Late Tang

In mid-July, the summer harvest and summer planting, summer tax collection, and summer grain purchases all came to an end, and officials from all states and counties breathed a sigh of relief.This year when the new tax system came into power, the king of the county ran back and forth all day to the homes of the people in the fields of the prefectures and counties, and which of the officials of the prefectures and counties would dare to hide in the yamen to escape the summer heat.

During this period, the king of the county even sent back the peasants who built the city and roads in Liaodong, as well as the united army and township soldiers who assisted in the defense, back to various places in turn to help harvest and plant.

Li Jing returned from Qizhou on the thirteenth day and arrived at Gaoyuan County, Zizhou, along the bank of Jishui of the Yellow River and at the border of Zizhou and Qinghai.Both Gaoyuan and Fang are very good. The summer harvest, summer planting, summer tax and summer grain have all been done.Luo Ye, the county magistrate of Gaoyuan, Luo Yin, the magistrate of Bihe County in Jizhou, and Luo Qiu, the magistrate of Haicheng County in Anzhou, were collectively called Jiangdong Sanluo.Luo Yin was the first to vote for Li Jing, and together with Sikong Tu and others, they were called the Four Sages.Luo Yin recommended Luo Ye to Li Jing, and Li Jing personally invited him to be the county magistrate of Gaoyuan after seeing him.

When Li Jing first arrived in Gaoyuan City, he just lived in the post office. Luo Yin had already brought several officials from the county, and the county garrison town general Wang Dong also came to pay respects with his officers in uniform.

Seeing Wang Dong, one of the ten teenagers who came out of the village together, leading a group of officers, he was dressed in mighty armor, and his heroic face was not half as immature as before. momentum.Seeing this subordinate from the same village, Li Jing smiled happily and stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder, "I saw the official document from Li Sima last time, calling you to be the general in the army of Gaoyuan Town, but it's been a long time since I saw you." Yes, the longer it is, the more imposing it will be."

Luo Ye stood aside, he had no other thoughts about Li Jing's eagerness to be with Wang Dong as soon as he came up.He had known for a long time that this General Wang Dong, who was with him in Gaoyuan both in civil and military affairs, had a lot of background.Although it is only a town envoy in command of a thousand people at the moment, it is the same village as the county king.And he was also one of the ten companions who accompanied the county king when he left the village to join the army.It can be said that these years have been following in the footsteps of the county king.In terms of seniority, it can even be compared with several sworn brothers and military masters of the county king.

However, the county king's fellow countryman has always been relatively low-key, and he has never heard anything related to the county king himself.After arriving, he devoted himself to training the army, ruled the army with strict discipline, and never troubled him as the county magistrate. Although the two were in the same county, they had no personal relationship.But in his heart, Luo Ye still liked this colleague.

"Wang Zhenye is indeed powerful. A group of Dizhou horse thieves came from Hebei a few days ago and wanted to rob the county grain depot. They thought their whereabouts were secret, but they were discovered by Wang Zhenye's investigation. An ambush was set up before, and more than 120 horse thieves were captured without harming a single brother, 200 or [-] horse thieves were captured alive, more than [-] pairs of knives and guns, and more than [-] horses were seized.

What happened that day, both the county government and the Zhenni mansion sent letters to the Shuai mansion to report, but Li Jing has been running around the counties these days and has not received this letter.

Li Jing was very happy to hear that Wang Dongli made this contribution.Not only was he happy that he had caught a group of horse thieves, but it was also related to his method of dealing with the horse thieves. Once he killed all the thieves, he did not hurt a single soldier.To be able to achieve such a record, his soldiers are really good.

"Beautiful job!" Li Jing laughed.

Wang Dong smiled slightly, "There are more than a hundred horse thieves who are overwhelmed. In February, the county king took down several states in Liaodong in just a few months. I am so impressed.”

Li Jing invited a group of county officials into the courtyard where his post office lived, set up tables and chairs under the shade of the big locust tree, and asked people to serve tea.

Chatting with several people, Li Jing is very satisfied with Gao Yuan's civil and military teams. In fact, Xiaoqi Division has a special bureau to monitor the officials of the states and counties under its jurisdiction. From the reports they submitted, Li Jing also knows a little about Gao Yuan. Luo Yin and Wang Dong in Yuan County have done a good job, the place is peaceful, the production is orderly, there are no bandits making trouble in the territory, and there is no such thing as clan fighting.As for corruption and so on, there is no such thing.

Wang Dong is an old subordinate of his own village. Although his official position is not high compared to Wang Shi and others, he is very reliable.

As for Luo Ye, he was originally from Yuhang. His father was a salt and iron official, and his family fortune was huge.Luo Ye is famous for his talents, especially his long-line poems. He has outstanding wit, superb writing skills, and extraordinary spirit. He is known as a tiger of poetry.However, during the Xiantong period, it failed after repeated trials.Up to now, it is over fifty years old.Recommended by Luo Yin, Li Jing was awarded the title of Gaoyuan County Magistrate after meeting him in person.

Luo Ye was wearing a green robe, but it was a little white from the starch, and he looked very old. There was a deep Sichuan pattern on his forehead, his face was tanned by the sun, and his waist was a little rickety. Zhou Zhou's beard was well groomed when he met farewell, and his demeanor in silk shirt and sword was completely different.In front of him, he didn't look like a scholar, but more like a hardworking old farmer.Such a big change in just over half a year.

After chatting for a long time, before they knew it, it was lunch time. Li Jing asked everyone to eat together. All the officials were very excited, and they were very restrained eating a meal.After the meal, Li Jing left Luo Ye to talk alone.

"What do Luo Mingfu think about the new tax law? Do you have any suggestions?" Li Jing asked him his opinion on the new tax. Recently, whenever he went to a place, Li Jing always asked others for their opinions on the new tax law. Whether it is ordinary people or civil and military generals.

Although Luo Ye is known as a poetic tiger, he is over fifty and has a lot of experience. Although he has not been an official for a long time, he is quite famous in Gao Yuan.Hearing Li Jing's question, he smiled slightly, and said to Li Jing: "After the implementation of this new tax law, it is really simple. Ding Ding is divided into mu, Ding Fu is combined into one, and taxation only collects banknotes. In fact, it makes our local counties and provinces It took a lot of effort, and it also avoided the possibility of corruption for the people below. As a county magistrate, from the government's point of view, the new tax law is simpler than the two tax laws."

"There's still something wrong, but what is it?" Li Jing asked with a light smile. "

Luo Ye was overwhelmed by Li Jing, and smiled awkwardly, "However, this tax is set very low. The land tax and commercial tax are both 1000 yuan. Especially the land tax is based on the standard of 8 stone per mu. , Only three liters and three combinations per mu of land are collected, but about four catties of grain. Right now, our entire ten prefectures and fifteen counties only have [-] million mu of land, and the money collected in summer can only buy one thousand catties of grain, but only more than [-] shi of grain. .Even if there is autumn tax, the sum is too little.”

"Thirty one tax is not too small." Li Jing replied directly, pinching her chin.

Luo Ye was not surprised by Li Jing's answer, "The commander-in-chief's kindness to the common people. This is a good thing, an act of loving the people. But what worries me is how the town will support the officials and the army." In addition, we need to run schools, and even spend a large amount of money every year to subsidize prices. If the Shuai Mansion cannot support it because there is no tax, then the new tax will not last long. For the people, that is the worst result .”

After a pause, he continued: "The land tax is 1000 and the tax is 9000. I also support it. After all, the regular tax is lower, which is an act of loving the people. However, various taxes and miscellaneous fees are added to the Yao service, and one mu is only nine cents. This is really too little. After the new tax and road construction in the future, civil service can no longer be collected free of charge, and labor must be hired. It is only [-] million yuan for [-] million mu, and the combined money is only [-] yuan. The money can't do much After the two taxes, in the best years of the imperial court, each household had to pay about [-] renminbi a year in taxes on average. But now, each family pays only [-] to [-] renminbi a year in taxes. The tax revenue is too small to maintain expenditure. "

Li Jing gently turned the teacup, and said seriously: "I have considered all these. Right now we have the land of ten states, and there will be no major war actions in a short time. We need time and development. How can we develop? , How can we attract more people to come, how can we make everyone actively reclaim wasteland and farmland? I think that the most important thing to do is light Yao and light gifts."

"A husband's belly cannot be filled with hunger, and his skin is cold and cannot be clothed. Although a loving mother cannot protect her son, this handsome man can have her people! Everything must be based on the basics. The country is based on people, and people are based on food!"

Looking at Luo Ye, Li Jing asked: "Now Liaodong is initially settled, and the land of ten states will enter a rare period of tranquility, what is the way to think and live?"

Luo Ye replied immediately: "The way of life lies in tolerance."

Li Jing nodded, "If you don't give benefits, but generally speaking, benevolence is useless. Forgiveness and benevolence must be used as the wealth of the people and the power of the people. If you don't save money, the people's wealth will be exhausted. Without enlightenment, the people will not know etiquette, and if violence cannot be restrained, the people will not be able to make a living. To call benevolence in this way is to have a name and the people will not be blessed by it.”

When Luo Ye was worried that the new tax law was too lenient, Li Jing immediately corrected him and said: "If you get it with leniency, you will hear about it. If you lose it with leniency, you will never hear about it. If you move too fast, you will stumble. It will be ruined, and the people will be in chaos. The way to live on the top is to use lenient, but the lenient cloud will win the crowd, and the loss of lenient cloud will not be lost. Liaodong is newly settled, and the people are in financial difficulties. Pull out its feathers, don't shake its roots. However, only the honest can make appointments and love others, and the greedy will be full of others to enrich themselves. The people are like trees. The tree benefits the soil to live, the people benefit from the food to support them, and the people benefit from it. It’s like planting trees and taking away the land. The people are trapped in heavy rents, but the officials don’t know how to sympathize. Biography, how can you support the people!"

After hearing Li Jing's words, Luo Ye nodded.

"In fact, you don't have to worry too much. The reason why I dare to set such a low tax is actually because we have confiscated the money before. From the beginning to the end, whether it is three or five, we They have never collected taxes from the people. We have come to this day not by their taxes, but by our own workshops, caravans, and the money and food captured by our army.”

"Most of the land in the ten states is a newly laid barren land. What is waiting is to open up. It is difficult to directly see the benefits for a short-term investment in energy sources. What we need now is to let people come to help us develop Liaodong, not We are in a hurry to kill chickens and get eggs. Since we don’t really need that little tax money, why not set the tax lower to win the support of the people and attract more people? Even if we want to build roads, build cities and build new water conservancy, We used to use labor as a substitute for relief, or directly hired workers. Therefore, why not abolish the slave labor that everyone hates, and just collect a few pennies from the people as a token of money.”

"If we plant the phoenix trees, we will naturally attract golden phoenixes. When all the states in Liaodong are developed, we are afraid that we will have no income. Let me tell you, the iron mines in Liaodong account for half of the world, and the gold mines in Ziqing account for one-third of the world. One, there are all kinds of minerals. When we conquer the banks of the Liaohe River, there will be a huge plain. If we develop it, it will be equivalent to a Huainan. If we take a long-term view, we will have everything.”

Luo Ye was moved by the prospects Li Jing said, that's right, the Marshal and Zhen[***] couldn't be viewed with common sense.That being the case, why doesn't he look further away! (To be continued.)