In the early morning of the next day, Cui Wenqing got up early, and after having a simple breakfast in the county office, he went on the same road with Su Shi and Ning Zhen towards the Lu family's courtyard outside the city.

When he came to the north gate, Cui Wenqing did not rush to set off, but turned west and went to the guard camp.

Yesterday, the more than 100 guards given by the imperial court did not follow them into the city, but under the leadership of Tong Qing, they were stationed in a grassland valley in the southwest of Baode County to stand by.

When Cui Wenqing and his entourage arrived, it could be seen that more than a dozen cowhide tents had been erected in the secluded river valley, just like huge mushrooms growing on the grass.

Tong Qing is young, but it is quite orderly to camp in, although it is in the territory of Daqi, and it is still in the garrison of the Zhenwu Army, which can fight well, but he still arranged a number of defensive measures.

The whole camp was surrounded by wooden fences, and it was tightly enclosed and there was no slackness.

In front of the camp gate stood rows of wooden barriers to resist horses, followed by a ten-person team responsible for guarding and guarding, and the fierce battle flags fluttered in the sky, as long as they encountered a surprise attack from the enemy, the soldiers in the camp could quickly react.

Seeing this, Cui Wenqing nodded with satisfaction, it seems that it is a very wise decision to hand over this hundred-person escort team to Tong Qing.

Without hesitation, he rode into the camp.

At this moment, Tong Qing was resting in the camp, and when he heard Cui Wenqing's arrival, he was naturally very happy, and hurriedly went out of the Chinese army's tent to greet him personally.

"Haha, brother-in-law Wenqing, you're finally here, I thought you'd stay in Baode County for a few days." Seeing Cui Wenqing, Tong Qing smiled.

Cui Wenqing patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Do you think I am willing to go out of the city on this cold day?" There's no way, this appeasement is just a toiling life, let's go, take a few people, and accompany me to a place. ”

Tong Qing nodded and hurriedly arranged to go.

Su Shi smiled faintly and said: "What's the matter, there are Ning guards going the same way, what else is there to worry about Brother Wenqing?" Do you even want to bring a guard? ”

Cui Wenqing said with a smile: "In my opinion, it is not so simple for the people of Suizhou to rise into turmoil, it is better to be prepared than to be caught off guard, and when encountering danger, Ning Zhen is afraid that she will not be able to deal with it alone." ”

Su Shi bowed his head slightly in agreement, but he was a little disapproving, and secretly wondered: Why has this Brother Wenqing become more and more cautious, just going to the people's courtyard, what kind of danger can he encounter?

didn't say much at the moment, waited for Tong Qing to select more than 20 horseback guards, and then the group left the camp and headed east towards the official road.

Lu's Zhuangyuan was built in the southeast of Baode County, because it was a Jiangnan clan that migrated from the Ju clan, and it was a side branch of the Lu clan in Jiangdong, so Ye Changchun, the county commander of Baode County, chose a good place for the Lu clan.

This land is located on the broad plain on the bank of the Yellow River, although it is not as abundant as the land of fish and rice on Jiangnan Road, but it is definitely one of the best places in Baode County.

It stands to reason that to obtain such a good piece of land, the Lu family should be grateful to the imperial court.

However, I don't know why, this time I proposed to return to Jiangnan, the Lu family is the most determined one, Cui Wenqing really doesn't understand why the Lu family is still so dissatisfied, is it really that the people's hearts are not enough to swallow the elephant, and they can't get Longwangshu?

With such a question, the horse team had turned onto the rammed earth path leading to Lu's Zhuangyuan.

It can be seen that both sides of the trail are all very neatly cultivated fields, and many farmers are planting wheat and barley in them.

Cui Wenqing was originally a child from the countryside, and when he saw this, he couldn't help but think of the scene when he was working in the farmland when he was a child, and he couldn't help but feel it for a while, full of nostalgia.

If these peasants hadn't left Suizhou with a shout, how peaceful and enviable this scene would have been.

It's a pity that the hearts of the farmers are not really rooted in the land of Suizhou, which is a pity!

At this time, Master Li, who was in charge of leading the way, spoke: "Master Cui, these farmers in front of you are all tenant farmers who are dependent on the Lu family, according to the official roster, there are about five hundred households, and according to the calculation of five people in each household, that is, more than two thousand five hundred. ”

Cui Wenqing smacked his tongue when he heard this, and said in surprise: "Speaking of which, even the more than 1,000 people of the Lu family, didn't the Lu family control more than 3,000 peasants?" ”

"Pretty much." Master Li nodded, "Not only that, these tenant farmers all regard the Lu clan as the master, listen to the order, and act according to it, the Lu clan has been a headache for Ye County for a long time, and this time I am fortunate to be appeased and the adults are here, I believe that they will be able to solve this big trouble that plagues Baode County." ”

Cui Wenqing smiled faintly and automatically filtered Master Li's last sycophants.

Sitting in Baode County to deal with the chaos of the people, it is inseparable from the help and support of a local snake like Master Li who is well versed in the situation, Cui Wenqing has never been bound by common sense in employing people, but he will not be reused because of Master Li's flattery and rudder.

Along the way, Ning Zhen heard a lot from Cui Wenqing and others, but she was vaguely aware of the chaos in Suizhou, although she was not so willing to speak, she still couldn't help but ask the question in her heart: "These peasants are all free, and when they came to Suizhou, the imperial court had already arranged land cultivation for them, why did they still rely on the surname of the wealthy family and be willing to be their tenant farmers?" ”

Hearing this, Su Shi smiled and explained: "Haha, Ning Guard, you don't know much about the peasants in the center, and they are doing this to reduce taxes!" ”

"Tax deductions? Why? Ning Zhen asked curiously.

Cui Wenqing knew that Ning Zhen was born in a noble family, how could he know the pain of farmers paying taxes? So he sighed lightly and said: "In the past, when the Tang Dynasty was prosperous, Wang Lu Jin of Xiping County presided over the reform of the tax system of the government, and changed the Tang Dynasty from the past rent regulation tax to the "two tax law", and the two tax laws were based on the original land tax and household tax, and the new tax law was formulated to unify various taxes. Because it is levied in summer and autumn, it is called the "two tax laws". The two tax laws were a more comprehensive reform of the enslavement system at that time, and the Great Qi inherited the Tang system, so the two tax laws that are also implemented at present are levied according to the number of registered people and the amount of cultivated land every year. ”

Ning Zhen understood, but still had some confusion, and asked, "But even so, what does it have to do with the peasants' willingness to become tenants?" ”

Cui Wenqing said with a smile: "How can it be okay, the relationship is big, as far as I know, Ning Guarding your family is the Duke of the Founding County, right?" ”

Ning Zhen's grandfather was an important strategist who followed Qi Taizu in the southern and northern wars, and later became the first Shangshu Ling after the founding of the Great Qi Dynasty.

Therefore, in the face of Cui Wenqing's inquiry, Ning Zhen nodded.