At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 10 Generous statement
Peiguo, Xiangxian County, outside the Prime Minister's Mansion.

It was close to noon, and Zhou Yufu led more than a hundred people from the countryside to block the entrance of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

"Tap Tap!"

Not long after, armored and armed county soldiers were recruited and surrounded Zhou Shifu and others.Lieutenant Pei Guo drew his sword out of its sheath, pointed at the old lady and shouted: "Zhou Shifu, you led people to surround the Prime Minister's Mansion, do you want to rebel?"

Lieutenant of the country, the position is equal to that of the captain of the county, and he is in charge of domestic military affairs.It's just that Wang Ji is backed by the mountain of Wang Fu and has a prominent status, so Lieutenant Pei Guo is also willing to follow his lead.

Facing the siege of the soldiers from all the counties, looking at those gleaming weapons, everyone immediately felt a little timid. On the contrary, the old man standing in the front looked unchanged, and shouted in a deep voice: "We are waiting for more than a hundred people to be unarmed and Pianjia did not attempt to attack the Prime Minister's Mansion, so how can we talk about rebellion?"

"That being the case, why did you block the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

At this moment, Pei Guoxiang Wang Ji came out of the courtyard with a dozen of his confidantes, and shouted sharply with an unkind expression.

Seeing Wang Ji, Lieutenant Pei Guo drew his sword and stepped forward to salute slightly, and asked in a low voice, "They didn't act too radically, and it's not easy for me to send troops to suppress them."

Wang Ji returned the gift to express his gratitude, and replied in a low voice: "It's okay, the truth is that I know roughly why they came here."

Seeing the two men whispering to each other, the old man raised his head and took two steps forward, looked at Wang Ji and said: "After the Prime Minister left, I summoned all the pavilion chiefs to discuss the water conservancy donation. The people in each pavilion are living in poverty and may not be able to pay the water conservancy donation, so Come with me to the door of the Prime Minister's Office today to ask for orders. I hope the Prime Minister will consider public opinion and cancel the water conservancy donation!"

In the face of Wang Ji, Prime Minister of Pei Kingdom, who is known for his cruelty, the old man is at ease and fearless.

Wang Ji narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice: "Is this the intention of the Zhou family in Peiguo, or is it Zhou Shifu's own way?"

Hearing this, the old man shook his head helplessly, pointed at the hundreds of people standing behind him, and said: "Seeing these people, doesn't the Prime Minister know it? The Zhou family of Pei State was not involved, and I also He is not just representing himself, this is the public opinion of the people in the ten pavilions under his jurisdiction!"

Wang Ji looked at the more and more people gathered around, his face was a little gloomy, and he shouted sharply: "The construction of water conservancy is beneficial to the people, and it is not for selfishness to act according to the truth. Do you want the fertile land you cultivate to suffer from drought and flood every year? Are you willing to pin your hopes on good weather and work hard every day without getting enough?"

"Donating money to build water conservancy projects may be a temporary pain, but solving the chronic flood and drought disasters in Xiangxian County will benefit future generations. Don't you know which is more important?"

The old man led everyone to block the Prime Minister's Mansion for some time. Although the people in the city were afraid of Prime Minister Wang Ji, there were still many people surrounding him from a distance, wanting to see what was going on.

The people in the village who followed the old grandpa, as well as the onlookers, heard Wang Ji's words, and their faces were also troubled.

The people of Xiang County have suffered from floods and droughts for a long time. If Wang Ji can really solve this problem, it will definitely benefit the future development of the entire Xiang County, and the people will also benefit.

If other officials initiated water conservancy donations and said that they would use these donations to build water conservancy projects, it is estimated that not many people would believe such nonsense.The most likely thing to happen is that after the water donation is raised, it will be embezzled by officials.As for the construction of water conservancy, it may only be done casually for appearances, and it will not be of substantial help to the people.

Compared with those corrupt officials who oppress the village and extort money, Wang Ji's methods are somewhat harsh, but they are only aimed at those who break the law. For the peaceful people, Wang Ji is scary, at least not in terms of reputation. question.

Seeing that everyone was a little vacillating, the old grandpa laughed a few times, and then sternly shouted: "What a good one can benefit future generations!"

"Let's ask the Prime Minister, do you still remember the couple who were killed yesterday?"

Wang Ji snorted coldly: "Abandoning a baby is the same crime as murder. What is my fault for killing these two people?"

The old man shouted: "As far as the law is concerned, there is nothing wrong with the Prime Minister's move. But the Prime Minister can know, why do they abandon their babies as parents? And can the Prime Minister know that there are two children in their family? If there is no husband and wife to take care of them , Take care, don’t the two children starve to death? Even though the Prime Minister can kill the couple according to the law, but because of one baby, four people are killed, and the family is wiped out. How is the Prime Minister’s action different from that of animals?”

The old man was not wrong. If he had not sent someone to take care of the two children and then ordered Zhou Qi to send them to the Shi family in Xiao County to be sold as slaves, it would have been impossible for the two of them to survive in this world.

Wang Ji seemed to have only killed the couple, but in fact he killed their family of four.

When Wang Ji heard this, he became furious and scolded: "I act in accordance with the law. I am worthy of the national law and worthy of the people. How can I allow you, an old man, to slander me!"

However, the old man looked disdainful and said loudly: "Since the establishment of this dynasty, the country has been governed by benevolence, filial piety, etiquette, and righteousness. The emperors of all dynasties have taken corvee lightly and reduced taxes many times, and have repeatedly lightened the criminal law. The governors of prefectures and counties have promoted enlightenment and taught and admonished them. Lord, try to avoid torture and killing.”

"If the superiors do not teach the people about etiquette and laws, and the people violate the laws because of this, they are guilty of the superiors. The prime minister of the country does not promote education, but uses torture, heavy killings, and tyranny, so that the bones of the people are filled in the ravines, and the ghosts of the people are haunted. Jiuyou. The officials dare not speak out when they have something to say, and the people dare not speak up when they have complaints."

"You said that the promotion of water conservancy donations is beneficial to the people, but you don't know that the people can't afford to pay even the children's rations, so what money do they have to pay taxes?"

Speaking of this, the old grandpa pointed to a man behind him and said: "This family of five has only two acres of Susukida, and most of the land cultivated is the land of large landlords. In addition to paying taxes, half of the harvest of the field must be handed over every year. A family of five cannot feed themselves after a year of hard farming.”

The old man pointed to another person and said: "This person's land was all bought by a wealthy family long before the famine, and the whole family became tenant farmers. In addition to taxes, they have to pay [-]% of the land income every year!"

The old man pointed to the people behind him one by one, and the faces of the people he pointed to were full of bitterness.

At the end, the Taigong shouted sternly: "The imperial court stipulates that the land rent is thirty and one tax. However, if the people lose their land, the tenant farmers must pay at least more than half of the land rent. Even if the water conservancy is built, those who make a profit will still be those who have the land, and the tenant farmers will What does it have to do with ordinary people?”

"Since you are the prime minister of a country, if you sincerely serve the people, you should find out the ills and find out the root causes, so as to solve the problem completely. Instead of torture, implement tyranny, and kill people!"

"If the people really have land and surplus money in their families, who, as parents, would have the heart to abandon their babies?"

"If the Prime Minister is determined to build water conservancy projects, taxes should be levied based on the actual amount of land owned by each household, rather than being shared among households. Regardless of whether they have land or not, they should be levied on a per capita basis!"

The old man's words were sharp and powerful, and Wang Ji's face turned red when he spoke.

The nearby onlookers were fascinated by what they heard, and they all applauded loudly. They all looked at Zhou Yufu with an old face but a tall and straight figure, and all of them showed reverence in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)