After returning to the official road, we got off the intersection and turned a corner. Xuncheng was far behind.
Everyone galloped out of the official road in silence and could only slow down their horses. Han You no longer had that playful smile on his face and looked at Jiang Zhui.
"Say, what's going on!"
When Jiang Zhui left the city, Han You could tell something was wrong. Ah Zhui's face was filled with anger, as if Lu Baichuan had stolen his banknotes again.
Jiang Zhui, who had been holding back for a long time, said: "We went into the city to investigate. They are all old, weak, women and children. Although we can see young and strong people, there are not many, few, and pitiful ones. How come there are so few young and strong people in such a big city? It’s not the farming season, the dog officer is playing with you, Shaoyin is playing with you, Shaoyin.”
There was no surprise on Han You's face, and he turned to look at Cao Liyi: "Where did the strong man from Xuncheng go?"
"On the west side of Xun County, there are thousands of acres of fertile land. The so-called Xun Yang family has the surname Wang and Zhang."
"Understood."
Han You nodded, and Cao Liyi was right.
He has never been to Xun County, but he has an impression.
In order to recruit Zhang Tongju, the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he joined the Ministry of Household Affairs and sent people to eight counties in central Beijing and other places to privately investigate the tax and bank matters.
He was deeply impressed by the situation in Xun County.
There are no aristocratic families or wealthy families in Xun County, but there are country squires.
The squire's surname is Wang, who is the old man we just met, Wang Kunliang, and there is another squire, invisible, whose surname is Zhang, who is the county magistrate Zhang Ti.
Two squires, one an official who was in charge of the people's bodies, and the other a "big family" in the urban-rural fringe area who was in charge of the people's thoughts, joined forces to turn Xun County into Zhangwang County.
The commercial system in Xun County is not developed. It mainly plays the role of a "transit station" with a lot of warehouses and farmland. Most of these farmlands are in the hands of two wealthy gentry.
In fact, this situation is very normal. In a county, half of the people work for a certain aristocratic family or most of the aristocratic families. It is perfectly normal.
These aristocratic families used various means, legitimate and illegitimate, visible and shady, illegal and legal, to occupy a large amount of people's land, and then let the people work as tenants to farm the land and pay rent.
To put it in layman's terms, I'm going to steal your land, make it mine, and then let you farm it, and you still have to give me money, so I'm asking you what the hell you can do with it.
This is also one of the dangers of aristocratic families. This is what natural disasters and man-made disasters mean. Once a natural disaster occurs, it is an opportunity for aristocratic families to make a fortune. When natural disasters come and people lose their homes and food, they buy them at low prices. Other people's land has undergone natural disasters and changed owners. I have lost my home and my land, and I am just living, barely alive.
There are also some aristocratic families that do not occupy land forever. They can let the tenants plant the land first. Thirty years after planting, the land belongs to the tenants. The problem is that after thirty years, the land will be abandoned. Ancient people had short lifespans. Maybe even one generation will not be able to finish the planting. If one person dies after planting, his son will have to continue planting.
This is also the case in Xun County. Most of the people depend on the two squires for food.
As one of the squires, Zhang Ti, the county magistrate, wants to delay disaster relief. The easiest way is to make the young people "disappear". The fewer people there are, the longer the disaster relief will be delayed. The longer it is delayed, he can privately ask the Wang family to lower the price. Buy more goods for Beijing.
"Disappearing" does not mean killing. Take some of them outside the city, go to various villages, or report illness at home, or hide them somewhere. There are not many to hide, 1,800 people are enough.
Xunyang's young and strong labor force is already small, with one thousand fewer people. In addition, the garrison camp that has good relations with the two squires is also doing tricks, a little less here, not a little there, a little grinding here, a little grinding there. , I just stick around where the road is open, but don't go in, I am anxious to death, and I just don't work hard.
"This county government is doing a good job. Most of the people in the county look at him."
Han You said happily: "To a certain extent, this is the unity of the government and the people."
Lu Baichuan muttered: "The people are forced to agree with the officials."
When Cao Liyi saw that Han You had already believed everything he said, he couldn't help but said: "General, why didn't you arrest the dog officer? Don't let him delay the disaster relief."
"Grasp?"
Han You asked back: "After that, if you pull out the radish and bring out the mud, if you arrest him, you will have to arrest all the officials who colluded with him, and you will also have to arrest the old man named Wang. If you arrest that old guy, you will have to arrest him again." The other sons of the Wang family arrested all the officials and gentry, and then what, and then I said I was sent by the imperial court, and everything responded to my call, and the people were so happy that they carried tools and went with me to provide disaster relief?"
Cao Liyi said stupidly: "Yes."
"That's bullshit. You must have seen too many dramas. If you come here and kill the local officials and gentry, then all the people in Xun County will be panicked. I don't know the people, and the people don't know me. How can a group of people who don't know each other interact with each other?" Cooperate with disaster relief, remember what I said is the most important thing."
"Disaster relief... No, it's important to you that there is no Zhang Ti."
"good."
"Then why keep him?"
"Before the disaster relief, he was very important to me. Once the disaster relief is available, he will no longer be important. An unimportant Zhang Ti can disappear. By then, there will be no Zhang Ti, who is very important to me."
"Oh." Cao Liyi said with a look of sudden realization: "That's it, the general is smart."
Lu Baichuan asked: "Do you understand?"
"This..." Cao Liyi blushed: "Understand a little bit."
"What's a little bit?"
"Little by little."
"Stop guessing. A layman can't guide an expert. He can be a county magistrate and has experienced several natural disasters. Even a dog official has experience."
Han You said this without any explanation. He accelerated his horse speed again and ran towards the mountains.
It was just a county government, but Han You, who had worked in various positions such as chief ministers, assistant ministers and even prime ministers, never looked down upon him.
This is the difference between different identities, different heights, different visions.
To Cao Liyi, the captain of Zhechong Prefecture, Zhang Ti and his gang are local tyrants, corrupt officials, and want to kill their whole family. If Cao Liyi does not get promoted to two ranks or transferred to the capital, he will have to treat them as his whole life. enemy.
But to Han You, it was just a county government.
Regardless of his identity, his struggle experience, or that sentence, it is just a county government.
What Han You wanted to do was to provide disaster relief quickly. If it weren't for disaster relief, he would have killed Zhang Ti and the Wang family with just one sentence.
In his eyes, Zhang Ti's tricks were not as innovative as those played by Beijing's Liu Wenguan or Wu Yong.
…………
Xun County, outside the county government.
The county magistrate and Dianbu were shouting, and the civil servants and county government servants were running in all directions.
Zhang Ti was standing on the steps holding a tea cup, and next to her stood Wang Kunliang in Confucian robes.
"That General Han won't be able to fight back, right?"
"Won't."
Zhang Ti pointed to the turret: "Every thirty feet in the city, they will wave flags when they see outsiders."
"That's good." Wang Kunliang sighed: "Who would have thought that it would be the emperor's own army who came. It seems that we can only think of anything after arriving at Changyuan."
"No!" Zhang Ti was shocked: "The emperor's army is not easy to fool. If something goes wrong, you and I will be in trouble. Our property and life will not be saved. This time the siege of the long wall collapsed, I can't help but wait." To solve it, we must use all our strength. The sooner we solve it, the better. The sooner we solve it, the sooner the emperor's troops will return to Beijing to resume their duties. Not only for some reason, that General Han always makes me feel afraid."
"But I have already made an agreement with Shopkeeper Zhao and others. If official channels fail in half a month, I will sell all the goods to me. This is a rare opportunity..."
Zhang Ti interrupted: "Because money has angered the emperor's army, our heads are at stake. Money is more important, or life is more important. Can't you tell which is more important?"
"Then General Han looks nothing like me, and he is young. Do you really have to be so scrupulous?"
"It is precisely because of his youth that he has gained the emperor's trust. This shows that General Han is not a good man and a believer. The emperor's personal army is not a military general. Shi's personal army should not be treated as a military general. As soon as possible, let the farmers and people everywhere in Zhuangzi Enter the city, pick up the tools and rush to Changyuan, don't make any mistakes."
Wang Kunliang was still a little worried: "What should we do if the people are too talkative and let others see the clues?"
"General Han is a smart man. He has made it clear that he is here only for disaster relief and will not meddle in other matters."
"Okay, I understand."
