Han family achievements

Chapter 441: Low-class common people
Liu Bian went ashore and walked towards the village not far away.

He only had Dian Wei, Lu Yu, and Huangfu Jianchang behind him, and the others followed him from a distance.

Liu Bian looked at the sparks not far away and said, "Lu Yu, I remember that the poll tax was canceled four years ago, right?"

Lu Yu followed Liu Bian to the right and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, when Yang Gong was in power, he repeatedly sent documents to various states and counties, requesting that the poll tax should no longer be collected. Prime Minister Xun never collected it after he came to power."

Liu Bian nodded, his eyes a little cold, and he strode forward.

Soon, they came to the courtyard of a family. The wooden door had been kicked to pieces, and several soldiers inside were smashing it wantonly in the house. A man was being beaten, and the faint cries of a mother and daughter could be heard.

Lu Yu frowned and turned to look at Liu Bian.

Dian Wei looked angry. He hated such bullies the most, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I will throw them all out."

Liu Bian raised his hand, stopped Dian Wei, and said, "Look again."

As he spoke, he quietly walked into the yard and stood in the shadow not far from the door, quietly watching everything happening in the house.

There were a total of six soldiers, each of them with a ferocious look. They had already smashed everything in the house, and had already brought the previous things in front of them. The beating of the male owner was still going on.

"Don't fight, don't fight..." The woman couldn't help it, and she mustered up the courage to push away the two soldiers who were beating her husband and protect him.

The leading soldier picked up the crying little girl who was running over and shouted coldly: "The total is two hundred coins. I ask you, do you hand it over or not!?"

The little girl, who was only three or four years old, was so frightened that she kept crying.

The woman rushed over, knelt on the ground, and said urgently: "Put down my daughter. Put down my daughter. We will pay you as much as you want. Please..."

The man didn't care about the pain, crawled over with difficulty, and said: "Yes, we will borrow it tomorrow, and we will definitely hand it over. Please put the child down, the child is innocent!"

Seeing that they were willing to pay the money, the leading soldier snorted coldly, threw the little girl directly to the woman, and shouted: "We come back tomorrow night. If we don't see the money, we will set fire to your house and arrest you to serve." Corvene!”

The woman took the child and cried bitterly with the child.

The man hugged his wife and gritted his teeth.

Setting fire to the house is actually nothing, the worst thing is to rebuild it, but if they are arrested and sent to do corvee labor, their whole family will be forced to death!
A soldier on the side kicked the man down and said dissatisfied: "The pavilion chief tried every means and spent a lot of money to exempt you from the corvée service. You are good. Not only do you not repay the kindness, but you dare not pay the court taxes. You are alive." Are you tired of it and want to rebel? "

The man endured the pain and said, "I know, I know, I'll hand it in tomorrow!"

The few soldiers didn't seem to be discouraged. They cursed a few more times, kicked the tables and stools away, and dismantled the door. Then they left with satisfaction.

Liu Bian and others were hiding in the shadows. These soldiers did not squint and did not notice at all.

After they had gone far away, Dian Wei couldn't help it anymore and said: "Your Majesty, I'm going to teach them a lesson!"

Liu Bian shook his head, looked at the family hugging each other through a small gap, and said calmly: "If you teach them a lesson today, tomorrow they will only do it harder to return it to this couple and the people here."

Dian Wei still couldn't help it and was ready to make a move.

Lu Yu also suppressed his anger and whispered: "Your Majesty, these soldiers are too much. This is not a tax, it is obviously robbery!"

Liu Bian pondered for a moment, walked forward quietly, came to the outside of the concierge, and looked into the house silently.

"His father, what should I do?" The woman was still crying, holding the child in her arms, looking at her husband with a face full of bitterness and despair.

There was fear on the child's face, and his big eyes blinked, showing confusion and innocence.

The man was a relatively thin man. He was half-sitting, not knowing whether it was because of pain or something else. He gritted his teeth, with a hint of ferocity in the corner of his face, and shouted in a low voice: "Take out the meat hidden in the backyard and make a meal for the child." Okay. I’m going to borrow some money from Brother Wang, and we’ll leave before dawn!”

The woman was startled and said, "Let's go? Where are we going?"

The man looked at the door with fierce eyes and said bitterly: "I can't survive here. I've always heard that Sili is repairing the river and giving money and food. Let's go there first and have a look. If it doesn't work, we'll go In Jizhou, I want to take refuge with Brother Chen. He is working as a nurse in the Xun family, and I can’t find a place to stay. Let’s look at the rest.”

The woman listened and looked back at the smashed house with only four walls left. She could only cry silently. Although she was reluctant to let go, if she stayed any longer, her whole family would be forced to death!

After resting for a while, the man took half of the door stick, stood up with difficulty, and went straight out.

"excuse me."

Before the man could walk out of the door, a voice suddenly sounded outside the door.

The man was so startled that he almost lost his grip on the door stick and fell to the ground.

The woman inside was also shocked and hurriedly came to the man's side with her child in her arms.

Liu Bian walked out of the shadows with a smile, raised his hand and said, "I'm from Luoyang. I traveled all night and got lost. I disturbed my brother."

The man stood still with difficulty, looked at Liu Bian, and then looked at Dian Wei and Lu Yu who came out from behind Liu Bian. He looked carefully and made sure they were not evil people. Then he felt relieved, raised his hand and said, "Little brother, are you going to Want to ask for directions? Twenty miles south of here is Lu County."

Liu Bian smiled and said, "Thank you very much."

With that said, he stepped forward directly and walked directly into the main room while the family members stared at him in astonishment.

Liu Bian looked at the dilapidated main hall, shook his head, stretched out his hands to hold up the stools and half of the table, sat down, turned around and said to Dian Wei, "Lao Dian, prepare some food, let's rest for half an hour."

Dian Wei's eyes lit up and he said, "Yes."

Before he finished speaking, he couldn't wait and even trotted out.

Liu Bian looked at his back, wondering why Dian Wei was inexplicably excited?

Lu Yu followed and walked in. Seeing this environment and looking at the couple looking at each other, he quickly explained: "Brother, please don't misunderstand me. My young master is just a little tired. We all have food with us. After half an hour's rest, Just leave without disturbing me."

The man had observed Liu Bian and saw that he did not look like a bad person. He thought about it and said to the woman, "Mother, you take Du'er to bed first, and I will chat with this brother for a while."

The woman had no choice but to comply, curtsied to Liu Bian, and walked out of the hall with her daughter in her arms.

The man waited for his wife and daughter to leave, then struggled to sit across from Liu Bian, and said with an embarrassed expression: "Brother, I must have seen that, it was funny."

Liu Bian didn't care, but he didn't have any tea and his mouth was dry, so he asked, "Brother, what's your surname?"

When the man heard this, he smiled even more bitterly and said, "What's so expensive about that? My surname is Wang, Wang Zu."

Liu Bian nodded and said, "Brother Wang, are you going to travel far?"

Wang Hao suddenly became even more embarrassed, and then he sighed and said, "Brother, I saw it."

"Not much." Liu argued. He spoke naturally, calmly and without any human sophistication. Wang Hao's face twitched, causing pain, but he didn't hide it. He was silent for a while and said, "Brother, please keep it a secret for me."

Liu Bian nodded with a smile and said, "I will give Brother Wang some money and ask him to answer some questions for me."

Wang Hao was startled and said: "Training? Doubts?"

This young man looked very wealthy, with moist skin on his face, not at all like the skinny and sallow appearance of ordinary people. Especially the clothes he wore, it was probably enough for them to live a prosperous life for a month.

Just as Liu Bian was about to speak, a plainclothes guard came in with food, and another plainclothes guard brought a good table.

Wang Hao smelled the aroma, and his stomach growled suddenly. His eyes stared tightly, even blood red, with a vicious look.

Liu Bian waited for the plainclothes guards to make arrangements, and after retreating, he suddenly asked: "What did Lao Dian do?"

The guard who had already walked out of the door turned around quickly, raised his hand and said, "Hui Your Majesty, that one was said to be a latrine, so I avoided it."

Liu Bian blinked and said, "Oh, I understand."

The guard raised his hand and stepped back.

Liu Bian turned around and saw Wang Hao staring at the food on the table, motionless except for his stomach growling more violently and the occasional swallowing sound.

Liu Bian smiled slightly, picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of meat, and said, "Brother Wang, please feel free to ask, no need to be polite."

Wang Hao raised his head and looked at Liu Bian. He wanted to say a few polite words, but he couldn't help but grab the soup cake with his hand, put it to his mouth, and took a big bite.

In fact, it was not big, but Wang Hao puffed out his cheeks, as if they were full, and he chewed hard but did not dare to chew too fast.

Liu Bian saw that he probably hadn't eaten noodles for a long time, so he poured the tea, took a sip, and said, "Brother Wang, how much land do you have left?"

Wang Hao originally wanted to feel it carefully, but he swallowed with some reluctance after hearing the words. Holding a small half piece of cake in his hand, he said bitterly: "Where there is any land, it is gone long ago."

Liu Bian was not surprised. He held the tea cup and said, "How does Brother Wang's family live?"

Wang Hao also noticed that the man in front of him was probably a noble son who came from a wealthy family. He seemed a little speechless. After a while, he said: "Do something for the wealthy family, mix some money and food, search in the mountains and forests, and eat whatever you can find." ”

Wang Hao said it simply, but Liu Bian could hear the difficulty in it and said, "How much tax do you have to pay a year?"

"Field taxes, poll taxes, corvees, tolls... they increase every year. I can't tell you. Anyway, the government will send people to collect them." Wang Zhen listed more than ten kinds of treasures in one breath, but there was no specific amount.

Liu Bian silently estimated in his mind and couldn't help but sigh secretly.

With this kind of collection method, how can ordinary people still survive?

Liu Bian took a sip of tea and said, "I remember that the imperial court had canceled these miscellaneous taxes a long time ago. Did the subordinates take these by themselves? Did they go to the government to inform them?"

Wang Hao was stunned again and again, then he couldn't help but smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "Young master, I'm afraid you haven't left home for many years, right?"

Liu Bian nodded, came up with a very useful excuse, and said: "I have been studying behind closed doors, and I only went out to study this year."

Wang Hao looked at Liu Bian with envy, sighed sadly, and said, "That's no wonder. How can we, the humblest people, know that the imperial court will collect whatever the chief of the pavilion says, and we will collect as much as we want. As for going, The government told...either they would have their legs broken before arriving at the government office and be thrown into the river, or they would go in and never come out again. Officials protect each other. They are officials and we are the people. There is no reason for the people to sue the officials. ?”

Liu Bian raised his eyebrows and then thought deeply.

It seems that there are many things that he takes for granted.

The darkness at the bottom is really something that only you can never imagine, and there is nothing that will not happen.

After Wang Hao said this, he stared at the food on the table again, quietly hid half of the cake between his legs under the table, and picked up another piece.

Liu Bian thought for a while, and then said again: "If the government clearly enforces strict laws and no longer collects these, and allocates acres of land to you, maybe you can keep them, I mean survive?"

Wang Hao took a small bite, then calmly put his hand and the cake between his legs, looked directly at Liu Bian, and said: "Young master is joking, how can you not accept it? If you don't accept these, how can you live as an official?" Allocating land to us is even more delusional. It will only collect more and drive us to death.”

Liu Bian nodded slightly, took a sip of tea, and said quickly: "Eat, no need to be polite."

Wang Hao naturally raised his hand, picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. His eyes still glanced at the soup cakes on the table from time to time.

Liu Bian looked thoughtful.

The imperial court has indeed abolished many bad policies and is also trying to solve fundamental issues such as land and taxation. However, in actual operation, it is not possible to reverse the 'realistic rules' left over for many years with just one decree or the dispatch of supervision.

'What to do? 'Liu Bian whispered in his heart.

This underlying turbidity is not within the scope of "purging officials". It is more like an atmosphere that permeates the entire Han Dynasty, is everywhere, and penetrates deep into the bones.

How to treat this disease?
Seeing Liu Bian lowering his head in thought, Wang Hao quietly glanced outside the door. Seeing that no one was watching, Wang Hao hid two pieces of bread between his legs. He also stuffed a few pieces of meat and some vegetables, and hid them carefully with clothes. , just like being a thief.

"Brother Wang,"

Liu Bian suddenly raised his head, looked at Wang Hao and said, "I just heard that you were going to Sili and Yanzhou. Is the situation there better?"

Wang Hao was startled and almost lost his chopsticks. He thought he had been discovered and hurriedly replied: "I don't know about this. I just heard that you can survive over there. If I am desperate, I don't want to drag my family with me." If you leave your hometown, you may be killed by bandits or starve to death on the way.”

Liu Bian felt very complicated and nodded lightly.

He can easily solve the troubles that Wang Yu's family encounters, and even give them glory and wealth.

But this is just one family. There were thousands of households in the Han Dynasty. How to solve it?

Seeing that he didn't find it, Wang Hao hesitated again and again, not daring to 'steal' again. He was worried about being discovered, so he watched Liu Bian while taking a small bite of fast food.

He didn't care about the taste of these meals, he just wanted to fill his stomach as quickly as possible.

Liu Bian noticed this, turned to the door, and said: "Prepare another one to send to Brother Wang, his wife and daughter."

Wang Hao was startled and subconsciously glanced at his crotch. He didn't know how to answer the question for a moment.

He wanted to be polite, but he thought that his wife and daughter had been hungry for a long time. How could he not let them eat such a good meal just because of face?

Wang Hao lowered his head and did not move his chopsticks. The man's dignity made him feel a little uncomfortable.

But he didn't stop, didn't say a word.

(End of this chapter)