"I'll give you half a moment to think about it.∑.∑"
After shouting this last sentence, Zhao Hongrun walked down the high platform and stood with Bailiba, Zongwei Shen Yu, Wuwei Chen Shi and others who were helping him, looking at the 50,000 Chu army like a sea of people. Prisoners, waiting for them to make a choice.
In fact, for those Chu soldiers, there was nothing to consider at all. The land tax of the Wei State was two tenths, and the Chu State had to extract a layer of benefits from the kings who ruled the fiefdoms, so that the land tax was as high as five tenths. This meant that What are you wearing?
This means that the farmers of Chu State have worked hard for a year, but they can only harvest half of the harvest. Of the other half of the profits, Chu State collects 30% through taxation. This is understandable. Although this 30% national tax is relatively small. Other countries are so much higher than 10%, but it is not unacceptable. But what is terrible is that the king of the city who rules the fiefdom has to collect additional taxes on the basis of these three tithes, which is the city tax. This is Chu The fundamental reason for the widespread poverty of lower-class farmers in the country.
In the final analysis, it is still a matter of national differences.
For example, in the Kingdom of Wei, although many members of the Ji family have their own territories, it is at best a small city they built with their own money, covering an area of only a few miles. It can only be described as a luxurious and luxurious manor. .
The princes and nobles of the Ji family just eat and drink wildly in their own one-third of an acre of land, and no one cares about them.
Furthermore, these princes and nobles of the Ji family do not have the right to levy additional taxes from nearby counties or villages. Their expenses are all allocated by the clan government. This is regarded as normal national consumption for support. These people of the royal family.
This amount of money is neither too much nor too little. Although it is enough to meet the consumption of the house, it is not enough to be too extravagant. As for the Ji family who are rich and can often spend a lot of money, most of them have their own industries in various places. It is run with the help of my staff.
Therefore, although the Ji family of Wei controlled the money-making industries of Wei, it did not directly harm the interests of most Wei farmers because there was no direct connection between the two.
However, the Xiong family of the Chu State is different. The Chu State adopts a fiefdom system. That is to say, the King of Chu will grant a piece of land to his nephew of the Xiong family, such as Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng. Every year, Xiong Tuo should pay to the King of Chu. Thirty-three percent of the national tax, and besides that, how many extra benefits can you get? It all depends on your ability.
Because of this system, the Xiong royal family of Chu State spared no effort to plunder the Chu people in their fiefdom. In comparison, the Ji family's children of Wei State still have their own livelihood, and these Xiong royal family of Chu State are simply They are blood-sucking maggots, trying to drain the people of the fief at all costs for their own luxurious enjoyment.
Of course, not all the Xiong clan is like this, such as Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng. This is a relatively ambitious Lord of the city. Not only did he only collect only 10% of the town tax, but he also used this tax to It was used to form an army and was used in the wars with Fenxing fortress of Wei State over the years. In addition, it was also used to buy horses from the neighboring country of Ba to the west.
Don't look at the fact that Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, only has one hundred and two war horses on hand to reward the generals and bodyguards. Looking at the entire Chu State, there is actually no king who holds hundreds of war horses.
Firstly, Chu State does not produce good horses, and secondly, buying good horses from Ba State is expensive. As for thirdly, for most of the Xiong family nobles in Chu State, riding a horse is not as good as riding a large sedan chair carried by more than a dozen people. Classy?
But even if Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, set the total national tax and town tax at four tithes, it was still twice as high as Wei's national tax of two tithes.
Exactly twice as much!
This means that the farmers in Chu State have more food in storage to survive the cold winter, so that they will not starve in the winter, and they do not have to worry about the men who are the breadwinners of the family in order to advance the winter rations for that year. He had to join the army in exchange for a "settlement allowance".
Take Wu Ji as an example. He used to have a father and two older brothers, but now he is the only adult male in the family. How many people does he have to support? An old mother who is sick in bed, and two widows. He has a sister-in-law, a pair of younger brothers, a younger sister, and younger nephews and nieces. He has to support seven or eight people by himself.
This is also the reason why the people of Chu State are particularly enthusiastic about investing, because if they don't join the army, their family will really not be able to survive.
Of course, the "settlement allowance" given by Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo can only support the family through the winter that year. They will still have to endure hunger in the coming year, and at this time, an additional sum of money is needed. source of money.
If you can tenaciously survive one battle after another and plunder as much property as possible from the people of Wei, that is naturally the best. If not, unfortunately, you die on the battlefield, then you can only be like Wu Ji's family. The father died in the battle, the eldest brother went up, the eldest brother died in the battle, the second brother went up, the second brother died in the battle, Wu Ji went up, until all the men in the family died.
At that time, in order to make a living, Wu Ji's two sisters-in-law may have no choice but to sell themselves at a low price. Wu Ji's younger brother and younger sister may also be sold to a wealthy family at a low price, and their status will be even worse than that of a domestic slave. .
This is no joke, this is a common portrayal of the poor people in Chu State.
Therefore, compared with Chu State's heavy taxes, the treatment proposed by Zhao Hongrun was simply very attractive to those Chu soldiers: reclaim wasteland at will, tax exemption for the first three years, and national tax of 10% after three years, no town tax, and no There are other messy taxes, and what makes them even more excited is that even if they can't pay the tax, they can still use corvee instead and repay the tax to the local government by doing hard work. This means that no family will pay the tax. A family starves to death because of taxes.
This is simply an extremely benevolent policy!
"how do you say?"
A heart-thumped Chu soldier secretly discussed with his companions next to him.
He saw his companion looking at him like a thief, and asked in a low voice: "Speak first."
"You say it first."
"You say it first."
In fact, they were already moved, but they just didn't dare to speak first. After all, if you say so, surrendering to Wei is also a surrender to the enemy, which is not very honorable.
Finally, after looking at each other for a long time, one of the Chu soldiers couldn't help but whisper: "Two tithes... Even if it is ten acres of land, you can still have a lot of money left over in a year, right?"
"More than that." Another Chu soldier lowered his voice and said, "Didn't King Xiao Su of the Wei Kingdom say that as long as you have the strength, the wasteland can be reclaimed by you, twenty acres, thirty acres, whatever you want... …And it’s tax-free for the first three years.”
Their low-pitched conversation also attracted the attention of several nearby Chu soldiers.
No. Another Chu soldier complained in a low voice: "Why is it that our Chu country's tax is as high as ten-five or four-tenths, while Wei's country only has two-tenths?"
"Why else?" Another Chu soldier sneered disdainfully: "Have you never seen the city where Lord Xiang Cheng lived? Hey!"
The surrounding Chu soldiers were silent when they heard this. In fact, they were not fools. How could they not understand the root cause?
"The problem is, the words of Mr. Xiaoyi can't be trusted." An older veteran reminded with some concern.
As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier of the former Xiong Hu Army defended Zhao Hongrun in a low voice: "The State of Wei does not implement the title of king of the city, but just confers some kind of king. The person just now is the Su King of the Wei State."
"King, can I be granted the title at will?" A Chu soldier who didn't know the state of Wei State interrupted in confusion. After all, in their Chu State, the King of Chu was the only king.
"Of course it's not a casual seal. Haven't you heard that King Su is the son of King Wei? He is equivalent to our Lord Yangcheng... A big shot with such a noble status shouldn't be able to speak, right?"
Similar small group discussions generally occurred in every place where the 50,000 Chu soldiers captured. Almost all the Chu soldiers were seriously thinking about this matter. After all, it was related to their lives. It was also related to the future of their family members. living situation.
Think about it, if you can support your family just by farming, who would be willing to put their head in their waistband and risk their lives to go to war for a little money?
Half a quarter of an hour passed quickly. Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun stepped onto the high platform again, cleared his voice, and shouted loudly: "Okay, I believe you have considered it carefully. Then... those who intend to submit to me, the Wei Dynasty, Just follow the order and go around the edge of the pit to the open space over there."
Hearing Zhao Hongrun's voice, the murmurs of the fifty thousand Chu soldiers soon stopped.
The Chu soldiers who were closest to the giant pit stood up from the ground at the signal of the nearby Wei soldiers. According to Zhao Hongrun, they slowly walked along the edge of the giant pit towards the open space outside.
It can be seen that the Chu soldiers who were walking at the front were probably under a lot of psychological pressure. They lowered their heads, hesitated, and looked a little ashamed. But after they made their decision, the Chu soldiers behind them were mentally stressed. The pressure will be much less.
It’s no wonder, after all, people are accustomed to following suit. When most people make the same decision, even if there is something controversial about the decision, their psychological burden will be much lighter, and even gradually turn into peace of mind. :Look, I’m not the only one who thinks so, everyone thinks so.
One by one, the Chu soldiers walked towards the other open space along the edge of the huge pit. As a result, more than 5,000 Chu soldiers walked through the scene, but not a single Chu soldier was willing to die in the huge pit.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand. After all, these Chu soldiers were all soldiers "bought" by Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng before the war. Most of them were originally farmers from Chu State, and they had no intention of following Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng. In the past, due to military regulations, they did not dare to flee, but now the king of Yangcheng, Xiong Tuo, has long fled without a trace. It is Zhao Hongrun, the Su King of Wei, who has made the decision. How can they return to Chu State? That's true.
Even some Chu soldiers are still thinking: When this battle is over, we will become citizens of the Wei Dynasty. By then, we will say goodbye to Chu State and Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo. So what if we become deserters? What if we surrender to the enemy? How about it? Only a fool would return to Chu State for the light tax of Wei State!
Zhao Hongrun was not surprised by the decision of these Chu soldiers who were at the bottom of the army. After all, not all armies had a strong sense of cohesion and military honor like Junshui Camp and Dangshan Camp.
Soldiers, corps commanders, commanders, and generals with hundreds of people are not a problem. The problem is those generals with five hundred people, one thousand generals, or even two thousand generals, or three thousand generals.
Zhao Hongrun was not sure whether these people were willing to surrender to the Wei Dynasty.
Even if these people were willing to surrender to the Wei Dynasty, Zhao Hongrun would not believe it easily.
It seems that we still have to invite Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu...
Zhao Hongrun grinned.
Although Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's injury has not yet healed, there is no other way. It's time to use him again. (To be continued.)