Thief Emperor

Chapter 635 Damn it!

The Great Zhou Dynasty adopted the Two-Tax System, which levied taxes in summer and autumn.

This is the improved tax law. Before the improvement, there were rent, labor service and tribute. Rent was the tax on people, tribute was the collection of cloth, silk and linen, and labor service was the service.

That's a little more complicated.

After evolving into the Two-Tax System, it was changed to household tax and land tax. Household tax was collected according to the wealth of the household, and land tax was collected according to the amount of land.

As for Li Yun, he has not had time to systematically adjust the tax law, and is still using the Two-Tax System.

In other words, he collected taxes according to the tax system originally stipulated by the Great Zhou Dynasty. In this two-tax system, the land tax was about five to nine and a half liters of grain per mu of land.

Household tax is classified into different levels according to households, and is collected on a household basis in summer and autumn. The amount of tax is determined in specific years and places.

Li Yun has never been in charge of Shouzhou, but the current governors in charge of Jiangbei are basically officials who are quite trusted by the Jiangdong small court. In addition, the team is in its early stages of entrepreneurship and is relatively clean from top to bottom. Therefore, the taxes levied by Li Yun, Du Qian and others will not be too different when it comes to implementation.

In other words, for the same tax rate, Li Yun collected at least half less than the previous Zhou Dynasty.

These are things that the common people can actually feel. By comparison, they will naturally know who is in power that is beneficial to them.

This is just comparing Li Yun with the Great Zhou court. As for the period when the Pinglu Army briefly controlled Shouzhou, those Qingzhou soldiers were lucky enough not to burn, kill, and loot. Life was even more difficult for the people.

Li Yun thought for a moment, looked at the old man, and asked with a smile, "What's your name, sir?"

The old man waved his hand and said, "I am a peasant. I don't have a surname, let alone a name. My surname is Zhou, and my given name is Zhu."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I have the same surname as the general of the Pinglu Army. We are from the same family."

The old man surnamed Zhou waved his hand and said, "I'm not related to that guy. The Pinglu Army came to our Shouzhou twice and caused trouble to us. I heard that the Pinglu Army broke into the farm next door and stole a lot of food and seven or eight girls."

At this point, he looked up at Li Yun and said, "General, this old man and that General Zhou are really not the same kind of people. Don't be angry just because I have the same last name as him..."

Li Yun waved his hand and said with a smile: "To be honest, no matter what your surname is, I will be suspicious, but I will believe you if you say your surname is Zhou."

If they were really members of the Pinglu Army and came here to lie about military intelligence, they would subconsciously avoid having anything to do with Zhou Xu when answering their surnames. However, the old man did not avoid it. Just based on this point, Li Yun believed it 50%.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Father, how much tax did the Shouzhou government collect from you? Tell me, I'll write it down and report it to the government to see if the Shouzhou government has collected too much from you."

The old man Zhou was so scared that he waved his hands repeatedly and said, "General, we have already collected very little. The new masters of Shouzhou were very kind to us when they came down. You can't tell us, you can't tell us."

The old man's attitude was very simple. Regardless of whether the Shouzhou government collected too much or not, they were already quite satisfied with the tax, so they were not willing to say more.

If he told it out, and the number reported by the general didn't match that of Mr. Li from Jiangdong, causing the officials of Shouzhou government to lose their jobs, then he would be guilty.

Li Yun saw this and smiled: "The old man actually protects those officials."

"It's not a defense."

Old man Zhou smiled and said, "If the masters in Shouzhou were replaced because of this old man, who knows if there will be masters as kind-hearted as the current ones when they come back?"

Li Yun was stunned again when he heard this.

The old man's words touched him.

So far, he has been destined to be the ruler of a country. The difference is whether this country is Jiangdong or the entire Shenzhou.

Since he is going to be the leader of the country, he must have his own ideas about the administration of officials in the future. In Li Yun's opinion, the cleaner the official system is, the better, and it is best to achieve unity between the top and the bottom so that the people can truly live a good life.

But now it seems that absolute integrity is probably not possible. Absolute integrity can only be used as a slogan.

It is already good enough to be relatively clean.

After being stunned for a moment, he smiled and said, "What the old man said makes some sense."

"Su Zhan."

Li Yun called out, and Su Zhan immediately stepped forward, lowered his head and said, "Take the seat."

"Bring a few brothers, um... a dozen or so, and follow me to determine the location of the granary, and then come back to report as soon as possible."

Su Zhan quickly lowered his head and said, "Yes!"

He walked up to the old man and said, "Old man, please come in."

Old man Zhou responded, then turned to look at Li Yun, and then left with Su Zhan.

Because the old man couldn't ride a horse, Su Zhan and the others had to walk with him. After they left the camp, the talkative old man Zhou looked at Su Zhan next to him and asked curiously, "Young man, how old are you? How come you are so young and you are joining the army?"

Su Zhan looked back at him and replied, "At the end of the year, I will be seventeen years old." He paused, then smiled and said, "My family has been doing this for generations, so I joined the army."

Old man Zhou nodded: "Then your family is still a military household."

Su Zhan smiled and said, "Yes, my father and my eldest brother are both soldiers."

Old man Zhou sighed and said, "The world is in chaos, and being a soldier is not a good way out."

After they walked for a while, he asked again, "By the way, little brother, what was the general's last name? I think he was very friendly."

"I have lived for so many years, and I have seen many generals who led troops. They were all fierce and ferocious. The general just now, although he was tall, was not fierce."

"It's amazing."

Su Zhan thought for a moment, then said with a smile: "After the battle in Jiangbei is over and we drive out the Pinglu Army, I will come to thank you. By then, you will naturally know who our general is."

Born into a military family, Su Zhan must be more careful than his normal peers. At this time, he certainly would not reveal Li Yun's identity.

Old Man Zhou didn't think much about it. He waved his hand and said, "Why thank you? If you can really drive away the Pinglu Army and let the people of Shouzhou live in peace for a few years, our whole village will thank you."

…………

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Su Zhan was gone for one day and two nights.

In the second half of the night, Su Zhan returned to the army. He went all the way to Li Yun's tent. Li Yun was already asleep. Su Zhan hesitated for a moment, but still whispered, "Go up."

Li Yun frowned, and after a while, he opened his eyes, sat up and stretched his body, then glanced at Su Zhan beside him and scolded with a smile: "Can't you speak louder? You're like a woman."

Su Zhan said quickly: "I'm afraid of disturbing the upper position's rest."

"Sorry for bothering you, let's get on with the business."

Li Yun yawned and said, "Is what the old man said true?"

"Yes, about thirty miles southwest of us, there is a Bailian Township. About seven or eight miles due west of Bailian Township is where the Pinglu Army stores food and fodder."

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "How many people are guarding?"

"About a thousand people."

Su Zhan said softly: "I left a few people nearby to watch over there, to take over, this matter..."

"of course?"

Li grinned and said, "Fuck him!"

At this moment, he no longer had the friendly expression he had when he was talking to Old Man Zhou before, and he became arrogant.

It was as if in an instant, he returned to a few years ago and became the chief of the Cangshan Village, Mr. Li.

Of course, at this time, Li Yun had already become the smart leader of Li Village.

When marching at this time, there must be one or several fixed points in the rear for storing food and fodder, so as to facilitate the transportation of food and fodder.

After all, the troops at the front are mostly on the move. Sending food and fodder directly to them is not only troublesome, but it will also slow down the army's mobility.

These food storage points are often the fatal weakness of an army.

One of the biggest purposes of Li Yun leading these 800 cavalrymen and struggling in the rear for so long was to find the food supply route of the Pinglu Army and then cut off this food supply route.

In other words, at the beginning, Li Yun did not even expect to find the place where the Pinglu Army stored grain, he just wanted to cut off the grain route used by the Pinglu Army to transport grain and grass.

Now that this grain storage point has been determined, there is no need to hesitate.

At this time, even if Su Sheng, the most conservative soldier in the Jiangdong Army, was here, he would attack this grain storage point without hesitation, let alone Li Yun!

Even if we cannot capture them, we must make sure they do not have peace!

As for eight hundred versus one thousand...

Li Yun himself is equivalent to a hundred people, and the morale boost he brings is far more than a hundred people!

More importantly, the 800 people around Li Yun are basically the elite troops of Jiangdong.

And the other side... is just a group of...

Food transport soldiers!
(End of this chapter)