The county office returned to its former tranquility.
In the early morning, crows stood on the ridge of the roof and watched the scenery leisurely, and birdsong came from the branches from time to time.
In Weijili, Guo Huan placed several volumes of documents on Yin Liang's case.
"Yin Lu has reviewed the affairs. These are the hidden land records of each family. They were all handled by young people back then. I dare say they are more familiar with them than they themselves are."
Yin Liang never mentioned that Guo Huan was called back by the Guo family at that time. He could understand it for the sake of the women and children at home.
He picked it up and looked through it for a while, then asked casually: "The households were very happy about the division of land and household expansion. However, many fleeing households would rather hide in high-level households than return to the households. What do you think? Do?"
Guo Huan pondered for a moment and responded: "In the twelfth year of Kaiyuan, after Yu Wenrong was appointed as the envoy of Kuodi, the imperial court issued the "Edict of Setting up an Envoy to Encourage Farmers", which exempted the refugees from regular taxes after registering their household. Rong was demoted, and this policy existed in name only... However, the imperial court did not explicitly abolish this policy, so the county captain could be exempted from the taxes of the newly added citizens."
“If so, how to reduce the burden on existing registered households?”
"Even if the county office exempts the newly registered residents from taxes, it will still receive more taxes, because after the land is cleared, large households cannot hide taxes. In fact, the tax revenue of our government is only two stones per hundred acres. The problem lies in the land and the administration..."
Since Guo Huan was able to help various families acquire land skillfully, he naturally understood the twists and turns involved. While they were chatting, his son Guo Jing hurried over and said that Taigong Guo had called him back to his home.
"Call me again?"
"It's Boon who is seriously ill."
Guo Huan then rushed back to Guo Town. As soon as he entered the gate, many people looked at him with contempt and murmured in low voices.
Those voices were whispering, scolding him for always wanting to hand over the Guo family's land to show his loyalty to Xue Bai, but Guo Taigong took it back, and once again fell short because of his betrayal.
It is even said that he was so angry that Taigong Guo fell ill.
Entering the main room and walking around the screen, I saw Taigong Guo lying on the bed, his face turned black and he was dying.
But the dying old man struggled to take a breath and refused to swallow it because he had not seen Guo Huan yet.
"Uncle."
"Come...come..." Guo Taigong waved weakly.
Guo Huan looked at his cousins and saw them standing by the bed with wary eyes, so he stopped stepping forward.
His father died when he was young. Although he was raised by Taigong Guo, he did not intend to divide the family business, so he found a job in the county office and worked there for the rest of his life. Now he is an old man.
"Ah Huan." Taigong Guo shouted again, "After I leave... you will be the leader of the clan..."
"Grandpa! How could this be possible?!"
Guo Huan was still surprised when his cousins started shouting and the main room immediately became noisy.
Taigong Guo still had a lot to say, but he was drowned out by the voices of his sons.
"Guo Huan took refuge with Xue Bai before Thirty-five Lang's revenge was avenged. I don't care about my grandson, but only care about my nephew?!"
"He brought the Guo family into this state..."
Guo Huan watched for a while, then stepped forward, leaned down, and put his ear to Taigong Guo's mouth.
"You are more accurate in judging people than I am. The county captain is by no means an idle person, he must do great things. It's a pity that I made a mistake..."
Taigong Guo was very sorry, but in fact, even if he had to do it over again, he might not be able to win Xue Bai, because many things in the world can only be understood after experiencing them.
Unfortunately, he ran out of time, so he had to hand a piece of jade pendant to Guo Huan.
"Can you do it well?"
Guo Huan thought for a while and responded: "I dare not say anything else. With the ability of the county captain and the connections in the court, I can take charge of a county in such a short period of time. If I were ten years younger, I might be able to Follow him until he is granted the title of Marquis and Prime Minister."
Even if we talk about conferring titles and worshiping prime ministers, what does the dispute over land in a county mean?
"good……"
Taigong Guo looked at his sons.
Guo Huan also turned his head and saw that they were still chattering. When he turned around again, Guo Taigong had already passed away.
The death of the old man means that for the Guo family, it is time to destroy the old and establish the new.
~~
The fields occupied by the Guo family were divided back again.
Back on the official road to the west of Guo Town, County Commissioner Cao Zhaoliu and his men set up a table on the roadside and returned the land deeds to the farmers.
"Liu Cai."
"Here, the villain is. Originally, I wanted the villain to be called 'Liu Cai'. He is illiterate."
Because Zhao Liu had no official authority and still had a smile on his face, Liu Cai finally dared to say a few more words.
"This one." Zhao Liu handed over the land deed, looked up and said, "I have seen you, about Amai's case?"
"Yes, Amai and Xiaoren live in the same village..."
The two sighed for a while, and then Liu returned to the farmhouse.
Now that the deed of sale he signed to the Guo family has been invalidated, his wife and children have also been taken back from the weaving workshop, and they are just plowing and farming day after day.
Carefully hiding the land deed, he picked up a load of fertilizer and water and went to water the land. Walking barefoot in the fields, pouring in fertilizer water one spoon at a time.
In the end, he sat on the edge of the field, thinking about whether to take out Guan Amai's body and order a coffin for burial.
Indeed, he was a little worried that his mother-in-law would not agree to his contribution, so he gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
But when I walked to the place where Guan Amai was buried and wanted to talk, I took a closer look and was stunned.
I saw a few wheat seedlings growing in the field.
But he clearly didn't sow the seeds here. It could only be that the soil where the bodies were dug up and buried contained seeds, and they had strong vitality.
Liu Cai couldn't help but remember that when Guan Amai's grandfather named him, he said, "The wheat must grow well, grow well."
Thinking of his childhood playing in the village, he raised his head wordlessly and looked at the clear sky.
The breeze blew by, and the wheat seedlings on the ground stretched out, looking very free...
~~
When Guo Taigong died, Xue Bai also went to express his condolences.
Several children of the Guo family had prepared some harsh words to prevent Xue Bai from coming to Taiwan. They thought that the county captain was nothing, and they must seek an explanation for Guo Sanwulang's death.
However, from the moment Xue Bai stepped into the Guo family, as soon as the official power was suppressed, they fell silent.
As for Jiang Hai who was following Xue Bai and was the murderer of Guo Sanwulang, no one dared to take another look at this murderer.
Putting aside this trivial matter, the county captain expressed his condolences, which was enough to give Guo Huan face.
It should be noted that Song Zhiti entered the official position as the right-wing general Lin Wei. Linghu Tao did not dare to accuse him. When the verdict was made, he only said that Song Mian secretly minted copper coins and bribed bandits, but Xue Bai did not go to express his condolences to Song Zhiti.
It may seem like a small matter, but it has a profound impact on Yanshi County.
"Young Master." Guo Huan wore sackcloth and mourning, but did not delay his official duties because of his uncle's funeral. He whispered: "Cui Jun, Zheng Bian and others are also here."
"Let's talk here."
"Now that the young man is in power, he needs to make the high-ranking families abide by the rules, use authority to suppress them, and then add them to outsmart them. Cui Jun's third son wants to be a scholar, but his literary talent is mediocre, and Cui Jun is unwilling to manage him. The young master can bribe him..."
With the death of the Song family and the attachment of the Guo family, it will be much easier to deal with other families, not to mention the presence of local old men like Guo Huan.
Xue Bai made them take the first step back, of course, in order to make them take the second step back.
"There is also Magistrate Lu." Guo Huan said again, "He is weak and tactful. The old man has advised him not to think about regaining the city anymore and that it would be better to wait until he is transferred to another place. He listened."
"Um."
When talking about Lu Linghao, Xue Bai only responded with this word, and after talking for a while about the establishment of Tian Kuo Hu, he came out.
Today, the Du sisters planned to go to Luhun Villa, so they came with him. The country roads were not suitable for carriages, so they walked side by side, trusting the reins of the horses and talking as they walked.
"It is impossible to control Luoyang. Now we can control the river mouth below Luoyang. To the north is the Mang Mountains, where we can raise a small number of confidants in Shouyang Mountain to smelt iron, mint coins, and collect grain. To the south is the Luo River, and we can use the river to purchase supplies from the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and develop newspapers. , make flying money... given time, the strength should be no less than that of a high-ranking family."
Xue Bai is responsible for clarifying this idea. If the Du sisters arrange people to do things in this direction, it will be clearer.
Du Jin said: "There are still a few small things that the Song family has not killed yet. Some of the children who are serving as officials will come back soon."
"We can't kill anymore." Du Wei was worried that they would do something crazy again, and quickly reminded: "The court may not be suspicious of the Song family's case, so we should be cautious at this time."
Xue Bai said: "Wouldn't it be nice to have someone come back? We can legitimately control Luhun Villa."
"Yes, I have arranged for someone to go and inquire about it." Du Jin teased, "Have the matters at Luhun Villa sorted out earlier so that you can take the two Miss Lis there for an outing?"
"Want to go on an outing? The weather this year is likely to be a bit dry." Xue Bai naturally changed the subject, "I should have organized people to build canals earlier."
As we talked, we walked eastward for a while. When we were approaching the foot of Shouyang Mountain, we happened to meet a group of people outing.
~~
This area is neither Mangling nor Luoshui, and the scenery is not good. Li Shiniang soon got tired of seeing it. She was arranging her servants to get ready to play polo first, and complained that Li Tengkong and Li Jilan had been sent there earlier. Wangwushan got it.
"You haven't even lived in Luoyang for two days, but you have lived in Yanshi for three days. Do you think others don't know what you are thinking? The reputation of Yuzhen Temple will be ruined by you..."
Li Tengkong and Li Jilan didn't listen to Li Shiniang's nagging at all. They saw Xue Bai and his party coming from a distance, and walked forward to take a look at the scenery.
It was windy outside. Li Jilan straightened his messed up hair, raised his eyes and said in surprise: "Hey, is it Xue Lang?"
"Um?"
Li Tengkong turned his head, wondering about meeting Xue Bai by such a coincidence.
"He is very close to the Du sisters." Li Jilan said.
"A close friend of life and death." Li Tengkong commented, "The Du family saved him, and he also saved the Du family."
The two of them looked at each other and saw that Du Jin was very cheerful. He pulled the reins and wanted to come here, but Xue Bai stopped him. They whispered to each other and didn't know what they said. Du Jin then waved to them and led the people with Du Wei. Went north.
When Xue Bai came over, Li Jilan couldn't help but ask: "Second mother is coming to talk to us, how did Xue Lang stop her?"
"They are busy. I said just go and you won't mind."
"Well, of course I won't mind." Li Jilan nodded vigorously, pinched her skirt, and asked, "Has Xue Lang read the poem I wrote? What do you think?"
"You usually look happy, but the poems you write are filled with sadness, which is strange."
Li Jilan was such a good poet, but she didn't get any insightful advice. She only heard this casual reply, but she was not disappointed at all. She immediately responded: "Because I met Xue Lang."
Fortunately, Li Tengkong understood her well and did not misunderstand her because of this sentence, and even helped her make up for it.
"Of course I'm happy to see old friends again."
Xue Bai was actually very happy. Cars and horses were slow in this world, and it was very rare to meet again after a long absence.
The three of them all smiled, as if they were back in Chang'an, and the not-so-scenery countryside north of Yanshi County seemed to suddenly become interesting.
After chatting for a while, because Yang Qixuan and his wife were watching, and Xue Bai was busy with official duties, they agreed to take them to Shouyang Mountain in a few days, and then left.
Li Jilan watched his figure go away and said: "I used to think that Xue Lang was talented, but now I know that he is compassionate to the people and can govern a country."
"Are you going to use all the words you can praise?"
Li Tengkong responded and saw a group of farmers passing by on the side of the road. Several of them had sick faces. He quickly called for people to summon them and provide them with medical treatment and medicine.
There was a little girl who was only six or seven years old, and her condition was already quite serious. So I asked for her address and planned to go there more often to practice medicine.
Li Shiniang disliked these dirty farmers and murmured in her heart that even if Li Tengkong wanted to stay in Yanshi longer, there was no need to resort to such methods.
Li Tengkong didn't think too much. He stretched out his hand to wipe the stains on the little girl's face, and smiled softly: "When you get better, you will be very beautiful..."
~~
Before Xue Bai could walk far, he glanced back inexplicably.
In his sight, on the other side of the bumpy official road, Li Tengkong, wearing a lotus crown and a brocade and green feather skirt, was squatting in front of a dirty little lady.
The dust and smoke on the ground were blown several times by the wind, and her crown was stained dirty, losing its former noble temperament.
But Xue Bai suddenly discovered that she was actually very beautiful...
"Brother? Brother?"
Looking back, Xue Bai found that Xue Xin ran to him at some point.
"What's the matter?"
"Lao Liang discovered Gao Shang's traces..."
I will post it in two chapters today, but the second chapter will be later. Let’s read it tomorrow morning~~
(End of chapter)
