More than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

This trip passed through Ruzhou, Xuzhou, Caizhou, Chenzhou, Songzhou, Yanzhou, Yunzhou, Weizhou, Mizhou, Huazhou, and Weizhou. The last stop is Huaizhou, crossing the Yellow River and returning to Luoyang.

It is not only about people's life and drought. After several months, the drought eased. Mainly look at the waterways, the current environment is better than the environment of the later generations, the rivers of Henan Province are densely covered with water nets, Rushui, Yingshui, Whirlpool, Xishui, Bianshui, Jishui, Zhangshui, these large and small rivers are like spider webs, scattered all over Henan Province.

The water conservancy of the Tang Dynasty was also valued, but it was mainly placed in Guanfeng, and other areas were not too good. Wei Hongji looked very carefully all the way, he was ashamed of being the minister of the imperial party, and the emperor gave him a chance, whether he could complete the mission given to him by His Majesty may be his only chance in his career.

The sky is approaching dusk, and in August, the weather is not so hot, especially in the evening, when the evening breeze blows, the clouds are churning, and there is already the coolness of autumn. Fortunately for the emperor, officials of all sizes in Huaizhou came to accompany him one by one, and Li Wei ordered to start camping. Li Wei didn't need to do this, he put his hands behind his back and looked at the scenery in the distance. In August, sorghum corn, with yellow meaning, is coming. In the distance is a hill, less than two miles from where the camp was encamped, and standing here, there are many figures shaking on the path where you can see the hills.

Seeing which mountain Li Wei was looking at, Zhang Junxian, the assassin of Huaizhou, said: "Your Majesty, where is there a coal mine, the scale is not small. ”

"Take me to see it."

"Whoa." A group of officials replied.

China may have a long recorded history of coal, but the first reuse, and the use of crude coking, was brought by Li Wei...... Huaizhou Thorn History deliberately mentions coal mines...... It's trying to please.

A cadre of officials accompanied Li Wei and walked towards the mountain mausoleum. This trip not only taught Li Xian and Li Xulun an educational lesson, but also taught Li Wei's frugal life an educational lesson to the officials of the prefectures and counties he had visited.

In front of the small hill, the sky is getting darker and darker, and the birds return to their nests and make a whisked chirping. The workers in the coal mine had not yet left work, and at this time the mining technology was backward, although the coal mines that could be found were almost open-pit deposits, which was still hard work. Those who can participate in coal digging are all very poor people at home, looking for an opportunity for a subsidy for their families. Therefore, the workers were ragged and skinny, their faces and hands were covered with coal dust, and they were black, with only two eyes blinking and blinking.

They carried the coal out of the hole and transported it to a small river not far away, through which it was loaded onto a small boat and transported to the Yellow River and then to all parts of the country. When the emperor came, one by one he put down his work and bowed to the ground.

Li Wei looked at it, and there was not much pity in his heart, this line, the areas he chose to go to were the poorest areas in various states and counties, and he saw too many people living in embarrassment, so he began to look at it, and he still had some compassion in his heart, and after seeing too much, he became numb.

But after glancing at everyone, his eyes were fixed on one of the old men, whose hair was stained with coal dust, but still couldn't hide his paleness, walked over, helped him up, and said, "Old man, please get up quickly." ”

The old man wanted to withdraw his hand, but Li Wei moved quickly, which made Ji Wei stand up.

Li Wei said again: "You are all my people, don't be restrained, get up all." ”

Hundreds of workers got up and quietly looked at Li Wei with their eyes, and then at Li Xulun and Li Xian, as well as Li Lingyue and Li Wei's wives and concubines. It's just that the female dependents are wearing curtains and can't see their faces.

Li Wei asked the old man again, "Old man longevity?" ”

"Nine out of sixty."

"Sixty-nine? Why do you still have to work? ”

In this era, living conditions and medicine are very backward, sixty-nine is a very high age, so there is a sentence in ancient poems, life is seventy years old. It doesn't mean that you can be supported all year round at the age of 69, but a poor family still has to do things at the age of 79. However, the work of digging coal, at the age of sixty-nine, is too heavy for physical burden.

"Subjects...... At home~~" looked at the official behind Li Wei and said, "Poor, I have to work." ”

Li Wei a few years ago must have been negligent, but now Li Wei is not what he was back then, he can still simply look at his face, and said: "I am the emperor, what is unspeakable about the old man, although he comes." ”

The old man said in a stumbling voice, "The subjects have an old wife, a foolish son, and two grandsons. This spring, the daughter-in-law was about to give birth again, and as a result, she had a difficult birth, and in order to heal, the son borrowed some money.

But the treatment was late, and the daughter-in-law and the child both died and the mother and son died. As a result, there was another drought, and the creditor came to collect the debt, and had to mortgage more than a dozen acres of thin land to repay it. The creditor said that the money was not enough, and the subjects had to work......"

Li Wei frowned.

Huaizhou does not belong to Henan Province, belongs to Hebei Province, but the state capitals along the Yellow River are densely populated, including the states of Hebei Province, such as Weizhou, whose population has been rising, faintly approaching one million, and Yuzhou, and other states, such as Beizhou, Xiangzhou, Mingzhou, Yizhou, and Xingzhou, are all populous states in the Tang Dynasty. By the way, Li Wei specially passed through Huaizhou and stayed for a while.

If it's the crown prince, it's too much. But he was the emperor, and it made sense to do so.

Along the way, I have heard many stories of annexation with the help of this year's drought. With the old method, the price of grain fell in good years, and these large families did not lack money to use and hoarded grain. Ordinary people, in order to survive, had to sell all their food. It is impossible for all years to be smooth, and once there is a disaster year, the grain is sold at a high price and the land is accepted at a low price.

In this regard, Li Wei has no choice, the national law stipulates that land and people are not allowed to be bought and sold, but no one takes this law as a thing. So his idea was to find a way to get more arable land. You have the ability to annex one million mu a year, and I will conjure up two million mu and distribute it to the common people. Swallow the land, you have to find a way to cultivate. I have made the people together a landowner, and what will you do? But it was just an idea, and it didn't come to fruition. There is also this usury, which Li Wei dislikes the most, once he is entangled, he first sells land, and then sells his sons and daughters...... And then the whole family finally becomes a part.

This will also have serious hidden dangers to the development of the country in the future.

So he asked, "Old man, how much money have you borrowed?" ”

The idea is very clear, Huaizhou is not another region, the fields are tight, and there is no twenty yuan for one acre of land. More than a dozen acres, even if you take advantage of the famine year to suppress it, at least you don't have 200 bonds, and you can't take it down. What a terrifying number of 200 hooligans is for the people now? What kind of ...... to see Want 200 hooligans?

The old man replied, "The subjects borrowed twenty taels of money at that time. ”

"How long have you borrowed it?"

Li Yiyan and Liu Renliang showed a hint of approval in their eyes...... Their character is not as good as Dai Zhide, but they can, the emperor can not ask about this matter, but also ask. But if you come across it, you should still do it. Well, you must understand that it is the emperor, and you can't force the creditor to forgive the debt. Ask the time, calculate the interest, and deal with it according to the normal procedure, and the creditor can also be convinced.

"I borrowed ...... for most of the year"

"How much money do you owe now?"

"The subjects don't know how they counted, and the other day they paid off their debts...... They said that our whole family still owes them a hundred and sixty dollars. ”

"For more than half a year, more than a dozen acres of good land are not enough, and there are still 160 tied money, who is the person you borrowed from, what a big conscience."

"Yes~~ Yes

"Say!"

"He's, yes, it's the steward of Zhou Guogong's sealed fields."

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the fields were all near Chang'an and Luoyang, and later the population increased, and gradually there were very few fields that could be granted, even if they were favored ministers like Xu Jingzong, there were only a few pieces of fields outside Chang'an. Then they had to draw official fields from other states and counties to confer titles. Like Liu Renliang's sealed field, one is in Yingzhou, one is in Jinzhou, and there are two small pieces in Luoyang and Chang'an. Of course, if Liu Renliang didn't manage it, he sent a steward to manage it, and then presented the harvest to Liu Renliang's mansion in the capital.

Li Wei didn't ask much about this.

As soon as the old man mentioned it, Li Wei remembered that when Wu Chengsi was recalled a few years ago, his mother rewarded him with several fiefs, one of which was in Huaizhou. After hearing this, he sneered and said, "Very good, very good." ”

was angry, and when he ascended the throne, he repeatedly said that he could not annex it, and Wu Chenghe, the little steward, not only annexed it, but also dared to put such a high usury. It can be calculated, the land is counted as two hundred bonds, plus the remaining debts of one hundred and sixty gangsters, the total is three hundred and sixty gangsters, but for more than half a year, twenty gangsters have become three hundred and sixty gangsters, and no matter how good his math score is, he can't calculate what kind of interest this is.

Turned his head and looked: "Ji Xianggong, record this case." ”

"Whoa." Li Yiyan said happily. The resolute rebel, even the emperor and the queen mother temporarily want to make peace, he is not very happy.

Li Wei said again: "Wei Yue, you like arithmetic, I have taught you a lot, you and the little princess will go to this housekeeper on my behalf and say a word for me, the imperial treasury is empty, and I am very anxious." His business method is very good, I take 100,000 hooligan money, do the math, most of the half a year is to get out so much, then 20 hooligan money a year can be turned into at least 500 hooligans, I only need a small half, let him conjure up 1 million hooligan money for me to the imperial court. ”

Can that be counted?

But Wei Yue and Li Lingyue are bored these days, and they are still very fresh when they start to come out, and then wherever they go, the emperor is doing business, and he eats hard, drinks hard, sleeps hard, and is extremely boring. He replied with a smile, "Oh." ”

"Your Majesty, the matter in charge is small, but it implicates the Queen Mother...... Zhang Junxian said.

I regretted it a little in my heart, and I brought the emperor to the coal mine to have a look, which was a good thing. But I didn't expect such a thing to happen. The emperor has something to make a big deal about, kill chickens and monkeys, things go on, the queen mother is not easy to say, Zhou Guogong must complain to himself, thinking that he intends to bring the emperor.

"It's not about you. Zhang Tingshi, remember this sentence well, know your confidant in adversity, and know your loyal ministers. The serious annexation has become the biggest ill of our dynasty. ”

"Yes."

"Go back."

Leaving Li Yiyan and Wei Yue and her sister to take dozens of guards to deal with affairs, they returned to the camp.

The camp had a few guests.

The first guest made Li Wei overjoyed, it was Liang Jinzhu, and the envoys of the Kingdom of Yan went to find him, all of which were done in secret, and Li Wei didn't know what the result was. The other three guests, Li Wei, were very strange, a middle-aged man, polite and elegant, and a pretty young woman, who was also very delicate in appearance, and was not very old to judge. There is also a young girl, who is only about the age of Jilu, wearing a long white dress, her skin is as white as snow, and she has a pair of big watery eyes, but her appearance is very beautiful.

Seeing Li Wei coming back, he bowed down one by one and saluted.

Li Wei said: "Liang Qing, please get up." ”

Then he looked at the other three suspiciously, and the middle-aged man bowed down and said: "The minister is Uncle Zheng Lian, the second son of the second room of the Zheng family in Xingyang, this is the minister's wife Cui, and the little daughter Zheng Gongchu." ”

Mengyang Zheng family!

And the daughter brought by Uncle Zheng Lian did not wear a Muluo. Interesting!

ps: Wu Chenghei in history was greedy and lustful, history changed, and the character continued to develop according to the character of the character in the past. Some people say that they abuse the lord and want to reform, and there is no oppression from external crises, and the major interests are grouped, and it is not easy to reform. There is also Wu Zetian's mentality, he must be hesitant at this time. It is impossible to write Wu Zetian too idiot, or too warm. That would be contrary to the main purpose of the book. If so, if I abuse the Lord, then there is no way.

There will be a change later. (To be continued.)