"I know, is there anything else?" Xu Mu said calmly.
"This, this..." The county magistrate hesitated for a moment, and finally asked: "I wonder if you two are from the residence of Mr. Xu Shilang of the Ministry of Industry?"
"Why do you ask this?" Xu Mu was shocked. Did this guy find out his identity?
"I heard that yesterday you sent silver coins to those people... I know that Mr. Xu is leading a team to consolidate the checkpoints in the Taihang Mountains. I am afraid that you may have misunderstood, so I want to clarify. Sirs, this place is small, so why not
How about sitting in the humble residence of Xiaguan?" Zhao Heguang said.
Xu Mu felt relieved a little, and it turned out that the other party did not recognize him. He Qizhou said: "My lord is from the Ministry of Punishment. We have to get to Jinyang as soon as possible. If Mr. Zhao has anything to say, please tell me as soon as possible."
Zhao Heguang seemed to be relieved, but his face was still not good-looking, and he asked: "I wonder what case you are going to Jinyang to handle. Do you need any help from my subordinates?"
"It's not necessary for now. By the way, what did you want to tell us just now?" He Qizhou said.
"No, it's nothing. Since you are in a hurry, I won't bother you."
"Wait a minute, why are the deeds owed by the peasants only paid at a 30% discount? I heard that the people who collected the deeds are all from the county government? What did you want to clarify just now?" Jiang Damin couldn't help but asked.
He Qizhou and Xu Mu couldn't help but rolled their eyes at Jiang Damin. This guy really couldn't accomplish anything, so they just jumped into the trap and alerted the snake.
Zhao Heguang's expression changed slightly. Did he come to check the deed? But he immediately returned to normal and said, "It's a long story..."
"Long story short." He Qizhou said.
"Well, the weather has been unfavorable in the past two years, and those farmers are not willing to farm. It just so happens that the imperial court is actively preparing for war, and there is a lot of work building cities and roads, so they have sold their fields and labor. But the money allocated by the imperial court is increasing.
The slower it goes, half of the tens of thousands of households in the county will be unable to solve the problem, so more and more people are borrowing loan sharks with default mortgages. The resulting lawsuits are becoming more and more. The lower officials are overwhelmed and think about this.
This is a way to provide protection for both parties."
"What can we do?" Jiang Damin asked.
"This county stipulates that the interest on mortgages with arrears of deeds cannot exceed 10%, and the mortgage period cannot exceed one year. Therefore, there are fewer and fewer mortgages with arrears of deeds, and more people are buying out directly."
"Is the person who bought the deed one of your own? Since the county has the money to buy the deed, why doesn't it pay the full amount to the people?" Qi Zhou asked.
"Why is it someone who is a lower-ranking official? Because the money from the Ministry of Industry is allocated by the county, the county stipulates that those who do not own the deed and redeem the money must pay a tax of 20% of the total amount of the deed. Those who receive the deed
It's just a tax payment to the county government, and it's definitely not someone from the lower government." Zhao Heguang said swornly.
"What a violation of the rules!" He Qizhou slapped the coffee table angrily and said angrily: "Aren't you forcing the deed recipient to lower the price? You are taking the people's hard-earned money!"
Zhao Heguang was completely frightened by this shot. He knelt down from the stool and said:
"I have no choice but to make up for this! If I don't make up for the tax from here, I can only add it to other land-owning people! The county currently has 120,000 acres of farmland, including the tax-free Wang Tian and Hou Tian.
30,000 acres, nearly 30,000 acres of wasteland, and more and more people are left who do not plan to farm. Once this regulation comes out, the increase in wasteland will not be so fast! All the additional arrears of deed taxes will be handed over to the treasury.
To make up for the land tax, if you don’t believe me, you can check the accounts! I am willing to use this black yarn as a guarantee!"
He Qizhou was speechless for a moment, and he couldn't think of any better way. He waved his hand to Jiang Damin to see off the guests, feeling disappointed. There was so much land but no one was willing to cultivate it. How could the people's lives get better?
"Let's go, go to Jinyang City early, and then return to Beijing early." Xu Mu whispered.
"Um!"
…
Jinyang, surrounded by mountains on three sides, is indeed a majestic city. The city is as tall and broad as Chang'an and Luoyang. He Qizhou and Xu Mu didn't want to enjoy the scenery. After passing the south gate, they headed north.
When entering the south gate, the inspection was extremely strict. Even if Jiang Damin allowed the guard to let him go in the name of the sixth-rank commander, and even if someone recognized Jiang Damin as Jiang Shuo's personal attendant, someone still carefully checked the household registrations of the carriage and He Xu.
He Qizhou's Xingbu fish talisman, the ultimatum of a Quanzhen layman, the household registration in Jiangjun County and the household registration under the pseudonym Zhou Qi had long been discarded in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and all he had on him was the sheepskin household registration of Pan Gubu Deshan in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The same was true for Xu Mu,
After the snow dragon horse ran into the Altai Mountains, there were no more documents to prove its identity. The two of them had to return to the capital to complete these things.
Fortunately, the prefect of Yuzhou, Liu Xizhou, issued a road guide for the two of them, and the commander-in-chief Zhang Lei also issued a letter of guarantee, so after a little trouble, they entered Jinyang City. There were also Jinyang City Defense personnel on top of the road guide.
Seal.
The houses in Jinyang City are neatly arranged, and most of them are made of blue bricks. The north-south road through the city is extremely wide, and there is a lot of traffic along the way. From time to time, teams of cavalry pass back and forth. Entering the inner city, there are many large houses with tall doors, which is quite different from Luoyang.
The houses in the city seemed to be a lot older. Jiang Damin asked, since the Jin Prince's Mansion is in the inner city, do you want to pay a visit to the Jin Prince? He Qizhou and Xu Mu waved their hands, they didn't like that kind of scene the most.
After passing through the inner city and exiting from the main north gate, I saw many craftsmen in the north city busy repairing the city wall, while more people outside the city were digging deep trenches. Yang Zheng's grave is six miles outside the northern suburbs of the city, on the left side of the Taihang Mountains.
At the southern foot of the mountain, Jiang Damin said, there were buried the bones of tens of thousands of Qi troops who died in battle. As he got closer to his destination, He Qizhou became more and more uneasy, and even had the idea of turning around and returning.
On the gentle foothills, there is a large forest of intertwined white poplars and white birches. The tall trunks tower into the clouds, and countless branches stretch out in the gloomy sky. There is not a single leaf, not a trace of green, as if countless warriors are approaching.
Reach out for help before you die.
He Qizhou got off the carriage, put back his chaotic thoughts, and followed Jiang Damin into a large cemetery. Under the low sky, only the five of them walked slowly among the small wooden piles. Some of the wooden piles had names engraved on them, and some
Some have deeds engraved on the back, while some have nothing at all.
"This area is full of soldiers' tombs. The officers' tombs are on the east side, surrounded by a wall. Here we are." Jiang Damin stopped in front of an inconspicuous wooden pile.
"It seems that someone has swept it," Xu Mu said. The open space in front of the wooden pile was cleaner than most other wooden piles, with almost no fallen leaves.
"Why is there no engraving?" He Qizhou murmured.
"I heard from the prince that the person who built the tomb was originally worried that someone would covet the secrets of martial arts or to prevent enemies from venting their anger. In order to protect the general's bones, he did not erect a monument or write his name, so that the general could temporarily stay here. Your prince, every year during the winter solstice
I will bring my two sons to visit the grave in person." Jiang Damin said.
"With so many wooden stakes, how can we recognize them after a long time?" Xu Mu asked.
"Look at the back." Jiang Damin pointed to the small words at the bottom of the back of the wooden pile and said.
He Qizhou and Xu Mu both looked at the eight tiny characters, "Haoran is upright" and "Worthy of the world."
"I don't know who wrote the first four characters, but the last four were carved by the prince himself." Jiang Damin said.
"It seems like someone is coming." Xu Mu said suddenly.
He Qizhou, who was about to kneel down to the wooden post, quickly looked back and saw a carriage slowly stopping at the place where they parked. A person got out of the car, and then walked towards here with the driver.
"Jiang Shuo?" He Qizhou exclaimed in a low voice. From a distance, the man looked exactly like Jiang Shuo with a goatee.
As the person approached within thirty feet, Jiang Damin and two of his men also recognized the person. They hurriedly took a few steps to meet the person, knelt down on one knee in front of the person and shouted loudly: "See you, Your Majesty!"
He Qizhou and Xu Mu looked at each other. They couldn't come to the door when they passed by, but someone else found them by themselves. It's just that King Jin's pomp was too small, so he brought a coachman? Of course, the coachman was definitely not simple. Although
Thinking this way, the two of them took a few steps forward. When King Jin approached, they both bowed and shouted at the same time: "See His Highness King Jin."
Jin Wang Jiang Lang quickly walked around the three people who were still kneeling, Jiang Damin, held up the elbows of He Qizhou and Xu Mu with one hand, and said, "I knew you would come here without any courtesy." Then he turned back to Jiang Damin and said:
"You brat, you didn't let anyone notify you when a distinguished guest arrived. After following that brat for a long time, you're starting to lose track of the rules. Get up quickly."
"Yes, yes, damn the little one, damn the little one!" Jiang Damin ran over with a smile. He Qizhou also saw that King Jin could put that idiot next to Jiang Shuo, and he had more than a little trust in him.
.
"Grandpa Prince Jin, we just came to see you for a moment and are leaving. We didn't mean to go around you. We will definitely come and see you when we have time next time." Xu Mu straightened up and apologized quickly.
"Hey, you changed your appearance? How did a fat little guy become so thin? Your ancestors are really heartbroken." King Jin took a closer look at Xu Mu.
"I was poisoned a little bit, and it's almost gone. I'm much better now. Grandpa Jin, please stop teasing me." Xu Mu said angrily.
"You are He Qizhou, right? I heard someone said that Jiang Damin brought two people into the city, and I knew it was you as soon as I guessed it. I came here specifically to thank you two. Jiang Shuo can save his life thanks to you two."
King Jin said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, I really don't dare to do this. We escaped from the Northern Zhou Dynasty, thanks to meeting that guy, no, no, the Crown Prince. That guy, bah, the Crown Prince is indeed a general. If we had met a mediocre person, most of us would have died.
Zhenbeiguan is closed." He Qizhou also told the truth.
"That guy is a shitty general, but this one is!" King Jin pointed to the wooden stake behind He Qizhou.
"You come to see him often, right?" He Qizhou asked in a low voice.
"Yes, I don't dare to come often, for fear of disturbing too many people. I originally wanted to give him a grand burial earlier. Alas, more than twenty years have passed, and I don't know when I can be rehabilitated." King Jin sighed.