Chapter 111 Xu Qiu travels to the county
On the one hand, Xu Qiu practiced it personally and walked throughout the entire Donghai Kingdom to give scholars and people an example and confidence, letting them know that the prime minister had not given up on the western counties.
On the other hand, I also wanted to see for myself the extent of the damage in the west, but fortunately I had an idea. If you don’t know anything, how will you rebuild the western counties in the future?
Therefore, he resolutely marched westward, but he did not expect that when he arrived in Xiangben territory, he saw smoke from cooking stoves.
Is it possible that the western counties are far more dilapidated than imagined?
Thinking of this, Xu Xuan couldn't help but become interested and frequently urged the team to speed up.
As the saying goes, "Looking up the mountain and running to death," there is a big difference between seeing the smoke and walking to the smoke.
Fortunately, Xiangbi is also in a plain area. In the afternoon, the convoy has also arrived at a village.
There appear to be forty or fifty households in this village, called Xishan Village, but it turns out to be a newly built village.
Xu Zhuan was greatly surprised when he heard this and asked the farmer in front of him: "When did you build it? Will it have a straight front and a long pavilion?"
The farmer had already seen that the old man in front of him had an extraordinary origin. He knelt down on the ground respectfully and replied: "We came from Tancheng two months ago. It was set up by Uncle Fang. There is a main square in the village, and the pavilion is long. I happen to be there too, so you can go to the village to meet me.”
Hearing this, Xu Xuan nodded, still a little puzzled.
Fang Bo placed it.
Where did Liu Bei get his money and food?
He is actually willing to spend money and food on Qian Shou?
But Xu Qiu also knew that the farmer in front of him could answer these questions quite well. Many Guizhou leaders immediately became incoherent and confused when they saw the nobleman.
At least the farmer knew where Li Zheng and the pavilion chief were, and knew how to invite him into the village.
After pondering for a moment, Xu Xuan said to his coachman: "Give him twenty cents, and let's go into the village."
In the farmer's delighted eyes, the follower gave him The other party gave him twenty cents, and the former thanked him repeatedly, and his gratitude was beyond words.
Twenty cents is not much, but it is enough to buy half a bushel of corn, which is enough for the whole family to have a full meal.
That's right, in places with abundant food such as Tancheng, Kaiyang, and Ju County, twenty coins can buy a bushel of corn. But in Xiangbi, twenty or thirty miles away, where there is just enough food to eat, the price of food has doubled.
So the price of food is never the average price, but depends on how much the last person who buys the food can afford.
After entering the village, Xu Xuan saw that the village was clean and tidy, there was no feces on the roads, and the ditches in the corners were paved with lime powder.
Xu Qiu kept these in mind silently, and would naturally ask the chief and the chief of the pavilion later.
Li Zheng in Xishan Village is already Gu Jiang, and the head of Li Zheng before has been hung on the city wall.
However, Gujiang and the other eight Li Zhengs are considered as probation guards, that is, temporary workers. As long as they do well this year, they can become regular workers next year.
At this time, he was entertaining Wu Zheng, the director of the pavilion, at home, asking for the inside story of Li Zheng.
“Brother Lao Gu, you don’t need to worry too much. Based on my many years of experience, you only need to organize everyone to pay grain and taxes during the harvest. The county will not be too harsh on other matters. ”
Wu Zheng drank the wine and threw a peanut into his mouth. Many people in later generations believed that peanuts were introduced to China from America during the Ming Dynasty.
But in fact, this thing has been around since the Western Han Dynasty, but it is more troublesome to plant. Coupled with the problem of yield, it has not been cultivated on a large scale in China.
There were four dishes in front of Wu Zheng. In addition to peanuts, there was also a small plate of bacon. This was quite a delicacy. With the addition of peanuts, a hard vegetable that was equally as good as meat, it really was a good feast. .
It can be seen that Gu Jiang has also invested a lot of money. Wu Zheng is very satisfied and has a soft mouth. Now that he has enjoyed it, he also seriously gave the other party some advice.
"Regardless of the states and counties, only taxes are the heaviest, and others can be tolerated a little. Especially now that the war is in chaos, the states and counties have tens of thousands of soldiers, and there is no money and food. How can we support those soldiers?"
Wu Zheng is also an old soldier. He has made meritorious service and been injured. After he retired from the army, he was assigned the position of chief of the pavilion.
“It doesn’t matter that you have to pay 50% of the food, but this money and food actually includes the calculation tax, the oral tax, and the mu tax. The money is all included in it, and you are given a house and a house for free. Farm tools, just have fun.”
Wu Zheng was actually quite envious of it. The Han system had a tax of one for every thirty people, but that was just a food tax. In addition, there are miscellaneous taxes, which are far more than ten times the food tax.
Right now, for most farmers, the tax burden accounts for almost 60 to 70% of their total income, but Gujiang and the others only pay 50%, so how can they not take advantage of it?
However, they may not be without hidden dangers. Although the land is divided into households, the ownership is still in the hands of the government. They are tenants invited by the government.
However, the government also left a loophole at that time, allowing them to save money to redeem it. As long as they could afford the money, they could turn the land into private ownership. It was this opening that attracted people like Gu Jiang who were not desperate to join the village.
However, this does not hinder Xishan Village, Xiangben County, and even the entire three western counties of the East China Sea. All the farmers in this area are grateful to the Liu family and his son.
From Wu Zheng's point of view, this is just the beginning. When this summer's harvest comes, the grain is harvested, the taxes are paid, and the rest returns to his family, his gratitude to Liu Shijun will reach its peak.
At that time, I am afraid that even if these farmers are asked to die for the emperor, there will be a lot of people willing.
Gu Jiang repeatedly persuaded Wu Zheng to drink. The wine he prepared was not good wine, but sour and turbid bad wine. But Wu Zheng couldn't bear to drink this kind of wine for half a month.
This time it was a feast.
The two were chatting first, when suddenly several children ran in from outside and shouted at Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng that the noble man was here.
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng were immediately startled, and even the slightest hint of drunkenness was frightened away.
Don’t care who the visitor is, the one who can be called noble must be extraordinary.
The two of them quickly fetched water and flushed their faces to get rid of the alcohol. Then they straightened their headscarves and clothes, and planned to go out to meet the noble man.
But I didn’t expect that the noble man would come so quickly. At this moment, he had already arrived at the door of Gu Jiang’s house.
“Which one of you is the chief of the pavilion and who is the chief?”
A man in a brocade robe walked into the courtyard, glanced around, and found no problem, so he asked Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng.
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng hurriedly introduced themselves.
"I am the chief of this village."
"I am the chief of the pavilion here."
The man in brocade robe nodded: "Do you know who is here? ”
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng shook their heads in confusion.
The man in brocade robes snorted coldly: "The person outside is the Prime Minister of the East China Sea, Lord Xu Qiu of the Palace."
Lord of the Palace! ?
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng collapsed to the ground.
The biggest official they have ever seen in their lives is only a hundred-stone official. When have they ever seen a two-thousand-stone prince.
Gu Jiang had met the young master of Fang Bo's family, but he didn't know how much his salary was.
When he saw Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng involuntarily huddled together like two frightened quails, the man in the brocade robe showed a proud expression.
"Okay, you two don't have to be afraid. My master loves his people like his own children. As long as you answer truthfully, you will not only be innocent, but you will also be rewarded."
The man in brocade robe speaks loudly. Turning around, he comforted the two people in front of him. With just one rub, Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng were able to obey his orders obediently.
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng nodded repeatedly, and were extremely grateful to the man in brocade robes, and followed him out of their yard.
At this time, the road outside was blocked by a motorcade. Xu Xuan had already stepped out of the carriage and stood looking around.
Although this village is not popular enough, it is full of vitality, as if spring is coming, which makes Xu Qiu a little happy.
“See you, Mr. Fu!”
Under the guidance of the man in brocade robes, Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng knelt down and saluted Xu Zhuan.
"Get up. Do you have food and drinks at home? Go and arrange some. If you don't have enough, you can get money to buy it from your fellow villagers."
Xu Qiu was indeed very easy-going. After asking Gu Jiang whether he was serious or not, he told him: "My subordinates have also been working hard for days, running around the wilderness. I won't leave today. I will bother you in your village for one night. I will trouble you to make arrangements." ”
The superior can be polite and approachable, but cannot compromise on demands.
Although Gu Jiang didn't understand this, his actions happened to be the right answer.
He responded quickly and immediately mobilized the whole village and asked them to take out all the meat, chickens, fine wine and other items that were treasured at home.
The villagers naturally did not dare to resist at all, and they were not even dissatisfied.
This is Fujun!
The whole Xishan Village became busy. The men took the treasures from home and sent them to Li Zhenggu Jiang's house, while the women took their children home, fearing that the children would be ignorant and bump into Fujun's carriage. Xu Qiu was indeed close to the people, and he did not dislike Gu Jiang's family at all. He even sat down on the stone pier and called to Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng: "Sit down, everyone, sit down."
< br>After Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng sat down, Xu Xuan said with a kind face: "There is no need to be nervous, as long as you have not committed any crime, I will absolve you of all crimes today."
Seeing Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng Wu Zheng's face relaxed a little, and Xu Xuan nodded secretly in his heart. It seemed that these two people did not do anything evil.
In fact, what he said just now was a wave of temptation from Xu Qiu. If someone has something in his heart, not only will he not relax when he hears this, but he will also become frightened and trembling.
In the past, Xu Xuan used this trick to find out many corrupt officials, and it worked repeatedly, which shows how effective this trick is.
Seeing that the two of them were not cunning officials, Xu Qiu became more direct and began to ask more down-to-earth questions such as preparations for spring plowing, whether the rations were enough for the summer harvest, and whether there were any difficulties in the village.
Gu Jiang didn't panic at this time. Although he was a little slow, he answered Xu Qiu's questions one after another.
Every time he answered a question, he couldn't help but thank Tongzhou Mu and his son first, which made Xu Qiu a little surprised.
Logically speaking, Gu Jiang shouldn't behave like this. Even if he flatters him, he won't be able to show any sign of integrity.
After listening, Xu Qiu began to understand.
It turns out that the rations, seeds, farm tools, and even cattle for their farming were all raised by Uncle Fang and his son.
"Oh, then do you know where Uncle Fang collected these things?"
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng shook their heads together: "I don't know."
< br>
Xu Xuan wasn't disappointed either. He didn't expect them to know, he just asked tentatively.
However, Liu Bei was able to raise supplies and gather refugees to work in the fields. In the past, he had underestimated this border warrior.
Xu Qiu is a wealthy noble family in Xuzhou. Although it is far inferior to the Chen family of Chen Deng, it is also the home of Fa Bing in Haixi, Guangling, and there are many powerful noble families.
My father was the Han Dynasty general of Liao Dynasty, and he happened to be in charge of Youzhou's military preparations.
Therefore, he didn't think highly of Liu Bei in his heart, but he just maintained a certain degree of respect for him for coming to Xuzhou's aid.
Now seeing that the other party actually cared about the people's livelihood in Xuzhou and raised materials, money and food to restore the place, this scene greatly increased Xu Qiu's good impression of Liu Bei.
Especially after I heard that Liu Bei was setting up settlements in Xiangbi, Lanling, and Chengxian counties. This winter, he organized the first batch of 5,000 households to collect refugees from outside Tancheng County. Half of them couldn't help but marvel.
Xu Qiu is a people-friendly official with real talent and knowledge. He is not ignorant of practical matters. He just calculated for a while and roughly knew how much food and goods these villages needed to consume.
At least hundreds of thousands of stones of food and millions of dollars of goods.
Xu Qiu came to the conclusion and admired in his heart that Liu Bei was more skillful and courageous than Tao Gong.
Only a few months after taking office, he was able to raise so much food and materials and was willing to invest in people's livelihood. This can be said to be a people-oriented thing.
If you can really keep your peace, care about the local people, and restore production and farming, I can help him.
Guangling has not been baptized by war and has a lot of food stored among the people. He can send people back to his hometown to collect food to help Uncle Fang implement good governance.
From Liu Bei just now to Shi Jun and Fang Bo now, we can see how many bonus points Liu Bei got from Xu Xuan with this wave of farming.
When he heard Gu Jiang say that a month ago, Liu Feng killed more than 30 petty officials in Xiangben County at one go, Xu Qiu's expression suddenly changed.
He carefully inquired about what happened, and when he learned that these petty officials had even deducted rations and seeds from the villagers, he was filled with anger and said lightly: "Such unscrupulous people are indeed He deserves to be killed.”
Xu Zhuan has always hated corruption. When Zhang Zhong, the nephew of Emperor Ling’s mother, became greedy, no one in Jingzhou dared to impeach him, but he, Xu Zhuo, not only dared, Still done.
The Emperor Ling was forced to transfer Zhang Zhong away from Nanyang. At the same time, he faced the difficulties and purged the entire Jingzhou officialdom. He successively accused the prefects and subordinates of five counties of corruption and bending the law. In the end, these officials were arrested and convicted.
This is Xu Qiu’s integrity.
Xu Qiu stroked his long beard. Although he felt that Liu Feng was a bit easy to kill, he was still a bit murderous despite his young age.
However, Liu Feng did not do anything wrong in this matter. If he encounters the murderous problem in the future, he can just give him a few words of advice to help him restrain himself.
I didn’t expect that Ming Gong’s son could actually have this ability, as if he had a successor.
Unknowingly, Liu Bei rose to another level in Xu Qiu's heart, from Fang Bo to Ming Gong.
When Gu Jiang heard this, he smiled happily. In his opinion, even the prince said that the young master was a good killer, so the young master must be a good killer.
Then they talked about Liu Feng's great defeat of Changxi, and this time Xu Qiu was shocked again.
"Where did this news come from?"
Xu Qiu couldn't help but confirm: "Uncle Fang actually went to war with Changxi?"
He had been away from Xingxian County for two months, but he didn't even know that Liu Bei had already Starting a fight with Zang Ba, naturally I don't know why Liu Feng joined the fight with Chang Xi.
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng were stunned. They didn’t expect that Fu Jun didn’t even know about such a big thing. However, they only dared to think about it in their hearts and honestly told them what they knew. Again.
Xu Qiu's face suddenly darkened, even when he heard that Liu Feng had just defeated Changxi recently. It wasn't that he felt bad about Liu Bei and his son, but he felt that Liu Bei was so impatient that he went to war rashly.
In his opinion, although Zang Ba was dissatisfied with the state government, it was still a state issue and could be resolved through negotiation.
No matter how domineering Zang Ba was, he did not openly fight against the state capital and raise his troops to rebel.
Xu Qiu was just happy that Liu Bei had settled down and resumed production, but now he was a little annoyed.
In Xu Qiu’s view, since Liu Bei could raise the food for the war, why not use the money and food to restore people’s livelihood first?
Taking a step back, even if it is just saving up for times of famine, it is hundreds of times better than going out for military force.
If Zang Ba refuses to accept it, he can be taught politely and rashly launches troops. If he wins, he will lose money and food. If he loses, it will be another disaster for Xuzhou.
"How is the situation on the Kaiyang side?"
Xu Zhuan couldn't help but interrupt Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng's praise of Liu Feng, and directly asked about the situation on the main battlefield.
It is a pity that Xiangben is still to the west of Tancheng, and there is a river blocking the middle. Not to mention that there is no human habitation in these twenty or thirty miles, so the news cannot be conveyed so easily.
Coupled with the low status of Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng, they naturally had no idea what to ask.
Xu Xuan became a little anxious, but on the surface he still suppressed his anxiety and just gave Qinsui a look.
My followers hurriedly came over.
Xu Qiu whispered: "Go and tell them not to drink. After eating and drinking, we will set off immediately."
The entourage was stunned for a moment. Didn't we originally agree that today would be a good day? Why don't you leave and have a good rest?
Why are you leaving again?
The follower asked in a low voice instinctively: "Master Fu, where are we going?"
What was greeted was Xu Qiu's somewhat anxious reply: "Back to Tancheng."
Soon. , Xu Qiu and his party ate and drank enough, then completely forgot about their request to stay overnight, left a total of 800 yuan for Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng to distribute to the villagers, and then turned around and left.
Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng had no choice but to start dividing money according to the value of the things.
The one who got the most was ancient ginger. He contributed all the five kilograms of bacon awarded to his wife by the county magistrate Jin Rui, and also gave it half a jar of water and wine.
Although Xu Xuan later said that he was not allowed to drink alcohol, in fact, all the accompanying and escorting nobles had already drank. In the end, this order only had the effect of keeping them from getting drunk.
Other villagers brought out some winter vegetables, pickles and other food, as well as some low-quality water and wine. They also received some money and dispersed happily.
When only Gu Jiang and Wu Zheng were left, they looked at each other.
I remember Mr. Fu’s attitude just now. He was quite happy before, but in the end he suddenly turned cold.
It should be because Fang Bo suppressed the rebellion.
Gu Jiang looked at Wu Zheng, then at his own home, gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice: "Brother Angkor, look at this..."
Wu Zheng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth: "Look at this. Let's do it, I drank too much and am exhausted. Let's go to bed first!"
Gu Jiang was very grateful: "Brother Ang, I'll go then."
Wu Zheng said. Wave your hands and leave.
(End of this chapter)