My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 242 True and False
"Your military exploits and those of the others have already been recorded in the imperial edict."

"They are all loyal and righteous men of the court. I wonder what official positions they seek?"

Zhao Zhong felt it in his heart, but he still did not forget to find clues from Lu Yi whether he was Liu Zhi's son. Therefore, thinking about the reason why they came, he found a breakthrough and spoke first.

"We do have some ideas. We wonder what the rules and market conditions are in the West Garden!"

When Lu Yi heard this, he knew that the topic had come to the point, so he straightened his expression and asked cautiously.

"Haha, my friend, you asked the right person to ask my family!"

When Zhao Zhong saw that it involved his professional knowledge, he thought it was an opportunity for him to show off in front of Lu Yi, so he immediately listed everything he knew.

"In this West Garden, officials as small as county officials and as high as nine ministers can all be redeemed, and nobles can be bought as pavilion, township, and county marquises."

"Generally speaking, if the annual salary of an official is several shi, then the redemption money that needs to be paid is several tens of thousands. Moreover, buying an official position is not a one-time deal. You need to pay a renewal fee every year."

"As for the title, very few people would buy it."

"Oh? Why?" Lu Yi asked at the right time.

"The title is noble, but there is no actual fief. Unlike officials at all levels, they can always find a place to make up for the loss and even collect more for their own pockets. Although the fiefdom they belong to will be converted into salary by the court every year, the money paid is far less than the money from buying an official position."

“Therefore, most people who entered the Western Garden purchased official positions rather than donating to obtain titles.”

"So that's how it is!" Lu Yi nodded slightly. What Zhao Zhong said was roughly the same as the information he had heard.

Liu Hong’s Xiyuan has become the Guanjue Industrial Park.

The practice of donating money to obtain official positions and titles has completely formed a special industry.

Many of the rules and precedents have become customary practices and are well known to the world, especially in Luoyang City. Even peddlers and hawkers know many of the secrets of the West Garden.

Under the special authorization and protection of imperial power, this abnormal industry flourished and brought countless benefits to Liu Hong and the many powerful people he dealt with.

In addition, Liu Hong was very concerned about the tax system. No matter how frequent natural disasters occurred in the Eastern Han Dynasty during the Little Ice Age, the common people had to pay taxes and labor service, and they had no chance of evading it.

Under the wise leadership of Liu Hong, the tax revenue of the Eastern Han court also climbed year by year, setting new records, raising the Eastern Han Dynasty's tax revenue from a minimum of 8.8 billion in previous years to as much as 22.8 billion coins in the final period.

However, except for a small portion of the collected taxes that had to be deposited into the national treasury, most of the rest flowed into Liu Hong's private treasury, for his own extravagant enjoyment and debauchery.

Putting aside his wisdom, bravery, good governance, and ability to conquer foreign races, at least in terms of exploiting the people, Liu Hong was not completely inferior to his ancestor Emperor Wu.

It’s just different from the seemingly prosperous high-rise buildings of the Han Dynasty represented by Liu Hong.

The lower-class people who built the foundation of the Han Dynasty were made to live in misery by heavy taxes and forced labor and military service. Many people sold their children and even mortgaged their homes and land, but they were still unable to pay the tax collectors in the county.

After working hard all year round, the grain harvested from the fields is not even enough to pay the various miscellaneous taxes that have been extorted at various levels.

After a year of hard work, facing the loess and back to the sky, in the end, not only can't you support yourself, but you can't even pay the taxes. Then abandoning your home and fleeing, or even joining the bandits in rebellion becomes one of the very few options.

However, Liu Hong, who was high and mighty, had never experienced the suffering of the common people like Emperor Wen, and he was surrounded by sycophantic ministers who were accustomed to flattery, so he naturally did not realize the hardships of the common people.

And the profits he grabs by making up excuses will eventually be added tenfold or a hundredfold on the heads of the few people who still hold on to the land.

After dying in battle, Liu Hong probably never imagined that if the leeks were pushed too far, there would come a day when they would wrap around his throat.

"In a word..."

"As long as you have enough money, there is nothing you can't buy in this West Garden, only things you can't imagine!"

Zhao Zhong in front of Lu Yi also perfectly implemented Liu Hong's policy of selling official positions and expressed Liu Hong's intentions quite well.

"What if the officials have no money to redeem or repurchase them?"

Zhang Xun's expression changed when he heard this, and he asked from the side.

"Haha, there are always exceptions to everything."

Generally speaking, Zhao Zhong would not pay attention to the words of followers like Zhang Xun.

But today, since Lu Yi was in person, he was polite for Lu Yi's sake and explained patiently, which was unusual for him.

"There are three exceptions!"

"The first is the descendants of nobles who have made contributions to the Han Dynasty. They are not included in this list. Not only will the court not collect money from them, but they will also be rewarded with high positions and generous salaries."

"The second type is people who are honest but have real talent and reputation, such as Lu Zhi, the commander of the Northern Army in the Battle of Pingcheng."

"This person is both talented in literature and martial arts, and he is loyal to the court and well-known for his integrity. He is not from a noble family, so naturally he cannot afford to pay. However, the court always needs to send such people to serve, so the emperor makes an exception and exempts them from paying taxes. This is like supporting them so that they don't have to worry about not being able to find them when they are needed."

"However, since you have the privilege of not having to pay donations, you will naturally not be promoted, but you will have to work harder!"

"This time, he made great contributions but was not promoted. Instead, he was confined to his home because of his crimes. This is the reason."

Zhao Zhong spoke freely and explained the more hidden rules.

"It seems to be just as I guessed!" Lu Yi sighed in his heart when he heard this and felt sympathy for Lu Zhi's experience.

"And the last one is someone like you who has made military achievements."

Zhao Zhong glanced at Lu Yi, who was standing in front of him with a calm demeanor, and felt that this man was extraordinary and very much like Liu Zhi, and he became more and more delighted.

"If you have made contributions to the court, especially military merits, most of them can be awarded an official position."

"However, although there are many official positions in the court, there are not many vacancies."

“Although you don’t have to pay any money either, it’s hard to say whether the final reward will be given in a year or half a year.”

"Ok?"

When Lu Yi heard this, he suddenly thought of the frustrating experience Liu Bei had during his only visit to Luoyang in history.

He, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei spent all their family wealth, recruited local braves, and fought dozens of battles with the Yellow Turbans. In the end, after waiting in Luoyang, they were only rewarded with a small position as a county lieutenant in Anxi County.

This greatly disappointed the three of them. Zhang Fei was so angry that his hair stood on end, and he never stopped greeting Liu Hong.

Moreover, Lu Yi still remembers it clearly.

Even this small county lieutenant of Anxi County did not allow Liu Bei to live in peace in the end. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, because there were too many people who were awarded titles for their merits, Liu Hong regretted his decision not long after he gave out the titles.

Officials at all levels were sent out in the name of inspecting the country, but in fact they were secretly looking for faults in people like Liu Bei who were rewarded for their merits.

If they are willing to pay the ransom money, it would be easy to deal with. But if they meet people with strong personalities like Liu, Guan and Zhang, they can only tie up the Inspector who comes to demand bribes and make trouble, whip him, and run away.

Therefore, he understood that, apart from the first one, there were other nobles who had the merit of following the dragon.

In the future, the latter two will inevitably gradually lose the privilege of being exempt from paying redemption money, and will gradually be squeezed out of the court and local areas by Liu Hong.

However, the people who were most loyal to him and also the most helpful to the court and the Han Dynasty were precisely these common people and the humble people.

If Liu Hong cuts off his own roots, he will eventually push these people under the command of Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and other aristocratic families, working hard for them, and eventually help them become separatist princes and divide up the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, while Lu Yi despised Liu Hong's short-sighted policy of selling official positions, he was not dissatisfied.

After all, by that time, Lu Yi, who had become a local lord, would also be a beneficiary!
"This is just the basic price. They are both officials, but officials in wealthy places are much better than those in poor places."

"And the officials in Beijing are much better than the local officials!"

"Generally speaking, if you want to find a good place to be an official, you have to spend at least twice as much in donations!"

"And if you want to go one step further and serve as an official under the emperor in the imperial capital Luoyang, you will have to double the donation!"

"Thank you, Eunuch Zhao, for your explanation. I now understand everything." Lu Yi nodded. Although he didn't know why Zhao Zhong was so kind to answer his questions today, judging from the slightly surprised look of the eunuch serving beside him, he knew that he was not usually so easy to talk to.

It seems very likely that I have benefited from this old friend whom I have never met before.

"To be honest, my friend, my family once received a great favor from an old friend but never repaid it. And you are so similar to my old friend that I feel very close to you."

Zhao Zhong said, seeing that the time was ripe, he began to hint at it.

"Oh? Didn't you expect there would be such a story?" Lu Yi looked emotional when he heard that, but he immediately became alert in his heart.

When the old fox met the little fox, the two immediately started acting.

"My old friend's family was prominent, but there was no one to carry on his legacy, so now the family has declined."

As Zhao Zhong spoke, he brought up sad memories and his face became sad.

"He originally had a child, but he died young and didn't grow up to inherit his family business."

"So, when I first saw you, I thought it was my old friend who had come back to life. But now, when I saw you for the second time, I thought it was my old friend's missing child who had returned."

"I grew up with my father in Jiuyuan and have never been out of Jiuyuan. I don't think I know Eunuch Zhao's old friend!"

Lu Yi also tried to hint at the issue, trying to trick Zhao Zhong into revealing the identity of the old friend.

If it is profitable, he will naturally not refuse to admit it. Even if it is fake, he can agree to it with a thick face.

After all, in history, Liu Bei often boasted to everyone about his background as the great-great-grandson of Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing had been dead for many years, and Liu Bei's family had already declined. Whether this was true or not, probably only Liu Bei himself knew.

Later, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Bu, lost Xuzhou and entered Cao's camp alone, where he met Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie.

Although Liu Xie was a puppet emperor, he was not bad in ability. He was famous for his intelligence and virtue when he was a child, and was much better than his weak and cowardly brother.

As he grew older, he longed to take back the imperial power controlled by Cao Cao and rule the country on his own. Therefore, when he met Liu Bei, a very promising foreign aid, it was not impossible for him to recognize him as the emperor's uncle.

If Liu Xie and Lu Yi's positions were swapped, Liu Bei at that time would really be able to help Lu Yi revive the ancestral foundation, let alone recognize him as his uncle.

Even if he were to imitate his brother Lu Bu's small combo, become half-dead, and become his adoptive father, it would not be a bad idea.

After all, even if he went back afterwards, he could just fast forward to the ending where he had wanted to kill the old thief for a long time.

Therefore, the authenticity of Liu Bei's uncle is not important in itself.

When Liu Xie needed him, he was the emperor's uncle of the Han Dynasty, more real than Jin Zhenzhen.

If Liu Xie was no longer needed after he came to power, then Liu Bei would not only be the uncle of the Han emperor, but even his life would be in the hands of Liu Xie. Even if it was true, it would immediately become false with just one word from Liu Xie.

Therefore, Lu Yi would naturally not be restricted by his identity.

A person's identity should change constantly with changes in behavior, and should not be restricted by his or her identity.

At that time, the choice of whether to accept the inheritance of the late Zhao Zhong will still be in Lu Yi's hands.

If it may endanger yourself, it is better to resolutely reject it.

"Things in this world are sometimes true and sometimes false, sometimes false and sometimes true. How can there be absolute truth?"

Seeing that Lu Yi was not falling for it, Zhao Zhong immediately launched his last move.

"My old friend had quite a fortune, but now his family is in decline and there is no one left in the clan. All the fortune is controlled by my family. If you are really the son of my old friend, then this fortune should be returned to you!"

"I'm afraid that I'm not as good as Eunuch Zhao wants. I just look similar. I'm going to disappoint Eunuch Zhao!"

Lu Yi would not release the eagle until he saw the rabbit, as long as he didn't know who the old friend was.

Lu Yi thought that the man was a wanted criminal of the imperial court, charged with the great crime of assassinating the emperor. As soon as he agreed, the dogs behind the screen would turn into countless swordsmen and axemen, waiting for Zhao Zhong to smash the cup as a signal, and then they would come up and capture him and others.

After all, Lu's father had lived in hiding for decades and died in a foreign land. If there were no huge connections or dangers involved, how could such a man with great martial arts skills be willing to be lonely and perish in silence?
"It's easy to verify this!"

After a brief silence, Zhao Zhong was the first to surrender. He concealed his smile and looked at Lu Yi with a burning look.

"Oh? I wonder how to verify it?" Upon hearing this, Lu Yi immediately perked up and prepared to take on Zhao Zhong's next big move.

"The missing child of my old friend has a mark on his body that he brought from the mother's womb," Zhao Zhong said, no longer caring about controlling his expression, his eyes fixed on Lu Yi's face.

"What mark?" Upon seeing this, Lu Yi suddenly became nervous, guessing that Zhao Zhong might really be losing his temper and wanted to do something bad to him. After all, his current expression was extremely terrifying.

"There is a perfectly round red birthmark on his right chest. If you have the same birthmark, then he must be the only offspring of my old friend who has been missing for many years!"

……

(End of this chapter)