Early the next morning, the spies who inquired about Han Zhen's details did not come back, but Sun Chuanting sent someone to send a letter.

Zhu Youzhen opened the letter and looked at it, and immediately frowned and said: "Sun Chuanting is in trouble in the county seat, it seems that I need to go on a trip." Commander Lin, come with me. ”

The two immediately changed into civilian clothes and galloped along the completed No. 2 project, that is, the road from Qinwangzhuang to Jingyang County. In just a quarter of an hour, we arrived at our destination.

Jingyang County is just an ordinary small city, although it also has a narrow moat, but it has long dried up and run out of water. The low walls are also in disrepair, and it seems that a large section can be torn down with a single push of the hand.

When you enter the city, it is even more bleak. The whole county is just one street in the vertical and horizontal streets, and the streets are full of low-rise houses. With these dilapidated houses as a backdrop, the old county government stands out from the crowd.

Zhu Youzhen and Lin Youkun came to the back door of the county government to dismount, and Sun Chuanting had been waiting here for a long time. He hurriedly connected the two of them into the back hall, and before Zhu Youzhen could sit down, he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, the exemption from forced labor you arranged can't be implemented!" ”

"Why? This is a good thing to reduce the burden on the people, how can it not be implemented? Zhu Youzhen said in surprise.

Before the words fell, a servant swaggered in, ignoring Zhu Youzhen and Lin Youkun, and only said to Sun Chuanting lazily: "Master, Lord Liu, Lord Liu, Master Yu, Master Chen, ask to see you!" ”

"Let them wait in the second hall!" Sun Chuanting said angrily.

"Okay, Ertang is waiting!" The servant shouted with great presumptuousness, turned and walked away.

"Dog minion, Ann dares to be so rude!" Lin Youkun said angrily, "See if I don't screw his head off!" ”

Sun Chuanting hurriedly stopped him and said, "Lord Lin, this is still polite!" Don't hide it from His Royal Highness, since the court served as the county magistrate and announced that he would be exempted from forced labor, he could offend all the people! The county clerk, the master bookkeeper, and the canonical history come to fight with me every day, isn't this coming again today! As for why they object, Your Highness can listen quietly behind the screen, and you will know when you hear it! ”

"I don't have to eavesdrop." Zhu Youzhen smiled confidently, "Anyway, they don't know me, so I'll pretend to be Mr.'s master, and Commander Lin will pretend to be my long-term follower." Let's go and meet these gods and see what kind of path they are! ”

Sun Chuanting couldn't resist Zhu Youzhen, so he had to agree. He led Zhu Youzhen and Lin Youkun through the backyard to the second hall, and saw that several people were already sitting in the hall and waiting. When they saw Sun Chuanting, they didn't get up, but just arched their hands and said: "Lord Zhixian, we are still here today for the matter of conscription, and I want to ask you to take back your life!" Yes... But I don't know who is behind you? ”

Sun Chuanting had no choice but to say: "This is the official's guest of the house, his surname is You Mingjian, you can call him 'Master You'." That is Master You's long-term follower. Master You, let me introduce you to you, this is Lord Liu Yuming of the county, this is Lord Yu Shijie Yu, the master of the book, and this is Lord Chen Lei Chen. ”

Zhu Youjian is also quite capable of acting, and he waved at everyone, and said without humility or arrogance: "Student You Jian, I have seen all the adults." ”

The attitude of those people was extremely arrogant. Although they followed the former county commander to Qinwangzhuang to visit Zhu Youzhen, because their official position was too low, they didn't even have the qualifications to meet, so they didn't know him. At this time, in the county government, they were angry again, and they didn't even pay attention to Sun Chuanting, how could they care about a master?

Seeing Zhu Youzhen's salute, Liu Xiancheng snorted with his nose, which was an answer. Yu Zhushu rolled his eyelids upwards and ignored Zhu Youzhen at all. The most ruthless was Chen Dianshi, who glared at Lin Youkun and said, "Adults, what are you doing with a master's elder?" Don't give me back yet! ”

Lin Youkun is the commander of Qin Wangwei, and his official residence is the third grade, how could he have thought that he would be reprimanded by a small canon? The history of the canon belongs to the "unentered stream", and he can't even reach the nine grades, and he is already an official smaller than a sesame.

Lin Youkun was furious, and was about to have a seizure, but Zhu Youzhen glanced at him and said, "Old Lin, go down and rest." ”

When Lin Youkun saw Zhu Youzhen's words, he had to retreat stupidly. If there was no Zhu Youzhen, I am afraid that he would have already dismantled the classic history by this time.

That Liu Xiancheng is the head of these three people, and Chen Dianshi gave Zhu Youzhen a dismissal, which was also from his eyes. At this time, seeing that Zhu Youzhen was soft, he smiled proudly before saying, "Lord Zhixian, how did you think about the opinions of a few of us?" ”

Sun Chuanting said coldly: "Lord Liu, this official has already told you yesterday. The exemption of Jingyang County from conscription this year is not the intention of this official, but the will of His Royal Highness King Qin. Do you dare to disobey even the will of Your Highness? ”

"Xia Guan didn't mean that." Liu Xiancheng said unhurriedly, "King Qin Chitose lives in the palace, so he naturally doesn't understand the difficulties below. You should know that the county lord is good at political affairs, and you should know very well that this conscription cannot be exempted! If you don't have it, it's all messed up! ”

"Oh?" Zhu Youzhen interjected with a smile, "But I don't know how to mess with the law, can the county lord explain?" ”

Liu Xiancheng was very annoyed when he saw Zhu Youzhen interrupting him. But he saw that Sun Chuanting seemed to have a lot of respect for this master, but he didn't dare to make too much of it, so he had to sneer and say: "Master You is still too young, and he may not know many things. To put it simply, in our county, there are only four court officials, including the county magistrate, Zaixia, the master bookkeeper and the canonical history, and the rest of the people like the government servants, jailers, shop soldiers, and warehouse workers are all from conscription. If they are exempt from forced labor, who will collect the taxes? Who will maintain law and order? Do you want the magistrate to arrest the prisoner himself? ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said, "Lord Sun should have already told you adults, right?" The exemption from forced labor does not mean that there is no one to work. Like the county government's servants, the county government has hired people to do it. ”

"Say it lightly!" Yu Zhushu snorted angrily, "Is the county government rich?" Don't look at the county's taxes from here, that's just a hand, and there is not a single copper plate left! As for the money and food allocated by the imperial court, even the money of a few adults is not enough, where did they squeeze out so much silver to feed a hundred or so people? ”

Zhu Youzhen heard it full of black lines, so he had to ask Sun Chuanting with his eyes. Seeing Sun Chuanting bowing slightly, he knew that what Yu Zhushu said was indeed the truth, and he couldn't help but sigh: The government system of the Ming Dynasty was designed too well, and a county did not have any budget, including the salaries of office staff!

However, Zhu Youzhen has made up his mind to be exempted from forced labor, and of course he will not be easily shaken. He thought for a moment and then said, "Since His Royal Highness King Qin has a will, he must have also taken this issue into account. The county government has no money, and His Royal Highness King Qin will most likely contribute on his behalf. ”

"Can you call the shots for King Qin?" Liu County is disdainful.

Sun Chuanting already understood, and arched his hand upwards and said: "This doesn't bother a few adults, and this official will be able to show King Qin." It's just that the official has been here for a few days, and he found that the phenomenon of people floating in the county government is very serious, and it seems that there is no need for so many officials, right? If the King of Qin agrees to pay salaries, the official will cut out all the idlers who don't work and recruit some honest and willing newcomers to come in! ”

As soon as he said this, the three of them could not sit still even more, and they all jumped up and shouted, "Never! ”

Sun Chuanting and Zhu Youzhen glanced at each other, and said with a sneer: "Why not?" ”

Yu Zhushu and Chen Dianshi didn't dare to answer, they all looked at Liu Xiancheng. Liu Xiancheng hesitated for a moment, but still mustered up the courage to say: "Lord Zhixian, our family doesn't talk to each other. You also know that even if you let the donkey grind, you have to feed a meal of black beans first, let alone people? We are officials, and there may be a time for promotion on a different day; Those officials are Xu officials, they are all guarded by the local family, and their fathers have been passed down from generation to generation, and the big and small affairs in the county have to be done by them! You're going to recruit another servant, but you're not cutting off their way of life? ”

Zhu Youzhen had already heard the clue, and said deliberately: "Lord Liu, what you said is a bit inconsistent!" Didn't you just say that the government service is a conscription, and the court doesn't have to pay for it? How can this man say that being a servant is the way for these people to live? Shall they, when they become servants, eat air and live? ”

"You know what!" Liu Xiancheng said angrily, "Do you have to say it so clearly?" ”

"I'm about to ask the county lord for advice!" Zhu Youzhen said with a hippie smile.

"Then the official will tell you!" Liu Xiancheng went out and said, "Since the imperial court doesn't pay the money, the county government still has to pay this money." Specifically, it is the magistrate who uses his own money to pay the salary of the officials. But the magistrate doesn't have much money, and it's not enough at all. Therefore, when the county collects the land tax, it collects more, does not report the account, and stays in the county office, so that the money will be there! ”

"Student understood!" Zhu Youzhen was furious when he heard this, but he said quietly, "The tax is collected by these people, and it is also collected by these people; If you want to collect less, you will collect less, and if you want to collect more, you will collect more, so although it is called 'conscription', it is actually a great difference in beauty! ”

Master Yu glared at Zhu Youzhen and said, "Master You, what are you yelling about?" Looking at the prefectures and counties across the country, where is this not the case? The so-called 'following the customs' of the country, as officials, we must share the worries of the monarch and father, and the people must be reassured. The affairs in the county are huge and complicated, can you do it without these people? Master, if you have the ability, you can try it yourself! ”

"Try it!" Zhu Youzhen said angrily, "These officials are indispensable in exploiting the people on weekdays, and they do a hundred times more bad things than good things, I think it's not a big deal even if it's all open!" A few adults, don't stop the magistrate anymore, otherwise King Qin will blame him, and no one will be able to afford it! ”

Several people made Zhu Youzhen choke so that he couldn't speak for a long time, and after a long while, Liu Xiancheng said to Sun Chuanting resentfully: "Lord Zhixian, what Master You said is also what you mean?" ”

"Exactly!" Sun Chuanting said awe-inspiringly.

"In this case, I will retire, and I hope that the adults will do it themselves!" The three of them took their leave hatefully and left without looking back.

Sun Chuanting saw a few people walking away, and smiled bitterly at Zhu Youzhen: "Your Highness, they must be inextricably linked with those officials, which is why they bother to argue so much." In this way, they have been offended and suffered! ”

"Whatever they do!" Zhu Youzhen sneered and said, "Listening to the crickets, you don't farm anymore?" Post a notice immediately and re-elect the officer! ”