A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 656 Murderous Liu Rengui
"Alang, Liu Alang is here."

"Please."

Longqiao, Wubao.

A tall middle-aged man strode into the central round fort of the Wu family, passed through the doorways, and reached the inner hall.Along the way, he was amazed by the round fort of the Wu family. This style of Wubao was rare in Guanzhong.He had served in the army under Ren Gui when he was young, and he had also studied military affairs. If this fortress is besieged, it is very strong, truly easy to defend but difficult to attack, and can be defended layer by layer.

Arriving at the innermost part of the central round fort, it suddenly became clear that there was a large courtyard in the Central Tulou, and there were several large transplanted trees.

A money willow tree has a dense crown, green shade like an umbrella, seven or eight thick trunks intertwined with each other, shaped like a dragon entwining, and among the green leaves, there are bunches of green fruits that look like copper coins.

"I didn't expect to see money trees in Sanyuan." Liu Rengui was a little surprised. This kind of tree usually grows south of the Qinling Mountains.

"Well, when this earth building was built, it was specially moved from the Qinling Mountains. This tree is full of treasures. The leaf buds were picked before the Qingming Festival, and after frying, it became golden willow tea. Drinking it regularly is good for your health."

Since ancient times, tea has not been grown in the north of the Qinling Mountains, and the golden willow tree generally cannot grow in the north of the Qinling Mountains. This kind of tree likes shade and good water. The Wu family planted it in a round building and took good care of it, but it grew well.

"I've worked hard on you these past few days." Huaiyu made Liu Rengui a cup of golden willow tea, which was made from the leaf buds of this tree. The tea fryer is a master. This tree can pick more than ten kilograms of fresh buds. Finally, Fry out two or three kilograms of tea.

This tea will not be sold or given away, that is, it is reserved for Wu Huaiyu to drink.

Under the money willow tree, there is a large tea table,
"It's all as it should be," Liu Ren said. "It just so happens that I have stopped choosing."

"Zhengzhe, now the saint has issued an edict to try out the new two-tax law in Sanyuan County, and he also asked me to stay here. I want you to help."

"Okay, it's just idle time anyway, it's good to be able to do something."

Liu Rengui agreed happily. He was the former magistrate of Sanyuan County. He was recommended by Wu Huaiyu to reach that position. He performed well during his tenure, ended his term early, and received good evaluations.

However, because he had a bad record (he killed the commander of the Tongjun Mansion when he was the captain of Chencang County), the official department asked him to stop the election. According to the rules, he could not continue to be an official for the time being, and he could not be elected until the expiration of his term.

Nowadays, there are many officials and few positions. Every year, tens of thousands of candidates are selected, but there are only six to seven thousand official vacancies. Every year, there are always two to three thousand people who cannot be selected. The officials are very dissatisfied, and the court has to increase its guard. The selection was rigorous, civil servants below the sixth rank, as well as those admitted to the imperial examination, and those with a good family background, etc., all had to participate in the selection.

Everyone takes turns to be an official. After completing one term, they have to stop for a certain period of time before they can continue to serve as officials and make way for everyone.

Unless you have a particularly good relationship or have a special order from the emperor, you have to be honest and abide by the election.Moreover, even if the time for suspension of selection is up, the qualifications for the selection will only be restored. Whether you can be selected, you still have to take the exam to compete for the position. Every year, there are always [-] to [-]% of people who fail to be selected.

For example, his predecessor Zhang Xingcheng also had a relationship with Wu Huaiyu. When he was the Fuyang Captain, he was recommended by Wu Huaiyu as a talented person, and then he became the magistrate of Sanyuan County. He only served for more than a year and was promoted in the name of capable people. Yushitai.

Liu Rengui is also very capable, but unfortunately he has a bad record.

If Wu Huaiyu hadn't protected him, he was so bold. A ninth-grade county captain dared to kill a fifth-grade commander with a stick. In fact, he had been killed long ago. How could he have been appointed as the Prime Minister of Xianyang County? Later, he was directly promoted to the Magistrate of Sanyuan County. .Even if the selection is stopped now, it is already very good.

In fact, Liu Rengui had a backer in his early years. Guan Guogong Ren Gui was his cousin.
Liu was born into the Liu family of Yuchi, and his family was also a well-known local family. However, Liu Rengui's family fell into decline when he was young, and he was lonely and poor since he was a child. He relied on family help to study.
Later, his cousin Ren Gui was appointed as the pacification ambassador of Henan Province in Wudechu. He went to serve and revised a memorial for Ren Gui, which was appreciated by Ren Gui. He was appointed by Chi to join the army in Xizhou.

Ren Gui was from Huainan, and his family had been generals in the Southern Dynasty for generations. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Ren Gui took the initiative to join Li Yuan and was awarded the title of Hucao in Hedong. When Li Yuan went to conquer the bandits, he entrusted Jiancheng Yuanji and other family members to Ren Gui's care. Ren Gui later When Conglong entered the pass, he also made many military exploits, was given the title of Duke, and kept the integrity to appease Henan Province.
However, the Ren family was founded by the prince, and his younger brother Ren Can was the food supervisor of the East Palace.In the early years, when Ren Gui became powerful, he used nepotism in the by-election of officials. His second wife, Liu, was jealous and rude, and the relatives brought up by the Liu family were also mixed.

When Jiancheng was executed, Ren Can and Ren Gui were implicated. Ren Gui was demoted to the governor of Tongzhou and was no longer used again. Although Liu Rengui was originally related to Ren Gui and was not from a serious background, he was indeed a relatively capable person, but he was young. He became the captain of Chencang County because of his arrogance and illegal behavior, and successive Chencang officials could not stop him.

As soon as Liu Ergui took office, he immediately warned Lu Ning that Lu Ning, the fifth-rank commander of the army, did not pay attention to the ninth-rank county captain, but he was still as brutal and arrogant as before. Liu Rengui directly led his men to capture him and kill him with a stick.

It can be said that this thing was done somewhat surprisingly.

It happened to be the beginning of Zhenguan, and Ren Gui had not yet fallen. But in fact, Ren Gui could not protect himself. Seeing that Liu Rengui was about to be killed, Wu Huaiyu remembered that he was a fierce man,

Baijiangkou ranked No. 1 in the small book.

So after getting to know Liu Rengui, he went to Liu Rengui and obtained many evidences of Lu Ning's crimes, interceded for Liu Rengui, and finally persuaded the emperor. Not only did he not kill Liu Rengui, he also promoted him to be the Prime Minister of Xianyang County.

Soon after, Ren Gui was demoted and died of illness last year. Liu Rengui completely lost his backer.

Many people have long regarded Liu Rengui as Wu Huaiyu's man.

Liu Rengui didn't mind this at all. Although Wu Huaiyu was seven or eight years younger than him, he admired Wu Xianggong's abilities. He was capable of both literary and military skills, especially his ability to lead troops to fight. He admired him the most. Liu Rengui wanted to lead troops to fight. . "This tea is good, it tastes sweet."

"Well, it tastes like this when fried, but there is no sugar added. Even though this tea is sweet, it has the effect of lowering blood sugar and blood pressure."

Although Liu Rengui didn't understand what blood sugar and blood pressure meant, he also knew that Wu Xianggong was one of the three most respected medicine kings in the contemporary era and was good at elixir medicine.

"If you like to drink it for a while, take two kilograms. In Hanzhong, Shangluo and other places, I have several teahouses that specialize in Qingqianliu tea. Many of the trees are hundreds of years old, much older than the one in my yard. ,"

"Thank you, sir."

"Zhengze, I'm very happy that you are willing to help me. However, I can't arrange an official position for you at the moment. You have to stay for one year. Then I will recommend to Mr. Dai to see if I can help you find a job. official."

Although the transfer from the magistrate of Ji County to Yuanwailang is from the sixth grade to the sixth grade, Yuanwailang has the same weight. Even though he is below the fifth rank, Yuanwailang, like the living minister and censor, cannot be directly conferred by the Ministry of Personnel, but by imperial edict. Awarded, nominated by the officials, recommended by the prime minister, and awarded by the emperor.

Among the officials in the imperial court, there are clear officials, dirty officials, technical officials, regular officials, and people with migrant backgrounds. Different backgrounds have different official positions, and official positions are divided into several categories, and their promotion speeds are also very different.

Officials like Yuan Wai Lang are considered high-ranking officials, and their promotion speed is very fast. Not only are the sixth rank included in the prime minister's management, but the candidate period for the suspension period is also short. In general, the suspension period for state and county officials often starts from four years. , some official positions with out-of-status backgrounds and corrupt officials even have to stop twelve elections after serving one term at most, that is, they can only participate in the election again after 12 years, and they can only be appointed again after being elected.

If the magistrate of Ji County moves to Yuan Wai Lang, or if a Yuan Wai Lang moves to the magistrate of Ji County, these are normal transfers and can even be regarded as re-employment.

The present magistrate of Sanyuan County, Zhao Renben, was the official who had just moved here.

"Whatever my husband needs me to do, just ask me."

Liu Rengui is quite calm. He is in his early thirties and is now a sixth-rank official. His official career is considered to be smooth. He wants to serve as a guest of his uncle as the shogunate of Gui, and then to join the army in Xizhou after receiving his imperial certificate. , and then to Chen Cangwei in the first year of Zhenguan, he was still in the ninth rank after ten years.

But in the eyes of many people, it is remarkable that he became a county captain after being a poor boy for ten years. After all, he did not enter the official position through Enyin, a descendant of his relatives, nor did he enter the official position through the imperial examination. The path he took was not the right path, and there were many restrictions on his promotion. .

It was only after meeting Wu Huaiyu that he was promoted from a county lieutenant who was almost beheaded to a sixth-grade county magistrate in three years.

Wu Huaiyu's promise, Thaksin believed.

"Tell me what you think about the new law being tried now."

"This is benevolent government."

Liu Rengui is very supportive of the new two-tax law, and he is even a little excited when talking about it. He is also familiar with Sanyuan County.
"My lord, since the Qin and Han dynasties, Sanyuan has been a land of the capital for a long time. It has benefited from the irrigation of Zhengguo Canal and Hanbai Canal. The people are prosperous and Wufu is famous. It is known as the capital of food and clothing and a Zhuang County with a population of hundreds of millions. It is known as the heart of Guanzhong cabbage.

There are more than [-] hectares of cultivated land in the county, with an annual grain harvest of one million dan. The plains are mainly wheat, and the plains are mainly millet. The plains generally have three crops every two years. After the wheat harvest, a crop of buckwheat is planted. After the wheat harvest, we rush to plant corn every year, achieving two crops a year. Millet, buckwheat, soybeans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn can also be grown on dry land on the plateau, and grain output increases significantly."

"Although everyone's life is better than before, about 50% of the more than [-] acres of land in Sanyuan is occupied by the imperial army, [-]% is occupied by the royal relatives, ministers and nobles of Chang'an, and the remaining [-]% is occupied by the powerful households in Sanyuan County. Another [-]% is taken up, the remaining [-]% is official land, and only [-]% is owned by ordinary people's families.
Basically, below the wealthy and powerful families, no ordinary people's homes can exceed a hundred acres of land. A small number of people own thirty to forty to twenty or thirty acres, and many hundreds of people don't even have their own land.
The imperial court wants to implement the new law, which is very good for the vast majority of people in the county.
but,"

Wu Huaiyu knew what Liu Rengui meant. He also said that over 50 acres of land in Sanyuan County, [-]% of it had been taken over by the powerful nobles and the imperial army.
This means that although it will benefit most people in terms of numbers, most landlords will lose out under this new tax law.

Ninety percent of the landowners and many aristocratic officials are directly exempted from the class, and Yuancong's imperial army and government soldiers themselves are not exempted from the household class.
Local wealthy and powerful households would also find ways to avoid taxation through various methods. Even if they imposed taxes and adjusted the tax according to the rent, it would only be two dan for one ding and three liang of silk for two feet. The levy was based on ding and not on the basis of acres.

But now it has to be changed to a fixed household tax based on property and a land tax based on acres. The taxes on the aristocratic households have increased dozens of times and hundreds of times. Although in Wu Huaiyu's view, the tax rate is still only one-twentieth-thirty. ,

But Liu Rengui thinks, who is willing to pay more taxes for nothing?
"Mr. sir, this is a problem."

"I know, so I wanted to ask you for any advice."

Liu Rengui shook his head, "There's no such thing as having the best of both worlds. Either make up your mind to do it to the end, or don't do it in the first place."

Wu Huaiyu also said bluntly, "The determination of the saint is still great. You have also served as Chen Cangwei, Xianyang Cheng, and Sanyuan Ling. You have been in the local area for more than ten years. You should know that the current land equalization order cannot be implemented long ago, especially since there is no land to be equalized in the mainland. The rental modulation based on this is also difficult to operate.

If we don’t take the initiative to solve this problem now, it will become more and more troublesome in the future,”

"Then go all out and defeat anyone who dares to stop him." Liu Rengui was full of murderous intent, just like when he faced Lu Ning, the commander of the Chencang Army Command, he was a ruthless man.

(End of this chapter)