Gao Shaoji, who was in the fifth line of the clan, did not have much contact with Gao Shaoyuan when he was a child was when he rebuilt the Jiedu Mansion a few years ago, when Gao Shaoji had just served as the commander of the Yaneidu, and he was high-spirited and domineering, but his scheming and ruthless actions were famous among the brothers of the same clan. It is not unreasonable for Gao Yunquan to choose him as his successor, in this era, only ruthless people can calm the field and best protect themselves. This idea is biased, but to some extent it is not unreasonable. Gao Shaoji has been in Yanzhou for many years, and it has been quite smooth sailing with this point, until there is a Li Wenge, and he kicked the iron plate.

But today Gao Shaoyuan has to look at his brother with admiration, from Gao Yunquan's death and Gao Yunwen to sit on the position of patriarch until now, it has only been more than three months, since this kid has sold all the thousands of hectares of fertile land left by his father. In the eyes of the rest of the clan, his move was undoubtedly the behavior of a loser, and only Gao Shaoyuan understood that this action was based on accurate judgment of the situation. It's an absolutely brilliant strategy.

Since Li Wenge was officially appointed as the envoy of Jiedu, the reform of the tax per mu in Yanzhou has been a foregone conclusion, which is something that few discerning people in Yanzhou know well. One of the direct beneficiaries of this reform is the military, and with the strong support of the military, the government's determination to change the law is almost irreversible, and no matter how reluctant these families may be, they are powerless to change the final outcome. Both the emperor and the imperial court had recognized Li Wenge's power and status, which meant that there was no one in Yanzhou who could shake the foundation of Li Wenge's power.

In this case. Instead of being a considerable amount of wealth, the thousands of hectares of fertile land in the hands have become a hot potato, and whoever has the most land will become the main target of official attention, and whoever has the most land will suffer the greatest loss.

It is even more rare to be able to see this very quickly, and it is even more rare to be able to quickly transfer land to others so that you can leisurely stay out of this change.

This Gao Shaoji is really ruthless enough, so many fields and ancestral properties, he turned his hand to Gao Yunwen without blinking an eye.

Gao Shaoyuan looked deeply at this Gao Shaoji with a casual expression. turned his gaze to Gao Yunwen: "Seventh Uncle." Now you are the head of the Gao family. It is also the most land among all of you here, and everyone is looking at your old man for this matter today, so you can say something! The adults of Qin Buzheng and Cao Ke of Fuxian are all here, as long as you are willing to take this head, and the Gao family is willing to take this head, Qin Buzheng and his nephew will be the marshal. The scarlet silver official body of the seventh uncle, a doctor, is still stable......"

Gao Yunwen looked at Gao Shaoyuan with a bitter face: "Erlang, you are also a member of the Gao family from the clan, although we had some in the early years, but we always have a surname and an ancestor." The ancestors left the land and land, in order to let the future generations have no worries about food and clothing, even if our Gao family is unlucky now, many things can't be taken care of. I can't even care about my face. You can't ignore your ancestors, right? If your seventh uncle and I really sell all the properties in the clan, next year Yuanzheng, what face do I have to lead the old and young of the clan to pay tribute to the ancestors? ”

Gao Shaoyuan smiled: "Uncle Seventh also said it. The land left by our ancestors was so that future generations would not be forced by hunger and cold...... Seventh uncle, if you don't sell the land, you can think about it, since this autumn, each mu of land will be levied two buckets of millet, one hectare of land is ten stones, the seventh uncle's family now has at least 5,000 hectares of fertile land, and you have to pay the tax of 50,000 stone millet, this is only four rooms and one house, and we are afraid that there will be tens of thousands of hectares of land in the head of several houses in our Gao family? That is 100,000 stone of millet to be paid, how much harvest can be in the clan in a year, the seventh uncle is the head of the family, and he is naturally more refreshing than the little nephew. It's that the whole clan tightens their belts and doesn't eat for a year, can they come out of the ground? ”

Gao Yunwen's face turned green: "Erlang, you know, most of the land in the clan is not cultivated, and now there is only one-tenth of the harvest, and the hard work for a year, the amount of food beaten is less than 50,000 stones, you have to go with all your mouths, let the old and young in the clan drink the northwest wind?" ”

"Outside the high-ranking officials, it's not Gaoming Mansion who is asking you for food, but Li Jieshuai, the state capital, and Prime Minister Li Cheng, who are observing it, are taxing you!"

Gao Shaoyuan did not answer Gao Yunwen, and Qin Gu, who had been sitting on the chairman and had never spoken, opened his mouth.

Gao Yunwen was dumbfounded for a moment, and only after a while did he say: "There is no such thing as collecting taxes......

As he spoke, he turned his face to the right, where Yao Gongwang, the patriarch of the Yao family, Wang Qiu, the patriarch of the Wang family, and Han Hongshi, the patriarch of the Han family, sat there, and said with some grievances: "Everyone, this person has been taxed for thousands of years, but suddenly he has to collect taxes according to the number of acres, isn't this unreasonable?" The government wants to gather, and the goodness of our places naturally has to be honored, and we dare not resign, but a mouth is 100,000 stones, isn't this a human life? Who is bankrupt and can come up with so much? ”

Several patriarchs cautiously looked at the look on Qin Gu's face, and nodded lightly in agreement with Gao Yunwen's statement.

Qin Gu stood slowly

, pacing back and forth a few steps, the greeting smile on his face at the beginning has disappeared completely, looking at such a stubborn gentry leader from left to right.

“…… You are all big families in Yanzhou City, you must have all read books, right? ”

Several people looked at each other, not knowing what he meant, but Qin Gu didn't mean to ask them to answer, and said to himself: "Zhumen's wine and meat stink, and there are frozen bones on the road, this is a poem by Du Gongbu, you have probably heard of it!" ”

"In this world, there are rich people and poor people, there are days of wine ponds and meat forests, but there are also years of lack of food and clothing. If the world is full of rich people at any time, whether it is the court or the government, you don't have to worry about it, you just have to live your own free life, you don't have to think about anything, the tax is very light, as long as there is a little bit, it is more than enough to feed a court...... Unfortunately, this is delusional, at this moment outside the city, there are more than 10,000 homeless people waiting to be fed, they need to eat when they are hungry, they need to be served when they are cold, they have the strength, they are willing to work hard to farm the land, and they can support their wives and children. ”

Everyone looked at each other. I can't figure out what kind of medicine this old man is selling in his gourd.

Qin Gu turned around and turned his back to these people: "Back then, how many princes and nobles in Chang'an City were extremely noble, and their fields were more than ten thousand acres, and their thoughts were the same as those of the princes. As long as you live at home, why bother with other people's affairs? Poor ghosts, life and death have their own days. No one can control it......"

He sneered and said, "Do you want to know what happened to these people later?" ”

His words were bland though. But the slightest chill revealed in the words made everyone shudder.

"Huangchao's soldiers entered Chang'an...... Those people were captured by the rebels and the outcasts. It was used as military rations, and it was boiled in a large pot and eaten......"

Gao Shaoyuan said lightly on the side.

"Goo-" Han Hongshi, the eldest of the four patriarchs, did not sit still, slipped and sat on the ground.

Qin Gu smiled faintly and ordered, "Help Old Man Han up—"

He turned his head to look at Gao Yunwen and said, "Gao Yuanwai just said that it is wrong for the government to collect taxes like this, right?" ”

Gao Yunwen dodged Qin Gu's gaze and didn't dare to answer, Qin Gu smiled and said, "But you don't collect taxes like this." One day, there will be a second Yellow Nest leading those mud-legged poles to rise, and these people will shout that the prince will storm into your mansion, rob you of your land, belongings and food, and insult your wives and concubines, and drag your flesh to the camp to make a pot......"

Seeing the green faces of this group of people who were high up all day long, Qin Gu smiled secretly in his heart, the villain role he played today was really a bit funny, but there was no need to take it seriously. I'm afraid that none of these people are willing to obey.

"Lord Bumasa...... Seriously, right? Yao Gongwang frowned at his eyes.

Gao Shaoyuan sneered: "Heavy words? Yao Yuanwai. Not to mention the distance, taking Yanzhou as an example, there are more than 8,000 people gathered in the camp of displaced people outside Xicheng at this moment. As long as the government stops supplying them with food tomorrow, within a month, your mansions will be full of rubble, and the lives of the princes and families will already be lost under the Nine Springs......"

Yao Gongwang glanced at him and said: "It is the government that shelters the displaced people, not such powerless and powerless people......

"Not bad!" Qin Gu nodded, "Maintaining local law and order is naturally the responsibility of the government, and the government has the responsibility to ensure the safety of the party after collecting taxes." Since you understand this truth, of course, you should also understand that it is your duty to accumulate a lot of property in this troubled world, and to pay taxes according to the acres. Only get rich but don't pay taxes, is there any reason in the world? If you don't pay taxes, what does the government use to maintain local peace? Whether it is the official, Li Jieshuai or Li Chengxiang, no one wants to be the enemy of local tycoons like you, but you must also do something decent, and don't make it difficult for the government. Otherwise, when something happens, you will think of the government, and when you have nothing to do on weekdays, you will leave the government aside, don't you know that the cycle of karma is not happy, there must be a gain, there must be a loss, and when the family is ruined, you will only think of the government, isn't it too late? ”

The words left several patriarchs speechless.

"The sage said that water can carry a boat or overturn a boat, whether it is carried or overturned, it is all in the thought of the princes......"

Qin Gu said coldly.

……

"Luo's-Luo Sanlang was killed by you?"

At this time, the hall of Luoyang County Department is quite lively, Zhang Tang is standing on the main position of the hall, on both sides of the Luoyang County bureaucracy is standing, the murderer Luo Yiniang stands under the hall, Luo Yiniang's side is sitting a purple-robed goldfish Li Wenge, behind him, four honor guards stand side by side, the high hand symbolizes life and death to seize the power of the land of double festival, behind the four people, densely standing Li Wenge's festival envoy guards, Kang Shi is wearing a cyan official robe, wearing a cross-legged head, and standing behind Li Wenge with a horizontal knife, The two eyes stared at Zhang Tang coldly, making the Luoyang County Commander feel uncomfortable all over.

Behind Li Wenge, tight

On the festival, there sat an old man dressed in gorgeous clothes, with an irreverent face, and a wicked smile looking at the funny scene in the hall.

Outside the public court, the people of Luoyang, who came to see the bustle, had blocked the entire street outside the county office, and people were surging to see this unprecedented trial spectacle.

Originally, Zhang Tang asked Li Wenge to sit in his place, but Li Wenge resolutely refused, and he did not agree to invite him to sit on the side, and directly ordered his soldiers to put the chair next to Luo Yiniang and sit face to face with Zhang Tang. It's funny.

In this regard, Li Wenge gave Zhang Tang an extremely strange statement: "This town is a suspect lawyer, so naturally he should sit next to the suspect!" ”

It's really unheard of to be a courtier for a prostitute......

However, people are festival envoys, and now the largest people in Luoyang City, naturally what people say is what they are.

Zhang Tang began to question the case in this extremely awkward state.

"Back to Lord Mingfu, Luo Yanjie was indeed killed by his concubine!"

Luo Yiniang's face was faint, and there was no fear at all.

Zhang Tang nodded and ordered the clerk to record the confession. Then he asked, "How did you kill it?" ”

Luo Yiniang quietly went downstairs and sneaked into the room last night to kill Luo Yanjie in her sleep while she was back in the room to change clothes.

"When you go out. Has anyone seen it? Zhang Tang asked coldly.

"No, I didn't. There was no one in the hall! Luo Yiniang replied simply.

Zhang Tang laughed out loud: "Manqingyuan is really full of strange things, Zheng Kou claimed that he was standing in the hall, and he didn't see anyone entering and leaving Luo Yanjie's room, and Wen Niang flatly denied that he had heard the movement next door and came out to see what happened, you confessed to the murderer, but you didn't admit that you had seen other people in the hall, there are really a lot of strange things in this case......"

Luo Yiniang was silent. only looked at Zhang Tang quietly.

Zhang Tang shook his head: "You blindly favor each other to defend, this official is a little admired, it is really unbelievable that there can be such righteousness in the Qinglou!" ”

"This official asked you, why did you kill Luo Yanjie?"

"Your Excellency...... The concubine is ......"

As soon as Luo Yiniang spoke, Li Wenge stood up and stopped her.

"Zhang Mingfu, the motive and reason for this killing. Can you explain it to a girl in the next place? Li Wenge stared at Zhang Tang with blazing eyes.

Zhang Tang was stunned. also stood up and said: "The festival commander has something to say, but it's okay to talk about it!" ”

"Thank you, Zhang Mingfu-"

Li Wenge walked up to Yiniang and said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen. Fathers and fellow villagers, you may not know that this Yiniang girl should not be surnamed Luo, nor should she be in the Qinglou, Luo is her mother's surname, and the father of the Yiniang girl is surnamed Luo, the same as the deceased Luo Yanjie! ”

A sound of surprise suddenly sounded in the crowd, and Zhang Tang was also stunned, only the people who were brought in as witnesses in the Manqing Academy looked calm, as if they had known it for a long time.

Li Wenge sighed softly and said, "This girl is the private daughter of Luo Zhongbao's outer room, and she is the sister of the deceased Luo Yanjie!" ”

"Ah——?h The crowd was stunned again.

"Killing my brother with my sister, the sin of a girl is deeper, and it must not be forgiven!" Li Wenge said lightly, he turned his head to look at Zhang Tang and said: "But this town thinks that a girl is justified in killing people, and she is not guilty of killing her brother!" ”

There was another uproar among the crowd, and there was a faint discussion in the crowd.

"Where did this faint official come from?"

"Bullshit doesn't make sense, the preface doesn't match the afterword......"

"Don't argue—"

Suddenly, there was a shout in the hall, which shocked everyone to stop their mouths, but when everyone looked at it, it was Chai Shouli, the head of the Ten Fathers, who had been sitting with his feet crossed.

Chai Shouli flew up and down to look at Li Wenge, and said, "The future is ...... If you go on, my old man would love to hear such interesting stories! ”

Li Wenge nodded and said, "This is indeed a story......

Immediately, he retold the story between his parents that Luo Yiniang told him in the Manqing Academy, and everyone was stunned when he heard it, but he didn't expect that Luo Guan, who was known for his straightforward Geng Jie, would have such romantic anecdotes.

Li Wenge kept saying that Luo Guan was killed, and Yiniang's mother took the young Luo Yanjie and dragged Luo Guan's body for seven months to be pregnant, buried him and his wife together, and erected a monument for him to remember. Everyone whispered again, the women in the Qinglou all make a living by selling themselves and laughing, whether they are happy or angry, sad and happy, grievances and hatreds on weekdays, they can't be taken seriously, who knows that there is such a kind of righteous woman.

Li Wenge glanced at Yiniang and said slowly: "After the loyal Gong returned to God, he soon revealed his grievances, when the deceased Luo Yanjie was already five years old, and the Yiniang girl was also two years old. The brother and sister were originally the best, but what I didn't expect was that in the end, it was this Luo Yanjie who gave Mrs. Luo's life......"