Compete for the Song Dynasty

The skinny guard's eyes fell on Wang Pang's face, and he was stunned.This person was very unfamiliar, he was not a commoner by his attire, and he also knew that what Wang Pang said just now was not from Wang Pang, but Wang Pang was really eye-catching in this group of people.Probably looking for relatives or visiting friends or passing by here, I feel that Wang Pang's eyes are sharp in a blink of an eye, and I want to avoid it but feel that I am on an errand after all, so why be afraid of a stranger, I simply said to Wang Pang: "Other people Listen well, there are official rules in government affairs, and those who don't understand the rules should not get involved."

Wang Pang gave a soft "hum" in disdain, what kind of airs was a bluff from a county government servant.

When member Chen saw this, he smoothed things over with a look of grievance on his face: "Thank you, my neighbors, I, Mr. Chen, have done everything I can do, but now I really can't do it." As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, and he turned his head Then he said to the two guards: "You two officials, look at what I, the landlord, did. In the end, even the land was gone..."

The two guards glanced at each other, and said to Mr. Chen: "Look, our county is so big, who doesn't know who we meet? You are on a job, and we don't know if you have the ability to handle it. The two of us People also eat official meals, look at you, everyone says you are a nice person, it’s about time, don’t make things difficult for us, everyone is so embarrassed, we can do business easily.”

Member Chen listened, sighed and looked at the people around him, looking for help.The fatter guard also looked around in the crowd, "Get out of the way, everyone. If anyone wants to help Mr. Chen and take over this guard, then stand up. We brothers don't want to make things difficult for Mr. Chen, do we?" ?!" As he said this, no one in the crowd spoke anymore, as if they were afraid that something would happen to them, and some even took half a step back. [

What's the difference, why are these people so scared?Wang Pang couldn't help feeling a little strange.It can be seen that while Chen Yuanwai sighed, he had no better way to do it. He turned around and closed the gate of his house, and followed the two guards with his head bowed.The skinny guard seemed to be afraid that Yuanwai Chen would run away, but it didn't make sense to lock him up and take him away, so he grabbed Chen Yuanwai's elbow with one hand and said with a fake smile: "Look, this road is not smooth. Your legs and feet are not good, I will support you."

As the three of them walked along the path that the crowd evaded, towards the direction of the Zhongfu Yamen in the county seat, Wang Pang noticed that Chen Yuanwai was still a little limping.Just as he was about to find out what it was, his sleeve was tugged by someone, and when he looked back, it was Cai Jing.

"Young master, the eldest son is urging you!" Cai Jing said in a low voice.

Wang Bang looked towards the team, and Yuan Ze was waving at him.Alas, seeing Yuan Ze's attitude of returning home like an arrow, I still feel worried that I don't know anyone.Judging by the tone of those people's speech, it seemed that the two guards would not be too embarrassing to Chen Yuanwai. Anyway, he had to leave after the new year, so he would have to stay in Linchuan for a month or so, and he had plenty of time.

Wang Pang jumped on his horse: "Brother, what kind of job is this, why does it seem to be fatal."

Yuan Ze sat on the horse and raised his head. He didn't care too much about the scene just now. He heard Wang Pang ask about Ye Nuo and said: "You are really a muddleheaded official. Once you recover from your illness, you will rise to the top. You have not gone through the Ministry of Rites. , not to mention fame, I see that besides making money, you have wars in your mind, and you don’t know anything about officialdom or people’s livelihood. You should have a secret agent by your side.”

It's not that Wang Pang hadn't thought about this problem, but there was no suitable candidate for a while. The older people in the family were Cui Deyou and He Xingyuan: Although Cui Deyou had connections with the officialdom in the early days, he was still a private person after all, and he didn't care about the officialdom. He knew a lot; and although He Xingyuan said that he had been a small official, the Han officials in Xixia knew very little about the situation in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.What's more, the staff of officials in the Song Dynasty were not allowed to appoint themselves, but were appointed by the court.When Renzong was in power back then, Wang Pang did not agree to deploy a secret agent. Now that Yingzong is in power, can it be impossible to put another eyeliner beside Wang Pang?

"It's fine if I have my brother here. You can point me to everything. You haven't answered me just now?"

"You see, this is the reason I just said that being an official is good, no matter how much land you have: the government collects taxes from the people, and all of them are classified under one item. In the Han Dynasty, China had local self-government organizations, and their leaders They are called the three elders, and under the three elders there are stingy men and women. The three elders are in charge of education. The stingy men collect land rent, and the free men are in charge of the police and thieves. They all represent the local government to assist the government. This system disappeared in the Sui and Tang dynasties. In the Five Dynasties, every time the army went to a place, they needed local labor and tribute transfers. Those things were not in the system stipulated by the state, so they had to find local leaders temporarily, and asked them for houses and straw. , Need horse fodder, utensils, strong men, and supplies. This is obviously difficult to handle, but it has to be done. The army is always coming and going, and these local leaders have become special errands for their superiors.

The local administrators feel that there is such a person, which is convenient and easy to supervise, so even if there is no such person in the locality, they insist on naming one or two.The army flows like water, and when it arrives in a certain place, it must be sent on a mission. Therefore, after three or five years, the furniture will collapse.If one breaks down, find another.In the future, even if there is no need for the army, the local governor will still follow the old habits and still ask the local government to carry out errands as usual, which will become another burden on the local government.What's worse is that there is no family in the local area that can prosper. If it prospers, it will be his turn to dispatch.Our Song Dynasty's official labor law is inherited from the previous history.You see, Yuanwai Chen is an example. It is estimated that all the tasks of the county magistrate have been assigned to this family. "

It turned out to be like this: "The local officials are the same. If all the wealthy households in the area are like this, then no one will be able to prosper. Those who can prosper are those who have jobs, or officials who cannot be messed with by the local officials. These local officials are also bastards. , the imperial court sent it down and didn’t do anything. Don’t say it, brother, you really know quite a lot.”

"That's it!" Yuan Ze smiled proudly: "If you don't understand officialdom and people's livelihood, our father knows more about these things, by the way, do you still remember the Jiayou years, when your father played thousands of words. "

"Remember?!" How could Wang Pang forget this matter? At that time, his father Wang Anshi forgot to sleep and eat, and consulted a large number of historical books for this book, and Yuan Ze had a lot of credit for it.

"At that time, the Wanyan Book had already written about many tax drawbacks, but it was a pity that this matter was let go. And at that time, my father also said that when you and my brother are older, they will naturally understand some of these things."

Wang Pang wanted to ask more questions, but the group of people had already arrived at the foot of the hill without knowing it, and walked up the hillside along the dirt road on the slope. There was a flat ground in front of the gate of the mansion. Ze pulled Wang Bang to the gate of the mansion.Pop, pop, knock on the door three times, and the door was opened with a squeak. The servant inside the door was stunned when he saw Yuan Ze, and then reacted: "Oh, the eldest son is back, why didn't you send someone to tell you in advance?" !” Saying that, he hastily opened two doors: “Who is this?”

"Uncle Zhao, why don't you even know my brother Ruo?" Yuan Ze laughed as he said that, it seemed that Yuan Ze and this servant were very affectionate.This family member must be around five or sixty years old, especially from Yuan Ze's name, he seems to be an old man in the family.

"Here, this is the second son? You looked the same when you were two children. If it weren't for the second son, you would be so smart and hard to tell?! Hurry up, come here." The old man was obviously panicked, and hurriedly arranged for others . "Go and settle the horses and carriages, and report to the master and wife." Uncle Zhao said, and then some family members ran to the mansion to report.

Yuan Ze led Wang Pang along the bluestone road of the house, the yard was slightly open, there was a well on the bluestone road, trees and flowers, now in the cold winter, the plum blossoms on both sides of the stone road were in full bloom, and the cold fragrance wafted into the nostrils.The front of Qingshi Road is the hall, and before reaching the hall, the servant ran back and told Yuan Ze: "Master's study in the inner house."

Yuanze asked Uncle Zhao to wait here with his entourage, and then he led Wang Pang around the corridor and the corner door, and entered the second entrance courtyard. He saw a two-story building with a patio in the courtyard, with a pool in the middle, and Wang Pang surrounded it. Looking around, someone walked on the corridor, Yuan Ze said: "The entrance in front is the guest room", and then walked through again, "This used to be the residence of the second uncle, but now they have opened a separate door, and it is in the courtyard next to it. .”[

Seeing that Yuan Ze didn't stop, Wang Pang followed Yuan Ze into the courtyard while admiring the courtyard.Entering the courtyard again, there is also a courtyard with a second floor: "Here we are!" Following the words, Yuanze's pace also quickened.Wang Pang followed Yuan Ze up to the second floor, and walked around to the study.

Wang Anshi was overjoyed when he heard that his two sons had returned, especially when he heard the news of Wang Pang's return. He thought that these children had suffered a lot in the past few years, especially when they were fighting abroad, they would hang their lives on the tip of their swords.Thinking of what happened to Wang's mansion again, I feel pain and pity in my heart. I am waiting for my two sons at the moment, and I can't read the book anymore. I look around and listen to the footsteps outside, pacing back and forth in the study.

As soon as the door opened, Yuan Ze and Wang Pang walked in: "Daddy, we are back!"

The father and son walked a few steps closely, and Wang Anshi said: "Okay, okay!" Patting a child with one hand, he looked at Wang's side, then at Yuanze, and finally at Wang's side: "Just come back, come back as soon as possible!" good!"

Yuan Ze knew that his father was thinking about Wang Pang's news, so he stepped aside in a sensible way, and Wang Pang understood the meaning of coming back. Although he was a little entangled in the fact that Wang Anshi was his father, he couldn't help but feel deeply when he saw the father and son: "The baby is away, so Daddy has to worry about it."

Before Wang Anshi could speak, Mrs. Wang led a four or five-year-old girl in. Yuan Ze and Wang Pang hurriedly greeted their mother. The little girl jumped into Wang Anshi's arms and put her arms around Wang Anshi's neck and stared at Wang Pang.

"Oh, my little sister is already this old?" Wang Bang saw that the girl was cute, and she was still a baby.

But the madam burst into laughter: "You made a mistake, this is your sister's child, according to your seniority, you have to be called your second uncle. You came back just in time, your sister and her husband just happened to be here this year, as well as our in-laws Professor Wu also just resigned from Gaoyou, and passed by here to celebrate the New Year.”

Professor Wu?Wang Anshi was confused, and Wang Anshi smiled and said, "You have never seen this person. This person's surname is Wu, and his name is Chongqing. .”

Isn't this Wu Chong?Wang Pang suddenly thought that he would compete with Wang Anshi for the power of prime minister in the future, and Wu Chong, who had repeatedly said in front of Shenzong that Wang Anshi was inappropriate in governing, was actually related to Wang Anshi by marriage!