After replenishing supplies in Wei County, Liu He, Xu Rong, and Huang Zhong continued to lead their troops north, striving to reach Lulong in mid-August.

Although Liu He got the help of Xu and Huang, he was very strange that he could lead Xu Rong and Huang Zhong to bend their waists with one sentence? No one is stupid, if there is no benefit, who will be willing to be like-minded? - Just know these things, and you don't have to say them. He scratched his head and thought: "The two of them agreed to work, as I expected, eighty percent of the reason should be because of the name of my clan, the remaining layer is my father's prestige, and the other layer is barely my own talent, right?!" Hey, there is a family background, and it really takes a big advantage. ”

Liu He's guess was right - what finally made Xu and Huang decide to join the army was his background as a "Han family clan".

The Liu family of the East China Sea is the eldest son of the Guangwu Emperor after Liu Qiang, the king of the East China Sea, and now Liu Yu is a history of thorns, high and powerful, and along the way Liu He is quite kind and approachable, without the frivolity of the children of the family, and rich in learning, both civil and military - both the prestige of the clan, and the shadow of his father, the weak crown Junyan, although Liu He is now only a Sima of other departments, but the future is limitless.

On the other hand, looking at Xu Rong and Huang Zhong, who are from a small family, have no background and no background, instead of looking for opportunities, it is better to attach themselves to Liu He's big tree. ——This is also a common method used by scholars from the Han family, why can the Runan Yuan family be protégés all over the world? The deceased officials are the subordinates of the past; The protégés are mostly poor scholars who take the initiative to cling to them. Once connected with the family, it is not only easy to gain fame, but also easy to get opportunities in various types of recommendations such as filial piety, talent and so on; The family is powerful because of the large number of protégés, and the protégés are prosperous because they are attached to the family, for which the best of both worlds.

Shanyang Pavilion, Nangu Township, Tang County, Jizhou border, is Chen Jiu's hometown.

At this time, someone came in outside the courtyard of Shanyang Pavilion, and the footsteps were hurried, and from outside the courtyard was a Zuoshi, who took off his shoes outside the hall and came in to bow down. At this time, Liu He, Xu Rong and Huang Zhong chatted with the township chief and the pavilion chief to understand the customs and customs.

The mayor asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"The county governor is urging for two months' chickens and money."

"Chicken, money?"

"According to the usual rule, Hongxiang needs to give four chickens every two months, a thousand dollars, which should have been given in the middle of the month, just in time for the departure of the king and the beginning of your office, so it has been delayed so far. The director of the post office couldn't wait, and this was the second time he had sent someone to urge. ”

Liu He said: "Four chickens, a thousand dollars? ”

This Sashi replied: "The nobleman and the head of the township should have given four chickens and thousands of dollars every month according to the regulations of the county. After Wang Jun of Hongxiang became the county governor, he took care of the township and reduced it to once every two months for our township. ”

At that time, the concept of the township was heavy, and although the county governor called Wang Jun was greedy for ink, he did not forget to "benefit" the township.

The village chief nodded and said, "I know about this. You go and write an official document, bring it over, and I'll draw a promise for you, and then go to the village to pay the money. ”

This Sashi agreed, but refused to leave. The township chief asked, "What?" What else? ”

"He Jun, after this money is given to the post office, do you want to collect it from the township according to the previous practice?"

"Ministry Sima, let you laugh. I've only been in office for a few days. The township chief smiled at Liu He.

It turned out that since the township chief took office, his main energy has been spent on reading the simple books and cases of previous years, and to be honest, he is not very familiar with the daily work and operation of the township. He asked, "Did all this money be collected from the township before?" ”

This Sashi said as a matter of course, "Of course. We are only a township, not a county, and all the taxes collected are handed over to the top, and there is no surplus in normal times, and we have to maintain the township office and maintain various daily expenses. Let us pay, where do we have the money? ”

"Does the county know about this?"

"It was first approved by the county, and it has been more than ten years now."

The township chief groaned slightly and said, "Since it was approved by the county, it will be levied according to this." ”

Sashi answered, but refused to leave.

Liu He said, "Is there anything else?" ”

Probably because of the hot weather, Sashi wiped his sweat, and then said with a smile: "Noble, He Jun doesn't know anything!" In previous years, it was the practice to pay one and collect two. ”

"Pay one and get two?"

"That is, to collect eight chickens from the villagers, three thousand yuan."

Liu Hexin said: "It seems that whether it is in the past life or in this life, this grassroots organization... There has always been a gap in supervision, and township tyrants and village tyrants are rampant. When I was studying in Taixue, I occasionally listened to the seniors discussing current affairs, and eight out of ten sentences were 'below the state and county levels, all of them are greedy and disgraceful'. A few years ago, when the then Shangshuling of Qiao Xuanbiao played Taizhong Doctor Gai Sheng, he was too punctual in Nanyang, received more than hundreds of millions, should be removed from office and imprisoned, and confiscated bribes, but because Gai Sheng had an old favor with the Son of Heaven, not only was he not dismissed, but was promoted to a servant...... When my father heard about it, he was very indignant and thought it was a sign of the country's demise. Although I didn't say anything at the time, I was very much in favor of his 'judgment'. Upward and downward effects - even the fighting officials in this township are greedy and cruel! ”

Liu He asked: "When did this 'one and two reaps' begin?" ”

"It's been more than ten years."

Township Chief He looked at Zuo Shi: "You just said that this money was levied from the villagers, but I suddenly remembered something: When I was the head of the Dongshan Pavilion, why did no one ever collect this money?" ”

"Three thousand is not much, so there is no need to collect it from the whole township every time. There are 12 pavilions in Hongo, dozens of villages, with pavilions as the second, and they are recruited in rotation. Once every two months, six times a year, and the twelve pavilions can only be rotated once in two years. Seeing that the township chief He seemed to have a deep groan, this Zuoshi said with a smile, "When Jun was the head of the Dongshan Pavilion, the small people of Enjia and Ze were praised by Zhuli, and the villagers all praised it, and the villain also heard about it. Now the king is the head of the township, if he still thinks about Dongshan, he can be like Wang Du Post, and when it is time to go to Dongshan, he will be exempted from them. ”

Liu He glanced at him and said in his heart: "There is always a pavilion to be paid out of this money, and it will be exempted from Dongshan, isn't it added to other pavilions?" Is this a gift of kindness? Or do you pull hatred? See how he decides? ”

He Township Chief said, "That's not necessary. Which kiosk will it be my turn this time? ”

"It's time for the soup pavilion."

Township Chief He pondered for a while, then Zuoshi didn't understand a little, didn't he just levy a few thousand dollars? It's been like this for more than a decade, what is there to think about over and over again?

Township Chief He paused and said: "Since the collection of money from the township is approved by the county, I can't break this rule, but 'spending one and collecting two' is not necessary." In the past few years, there have been epidemics one after another, and the first two years have not been good, and it is not easy for the people. ”

Zuo Shi was anxious and said, "He Jun! This is the old case, how can it be changed? ”

He was sitting on his knees, but now he was so anxious that his waist was pushed forward, and his buttocks left his heels, and he became a sitting.

Liu He noticed that the clothes on his body, although they were not over-controlled, were the clothes of the little officials, but the workmanship was fine, and there was a jade pendant hanging on the belt. ”

But Township Chief He had a smile on his face and said, "The old rules are not immutable. The people have worked hard in the past few years and need to recuperate. ”

Seeing that this Zuoshi still had to persuade him, he knew his thoughts, thought about it, and in order to prevent him from being entangled, Township Chief He said dryly, "The extra four chickens and thousands of dollars, I will come out for them." ”

"Huh?"

Sashi couldn't believe it, opened his mouth wide, and glared at Township Chief He. Liu and the three of them sitting next to him were also surprised. Sashi asked with certainty: "He Jun, you will go out for them?" ”

"Exactly, I'll do it for them."

Sashi's ass fell back on his heel, and he said, "He Jun is benevolent and sympathetic to the people, which is certainly a good thing. But He Jun, this time you paid for them, what about next time? Will you go out for them next time? ”

Hearing this, Huang Zhong snorted.

Liu He thought to himself: This Zuoshi seems to be thinking about the township chief, reminding the township chief that "paying money for the villagers is a bottomless pit, after this time, there will be a next time", in fact, it implies two meanings, one is to "scare" him so that he can change his mind. Second, if he refuses to change his mind, then, from now on, "these thousands of dollars and eight chickens will all be passed on to you."

All in all, the three thousand dollars and eight chickens must be collected.

Liu He secretly calculated again, and thought: "There are more than ten small officials of all kinds in the township, and every two months, thousands of dollars and four chickens, are evenly distributed to each person, and it is only forty or fifty dollars a month. Look at the greedy appearance of this little official,......, hehe, I'm afraid that he scolded the county governor and the king in private. ”

Wang Jun changed the practice of paying once a month to every two months, which reduced the burden on the villagers, but also reduced the extra money of the villagers.

Although this little official was rude, the township chief He smiled at the moment: "If you come out of me, you will pay by me, what is the value of two thousand yuan?" ”

"Then the villain will go back to write the official document and ask you to draw a promise."

"Okay."

Before Zuoshi left, he said: "Hejun, according to the usual practice, among the thousands of dollars and four chickens, there are three hundred dollars and two chickens are yours." After deducting this part, you can pay another 1,200 dollars and two chickens. ”

"Okay, okay."

When this Zuoshi put on shoes and walked out of the courtyard, Township Chief He smiled and said to Liu He: "Liu Jun, let you see the joke!" This country official has never gone out, guarding one acre and three points of land all day long, and he has no vision. He stretched out his hand and pinched his thumb and forefinger together, revealing a little slit, "The horizon is so big!" The two thousand yuan is also in my eyes, and it makes people laugh, and the trivial things are just nonsense. ”

Liu He said: "He Jun, you are too good to talk!" This little official is obviously forcing you to pay, why did you respond? ”

"The people of this country are also lives. I am doing my best to obey the destiny of heaven, and I only ask Your Majesty to work hard! He Xiangchang sighed.

He paused and said: "For officials, go with the flow, follow the old rules." Because if the old rules are changed, it will be difficult for the officials who will take over later. However, I recently read the book in the township and learned that although the people of Dongshan Pavilion where I was located were hard, but in the whole township, it was already good, and the people of other pavilions and Zhuli had more livelihoods and more difficulties, if it was deep winter, the weather was cold, and I don't know how many people were not even self-sufficient, how could they bear to collect the extra money? I'm a parent official, and this old rule will be changed when it changes! ”

"The levy of 1,000 yuan and two chickens is approved by the county, even if I don't want to, I can't help it, but 'spending one and collecting two' is too much. Liu Jun asks you to calculate three thousand dollars and eight chickens, which are small when spread evenly on everyone's body, but ......"

Liu He, Xu Rong, and Huang Zhong did the math - the villagers in the big pavilion each got two or three dollars, and the villagers in the small pavilion each got four or five, five or six dollars. For a family of five, each household will have to pay a dozen or twenty or thirty dollars. This may not seem like much, but it is a large amount to the destitute villagers, to the poor people who have been overwhelmed by all kinds of forced labor and taxes.

"Liu Jun, you don't know! In the past few days, I have been looking through the documents of the township office, and there are many households whose family wealth is less than 1,000 yuan, the houses are close to the four walls, they cannot be fed, their clothes are not warm, they do not even have beds and bedding, and they have to sleep in the haystack to keep warm. Township Chief He pointed to the bamboo slips on the table.

Liu He walked over and picked it up and looked at it, surprised in his heart: "This is simply shocking." Although he had heard of the hardships of the people at that time, and had occasionally seen one or two cases, how could he, from later generations, have seen such a large-scale, unobstructed, and tragic situation throughout the countryside? Mourning is all over the wilderness. ”

This is the first time he has encountered these things so really, so closely, at the grassroots level, and it is far more shocking than what he has "heard" before. He not only pities the people, but also hates greed, knowing that although the Yellow Turban Rebellion has turbulent the sea and hurt the vitality of the world, on the one hand, the people are not living well, and on the other hand, they are tyrannical, how can the people not expose the rod? How can this world not die?

"Dare to ask the name of He Jun?" Liu He took a deep look

"He Xu, the word is rising."

"Jun Gaoyi!" Liu He held He Xu's hand.

"Let you laugh! Liu Jun, the supplies you paid for should have arrived. He Xu pointed to the courtyard.

"Thank you! That being the case, we must hurry at once. Take care! There will be a period later! "Liu He said goodbye.

"Take care!" He Xu returned the salute.