Aggrieved Fish Sprite: 37|Suffering from the suffering of the people’s livelihood
novelmao.com, the fastest update to the latest chapter!
The snow on the mountain road severely slowed down the caravan’s speed.
The terrain of Shilang Mountain is not as steep as the northwest of Pingzhou. Because of the caravan, the roads here have been specially repaired. Except for the slippery ones, they are also smooth.
Meng Qi was not in a hurry, he stopped and went, watching the scenery beside the road to pass the time.
There are not many people like them who join the team midway, including shopkeepers, woodcutters, and even escorts in yamen.
The people in the yamen are also divided into three, six or nine grades. I won’t talk about those with grades. Just talk about these influential servants. Some are serving in the yamen for a long time, and some are people who come to serve in the military.
The latter is not doing the easy work of sending letters, but transporting materials for the government, such as charcoal for winter, sand bricks and tiles for building houses, etc. To put it bluntly, it is a cool effort without money.
The corvee will be allocated to every male, and each person needs to do heavy work for the government for about a month each year. The government has the final say on what to do and how long to do it.
Serving corvee in Zhushan County, the county government is in charge of food and housing, and there is not much living. The people are still very familiar with the officials. Everyone talks while they work, which is very lively. Obviously it was not like that outside. Those people were pushing the cart silently, and the supervisors were not in the mood to joke, just thinking about handing in the errands and going home quickly.
At this moment, you can see the tyranny of the Si family, and the vehicles that transported things for the government did not dare to pass the Si family caravan, but followed behind like a small caravan.
When the sky was getting dark, I had not yet arrived in Qiuling County.
The caravans, large and small, stopped. They found an open space, surrounded the cars in a circle, and set up a bonfire in a sheltered place to keep warm.
Thinking about getting home soon, everyone smiled, only the servants were anxious.
“Tomorrow is the deadline!”
“…Let’s tell the situation, maybe it will be accommodating.” The officer in charge of the overseer had no choice but to grumble and said to the encircling guards, “There is snow everywhere, if you rush at night. , Damage the vehicle and food, isn’t the culpability heavier?”
“If we hadn’t met the Sijia caravan, we could go faster!” An officer said angrily.
Someone next to him immediately covered his mouth and whispered: “You don’t want to kill you? The Si family has always been arrogant. After a day’s delay, you and I can only receive a few whips. If you run into the Si family’s goods, you How to pay?”
The officer felt dissatisfied when he heard that, and wanted to say more.
The superintendent pointed to the shining knife of the caravan guard and said, “Even if you can afford it, can your arms and legs be harder than a knife? It won’t kill you, but you can’t have your hands. What to do if you have a broken foot? Your family filed a lawsuit and said that you had mistakenly identified you as a robber, and then sent some money for soup medicine. Then, how will your family live?”
The officer had nothing to say, and sat aside.
Mo Lei heard the words of the group clearly. He looked at the car that was transported by the guards. The track marks were very deep, and the car was covered with waterproof tarpaulin, which was so tightly covered that he couldn’t see what it was. thing.
There are more than twenty such big vehicles in total. They are not towed by cows and horses, and rely solely on manpower.
“Are all the servitudes outside so heavy?” Mo Li asked startledly.
Even though the book says that harsh government is more fierce than tigers, but the place where the ink carp passes is not because the people are not living. The carmen of the caravan also said that Qiuling County is very rich and the people’s life is much better than before.
Is this much better?
Moli asked unconsciously. Meng Qi looked at the servants and whispered: “If you don’t want to serve in the corvee, you can redeem it with money. There are many wealthy people in Qiuling County, and many people are willing to spend money. No need to work hard. Naturally, I feel that life is much better than before. However, in this world, there are always people who cannot afford to pay, and there are fewer people working, but the things to be done are still there, so they come to the poor. Said that corvee is heavier.”
“The money paid for the servitude is not the cost of the government’s hiring of labor?” Moli asked subconsciously, how can there be fewer people working when they come and go?
Meng Qi paused without answering.
Qin Lu has never been an official and knows nothing about these privacy. Naturally, Mo Li can’t learn it. He has not left Zhushan County for many years. He has seen things completely different from what he had in his impressions, and he did not understand for a while. In fact, without Meng Qi’s explanation, Mo Lei can figure out the answer slowly by thinking carefully.
The government received the money to redeem the servitude, but did not hire people to do the work. It still used the poor and treated one person as two people, and then recorded an additional hire in the accounts. In this way, the money saved went into the pockets of the ink greedy people of the county government.
“This is a very common thing?”
“No matter where it is, it is very common…” Meng Qi was in a daze, seeming to remember something, and then said, “The Chu Dynasty once promulgated a new corvee law for this purpose. For redemption, if the family has surplus wealth, they can send a servant or hire someone to serve in the service by themselves, and the government shall not collect the money on their behalf.”
Mo Li heard this and thought it was a way to curb the oppression from the root.
It is expected that Meng Qi’s next sentence is–
“The implementation of the new law failed. Those government officials who made money can always find loopholes. They use the yoke, stipulating that the wealthy must hire people through the yaw, and the money is transferred, and the money from the officials is returned. In the bag, in fact, no hired workers went there at all. The matter was still the same and had not been resolved. There were even more black-hearted officials, who simply charged the people serving in the military service a’single portion of money’, ten wen per person, if they didn’t pay. , Will be forcibly’hired’ by the Yaxing. Originally only needed to serve for one month, but was extended to two months, but did not get a penny as a hired worker. Even if the complaint was filed, the government office of Fuya County had been stunned long ago…”
Mo Li was a little rushed when he heard his breath. He didn’t know what to say. The guards squatted by the car, seemingly still worried about not being able to reach Qiuling County in time.
Meng Qi by his side continued: “The Chu Dynasty introduced a new law, including twelve articles, including the corvee law, and established the post of inspector for the new law, but the final result was disappointing. Corrupt officials cut a lot, those There are also many inspections that collude with corrupt officials. For example, the corvage law, doctor, do you know why it failed?”
“… Official corruption?”
“No, it’s the incomplete system of county officials.” Meng Qi seemed to have completely restored his memory as a national teacher. He talked eloquently, “In a county office, there are not many officials who take royal salaries seriously. Kuai, jailers, and detainees are not considered royal salaries at all. The money they make to support their families is given by the county government. Where does the county government’s money come from? They deduct oil and water from the imperial acquiescence, plus the prefects have a term , They come and go, there is no fixed number, only these little officials squatted in the county government for a long time, they fell into a snake, they can even raise the prefecture, if they refuse to work, the prefecture has no way, they can only follow them and give They benefit.”
Moli was silent.
This seems to be what Mr. Qin said before. Xue Lingjun only understands, and they know very little about it?
“Doctor, looking at you, I think Zhushan County doesn’t have these.” Meng Qi smiled suddenly, and said leisurely, “This makes me curious, I want to visit Zhushan County…but no matter how good it is The place is not always the case.”
Mo Li heard from the mountain people what Zhushan County looked like before Xue Lingjun came.
Although Xue Lingjun is thirty years younger than Mr. Qin, in the eyes of most people, the age of knowing the fate is very old. Even if Xue Lingjun is in good health and lives for a few more decades, what about after a few decades?
Doctor Mo gradually discovered that his expectations for the future seemed increasingly difficult to achieve.
At least he can’t imagine Zhushan County in the future, there will be a group of small officials who exploit the people, a group of Holy Lotus altar congregants who confuse the people.
Qin Lu traveled around the world and finally settled in Zhushan County under the rule of Xue Lingjun, but what can Moli do? Qi Mao Mountain is there, he can wander outside, but after all he can’t move his nest, he still has to go back to Zhushan County.
“The doctor regrets leaving his hometown?”
“The hometown is good, but if you don’t come out, how can you detect the future crisis?” Mo Li replied.
How do people in one place live? What kind of people are the magistrates who come to take office? How to change?
Mo Li thought a lot, and when he recovered his mind, he suddenly realized one thing: even his little dragon vein has to worry about Zhushan County, then what about the Taijing dragon vein?
Once the dragon veins are transformed, as a human being in the world, they will encounter the same troubles.
Taijing is the capital of all dynasties. A terrible emperor is more troublesome than a terrible magistrate.
Could it be possible that Taijing Longmai could bear such a bad heart?
Mo Li looked at Meng Qi subconsciously, his eyes deep.
Meng Qi was waiting for the doctor to continue asking him for advice. Suddenly he met this look, and his neck felt cold, as if some secret had been discovered.
“…”
Weird, what’s the matter with this feeling? Meng Qi muttered in his heart.
“Huh?” Mo Li happened to see not far behind Meng Qi, a man with a hood covering his face ran to the guards, and fell down with exhaustion. The guards seemed to recognize this person and quickly covered him.
At this moment, the front of the caravan was also in a mess, as if something had happened.
After that, I saw a group of people coming here from far and near holding torches.
The leader was a black tower-like man. He rode on the horse and scanned the messy camp with a blade-like gaze. The people behind him came up and asked if he saw a stranger coming from Qiuling County.
Everyone shook their heads. There are only people going to Qiuling County on the way. I haven’t seen anyone who goes the other way!
The guard of the Sijia caravan seemed to recognize these people, and came forward to talk.
“…Something must have happened!” The coachman who Mo Li spoke to in the afternoon patted his legs and said, “These people are all from Sijiabao. It’s dark in the sky. Who are they chasing after?”
Mo Lei looked at the guard from the corner of his eye and found that they had hidden the person in the shadow behind the car.
“You are not allowed to cover your face, show your face!” Sijiapu commanded arrogantly, rushing in and telling people.
The small caravan was in a hurry, begging them not to ruin the goods.
“What do you do?”
When the private soldiers of the Si family saw the official guards, they questioned unceremoniously.
The superintendent hurriedly obstructed, “This is all the grain and grass allocated from the neighboring county. It is used by General Liu’s soldiers and horses. It must not be destroyed!”
Hearing the name of General Dangkou, the leading dark-skinned man immediately frowned.
At this moment, there was a sound of horseshoes at the end of the mountain road, and Mo carp’s ears moved, making sure that it was the direction they came, and then a dozen or so riders familiar to Doctor Mo appeared at the crossing.
“What’s the matter, it’s still blocking the road?”
Liu Dan raised the horse rein and looked at the private soldiers holding the torch coldly.
Although there are few people around Liu Dan and many people on the Si family’s side, the black man has a cautious expression on the face of an enemy.
“General Liu invited it. Someone stolen the Si’s property and ran out, and is being ordered to hunt down?”
“What is so precious?” Liu Dan sneered.
Without waiting for the other person to answer, General Liu drew his whip over, “Damn, what are you? I don’t need to kneel when I saw this general. The Si family’s things were stolen and not reported to the officer, so what did he say? Hunt, whose orders are you on?”
The black man seemed to know martial arts. He escaped the blow and said with anger: “The Si family has lost the heirloom, which is invaluable. The Patriarch ordered our generation to chase it back. In a hurry, he neglected the general. Forgive me.”
Liu Dan did not continue to chase him and whip, but sneered: “Heirloom? I think it is something shameful!”
No one dared to answer. Liu Dan obviously wanted to find the person before Sijiapu. He glanced around in the light of the campfire, and then unfortunately met Meng Qi who had just taken off his cloak.
“Cough cough cough!”
General Liu got distracted and almost choked himself to death.