In mid-July, the summer harvest and summer planting, summer tax collection, and summer grain purchase all came to an end, and the state and county officials breathed a sigh of relief. This year, when the new tax system came to power, the county king went back and forth to the homes of the people in the fields of the prefectures and counties all day long, and the officials of the prefectures and counties dared to hide in the yamen to escape the summer with peace of mind.

During this time, the king of the county even transferred the people who repaired the city and built roads in Liaodong, as well as the unity army and township soldiers who assisted in the defense, to take turns back to various places to help harvest and grab seeds.

Li Jing returned from Qizhou on the 13th and arrived at the county seat of Gaoyuan in Zizhou, along the Jishui of the Yellow River, at the junction of Ziqing and Ziqing. Gao Yuan and the aspect are very good, and the summer harvest, summer planting, summer tax and summer grain have been done. Gaoyuan's county order Luo Ye and Jizhou Bihe County order Luo Yin, Anzhou Haicheng County county order Luo Qiu are called Jiangdong Sanluo. Luo Yin was the first to vote for Li Jing, and together with Sikong Tu and others, he was called the Four Sages. Luo Yin recommended Luo Ye to Li Jing, and after Li Jing saw him, he personally asked him to serve as the county commander of Gaoyuan.

When Li Jing first arrived in Gaoyuan City, he had only lived in the post office, and Luo Yin had already brought several officials from the county, as well as Wang Dong, the general of the county garrison, and his subordinate officers in neat uniforms to pay their respects.

I saw that Wang Dong, one of the ten teenagers who went out of the village together, led a group of officers to come, wearing a mighty armor, his heroic face did not have half of the immaturity of the past, and the two short beards on his lips were very imposing. Seeing this subordinate from the same village, Li Jing smiled happily and stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, "Last time, I saw the official letter from Li Sima and transferred you to Gaoyuan Town to serve as a town general, but I haven't seen you for a long time, and the longer it gets, the more imposing it becomes." ”

Luo Ye stood aside, and he didn't have any other thoughts about Li Jing being so eager with Wang Dong as soon as he came up. He had known the Tao for a long time. This is the general of Wang Dongwang, who is with him in Gaoyuan. It's not a small source. Although at the moment, he is only one person who leads a thousand people. But it is the same village of the county king. And he was also one of the ten companions who traveled with the king of the county when he went out of the village to join the army. It can be said that he has been following in the footsteps of the county king all these years. In terms of qualifications, it can even be compared with several sworn brothers and military masters of the county king.

However, this fellow county king has always been relatively low-key, and he has never heard him personally say anything related to the county king. After arriving, he devoted himself to training the army, and the military discipline under his rule was strict, and he never found trouble with his county order, although the two of them were in the same county. But there was no personal relationship. But in my heart, Luo Ye still likes this colleague a lot.

A few days ago, a group of Dizhou horse thieves came from Hebei and wanted to rob the county grain depot, thinking that their whereabouts were secretive, but in fact, they had already been detected by Wang Zhenji. He set up an ambush in front of the grain station, and captured more than 100 horse thieves without harming a single brother. More than 100 pairs of knives and guns and more than 200 horses were seized. ”

The events of the day. Both the county government and the Zhenji Mansion sent letters to the Shuai Mansion, but Li Jing has been running around the counties these days and has not yet received the letter.

Hearing that Wang Dong made this contribution, Li Jing was very happy. Not only was he glad that he caught a group of horse thieves, but it was also related to his way of dealing with horse thieves, and he killed all the thieves in one net, but he did not hurt a single soldier. can achieve such a record, and his soldiers are really good.

"Well done!" Li Jing smiled.

Wang Dong smiled slightly, "It's just a hundred horse thieves who don't know their own strength, in February, the king of the county took the land of several states in Liaodong in just a few months, and the Bohai people who fought cut the land and paid compensation for peace, that is what makes me admire." ”

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

Chatting with a few people, Li Jing is very satisfied with the two sets of Gaoyuan civil and military teams, in fact, the Xiaoqi Division has a special bureau to supervise the officials of the states and counties under its jurisdiction, and from the report they submitted, Li Jing also knew that Luo Yin and Wang Dong in Gaoyuan County did a good job, the place was peaceful, the production was orderly, there was no bandits in the territory, and there was not even a clan fight. As for corruption, 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, but he is very reliable.

As for Luo Ye, he was originally from Yuhang, and his father was a salt and iron official, and his family was huge. Luo Ye is extremely talented, especially long poetry, outstanding intelligence, superb pen, extraordinary spirit, known as the poet tiger. However, in the Xiantong years, it was tried and failed. By now, he is over fifty years old. De Luo Yin recommended, Li Jing personally met and awarded him the order of Gaoyuan County, and after he took office, he felt the grace of the encounter, which can be said to be very attentive.

Luo Ye was wearing a green robe, but he was a little white, he looked very old, with a deep Sichuan character pattern on his forehead, his face was tanned by the sun, and his waist was a little rickety, which was completely different from the delicate beard and silk shirt and sword style when he saw him in Dengzhou last time. In front of him, he didn't look like a literati, but more like a hard-working old farmer. In just over half a year, there have been such big changes.

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

"What does Luo Mingfu think of the new tax law? Any suggestions? Li Jing asked him for his opinion on the new tax, and in recent times, whenever he goes, Li Jing has to ask other people's opinions on the new tax law, whether it is ordinary people or civilian and military generals.

Although Luo Ye is said to have the name of Shihu, he is over fifty years old and has a lot of experience, although he has not been an official for a long time, he is also very famous in Gaoyuan. Hearing Li Jing's inquiry, he smiled slightly, and said to Li Jing: "After the implementation of this new tax law, it is indeed simple, the division into the mu, the integration of the Ding and the endowment, and the taxation only collects money, in fact, it saves a lot of effort in our local county, and also exempts the people below from the possibility of corruption." As the head of a county, from the government's side, the new tax law is simpler than the two tax laws. ”

"There's another one down there, but what?" Li Jing asked with a chuckle. ”

Luo Ye was seen through by Li Jing, and smiled a little embarrassedly, "However, this tax is set very low, and the land tax and commercial tax are both thirty taxes and one." In particular, the field endowment is based on the standard of 30 taxes per mu of one stone, and only three liters and three combinations are levied on one mu of land, but about four catties of grain. At present, we only have 10 million mu of land in 10 prefectures and 15 counties, and the money harvested in the summer can only buy 1,000,000 catties of grain. It's just more than 80,000 stone of grain. Even if there is an autumn tax. It adds up to too little. ”

"Thirty taxes one. Not less. Li Jing pinched his chin and replied directly.

Luo Ye was not surprised by Li Jing's answer, "The handsome can be lightly endowed with light Yao, which is a benevolent heart for the people." This is a good thing, an act of love for the people. However, what I am worried about is how to raise officials and troops in the feudal towns, and in addition, they have to run schools, and even have to spend a lot of money every year to subsidize prices. If the Shuai Mansion can't support it because of the lack of taxes, the new taxes won't last long. For the people, that's the worst outcome. ”

After a pause, he said: "Tian Fu 30 tax one, a certain also support, after all, the tax is lower, it is a move to love the people." But with the addition of various taxes and miscellaneous expenses, one mu is only nine yuan, which is really too little. After the new tax, in the future, when roads are built, etc., civil labor can no longer be levied for free, and labor must be paid for employment. 10 million acres is only 90 million dollars. The total amount of money is only 90,000 yuan, and this money can't do anything. After two taxes. In the best years of the imperial court, each household had to pay about 4,000 yuan in taxes a year. And now, the tax money of a household is only six or seven hundred yuan a year. There are too few taxes to keep up. ”

Li Jing gently turned the teacup and said seriously: "I have considered all this, now that we have the land of ten states, there will not be too much war in a short period of time, we need time, we need development." How can we develop, how can we attract more people to come, and how can we let everyone actively reclaim the wasteland? In my opinion, Qingyao Bofu is the most important thing to do. ”

"The husband is hungry, the skin is cold, and he can't be clothed, although the mother can't protect her son, this handsome can have its people! Everything must be based on business, the country is people-oriented, and people are food-oriented! ”

Looking at Luo Ye, Li Jing asked: "Now that Liaodong is initially decided, the land of the Ten Prefectures will enter a rare time of tranquility, how is the way of thinking about life?" ”

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

Li Jing nodded, "If you don't give benefits, and you are lenient in general, it is not beneficial." If you don't use it, the people's wealth will be exhausted, if you don't save it, the people will be poor, if you don't know the etiquette, if you don't know the etiquette, if you can't help it, the people will not be able to survive. ”

When he heard that Luo Ye was worried that the new tax law was too lenient, Li Jing immediately corrected it and said: "If you get it with leniency, you will hear it." If you lose it, you will not hear of it. If the husband is in a hurry, he will be in a hurry, and if he is in a hurry, he will be in chaos. The way to be above is to use the wide, but the cloud width is popular, and the loss of the cloud width is not the cloud width. Liaodong is newly determined, and the people are financially poor, like a bird flying at the beginning, and a tree is planted, do not pull out its feathers, and do not shake its roots. However, only the incorruptible can love others, and the greedy will enrich themselves. The people are like trees, the trees are good for the soil to live, the people are good for food to feed, the people are good for the people and do their best, and the trees are like planting trees and going to their soil. The people are trapped in heavy rents, and the officials do not know how to sympathize, they are heavily endowed and light, and they are also afraid that people are against Qiu and pay salaries, and they cherish their hairs in vain, and they do not know that their skins are exhausted and their hairs are not passed on, so how can they support the people! ”

After listening to Li Jing's words, Luo Ye nodded.

"Actually, 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 this money before. From the beginning to the end, whether it is a three-in-one or a five-in-one, we have not collected taxes from the hands of the people. We have come to this day not by their taxes, but by the money earned by our own workshops and caravans, and by the money and food that our army has taken. ”

"Most of the land in the ten states is a newly laid wilderness, waiting for development, and it is difficult to directly see the benefits of investing in energy sources in a short period of time. What we need now is for people to come and help us develop Liaodong, instead of rushing to kill chickens and eggs. Since we don't really need that amount of tax money, why not lower the tax so as to win the support of the people and attract more people? Even if we wanted to build roads, cities, and water conservancy, we used to use work for relief, or directly pay for labor. Therefore, this Yao labor that everyone hates is abolished, and it only symbolizes the collection of a few pennies from the people into the mu of money, why not. ”

"Let's plant the plane tree, which will naturally attract the golden phoenix. When the prefectures of Liaodong are developed, we are afraid that there will be no income. Let me tell you, the iron ore in Liaodong accounts for half of the world, the gold ore in Ziqing accounts for one-third of the world, and there are all kinds of minerals. When we laid down the banks of the Liao River, there was a huge plain, and when we developed it, it was equivalent to a Huainan. Take a long-term view, we'll have everything. ”

Luo Ye was moved by the vision that Li Jing said, yes, the marshal and the Zhenguo army could not be viewed with common sense. In that case, why didn't he look further! (To be continued......)