Landlord of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 110 Refugees (2)

Thirty gleaming horizontal knives, the cold light burst out, had already made Shao Benwu tremble with fright, without the slightest momentum before.After Xu Qing pressed for a while, Shao Benwu immediately explained everything he knew.

There are 1000 mu of state official land, all of which are in the ground of Cang County.After Shao Deng became the county magistrate, he distributed all the more than [-] acres of vacant official land to his children, and all the summer grain for the first season was taken by his children.After Xu Qing became the governor, for some reason, Shao Deng didn't seem to remember what happened to Guantian, and he wasn't going to wipe his ass clean either.

Xu Qing really had to get Shao Deng out of the county magistrate's position. Not only was he greedy for official land, but the one who was greedy for ink was also his boss. What's wrong with dismissing you?This makes sense both legally and humanly.Bringing Shao Deng down would be considered a big loss for the Shao family.It's a pity that the head of the Shao family is not Shao Deng, but a former governor, Shao Jing, Shao Deng's elder brother.

Compared to Shao Jing, Shao Deng's tact is like a child's play.Shao Jing's tactful skills can be called the level of the ancestors, and this is the word to describe him.I heard that when he was in power, not to mention the border of Cangzhou, even Hebei, he was also a person who said nothing.Even so, Shao Jing was able to make a lot of friends in Hebei, counting each one with his fingers, he ranked sixth among Hebei's heroes.

In recent years, Shao Jing has been living in seclusion, practicing like an old monk, but whenever the Shao family has a crisis, as long as he speaks up, he will solve it immediately, without exception.

In short, if you can't offend Shao Jing, and if you can't offend Shao Jing, you must not offend the Shao family.

But there are rumors that the old man Shao Jing's health is failing...

In the officialdom, in the field of human love, the truth is that when there are people, there is love. Even if you are powerless and powerless, the old love will always count, and no one can just let it go.This seems very warm, but there is another side, that is, when a person dies, love is broken, even if it is a real son or grandson, you don't have to sell half of your face.Shao Jing is dying, and the mainstay of the Shao family is about to disappear...Of course, these lessons cannot be learned from Shao Benwu's mouth, this is the information obtained from Anhe.

Looking at a small courtyard in the middle of the governor's [-]-acre official farmland, it was exquisite and small, as if newly built, Xu Qing asked Shao Benwu who was kneeling on the ground: "Do you own this courtyard?"

"No, no, no, this was built with the money of the governor...I just helped the governor take care of the place..." Although Shao Benwu used a little of his own money, how could he dare to admit that it was his own, so he had to work hard. Said with a straight face.

"Well, since that's the case, you've done a good job, don't worry, the wages will be calculated..." Xu Qing took out a pen and paper, immediately wrote a handover letter, and gave Shao Ben five and thirty taels of silver to comfort him .After Shao Benwu packed some things, he ran away in a hurry, without even taking Xu Qing to familiarize himself with the venue.

If you don't take it, don't take it, I will go around by myself.

Guantian is good, as far as the eye can see, there are all first-class lands, and when you lower your head, there is no variegation.Xu Qing found the settlement of the villagers by himself, and saw seventy or eighty people, several cows, all of which looked strong and healthy, and chickens and ducks were running all over the place.It's just that the local residents are quite wary looking at Xu Qing's appearance, not the kind of guard against strangers, but the way they are against known enemies?Xu Qing didn't understand their eyes, got off the horse, walked up to an elderly villager and asked, "Grandpa, is there someone in charge of this village?"

"Didn't you drive away the person in charge just now?" The old villager returned blankly.

"Um, he's not in charge. He was sent by the Shao family. I'm asking about Guan Tian's steward. Is there any?"

"I, I don't know..." the old villager said, patting his buttocks and walking into the house.

Xu Qing was puzzled, how could this happen? Could it be that they were afraid that the Shao family would not be able to retaliate?I also brought trouble to them by co-authoring... Although Xu Qing can't afford to offend Shao Jing, taking back what belongs to him is not considered revenge. If the Shao family is really so arrogant, I am not afraid...

"Are you here to collect taxes?!"

Xu Qing raised his head and saw that it was the half-baby guy he met outside just now. The half-baby guy pointed at Xu Qing with an unkind expression on his face.

"You son of a bitch, how dare you sneak away from work and let your father come back and teach you a lesson..." A middle-aged woman beat the half-child back, with resentment towards Xu Qing in her eyes.

"Tell me, how much will you pay?" Seeing Xu Qing standing there, a middle-aged man stood up and gritted his teeth.The surrounding villagers also stopped their work and listened attentively to Xu Qing.It's just that Xu Qing woke up from his daze after hearing this, and asked, "How much is paid for what?"

"Summer food is all wheat..." the middle-aged man said impatiently.But Xu Qing couldn't understand, and asked again: "Xia Liang, hasn't the Xia Liang been collected?"

"Hey..." The villager sneered, and the middle-aged man said with his mouth twisted, "Don't pretend..."

How did Xu Qing know that from the end of the war in Hebei to the present, in less than four or five months, this official land has changed several managements.At first, it was managed by the state officials, and the grain was handed over once. Later, it was managed by Cang County, and the grain was handed over again. Here we go again, half of the summer grain is gone.

Although those who planted the official land were official slaves, the food they planted was regarded as the official's, but they also had to eat, so generally speaking, the official would leave them enough rations.Those who are a little better will have enough to eat, and they will need money for the New Year, and those who are a little pregnant will not be hungry or full.

After three changes in management, almost all the food produced in the official fields had been emptied, and almost only rations were left, but the official slaves also endured.But now less than two months after paying the rations, another steward came, which had to make them vigilant, and if they paid the rations again, they would starve to death.

"What pretends to be garlic?"

"What kind of garlic?"

There was no way to talk about this anymore, so Xu Qing could only promise: "Uh, don't worry, the summer grain has already been collected, I won't collect any more..."

Hearing this, the ears of the people around stretched almost half a foot, and the eyes of the middle-aged man also shone, and immediately asked suspiciously:

"really?"

Xu Qing didn't answer, but asked instead:
"How much food did you pay last time?"

The man heard this, as if he had known this before, sighed, and the light in his eyes completely disappeared.I asked how much I had paid, and the three stewards in front of me also asked the same question, but they all answered that it was not enough, so I should pay more.I'm afraid it's like this again this time, but the middle-aged man still answered honestly: "I paid half of it last time..."

Xu Qing asked again: "Is there enough food?"

The middle-aged man let out a long sigh, and said, "It's not enough, if you pay more, you'll be hungry...

Unexpectedly, Xu Qing said: "Let's eat freely, if it's not enough, go to the official storehouse to get it..."

"Old...Master, this..."

"Well, how about this, in the future you will plant government food, and each household will get the land according to the head, no matter how much the annual output is, you will get three points of the food..."

When the middle-aged man heard this, he made some calculations, suppressed the joy on his face, and asked: "Master, I'm afraid this is inappropriate, there is no such rule..."

"Don't worry, it won't change within three years." Xu Qing thought to himself that the governor for three years, the rules for the [-] mu of land are always determined by himself.

Obviously everyone in Zhuangzi heard this sentence, and heaved a sigh of relief, with a happy face, thinking that they finally found a good master.The middle-aged man walked to the door pompously, as if he was showing off the new farming rules he had asked after talking so much with Xu Qing.Seeing my mother-in-law and aunt, I kicked: "Still standing, go to work, go cook two eggs for the master!"

A few more people were timidly asking: "Master, can black households in the village also eat freely?"

Xu Qing turned his head and saw a family of three, dressed in tatters like beggars, and a skinny child with a surprisingly big belly. At first glance, they looked like hungry people.Xu Qing frowned, and the eyes of the three members of the family suddenly became lonely. Xu Qing immediately said: "You can eat too, it's okay to eat hard..."

After hearing this, the three of them hoped to reappear in their eyes. The woman touched her child and shed tears.Xu Qing felt warm and asked, "How many black households are there in the village?"

"Not many, only a dozen or so people, they all came here to smell their breath and do some odd jobs to make ends meet." The old man who turned around and walked in came out again, and replied that he was no longer expressionless.Speaking of black households, more than a dozen people approached Xu Qing with embarrassment on their faces.

Xu Qing looked at them, all of them were extremely haggard.These black households have no registered permanent residence, go far away, are not received by local officials, live in no fixed place, and have no fixed meals.Xu Qing said: "Well... how about this, all the black households have gone to the county government to register, so let's settle down here, can they live?"

"That's a good thing, anyway, the people in the village can't grow these lands, and some households are empty..." The people in the village responded from afar.

"Empty household?" Xu Qing asked the old man.

"Yes, there is no one at all, but there are actually registered ones in the household register..."

"Well……"

Xu Qing began to think about it, and wanted to conduct a census to write off all the vacant households.

"By the way, speaking of black households, didn't a group of siblings come here a few days ago, it's so pitiful, they can't do anything..." A woman fed the wheat bran in her hand to the chickens and clapped her hands Said.

"Siblings?!"

Could it be Huang Shimei's younger brother and that maid?

"That's right, over there..." The woman pointed to a temporary shed on the edge of the village. Xu Qing went in and saw a man and a woman, who looked like siblings. People from other families, but Xu Qing still held a glimmer of hope, maybe their clothes were taken away, so he asked:
"Is it from the Huang family?"

"You are?" the woman asked vigilantly while protecting her little boy.

"I'm the governor of Cangzhou, Xu Qing, Miss Huang knows me..." Xu Qing took off the fish charm and shook it.

When the woman saw it, her body went limp, she rolled her eyes and passed out, leaving the boy who didn't know anything, crying loudly.

(End of this chapter)