Porridge and side dishes [farming]

Chapter 137

The new emperor raised his eyebrows and said: "The meaning of love is..."

Shen Tianzhan was also afraid that he would misunderstand that he was trying to make decisions for his son. Of course, there was this element in it.

"Since it is a family letter, there will be no concealment in what is written here. In my humble opinion, such things are probably common in this country." Shen Tianzhan said, "Boldly, I dare to ask the Holy Majesty, In recent days, how much tax has been called for those places that have not yet arranged for local officials to be managed by the army?"

The new emperor takes care of everything every day, and the national treasury is the top priority.One of the main reasons for the collapse of the previous dynasty was the deficit of the treasury.When the former emperor was sober, half of the treasury had already been embezzled by treacherous officials.Later, the emperor lingered on the sick bed, and the empress dowager in the harem and the powerful officials headed by the empress became even more unscrupulous.

With such a lesson ahead, the new emperor's primary goal is to expand the treasury.Calling all the way, and after entering Beijing, they ransacked the homes of many fat officials, and now the national treasury is very full.In terms of taxes, those places where officials have been arranged to go there don't know how much local taxes are, but the rules that are paid are the same as those of the previous dynasty.

As for the places temporarily taken over by soldiers, the household department went to ask about the tax, and basically the answer was that the soldiers didn't understand taxation, so they didn't manage it for the time being, and no one went into it.Even if you want to get to the bottom of it, you don't have the manpower to investigate.

The new emperor frowned, looked at the case for a while, and said: "Ai Qing means that the local soldiers will collect taxes privately to oppress the people?"

These soldiers are all fighting the world with the new emperor.If it was another person, I would definitely not dare to say anything.But Shen Tianzhan is not an ordinary person.

He straightened his back and said bluntly: "Report to Your Majesty! Yes! Your soldiers are hollowing out your country!"

These words were too explicit, the new emperor slapped the table and said angrily: "You are presumptuous!"

Shen Tianzhan raised his hands on his chest, neither humble nor overbearing: "The minister is guilty."

After the anger was over, the new emperor calmed down, his body softened, but he firmly held his hand.It is easy to conquer the country, but it is difficult to defend the country.These words are not empty words.Most of the generals who followed him on the battlefield, especially those who followed him first, were the lowest and most oppressed people.

Following the turn of the new emperor, Dao is now the master of the country.Their status has improved, but they are calm, or to put it bluntly, their quality has not kept up.

The rise is too fast, and they haven't even been taught how to secure a high position.

So after a place was conquered, the soldiers who stayed there to guard the city became the local emperors.Where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, he acts recklessly.

When the war just ended, there was nothing. The people only wanted to live, and nothing else.But just waiting for the world to be peaceful, their unscrupulousness will be piled up as a siege log that will be pushed to them.

The long-term way of the superior is not to oppress blindly, but to enjoy the superiority, so that the people below feel that this is very good and satisfying, rather than blindly seeking.They were just oppressed too much, so the backlash toppled a dynasty.Now, they are the ones who are greedy and unrestrained oppressing others.

In terms of selfishness, they are great Wu heroes who threw their heads and blood.But in terms of selfishness, their greed is also pushing Da Wu to the edge of the cliff.

The new emperor took a few deep breaths. In fact, the new emperor was not very old, and looked younger than the county magistrate.Only in my early thirties this year.Knowledge is really good, otherwise it is impossible to become the master of the world.It's just that after all, he is not a person who freely learns the art of emperors, and many things still pale in comparison.

"Since Aiqing said to retreat at home for three days, she must have gained something."

The magistrate of the county did not hide anything, and said honestly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, according to my humble opinion, the world is stable now. Is it the king's land under the whole world, and the king's ministers on the shore of the land! Then there is no need to distinguish between the previous dynasty and the current dynasty. The local army Dominance is not a good thing if things go on like this in the long run, it is better to use the officials of the former dynasty, and it will also solve the urgent need of my Great Wu."

The new emperor frowned, looked at Shen Tianzhan with scrutiny: "Shen Aiqing, do you know what you are talking about!"

Not to mention the former dynasty, even the emperor of a dynasty still has the saying that one recruits the emperor and one recruits the ministers. Even his own father's old ministers can't believe it, so how can they trust the officials of the previous dynasty.

"I know it. It's just that I dare to ask Your Majesty, do you have a better way?"

This problem stumped the new emperor.The new emperor squatted down, and just now said: "We, the monarch and his ministers, don't need to say those decent words. You should know that they are the former ministers of the Xia Kingdom, so how can they sincerely work for my great Wu?"

This is also the reason why Shen Tianzhan studied ancient books in retreat these days.

Shen Tianzhan said: "With the establishment of the new dynasty, His Majesty's benevolence spread all over the world. Not only did he accept the old ministries of the previous dynasty, he also restored the Guozijian to teach the sons of the officials, so that the descendants of the officials can receive the best education. Contributing to the country in the future is also to win glory for their family."

Does the new emperor not understand what Shen Tianzhan means?

"You mean the proton?" The child stayed in Beijing to study at the Chinese Zijian, and the father was assigned to be an official across the country.If they have any unruly intentions, the child is in the hands of the emperor, so naturally they dare not make mistakes.

"Your Majesty is merciful, how can there be such a thing? Your Majesty only cares about the country and the family of the nobles. After being a loyal minister, His Majesty naturally cares about whether you can become a talent. The Imperial College can have the best teaching, which is the best place to go. If you are a treacherous minister, Nine out of ten of the children raised by him have evil intentions, and His Majesty is also taking precautions before they happen."

Such words entered the heart of the new emperor.The new emperor thought over and over again before saying: "Shen Aiqing, do you know what you mean when you say this."

There is no impenetrable wall in the world, and the news of Shen Tianzhan's advice will soon spread.Those who were reactivated but sent their eldest son to the emperor as a hostage probably hated Shen Tianzhan to the bone.Shen Tianzhan will also be cast aside.Originally, she was an old member of the former dynasty, and was rejected by the officials copied by the new emperor, and now she offends the one left by the previous dynasty. Shen Tianzhan wants to leave himself in an isolated situation and suffer from the enemy.

Shen Tianzhan said: "I know this, I just want to have a clear conscience. Be ashamed of the people of the world."

"Okay! I have no regrets in getting this loyal minister. Come and make a plan! The position of Minister of the Household Department has been vacant and no suitable candidate can be found. Shen Aiqing has a lot of insights in this regard. You have to work hard and choose a day to take up the post." .”

Shen Tianzhan was already the censor of Zuodu at the third rank at this time, and now the new emperor has given him the position of Shangshu of the household department at the second rank!They are all officials with great power in their hands, which shows how much the new emperor attaches importance to him.

Zuodu Yushi supervises all officials and is sovereign.Another title of the Ministry of Accounting is the treasure house of the country, and the Minister of the Ministry of Accounting is naturally the main treasurer.With the two great powers in his hands, at this moment, Shen Tianzhan was absolutely in the limelight.

Li Jina didn't know how much trouble his letter caused.After Er Gouzi's birthday, the two went to the city every three days to see the business and the courtyard, and spent the rest of their time in the village.

When people come to serve, the two of them don't stop them, and they don't let others interfere when cooking, and let them do the rest of the work.The two ate, slept, ate and ate, not to mention how leisurely they were.

Li Ji's birthday is coming soon.Li Ji insisted on eating vegetarian offerings to worship his parents that day, but the fireworks he wanted to watch were indispensable.Get ready early, and messing around with Er Gouzi is just getting tired of being together. You and I have a sour toothache.

I went to the county again, when it was officially snowing and mid-winter.When they entered the county, they got out of the carriage, wore thick clothes, and strolled on the street.

There are many more people on the street now than in previous days.The number of people in the county is also increasing.During the war, if those who escaped were still alive, they gradually moved back.But many people outside knew that there were very few people who died during the war here, and some even hid in the mountains and gained a lot of weight after they came out. They firmly believed that this place was a treasure land of geomantic omen, and tried their best to move in.

According to this momentum, I believe that within two years, this place will be much more prosperous than the previous dynasty.

After the war, there were a lot of beggars, and Li Ji usually carried more copper coins, and threw two when he encountered them on the road.Those who go out to pray are always better than those who sell their wives, Dianzi, burn, kill and loot.

The two were dressed beautifully, and when the beggars saw it, they immediately raised their voices and said good things.After listening to the auspicious words, Li Ji regarded them as spending money to listen to the auspicious words, and gave two rewards.

Just after throwing two copper coins, the begging boy practiced bowing his head to thank him. Only then did Li Ji see that the child had twisted one hand away, and he was a disabled child.

I don't know if it's natural or later.Li Ji felt distressed, and threw a few more copper coins into it, squatted down and asked, "What's wrong with your arm?"

That good boy's face is so dirty that he doesn't even know the gender.With a dull expression, he said, "It's broken."

Li Ji only thought that an accident happened during the war, so he reached out and stroked his hair, and said, "Poor man, come with me, I have a large yard, and there are children as old as you in it, where you can have enough food." , and teach you how to read and write, how about it?"

The child trembled and shook his head again and again: "Don't dare, I won't go! I'm fine!",

Li Ji was a little strange, but after all he was short-sighted and didn't understand what was going on.Xiaotong is unwilling, and he can't force it.Li Ji sighed, and handed him the roasted sweet potato he just bought in his arms: "You take this and eat."

Li Ji's house has them, but when he came here, he passed a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes.The roasted sweet potatoes tasted sweet, and in the cold weather, Li Ji saw that the hawker was not easy, so he bought two.

The little boy seemed to be very hungry, he didn't even peel the skin, he opened his mouth and took a bite hard, it was so hot that he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear, but he couldn't bear to spit it out and swallowed it hastily.Only the tip of his tongue became numb, and he greedily took a second bite.

Li Ji looked sad, struggled a little, and left with Er Gouzi.

I went to various stores to see the business and listened to their account reports.Li Ji didn't know how to check accounts, let alone understand the changes in those numbers.

However, Li Ji trusted these people because they were the people who used to be around Shen Tianzhan, and Li Ji believed in Shen Tianzhan's methods of employing people.

Just having fun, I didn't go until the afternoon.Sitting on the carriage, Li Ji was still a little surprised: "There are too many people in our county, and there are many people who moved here, and there are also many beggars."

Er Gouzi said: "Not only are there more beggars, but there are also more disabled people. In the past, when I saw beggars, they were all too poor to eat or sick. There were very few disabled people."

As long as there are people in the family who are disabled, they will take good care of them, and will not let a person with inconvenient legs beg along the street.

Li Ji didn't take it to heart either: "Yeah, it's been less than a year since the war, and the injuries are always from the war. It's so pitiful."

Along the way, we met three or four children with disabilities alone.Seeing that the children were pitiful, Li Ji gave some of them. He specially ordered the store to treat beggars kindly. Everyone went to eat a bowl.

The porridge can't be all rice, and Li Ji can't afford it. Most of them are miscellaneous grains porridge. Give as much as you want. The porridge is quite thick and you can't eat enough, but it's enough to keep you alive without starving to death.

Li Ji is not the one who spends his wealth to do good deeds, and it is already good to be able to do this.

"How else can I say that I heard about the war, but the harm suffered by the common people will take many years to completely fade away." Li Ji sighed, feeling more and more grateful that he had Er Gouzi and Shen Tianzhan again.Without the two of them, Li Ji would still be that poor boy.

After the war broke out, with Li Ji's small body, the soldiers could not find any oil and water when they came, so he might have killed Li Ji angrily to vent his anger.

The more he thought about it, the more outrageous he became. Li Ji shook his head and smiled, turned his head to face Er Gouzi, and reached out to stroke Er Gouzi's hair.

What he saw in the city, Li Ji didn't take it to heart, and went home to continue his life.

It took only two or three days. Li Ji and Er Gouzi had just finished eating and planned to take a nap when they were awakened by a burst of crying.

Going out, I saw two servants stopping the villagers.Four people came, and the one crying and shouting at the door was called Li Ji.Li Ji saw that something had happened, so he quickly walked over and asked, "What's wrong!"

Among the four, a woman in her 20s begged: "Fourth Grandpa! We only know someone as capable as you, please help me find a way! There is a kidnapper in the village, and my third son is kidnapped. !"

After the war, there were indeed many more kidnappers than in peacetime, especially in poor and remote areas, where kidnappers would never find a child if they abducted them.

Human trafficking is a normal thing in theory, and the prostitute is a human trafficker recognized by the government, but the premise is that the people who are bought and sold are all slaves.Those with agricultural registration are all good people, unless they voluntarily lower their status and sell themselves out, otherwise, being abducted and bought by someone is a severe punishment, and in serious cases, the family may be copied and beheaded!

It's just that the world is tentatively set, and even the local officials are not complete, and where there is no one to manage, the kidnappers are rampant again.

"Then why don't you go find them!" Li Ji was also anxious, they were all children from the village, Li Ji felt distressed even if he didn't know someone, let alone someone he knew!

"Where can I find it!" The daughter-in-law was crying so hard that the man next to her was also anxiously wiping away her tears.

The old man who looked like the father of the couple said: "There is nowhere to look for it! Everyone in the village helped to find it! I knew that someone had seen the man coming from the west. It has been half an hour now, so why don't you run away?" It’s been more than ten miles away, how can I find it!”

Li Ji panicked in his heart, and his thoughts turned sharply, and he said what he thought: "Is there still a shortage of orphans in this world? Even if they are kidnappers, there are plenty of children without parents. Why do you come all the way to kidnap children here?" Already!"

The old man's face was full of anxiety, and his eyes were red: "It's because of this that I am even more anxious! I heard it since I was a child, and some kidnappers specially pick up the children who are spoiled in their hands, and they kidnapped them and made things miserable. Throw it on the street to beg for food! A child who is spoiled has no ideas, and when he is afraid, he doesn’t even have the thought of running away. The child who came out of the war has seen all kinds of scenes without father or mother, and is easy to run away! If you are really sold to a good family, at least they can be raised as treasures, but if you are really beaten and disabled to beg for food, then you will suffer!"

The child was kidnapped.Nine times out of ten it won't be found.Boys are abducted, in addition to being sold as slaves, or as descendants of sonless families.No matter which one it is, you can live a good life for the rest of your life.But if he was really beaten and begged for food, then life would be worse than death!

It was the first time Li Ji heard of such a thing, and he asked doubtfully, "Can it still be like this?"

The old man tapped his cane: "That's right!"

As soon as the words fell, the crying became louder.

The disabled children he met in the county suddenly appeared in Li Ji's mind, and he felt his scalp go numb for a while!

The little boy I met at the beginning, when I heard that there was no need to beg for food when I took him to other places, it was definitely not jealousy, but fear!If according to what the old man said, he was abducted to beg for food, then he must have thought of escaping before, and he learned a lesson after being captured, so that he didn't even dare to have the thought of escaping!

Li Ji hurriedly said: "I have seen disabled children begging for food in the city! I have also met several! If they were really abducted by those people, they should still be in the county first!"

When Li Ji said this, the woman rolled her eyes and passed out.

Li Ji knew this family, it was Li Changfa's family.When I first met Er Gouzi, his family sent me steamed buns with whole grain noodles.To this day, Li Ji's memory is still fresh, because he ate eight Zamian Mantou Ergouzi in one meal!

Li Changfa's family has always been kind, and they have suffered such a bad thing.

Li Ji turned his head and saw the white snow on the mountain.He clenched his fist, turned his head to look at Er Gouzi, bit his root and said, "Er Gouzi! You go up the mountain and find the commander! Send the elite soldiers from Qiaozhuang down the mountain! I don't believe this slope, it really makes them take advantage of it." Let this evil get away with it!"

Er Gouzi didn't know what Li Ji was planning, but Er Gouzi never had an opinion on what Li Ji wanted to do.

Er Gouzi went into the house to change his upper body clothes, and went straight up the mountain quickly.

Li Ji went into the house of this family and said: "To tell you the truth, I am not sure whether I can catch him! But as long as there is a possibility, I will not let it go! I will watch the child grow up, I can't Let him be abducted like this!"

Li Changfa's daughter-in-law was woken up by being pinched, she woke up and looked around, and started crying after she realized it.

Li Changfa couldn't help wiping away his tears, tried his best to suppress his emotions, and said to Li Ji: "You are the most capable fourth grandfather in our village. If you can't help it, then my third son will die."

Li Ji didn't have much hope, but he had to work harder.

On the other side of the mountain, the snow is being cleared down the mountain.I don't know if it's because there is no need to worry about food and drink in the camp, and there is no rush to go down the mountain to trade with the mountain.Therefore, the speed of snow clearing is very slow, and there is still a long section of mountain road that has not been cleared.Only people like Ergouzi who grew up in the mountains can pass this kind of road.

Er Gouzi didn't know what Li Ji was thinking, but he could tell the commander about their conversation.Li Ji has little experience in dealing with affairs, but the commander is a fine individual.After hearing it clearly, I immediately picked out thirty elite soldiers and generals, and personally led them down the mountain.

Shen Tianzhan is kind to the commander, now Shen Tianzhan goes to Beijing alone, Er Gouzi and Li Ji are his only concerns.Li Ji has something to do, the commander will naturally not stand by.

Just waited until it was dark, and the group came down from the mountain!

The first half of the road is easy to walk, and the remaining half is basically covered with snow.Walking in the snow consumes the most energy. Except for Er Gouzi, I was sweating profusely and panting without any discomfort.

Enter the house to warm up by the fire, rest for a while, and rush all the way to the county.

Although Shanxia had raised horses, there were only four of them, and they were reserved for Li Ji and his wife to pull the carriages in the county.Because of the war in the village, the cattle were either killed before the battle, or were dragged away and slaughtered by gluttons after the Wu army came.

Fortunately, Dao County is not too far away, and it only takes more than half an hour to get there by walking.

Go ahead and stay in the inn opened by your own family.Five or six rooms are enough for everyone to live in, and they can squeeze in a bunk on the ground. Right now, it is safer to live in a trustworthy place.If you live in someone else's inn, soldiers walk differently than ordinary people, and if people in the inn suspect that they are going to inform Wu Jun, it will be dangerous.

There are other guests in the inn, so it's hard to tell, so we can only discuss in a low voice as much as possible.

Naturally, beggars can't be seen at night, tomorrow only waits for those disabled children to come out, just waits to follow them at night, and they will always find their lair!

As long as the lair is found, the child can be found!

This is the only way, and the last way.Afraid, they abducted the child, fearing that someone would look for them, so they left in a hurry.If a person leaves, looking for it later is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and you can't get it back.

Li Ji wanted to appease Li Changfa's family, but he was also worried that they would just leave.I told the innkeeper about my worries, and the innkeeper comforted me: "Don't worry, Fourth Master, they won't be able to escape in a short time."

"How do you say that?"

The shopkeeper said: "In the past, if they stole the child and were found out, they did it before they were about to leave. But in this world, there is not even a county magistrate, and the place is remote, and they dare to walk on the street without stealing the child." Come on. There are a lot of people coming to our county recently, and many rich owners think that the Feng Shui here is good and they move here. The richer the richer, the more money they can ask for food, and they are reluctant to leave. "

"Even if there are no county magistrates, there are troops. They are not afraid of being arrested and sent to the army?" Li Ji asked doubtfully.

The shopkeeper couldn't help but sneered and said, "Fourth Master, do you really think the army can take care of this matter? They only accept money. Even if they are really caught and sent over, they are the group who use disabled children to beg for food. They don't need money. Eight liang of silver is stuffed in, afraid that it will not be settled?"

The author has something to say: [Statement] I don’t mean to be a black soldier. Brother Bing is the one I love, respect and admire~

The article is a special case, such as Zeng Xia Bing under the command and envoy, isn’t it all good~

[ps: Call Fourth Grandpa~]