That night, at the mansion of Zhang Bo, a husband in the east of Yidong, Zhang Bo and Zhang Ying finally gave an answer to Heifu, who was sitting opposite them, after discussing in a low voice for a long time.

"Dongzhang can produce 300 stones."

"Xizhang can produce 200 stones."

"The remaining 1,500 stones have to be paid by 1,000 households in the township, and each family has one and a half stones, which is not much......

Zhang Bo arched his hand at Heifu and said, "You, this is the result of our discussion. ”

Heifu sighed in his heart and looked at Chen Ping, who was sitting at the end of the hall.

Sure enough, as Chen Ping expected, the Zhang family, who owned half of the reclaimed land in the township, was only willing to pay a quarter of the requisition.

Fifty years ago, during the reign of King Zhao of Qin, Fan Ju proposed a "Lai Min Order", the basic idea was that the Qin State had a vast land and a small population, and could not fully develop the fields and resources, so it was necessary to recruit immigrants from the east of the Kunshan Mountains.

Han Wei is located in the Central Plains, the city is next to each other, densely populated, and the population and land situation of the Qin State are just the opposite, they are more people and less land. In the "Laimin Order", it is said that Han Wei and other countries have narrow land and people, and their houses live side by side. Because of the lack of sufficient land, a large number of people poured into the mountains, swamps, and developed wasteland, and even so, each family could only be like Chen Ping's family, divided into twenty or thirty acres to barely survive, so that there were still a large number of people who had no land, and could only go to be tenant farmers, or to do business, wandering, and slavery.

This soil is not enough to give birth to its people, and it seems that there has been a Qin people's lack of land!

Therefore, in the Han and Wei dynasties, the problem of land annexation had already arisen, and local village tycoons often occupied half of the local Thai land, and a large number of landless people were reduced to mediocre tenant farmers.

"The rich have no place to stand, and the poor have no place to stand" is not the situation of Qin itself, but the status quo of Han, Wei, and Qi.

In this case, Heifu was ordered to levy grain, and the bulk of the grain was naturally the Zhang family and other villagers, but now, they are not willing to bear too much share.

Zhang Bo still had a fat face and said something to him, "The township tyrant family has no surplus food, and the rations that were previously supplied to the soldiers have been emptied. ”

Hefu didn't believe this, and he wouldn't have visited him unless he had investigated it clearly.

"Yes, how did I hear that Dongzhang has 20 hectares of land in Humu Township, with an annual income of 4,000 stones, and Xizhang has 10 hectares of land and an annual income of 2,000 stones?" Heifu said with a smile.

"And Zhang Zijun is a official in Xianyang, often exchange letters with his family, I heard that he predicted a few years ago that Qin and Wei will have a war, and Erzhang began to buy grain and accumulate millet three years ago, and now there are at least four or five thousand stone grain in the two granaries......

The amount estimated by Heifu was not much different from Zhang's accumulated grain, and Zhang Bo's face suddenly stiffened. Then he put away his smiling face and said in a hard voice:

"So what? These grains were all saved by my brothers and sisters, one by one, for fear that the war would break out and the family would starve to death. The Zhang family has a big business, and there are many people to feed, there are hundreds of servants and slaves alone, and the monthly eclipse is 500 stones. Could it be that You Miao still wants the Zhang family to collect the two thousand stones of grain, but all of them can't be done? ”

That's what I plan, Heifu said in his heart, the wheat is ripe in May, and the autumn harvest is in July, even if two thousand stones are produced, the remaining grain of the Zhang family will be enough to eat until then.

But he said with a smile: "Naturally not, it's just that the two families are the crown of the villagers, so it's better to have more, and make up enough for a thousand, which can not only reduce the burden of the people, but also have additional benefits......

"What!" Asking Zhang Bo to give food was more uncomfortable than cutting his flesh, and he suddenly roared.

Zhang Ying, who was more shrewd than him, stopped the impulsive clan brother and asked, "What is the benefit of daring to ask Youxi?" ”

"Knighthood." Heifu smiled, pointed to the crown above his head and said: "I am no longer changing, the warrior Dongmen Leopard outside the door is already a hairpin, this Zhong Ming who sits under me is also a Shangzao, dare to ask the second monarch, what kind of title is it?" ”

Zhang Bo was a little embarrassed, although they were local village officials, they were only given the title of "duke" after surrendering.

"Sure enough." Heifu sighed, looking worried about the two of them: "Qin is different from Wei, everything has to be according to the title. As Shang Jun said, his wealth will match his title, and the two monarchs enjoy the wealth of a doctor, but only have the title of a duke, which is inconsistent with the name. ”

Zhang Yingying said: "But Qin Jue is difficult to obtain, and it is impossible to get it without beheading in battle, and most of the people in the township, whether rich or poor, are soldiers...... Could it be that you know other ways? ”

Heifu clapped his hands and said: "However, the Qin State has a system of internal Su worship, which is implemented in famine years and wartime, and this policy may benefit the Zhang family!" ”

"Neisu Baiju?" The two looked at each other.

Heifu knew that they wouldn't believe it easily, so he nodded to Zhong Ming on the side and asked him to explain the situation like two sheets.

"The subordinate is from Hanoi County."

Zhong Ming arched his hand towards Erzhang: "More than thirty years ago, when I was not yet born, Qin and Zhao fought against Shangdang Changping, and the Zhao army was besieged by the Qin army. When it was, the king of Qin heard that Zhao was desperate, so he personally arrived in Hanoi, gave the people each level, and those who were more than fifteen years old rushed to Changping to block the rescue troops and food of Zhao. In addition, those who can produce thousands of stones of grain for military rations in Hedong and Hanoi townships are also given first-class knights...... In Wen County, where the subordinate is located, there are three families who offer Su Qianshi and are promoted from Shiwu to Gongshi. ”

"And such a thing?" Because Zhang Bo and Zhang Cheng were Wei people, they did not know much about the Qin system.

"It's true, and it's not an isolated case."

Heifu answered: "Twenty years ago, that is, in the third year of the king's reign, locusts came from the east, covering the sky, and the great wilderness of Guanzhong. And Nanjun and Nanyang were also infected with the plague, and the counties were short of food. So the king ordered that the people should be honored by the first level. There was a merchant in this county, and at that time he offered 1,000 stones, and he was able to worship the lord and rise from a prince to a high-ranking ......."

Heifu is not talking about anyone else, it is the Yuanbai family who he dealt with when he was serving in Anlu County and gave him a lot of money for nothing.

"A few years ago, in the battles of Zhao and Yan, the counties near the front line were asked to sacrifice Su and worship the lord, which was a precedent. If I am not mistaken, General Wang has already asked the king to implement the order of Neisu Baijue in the Wei land that is attached to the Qin State, but it has not yet been issued in time. ”

This seems to be the "buy official 鬻 (yù) jue" criticized by later generations, but in fact, it is not, because Shang Ying formulated the title, it is to encourage ploughing and warfare, ploughing, in order to get more grain, the local farmers of Qin State are diligent in farming, so that the fields have a good harvest, and sometimes they will be given a first-class reward, and in the counties that Qin State has just occupied, Neisu Baijue, because there are few local people with knighthoods, at most give a duke, give a Shangzao, but can get a thousand grains, let a thousand soldiers eat for more than half a month, this is a good deal.

Moreover, the knighthood obtained by Neisu will not exceed that of the doctor, and it will not endanger the foundation of the military lord system.

After talking about the Neisu worship system, Heifu said: "That's why I said, since the two pieces will eventually give out grain, it is better to have more, gather thousands of stones, and say that it is a family, and then the title will be reissued, and whoever gets it first, the two monarchs will discuss it themselves......"

"That's fine."

Zhang Cang, who was far away in Xianyang, wrote a letter home, and told about the extremely important title of Qin State, and now he heard that he had a great chance of getting a knighthood if he offered a thousand Su, and the thoughts of the Zhang brothers became active.

After bowing their heads and deliberating, the two made a decision, they both want to sacrifice food anyway, there is no benefit in offering 600 stones, but there is a chance to get knighthood if they donate 1000 stones, so it is still a little more. Anyway, because they prepared early, they accumulated thousands of millet at home, and there was no shortage of food at all.

"Good!"

After receiving the reply, Heifu breathed a sigh of relief, but just when the Zhang brothers thought that the matter was over, he suddenly said: "Now that the green and yellow are not accepted, the people in the township do not have much surplus grain at home, if each household produces a stone, they can only barely eat, and some families can not even survive the summer harvest of wheat." Since the two gentlemen have come out with a thousand stones, it is better to even share the 1,000 stone of grain to the farmers in the township first! ”

"What!"

As soon as these words came out, the two faces were shocked, and Zhang Bo even took the case, pointed at Heifu and said, "Heifu, don't go too far!" Think I'm weak and deceitful? ”

Heifu looked at Chen Ping, the word "Jue" he wrote in the palm of his hand had been exhausted, and the next thing was to look at Chen Ping......

Chen Ping immediately got up, respectfully and respectfully said to Zhang Bo, who was thunderous, and Zhang Yingzuo, who was silent: "Erjun, don't be impatient, the meaning of wandering is not to let Zhang's family come out in vain, but in this season when there is no grain to pay at home, first lend the surplus grain at home to 1,000 households in the city, one stone per household." Make a pact with them to wait until the summer and autumn harvests are abundant, and then take it back......"

"Lend grain to the villagers?" Zhang Bo was stunned, as a large household in the township, he did a lot of things to borrow food and money, but it was never possible to give a one-time loan to every household in the township.

This is the true meaning of the word "loan" written by Chen Ping in the palm of his hand, and it is also a common thing in previous years.

So Chen Ping said: "When Ping was studying in a neighboring county, he heard such a story, in the country of Qi, there was a man named Dong Guo Chang, whose family had ten thousand gold and had great ambitions. His disciple's family was poor and asked for relief, but Dong Guo Chang refused to give it, and threatened, 'I plan to save 10,000 gold, and then use the money to go to Linzi to seek officials'. Afterwards, everyone said that Dong Guo Chang cherished what he had not yet obtained, but was unwilling to help his disciples who were about to starve to death, which was unkind, so Dong Guo Chang finally saved 10,000 gold and sought an official position in Linzi, but when he returned to his hometown as an official, the villagers were disrespectful to him......"

After telling this story, Chen Ping said: "Now the second monarch is willing to give a thousand stone millet to obtain the title of Qin State, but he is not willing to borrow an equal amount of grain to help the township party tide over the difficulties. Don't just pursue a knighthood and lose your local prestige......"

After a while, Zhang Bo was still pondering there, but Zhang Cheng was already thoughtful.

Heifu also admired Chen Ping's eloquence, these scholars of the Central Plains, when persuading others, always liked to tell a fable first.

Seeing that Erzhang had already begun to think about this matter, Chen Ping persisted and persuaded: "What's more, don't you hear about the matter of Meng Weijun's cunning rabbit three caves? ”

"In the past, the king of Qi abolished Meng Yanjun's phase, and Meng Yanjun had to retreat to Xuedi. The people of Xue Di had received the grace of Feng Nuan's burning coupons, and when they heard that Meng Yanjun was coming, they helped the old and the young to walk dozens of miles to meet Meng Yanjun. This is the benevolence and righteousness of Feng Nuan's city for Meng Yanjun, and since then, Meng Yanjun has one more cave to accommodate in addition to the Linzi court. ”

Zhang Bo didn't learn anything, he was stunned when he heard it, but Zhang Ying knew this story, his eyes lit up, he looked at Chen Ping and said, "What do you mean......"

"Yes, Zhang's Cave, one of them, is in Xianyang Zhang Zigou; second, the official position and title in Qin; The third is the gratitude of the local people and the local people......"

When talking about "gratitude", Chen Ping looked at Heifu, he was also very grateful, grateful to Heifu for giving him a stage to express himself again, this is the second time.

He stabilized his mind, faced everyone in the hall, and said eloquently: "Therefore, today's Zhang family borrowed grain, and the loan was not food, but benevolence and righteousness!" ”

Chen Ping spread out his hands and said with a smile: "When the autumn harvest comes, not only can the thousand stone corn be recovered, but also the gratitude of the township party can be attached. ”