After entering Weinan, Li Dan suddenly stopped leaving and stayed in the post house on the pretext that he was too tired from the journey. Only Wen Zhou and others led the team of merchants and scholars to advance to Xi'an and settle down.
This suddenly disrupted everyone's arrangements. The chief envoy Jiang Cunli, the envoy Wei Chuang (chuang, pronounced classmate), the commander-in-chief Shen You, the left political councilor Wu Xianzhe, the prefect of Xi'an Meng Jiping, and the garrison general Lu Chengyuan were all sitting together in confusion and could not guess. I wonder what this upstart has in mind.
"Is he using this to express some kind of dissatisfaction?" Wei Lu guessed.
"Normally it shouldn't be." Jiang Cunli shook his head: "The situation is urgent, Luochuan is in a hurry, the money in the market is expensive, and the popularity is fierce... He is here to run an errand, how can there be any reason to sit back and watch?"
"Yes, the emperor is more anxious than he is!" Wu Xianzhe nodded in agreement: "With all this chaos and lack of clarity, how can we collect summer taxes this year?" Taxation is his responsibility, so this man is most anxious about this matter.
Shen You didn't say anything. He was the more thoughtful one among the others. Yesterday, a fast horse rushed to deliver the imperial envoy's instructions: the entire territory of Shaanxi is closed and all crossings are closed! The so-called sealing of passes and ferries means that all passes and ferries are closed, with no entry but no exit!
Shaanxi is a place with high mountains in the north, low mountains in the middle, and mountains in the south. The so-called Guanzhong refers to this "middle-low" area, which was called "Jingzhao" in ancient times.
Hanzhong is also somewhat flat, but it is surrounded by mountains, and the flat area is much smaller than that of Guanzhong, so Liu Bang is not willing to be the king of Hanzhong, and he is holding back on leaving Chencang to seize Guanzhong.
There is Sanguan Pass (Dasanguan Pass) in the west, Hangu Pass and Tongguan Pass in the east, Wuguan Pass and Languan Pass in the south, and Xiaoguan Pass in the north. There are also passes on the main roads, such as Poluozhai (Sanguan Road) that must be passed from Guanzhong to Hanzhong, Jinsuoguan and Shimen in Tongchuan, Shizuiyi in Yanbei, etc.
All the passes are closed, and Shaanxi becomes a rat cage that cannot be entered or exited, with several compartments in the middle. You could run into any cubicle without getting caught.
Looking at this posture, Shen You knew that the imperial envoy was going to do something cruel. In that case, he was not in a hurry. He took the 200,000 taels of silver in his hand and quickly made up for the recruitment training. .
Although he is a bit greedy, he is not stupid. When someone came to tell him, the Imperial Envoy said that as long as he cooperated, the bad things in the past would be forgotten. At worst, his position in the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army could still be saved.
With this reassurance, he also said hello to his generals, please be honest and cooperative, otherwise I will not protect you! So Shen You feels the most relaxed sitting here.
As money goes up, morale will naturally improve. What does it matter if you like to enter Xi'an or not? He even found it funny that these civil servants were too sentimental!
The prefect, Meng Jiping, was very embarrassed. He had already agreed with Anjia, a big grain merchant, to use his garden as the governor's residence. But when Gao Qianhu, the governor of Daqianzhan, came yesterday, he said that the imperial envoy had agreed to live in the salt merchant Yan Xin's villa. .
After the meeting today, Magistrate Meng had to rush to apologize to others. After all, none of the five "Zhao Yan, Zhang and Liu An" could afford to offend anyone.
The garrison general Lu Chengyuan was very conflicted and couldn't decide which way to go. His relative, the Minister of Civil Affairs, sent someone to ask him to try to put on small shoes for Li Dan to embarrass him.
However, Governor Hou, who had been favored by his promotion, wrote sincerely in the letter: There are too few civil servants who do not discriminate against generals, especially this person who has won the trust of the emperor. You must seize the opportunity to get closer to him. My left and right hands are full of flesh, what should I do?
I was thinking wildly when I suddenly heard Zuo Shenzheng say: "Brother Yide (also known as Jiang Cunli), why don't I go to Weinan and at least test him out to see what he means. What do you think?"
Jiang Cunli sighed sadly: "Why should Hesheng (Wu Xianzhe) force himself?"
"I'm really worried. Sitting here, I can't eat enough and can't sleep."
A third-rank official has to rush to visit a fifth-rank official. Even though Li Dan nominally participates in politics as a fourth-rank official, in principle it doesn't make sense.
But everyone is waiting for the imperial envoy to come and make up his mind. In this situation, no one dares to express opinions or make up his mind. The entire Shaanxi government is in a state of silence. If the pass and ferry are blocked again, hey! It's a prison that holds tens of millions of people.
It's strange that this kind of thing should be regarded as cutting by others.
It was said that Li Dan had conspired against the emperor, but Li Dan didn't know how to persuade him, and his majesty actually acquiesced to his plan.
Faced with the abnormality, everyone instinctively raised their feathers. Who would have thought that the person didn't come close at all and just washed and slept on the spot, leaving everyone and all preparations almost in danger.
"That's alright," Jiang Cunli finally nodded: "Then... just take a hard trip with Sheng."
"My lord, wait a minute." Wei Chu stopped him and said, "Since Hesheng represents the chief envoy, why not let the prefect or the garrison come over to relieve the embarrassment and also express a welcoming attitude on behalf of our military men in Shaanxi."
"Well, that makes sense!"
Shen You cursed in his heart, this Wei Lu knew how to figure people out, and he acted like this, as if I didn't say anything because he didn't welcome the imperial envoy.
He thought, anyway, the imperial envoy left the banknote here for me, you can do whatever you want with it! So he didn't speak even more.
Lu Chengyuan took a look and realized that he wanted me to be a general. He didn't dare to poke Master Shen directly, so he ordered me to go on this trip. He glanced at Shen You's expression, put on a smile and handed over his hands: "Then I will obey."
When Jiang Cunli and Wei Cuo saw that he took the initiative, they both nodded with satisfaction.
Stopping in Weinan, Li Dan had his own plans. He was not sure that he had control of Xi'an Mansion, so he didn't want to rush in rashly.
Lin Yutang and the others, who arrived early, had already started working. Lin Yutang publicly revealed his identity as Imperial Envoy Li's staff, so he quickly got into the circle of officials.
He had previously served as the chief clerk of Yu Gan, and later acted as agent for Jinxi County, so he was very handy in the officialdom. He had already sent two pieces of research information on the officialdom of Shaanxi.
Liu Qize hid behind the scenes and conducted detailed investigations on market activity, commodity circulation, and currency conflicts;
Under the introduction of Master Tiedao, Xiao Gui made friends with some middle and lower-level officers of Kunwu Army and Wu'an Army, and learned from them about the problems existing in the army and the situation related to combat strength.
Li Tiedao secretly began to weave an intelligence network in Shaanxi, while Gao Fei appeared semi-publicly as the special commissioner of Shaanxi of the Staff Division, and used the Staff Division to conduct reconnaissance and learn about the situation of Huang Daoism, Yeerqiang, and Tubo.
Li Dan stopped for the purpose of waiting for Zhou Zheng, Wei Xiong, and Dou Jiong to catch up. They wanted to assist Zifangsi in launching a comprehensive surveillance and investigation of the Zodiac Sect.
Li Dan is "recuperating" at home and rarely gets to spend more time with A Ying. They spend less time together and stay apart more often, so that they are not unfamiliar, but they like to stick together more recently.
His adopted son Cunshi had already begun to learn calligraphy. Li Dan held him and sat on his lap every day, watching him draw red, softly telling him what he could do to write better, and encouraging him by applauding or cheering when his writing improved.
Wu was doing needlework while talking to Aying. When they heard his loud praise, they both looked up and smiled.
"Sir, don't praise him like this, you're spoiling this kid!" Mrs. Wu said, and called her son: "Come down quickly, he's already so big. Aren't you afraid of suppressing your foster father?"
"How can he hold me down? But this kid is getting heavier and heavier. It will be hard to say in another year." Li Dan stood up with a smile, let the little guy continue practicing by himself, and came to the table to drink water.
After all these years, he is still not used to drinking tea elegantly. Of course, when hanging out with officials, he still drinks boiled water more often at home.
"Yingniang, you are a good teacher! I heard from Cunshi that he has finished studying all the textbooks for the third grade of Yu Gan Elementary School? Darling, that's amazing! I have to give him a test when I have time!"
"Do you still need to take the test?" Aying rolled her eyes at him and said, "I took last year's paper and tried it. I got 90 points in Chinese, 100 points in arithmetic, 89 points in geography and 92 points in nature."
"As an examiner who is a foster mother, you are not going to let anyone off the hook, are you?"
"Nonsense, how could I do that kind of thing?" Aying smiled and glared at her husband, then suddenly remembered: "We will meet Master Iron Knife in Xi'an. It's time for him to continue learning martial arts."
"Ah?" Cunshi heard and grinned: "Father, I am so busy learning so many things every day, can I not learn martial arts? How about you let Uncle Shitou teach me, okay?"
"No! That guy Shitou can't be cruel to you. Jingjiao's fancy tricks and embroidered legs are all useless on the battlefield!" Li Dan retorted unceremoniously:
"Your father is such a hero, I can't be a showy civil servant for you. Remember, kid, you will be on your own in the future. Who will be willing to obey you if you don't have the ability?"
"That's right, learn from your adoptive father. Don't those weak-handed officials behave obediently in front of him?" After Mrs. Wu finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of Cao Junyou walking towards the door, and immediately gave Li Dannu a mouthful.
"Sir, two officials came from Xi'an and asked to see them. Mr. Wu invited them to the living room. Did you see them or not?" After speaking, Cao Zhongjun handed over two famous assassins.
Li Dan opened it and took a look. It's quite novel to see this thing for the first time. It can be regarded as an ancient business card. But after seeing too much, he became less excited. He thought for a moment and whispered:
"Probably they came to see what I was doing. The guys in Xi'an were really worried about it. Anyway, let's condescend to go and see you." Cao Jun secretly made a face, thinking that a left counselor and a general, you are still the Condescend to meet.
However, when he returned to the living room, he still held up his hands with a smile on his face and said, "My lords, the imperial envoy was already changing his clothes when he heard that you arrived. Please sit down for a moment."
It was Wu Xianzhe and Lu Chengyuan who came. They were received by Wu Mao. Wu Xianzhe had long heard that Mr. Wu beside Li Sanlang was his most effective adviser, so he did not dare to underestimate him and was carefully trying to get some useful information from Wu Mao.
Wu Mao learned that he was concerned about this year's summer taxes, and smiled and told him that there was no need to worry at all. The imperial envoy came prepared and all these things had been considered.
As he spoke, Wu Mao asked him about the two tax payments in the province in previous years, and learned that the biggest problem in Shaanxi was population migration and seclusion.
Population mobility is easy to understand. This province has many mountainous plateaus. It is difficult for people to find relatives and friends, buy and sell, and transport them if they go into the valleys. Who knows whether the pedestrian on the road has ever paid taxes?
If taxes are only levied on a fixed population, not only will there be omissions, but it will also lead to more complaints due to unfairness. According to Mr. Wu, there are people who get into fights with public servants and are arrested for this every year.
The so-called hidden households are those who donate their land to a family that has obtained the tax-free policy, and then avoid taxes under the shelter of his family, and then use some of their income to benefit the patron.
This dynasty is not as careless in doing things as the previous Ming Dynasty that Li Dan knew. It does not have the confusing policy of Lao Zhu, who waved his hand and scholars were exempted from taxes as long as they were scholars, and the royal family was exempted from taxes, but exemptions and exemptions still exist.
The royal family only has to pay half of the tax, Dukes and above are exempted from the tax, those with meritorious status are taxed at half of the tax, and those with Jinshi and ninth-rank officials are exempted from the tax.
Therefore, some people have obtained the convenience of tax evasion under the wings of these people, and in recent years, with the continuous reclamation of wasteland, more and more people have done so, because this dynasty did not have the "never add science" to new lands like the Ming Dynasty. Promise of.
"So, how much tax loss do you think this will cause?" Wu Mao asked.
"Well, to be honest, if every detail is collected and collected, there should be no problem in increasing taxes in this province by another 40%. But..." Wu Xianzhe looked at Wu Mao: "Sir, do you know why no one is pursuing these matters?"
Wu Mao smiled: "I'm just worried about civil unrest."
"Wow!" Wu Xianzhe was relieved. He was afraid that this persuasive imperial envoy would demand credit from the whole province for his performance, and Shaanxi would be in trouble.
There was the sound of footsteps in the back hall, and everyone stood up. Cao Jun appeared first, raised the curtain with one hand and shouted loudly: "My lords, the imperial envoy, Lord Li, has arrived!"
Wu and Lu were stunned for a moment. They didn't expect the introduction to be so short. Shouldn't they report all their official titles to show dignity and dignity?
Then they saw a tall, strong young man appear at the door. He was wearing a jade hair crown, a shawl, and an elegant outfit with arrow sleeves soaring in. He cupped his hands to them and said with great energy:
"My lower official, Li Dan, was ordered to go to the borders of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia on official business, and I met these two gentlemen. I'm so lucky, so lucky!"
The host and guest sat down and exchanged greetings. Li Dan looked at Wu Xianzhe and asked, "This accent sounds so familiar. Where are you from, sir?"
"A person from Kaicheng, North Korea of the Xiaguan Dynasty, whose fathers moved to Liaoyang and later became naturalized (referring to naturalization after marrying a local woman), so they participated in the scientific examination with Liaodong citizenship."
"Oh, no wonder this accent is so familiar. I'm from Liaodong.
There are very few people who take part in the scientific examination. It is rare and rare for an adult to not only win but also achieve such a high position! "
This matter was Wu Xianzhe's most proud moment in his life. When he received praise from everyone, his face turned into a flower. He thought to himself that this young imperial envoy really has a good idea. He actually found out my details beforehand and deliberately mentioned the old man's teaching. Having fun will make you a better person.
"My lord, Heng Dao, immediately saved Liaodong and blocked Kerr's 200,000 troops. It is said that he also saved my family and the village. I should express my gratitude to your lord!"
As Wu Xianzhe stood up and bowed deeply to Li Dan, Li Dan hurriedly stepped forward to help him, and the atmosphere in the room was extremely harmonious.
Sitting down again, Li Dan picked up a tureen and drank tea. When Wu Xianzhe saw it, he had to take the initiative to talk: "We, the officials and the people of Xi'an, are all looking forward to the imperial envoy. I wonder when Mr. Li will go to Fucheng? Once he gets the letter, we can be prepared to welcome him."
"Oh, this, don't worry. Just wait." After saying that, Li Dan put down the bowl in his hand.
Wu and Lu looked at each other in confusion after hearing this. The smile on Wu Xianzhe's face gradually faded, and he frowned and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Li, but what did I do wrong, or are you dissatisfied, or do you have other considerations?"
