Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 101 Generous tears stained with tassels (2)

"My lord, my second brother is in the river, can I join him?" Qiu Liu from Ronghe County, Hezhong Prefecture asked, and it was also a question from many people. The one behind stretched his neck, wanting to hear what the official said.

Pan Shaowei secretly sighed in his heart, it was always the same question, and said in a deep voice, "It's not impossible," Qiu Er's face showed joy, and before he had time to thank him, he said again, " According to the law, relatives within the three clans are not allowed to grant land in the same county, and the distance is more than [-] miles. Whether you want to rely on relatives and be a tenant for the rest of your life, or establish your own family, you have to think carefully."

"Here," Qiu Liu's face turned red immediately, and he muttered, "How can there be such a rule, and you want to separate your brothers."

Pan Shaowei's face turned cold, and he said coldly: "Presumptuous, this is the law of Zhu Guofu. If you don't accept it, you can go to the tribune to appeal. If you make a noise in the court here, according to the order of the prime minister's mansion, you will be whipped five times and killed." People handed over to Song State."

Just now, he had no pretensions at all with Yan Yue's face, and with this show of power, the peasants realized that they were in front of an official officer, and they couldn't help but look at each other. Those who originally planned to go to seek refuge with their relatives were now frowning and preoccupied. gains and losses.Since sooner or later they have to be separated by more than three hundred miles, it is better to divide them at night than to divide them early. When you are young and strong, you can go for a while.

Zhao Xingde is listening attentively to the previous answer. This law seems unimaginable, but in fact it is exactly the same as the cruel officials in the Western Han Dynasty suppressing the powerful, and it is even more thorough.The primogeniture system forces the second sons of the family to leave home to fend for themselves, and the granting of land is three hundred miles away. In the territory of Xia Kingdom, the scene of big families living together with dozens of houses and hundreds of people at every turn must be nothing. , even the second sons of the hereditary nobles mostly left their hometowns to establish their own families.

"In the Han Dynasty, there were more than three hundred families in the Jinan clan, and Emperor Jing worshiped them all as the prefect of Jinan. When the clan killed the chief villain, everyone else trembled." Li Ruoxue seemed to be in the same heart as Zhao Xingde, and she frowned and said in a low voice, "Guangzhou In normal times, there are more than a thousand families of nobles and cunning in the county. The big ones belong to the family, and the small ones die. .”

This decree on the separation of father and son made Li Ruoxue seem to see the ghosts of cruel officials such as Zhidu and Zhang Tang mentioned in "Historical Records" standing behind the kind-faced Pan Shaowei. Treacherous 'stop evil, act decisively and fiercely, and be devoted to one's duty.Many of the officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion are proud of it, and the officials from all over the country have formed many societies to study the law and rule the country, and regard Shang Yang Han Feizi as their ancestor.

Zhao Xingde heard the meaning of her words, sighed slightly, and said slowly: "If you are fearful in summer, you are called Zhao Dun; if you are cute in winter, you are called Zhao Shuai." Zhao Xingde alluded to this decree as being exposed to the scorching sun in summer, it was too strict, and it made people fear more than Huaide.If there is a little compromise, maybe it can be like the sun in winter, getting its warmth without feeling its harshness.

The two of them were playing charades here, thinking that the people around them couldn't understand.But a person came up and said: "Good, good, the words of the almsgiver are very good. It is destined to be with my Buddha."

A monk in black clothes and straw sandals saw Zhao Xingde turn around, put his hands together and said, "The poor monk Shi Wenxin, I have seen two benefactors." When he arrived at the resettlement place, he hurried over without even caring that the good family would let him eat fast. Various sects in Guanzhong competed fiercely for believers. If he was a step late, he would be preempted by other sects such as Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism, and Taoism.

As soon as he finished speaking, a thick voice came from behind him: "There are good and evil in people's hearts, just like the world is divided into light and darkness. You can't cover everything. Sometimes demons induce people to feel inferior, lazy, and cowardly, and sometimes demons encourage people If you want to overcome the temptation of the devil and enter the kingdom of heaven through the final judgment, you must convert to light, justice and truth, and believe in the good god of light, the great Ahura Mazda.” Zoroastrianism The priest Ran Bi came out from behind Shi Wenxin, and he spotted Zhao Xingde and Li Ruoxue among the peasants at a glance. These two seemed to be scholars, and persuading a believer who was good at writing and morality would greatly expand the influence of the religion. It is said that it is worth ten illiterate believers.

Zhao Xingde was being tired by Mingjiao Fang La, and was about to say no, but he felt his sleeve being pulled. Looking back, he saw an old fairy standing in front of him, and said slowly: "This fellow Taoist has a Immortal roots are different from ordinary people. As long as you enter my Taoist sect, building foundations and forming alchemy will not be a problem. If the opportunity is right, it is not impossible to cultivate to the home, to the realm of immortality, and to ascend in the daytime." Zhou Ziyang saw that Zhao Xingde was unmoved, and then Changing his tone, he said, "Taoists have many supernatural powers. They can turn stones into gold by holding a shaman and divination." He looked at Li Ruoxue, leaned into Zhao Xingde's ear and said, "Even the magic in the room is far better than other sects."

Even if Zhao Xingde didn't look sideways, he felt that Li Ruoxue was blushing from neck to ear, and hurriedly cupped his hands and said to the three priests who saved sentient beings: "I'm sorry, but when I read the poems and books of sages and sages in my late life, I only cultivate a noble spirit, respect ghosts and gods and stay away." As soon as they came out, the faces of the three of them changed, because starting from Liang Zuoqiu in the founding dynasty, the Confucian masters in the scholar's mansion have used this sentence to beat and resist all religions for more than a hundred years, which can be said to be outraged In a word.The attitudes of the three became embarrassed, they bowed their hands to Zhao Xingde, and turned to persuade other escapees from the Kanto region to join the religion.

Zhao Xingde smiled awkwardly at Li Ruoxue, but Li Ruoxue lowered her head and dared not look at him.At this time, a farmer came over, "Those who pretend to be gods and ghosts are all cheating people of money, and the wife and children are the most real." He was of medium build, raised his head and smiled at Zhao Xingde: "My name is Bao Qizhang." He sighed and said, " If there is money, I will let my wife come with me to Xiaguo, now I have to stay in Guanzhong to earn enough money for the two of us."

A person next to him named Guo Hong said, "Bao Qizhang, don't daydream. I heard from the officials that [-]% of the income will be taken away by the military master. There is no need to save money." Bao Qizhang said: "As long as you want It’s okay to pay [-]% of the land for me. The land rent in my hometown is [-]% and [-]%. If the owner pays [-]% of the land, it’s considered a great virtue.” Guo Hong frowned again: “I heard from the official that apart from paying [-]% of the rent Besides, if anyone violates the law, our military master will whip the whip, and he will not pass the county magistrate within ten strokes." Bao Qizhang said: "Could it be that the dog legs of the rich family, the rogues on the street, If the officials from the yamen beat us, they have to go through the county magistrate? Even if they go to the county yamen, they will be merciless in the fight."

Guo Hong's expression was gloomy, he was bored for a moment, and sighed: "Oh, who said it was not." Not long ago, because he had no money and food to feed the extra children, his sister-in-law strangled the newborn baby girl with her own hands. , and fell seriously ill the next day.No matter how embarrassed Guo Hong was to stay at his elder brother's house and chew food, he asked someone to leave a word and broke into Hexi.

Zhao Xingde could tell that this Bao Qizhang was an optimist, no matter how Guo Hong hit him, he could find positive aspects to convince himself that there was still hope ahead.In the end, it was Guo Hong who fell silent.

However, the fact that the sergeant has the right to punish shady households made Zhao Xingde hesitate. If he met a reckless man, would he just watch Li Ruoxue get whipped?He turned to look at Li Ruoxue.Li Ruoxue's eyes also showed a trace of worry, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated, Zhao Lang is a man who stands up to the sky, how can he be humiliated for no reason.

Zhao Xingde murmured for a moment, then walked slowly to Fu Zhiren who had met once, cupped his hands and said, "Officer Fu Xun, do I have something to ask?"

Fu Zhiren was sorting out the file, raised his head and said, "What's the matter?"

Zhao Xingde was a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "This punishment of ten lashes is really humiliating. Is there any way to get out of the control of the sergeant?"

Fu Zhiren was taken aback. Usually, the people who crossed the river from the iron chain were peasants. In the Kanto, they were used to being bullied by the noble gentry and subordinate officials. Unlike scholars who were thin-skinned, those who complained more often paid [-]% of their annual income. But later, I found out that I don't have to bear other taxes and apportionments, and the burden is much lighter than that of Kanto, so I am happy.

Fu Zhiren thought for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "Mr. Zhao, if you want to be free from the control of the sergeant, you have to become a scholar yourself. If you are a student of the Song Dynasty, you will naturally have the status of a scholar. If you are a Jinshi, you can also enter the scholar's office." .In addition, there are sergeants, craftsmen, priests, any path is fine."