Delong

Chapter 367: The Four Fields (1)

In July, the blazing heat in the countryside quickly subsided, and sporadic rains began to appear. Whether in Hebei or Henan, the pedestrians on the road became more dense, and commercial and agricultural activities also quickly resumed. Everything seemed to return to previous years. In the smooth weather.

In Sanhuangli, the most northwest part of Jiangling County, amid the sound of cicadas, a group of seven or eight knights came here. They found a terrace overlooking the wilderness. Then they discussed with each other, recorded a form, and hurried to the next step. Went away in Shuanghuangli.

So again and again, the group of people just walked around and watched the flowers, not even entering the village, so they drove back to Jiangling City that afternoon, first went to the "Niu Ma Ying" three miles south of the city to return the horses, signed the signature, and fed the animals themselves. I want to leave.

Those who are ready to enter the city enter the city, and those who return to the camp return to the camp.

However, as soon as the group came to the official road, a middle-aged officer headed by a middle-aged officer looked around and saw many wine shops and miscellaneous shops newly built beside the official road, and saw that the soldiers behind him were obviously tired and hungry, so he simply said in a low voice He asked another young scribe next to him who had a difficult time walking: "Liu Wenshu, the weather is refreshing, and you brothers have been tired with us for another day. Shall we invite them to have a drink on the street?"

Hearing the words, the young scribe touched the leather bag on his waist in embarrassment: "I'm ashamed, I didn't bring any money."

"It's okay, I'm good enough here." The middle-aged officer laughed on the spot, and patted the leather bag in his waist, revealing the black ribbon, and the two white decorations on it, whether it was ivory or jade, were particularly conspicuous.

Obviously, this is an officer at the level of the law protector in the gang. With such an identity, once he is transferred to a place, he will start as a county lieutenant.

And the young scribe actually had a similar ribbon on his body, but it was only decorated with a white hard strip, which seemed to be one layer worse.

Stop gossiping, turn around, and the middle-aged officer has already laughed loudly: "Brothers, I almost forgot that today is a five-day half-day, and those who do not work in the afternoon, even if they enter the city, they will not be able to pay the errand. Great reward, Liu Wenshu and I still have some spare money here, and we will buy a drink with everyone to rest our breath."

The accompanying sergeants were naturally overjoyed and grateful, and said that Zhao Da participated in Liu Wenshu.

Sure enough, these two were not the leading officers and local civil servants below, but the staff officers and documents directly under Chief Zhang here in Jiangling.

In this way, the crowd surrounded the two of them and walked along the official road twice, because most of the wine shops and shops here have just opened in the past six months, so they didn't choose any special place, after all, they were holding their noses to find one The restaurant on the second floor went in, and because of the crowds, they just came downstairs to sit on the street.

It was the beginning of autumn, the heat had dissipated, and there was no shortage of melons, fruits, chickens and ducks, but because of the prohibition on alcohol, most of the drinks were from outside the control area of ​​the Dragon Gang, so it was too expensive, that is, the Shangguan had a treat, so I had the opportunity to come here enjoyable.

But once the drinks were over, all the sergeants were speechless, and immediately started talking nonsense.That’s not to mention, the wine was not over thirty, and another similar group of people came. It was also a senior officer with a clerk leading four or five people. Two groups of people joined the table, especially the sergeants below. After the name, hometown, and qualifications, with the help of Jiu Jin, he couldn't control his mouth anymore.

And talking about it, it is natural to talk about today's busy work.

"If you ask me, the higher-ups are too concerned about the drought." Probably because of the hard journey, a team leader could not help complaining. "In May, we rested the ditches. In June, we went to fight. It is said that this side has not stopped. When we came back, the leader became the chief, but he still stared at this matter. It is said that he even issued a self-criticism, saying that it was because of the drought. I shouldn't have fought the battle in Xuzhou, but it happened again... Today is fine. Last ten days, I went directly to Bohai County with a big senator, and the big ginseng didn't know how to treat us to a drink... What do you say , Who gave the chief idea of ​​this?"

Everyone went to see the four leaders, and among them, Xiao Liu Wenshu was the first to laugh: "I'm afraid it's the chief's own idea."

The scene was inexplicably quiet.

The gang leader sobered up in an instant, and quickly explained: "I don't understand... If you said that you were busy before for disaster relief, what about now? It's July now, no matter how busy you are, this is the way it is here? Why? Do you want to carry out this disaster inspection?"

This time it was Zhao Dashen's turn to smile, and he was the first to answer frankly: "Old Wang thinks less..."

"Naturally, I think less, otherwise you will be a member of the corporal leader we are working together, but I am still the corporal leader." Captain Wang also laughed quickly. "Anyway, how can you think more about Kuaileg Zhao?"

"I'm just fast, how can I think too much? I can't figure it out if I think too much? The truth is what I heard from these scholars in the stage. For example, today's matter was explained clearly by Xiao Liu Wenshu and me." Zhao Dashen pointed to his partner beside him and smiled, then immediately became solemn. "He said, since ancient times, disasters have been divided into three parts by natural disasters and seven parts by man-made disasters. The purpose of disaster relief before was to reduce natural disasters, but now the purpose of exploring disasters is to reduce man-made disasters..."

Everyone is in unison.

And then, Zhao Dashen pointed to Xiao Liu Wenshu and said something.

Let's start with the drought itself.

First of all, the scale of this drought is particularly large. The so-called basically covers Kinki, Dongjing, Hebei, Jianghuai, and affects as many as [-] or [-] states and counties.

Secondly, the situation of this drought is very complicated. It is more common in the eastern coastal areas, Huainan is much better, Kinki to the Hanshui area is slightly better, and the worst is in the central and western parts of Hebei, the western part of the east, Huaixi, and the eastern part of Kinki .

And here at the core site of the Dragon Gang, the drought situation is also complicated and chaotic. The eastern border is different from Hebei, Dengzhou is different from Dongjun, Bohai is different from the plain, including the same county, because there is no major Whether the river is irrigated in time is not the same thing at all.

After talking about this, Zhao Dashen began to talk about this errand: "When the chief was still the leader, he set several fundamental rules, one of the most important ones is called fair taxation and corvee... and now a For this drought, after autumn, there must be an appropriate tax reduction. For example, if the harvest is less than half, then it will be exempted; if it is less than [-]% of the normal harvest; Having said that, the drought situation is so complicated, it is very troublesome to rely on local officials to report it all.”

"I got it." Hearing this, the boss Wang suddenly realized. "I'm afraid that the local officials will overreport and report indiscriminately! At that time, I will not be able to pay taxes, and I will lose next year's military rations!"

All the sergeants were also stunned.

"Not bad." Zhao Dashen sighed. "However, I personally heard the chief tell Mr. Chen that what he is most afraid of is actually underreporting the disaster, or even not reporting..."

Except for a few staff officers and clerks, the sergeants were all surprised.

Finally, Liu Wenshu couldn't bear it anymore, and sneered: "Don't forget that when the first emperor of the Wei Dynasty, didn't he always report or underreport? He didn't report when he suffered a disaster, and the people suffered a lot, and the taxes and taxes were equal...Anyway, politics Qingming is not as high as the Guanlong people, but they rise just as fast."

"This is the same as granting land." Someone responded. "Before when the rebellion started... the leader... the chief sent someone to say that at the Wei court, one mu of land was granted instead of two mu of land, and double taxes were paid to make the old emperor of Wei happy. People from Jing and Hebei have worked hard for a whole year, but they can barely survive, and they will die when they encounter disasters."

"Waiting to die in a disaster year, isn't that what you're talking about? This is what you're connecting to."

"That's why it's the other way around!"

"We also have such officials in the Dragon Gang?"

"There are officials like this everywhere. As long as they can be promoted, they don't care about anything... Besides, there are many officials who were originally appointed by the court directly."

"Anyway, I know what's going on." Mr. Wang concluded. "Here is a general comparison, so that the magistrates don't cheat... If you know it, you won't be tired. Come, come, let's drink!"

"Drink and drink!"

There was an uproar in the store.

"Did you hear that?" At this moment, in front of the window on the second floor, there was a man with a wide robe and big sleeves, twirling his beard and smiling, but it was Xie Minghe, who was in charge of foreign affairs of the Dragon Gang. "The staff officers, clerks, and these sergeants in the station know more than you."

"What's the matter with Xiao?" The person opposite was Chen Bin, the head of internal affairs of the Chulong Gang, who heard the words, but responded coldly. "Is what I just told them the same thing? I care about this matter? I think the chief should not do any review... Whether it is right or wrong to hit Xuzhou, he can't do a review! He thinks that the After a review, will the people below be convinced and admire his magnanimity? In fact, it will only make those military chiefs feel contemptuous! What's more, if something goes wrong due to the drought, those people will take advantage of the situation and push the fault to the chief alone. superior!"

It turned out that because of the drought, Chief Zhang had introspected from the bottom of his heart afterwards, thinking that the battle in Xuzhou should be endured, that Langya Banjun would not want it, and went directly to Jiangdu to buy Li Wenbai's head. The timing of the disaster relief was delayed for more than half a month, and a lot of food was wasted!
Of course, this is just a kind of review based on Zhang Xing’s personal values, and most other people don’t think so, but he still insists on releasing an internal review, acknowledging Xuzhou’s mistakes in the First World War.

This incident has not attracted the attention of others, especially Chief Zhang who has been majestic recently. Not only did Xuzhou win a lot of whale bones, but at the beginning of this month, after he crossed Hebei and returned, he only sent a letter to Xue Changxiong. So the general put out his thoughts of "scratching the thief's queen" for Jiangdu, and went back to Hejian honestly to look at the whale bones.

What's even more exaggerated is that Nan Chen, an old general who was far away by the river, raised his troops immediately when he heard that Zhang Xing had become the chief.
Even people from the south of the Yangtze River have come to congratulate them recently, and people from the north have also come to celebrate.

Under such power and influence, some strategic reviews naturally did not cause any waves of authority, but Chen Bin was extremely dissatisfied with this.

"It's still the same old way, it's a battle between power and virtue." Xie Minghe thought for a while, then continued to laugh while raising his wine glass. "Prestige has quick results, virtue has deep effects, prestige is easy to win, and virtue can accept defeat. It's no fun to fight over and over again. Anyway, our chief prefers to carry things with virtue, but when he encounters opportunities to establish prestige, he often Don’t care about anything, it’s a combination of power and virtue... You don’t need to think too much about it.”

"In today's troubled times, if you are able to establish your prestige, you still need to establish your prestige. Unless you are too idle, you will not build any virtue." Chen Bin, the head of internal affairs sitting across from him, answered with a frown, but he just looked out the window, where the cicadas were singing and the insects were screaming. The sound is constant, the city, the field, the barracks, the market are mixed. "That's my long-standing opinion."

"If that's the case, why didn't you stop it?" Xie Minghe asked in surprise after gulping it down. "Instead, you only want me to complain? According to the way you have been since you joined the Dragon Gang, no matter what the result is, you will always make a statement, instead of not saying anything on the surface and showing your face in private."

"I'm not going to hide it from you." Chen Bin was silent for a moment, but he finally said the key. "Because I'm confused, or I came to look for you today, but I didn't know how to speak, so I can only start from what happened just now..."

"Didn't you ask me to drink because of this?" Xie Minghe was even more surprised, just about to say something, but suddenly thought of something, and then woke up suddenly. "Couldn't you be tempted?"

"Sure enough, I asked you to tell me?" Chen Bin asked calmly.

"I'm in charge of foreign affairs. The people from Jiangnan came to me first, and then I made a report, and then he asked me on the spot." Xie Minghe was even more helpless. "It's just that I never expected that I wasn't tempted, but you were actually tempted... Mr. Chen, I can be tempted, but how can you be tempted?"

"Because my surname is Chen?" Chen Bin was still sarcastic. "Going to the south of the Yangtze River to start a business is easy to be taboo?"

"No." Xie Minghe was speechless. "It's because you've done a great job here... Let me ask you something. If Zhang Sanlang really becomes a major event in the future, is it because you, Manager Chen, have a higher position, or Zhou Xingfan and his second uncle?"

Chen Bin was slightly taken aback, but still shook his head: "If I go to Jiangnan, how could it be that Zhou Xiaoshang is only in the three counties?"

"Can you get all the 81 states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River?" Xie Minghe asked with a sneer.

Chen Bin glanced at the other party while holding the wine, and then wanted to speak.

"If that's the case." Xie Minghe continued joking and laughing, not giving the other party a chance to speak at all. "Even if you have the surname Xie with me, you can only die."

Chen Bin was stunned on the spot.

"I know what you're thinking." Xie Minghe sighed upon seeing this. "It's not that you're blinded by profit, and suddenly became ambitious. You were forced to board the boat that day, and then there was only one way to go to the dark. Now there are suddenly more roads, and I can't help but imagine... But let me tell you, don't think about it Alright, although your current situation is a one-way process, it is already very good, so don't ruin your future."

Chen Bin also sighed quietly: "That's true, but I do feel homesick. I haven't seen the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River for decades."

"Then don't go." Xie Minghe became more and more emotional. "For decades, the old land in the south of the Yangtze River is naturally still the old land, but it is no longer the old scenery... I really want to go back, I am more suitable than you, because this time the emperor is focusing on Danyang, and what he wants to build is the Danyang Palace. Let me say a few words With words, we can gather the manpower and material resources of the Eight Great Families, and then find a few masters of the True Fire Sect, and then set up the banner of the Dragon Clan, and then contact the rebels in Jiangdong and Jiangxi, and send a message to Nanling, Echoing Zhou Xiaoshang, four or five counties are rare for a while, and two or three counties are easy. Even if Danyang is close and suppressed, I can go to Yuhang and Kuaiji to rub against those two. As for the Chen surname , let me say something, don’t be angry, no one in Jiangnan misses Mrs Chen, everyone misses Mrs Xiao even more, otherwise how do you think the queen who was captured once lived so peacefully in Jiangdu?"

After Chen Bin listened in a daze, he let out a long breath: "The chief shouldn't have asked me."

"If he doesn't ask you, you have to think about it, the road has come here, it's just a fork in the road." Xie Minghe said disapprovingly. "But it's just a polite question, who would have thought that you really took it seriously? Let me tell you, you go back and wash your face, blow the air on that whalebone chair, and you will wake up immediately... It's these days Among the people, including Zhou Xingfan and his second uncle, they are just noises, and Wang Daiji doesn't need to pay attention to them. There is only one Jinbei's Breaking Wave Knife and Huaixi's Du Pozhen to pay attention to. It's just that I can't hold it back and want to let it out. You should also go to Beidi, not Jiangnan!"

Chen Bin could only nod indiscriminately, then bowed his head to drink.

Just like that, the two of them had already talked about it, and they should have left directly, but the downstairs was full of subordinates, and it was not easy to jump out of the window, so they continued to drink some drinks from Jindi, talked about some trivial matters, and waited until the next day. It was getting dark, and the downstairs was just about to leave, but there was a lot of trouble when paying the bills, which meant that Xiao Liu Wenshu didn't bring any money, so the two senior counselors simply paid the money together, and they were happy to bring the other secretary save money.

After a group of subordinates left, Chen and Xie also paid the money and went downstairs.

It was the evening of early autumn, the evening wind swayed slightly, the surrounding fields were noisy, people came and went outside the mausoleum, the huge barracks area, rows of shops, and endless crops in the sunset...Who would dare to believe that it was only at the beginning of this year that here is still because of What about two years in a row of military disasters and falling into some kind of dead country place?

Chen Xie and Chen looked at each other for a long while, and each looked at each other. They didn't know whether it was a mutual understanding or the city gate was about to be closed. The door drum sounded on the top of the city, so they went northward together with their hands behind their backs, and followed the flow of people into the city.

Halfway through the walk, Xie Minghe stopped suddenly, Chen Bin stopped in surprise, and then followed the other's gaze... It turned out that in the twilight, that little Liu Wenshu separated from those partners at some point, At this time, I walked into a help shop opened along the official road.

The so-called help shop is a shop that has accepted the license and can get a certain reduction or exemption in taxation or land deed purchases. The condition is that it must transfer some of the goods from the Dragon Gang's own workshop to the designated place in a monthly quota or according to a total amount.

It was a new thing that Chief Zhang quickly launched after returning to Hebei in order to fulfill the previous promise of rewards.

And this kind of store soon became a trading center for reward gift coupons, which made the gift coupons have a real value. welcome.

Xiao Liu Wenshu, who had no money for a treat just now, came to this store, opened his leather pouch, took out a small bag from the leather pouch, then took out a thick dozen reward coupons, and handed them carefully to the shopkeeper. people.The latter counted them one by one, then turned around, took out a box, and opened it face to face.

It was a golden phoenix hairpin inlaid with pearls.

At this moment, Xiao Liu Wenshu, who was completely pauper, felt like he had found a treasure. After reading it several times, he carefully put it away, and carried the box to the city. He didn't even know that the two immediate bosses were hiding in the twilight and could see clearly.

"This kid is not only cynical, but also a little stupid." Xie Minghe looked at the back of the other party and couldn't help but sneered. "If he exchanged a gift voucher for a pearl at the storehouse in the city, and then asked the other party to inlay it with a gold hairpin, it would save money and exchange it for a bolt of silk. Wouldn't it be better? It must be exchanged for the whole thing!"

Chen Bin shook his head, without saying a word, he lowered his head and moved forward, Xie Minghe also followed with his hands behind his back.

In this way, the two entered Jiangling City before the city gate closed.

(End of this chapter)