and then slowly followed. Lou Gui was stunned, but there were bright knives on both sides, so he had no choice but to clamp them tightly.
The horse's stomach was full and he quickly followed.
When they reached the small slope before, Han Dang threw the native roser to the ground. Gongsun Xun then signaled to Lou Gui: "We have already invited him, please ask!"
Lou Gui opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't help but look back: "How should I ask?"
Gongsun Xun shook his head repeatedly, and had no choice but to step forward in person, drawing his sword and pointing it at the roser: "I'll ask, and you'll answer. Do you understand?"
Xiangqiangfu was beaten to a pulp and was pointed at with a knife. He didn't dare to say anything and just nodded repeatedly.
"Let me ask you, how many times did your village collect money last year?"
"Seventeen times!" The roser answered extremely neatly.
The so-called money calculation refers to property tax and population tax. The former is called Zi Suan and the latter is called Oral Suan. Both should be collected once a year.
"It's not too much." Gongsun Xun smiled and put away the knife. "You county guards really live up to their reputation..."
"Hold on!" Lou Gui on the side was dumbfounded. "How can you say it's not too much when the money has been levied seventeen times? The poor people just live on a few acres of thin farmland. The calculation of more than a hundred yuan has become
With two thousand dollars, it is natural that the people will not be able to make a living, right? How can the county governor An be called a virtuous person?"
"This county guard is really good." Gongsun Xun corrected helplessly. "During the Wenjing period of the former Han Dynasty, some counties had to calculate money five or six times a year."
"It's indeed good." Han Dang also agreed. "The inland counties have been collected seventeen times. This prefect can indeed be called an upright official..."
"Isn't that right?" Lou Gui became more and more puzzled. "Even if the system collapses, from once to five or six times in a hundred years, and then to ten times in seventy or eighty years...it will not be taxed to seventeen
Times, right?”
Gongsun Xun, Han Dang, and even the few companions behind him all shook their heads and said nothing.
"I understand." Lou Gui seemed to have woken up to something, and then suddenly wanted to draw his sword and point it at the rose man, but when he touched it back, he remembered that he did not have a sword, so he had to dismount and pointed at the man with his finger and shouted, "Your hometown.
How many times have you added it privately?”
"Everyone...here you heroes." The rural Qiangfu, who had regained his energy a little bit, coughed and felt extremely aggrieved. "The calculation of money is not based on the number of times, but on the quota. Yixiang
The number of households and population are there. The number of households and population in a county are also there. The same is true for a county! The county government will not order how many times to collect the money. He only needs to meet the number of households and the population to calculate the money.
It’s fine if you get the account, and the same is true for the county magistrate. Only when you come to our village, you have to do the payment yourself. In order to make up for it..."
"You stay here," Lou Gui heard the question again. "Since the calculation of money is only based on household registration and population, then why do you have to collect it seventeen times to make it consistent? Isn't it enough once?"
The countryman took a peek at Lou Gui, feeling helpless in his heart. Why did he meet such an unsophisticated fool? But even though he took the knife back, it was still in his hand, so he still tried his best to give it.
The answer that everyone knows: "Reporting to this young gentleman, this is because the number of households that can collect money is only one-tenth of the population on the book. In addition, each collection consumes money and food, and it is sent up
There are still many levels of levy, so if you don't collect 17 or 18 times in the countryside, you won't be able to collect the accounts, and if you don't collect enough, your superiors will give you a lower-level evaluation, and you will have no choice but to be dismissed from office..."
"Stay here for a while!" Lou Gui, a scholar from the famous Wanluo clan, felt that his three views had been refreshed. "This land in Hebei is densely populated, and the fields I saw along the way were full of ordinary people. How can I say this?"
What if the account number is less than 11?"
"This young gentleman!" The rural Qiangfu was really helpless. "It's not that the household registration is really insufficient, but that the household registration that can be collected is insufficient! The big households in the countryside have hidden many household registrations and fields. Who dares to go there?
Is it really necessary to collect money from their families? Hasn’t this been the case for many years? Ordinary households have to levy taxes multiple times a year and then go bankrupt. They can only sell themselves and their land to the big families and become their appendages. However, the big families clearly know that
There are more people and more fields, but no one dares to actually collect them, so we can only calculate the lost household registration and then calculate it on other ordinary people... After a hundred years, this calculation has naturally changed from once a year to five or six times, and then again.
It happened more than ten times, and finally ended up like this seventeen or eighteen times... Where are we, the remnant people? It is really the world that has gone awry!"
Lou Gui was stunned.
This is the logic behind annexing land and ruining the world! Even though he already understood the truth in his heart, Gongsun Xun couldn't help but shake his head.
"That's not right!" Lou Gui was a man with brains after all, and he suddenly reacted. "Since you can be a villager, you must be a big family in this village, right? It doesn't matter whether you hide your household registration or dare not come to the door, isn't it?
Don’t you have your own family? And after all, the rural Qiangfu is a well-ranked county official. No matter whether he is taking advantage of others or spending money and food, you have to share in it, right?"
The village Qiangfu had already seen that these people were not really bad guys, so he became more courageous: "This young gentleman invited me. I dare not deny what you said. But, my family is not the only big family in the village? It's nothing more than that."
It’s just meat for the boss and soup for us. Do you know that more than half of the land population in our county belongs to one family, and other so-called big households are just a drop in the bucket compared to this family... Let me tell you, as long as this family is willing to pay their taxes normally
When it comes to money counting, I’m afraid the rural people’s annual money calculation needs to be changed to three to five times a year!”
Gongsun Xun next to him couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "This big family you mentioned is the Zhen family that I am going to be a guest this time?"
Qiangfu's face instantly turned pale.
"That's all!" Gongsun Xun shook his head again, then bent down on his horse and stretched out his hand to pull the other person up. "We are not evil people. We frightened the mayor as a joke, but it was not what I was waiting for..."
"You absolutely don't dare!" Mr. Xiang Qiang didn't dare to say more.
"If you are frightened this time and feel unwell when you go back, please come to Zhen's house tonight or tomorrow to look for me. If you can't find me, you can just go to Zhen Yi from Zhen's house..."
"Don't you dare!" Xiangqiangfu's face was almost ashen.
"Actually, this is not the case." Gongsun Xunfu turned to look at Lou Gui again. "It is your family and mine, a Wanluo family, a Liaoxi family, how can they be spared? The world is falling apart, and no one is innocent.
But we need to be clear-minded!"
"I've learned a lesson." Lou Gui suddenly seemed lost.
"Don't you dare!" Seeing that Gongsun Xun ignored him, the country rose man knelt down and knelt down to beg for mercy.
"What's the matter with you?" Han Dang frowned and asked. "My young master has not even spoken to you... Besides, I held you hostage before, and you never kowtowed when I pointed several knives at you.
Now that I’m letting you go, why are you kowtowing again?”
"I really didn't know that all of you are descendants of rich families, and are friends of the Zhen family..." The country rose man kowtowed faster. "It's nonsense, please don't take it seriously!"
"I'm not a person who doesn't know the importance of things. You can go back in peace and save your fellow village officials from being anxious." Gongsun Xun shook his head repeatedly and then rode away, no longer caring about what the village rose farmer thought.
The group of people walked through the fields again, and suddenly a clear and clear child's voice could be heard vaguely in their ears: "It is better to bear two thousand stones than to bear the honor of everyone. Two thousand stones, take away my crown; be proud of everyone, take my head. Take away my crown, You Cun
If you take off my head, the crown will not remain!"
When Lou Gui heard this famous old nursery rhyme, he couldn't help but look pale and shook his head when he remembered what he had just heard.
On the other side, Gongsun Xun also frowned, but what he was thinking was different - a large army might be raised in the land of Youbin within a year and a half, and by then Jizhou would inevitably have to collect corvees and apportion military rations.
By then, whether this kind of touching nursery rhyme can still be heard, I'm afraid it will have to be discussed in two ways?
However, when he thought about it, he began to laugh at himself. If this battle could really alleviate the border troubles, then Jizhou would also benefit a lot. Why would he act like a child? Moreover, instead of lamenting here that he is beyond his power.
Instead, it’s better to think about how you can take advantage of the opportunity to make some contributions, and then realize your long-cherished wish of 'working hard to hear and reach the princes, so as to save your life in troubled times' as soon as possible!
"In the past, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Han Dynasty, there were people with the surnames Xigao and Donggao in Zhuo County. Everyone from the county officials on down were afraid of them and no one dared to fight with them. Xian said: 'I would rather bear two thousand stones than bear a noble family.' A hundred years later,
Taizu passed through Hebei and saw that people's livelihood was difficult. He heard the old rumor passed down by a boy on the roadside again. He stopped his horse beside him and sighed for a long time. Lou Gui and Han Dang were beside him. They avoided the left and right and said sarcastically: "The world is falling apart.
When a hero is using force, you should encourage him. Taizu reprimanded him: "The fields are barren, the people are struggling to make a living, and they don't want to serve the country, so how can they talk about themselves?" Gui, you should be ashamed and retreat." - "Old Book of Yan"
》Volume 1. The Chronicles of Emperor Taizu Wu
PS: Here comes the recommendation again. Thank you to the editor. There is also a new book group. Interested students can add it, 684558115.
