Leave the sun and say goodbye to everyone.

Liu Jin's convoy was reduced by more than half at once, but it was still a small team of more than 20 people, and it looked mighty.

Within two quarters of an hour, the convoy had reached its next stop, Elm Tree.

As the name suggests, there is a large elm tree in this village that is said to be more than 500 years old.

The people thought that the gods were strange, so they worshipped the elm tree as a god and lived here, taking refuge in the protection of the elm tree.

In the fields inside and outside the elm trees, Zhang Yue and Liu Jin still saw a large number of slaves and maids working under the scorching sun.

But at the same time, I also saw many farmers and peasant women in thick clothes with soap towels, plowing the fields.

After entering the Yushuli Village Pavilion, the situation changed again.

Compared to the orderly situation in the sun, the situation in the elm tree is a little different.

There was no one with enough prestige to raise up the organization, and everyone was doing their own thing, and each family was cleaning up the snow in front of their own door.

Entering the elm tree, Zhang Yue did not hear the sound of reading aloud, nor did he see the orderly house.

On the contrary, most of the houses are thatched huts that look dilapidated.

The children of the village, bare-bottomed, frolicked and played in front of and behind the house.

There was no one to organize them to study.

No one even cares about them.

In the center of the pavilion, Zhang Yue saw a series of luxurious mansions.

Zhang Yue had to sigh, this is the status quo of the grassroots of the Han family!

Yangli, after all, is just an example.

Liu Jin saw it, but he couldn't believe his eyes.

"How come there is a world of difference when they are only a few miles apart!?" He muttered to himself suspiciously.

"Your Highness, let's go and ask the people......" Zhang Yue said softly.

The two of them got out of the carriage and walked towards a nearby family.

This family, located on the side of the road, is roof with thatch, bamboo as a fence, a few chickens and ducks in the yard, two with pigtails, and it looks like a boy of seven or eight years old is doing the work of watering vegetables in the yard.

An old man, who looked to be about sixty or seventy years old, was already very old, sitting on a mat in the shade of a tree, directing the two children in their work.

Zhang Yue and Liu Jin stepped forward and bowed to the old man: "The younger generation respectfully wishes the elder how well!" ”

The old man turned around and saw the two well-dressed noblemen, first for a moment, and then quickly got up and saluted back: "The little old man deserves a big gift from the two sons......

He was clearly somewhat flattered.

Liu Jin hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, and said, "The elder doesn't have to be polite...... He looked back at Zhang Yue, and then said: "I'm waiting for a wind collector from Chang'an, passing by Guiting, and I want to inquire about something with the elders......" Saying, Zhang Yue and Liu Jin bowed again: "Wanwang Elder will teach me to wait!" ”

When the old man heard this, he immediately said, "Two nobles, please ask, the little old man knows everything......

Liu Jin helped the old man and asked him to sit down, and then he knelt down with Zhang Yue to sit opposite the old man.

Immediately, there was an attendant who accompanied him, brought a pot of wine, offered a wine bottle, and filled a bottle for the old man.

"Dare to ask the elder your surname? How old is it? How many children do you have? How many grandchildren? Zhang Yue bowed slightly.

"Don't dare to say that it is expensive, the old man's surname is Wang, his name is rich, and he has a ...... in fifty this year" The old man took a sip of wine, very happy, ordinary people can't afford to buy wine these days, and Guanzhong people are particularly fond of alcohol.

Zhang Yue and Liu Jin heard this, but they were both relatively incompatible.

This old man is already old and wrinkled, and even his back is bent down, he looks at least sixty years, and even Zhang Yue believes it when he says that he is seventy years old.

But now, the other party told himself that he was only fifty-one?

I listened to the other party continue: "Lao'er has three sons, and the eldest son inherited the family business and is now farming...... The two grandchildren are at home with the old children......"

"As for the other two sons......" Speaking of this, the old man paused slightly, seemed to be a little embarrassed, shook his head and said, "It's okay if you don't say it......"

Zhang Yue listened, and he didn't force him to ask, because he could guess where the old man's other two sons went.

Left and right are just to be a ranger, to be rich, or even to be a stepfather, and to do business.

Most of the concubines of Han families can only take these few paths.

"Dare to ask the elders, how much is the land at home?" Zhang Yue asked again.

"Thirty acres...... the old man thought for a while and replied, "In addition, I also rented fifty acres of land from Wang Dalang's house......

When Zhang Yue and Liu Jin heard this, they glanced at each other again.

Thirty acres?

This is the floor area of a standard Han poor peasant.

"Elder, dare to ask how much the one-year-old government adjusts taxes?" Zhang Yue bowed again.

Behind him, an attendant was holding a roll of bamboo slips, recording the Q&A.

In Yangli, there is no need to ask the people, because the situation of the local people is not of reference value.

But in the elm tree, it is different, and the family life of the people here is closer to the truth.

When the old man heard this, his eyes changed a little when he looked at Zhang Yue and the others.

He cautiously asked, "Is the noble person from Chang'an the imperial history or the tiqi?" ”

In the old man's impression, which of the wind pickers from Chang'an is not a gentleman with nostrils facing the sky?

Not to mention being so respectful in front of him, I am afraid that I will not even look at him, let alone investigate his family and burden.

As a result, his face was a little flushed.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Yue replied with a smile: "The elders think so, and the juniors can be ......."

He and Liu Jin are comparable to Yushi and Tiqi, and they are bigger and more terrifying!

Their report will eventually be played directly in front of the king, and maybe it may go to the court as a model for discussion.

When the old man heard this, he got up excitedly, cried and kowtowed in the direction of Chang'an: "The sky has eyes, the Holy Son of Heaven has not forgotten us!" ”

Zhang Yue's indirect admission reminded him of some legends he had heard when he was a child.

At that time, the emperor of the Han family sent a messenger to the grassroots level at four o'clock to inquire about the people's suffering.

Especially when Emperor Taizong was in power, he once asked the people of the world about their sufferings at the age of one year.

Hearing the hardships of the people, he burst into tears and issued an edict to exempt the world from land and taxes.

In recent decades, the figure of the imperial history and Tiqi from Chang'an has gradually thinned.

Occasionally, it is also a formality.

This has disappointed a lot of people.

However, Liu's grace has been 100 years old, and the people's hearts at the grassroots level are still unshakable.

Like Wang Fugui, when he heard that Zhang Yue and Liu Jin might be the imperial history from Chang'an, he immediately kowtowed gratefully to Chang'an and thanked him, thinking that he was saved.

This is the will of the people!

Not only Zhang Yue, Liu Jin was also very moved when he saw it, and hurriedly helped the old man up, and said: "The elder doesn't have to be like this, just answer the questions of the juniors and others truthfully......

After the other party was excited, he also calmed down, bowed deeply to Zhang Yue and Liu Jin, and said: "Please tell the Holy Son of Heaven that the people are hard, and the people are difficult to live!" ”

As he spoke, he set aside all the taxes and miscellaneous taxes that his family needed to pay every year.

Zhang Yue and Liu Jin listened to it with horror, like sitting on pins and needles.