Landlord of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 111 Refugees (3)

When the wild boar gang attacked Huang's manor that day, Huang Shimei asked her personal maid Xiaoxiang to take her younger brother Huang Qi to take refuge in Cangzhou City.But people are unlucky, drinking cold water can stuff their teeth, but they didn't expect to be robbed by strongmen on the side of the road.Xiao Xiang and Huang Qi were robbed of their clothes, including their clothes.Fortunately, Xiaoxiang was not fully developed, and the strong man couldn't bear it, so he saved a thread, so he was saved from that.

Walking to Cangzhou City in unlined clothes, he ran into Ren Yazi again. He fooled them with a few words and was taken to a mountain village outside the city.I was almost sold before I suddenly found out, and I escaped secretly. I was lucky. I escaped for a day and ran into a refugee who had met the road to join in. Relying on the relief of the refugee, I went to the vicinity of Guantian, and stayed and did not leave.

A maidservant, a son, Xiao Xiang and Huang Qi walked outside the city, their eyes were smeared, they couldn't tell the difference between south, east and north, and they didn't dare to wander around. They helped the villagers carry them on their shoulders, and they could eat some soup every day. live.

It wasn't until she met Xu Qing and saw the fish talisman that Xiaoxiang was relieved and passed out in a moment of excitement.After rescuing Xiaoxiang, Xu Qing was relieved to hear Xiaoxiang's story about wandering these past few days. It's not the Shao family.However, Xu Qing is still aware of two serious problems: refugees and bandits.

Refugees and rogues are actually the same thing. Refugees don't want to wander anymore, so they settle down and become rogues.The rogues can no longer hang out, and they will wash their hands in the golden basin and become refugees.Which came first, the refugees or the bandits?
First came the hungry...

Natural disasters or man-made disasters can always deprive farmers of the fruits in the land, resulting in a large number of hungry people.If there is no food to eat, I dig wild vegetables, and after digging the roadside, I go to a distant place.The wild vegetables were dug farther and farther, so far that I couldn't go home.Then keep going, except for the county, you will become a refugee.The original family has become a vacant household.

With a little luck, I walked to a wild forest and found that the place was good, with mountains and water, and the land was not bad.The most important thing is that there is no government control, so you don't have to pay taxes.So, they dug a hole in the ground, covered it with thatch and settled down, relied on gathering and hunting, and opened up a wasteland first.In the second year, the grain is harvested, and life will be easier.

In a few more years, the land will be ripe, and the families will have small houses in the ground, and the tax collectors will appear on time.I searched for a fortune and wrote a few strokes on the household registration book, so I became a white household, like Xuzhuang is an example.Until the next natural and man-made disaster, until the next time when there is no food and clothing, or a few years later, or a few generations later.

The less fortunate vagrants saw a landlord who was short of manpower, and went to help for two days. The landlord appreciated his hard work, so he stayed as a part-time worker.He also dug a hole in the ground and covered the hole with thatch, so he settled down and became a black household.Over time, this kind of black household has become a vassal of the landlord.

This part of the black households has the largest number of people because the food handed over to the landlord is less than that of the government, and there are many officials who exploit and oppress them.

If the luck is worse, it is the worst, becoming a bandit, blocking the road, robbing, and licking blood.

No matter what kind of refugees, there will be many empty households. There are no people in the empty households, and they cannot collect taxes, but food grows strangely in their fields.Why?Because the vassals raised by the landlords are helping to cultivate the land.

The vassals are black households and do not pay taxes for farming.Empty households occupy land but cannot pay taxes.In this way, the government's tax revenue will become less and less, and the landlords will become more and more.The court can't stand it, reform, reform fails, rebellion, reform succeeds, ZTE.After the Qin Dynasty, the rise and fall of the dynasties of Greater China were all controlled by the land.

Xu Qing recovered from his thoughts.

Recruiting refugees and cleaning up vacant households seemed to be on the agenda.But how to start?This is affecting the lifeblood of the aristocratic families. Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. What should we do if it causes a riot among the aristocratic families?
There is a saying that you can't become a fat man with one bite, let's think about it in the long run, Mo Ruo will start with the Shao family first, and bring down the pillars of the aristocratic families.

Xu Qing sent Huang Qi and Huang Qi back to Huang's house. Huang Shimei thanked them for a while, but never mentioned what kind of words Xu Qing liked to hear, as if she had promised her with her body.Shao Benwu seemed to have disappeared, and Xu Qing also lived in this small house, and lived in the countryside with Xun Xueer for a few days, which can be regarded as a vacation.

After returning to Cangzhou City after vacation, Xu Qing called Shao Deng for questioning first.

After sitting down and watching the tea, Xu Qing asked calmly:
"Magistrate Shao, do you know about my official land?"

As soon as the words fell, Shao Deng straightened up, bowed and said:

"The crime of being an official..."

Just say the reason and don't admit your mistake, that's a novice and doesn't understand human feelings.Only admitting mistakes, not justifying, that is a veteran, but slavish.Acknowledge your mistakes first, and then explain the reasons. That is a good hand. Shao Deng said tremblingly:

"The lower official has selfish intentions and wants to find a job for his own children. I didn't expect him to be so bold as to dare to do so!"

Seeing this, Xu Qing didn't say that the Shao family invaded the official land, but only said that this person was not good and that he had improperly employed him.Xu Qing let out a long sigh:
"Oh, who are you looking for!"

"My lord, please forgive me..." Shao Deng pleaded guilty with a salute.They all took the initiative to plead guilty, and according to the rules of lenient confession and strict resistance, Xu Qing can't do anything to Shao Deng.What's more, even if the Shao family stubbornly resisted Xu Qing, Xu Qing could only endure it for a while.Since Shao Deng saved face, Xu Qing changed the subject: "Forget it, I don't want to pursue that matter anymore, let's talk about the refugees?"

"Refugees?" Shao Deng asked knowingly.

"The refugees in Cangzhou have already begun to overflow. It is not a trivial matter for refugees to become bandits..." When Xu Qing came back, he deliberately wandered around the city of Cangzhou and found groups of beggars, which he had never seen before he went to the countryside.

Shao Deng thought for a while and said:

"How about sending troops to expel them?"

Xu Qing let out a long laugh: "Expulsion? That would save trouble... But I am on the side of the herdsmen of the emperor, and since I regard the safety of the people as the first priority, expulsion is not possible..."

"Master Xu is merciful, but Cangzhou has no land for them..." Shao Deng asked suspiciously.

Xu Qing's eyes flashed brightly, and he said: "Aren't there many vacant households in Cang County?"

When Shao Deng heard this, his body trembled, his vigilance disappeared, and he immediately returned to normal. Shao Deng looked at Xu Qing and asked:
"How did your lord know?"

"Oh? Didn't you just wipe out the bandits? I think the people who went up the mountain and fell into the grass must have become empty households. As for how I knew it, I also heard it from hearsay. Could it be fake?" Xu Qing said.After hearing this, Shao Deng calmed down a little, shook his head and said:

"It's so fake, birth, old age, sickness and death, there will always be vacant households, what does your lord mean to distribute the fields of vacant households to the refugees for farming?"

Xu Qing knocked on the table and said:

"It can be done like this, and the refugees can also be allowed to reclaim the wasteland by themselves, and many black households can also register..."

Refugees, empty households, black households, what is the governor going to do?Is it really going to disturb Cangzhou?Shao Deng muttered in his heart, and said unwillingly:

"This matter is too complicated and difficult... Some black households are in the big forest, and some vacant households have been vacant for a long time, and I don't know whether they are dead or alive. In short, uh, it's too complicated..."

"No, no, I don't want to finish it now. I just need to wait until the autumn harvest to pay the grain normally."

It turned out that the governor was worried that the collection of autumn grain would be unfavorable. Shao Deng thought in his heart, no, we need to find out more. Shao Deng asked:
"Then I don't know who is in charge at this time?"

"Your parents are here in a county, who else can you give it to?" Xu Qing smiled, and said: "The four counties of Cangzhou, each county has to arrange a thousand households of refugees, and the registration of black households and the clearance of empty households are handled by each county. Take responsibility on your own, and report the number when the time comes.”

When Shao Deng heard that the county was in charge, he felt relieved.If Xu Qing's cronies are responsible for cleaning up the vacant households, then we must be wary that Xu Qing is really disturbing Cangzhou.But if it is handed over to the county, the situation will be very good.At least it can be confirmed that Xu Qing doesn't want to take too much care of this matter, it may be a whim, and the following will be fine.

It is enough to clear out many white households and empty households, and to register dozens of black households.Moreover, many aristocratic families have raised vassals, so it might not be a bad thing to legalize their household registration.As for the extra food tax, a little~~~
It's just that Xu Qing was very concerned about the refugee matter, and even stipulated the number of completions.Shao Deng didn't care either, and let his vassals occupy the vacant households that were cleared out.As for the refugees, just draw a piece of wild land and let them reform themselves.To show responsibility, Shao Deng asked again:
"Master Xu, I have one more thing to do..."

"Please say."

"Arranging for refugees to need farm tools, I don't know..."

"There are a lot of agricultural tools in the weapons captured in the previous bandit suppression, and before I took office, someone gave me enough agricultural tools for thousands of households. There are several carts. Don't worry..." Xu Qing replied, putting those agricultural tools in his hand, It can only rust, it is better to let it go.

"Then, the next officer takes orders..."

There are [-] households of refugees in each county, that is [-] households. What a group of people, now they have to get out of the farmland quickly, and they can still collect a little grain before the snow falls.If there is no tax, it can be held until the next harvest season.

Regarding the matter of black households and empty households, Xu Qing just wanted to touch the tiger's butt and test the bottom line of the aristocrats.Feel it bit by bit, anyway, I don't lose anything.When Xu Qing offended the family's bottom line and wanted to start a war with Xu Qing, Xu Qing had already let out a lot of blood.

A government decree to clear household registration and accept refugees was issued from the Governor's Mansion. When looking at the title of the decree, people panicked for a while, but when they saw the content, everyone felt relieved.

It turns out that there are always two smart people.One enemy, one friend.When all the aristocratic families ignored Xu Qing's decree, a member of the aristocratic family saw the fire clearly and saw something strange.

But this person is Huang Shimei, the eldest daughter of the Huang family.Huang Shi took the copied government order in her hand, quietly hailed the sedan chair, and went to the governor's mansion.

(End of this chapter)