By the beginning of May, the wheat in Xiangyang and Dengzhou was ripe, and people raced against time to complete the harvest. After a year of hard work, the harvest season that Wang Xiaolie has been waiting for has finally arrived. From top to bottom in several states, there is a busy and cheerful atmosphere everywhere.
On the third day of May, Wang Xiaolie accompanied Wang Ruohai to the outside of Dengzhou City. From now on, the political affairs of Dengzhou will be handed over to Wang Ruohai, while Niu Gao will go to Xinye to join Shao Ling and concentrate on leading troops. However, the officials in Dengzhou, except those who knew the state, were still recruited by Niu Gao and listened to Wang Xiaolie's command.
Niu Gao led his people to welcome him out of the city, surrounded by people from the state.
Come forward and salute. Niu Gao said: "This year the weather is good and the winter wheat harvest is good. The elders of this state are very happy and gathered here to welcome the Zhizhi into the city. Also, in previous years, summer taxes were collected from May 15th. I wonder what this year will be like?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "As usual, we will collect grains from the 15th of May. This year, the dendrobium buckets used to collect grain taxes are all made by the government, and the harvesting time is supervised by the officials. The previous bad habits of dendrobium noodles and other bad habits will be eradicated. "
After hearing this, the surrounding people cheered together.
In the past, when the government collected taxes, the villages were organized by Li Zheng. If the number is insufficient, Yuri Masa will make up the amount. Therefore, the real big family is hiding from the real big family in Li Zheng, and it is usually held by wealthy but powerless families in the countryside. After taking office, many of them went bankrupt. Wang Xiaolie changed the usual practice. Now the government directly sends people to collect the money, and the previous bad habits have been canceled. Everyone is happy.
In the past, when taxes were collected, the amount was unclear. In addition to regular taxes, there are various tax increases. For farmers, the tax rate stipulated by the state actually has little effect, and local tax increases are the bulk of the tax.
Common tax increases, such as transfers, changes, consumption increases, and free warehouses, are basically found in various places, and the amounts may be different. There are also additional taxes, such as boss money, city regulations money, starting money, fee money, user money and more than a dozen other items. In addition, when collecting taxes, the official will also use measuring tools to add certain taxes. For example, big fights and face-fighting are recognized bad examples.
When collecting taxes, officials used large buckets to collect more than the prescribed amount. The bucket noodles are filled with the bucket and then continue to be filled upward to form a small hill. For noodles alone, you can earn 20% more. In addition, there are countless other items such as sample submission and advance loan.
Just by eliminating these bad habits, farmers' income can be greatly increased. Therefore, Wang Xiaolie increased taxes on grain, explicitly abolished bad habits, and abolished money taxes, which was deeply supported by farmers.
After the ceremony. An old man came out, holding wine in both hands, and said to Wang Xiaoxue: "Old man in Dengzhou, I have been deeply benefited by observation. Drink this cup and have fun in Dengzhou city! Having observation here is really a blessing to the people of Dengzhou!" "
Wang Xiaolie drank the wine in one gulp. Said: "Who in the world doesn't want the place to be stable and the people to be prosperous? In the past, the court spent a lot of money, and some scofflaws caused chaos in the place, and the people suffered greatly. From now on, when the officials and the people work together, everyone will live in peace and contentment!"
The people cheered and surrounded Wang Xiaohunting and several others, entering the gate of Dengzhou City.
Wang Ruohai saw this, and he really didn't know what he felt in his heart. Of course he knew the purpose of the imperial court sending him here, but Wang Xiao had trained his troops to be strong and his horses were strong, and he was loved by the people, so he really didn't know what he should do.
When they were about to arrive at the government office, the old man said: "Observation, we will harvest wheat in Rang County tomorrow. Please come and observe. This year the weather is good, the people are working hard, and the winter wheat harvest is great. Report to heaven, the officials will pray, and the people will be happy."
Wang Xiaolie promised with all his heart, and asked all the people to go home and enter the state government office.
Looking at the seats, Wang Xiaolian said: "From today on, Wang Supervisor is the magistrate of Dengzhou, and he should take the main seat."
Wang Ruohai did not refuse and sat down at the main seat. It was just my first time here, and I didn't know any of the officials here, so it was Niu Gao who ordered the tea. The three of them lowered their heads to drink tea without speaking.
After a while, Niu Gao said: "I have been sentenced and ordered to go to Xinye to lead troops. We will hand over state affairs in these two days."
Wang Ruohai said: "Issuing punishments along the way, knowing the state from one state to another, the court has rules on how to do things. However, this place is different from other places. What I listen to Zhizhi means is that the laws are not allowed to be changed, and everything is as it was before. How to do things in the state, I really don’t know.”
Wang Xiaolie said: "I don't know what it has to do with it? If you do some work, you will naturally find out. Last year, I gathered the efforts of several states to re-define the regulations of the military in each state. The same is true in Dengzhou. As long as the regulations of this state exist, everything should be done according to the regulations. Enough."
Niu Gao said: "That's what Zhizhi said. Just like me, I am a rough man. How can I know how to know the state? Most things are not done by the officials below. I can just take care of them according to the regulations."
Wang Ruohai looked at Wang Xiaolie, wanting to say a lot but not knowing what to say. I am the governor of the state, why should I obey Wang Xiaolie's rules? But if you don't listen, Wang Xiaolie can take away all the power and make himself just a short-term governor. This magistrate is really aggrieved.
After chatting for a while, Wang Ruohai and Wang Xiaolie stopped talking and took a rest.
Back at his residence, Wang Xiaolie changed into casual clothes. After sitting around for a while, Niu Gao came to see him.
Asking Niugao to sit down, Wang Xiaolie said: "You are a leader of the army. It is not suitable to be the magistrate of the state. It is good to be punished and serve as the magistrate of the state at the same time. You just go to Xinye to lead the troops. Gradually, there are more people in the army. An army cannot be built without people."
Niu Gao said: "The observation means that Wang Tixing is not allowed to interfere in military affairs? This was not the case before."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It didn't matter before. We can just change it. The government affairs of a state are actually very complicated. How can the governor still have the energy to manage military affairs? In the past, there was no way for you to be the governor. There was really no one. It's better now. The imperial court sent officials, and you just happened to get away."
Niu Gao nodded and thought about it carefully.
The name Zhizhou originated from the Tang Dynasty, became popular in the Five Dynasties, and became a custom in the Song Dynasty. The original intention was to use officials from the central court to manage local areas and seize the powers of local officials. Later, local official positions such as governor, Jiedu envoy, observation envoy, defense envoy, regiment training envoy, governor, etc. became the official ranks of military officers, and the magistrate became the official local chief official.
The official name of Zhizhou in the Song Dynasty was to know military and state affairs in a certain state. The army is military administration, the state is civil administration, and the army is in front of the state. This is what later generations would call "mounting the horse to manage the army, and dismounting the horse to manage the people." Therefore, Niu Gao still felt a little strange that Wang Xiaolie did not allow Wang Ruohai to interfere in military affairs.
From the fact that the original local official positions became military generals, we can know that when these official positions were established, the world was not peaceful and there were many vassal towns, and the central government actually paid more attention to local military power. The Song Dynasty followed suit, and the military was also at the forefront of state affairs. Suddenly the magistrates were no longer allowed to manage military affairs. The change was actually very big. To a certain extent, Wang Xiaolie abandoned the Song Dynasty system.
After a moment of silence, Wang Xiaolie said: "In five days, you and Wang Tixing will take over the affairs of the state and return to Xinye with me. Before leaving, make it clear to the officials in the state that things must be done in accordance with the previously established regulations. , you are not allowed to change it casually. If you have to change it, you must report it to me first. Anyone who dares to commit it will be severely punished!"
Niu Gao crossed his hands and said yes. Then he whispered: "Zhizhi, will this make people gossip?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "How can you control other people's mouths? People can't kill people by saying a few words, so don't worry. But if the power is removed, people will really die! Remember not to be careless!"
Seeing Wang Xiaolie's serious expression, Niu Gao hurriedly said yes.
Sighing, Wang Xiaolie said: "It's not that I want to seize the power of the imperial court, but in these extraordinary times, it is really impossible to feed the army according to the previous methods. What we do now is to eliminate the local powerful and reduce the burden on ordinary people. In this way, the government will benefit, and the people will also benefit. It's just that local powerful people are not simple people, and they will definitely not be able to settle down in a year or two. Fortunately, our army has nothing to do with powerful people."
Niu Gao couldn't help laughing after hearing this: "As long as the army is not in chaos, what big things can a few powerful men accomplish? But if there is chaos, just send troops to put it down."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "This is not the Sui and Tang Dynasties, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The local tycoons did not have much power. Even if they caused trouble, there was no need to send out a large army. There were hundreds of Xiang troops in each state, which was actually enough. The place has been subdued. The army is used for external warfare and should not be used domestically. It’s just that the current situation is turbulent and sometimes it’s just a last resort.”
The national army is external, but Wang Xiaolie does not advocate using the army internally. Once the military participates in internal affairs, it will affect the combat effectiveness of the military, and seriously affect military-civilian relations, which will shake the foundation of the country. But at this time, the Jin army could invade at any time, and there were thieves everywhere making trouble, so there was no way.
Niu Gao had no opinion on this. The Song Dynasty's army was not good at external affairs, but it was still very effective at suppressing internal affairs. When there was trouble in the area, it was common practice in the Song Dynasty to mobilize a large army to rebel. People at this time were not surprised.
