Leave Yangli and say goodbye to everyone. .

Liu Jin's convoy suddenly shrank by more than half, but it was still a small team of more than 20 people, looking huge.

In just two quarters of an hour, the convoy arrived at the next stop, Yushu.

As the name suggests, there is a large elm tree in this village that is said to be over 500 years old.

The people thought it was magical, so they regarded the elm as god, lived here, and hid under the protection of the elm.

In the fields inside and outside the elm trees, Zhang Yue and Liu Jin still saw a large number of slaves working under the scorching sun.

But at the same time, I also saw many farmers and women with soap towels and coarse clothes, working in the fields.

After entering Yushuli Village Pavilion, the situation changed again.

Compared to the orderly nature of Yangli, the situation in the elm tree is a little different.

There is no senior who is prestigious enough to organize, and everyone is doing their own thing, each family sweeping the snow in front of the door.

When he entered the elm tree, Zhang Yue did not hear the sound of reading aloud, nor did he see the orderly house.

On the contrary, most houses are thatched huts and look dilapidated.

The children in the village were naked, playing in front and behind the house.

No one came to organize them to study.

No one even came to care about them.

In the center of the pavilion, Zhang Yue saw luxurious mansions.

Zhang Yue had to sigh that this is the current situation at the grassroots level of the Han Dynasty!

Yangli is just an example after all.

When Liu Jin saw this, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Why are there only a few miles apart, but there is a world of difference?" He murmured to himself with some suspicion.

"Your Highness, let's find out if we go and ask the people..." Zhang Yue said softly.

The two walked out of the carriage and headed towards a nearby family of people.

This family is located on one side of the road, built with thatch and bamboo as fence. A few chickens and ducks were raised in the yard, and two with braids. It seems that a boy, a seven or eight years old, was doing a job of watering vegetables in the yard.

An old man looked about sixty or seventy years old, and was very old. He sat on a mat under the shade of a tree and directed the two children to do things.

Zhang Yue and Liu Jin walked forward and bowed to the old man and said, "I would like to ask the elders for good luck!"

The old man turned around and saw the two well-dressed noble men. He was stunned at first, then quickly got up and replied, "The old man cannot be treated as a gift from the two young men..."

He was obviously a little flattered.

Liu Jin hurriedly went up to help him up and said, "Elderly, don't have to be too polite..." He looked back at Zhang Yue, and then said, "We are the field-collectors from Chang'an. They passed by Guiting and wanted to inquire about something with the elders..." As he said, Zhang Yue and Liu Jin bowed again: "Wan Wang Elders will teach me how to wait!"

The old man listened and immediately said, "My two nobles, I will tell you all..."

Liu Jin helped the old man and asked him to sit down, and then he knelt down with Zhang Yue to the opposite side of the old man.

Immediately, there was a accompanying servant who brought a pot of wine, presented it with a bottle of wine, and filled it with a bottle of wine for the old man.

"Dare you ask the elder's surname? How old is it? How many sons do you have in your family? How many grandchildren?" Zhang Yue bowed slightly and bowed.

"I dare not say that I am noble. I am surnamed Wang and my name is Fugui. I am fifty-one this year..." The old man took a sip of wine and was very happy. Nowadays, ordinary people cannot afford to buy wine, and people in Guanzhong are particularly addicted to alcohol.

When Zhang Yue and Liu Jin heard this, they both looked at each other.

The old man was already full of wrinkles on his face, and even his back was bent. He looked at least in his sixties, and even Zhang Yue believed it at the age of seventy.

But now, the other party told himself that he only had fifty-one?

He listened to the other party continuing, "The old man has three sons in total. The eldest son inherited the family business and is now working outside... The two grandchildren are staying with the old man at home..."

"As for the other two sons..." At this point, the old man paused slightly, as if he was a little difficult to speak, shook his head and said, "It's okay if you don't say it..."

After hearing this, Zhang Yue didn't force him to ask, because he could guess where the other two sons of the old man were.

The left and right are just choices of being a ranger, marrying into a marriage, or even giving people the father, and doing business.

Most common children from Han civilian families can only take these few paths.

"Dare you ask the elder, how much land is there at home?" Zhang Yue asked again.

"Thirty acres..." the old man thought for a while and replied, "In addition, he also rented and planted fifty acres of land from Wang Dalang's family in Benting..."

When Zhang Yue and Liu Jin heard this, they looked at each other again.

Thirty acres?

This is the area of ​​a standard Han Dynasty poor peasant.

"Elder, how much tax is transferred by one-year-old government?" Zhang Yue bowed again.

And behind him, a follower was holding a roll of bamboo slips, recording the Q&A content.

In Yangli, there is no need to ask the people, because the situation of the local people is not of reference value.

But it is different in the elm tree. The family life of the people here is closer to reality.

After hearing this, the old man's eyes changed a little when he looked at Zhang Yue and others.

He asked carefully: "Are the noble man from Chang'an or the Tiqi?"

In the old man’s impression, who is the field collector from Chang’an, who is not a playboy with nostrils facing the sky?

Not to mention being so respectful in front of him, I am afraid that he would not even look at him, let alone investigate his family and burdens.

Therefore, his face turned a little flushed.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Yue replied with a smile: "The elders think it is, but the younger generation can do it..."

He and Liu Jinke are bigger and more scary than the Censor and Tiqi!

Their report will eventually be directed to the front of you, and maybe they may go to the court as a sample of discussion.

After hearing this, the old man stood up excitedly, cried and kowtowed to Chang'an, saying, "The heaven has eyes, the Holy Emperor has not forgotten us!"

Zhang Yue's indirect admission reminded him of some legends he heard when he was a child.

At that time, the Han emperor sent envoys to the grassroots level in all seasons to investigate the sufferings of the people. The envoys heard it and reported it to the emperor.

Especially when Emperor Taizong was reigned, he once asked about the sufferings of the people of the world four years old.

Hearing the hardships of the people, he burst into tears and issued an edict to exempt the world from land taxes and no labor service and taxes were paid.

In recent decades, the figures of the Censor and Tiqi from Chang'an have gradually become sparse.

If you come down occasionally, it is also a formality.

This disappointed many people.

However, Liu's kindness has been done for a hundred years, and the people's hearts at the grassroots level are still unshakable.

Like Wang Fugui, he heard that Zhang Yue and Liu Jin might be the censors from Chang'an, and immediately kowtowed to Chang'an with gratitude and thanked him, thinking that he was saved.

This is the heart of the people!

Not only Zhang Yue, but Liu Jin was also moved when he saw this, so he quickly helped the old man up and said, "The elders don't have to do this. Just answer the questions of the younger generation and others truthfully..."

After being excited, the other party calmed down and bowed deeply to Zhang Yue and Liu Jin, saying, "Please tell the Holy Emperor that the people are hard and the people are hard to live!"

As he said that, he took out all the taxes and miscellaneous taxes his family had to pay every year.
Chapter completed!