Chapter 208 Under Power, There Are No Innocents (Seeking Monthly Ticket)
"Your Majesty, shall I go now?" In silence, Mingzhu said cautiously with a bit of expectation.
"The King of Qin can't send hungry soldiers. It's almost time to eat now. You can stay." Ying Zheng said.
"Yes." Mingzhu said with a smile on her face.
Finally, Mingzhu left with satisfaction, and time completely entered the night.
"Does the king spend all his afternoon calculating taxes?" After Mingzhu left, only Ying Zheng and Duan Murong were left in the empty inner hall again. This scene made Duan Murong feel inexplicably uneasy, especially in the empty inner hall.
It was quiet, so she could only take the initiative to speak.
"This is a very important matter." Ying Zheng said.
"I know, when I was a child and traveled around the world with my master, I saw a similar situation." Duan Murong said.
"Really?" Ying Zheng stood up and walked towards Duan Murong.
"Yes." Perhaps because she heard the suspicion in Ying Zheng's words, Duan Murong couldn't help but raise her head and look at Ying Zheng, as if she wanted to prove her seriousness to Ying Zheng.
"Let's go for a walk, and you can tell us what you saw." Ying Zheng said and walked out of the hall.
"Okay." Duan Murong heard this and quickly followed.
Walking among the corridors connecting many palaces, Duan Murong slowly told Ying Zheng the things she and her master Nianduan had experienced together in their childhood.
"Probably the year before Master and I went to Xianyang, we passed by Shouchun of Chu State and saw Chun Shenjun of Chu State sending out his followers to collect land rent from the people under his fiefdom." Duan Murong said.
The voice of this female disciple of the medical family was very nice, like a clear spring in the mountains, crisp and clear.
"But in Chun Shenjun's fiefdom, some people live very poor lives and cannot pay the land rent at all, but those who collect the land rent have to collect the land rent. In this way, things will become very troublesome. If
If the tenants forcefully expropriate land rent from poor families, that family will probably not survive the harvest season next year. If they starve to death as a result, once it is exposed, it will affect Chun Shenjun's reputation. After all, he will be forced to die in the fiefdom.
Common people, for someone like Chun Shenjun who attaches great importance to his reputation, this is an unacceptable thing." Duan Murong said.
"Those disciples must have come up with the so-called perfect strategy. How did they do it?" Ying Zheng asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Yes, those retainers thought of a perfect solution, that is, they don't have to force the poor people to death, thereby affecting Lord Chunshen's reputation, and they don't have to show their incompetence to Lord Chunshen because they don't collect enough land rent." Duan Murong's face showed up.
He said with a weird smile.
Ying Zheng's appropriately displayed curiosity was scratching an itch in Duan Murong's heart.
"They divided the people in Lord Chun Shen's fiefdom into three classes, upper, middle and lower, and levied land rent according to the standards of the three classes. For example, nine points of land rent should be collected. There are three classes, upper, middle and lower. Each class is responsible for three points.
But the lower class people cannot pay three cents of the land rent, and can only pay two cents of the land rent at most, so there will be a shortfall in the land rent." Duan Murong said.
"Those diners passed on the missing portion of land rent to middle-class families?" Ying Zheng asked.
"The king has indeed guessed it. It is indeed the case. However, the land rent that a middle-class family needs to pay is not just four cents." Duan Murong said.
Duan Murong turned out to be a very good storyteller. At this time, she didn't look like she was usually taciturn.
"Is there any other story?" Ying Zheng asked out of curiosity.
In fact, in Ying Zheng's heart, he already had the answer at this time.
"Yes, the story is not over yet." Duan Murong said.
"Such things cannot be known to Lord Chunshen, and those high-class people usually have their own connections and can speak to Lord Chunshen. If those people bring this matter to Lord Chunshen, then
The tenants who collect rent are likely to be punished by Lord Chun Shen for this, so they thought of another way, which is to let the upper-class families pay less rent and pass on the less to the middle-class families."
Duan Murong said.
"This is a good plan. In this way, the lower-class families will not starve to death and ruin Lord Chunshen's reputation. The upper-class families will also benefit from it, so they will naturally not expose such things. However, the unlucky ones are only the middle-class families.
They are just a family, but their number is not as large as that of the lower class families, and their power is not as powerful as that of the upper class families. In this way, they can only be slaughtered by others. "Ying Zhengdao.
"That's right, but it's not without its problems." Duan Murong said.
"Of course there is a problem. The wealth of middle-class families is limited after all. In this case, the burden they bear may be fine for one or two years, but what about three or four years? If these people cannot bear it, they will become poor, and
When more and more people among them become poor, the remaining people will bear a heavier burden, and the speed of collapse will only become faster and faster. "Ying Zhengdao.
"Yes, then one day you will no longer be able to hide it. Why do those people still dare to do this?" Duan Murong asked in confusion.
"I have never figured this out. Could your Majesty think of the reason?" Duan Murong looked at Ying Zhengdao.
"Of course they dare. As long as they successfully complete the task during the period when they are responsible for collecting land rent, they will be able to gain the trust of Lord Chunshen, and then enter the court of Chu State on the recommendation of Lord Chunshen. As for the collapse of
On that day, they were already in high positions, and it had nothing to do with them. It was only the latecomers who were unlucky." Ying Zheng said.
"Is that so? In this case, isn't Lord Chun Shen too unlucky? His fiefdom has been messed up." Duan Murong said.
"Do you think Lord Chun Shen is innocent?" Ying Zheng stopped and asked.
"It should be considered right?" Under Ying Zheng's gaze, Duan Murong had doubts about her own judgment.
"No, Lord Chun Shen is not innocent. As a superior, whether he deceived others or was really deceived, this is his sin. The incompetence of those in power is the biggest sin. While he enjoys power,
He must also fulfill the obligations of power. If he cannot do this, it is a sin." Ying Zheng said.
"Is it a crime of power?" Duan Murong asked in confusion.
"This question is not something you need to think about. However, I already understand the purpose of this matter." Ying Zheng said.
"The current Yingchuan County is probably the Shouchun fiefdom of another Chunshen Lord." Ying Zheng continued.
"If that's really the case, is it also the king's fault?" Duan Murong asked Ying Zheng blankly, not knowing what she was thinking of.
But the next moment the words came out of her mouth, Duan Murong regretted it. She shouldn't have asked such a question.
Yingchuan County is not Shouchun. The Qin State occupied Korea for less than a few months, but Chun Shenjun was granted the title of Shouchun for decades.