Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 650: Testing the Counterattack
On the Fen River, Liu Asheng sat on the deck and looked at the fields on both sides.

He looked gloomy and unhappy.

Liu Yan, who was traveling with him, was waving a folding fan, wiping it and playing with it from time to time.

This is a folding fan framed with yellow silk, with the inscription "Never give up" on one side and a picture of red plum blossoms on the other.

The pictures and texts on his folding fans were pretty standard. He had also seen some folding fans that were only suitable for private play, with pictures that were simply unsightly.

There were too many scholars gathered in Chang'an City, and there were always some who were unwilling to endure the hardship of labor and were unable to do the work of translating dragon bone inscriptions.

But they still wanted to live well and eat well... Some scholars who mastered special skills began to engage in the customs industry.

Perhaps Guanzhong also wanted to stimulate population growth, so it turned a blind eye to these immoral behaviors of scholars.

A small number of these folding fans flowed into Liaodong, where they were all sold at sky-high prices and were very popular among the nobles of the Dongyi and the Three Han.

Therefore, Liu Yan collected a lot of money this time and also seized the opportunity to escort Master Asheng to Chang'an to study.

He had no other intentions, he just wanted to make some extra money along the way.

"That's the flock of geese that the Grand Marshal is herding. It's said that the Grand Marshal is skilled in herding geese and can practice battle formations."

A guard on board stood at the bow and pointed to a flock of white geese on the river bank in the distance and told the story.

Liu Asheng also stood up and squinted to look. It was a vast expanse of white that stretched as far as the eye could see, all on the north bank of the Fen River.

The shore was built with earth as walls and sheds made of reeds, and goose houses stood in an orderly manner.

The small fleet was still going downstream, and Liu Asheng also saw various fortresses on both sides of the river.

Every ten miles or so, there is a waterwheel built or under construction on the shore.

At about 3 p.m., dozens of people were waiting at a pier on the south bank, surrounded by carriages and horses.

When Liu Yan saw it, he straightened his clothes and opened his folding fan to see that it was a picture of red plum blossoms. Only then did he feel at ease and put the folding fan upside down behind his waist.

On the shore, the boats were docked and several old soldiers sent by Liu Bei were looking out from the pier.

When he saw Liu Asheng, he immediately shouted, "It's really Master Asheng!"

"Son!"

Several people caught the rope thrown from the boat and quickly helped pull it to get the boat closer to the dock.

The leader said to Liu Yan, "Mr. Weishuo, the young lady has already set up a banquet in the temple and ordered us to come and welcome Master Asheng."

Liu Asheng asked, "How are the two sisters doing lately?"

"My lord, the eldest and second young ladies are quite loved by Madam Dongxiang, and the Grand Marshal often rewards them, and they have never been wronged."

"That's good. This place is better than Liaodong after all."

Liu Asheng looked at the team waiting on the shore. He was not surprised to see some empty cars.

In order to prevent his two daughters from being looked down upon in their daily interactions, Liu Bei often sent Liaodong specialties here.

Under the guidance of their old servant, the sisters also gave some luxury goods back to Liaodong.

In Liu Asheng's view, this is a smuggling channel that is out of control.

However, the beneficiaries were the wives of nobles in Guanzhong, and the scale was limited, so it did not cause any discussion.

More than thirty miles downstream from here, the Yuanshi battleship is anchored on the shore.

Black Bear held a document in his hand and squinted his eyes to examine it. After a long while, he looked at Yang Jun beside him and said, "I think what he said makes some sense."

Yang Jun took the document with both hands and read it. It was a memorial from Shentu Bei, the prefect of Yanmen County. This old man criticized the "Official Land Order" under the pretext of submitting a memorial to the court.

The memorial was written to the imperial court. Since the emperor was not present, it was naturally for the ministers to discuss it together. Logically, it should have been the Grand Marshal Hei Xiong, the Imperial Secretariat and the Inspector of the Imperial Capital Zhong Yao, the Minister of Rites Wei Duan, the Imperial Secretariat Liu Ai, and the Minister of the Chancellery Pei Mao who should have discussed it together.

According to the requirements of the Official Land Order, Shentu Bei had to cultivate 2,000 acres of land; as a county chief, he naturally rented the most flat and well-irrigated land.

When he was farming, he had the help of his soldiers, children, servants, former officials and students, so two thousand acres was not a burden at all for a county magistrate.

The output of two thousand mu of good farmland is about 6,000 dan of staple food; some irrigated, fertile and beautiful fields can reach laboratory output, with an output of seven dan per mu; there are also some that claim to have an output of nine dan per mu.

However, under large-scale farming, the most fertile fields only yielded six or seven shi per mu, twice as much as good farmland. Under the "Zhi Tian Ling", Hei Xiong conveniently deducted the salaries of officials.

For example, Shentu Bei spent a lot of time every year on the farm, cultivating the land with his family, and could produce more than 6,000 dan of staple food from 2,000 acres of land.

His salary of 2,000 dan came from the grain production of more than 6,000 dan.

This would leave more than 4,000 shi. If official cattle, horses and farming tools were used during the lease period, then 3,000 shi of the 4,000 shi would be deposited as rent, and the rest would be the extra income of the leasing official.

Therefore, Shentu Bei submitted a memorial to discuss this matter, arguing that the officials under the Zhitian Order were worse than the tenant farmers.

In addition to farming, one also has to be distracted by official business, and when performing official duties, one may make mistakes and be held accountable, whereas tenant farmers can just focus on farming without any additional risks.

In this situation, Shentu Bei believed that officials should concentrate on their official duties and not be distracted by farming.

Yang Jun read Shentu Bei's memorial carefully. He didn't know which specific sentence had angered Black Bear. He really couldn't figure out what this old man was trying to do.

Everyone has a job, and basically the higher the status, the easier it is.

The most difficult ones are the minor officials with an official rank of 100 or 200 dan. It is difficult to exploit these people for additional manpower; instead, they serve as human oxen and horses when the senior officials are farming and managing their official fields.

This year, there have been cases where officials sublet their official land to tenants, retainers or clan members.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"Since Shentu Bei thinks that the taxes and rents on the 2,000 mu of official land are heavier than those on tenant farmers, I will let him be a tenant farmer. 2,000 mu is too much, so you write it down and find him 200 mu of public land near the Fen River. Next year, let him bring his wife to farm it!"

Black Bear suppressed his anger a little and looked at Wei Kang who was taking notes beside him: "Conscript Shen Tubei to Guanzhong to report on his work. When he comes, let him go to Lantai. Let him bring his wife to cultivate 200 acres of public land in the spring of next year. I want to see if Yanmen County will collapse without him as a senior official!"

Facts have proved that Liangzhou, Bingzhou and Youzhou could function well without provincial governors and provincial governors by relying on the system of governors and military governors.

The same is true for the imperial court. Without an emperor, a large number of courtiers, or so many officials and government offices, the country still functions normally.

The tax rate implemented in Guanzhong was 10%, with tenant farmers paying 30% of the rent and official tenants paying 50% of the rent.

For civilian households without any military honors, the legal land they owned was limited to 50 mu per household, and they were taxed at a rate of 10% on these 50 mu, as well as a fodder tax corresponding to the land area.

If one wanted to cultivate more land, one could only lease government land and pay 30% tax.

The taxes levied by the Hundred Households Office were also heavy, but it cannot be said to be a tax. The more accurate term would be a share of the profits.

They were slaves of Black Bear's army, and they cultivated the land that Black Bear had robbed. The income from the cultivation was shared with Black Bear, the master.

However, no matter how heavy it is, it will be stored in the local warehouse. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be eaten by our own people.

But it has also dropped from a wartime peak of 70% to 50%, and has dropped to 30% this year.

In fact, when the food supply reaches 50%, the surplus is barely enough.

However, as the number of children in each family increased and the country did not go to war with other countries, the number dropped to 30%.

But when collecting grain, they still collect half of it, and the extra 20% will be returned as the corresponding old grain.

Seeing that Black Bear had already been dealt with, Yang Jun stopped trying to persuade him.

The "Zhitian Order" is only suitable for sharing hardships. Now that the foundation is stable, the "Zhitian Order" seems redundant.

Now that there is no pressure from war and life is stable, many officials are basically getting angrier the more they think about it.

They rented government land, earned their own salaries, and had to pay rent for the land... From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, how could there be such aggrieved officials?
Shentu Bei's attack was just a small one. He would rather not be an official than not make this cry on behalf of the officials.

It’s a pity that the Grand Marshal has a tough attitude here and is not afraid of you resigning at all.

You could still threaten me a few years ago, but now...any criminal official in Hancheng can replace you.

Forget about salary. Even if you don't want salary, it's okay to turn over all the income from land to the government warehouse!
Yang Jun hesitated for a long time, but still said to Black Bear: "Your Majesty, I think Lord Shentu must have something else to say."

"So what? He shouldn't say that officials are worse than tenant farmers."

Black Bear had already flipped through other official documents without looking up. "If you do something wrong, you can correct it, but if you say something wrong, it's hard to take it back. Then reduce the official land to 100 acres per person, and only allow your wife to help with farming. If you dare to drive your subordinates, students, servants, and hired workers, you will be demoted one level. How do you do that?"

Yang Jun lowered his head and said nothing. He also knew that this was impossible.

Black Bear handed the written document to Yang Jun, and his tone calmed down: "I have heard people say that farmers are like ignorant eldest sons. Many people want to take advantage of farmers. What we need to do is to protect them and ensure that they have enough food and clothing. Under my rule, I will not force people to be officials. If they do not want to be officials, they can be hermits, scholars, or knights. The land ownership order can make officials understand the hardships of farmers. This is the foundation of the country and cannot be questioned."

"Yes, I understand."

(End of this chapter)