I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 613: The Night Walk

The last time Wei Yan came back was last year, but he already felt that his hometown had changed a lot compared to before.

After saying hello to his aunt who was leaving and saying that he would visit again later, Wei Yan and his mother entered the house.

As soon as he entered the yard, he saw cakes and tea.

Mother Wei explained: "You know your aunt's family. They have not been doing well since your uncle left. It's only in the past two years that the landlord has collected less rent, so life has improved. They see that it's not easy for you to work hard outside, but they are too embarrassed to ask for help..."

"But after all, you have many cousins, and they eat a lot... just like you did when you were a kid, so I'll try to help out as much as I can."

Wei Yan was also very familiar with these.

Because they were originally from the military... What are military? Private armies secretly raised by powerful families. Their status is higher than that of slaves, because they are generally from tenants and guests, and this status also means that they lack private property and must rely on their masters to survive.

In some cases, the identities of tuqu and tenant farmers could be interchanged, and in the past, some tuqu were actually refugees who escaped taxes and corvee labor, but Wei Yan was not the latter.

However, with the court's crackdown on military governors in recent years and the impact of civil unrest caused by land measurement, almost no powerful families and wealthy people dare to support military governors now, especially in Nanyang, which is very close to Luoyang.

Their status also changed from warriors to tenants.

"Don't worry, mother. I have saved a lot of money in recent years. When I return home, I plan to buy some land for the family... When the time comes, I will let my aunt and others cultivate the land, and I won't charge them rent. I will let my aunt buy more land with the output." Wei Yan said with emotion, "When my father passed away, it was thanks to my aunt's help. Otherwise, I would not be able to support myself like this now."

At this point, Wei Yan said again: "Mother, I have official business here and I have to leave tomorrow... After I return to Luoyang, mother, please go with me to Luoyang!"

Wei Yan felt that he was a grateful person. When his family was in the most difficult times, they relied on the help of their family members. Now that he has become rich, he must help out.

He knew that he had just made his fortune, and if he wanted to give the land directly to his aunt, she might not accept it. But after he took his mother to Luoyang and sent a letter back, could his aunt and her family just abandon the land?

Seeing that his mother was still hesitant, Wei Yan emphasized: "Mother, I am now highly valued by my superiors. Although I cannot tell you other things, you just need to know that my official rank is lower than 400 stones, and only one level lower than the county magistrate. The county lieutenant and others are not as good as me!"

Before this, Wei's mother had always known that Wei Yan had gone from Nanyang to Luoyang to be an official, but Wei Yan had never explained what exactly he had done.

In fact, if Wei Yan had not been riding a tall horse and wearing official uniform and carrying a seal when he returned home last time, and if the money he sent home had not all been sent through the imperial post station, Wei's mother would have suspected that Wei Yan was doing something illegal.

Now, when Wei's mother heard that her son was already on par with the county magistrate, she shook Wei Yan's hand fiercely and murmured in Wei Yan's puzzled eyes: "Ayan, I am not dreaming!"

"Of course not!" Wei Yan couldn't help laughing out loud. Wasn't he working so hard just to see this scene?

He added, "Mother, my superior has mentioned that he wants to be my matchmaker and find a new wife for me, but I'll need your help to make the decision when the time comes." Upon hearing this, Wei's mother no longer hesitated and happily replied, "Okay, when you're done, I'll go to Luoyang with you!"

Wei Yan nodded heavily.

He added: "I will probably have official business to attend to by then. If that happens, I will ask my companion to bring my keepsake to pick up my mother..."

After agreeing on the follow-up matters, Wei Yan followed his mother to his aunt's house, and brought some rice and meat with him.

When Wei Yan arrived, he was immediately welcomed by his cousins... Especially the fine horses he brought, which aroused great curiosity among the children. Wei Yan was not reserved, and carried his cousins ​​on and off the horses, enjoying himself.

Afterwards, Wei Yan was invited to have a meal at his aunt's house.

During this time, Wei Yan asked about the recent situation of his aunt's family.

"Now the master dare not charge too much rent, for fear that we will leave. Last time Ayan came back and bought cattle, now the rent is only 45%. I heard that the court in Sanfu is going to reduce the rent of farmland with oxen to 35%. I don't know if it's true or not. If it's true... I guess the rent will have to be reduced, otherwise we will all go to Sanfu to farm the emperor's land."

After thinking about it, Wei Yan felt that this matter was not a secret, and immediately replied: "This news is indeed true. Your Majesty intends to show mercy... At the same time, the rents of tenants in various places are still a bit high. But this is a matter for next year, and now it is just a rumor."

"Forty-five percent is still high?" Wei Yan's cousin exclaimed.

But his aunt Sun gave Wei Yan a shocked look - A Yan actually knew this news so clearly!

Wei Yan smiled and said, "Of course it's high. If you are willing to go to Youzhou, Jingyangnan, Liangzhou and other places, you can directly divide the land!"

"These places are too far away after all..." Sun shook her head, obviously thinking that life is pretty good now and there is no need to go to a place where she is not familiar with. "It has been pretty good in recent years... Now that your eldest brother has turned 20, he only needs to pay a household tax of two meters of silk, which is half less than before. With your aunt's weaving and spinning skills, the clerk who collects the cloth always praises the fineness of the cloth!"

Sun was very talkative. "In a little over a month, in August, it will be time to pay this year's household tax... Ah Yan, you don't know that at this time, the price of cloth is higher than usual. On weekdays, two meters of cloth costs about 370 coins, but last August, it went up to 400 coins! Now that we have extra money at home, I have saved the woven cloth and will sell it in August."

As Wei Yan listened, he realized something was wrong.

It is true that my aunt's life is getting better and better, but the price of this cloth has risen a little bit...

He asked, "Aunt, when the imperial court issued the decree on household tax, in order to prevent merchants from hoarding and making profits by selling cloth during the tax, it specifically stipulated that money could be used to replace cloth when there was no cloth. Each county should have set the amount of household tax in advance and reported it to the governor and the prime minister. Logically, even if the price increased, it shouldn't have increased so much, right?"

"Didn't the township tell me that I could use the money to pay the household tax?"

When Wei Yan saw that his aunt was in a daze, he realized that something had happened!
(End of this chapter)