Zou Ping.

Qingyang Villa.

In the side hall, Qin Qiong and Luo Feng were holding teacups in their hands, a little absent-minded.

Qin Qiong originally wanted to ask about Zhishilang directly face to face, but now that his closest relatives have passed away, it is not easy to ask at this time.

Wang Bo blew the tea and said, "Shubao, I heard that you are very important under the command of Rongguo Gong in Dengzhou, and you are the Lixin Captain from the ninth grade." ”

"It's just that I came to Shuai Gao to see it, and I hired a loose rank for me, but in fact, I am still just an unemployed soldier." Qin Qiong said.

After the founding of the Sui Dynasty, a detailed system of officials and titles was established, including officials, scattered ranks, honors, and titles.

The highest rank of loose officials is the special advance of the second grade, and from the second rank to the fourth grade, it is the doctors. In addition, a total of 16 rank loose officials were set up in the sixth to ninth grades, and 11 rank titles such as the opening of the palace and the three divisions to the governor.

In the third year of the great cause, the official system was changed, the grades were re-changed, the special jin, the eight lieutenants, the eleventh and other honors were abolished, and the provincial court was appointed as a doctor, and the scattered orders were merged, and the dismissed posts after the change were from one to nine grades.

Lixin Wei is the lowest level of the loose rank, from the ninth rank.

The Sui Dynasty's loose ranks were somewhat different from those of the later Tang Dynasty, first of all, there were no separate civil and military ranks, and at the same time, there was no such rule that there must be a rank before a job.

Therefore, the Sui Dynasty's scattered rank is actually equivalent to a professional title, like a chief clerk, who is a director at the level, but in fact he is still a clerk and has no position.

Qin Qiong is a personal guard soldier from the ninth grade, but he is just a gang leader who doesn't even have a formal grade. Among the government soldiers, at least they have to be the deputy of the team to have the grade.

However, just a gang leader has already obtained the rank of Nine Rank Scatter, which does prove that Qin Qiong is very valued by Hu'er.

"Uncle Bao, I was also in the army back then, and I didn't have such good skills and luck at your age. I enlisted in the army for ten years, and when I was thirty years old, I fought several tough battles, and I fought for my life to get back one from the ninth grade, and quit the army because of the injuries on my body, and went to Qi County to be a warden, and it took another ten years to get mixed with the seven-grade Fa Cao to join the army, but then I went to prison because of a lawsuit, and almost lost my life. ”

Wang Bo sighed, "When I see you young people, I can't help but feel that I am really old, I am really talented, and one generation is stronger than the next." ”

"Brother Wang laughed, how can we compare to your generation. Although there are several ups and downs in life, don't they all rise again, you see that Qingyang Villa is so large, and Brother Wang is so respected in the township, this is really a good life to envy. Luo Feng said on the side.

Speaking of which, he really admires Wang Bo in his heart, people do have the ability, and he can have it all by himself.

"What's going on again, it's just a mess, and it's getting worse and worse. I think that when the first emperor was there, the world was peaceful in those years of Kaihuang Renshou, and the people's lives were still going on. ”

"But you said that since the Son of Heaven succeeded to the throne, he has been bent on creating a great cause, but it has hurt us little people. This construction of the eastern capital, the construction of the north-south canal, the construction of the Great Wall of Chongqing, and the opening of the Western Regions, and now the eastward expedition to Goguryeo, one does not wait for the other, but it will suffer the people. ”

Speaking of the great cause of the Son of Heaven, Wang Bo was indeed dissatisfied, and even couldn't help but say it directly to Qin Qiong, a soldier.

"In recent years, the government has recruited strong men to serve every year, and the original system was to serve for free for 20 days a year, and those who exceeded it could also be exempted from rent adjustment, but in fact, no year was allowed to exceed the time limit of service. Many of my tenants and neighbors served for more than three months last year, and even middle-aged men who had only reached the age of 16 were drafted into the service. ”

"Fourteen-year-old boys were called to the county government to be white and straight, and to be on an errand in clothes, so they sent women to do the service."

"But after serving for so long, has the government reduced or reduced the rent? No, all are drafted in the same way. ”

"If you want to talk about this rent, you have to say another thing. In the past, when the Great Sui Dynasty was founded, according to the old practice of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the implementation of uniform fields, the common people could be granted 100 acres of land when they became adults, women and middle-aged men could also be granted half of the fields, and even ploughing cattle and slaves and maids could be granted fields. ”

"But in recent years, oxen and slaves have been denied land, neither women nor men. Even if it is a ding, there is no land to give. ”

"The land is not granted, but the rent is still indispensable. Nowadays, there are a few families who have really given enough land, and even more and more families have no land to cultivate at all, and they are all tenants of those officials and nobles who cultivate the land. The land of the aristocratic officials is widespread, but the poor have no place to stand. ”

"The imperial court said that it would conquer Goguryeo, so it let the rich families of the world raise horses. If my king Bo has some assets, the government will apportion me to raise ten horses, and they must be war horses. Now that the price of horses is rising, I have to buy and spend a lot of money to buy back ten good horses from outside the customs, this war horse is not as good as a horse, usually have to be raised with fine materials, an average horse costs thirty or forty times, but what about the government, each horse only gives me 20,000 yuan, even less than half of the cost of buying a horse, not to mention the usual cost of raising horses, isn't this a disguised extortion and exploitation? ”

"Also, I have paid the rent every year, but the rent is not over yet. During the Kaihuang period, the imperial court allowed local governments to set up community warehouses and encouraged everyone to voluntarily store grain into the warehouse to prepare for the disaster year. And now the great cause, the Shecang was changed to the nominal warehouse, which was originally managed by the court officials under the auspices of the township. ”

"Even the voluntary payment of grain in the past has become an annual levy of grain according to the wealth of the family and the amount of land. My Wang Bo household and others have been set a first-class, and the land has also been set a first-class, these ninth-class households and ninth-class land, why should my Wang Bo have so many fields and family wealth to be set a first-class, while many officials are fourth- and fifth-class? ”

The more Wang Bo said, the more angry he became, "Just this Yicang grain, I, Wang Bo, have to pay a lot more a year, and even this Yicang grain is several times higher than the rent adjustment tax, isn't this blood sucking?" ”

"A few days ago, I came to a new county town, and I heard that he was also a veteran of the battlefield before. As soon as he arrived, he was in a hurry, and he asked the counties to send grain, and he also sent Ding, and he had to train the county soldiers and catch thieves and thieves. Originally, I also agreed with this arrest of thieves and thieves, but after this order, the county began to pay various assessments, and those officials and helpers even took the opportunity to extort money, and now it looks like the autumn harvest is coming, and there are not a few men left in the township, and now even these young and old have to be called to the county town for training, isn't this nonsense? ”

Luo Feng said, "Yes, the labor is heavy, the apportionment is too much, and the burden on the people is greater. Now the ground is becoming more and more uneven, not long ago there were blue-faced eighteen ghosts rampant in the county, and now there is a Zhishilang, who is even more bold, robbing food and kidnapping people, and shaking the county. ”

"I think this Zhishilang is enough to do what many people want to do, and there is a way that the government forces the people to rebel, and they have to rebel."

Qin Qiong smiled bitterly.

"Don't hide it from Brother Wang, in fact, I came to my brother today, and it is precisely because of this Zhishilang that he made too much trouble. Now the cable newspaper says that my brother is this Zhishilang. I'm here now, I just want to ask you face to face, listen to you say it yourself, Brother Wang, tell me the truth, if you really want to be that Zhishilang, you can say it directly. ”

Wang Bo's face remained unchanged, and his eyes stared at Qin Qiong.

"Uncle Bao, you came to get my brother."

"Brother Wang, if I, Qin Qiong, came to get you today, then I would have brought the county soldiers, but I didn't. I'm here just to find out the truth. ”

Wang Bo's face remained unchanged.

"If I say yes, then what are you going to do, and what if not?"