Han official!

Chapter 40
During the second morning (7:30-8:15), the sky was just getting light, and the common people in Chang'an had already gotten up and were working in the fields.

Beside the highway, large fields of mulberry, hemp and wheat were growing well. As the weather got warmer, common people got up at dawn (6:00-6:45) and rushed to the fields to store manure and weed mulberry trees.

After the community sacrifice in half a month, we must hurry to repair the ridges of the fields so as not to delay the farming season.

A cart was parked on the ridge between the fields. Its canopy was made of a silk cloth, which was of a higher rank than the cloth canopy of the Chang'an Wei.

Silk.

The rank of Chang'an Wei was four hundred stones, and the umbrella cover was made of cloth.

The magistrate of Chang'an was a thousand-stone official, and the umbrella cover was made of silk brocade, which looked more gorgeous. The lines of the silk cover were tight and interlaced up and down, making the whole umbrella cover look much more bright and beautiful.

"Remember this, Ersanzi."

Zhao Yu, the Chang'an magistrate, knelt on a silk-covered carriage, his mustache quivering as he spoke: "The collection of this hay tax is crucial to the government, so we must not take it lightly. Last year, Chang'an, as a county in the capital, ranked last in the Internal Affairs Department for land rent collection. Land rent and taxes are a top priority for the state, so we must be diligent in our work."

The Neishi was the governor of Jing County, which was in charge of the counties around Chang'an.

The county magistrate is in charge of governing the people, commending virtue and encouraging righteousness, prohibiting evil and punishing evildoers, handling lawsuits and suppressing bandits, caring for the people's current affairs, and collecting taxes in autumn and winter.

County magistrates will be commended or removed based on their performance, and those with poor performance may even be punished.

The cruel official Zhao Yu was good at criminal justice but not at collecting taxes. The collection of land rent and grain tax did not mean that one could just issue a collection order and immediately collect the millet and sorghum land rent.

There are a large number of hidden fields, and the amount of land rent that can be collected depends on the numerous land officials to negotiate with the powerful.

The situation in Chang'an, the capital county, was even more complicated. There were powerful people everywhere, and there were also many nobles and dukes. It was much more difficult to collect land rent. Even if the land officials had a hundred guts, they would not dare to go to the mansions of nobles and dukes to forcibly collect land rent.

The Tianbu Li, also known as Tianshoufu, has Buzuo and Tiandian under him.

There were also Tian Dian in the neighborhoods of Chang'an, but he was just a minor official in charge of the neighborhood gates.

The Tianbu Li was in charge of the village's agricultural affairs, registering the number of acres of land, collecting rent and taxes on the land, and urging the common people in the village to farm in a timely manner.

"The Chang'an magistrate is here to collect taxes again?"

A carriage covered with black cloth drove over, and kneeling there sat the Magistrate of Maoling. Compared with the Magistrate of Chang'an, Zhao Yu, who had his hair tied up with an iron hairpin, the Magistrate of Maoling was dressed more luxuriously, wearing a long gown with leopard-patterned brocade.

The look in Maoling Ling's eyes when he looked at Zhao Yu was filled with envy and mockery.

The county magistrate’s rank was 1,000 dan, 800 dan, or 60

Zhao Yuzhi, the magistrate of Jing County, was paid one thousand dan. When traveling, he rode in a carriage covered with a black silk canopy and an umbrella made of gorgeous silk brocade. In the early morning glow of two hours, it even had a reddish luster.

The magistrate of Maoling was of the rank of eight hundred stones, and could only use soap cloth to cover the carriage, and the umbrella cover was an ordinary hemp cloth that would not reflect the sunset light.

Cover with soap cloth for those with more than 300 shi.

A silk cover for grain weighing more than one thousand shi.

Zhao Yu glanced coldly at the Maoling magistrate without saying a word, knowing that he was here to mock Jing County for having the lowest land rent again.

The land rent in Chang'an, the capital county, has always been ranked at the top in previous years.

Ever since the cruel official Zhao Yu took office as the magistrate of Chang'an, the amount of land rent collected has been decreasing year by year, and last year it was at the bottom.

The big joke of slipping the world!

This attracted the sarcasm and ridicule of the magistrates of mausoleum towns such as Maoling Ling, Changling Ling, and Anling Ling. Among them, Maoling Ling's words were the most unpleasant, and he often denounced Zhao Yu as a mediocre dog in the official temple.

There is only one reason.

The Maoling Magistrate wanted to remove Zhao Yu from his position as the Chang'an Magistrate.

"hehe."

The Maoling Magistrate sneered, "Every official in Chang'an knows that the emperor is short of money. Building gardens and palaces requires a lot of money. But you, on the other hand, only know about criminal justice all day long and don't know how to manage agriculture and govern the people. The collection of land rent is decreasing every year. It seems that your term as the Chang'an Magistrate is coming to an end." Taking advantage of the fact that the land rent was decreasing day by day, he attacked Zhao Yu for not being good at governing the people's livelihood and squeezed him out of the position of Chang'an Magistrate.

By then, it would be time for the Magistrate of Maoling to take over as the Magistrate of Chang'an.

Zhao Yu's expression changed. "Whether I can continue to serve as the Chang'an Magistrate is not your call. Besides, as long as I collect the full amount of fodder and grass tax, I might be able to make up for the land rent and perhaps even gain the emperor's approval."

There are two important taxes on land.

One is the land rent. During the reign of Emperor Gao of the early Han Dynasty, the tax rate was 15% of the land rent. Later, it was changed to 10% of the land rent. It was not until the second year of Emperor Jing that the custom of 130% of the land rent was formed.

The second is the straw tax.

The fodder tax is not a single tax, but is divided into fodder tax and fodder tax.

Chu is a kind of grass grown in the fields and used to feed cattle and horses. The imperial court collected chu mainly for feeding horses.

The straw is the remaining straw after the grain harvest. The imperial court collected the straw to feed cattle and horses.

Three stones of hay and two stones of straw are required for every hectare.

Zhao Yu rode in a silk-covered carriage to the village and personally supervised the agricultural officials to collect the fodder tax, hoping to collect the full amount, or even an excess, of cattle and horse feed.

Make up for the shortfall in land rent to avoid being demoted and punished.

When the Maoling Magistrate heard the emperor's praise, he couldn't help feeling jealous. Among all the county magistrates in the local counties, only the Chang'an Magistrate had the opportunity to see the emperor.

He was the magistrate of Maoling, the mausoleum of Emperor Liu Che.

Even though the Maoling Ling had the responsibility of supervising the construction of the emperor's mausoleum, he only met the emperor twice, not even three times.

"hehe."

The Maoling Magistrate scoffed and said, "No matter how much fodder you collect for cattle and horses, it's all in vain. This year, I've collected the most farmland rent, thousands of dan more than you, the Chang'an Magistrate. I'm probably the most skilled in agricultural taxation in the entire Neishi. The emperor is short of money, so after I submit the report, you will be entitled to the title of Chang'an Magistrate."

"Don't talk nonsense, little boy."

Zhao Yu said with a gloomy face, "The land rent and fodder haven't been submitted to the warehouse yet. Everything is still unknown. How can you be so sure that you can become the governor of Chang'an?"

If any other county magistrate dared to be so arrogant in front of Zhao Yu, he would have been fabricated a crime and sent to jail.

But this person happened to be the magistrate of Maoling.

Zhao Yu had no way to deal with him and could not frame the Maoling Ling Ling who was in charge of the construction of the emperor's mausoleum.

"A mediocre dog!"

When the Magistrate of Maoling was called a brat, he responded with a mediocre dog: "If you don't believe me, let's make a bet. If I come out on top, you will run naked at the Hanque Gate in front of the official temple in Chang'an. If I don't come out on top, I will run naked at the Hanque Gate."

Zhao Yu frowned and said nothing.

The Maoling Magistrate continued to goad him, "I'm not asking you to get first place in the plan. I'm just betting that if I do, I, the Chang'an Magistrate, won't back down, right?"

"it is good!"

Zhao Yu said with a grim expression, "I'm making a bet with you."

"drive--"

At this time, open carts carrying millet came over. There was so much grain in the carts that the oxen had a hard time pulling the carts.

Guo Jie looked around and finally found the carriage with a black silk cover and wheels that Zhao Yu, the governor of Chang'an, was riding in.

He jumped off the carriage, walked over quickly, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I, the official, have finally found Lord Zhao. This time I am sending you 20,000 dan of millet."

(End of this chapter)