Obviously, the policy changes during the process of issuance and implementation. The policy itself has problems. When the people who implement it have some problems and the people at the bottom are replaced, what else can it bring to the people at the bottom except suffering.

The old emperor, who was accustomed to association, of course thought of the many policies of the imperial court in the past. He put forward various proposals and reforms. The reports of the ministers were basically a great success. The secret agents and supervisors also said that the results were remarkable. But the situation in Jiu Village was different.

It was really impossible for the old emperor to be optimistic anymore, and he even thought deeply about it, was the rule of the Han Dynasty really as solid as a rock? What he saw and heard this time can already answer part of this question.

What a small Jiucun can see is just the tip of the iceberg. For the huge Han Empire, it is insignificant compared to the incomparably vast territory, and it cannot even be said to be very representative.

This is because the Shi family in Jiucun Village is relatively disciplined and does not take too many actions to drain the lake. They still retain the dignity of fellow villagers and try to restrain themselves even if they are exploiting each other.

From time to time, you can still spend money to build bridges and pave roads, dredge ditches, and provide relief to poor households. When encountering disputes that do not involve personal interests, you can often be impartial and make fair decisions. But there is also a prerequisite. In critical moments, such as

Now, the whole village has to listen to his Shi family!

In contrast, for the purpose of "fulfilling filial piety" for the construction of palaces, in some places, the food appearance is ugly. When the government wants money, it dares to shout "two strings", and if it says new wheat, it will be new wheat. If the old wheat is harvested, it will not

If you do the math, you still have to find a way to make up for it.

The government draws ten dings, and he draws twenty. The extra ten people don't have to go and spend money to buy freedom. If you don't have money, food or local goods will do. If you don't have money or goods, there is a way, so use labor in exchange.

The labor service for the government ranges from three months to half a year. It only takes one month to help them. After all, it seems that you have earned several months in vain.

The atmosphere in the small tent calmed down, and the low-pressure air almost made people breathless. Wang Qinruo was sweating profusely, and his body was shaking involuntarily. And the farmer Zhang Wulin probably felt that he had said too much, and he became more and more nervous.

The more frightened he became, the lower his voice became, until he kowtowed and begged for mercy again.

"You are not guilty. You speak very well. Your words are like a thunderbolt, which is deafening and enlightening!" After a long time, the old emperor sighed softly and ordered Liu Wenji: "Go and help this old man up!"

"yes!"

Zhang Wulin didn't react until he was lifted up by Liu Wenji's strong hands. He looked at the old emperor again. He felt that the majestic old man in front of him seemed a little older.

The old emperor was sitting on a bed. The summer night was a bit cold due to the rainy weather. He was wearing a purple robe.

"sit!"

"Tea!"

After several consecutive orders, the old man Zhang Wulin was at a loss and flattered. He held the exquisite porcelain bowl in both hands, looked at the swirling camellias, and felt the temperature transmitted from the bowl, before he came back to his senses.

The old emperor also put down his serious expression, put on what he thought was a kind face, and asked softly: "It seems that the sufferings of the people of Luoshan are indeed real, but as far as I know, these are all caused by the government's poor governance."

The reason is that some corrupt officials deceived the superiors and concealed the truth from the inferiors. In the name of building a palace for the emperor, they exploited the people's wealth and enriched their own pockets.

For this reason, after the emperor visited Shenzhou, he immediately started investigating. It is said that he had killed many corrupt officials. Even the magistrates and magistrates of Xinyang and Yingshan counties had been beheaded.

From now on, those corrupt officials will no longer dare to do evil, and your life should be easier."

The purpose of the old emperor's words was probably not clear to him. Perhaps it was just to try to remove himself from the matter and to gain the old man's approval. It was not the emperor's fault, but just the traitor's obstruction.

However, Zhang Wulin's words once again asked the old emperor: "Xinyang, the officials in Yingshan can't control us. I wonder what will happen to the magistrate of Luoshan County?"

(He rushed to Ma Qing, the former magistrate of southern Zhejiang, and felt his neck felt cold again)

The old emperor was still dazed, so he listened to this Wulin Road again: "I heard that the emperor's palace has been built that day. It is very big and beautiful. It is built on the mountain. The mountain is much higher than our hillock, and the road is not

It’s easy to walk, my brother is here to build the mountain road.”

The old man's words seemed a bit long-winded, and it seemed that he was just stating a fact seriously, but to the ears of an interested person, there was no doubt that he was making insinuations. Wang Qinruo couldn't help it, and shouted at him: "Bold!"

As soon as his voice fell, the old emperor shouted at him louder: "You are brave!"

Upon hearing the rebuke, Wang Qinruo's legs went weak and he knelt on the ground: "I don't dare!"

Zhang Wulin was confused by the minister's performance and looked at him for a while. He ignored Wang Qinruo. The old emperor thought for a while and asked again: "How many people are there in the family?"

Having said all that he dared not say, the old man was still single at this time and answered directly: "Including the two daughters-in-law and the unmarried little girl, there are eleven people in total!"

It is an ordinary home, the old emperor thought to himself, and asked: "How many acres of land does the home have?"

"Ten acres of dry land and five acres of fruit trees."

"This little Susukada doesn't produce much, so how can we support eleven people?"

"It's natural that we can't make it with this little land. We also help cultivate the family's fields, and we can get 30% of the output every season. We also hunt some local products from the mountains and make ends meet."

"What is clan land? Do you still have public land?"

After his explanation, the old emperor soon understood that the so-called "family land" was just the land of the head of the family named Zhang in Jiucun. Translating the situation, it was the relationship between the landlord and the tenants. However, this

Tenants still retain a certain degree of freedom and their own land. However, according to the situation in this village, it may be gone one day. This situation is so fragile that people can't help but listen to it.

worry.

"How many people are there in your family?" the old emperor asked again.

In response to this, Zhang Wulin's eyes immediately showed vigilance. He was always concerned about personal interests and his reaction was always the most genuine. And for the first time, he asked rhetorically, "What do you mean?"

Seeing this, the old emperor sighed: "It seems that many of the eleven members of your family have never registered!"

"Why should I become a registered citizen? What are the benefits of becoming a registered citizen?"

"What are the benefits of being registered? This is a good question!" The old emperor murmured, then pointed at Zhang Wulin and said to brothers Liu Wenhuan and Liu Wenji: "Tell him about it!"

"yes!"

The old emperor ordered, no one dares to neglect, Liu Wenhuan took half a step forward and spoke first: "Only when you are registered as a Han citizen, you can enjoy all the rights that a Han citizen has, such as going to school, taking exams, becoming an official, joining the army, traveling for business and industry, etc.

Your land, property and even safety have just been protected by the laws of the Han Dynasty. Even after your death, your descendants will not be able to inherit it if they are not registered in the household."

Liu Wenhuan's words were quite insightful, and everyone in the tent nodded slightly to show their approval. It was Wu Lin who looked puzzled, but relied on instinct to answer:

"My family has been farmers for generations. If you point to these lands, you can live a lifetime. What you mentioned has nothing to do with my family. My family does not study or do business. If we want to travel, we can only go to the surrounding grass markets, markets, and even county towns.

Can't walk.

As for the protection from the government, we just hope that there will be no more donations, no more taxes, and less labor service, which is enough. By the way, when you perform labor service and military service, why don't you show up according to your household registration? There are quite a few imposters.

As for the family property, my eldest son and second son are both registered, so they can inherit it."

After some explanation, Liu Wenhuan was almost dumbfounded, and then he said angrily: "At this moment, at that moment, even if you are willing to degenerate and settle down to farming, don't you think about future generations? What if they want to study and become officials?"

"The husband of the Li Zheng family is studying and practicing martial arts, and none of them has become an official. How can he be in my family's turn?" Zhang Wulin said: "Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings!"

"Don't talk about children and grandchildren, let's talk about the present!" Liu Wenhuan's arrogant look made Liu Wenhuan furious: "If there are people who bully you, what will you do if there is no government? If someone robs your land, property, or even your daughter,

, so what?"

Hearing what Liu Wenhuan said, Zhang Wulin became a little anxious and said: "Except for the government, who dares to bully the people of our nine villages? Even if there are, there are all the villagers, old and young, who are making decisions for us! Even if the bandits and bandits come, we will give it to them."

Fight back!"

"What if Li Zheng wants to seize your family's land and your wife and daughter?" Liu Wenhuan was completely annoyed and said directly.

This question barely calmed the peasant, but after a while, he heard him stubbornly say: "If this is the case, the government is dozens of miles away, so why should it protect ordinary people like us? The government still needs to rely on it.

If Li Zheng collects taxes and levies, wouldn’t he side with Li Zheng?”

"You! You are simply unreasonable!" Listening to his words, Liu Wenhuan felt a little overwhelmed.

"Okay!" At this time, the old emperor suddenly spoke up, interrupting the dispute between the dignified grandson and Yi Nijizi. He looked at Liu Wenji, who had been deep in thought, and asked: "Wenji, you have been silent and thinking.

What?"

After hearing the question, Liu Wenji raised his head, and his eyes gave people a sense of distraction. After waking up, he whispered: "I think this person is right!"

"Erlang, don't talk nonsense!" Before the old emperor could say anything, Liu Wenhuan couldn't bear it and scolded Liu Wenji.

When Liu Wenji saw this, he also hurriedly apologized to the old emperor. The old emperor looked at his grandson, but didn't say much. He just stroked his forehead sadly. After a long time, he looked at Zhang Wulin and said, "Because the government has forcibly allocated taxes in the past two years.

How much food does your family provide?"

"Not counting anything else, I have 7 gu of money and more than 1,500 kilograms of old and new wheat." Zhang Wulin still couldn't help but feel heartache when he answered.

"The family is rich!"

Obviously, this family was really considered a rich farmer before. After all, it was still a self-cultivating farmer, and the family had plenty of labor.

"Go and get twenty guan of copper coins, give it to him, and let him go home!" the old emperor ordered, and then said to Zhang Wulin: "Twenty guan of copper coins, ten guan of copper coins can be regarded as making up for your family's losses in the past two years, and ten guan of copper coins can be regarded as a right."

Your candid thank you tonight.

I can understand what you are worried about. After returning home, just pretend that nothing happened tonight and you said nothing. From now on, you can plant your land with peace of mind!"

When twenty strings of heavy money were held in his arms, Zhang Wulin still couldn't believe it. He left tentatively and turned back three times. But seeing that he really didn't stop him, he turned around and kowtowed several times, and then thanked him profusely.

The land has gone.

"Difficult people," Wang Qinruo thought in his heart, watching the old emperor carefully from the corner of his eye, very uneasy. After hearing what he said tonight, no one else would be upset. If the old emperor breaks out, who can stop it?

What should I do?

However, unexpectedly, the old emperor seemed very peaceful, and there was no trace of sullenness at all.

After a while, the old emperor continued to ask brother Liu Wenhuan: "What do you two think about the situation in this village?"

Liu Wenhuan said without thinking: "The villagers are ill-informed, stubborn, pitiful and hateful. However, in comparison, these corrupt officials in Luoshan County who wantonly exploit the people under the pretext of building palaces should all be killed!"

Liu Wenhuan was so murderous that Wang Qinruo broke out in a cold sweat, and he himself was among them.

This time Liu Wenji did not ask the old emperor to name him, but took the initiative to say: "My grandfather was aware of the people's sentiments, and he needed to use such methods to hear some truth and see some real situations. My grandson thought about it, and he felt more and more heartbroken. It is obvious that it is difficult to govern the country.

A spot!"

After silently evaluating the answers given by his two grandchildren, the old emperor smiled faintly: "With this experience, it's not like you came in vain!"
To be continued...