Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In Leize County, the Sun family belongs to the new rich and powerful, while the Qian family is the old and famous family (descendants of the founding general Qian Shoujun).

The two families were once married, and the Sun family even relied on the support of the Qian family to make its fortune in the first place.

At that time, the Sun family had a son who passed the examinations in various subjects, and the Qian family married their daughter to cultivate them.

Afterwards, both families' official careers were bleak, and they rarely produced high-ranking officials. Especially during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, thieves in Puzhou caused chaos. The governor and supervisors were both kidnapped. The Qian and Sun families were also burned, killed, and looted. The Qian family has not yet recovered.

After Wang Tian left the city, he did not dare to go to the territory of these two families.

To be on the safe side, he detoured several miles from the southern suburbs to the west, carefully avoiding the villages controlled by the Qian family.

When he arrived at a village, Wang Tian shouted: "Where is Wei Dian? I am the county magistrate. Let him come and see you as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing that the county magistrate was here, the villagers were terrified and hurriedly went to find the village elder and security chief.

Not long after, an old man was surrounded and cautiously came to greet him: "Old man..."

Wang Tian was very anxious at this moment and interrupted directly: "Get Wei Dian quickly, I want to appoint him as the head of the archers!"

The old man said happily: "Wei Dian is at Er Weng's house..."

"drive!"

Before the old man could finish speaking, Wang Tian hit his horse and ran out.

He came to the village last year and accompanied the eunuch to recruit the Taoist priest Wei Erweng.

This is also a true Taoist priest who practices inner elixirs. His only known surname is Wei. He is the second eldest child. He is still strong and healthy even though he is over seventy years old. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty admired his reputation and conquered the country, but Wei Erweng avoided seeing him and even used some "magic" to scare the eunuch away.

Riding horseback to Wei Erweng's house, Wang Tian shouted: "Wei Dian, come out quickly!"

There were only a few thatched houses in front of him. Wang Tian called for a long time, but no one answered.

Suddenly I heard a voice coming from behind: "Why is the county magistrate looking for me?"

Li Bao looked back and saw an old man and a strong man, both carrying hoes on their shoulders.

The strong young man was lame in one leg and had tattoos on his face.

Wang Tian said happily: "Wei Dian, I have recruited you as the capital of this county. Quickly pick up your weapons and follow me into the city!"

"I won't go." The young man named Wei Dian did not give the county magistrate any face.

The villagers gradually followed and persuaded Wei Dian to agree. The people in this village became public servants, so they could take care of everyone, and they were not so ruthlessly exploited by the government.

Wei Dian sneered: "I killed a bandit, but was imprisoned by Sun Jiagou and was exiled to Hebei to serve as the bandit's army. I was successful in suppressing bandits in Hebei, but not only did I not receive any reward, I was not even given treatment for my leg injury. Regardless of whether I was doing business or not. Still serving as a soldier, how can you get any benefits?"

Wang Tian asked: "Do you want to take revenge?"

Wei Dian said: "I have many enemies. Which one is the county magistrate talking about?"

Wang Tian said: "The magistrate came to the county in person and captured the Sun brothers. Now they are blocked in the county office by the Xianyishe. If you apply for the army, you can take revenge. In the future, when the Sun brothers are transferred to the prefecture city, you will also have to escort them and guard against them. Horse thieves rob prison cars!”

"Do you really want to bring the Sun family to justice?" Wei Dian was dubious.

Bai Sheng took out a piece of paper from his arms: "Zhu Zhizhou has an order. Puzhou is exhausted and the people are poor. They are already overwhelmed. Next year, the money earned from the fields should be reduced to seventy cents per dou!"

As soon as this statement came out, there was an instant sensation.

The village elder and Baozheng rushed over excitedly and asked hurriedly: "But is it true?"

Bai Sheng said: "Can Zhizhou's words be false? Are you saying it to make you laugh?"

Everyone thought, it was indeed the case, Zhizhou had no need to joke about it.

This thing was originally called "branch transfer", that is, due to special circumstances, people did not pay taxes locally, but had to be sent to a designated place. Generally, it is based on the township bureau as a unit, everyone shares the transportation costs, and selects some young people to pay the grain.

For example, when people in Shaanxi pay taxes, they sometimes have to walk four to five hundred miles to deliver food to the front line.

Ten years ago, Cai Jing reformed this and stopped allowing people to "transfer" and changed everything to "simple money from the land." People only need to send the grain to the county government, and the government will take care of the rest, but everyone has to pay extra.

The money in the field, 56 wen per bucket, is equivalent to regular tax.

It was first implemented on Jingxi Road and then spread across the country. To put it more directly, it means doubling the land tax from farmers!

Local officials took the opportunity to prey on the people and implemented it at the grassroots level, often levying multiple taxes. Give double to the court and keep the rest for yourself. There are countless fourth- and fifth-class households in the countryside who can only grow enough grain to pay taxes and sell their cattle and land.

Because it aroused civil unrest, an edict was issued six years ago to exempt the small taxes, and then exempted the fifth-class households whose taxes were not enough to pay.

The taxes collected on Jingdong Road are particularly high because land annexation is serious and there are too many hidden fields to collect taxes. The big households also had too much money to pay for their purchases, and arrears often occurred, so they had to make up for it from the common people.

The imperial court stipulated 56 wen per fight, but Ju Ming ordered it to be reduced to 70 wen. Although an extra 14 wen of miscellaneous taxes were collected, these villagers were extremely excited.

He doubled the land tax and illegally increased the land tax by 14. With such brutal levies, Ju Ming was actually regarded as the great master of Qingtian!

Wang Tian was stunned when he heard this. It turned out that Zhizhou had reservations about him.

Reducing land rent is Ju Ming's trick, coercing and luring landlords to cooperate with Fang Tian.

Wang Tian had already guessed what Zhu Ming was doing. He cooperated honestly with Fang Tian and lowered the fee. Those who do not cooperate honestly will be charged double, and the actual tax paid will be even more.

If it can be strictly implemented, the landowners will definitely be happy to cooperate.

But the landowners are also worried that after Ju Ming leaves office, people will leave and the government will cease, so they will have to pay more land taxes and land fees. By then, life was even more difficult.

No matter what happens in the future, Wang Tian seized the opportunity and said: "Zhizhou is so kind to the people, but today he is blocked by gangsters in the county office, and his life may be in danger. Are you going to sit back and do nothing and let a good official who is dedicated to the people die? You still Do you want to pay less money?"

Wei Dian threw away the hoe: "I will go with you to save Zhizhou!"

Baozheng said: "I will go too."

Wang Tian said: "Bring all the horses in the village that are worthy of riding, and they will be returned afterwards!"

Except for pregnant, sick, old and weak horses, there are four horses in the village that can be ridden. This is all due to the horse administration on Jingdong Road. Landowners with a little wealth must raise horses for the government.

Although it is used too often as a war horse, there is absolutely no problem riding it on the road.

Wang Tian recruited four "cavalry" in the village and immediately rushed to the next village.

Don't talk nonsense, just come up with the tax reduction order.

Hearing that it could reduce farm income, the small and medium-sized landowners, and even large landowners, were afraid that such a good magistrate would be in danger, so they sent out young men from the village to rescue him.

In just half a day, Wang Dan had more than sixty riders under his command.

Although the horses are extremely weak and the weapons are various, more than sixty riders can still run with great momentum together.

…

The county is surrounded by suburbs.

The thieves, who were also riding bad horses, were sent out to get information.

These guys wanted to ambush the county magistrate, but as soon as Wang Tian left the city, he took a detour to avoid the Qian and Sun family's spies, leaving the horse bandits unaware of where the county magistrate was coming from.

In the middle of the afternoon, a horse bandit guarding the northern suburbs of the county suddenly heard the rumble of horse hooves.

He looked out from the small slope and was almost sure that the county magistrate was back. He quickly took out his whistle and blew it while running.

"Uu! Uu!"

The horse bandits in the northern suburbs gradually gathered, blowing whistles to call for more companions.

Their current number is too small, only eight people, but the county magistrate has dozens of riders.

"Second brother, go north, the county magistrate is in the north!"

"Calling people, all go to the north of the city!"

The bandit leader Xu Er immediately galloped on his horse, gathering his men along the way.

Before he arrived at the scene, Wang Tian had already bumped into several horse bandits.

"Bai Er, take a few people to protect the county magistrate," Li Bao took out his bow and arrows and ordered, "The rest, follow me to kill the bandits!"

"What?" Bai Sheng didn't hear clearly.

There is no way to command them at all. They are a group of young men recruited temporarily. They have poor riding skills and ride bad horses. Giving orders is all about shouting, and it is completely inaudible while running. In this case, only one person can rush to the front, and the rest of the young men rush forward in a swarm.

Li Bao drove his horse closer, changed his mind and said, "You protect the county magistrate when he enters the city, and I will deal with the robbers!"

"Okay!" Bai Sheng shouted.

Li Bao pulled the reins and left the army. Wei Dian saw clearly and immediately shouted: "I will go with you!"

Two people and two horses rushed straight towards the eight horse bandits.

Landowners were forced by the government to raise horses. They were basically raised as livestock. They were fine for grinding and carrying goods, but it was nonsense to use them for horse fighting.

But although the mare under Li Bao's lap was not a good horse, she was given plenty of fodder and bean cakes, and she even consulted horse-raising experts for advice. He walks the horse and rides it every day, giving the horse enough exercise to reach the level of an ordinary war horse.

At this moment, he accelerated and ran, throwing Wei Dian away in an instant, and Li Bao started to charge alone.

Taking advantage of the large number of people, the horse bandits also surrounded and killed Li Bao, hoping to get rid of him first.

Of these eight horse thieves, three had bows and one had a crossbow.

Li Bao took the lead to draw his bow and set an arrow. Seeing this, the horse thieves immediately raised their bow and crossbow to fight back.

Both sides were charging, about twenty or thirty steps away.

Li Bao's arrow did not hit the horse bandit, but hit the inferior horse in his crotch. The bad horse went crazy from the pain and threw the bandit off on the spot.

The opponent's four arrows also shot one after another, and their accuracy was so far off that they didn't even hurt Li Bao's hair.

Li Bao hung up his bow and raised his spear. When the two sides crossed each other, he raised his spear and thrust it out, knocking down a horse bandit in front of him, and rushed out of the enemy's encirclement.

Wei Dian followed on horseback, holding a simple sword and roaring: "Weizhuang Wei Da is here!"

Although this guy was lame in one leg, he was quite famous in Leize County, and he was so frightened that the horse bandits hurriedly ran away.

Wei Dian's horse was too weak, and the horse bandits turned around and fled. He was unable to catch up with him by beating his horse wildly, and it was difficult for him to display his talents despite holding back his strength.

Li Bao was excited to fight. After provoking a horse bandit, he rushed far away. He reined in his horse and turned back, intending to chase down the remaining few.

Eight horse bandits, two of them were gone in one encounter, it was inevitable to be frightened.

"The idea is hard to come by. Let's go find the second brother first." The remaining six horse bandits fled in all directions.

At this time, Li Bao was not yet a navy general who had wiped out 3,000 and 70,000. He completely forgot what his mission was, and his mind was so hot that he only wanted to chase the enemy. He actually caught up with one of them, and he easily defeated him with his gun in hand.

"return!"

Wei Dian shouted again and again but couldn't catch up, so he had to dismount and pick up the loot.

He picked up a crossbow and replaced the plain knife with a hand knife. He also picked up two bad horses for nothing, and the other one was hit by an arrow and ran away.

He casually finished the attack and sent the horse bandit who was not completely dead back to the west.

Li Bao, who was chasing on horseback, suddenly saw more than ten enemies coming in front of him. His heated head suddenly woke up, he reined in his horse and laughed: "I won't fight today, you can wash your neck, and wait for me to behead you another day!"

"Kill that birdman!" the bandit leader Xu Er shouted.

Li Bao turned around and ran away, relying on the speed of his horse to quickly throw away the enemy.

But Wang Tian and Bai Sheng returned to the city with dozens of young horses, and found that the city gate was closed in broad daylight.

Wang Tian angrily rebuked: "I am the county magistrate Wang Tian. Please open the city gate quickly. Are you planning to harm this county?"

"Don't dare," said the soldier guarding the city. "There are robbers outside. We are closing the city now. Please wait a moment, sir."

After a while, the city gate opened.

Wang Tian led his men straight to the county government office.