"When people have land, they can be self-sufficient and no longer work for the powerful, ensuring that every family has surplus food." This sentence was what Li Ru wrote to Li Dan in his heart.
Gao Gan nodded, "I heard that the king is coming to Bingzhou, but I don't know when he will come back."
Li Dan shook his head and said: "How could we predict the King's whereabouts? We will arrive in Fenyang soon, let's speed up!"
Gao Gan turned around and waved behind him.
Then dozens of war horses galloped over. The two got on their horses and, escorted by their personal guards, quickly headed towards Fenyang City.
At the same time, Zhang Xiu led more than 30 people to Fenyang City.
Fenyang City belongs to Xihe County.
Zhang Xiu was in plain clothes and lightly dressed, so he naturally wanted to carefully examine the actual situation in Bingzhou. If the high official was only Yang Xian of the Ming Dynasty in later records, it would mean that his heart was not useful.
It was already afternoon when we entered the city.
But Fenyang City was bustling with people selling goods and passing merchants. After Bingzhou was included in the territory, people began to have late night snacks and no longer opened the market in a centralized manner, but traded freely.
Most of the people who come to Bingzhou to sell are vendors from Guanzhong, Hetao and other places. Because Bingzhou has just been opened up, many of the things brought by Chang'an and Hetao are new gadgets, such as juices, etc., which are welcomed by the people of Bingzhou, and the business is very good. good.
The journey was dusty and hungry.
After entering the city, we stayed at an inn, ordered food, and sat against the second-floor window, sipping tea and watching the pedestrians coming and going below. Zhang Gan, who was sitting opposite, smiled and said: "Bingzhou is not bad under the governance of senior officials! It is crowded with people."
Zhang Xiu smiled: "Not long after Bingzhou was pacified, most of the people coming and going were merchants. The main reason is to see the quality of life of the people in Bingzhou."
Just as the two were talking, a voice sounded next to them.
"Hey! Don't tell me, our Prince Jing is really capable. He exchanged grain for our land and gave it to those untouchables for farming. What's the difference between this and our past?" came a voice, Zhang Xiu's My heart suddenly sank, and I turned around to see a man in his forties, dressed gorgeously, with a red face, he must be drunk.
The people nearby agreed: "Of course there is a difference. We don't need to think about the food given to the untouchables. They farm the land and still have to pay us food. It says the tax is 30% per acre, so why should we add more to them?" Thirty percent, sixty percent per acre, and the remaining 40% is enough to prevent those untouchables from starving to death."
"Yes! That's the truth!" The red-faced man laughed, "Who said that our Prince Jing is against us nobles? I think it is for the good of our nobles! Who doesn't know that this world belongs to the nobles? Prince Jing wants to get it The world must have our support.”
"I heard that the official position of Bingzhou has not been decided yet!"
A voice rang out, and the whole inn fell silent for a moment. Everyone looked around and saw an old man in his fifties, holding a cane: "If you want to collect 30% more taxes from the untouchables, then the officials of Bingzhou must be from Bingzhou. Listen. He said Gao Jishi will come to Fenyang soon, and we must fight for the position of county magistrate of Fenyang City."
Zhang Xiu's face became cold as he listened.
Unexpectedly, his national policy of benefiting the country and the people would change the taste of these nobles and become a means of harming the people.
"King... calm down!" Zhang Qian almost shouted, but shut up instantly.
Zhang Xiu stared at him and asked, "Is this kind of situation only in Bingzhou, or does it happen all over the country?"
Zhang Qian felt terrified in his heart when Zhang Xiu stared at him, and he hesitated and said: "The national policy of large grain savers has just been implemented. The nobles in Liangzhou are doing well, with only 10% more harvest. The Yizhou people, like Bingzhou, have 30% more."
"How come I don't know? Don't Jia Xu and the others also know?" Zhang Xiu was furious, his low voice still filled with a terrifying aura.
Zhang Gan was so frightened that he almost knelt down and muttered: "This is the information from the shadow guard. Li Xiang and the others just learned about it. The younger one heard it through the grapevine."
Zhang Xiu stopped talking and listened with a livid face.
If he only harvested 10% more grain, he would just turn a blind eye. After all, if the water is clear, there will be no fish. There cannot be all honest officials in the world, even Jia Xu, Li Ru, and Liu Ye. They all must have selfish motives. If it was really not selfish at all, Zhang Xiu would not dare to use it.
But the officials in Bingzhou went too far.
So Zhang Xiu gave Zhang Qian a look and signaled him to speak.
As a result, just as Zhang Qian was about to speak, he heard someone next to him say: "My dear friend, our Prince Jing's implementation of national policies is really for the benefit of the people. The national tax revenue is 30%. If we add another 10%, it is already a lot. How dare you add more?" Thirty percent? If the king finds out, his head will be lost."
"Ah!"
The red-faced man rolled up his sleeves, with disdain on his face, "I, Chen Yun, are not bragging. In this world of Fenyang, I, the Chen family, are a local snake. Even if he is a high-ranking official, he must do what we want, otherwise , hum! His national policy will not be implemented."
"Pah!" Someone stood up and slapped the table, yelling angrily: "Chen Yun, you are so brave!"
This drink shocked the inn into silence for an instant.
Then, a group of officers and soldiers rushed in from the door of the inn and faced everyone in the inn with murderous intent.
Zhang Gan's eyes were shining and he whispered: "Master, it's Gao Gan and Li Dan."
Zhang Xiu nodded and said nothing.
I immediately knew in my heart that the high-ranking cadres said it lightly in the memorial, but the actual implementation was so difficult. Every local noble family had its own little ninety-nine, and it was time-consuming and laborious to rectify it.
Suddenly thinking about Bu Zhe, I am afraid it will be more difficult for him in Yizhou.
Then I heard the voice of a senior official: "The king implements national policies to benefit the country and the people, but you actually want to enrich your own pockets. Huh, you still want local people to be officials. Do you want to harm the people by integrating officials and gentry?" "
The inn was quiet and no one spoke.
Chen Yun, who had been talking loudly just now, suddenly sobered up a lot and didn't dare to speak anymore.
"Chen Yun!" The senior official called by name, "Aren't you the Chen family's local gangsters? Okay, I'll send military orders right now to see if the walls of your Chen family's manor are stronger, or the military power of my tens of thousands of troops!"
Chen Yun's face turned pale with fright, and he said softly: "Governor Gao misunderstood, I'm just talking nonsense, please forgive me."
The old man in his fifties straightened his back and said: "Master Gao, all our nobles have handed over their land. Although we have become a large grain store, our grain and grass income has dropped sharply every year compared with before. Is it possible? Let us Can’t you go beg for food?”
Gao Gan stared at him: "Who are you?"
The old man was full of confidence: "Wang Ying, branch of the Wang family in Jinyang, head of the Wang family in Fenyang."
Gao Gan had a gloomy look on his face and angrily said, "The Wang family in Jinyang has become a major grain storer and is in charge of half of Bingzhou's grain and grass. Aren't you satisfied?"
The old man said: "That belongs to Jinyang, I only care about our Fenyang. The officials of Fenyang must be selected from my Fenyang city, otherwise, we will jointly file a petition to the king!"
Gao Qian's face turned pale with anger: "You want to sue the king, okay! Then you go and sue! I want to see if the king believes me or you, the ruthless and powerful nobles!"
The old man wore a beard and said: "Sue if you sue!"
"No!"
Zhang Xiu spoke. There was a deep chill in the plain voice, making everyone in the inn shiver subconsciously.
