After being divorced, my identity as a poet was exposed

The yard was silent.

Even Xiao Baozi, who was behind Li Chenan, looked miserable at the moment.

She suddenly discovered that Wanxi Zhai was very good.

At least it has been disaster-free and harmless for all these years.

Even if there is no money, Wanxi Zhai is basically self-sufficient.

After listening to Zhuge Buliang's words, she became more determined to return to Wanxizhai and run Wanxizhai better——

Who knows what the future holds?
If his position as emperor is not stable, if the world is in chaos again, at least Wanxi Zhai will have a way out, so that he will not be displaced like those victims.

At least there was a place to hide from the cold.

Only then did the fourth princess Ning Chuchu understand the reason why there were so many bandits in the Northern Desert, and also understood that during the more than 20 years of her father's reign, the people of Ning Country were left with only heavy burdens and huge disasters!
The people of Ningguo are too poor!
They have no ability to withstand disasters at all!

When they faced such a fate, only a few of them fell into trouble, and more of them still suffered in silence.

You shouldn't be so cruel to those bandits!

It's not easy for them to rob!

Li Chenan pondered for a moment and asked:
"The local government didn't do anything?"

Zhuge Buliang raised his head:
"It's not that they don't want to, it's that... they are powerless!"

"Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures have always been poor!"

"When it comes to corrupt officials...the corrupt officials in Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures are probably the least corrupt in the entire Ning Kingdom!"

"Because Jitai has been in power these years, the officials sent to the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun... To be honest, these officials actually have real talents and learning."

"They are all people who are marginalized by Jitai's family, but it is difficult for them to realize their ambitions here because the population of the entire Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture is too small."

"With fewer people, more fields will be abandoned. However, the tax required by the court... Even if the tax is [-]% according to the new law, which is based on the registered number of fields, at least half of the fields in the entire sixteen states have been abandoned. !”

"Local officials simply cannot pay the taxes stipulated above, so Beimo Road, the poorest road in Ningguo, still has not implemented new tax laws."

"It can't be implemented because if they only collect [-]%, what they turn over to the court will be a lot short. They will lose their official position at the least, or go to jail at the worst. There is no other way."

Li Chenan understood.

One of the most important aspects of the central court's assessment of local officials is the tax payment performance under their rule.

When Ji Tai was in charge of Ningguo, he adopted two methods for local taxation.

Jiangnan Province and Annan Province, which have a small area but a large population, pay taxes on a per-capita basis.

In Beimo Road, Shuzhou Road and Lingdong Road, which are vast and sparsely populated, tax is based on land.

The imperial court collected taxes as much as possible, but the treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs was empty.

It has enriched a large number of corrupt officials and made more than 3000 million people in Ningguo miserable!

At this time, Zhuge Buliang seemed to have forgotten that the person sitting in front of him was the regent of Ning Guo. He felt that the words he had suppressed in his heart were uncomfortable to express.

So, he slowly said:
"I have a reputation as a scholar. I worked as a tax collector for the county magistrate in Huangtang County at that time, so I have some understanding of these things."

"There are many unreasonable things. In fact, officials from Beimo Road have already written to the court, but they have never received a response."

"In this way, these officials in Beimodao gradually became cold-hearted, and gradually turned a blind eye..."

"I have a good rapport with Magistrate Zhou of Huangtang County. I also live in the backyard of the county government office. Magistrate Zhou occasionally invites me over for a drink, and then he complains."

"Now that I think about it, those complaints were not complaints at all. It was a real fact!"

"I shouldn't have said it before. In recent years, it is said that the salary allocated by the imperial court has been in arrears a lot..."

"This makes it difficult for officials in those places to do things. So most of them have to live a life of muddling along."

"To use a saying in the officialdom of Beimo Dao, it's like eating together and waiting to die! Let's all eat together and wait to die!"

"Hey...officialdom...this is not something that a mere citizen like me should discuss."

"I've talked too much today, so I can just call it a complaint. Please forgive me, Prince Regent!"

"In short, after I buried my parents, my fiancée and my whole family, I never returned to Huangtang County."

"Later, the imperial court passed down the disaster relief policy, which was to let all the victims come here to build Yanjing City." "I thought about it and came."

Li Chenan poured tea and handed a cup to Zhuge Buliang, "Why are you here?"

"Because of curiosity!"

"Curious what?"

Zhuge Buliang laughed: "At first I thought this disaster relief measure was too ridiculous!"

"It took 30 people to build a city in this remote place!"

"Although it has solved the food problem for the victims, what is the point of spending huge sums of money to build this city?"

"At first, I thought this was a helpless move by the court. It was you... you had no choice but to do it out of desperation."

"But now I know."

"This city needs to be repaired, because the deserter is right across the street!"

"It is necessary to build a military fortress, but this city is named Yanjing..."

"The so-called Jing refers to the tall tower in the capital. The tower has arches for the emperor and his ministers to enter and exit. It usually refers to the capital!"

Zhuge Buliang held the tea cup, leaned over and asked very seriously:
"You named this city Yanjing...could it be...?"

Li Chenan smiled slightly: "This is the gate of the country!"

"What do you think if the emperor keeps it?"

Zhuge Buliang was shocked. After five breaths, he slowly put down the tea cup, with a look of disappointment in his eyes.

He stood up and bowed:
"Prince Regent, this matter... cannot be done!"

Zhuge Buliang stood up straight and said very seriously: "There is only one city wall. To build the city inside, I have made plans with the craftsmen... It will cost hundreds of millions of taels of silver!" "

Li Chenan did not notice the strange look on Zhuge Buliang's face. He nodded, "The budget of the Ministry of Industry is roughly [-] million taels of silver."

Zhuge Buliang's heart suddenly sank, and his voice became stern:

"I dare to ask the regent, today in Ningguo, even the officials' monthly salary cannot be paid, so how can we get these [-] million taels of silver to build the city?"

"Isn't it true that the regent is too ambitious and too ambitious?"

"The people in the country are impoverished, and people's livelihood is the only major plan!"

"There is Yujing City in the south, and there is Changle Palace not far away from Yujing City... but the regent wants to build another Yanjing City in this north..."

Zhuge Buliang took a deep breath. At this moment, he had no regard for life or death.

Because he thinks Li Chenan's move is extremely ridiculous!

This place does need to build a city, but at most it is a frontier city. This is completely different from the money spent to build a Kyoto!

But what Li Chenan meant...he actually said that the emperor guarded the country!

I'm afraid that before the gate of this country is repaired, the country of Ning will be destroyed.

He suddenly smiled, the smile was both teasing and disappointing!

"Is this because the country of Ning didn't die quickly enough?"

"Do you think the taxes on the people of Ning State are not heavy enough?"

"sad!"

He looked up at the moon and let out a long sigh, tears streaming down his face:

“You can’t reach a thousand miles without taking small steps. This is true for people, and it is also true for countries!”

"I thought that after you became the Emperor of Ning Kingdom, you would have good strategies to help the people of Ning Kingdom recuperate, escape from this sea of ​​suffering, and live a better life..."

"Unexpectedly, what you want is still pleasure...one country and two capitals, doing pleasure things in the name of the emperor guarding the country."

"For the sake of Yanjing, you don't care about the weight on the people's shoulders!"

"Your poems can be remembered for eternity, but if you become the emperor of Ningguo... I'm afraid you will be infamy for eternity!" (End of Chapter)