"I thought about it for ten days and ten nights, but I couldn't figure out why His Majesty wanted to go to war against the Huns."

After the case in the lieutenant county mansion, there was a sad face, ten days had passed since Wang Mang brazenly declared war on the Xiongnu, and Zhang Zhan still felt that this matter was not very real.

Now everyone knows that the failure of Erzheng Ju Town has led to the rebellion of the three counties in Nanzhong, and the Western Regions have protected Li Chong and guarded Qiuzi for three years in the hope of being rescued by the imperial court, and Xihai and Jincheng are also in danger under the restlessness of Zhuqiang.

Coupled with the domestic rebellions one after another, the Kwantung "thieves" frequently raised incidents, and in this eventful season, the Xiongnu were the quietest party.

Wang Mang seemed to think that there were not enough enemies, and after the edict was issued, the government and the opposition were shocked.

"Da Yin, the same is true for the subordinates, I'm afraid that I still can't figure it out after thinking about it for another sixty years, maybe it's the mind of the Son of Heaven, and we ordinary people can't figure it out."

Fifth Lun also felt confused, so he had to comfort himself: Wang Mang must not be measured by common sense when doing things.

This is his biggest realization in this era for more than a year, Wang Mang, who has Tianxian in his mouth but loves to do things casually, always acts unexpectedly, and releases a few black swans from Chang'an Shoucheng's room every three or five days, which makes the world uneasy.

Throughout the ages, it is the leader of a certain country who can get a bit of Wang Mang's demeanor.

Wang Mang is by no means joking, but fighting a war always requires money, food, wagons and horses. The art of war is well said: where the art of war, galloping thousands of cars, leather cars thousands of rides, with 100,000 armor, thousands of miles of food, then the internal and external expenses, the use of guests, the material of glue paint, the dedication of car armor, the daily cost of thousands of gold, and then 100,000 divisions.

Wang Mang's claim that he wants to send millions of teachers is naturally nonsense, but war is imperative, but the treasury is empty, where will the money come from?

This is not difficult for Wang Mang, it has only been a few days, and the three edicts have been issued to the county, like a three-plate axe slashing on Zhang Zhan's skull, making him dizzy.

"The Son of Heaven ordered the ministers below to the county yellow ribbons, all of them maintain military horses, and each is more or less based on rank."

Zhang Zhan said with a complicated expression: "That is to say, as a great Yin, I am two thousand stones, and I have to produce twenty horses. ”

Fifth Lun glanced at the yellow ribbon on his waist: "As for the subordinates, the rank ratio is three hundred stones, and three horses must be obtained." ”

Who the hell came up with this idea?

In Wang Mang's opinion, the Huangshou officials, at least Cao Peng at the county level, led so many people in the imperial court, and three or five horses must be able to afford it. Now it is just a grievance that they walk to work, and the horses contribute to the country. A county can recruit at least 100 horses, and the problem of military horses can be easily solved.

But on what basis?

Take the fifth lun as an example, their family used to be unable to make up two horses of different colors, and they were ridiculed when they went to the banquet. After opening the industry, life is a little better, and I have added three or four new horses to my family, so I have to give it all up?

Horses were very expensive in those days, with prices ranging from 10,000 to millions, and three horses also meant 30,000 yuan, which was equivalent to half a year's salary of the fifth lun - provided that the whole could be paid, which was almost impossible.

Wang Mang is tantamount to asking officials at all levels in the world to donate a year's total income to support an unnecessary war.

Zhang Zhan couldn't help but sigh, he has always been honest, twenty horses, to force Zhang Junyin to tearfully dismiss all his private subordinates, and empty the family's wealth.

At this moment, a group of officials came from outside, worshipping in front of the church.

"Zhang Gong!"

Fifth Lun and Zhang Zhan went out to take a look, but it was a group of Cao Peng in the county government: Gong Cao Peng, Wuguan Peng, Thief Cao, Decisive Cao, Left and Right Soldiers Cao and other officials, all wearing yellow ribbons and official uniforms.

Only the literary Peng Luo, who was worshipping on the ground, took off his crown clothes, held the small seal ribbon in his hands, and said with a sad face: "The subordinates' families are poor, and they have to support their wives and children, so they can only barely make a living by relying on a few of them. ”

After coming to the county for so long, how the colleagues are each other, the fifth Lun has long been clear and recorded in a small book. This newcomer to the literary Luo belongs to one of the few people who can make √ on the list.

He is indeed an extremely rare Qing official, often wearing cloth quilts, vegetable and pottery, and abiding by the principles of Confucianism, but he didn't expect the court to come out like this.

There are also a few Cao Peng who also have the intention of resigning, most of them are gentlemen who were personally expelled by Zhang Zhan, and they went out into a poor family.

On the contrary, it is Gong Cao, Jin Cao, etc., who have unclean hands and feet on weekdays, but they are at ease with this. They have learned the way of trading power for money, and last year's anti-corruption has been evaded, isn't this time just three horses? As long as you have a clear conscience, you can return to the original cost with a little operation.

A funny scene appeared, the matter of donating horses forced the honest officials to resign, and the corrupt officials pondered to pass on the disaster to the people and even profit from it.

Zhang Zhan was quite moved, and said with tears that it was all because he was incompetent, but this good old man had no choice but to agree.

As soon as Cao Peng, who had resigned, left, the gate of the county Yin Mansion was blocked again, and he was noisy, shouting to see Zhang Zixiao for an explanation.

Zhang Zhan only felt a headache, and went out with Fifth Lun to take a look, and found that his eyes were full of vermilion, not the people, but the imposing Haoyou of the county......

The leader is none other than Fan Zhu, a county tyrant who had a relationship with Changping Pavilion.

This descendant of Fan Xu, today is really a bit of the momentum of the Hongmen banquet, he stared at Zhang Zhan, his hair was pointing up, his eyes were cracked, and he drank loudly.

"Zhang Dayin, I heard that the county has to go down to the local tyrants, but if there are slaves and maids in the family, each slave and maid must pay a tax of 3,600. It's really unheard of, in this world, is there still a royal law? ”

……

The population of Liewei County is the most prosperous place is Changling, Yangling two places, the Han Dynasty placed a large number of descendants of the founding heroes, although the family road declined, but all of them are heroic: Changling has Xiaoxiang Hou Xiao, Fan headed by eleven families; Yangling has 12 families such as Zhang, the descendant of Zhang Liang.

The wealth and land of these old and young remnants of the previous dynasty account for half of the county.

And now, Wang Mang's second axe, impartial, cut down on their heads.

It is extremely common for the local Haoqiang, rich peasants and propertied families to raise slaves and maids, and there are seven or eight in the Fifth Lun family, as private slaves in the family, they need to get up in the morning and sweep early, eat and wash, and do all kinds of chores. The field servant has to go down to the field for the master, and whether the slave and maid have a good life depends purely on what kind of master they meet.

Other Haoyou have more slaves and maids, dozens or hundreds are just ordinary, like the Qiongcheng Marquis Wang Yuanjia, the number is as many as hundreds.

Fifth Lun estimates that the number of slaves and maids in the country accounts for at least one-tenth of the total population!

Seeing that Fan Zhu was emotional, he had to come up and ask Zhang Zhan for an explanation, and Wu Lun hurriedly persuaded them: "Fan Jun, this is indeed Wang Fa......"

"Every word is an edict issued by the imperial court, and it is not a lieu of the county government, if Fan Jun doesn't believe it, he can send someone to Chang'an Nayan Mansion to inquire."

No wonder Xiao Xianghou's family didn't come, presumably because he learned the inside story and knew that there was no way to return to the sky, Fan Zhu was stunned, and only struggled: "How come there has never been such a decree in the past?" For as long as I can remember, slaves and maids have always been the property of each family, and they are not counted in the household registration and do not have to pay taxes. ”

"The former dynasty is the former dynasty, and the present dynasty is the present dynasty." After all, Zhang Zhan was an official of the imperial court, and he scolded with a straight face: "What's more, when Emperor Han Ai, he also issued an order to limit slaves, with 200 princes, kings, slaves and maids, 100 princes and princesses, and 30 marquis and officials in Guannei. This dynasty also has Wang Tian's private order, but the slaves and maids coerced by Haoyou have not decreased but increased, which has angered His Majesty, and there will be today's event. ”

Zhang Zhan still believes in Wang Mang and is trying to round up this matter for him.

Fan Zhu muttered: "Then what should I do, my family has hundreds of slaves and maids, do you really have to pay hundreds of thousands of taxes?" ”

The so-called more than 100 people are already a number that has shrunk after being hidden, but Fan Zhu is still complaining. The imperial court is using a knife to cut the flesh on Haoqiang, and who knows if it will become the norm, if it is handed over every year, it will not cost them their lives?

Fan Zhu secretly calculated an account in his heart: "The two little slaves have a direct money of 30,000 yuan, and the big slave and the big maid have a direct money of 20,000 yuan." The big slave and the maid work a lot, and it is indeed worth paying the money, but the little slave and maid don't have to, it is better to ......"

In order to save dozens of dollars a year, the poor peasants will even make a move to drown babies, let alone such a large amount?

I am afraid that from next month, the old, weak, sick, and disabled slaves and maids of the Haoqiang family will mostly "die of illness", or be ruthlessly expelled in winter. For those who cannot support themselves, not being able to be a slave is worse than being a slave.

Wu Lun hurriedly said: "The edict also said that if you don't want to pay the money, you can also hand over the slave to the government and become an official slave!" ”

"Isn't this a forcible seizure!" Fan Zhu became indignant again, understanding the true purpose of the imperial court, but this time, it was their turn to become fish and meat who protested ineffectively.

In addition to private slaves, there are also many official slaves in the world, who are mainly assigned to Zhongguan and Shaofu to engage in heavy manual work, and will also be temporarily requisitioned to build cities and garrisons.

During the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, there were more than 100,000 officials and slaves in Shaofu and Shuiheng Duwei, and 30,000 officials and slaves raised horses in the northwest counties. Wang Mangshi, even demoted more than 100,000 criminal people who privately minted money to official slaves, and it was this group of people who silently created a lot of wealth in Huangzhuang Huangtian Shaofu Workshop.

This is Wang Mang's good calculation: by collecting slave taxes, he can obtain a large amount of money, and the war expenses will be available.

If the powerful were not willing to pay for the slaves, they handed them over to the state, so that the men who raised the slaves and carried the grain to the front during the war were all alive.

The material funds for a large-scale war all rely on crowdfunding, and there is no one.

"That's all there is to it."

No matter how arrogant Fan Zhu and the others were, they didn't dare to fight against the imperial court in the Gyeonggi area, and they were unwilling to go home, but in their hearts, the old and young couldn't help but miss the past.

They were once indifferent to the collapse of the Han family, but at this moment they all said with tears in their eyes: "It's still a big Han, from Emperor Gao to Emperor Xiaocheng, treat our ancestors like relatives, and never tax slaves and maids!" ”

……

"I said I would buy a new horse and give me one to ride, but now it's all gone."

When he left the county town again, the fifth blessing looked at the two old cows pulling the cart in front of him and complained again and again, and the fifth Lun asked him to hand over the three horses in the family to the county officials, and he was unwilling to see the horses he raised give away.

Wu Lun leaned on the ox cart and said with a smile: "When I am not in a hurry, I prefer the ox cart, which is pulled steadily, not as bumpy as a horse-drawn cart." ”

He has changed out of his official uniform and changed to travel in regular clothes, the world is restless, but Wu Lun is rarely relaxed, and from now on, he doesn't have to rush for official business.

When they arrived near the fifth mile, a large number of peasants came from a few miles and stopped in front of the fifth cart, and their faces were full of grief and despair.

"Sect Master, I hope that the Sect Master will make decisions for us!"

Although the fifth Lun has been united into one sect since last year's ceremony, the ordinary people of all ethnic groups do not have such a high degree of recognition of him, and most of them are called diligent when there is something to do.

The fifth Lun asked the big man who was the leader of this group to come forward, but he was a member of the first clan, and at first glance it was a good crop, called the first rooster, probably born when the rooster crowed.

The rooster crowed loudly and loudly: "Sect Master, the county officials came in the morning and informed the village Lizheng, saying that the emperor has an edict to tax the officials and people in the world, and take one out of thirty (zī)!" It's equivalent to every household having to pay the calculation again, but is it true? ”

Fifth Lun sighed and responded, "This is indeed the case!" ”

This is the third axe cut by Wang Mang, the first two are aimed at officials and Haoqiang, and this blow is aimed at everyone present. Regardless of class status, they had to obediently take out the equivalent of one-thirtieth of the family's production to contribute to the war.

After the fifth Lun confirmed this, the people were in an uproar, some scolded and scolded, and some sat on the ground and wept bitterly.

"We have already sold our grain at a low price, and there is not much left in the rations, and now we have to increase our income, doesn't this cost our lives?"

"My children are going hungry in the winter."

"What should I do when I don't pick up?"

Except for the people in the fifth mile who relied on borrowing money to pay taxes and keep food, the poor people in the rest of the miles were struggling to make food and clothing, and the sudden increase in new taxes made their already not rich families even worse.

However, the rooster did not panic, and the idea of stopping the fifth lun's car was proposed by him, so he naturally thought of a way, so he took another step forward and said loudly: "But the sect master is Hu Cao Peng, and what he is in charge of is the tax regulation!" ”

"I see!" The farmers have renewed hope.

Ji Ming waved his hand and said, "The sect master only needs to change it lightly in the thin book, and change our family to less, so that we can save a lot of rations!" Right! ”

"That's right! Ask the Sect Master to save us! ”

How easy is it, Wu Lun shook his head, stood up on the ox cart, and said to them: "Fellow Kun fathers, I no longer care about the tax regulations!" ”

"What?"

Fifth Lun opened his arms, revealing his empty waist.

"I have returned the seal ribbon and resigned from the position of Hu Cao Peng to Da Yin!"

……

PS: Ask for recommendation votes.

All taxes in the world are taken from one out of thirty, and all the silk is lost to Chang'an. From the secretary of state to the county and county, the yellow ribbons all maintain military horses, and each is more or less based on rank; The officials are restored to the people. ——"The Biography of Wang Mang of Hanshu"