When people were in Qin, they ruled the world

Chapter 208 Under Power, There Are No Innocents
"My lord, then, shall I go now?" In silence, Mingzhu cautiously asked with some expectation.

"King Qin can't send hungry soldiers, it's almost time to eat, you should stay." Ying Zheng said.

"Yes." Mingzhu said with a smile on her eyebrows.

Finally, Mingzhu left with satisfaction, and time completely entered the night.

"Is the king's afternoon time all about calculating taxes?" After Mingzhu left, only Ying Zheng and Duanmu Rong were left in the empty inner hall again. It was quiet, so she could only speak actively.

"This is a very important matter," Ying Zheng said.

"I know, when I traveled with Master when I was young, I saw similar situations." Duanmu Rong said.

"Really?" Ying Zheng stood up and walked towards Duanmu Rong.

"Yes." Perhaps hearing the suspicion in Ying Zheng's words, Duan Murong couldn't help raising her head to look at Ying Zheng, as if she wanted to prove her seriousness to Ying Zheng.

"Let's go for a walk, and by the way, tell me about what you've seen." Ying Zheng said as he walked out of the hall.

"Okay." Hearing this, Duanmu Rong hurriedly followed.

Walking among the corridors connecting many palaces, Duan Murong slowly told Ying Zheng what he had experienced with his master Nian Duan in his childhood.

"Probably the year before Master and I went to Xianyang, we passed by Shouchun in Chu State, and saw Chunshen Lord of Chu State sending out his disciples to collect land rent from the people under his fief." Duanmu Rong said.

The female disciple of the doctor's family had a beautiful voice, like a clear spring in the mountains, crisp and clear.

"However, in Chunshenjun's fiefdom, some people's lives are very poor and they can't pay the land rent at all, but those tenants who collect the land rent have to collect the land rent. In this way, things will become very troublesome. If The doormen forcefully expropriate land rent from poor families, and that family may not survive the harvest season next year. If they starve to death because of this, once it is exposed, it will affect the reputation of Lord Chunshen. Common people, it is unacceptable for someone like Chun Shenjun who values ​​his reputation very much." Duanmu Rong said.

"Those disciples must have figured out the so-called perfect plan. How did they do it?" Ying Zheng asked with a bit of curiosity.

"That's right, those disciples have thought of a perfect plan, that is, they don't have to force the poor people to death, which in turn affects Lord Chunshen's reputation, and they don't need to appear incompetent to Lord Chunshen because of insufficient land rent." Duanmu Rong's face surfaced. Let out a strange smile.

Ying Zheng's appropriate display of curiosity was scratching the itch in Duanmu Rong's heart.

"They divided the people in Lord Chunshen's land into three classes, upper, middle and lower, and collected land rent based on the three classes. For example, nine cents of the land rent should have been collected, and the upper, middle and lower classes were responsible for three points. But the lower class can't pay three cents of the land rent, and can only pay two cents of the land rent at most, so there is a gap in the land rent." Duanmu Rong said.

"Those diners passed on the lack of land rent to middle-level families?" Ying Zheng asked.

"Your Majesty guessed it. It is true. However, the land rent that middle-level families need to pay is not just four cents." Duanmu Rong said.

Duanmu Rong turned out to be a person who was very good at telling stories, at this time she could not see that she was usually taciturn.

"Is there another story?" Ying Zheng asked curiously on the surface.

In fact, in Ying Zheng's mind, he already had the answer at this time.

"Yes, the story is not over yet." Duanmu Rong said.

"You can't let Mr. Chunshen know about such things, and those high-ranking people usually have their own connections and can speak to Mr. Chunshen. If those people bring this matter to Mr. Chunshen, then The tenants who collect the rent are likely to be punished by Lord Chunshen for this, so they thought of another way, which is to let the upper-class families pay less land rent, and pass the part of their underpayment to the middle-class families again." Duan Murong said.
"It's a good plan. In this way, those low-class people will not starve to death and damage Chun Shenjun's reputation, and those high-class people will benefit again. Naturally, they will not expose such a thing, but the unlucky ones are only those middle-class people." They are just people, but they are not as numerous as the lower-class people, and their influence is not as good as the upper-class people, so they can only be slaughtered." Ying Zheng said.

"That's right, but it's not without problems." Duanmu Rong said.

"Of course there is a problem. The wealth of middle-level people is limited after all. In this case, it may be fine to bear the burden for one or two years, but what about three or four years? These people can't stand it, and they will become poor. When more and more of them become poor, the remaining people will bear a heavier burden, and the speed of collapse will only get faster and faster." Ying Zheng said.

"That's right, one day it will be impossible to hide it, why do those people dare to do this?" Duanmu Rong asked puzzled.

"I haven't figured out this question all this time. Could Your Majesty have thought of the reason?" Duan Murong looked at Ying Zheng and said.

"Of course they dare. As long as they successfully complete the task during the period when they are responsible for collecting land rent, they will be able to gain trust from Lord Chunshen, and then walk into the court of Chu State under the recommendation of Lord Chunshen. On that day, they were already in high positions, and they had nothing to do with them, and it was only the latecomers who were unlucky." Ying Zheng said.

"Is that so? If so, isn't Jun Shen too unlucky? His fief has been messed up." Duanmu Rong said.

"Do you think Mr. Chunshen is innocent?" Ying Zheng stopped walking.

"Should it be?" Under Ying Zheng's gaze, Duan Murong doubted her own judgment.

"No, Mr. Chunshen is not innocent. As a superior, whether he deceived himself or was really deceived, this is his crime. The incompetence of those in power is the greatest crime. While enjoying power, he He must also fulfill the obligations of power, if he fails to do this, it is a crime." Ying Zheng said.

"Is it a crime of power?" Duanmu Rong asked in confusion.

"This question is not something you need to think about, but I already understand the purpose of what you said about this matter." Ying Zheng said.

"The current Yingchuan County is probably another Shouchun fief of Lord Chunshen." Yingzheng continued.

"If that's the case, is it also the king's crime?" Duanmu Rong asked Ying Zheng blankly for some reason.

But the moment the words were spoken, Duanmu Rong regretted that she shouldn't have asked such a question.

Yingchuan County is not Shouchun. Qin State occupied South Korea in less than a few months, but Chunshenjun has been entrusted with Shouchun for decades.

(End of this chapter)