The weather in mid-March is warm and warm, and the grass grows and the warbler flies. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThe warm sun of mid-spring smeared the spacious courtyard of the governor's residence of Jinan Mansion with a layer of lazy and leisurely gold.

Yan Jizu, the newly appointed governor of Shandong, was basking in the sun in the courtyard with his own personal attendant Fang Wenhe and the two, drinking tea and chatting.

Yan Jizu is nearly fifty years old, his hair has turned gray, he is a native of Zhangzhou, Fujian, with a typical Fujian appearance, black and thin appearance, high cheekbones, sparse beard, deep sunken eye sockets, a pair of triangular eyes are very spiritual. He was dressed in a lake silk round-necked and broad-placket clothes, wearing a flat square scarf, holding tea in his hand and pouring himself a drink, and from time to time he said a few words with Fang Wenhe, a leisurely and complacent demeanor.

"Dong Weng, yesterday Shandong General Soldier Liu Zeqing came to visit the adults, and the students felt that this person was uneasy and kind." Fang Wenhe groaned and said.

"Oh, why does Wen He think so?"

"My lord, when Liu Zeqing arrived in the mansion yesterday, I had a secret look at that Liu Zeqing, although this person was respectful in appearance and words, there was arrogance in his eyes. Although the students did not know much about the content of the secret conversation with the adults, they thought that this person might have other plans when he came to meet the adults. ”

Yan Jizu smiled and said: "Wen Heguo is a careful person, and he is very careful in his observations. Now that the world is in turmoil, the status of martial artists has been promoted, and military generals like Liu Zeqing have lived in Shandong for a long time and have many subordinates, so it is not surprising that he secretly has a domineering heart. ”

When Yan Jizu said this, he sighed lightly and said to Fang Wenhe in a low voice: "Wenhe, do you know what this person talked about with this constitution yesterday?" ”

"My lord, the students don't know."

Yan Jizu snorted, a sneer crossed his thin face, and said slowly: "What this person talked about yesterday, from Benxian's point of view, can't be that he wants to take advantage of Benxian's unfamiliarity with the situation in Shandong, and want to use Benxian's knife to eliminate the enemy for himself." ”

Fang Wenhe was taken aback: "Why do you think so?" ”

Yan Jizu twisted his eyebrows and said: "This person said a lot of bad things about Li Maofang, the former governor of the country, and Li Xiao, the chief soldier of Chifeng, in front of this constitution yesterday, saying that these two people are the main culprits who aroused public resentment and aroused public anger. This person told Benxian that now that Li Maofang has left his post, there is no need to pursue it again, but that Li Xiao, the people under him are raging, and the squire is making trouble, and this person's crime needs to be strictly investigated. ”

"Did you believe it?"

"Hmph, although this Liu Zeqing is said to be as despicable as Li Xiao, but this constitution must not be biased and believed." Yan Jizu put down the teacup, and his face was thoughtful: "Perhaps, I should go to Chifengwei and visit on the spot, and what Liu Zeqing said can naturally be judged to be true or false." ”

"Oh, if Dong Weng wants to go to Chifengwei, the students will arrange the chariot and horse honor guard."

Yan Jizu waved his hand and laughed in a low voice: "Wenhe, the Xingshi of Kai is very good. Just you and me, bring some guards, disguise yourself, and go to Weifu to visit, just visit Li Xiao's Chifengwei, and I'm not afraid of him faking temporarily. ”

Wang Wenhe said with a smile: "Dong Weng Guo is easy to think about, so the student will arrange it." ”

Yan Jizu nodded: "Okay, prepare today, tomorrow morning, we will set off immediately." ”

。。。。。。

Yan Jizu and others, all the way on horseback, along the way to watch the people and natural scenery of Shandong, five days later, to Chifengwei Zhaoyuan boundary.

Along the way, passing through Zibo, Qingzhou, Weifang, Laizhou and other places, Yan Jizu's heart was gloomy and heavy.

He saw that in this beautiful spring weather, on both sides of the official road he passed by, there were large fields abandoned, and the corpses that had fallen but not yet buried along the road could be seen from time to time. On the official road, large and small groups of homeless people can be seen from time to time, and I don't know where they are, but everyone is dove-shaped and wandering around with a numb face. All the way, it was a depressed and dilapidated atmosphere.

Yan Jizu has been serving in the DPRK and China since he became an official, and he actually doesn't know much about local affairs. Now when he saw what he saw, he was secretly shocked by the poor life of the people in the vast area of Shandong.

"The long wife rests to hide her tears and mourn the difficulties of people's livelihood."

In Governor Yan's heart, this Qu Zi's words suddenly poured out.

And Fang Wenhe, the Mu on his side, also had a heavy face.

"Wenhe, why is it that in spring, it is the season of farming, but there are such large fields abandoned?" Yan Jizu muttered.

"My lord, it's just that the taxes are heavy, the government is urging, and now the surplus grain is eaten up, and when the green and yellow are not available, those peasant tenants are overwhelmed, so they abandon the land and flee one after another." Fang Wenhe finished his words and let out a long sigh.

Listening to Fang Wenhe's words, Yan Jizu secretly sighed in his heart.

Now the world is in chaos, bandits are everywhere, the people were originally heavily taxed, and they were given three salaries, under such heavy pressure, these people in the late Ming Dynasty can be said to be struggling to survive in the fire and water.

It wasn't until he came to the Zhaoyuan Realm that the scene in front of him made Yan Jizu's eyes brighten.

He was pleased to see that the scene here was completely different from that of Qingzhou, Laizhou and other places along the way. It can be seen that every field has been cultivated and cultivated, a large area of winter wheat is growing well, and in some seemingly newly opened barren fields, green millet seedlings have sprouted. Like a chessboard scattered in the mulberry field, the mulberry seedlings have also begun to draw long leaves. There are also a very small number of fields where unknown green plants are planted, but it is not known whether they are livestock feed or traditional Chinese medicine.

There were many peasants, all with joy on their faces, carrying shovels and hoes, leading ploughing oxen, and working in the fields, and there were even some young peasants who sang blushing sour songs leisurely during the ploughing period.

Seeing the verdant scenery in front of him, the busy and happy countryside of the farmers, Yan Jizu's elongated thin face for many days was filled with heartfelt joy.

It was almost noon, and at this time, an old man who delivered food to the farmers in the field, carrying a basket of food covered with coarse cloth, walked past Yan Jizu and others singing songs.

Yan Jizu's heart moved, and he hurriedly stopped the old man.

"Old man, let me ask, how far is it to go to Chifeng City from here?" Yan Jizu got off the horse and asked the old man with a smile.

"Not far, along this official road, go straight north, but in an hour and a half, you can reach Chifeng City." The old man pointed to the road ahead.

Yan Jizu was happy when he saw the old man talking, so he pretended to ask casually: "Old man, you are a local, how old are you this year?" ”

Unexpectedly, the old man shook his head and said: "I am more than fifty years old, but I am not a local, my hometown is in Xuanfu Town, and I only came here at the beginning of this year." ”

Yan Jizu was surprised: "Since the old man is from Xuanfu Town, how did he get to this Shandong Chifeng Wei to settle down?" ”

"Ahem, it's all due to creation." The old man saw that someone was interested, and immediately opened the conversation: "In September last year, the Tartars of the Jin Kingdom invaded the border, and most of the villages in my hometown were burned and plundered by the Tartars. Later, he fled with everyone to a big city called Jintang City, so someone gave two bowls of thin porridge every day, and the little Lao'er family was able to survive. I thought of going into the city to find something to do to make a living, but I didn't expect that because there were too many displaced people outside the city, there was no extra work in the city for me to wait, so I had to stay outside Jintang City. Unexpectedly, because the winter was too cold, although a shack had been built outside the city, my wife couldn't survive and froze to death. ”

When the old man said this, tears glistened in the corners of his eyes, he let out a long sigh, and when he saw that Yan Jizu had listened carefully, he continued: "Originally, Xiao Lao'er thought that after surviving the harsh winter, Xiao Lao'er would have to go elsewhere to find another way to make a living. Unexpectedly, in early February, the head of Jintang Cheng'an told the displaced people outside the city, saying that he could send soldiers to take me to Shandong to resettle, and that there was land to grow and eat, and asked me if I would like to wait. ”

The old man must have agreed. Fang Wenhe interjected on the side.

"Not really! In these years, there is a way to live, but it is more important than anything else, and we immediately agreed to Mr. An's suggestion. So, more than 30,000 homeless people outside the city, helping the old and the young, dragging their families and mouths, followed those soldiers all the way south, even though there were more than 2,000 old and weak people on the road, but in the end, when they arrived at this Chifengwei, there were nearly 30,000 miles. ”

When the old man said this, he looked emotional: "Speaking of which, it is still my previous life that I cultivated good fortune in order to meet the great good man of Master Li!" After I waited for Chifengwei, the second child of my family was selected as an auxiliary soldier of Chifengwei, and the remaining little old man, the eldest child, the eldest daughter-in-law and the youngest daughter-in-law of this family of four were assigned to the original Zhaoyuan boundary, and now it is Chifeng Wei Andu Township, and 20 acres of land were granted, and farming was used for a living. The family has finally settled down here. ”

After listening to the old man's statement, Yan Jizu unconsciously glanced at Fang Wenhe on the side, both of whom had complicated visions.

From this point of view, this Li Xiao tried his best to seize land from the landlords and squires, but not for personal gain, but in order to resettle the displaced people and resume production, which is simply a great thing to cultivate good and accumulate virtue. That Liu Zeqing, why did he say that Li Xiao was so unbearable?

"Old man, how much land do you have to pay a year now?" Yan Jizu thought about it and asked again.

Seeing Yan Jizu ask like this, the old man came to his senses and said busily: "This traveler, do you have to wait, this Lord Li's tax is light." When I was in Xuanfu Wanquan Right Guard, I was a tenant of the local landlord, and I had to pay 4 to 5 buckets of rent for one acre of land, twice a year, which was called a difficult life! Now that Chifengwei is here, Lord Li stipulates that production will resume in the first year of this year, and we only need to hand over 1 bucket of grain per acre of land, and we will pay once in summer and autumn. Until next year, one acre of land will be harvested two buckets, so far it will always be a rule, and no more will be given. And instead of collecting the real silver as determined by a whip law, he directly handed over the grain, so that we could save the officials from exploiting. In this way, my family only needs to pay 40 buckets of grain this year, and it will only be 80 buckets next year, but this tax is very light. ”

Seeing the old man with such a happy look, Yan Jizu was also very happy in his heart, but he was also very emotional.

It seems that this Li Xiao, governing the place, is not at all as boiling with public resentment as Liu Zeqing said, but on the contrary, this person is very popular with the people, and the land below him is also thriving.

It's just that in his heart, he still feels a little doubtful.

This Li Xiao, the tax collection is so light, and the burden on the peasants is lighter, but the taxes paid are much less.

Although the imperial court has now exempted Chi Fengwei from taxes for three years, what about after that, can Li Xiao really never increase it?

After saying goodbye to the old man, Yan Jizu told Fang Wenhe about the doubts in his heart.

Fang Wenhe pondered for a long time, and then said: "Dong Weng, I also have doubts about this matter, and it is estimated that this matter can only be known when I see Li Xiao." ”

Yan Jizu nodded silently, and the group rode at a gallop, and only an hour later, they arrived outside the south gate of Chifeng City.

Seeing the tall and majestic Chifeng City with all kinds of defense measures in the distance, Yan Jizu was shocked again.

He had already heard it in the court, saying that this Li Xiao had raised his own funds to build a huge Chifeng City in Chifengwei. At that time, I didn't think about it, thinking that the rumors were exaggerated. Now that he has seen it with his own eyes, he knows that the vastness of this Red Phoenix City is far beyond his imagination.

"Dong Weng, such a majestic city, was actually built by Li Xiao with his own strength?" Fang Wenhe's face was also full of consternation.

Yan Jizu didn't know how to answer him for a while.

"That's it, when you go to this Chifeng City, everyone is tired, and you can rest in this small hotel outside the city, eat food, and then enter the city again." Yan Jizu said to Fang Wenhe and a few guards.

At this time, everyone was hungry, and when they saw that the governor proposed to go to the small shop to eat, they naturally said yes.

When everyone arrived outside the store, they were greeted enthusiastically.

"Ladies and gentlemen, look at your dusty appearance, you look like you have walked a long way, please come into the store! The shop has good fresh pork and mutton, as well as freshly hot yellow rice sprinkles, if the guests eat, it is to relieve hunger and fatigue, eat a point to grow a lot of strength! Guest officers, please rest assured, the price of wine and food in the small shop is also fair. If the food and wine in our store are not good, you don't need money to eat in vain. The little second tongue was like a clever spring, and he smiled badly as a greeting.

"Okay, listen to what you say, I'll eat right here." Yan Jizu smiled, then walked into the hotel and sat down at a secluded table against the wall.

Xiao Er cordially beckoned everyone to sit down, while quickly wiping down the table.

"Xiao Er, let's serve the food, pick a few dishes that you are good at in the store, and then have two catties of rice wine." Yan Jizu commanded with a smile.

"Okay, the guest officer is arrogant, this is good food and wine, I'll come later." Xiao Er sang, smiled at Yan Jizu and nodded, then put the rag on his shoulder and ran towards the kitchen.

Yan Jizu looked around the store, found that there were a lot of customers, and saw that on the official road outside the door, people, animals, cars and horses were flowing endlessly, and he couldn't help but think in his heart, it seems that this place of Chifengwei is full of people, so that such a small shop outside the city also has such a sufficient source of customers.

After a while, the wine and food came up, the table was full of fragrant fragrance, everyone was hungry, and when they saw that the wine and food were tempting, they were suddenly hungry and moved, and they ate and chewed without mentioning.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, the speed of each person's food slowed down. The little two, seeing that everyone was eating happily, came over to add wine to everyone with a smile on his face.

"Guest officer, the wine and food in the small shop taste pretty good." Xiao Er is playing haha.

"It's really good, I'll give you a few more rewards." Fang Wenhe snorted again, raised his head to a glass of rice wine, and said to him with a smile.

"The guest officer is generous, thank you for the little one." The smile on Xiao Er's face became brighter and brighter.

Yan Jizu's heart moved, and he asked the little er: "Little Er, I heard that in your Chifengwei territory, this hotel business has to pay a large amount of commercial tax, but is it true?" ”

Xiao Er hurriedly said: "That's true, Chifengwei's shop has to pay one-eighth of the monthly sales tax for commercial tax, which is indeed heavier than elsewhere." ”

Yan Jizu put down his chopsticks and asked with a puzzled expression: "Since this business tax is so heavy, why is it strange that I see that this street is full of shops, but it is still so prosperous?" (To be continued.) )