The Great Tomorrow is vast, east, west, north and south, and is composed of countless state capitals and counties. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Among them, there are not only big cities and ports such as Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Yangzhou, but also important border towns such as Jiliao Xuanda. But more often than not, they are the most ordinary small towns and counties, which are not well known in the ordinary court recitals, and their names are not even heard in the conversations between monarchs and ministers.

Banju is such an extremely inconspicuous small city that was ignored by officials from the imperial court. And because it is located in the southwestern frontier, it is extremely poor, and it does not pay too many taxes, let alone be known. The only thing that is recorded is only a few short lines, and it mentions that this is a state that has been controlled by the imperial court since the Han and Tang dynasties.

What is the state of bondage? In fact, to put it bluntly, it is a minority of the people-ethnic autonomous prefectures in later generations, and the government affairs and finances in the state are decided by the people themselves, as long as they pay not too many taxes stipulated by the imperial court on time, and at the same time are willing to obey the king, they can be at peace with the imperial court.

Although after the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court did not send many officials to such states, in an attempt to completely control these prefectures and counties that were in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but had some independent kingdom meaning, in their own hands - after all, the side of the couch could not allow others to sleep soundly - but the effect was very inconspicuous.

Because all the power in these states has been held by a single family for thousands of years, the local people, whether Han or other nationalities, have become accustomed to this kind of management, and often disdain the officials sent by the imperial court, and only obey the local officials when something happens, and these people have a name called toast, which, of course, has nothing to do with the bread of later generations.

In fact, it was not only the common people, but also those liuguan who were sent to serve in the state of Jianyu - this is a title corresponding to Tusi, because they were appointed by the imperial court and had a certain term of office, so they were called liuguan - they had long been accustomed to the status quo of being completely ignored in the local area, and they had no idea of changing all this.

The reasons for this result are naturally many, not only because of the complex local people's feelings, so that the liuguan can hardly exert any hands and feet in the county, but also because those Tusi often have great power in their hands, even private soldiers, once they are really opposed to the Tusi, the fate of the liuguan is not only a matter of losing the official, but may even give his life.

It is precisely because of the bloody lessons of those previous officials that the later people dare not take half a step beyond the thunder pool, even if it is just a puppet clay sculpture in the local area, it is better than dying here.

In this way, some people have to ask, since these Tusi in the state of Jian do not take the court seriously, why didn't the court send a large army to kill them all?

The answer is simple, only four words, the gains outweigh the losses. Because of their remote location, these prefectures are often much poorer than the Central Plains, Jiangnan and other wealthy places, and the roads are also extremely rugged, some of which are hidden in the mountains, and it is very difficult to enter and exit, let alone wave a large army to enter.

If the imperial court is really determined to attack these places, whether it is the transfer of men and horses, or the transportation of grain, grass and baggage, it is an astronomical amount. And even if they do get these places, the benefits are extremely limited. In addition, after the laying, because there are many local people of other nationalities, it is difficult to use the original method to manage, and in the end you may have to use the previous set of methods of toast, so there is almost no difference between this fight and not fighting.

In fact, in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu Yongle period, the imperial court did send troops several times to attack many Tusi territories in the southwest, but after several major battles, it was found that this practice was just a waste of manpower and national strength, but it was impossible to really master these places, so in the end it could only be stopped.

In addition, under the constant blows of the imperial court, those local toasts have also learned to be obedient, no longer as arrogant as before, and do not take the imperial decrees seriously. So after they became at least superficially submissive and claimed to be vassals of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court no longer used troops against them, allowing them to be local emperors behind closed doors, as long as they paid the taxes they should pay every year.

In this way, it is naturally beneficial to those Tusi who hold the local power, but it suffers the ordinary people at the bottom. Because of the special relationship between these counties and the imperial court, these states and counties cannot develop like other ordinary states and counties, even if there is a famine, the burden on their shoulders will not be reduced, and it will even be heavier than in the past.

As a result, these counties are even more impoverished and embarrassed than other places, and the people are far inferior to other places in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation, and many of the dwellings in the cities are dilapidated and low, even inferior to the beggars in ordinary places.

Banzhou City is such a fetter state, the city is small and broken, and it looks a little miserable and pitiful in the reflection of the moonlight.

Of course, everything has its exceptions, in Banzhou is full of short and dilapidated, like cave-like dwellings, but there is an extremely luxurious deep mansion compound, the grandeur of its courtyard, close to the ordinary prince's mansion, not only carved beams and painted buildings to the best of luxury, but also more than ten deep, covering a large area, almost occupying one-tenth of the entire state city.

This eye-catching, castle-like mansion is the property of the Yang family, the largest Tusi family in Banzhou and the entire Sichuan province.

Banzhou Yang's family has been based here for hundreds of years, and when it reached the hands of Yang Yinglong, the contemporary head of the family, its power has spread all over Sichuan, with countless large and small toasts under his hands, and as for the available people and horses, it is tens of thousands, as if he is a soil emperor on the southwest ground.

However, this Yang Yinglong is a person who is good at hiding himself, and at the same time can hold back, even if the power is now enough to be called the lord of one side, but there is still not much disrespect for the court, and he is also good at bribing local officials, so to this day, the court still does not know that in Sichuan, in the southwest, there has been such a big Tusi who is powerful enough to subvert the entire southwest.

However, is such a character really willing to stay in such a poor place as Banzhou all the time, only to be a soil emperor, but he has to be respectful to the imperial court?

At least the gray-clothed old man sitting in front of Yang Yinglong didn't think so at this moment, so he didn't go far, rushed all the way from Guangxi to Banzhou, and came to see this great toast as the leader of the White Lotus Sect.

That's right, this old man who looks like he is in his sixties, looks the most ordinary, and wears the most ordinary gray cloth shirt, is the White Lotus Sect Leader Xu Jinghong, who has given the court a headache for many years, and he can't wait for a thousand knives when he mentions it. And the middle-aged man sitting in front of him, with a face like a crown of jade, a handsome appearance, and even a little extravagant and bookish, is Yang Yinglong, the head of the Yang family in Banzhou.

The tea on the two of them had changed three times, but the two sides who had been talking for a long time had not really turned the topic around the issues they were interested in. It wasn't until now that after all the tentative words were finished, the old one and two began to lead the topic somewhere.

Xu Jinghong squinted at this time, looked at the tea in the cup, and said with emotion: "This tea should be Biluochun from Jiangnan, right?" It seems that Lord Yang is really very handy, this kind of local tribute tea, ordinary people can't eat it, let alone transport it to the southwest. ”

Yang Yinglong smiled a little smugly: "It's just a little tea, it's not worth mentioning." If you like it, I can give you a few catties. ”

"Then the old man is disrespectful." Speaking of this, a glimmer of light flashed in Xu Jinghong's eyes: "But Lord Yang, as a local toast, haven't you ever thought of seeking some benefits for your people?" Your Yang family can have such a status today, to be honest, it is thanks to these people. Last year, there was a famine in the land in your state, but the output was reduced by nearly 50%, but the imperial court still refused to reduce or reduce the grain tax. ”

"Of course I'm dissatisfied, but the court also has the difficulties of the court, how dare I, a small local official, disobey the will of the court? So at that time, I had to take out some money from my own private treasury to help the local people make up for it. ”

"Lord Yang really regards the people of Banzhou as his own children, which really makes the old man deeply admired. But have you ever wondered when such a situation will be a head? None of those people in the court are fuel-efficient lamps, and none of them can be easily satisfied. Last year, they refused to reduce taxes even though they knew about the disaster in Banshu, so this year, they may increase their local taxes, and the same will be true next year. Lord Yang feels that he has been being exploited like this, can he really endure it? Xu Jinghong said and glanced at the other party again.

Yang Yinglong still had a faint smile on his face: "Even if I am dissatisfied, what can I do?" There are many powerful people in the court, and they have a righteous reputation, how can a small toast official like me contend with? ”

"Hey...... Lord Yang, you are too arrogant, in the southwest, who dares to underestimate you Lord Yang and the Yang family. To say something taboo, if you Lord Yang ascends to the top and shouts, no matter what you do, there are people who follow. ”

The other party said it so explicitly that Yang Yinglong didn't know how to pick it up for a while, so he could only pick up the teacup and take a sip to cover it up.

And Xu Jinghong continued: "Moreover, today's Ming court is very different from before, Zhang Juzheng, who once made the world obedient, has already become a master, and when today's Zi Wanli is still just a child, it is a good time for the lord to be suspicious." Lord Yang, don't you have this in mind? ”

"This ......" Yang Yinglong was stunned again, but there was a hint of greed in his eyes.

When Xu Jinghong saw it, he was more determined, and he was about to say something more, but suddenly his eyes turned and fell to the closed window, and then in Yang Yinglong's surprised gaze, this old man who could be blown down by a gust of wind had already swept over like lightning......

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