Chapter 67: The Suffering of the People (I)
"Shhhh......h
On the outskirts of Shuo County, a very luxurious-looking horse-drawn carriage drove on the road.
"Chen County Order, we have arrived in Shuo County!" The coachman said.
"Oh, I'm bothering you this time!" Chen Fei said.
These people are Chen Fei, Li Wanrou, and a coachman. This coachman was also sent over by Princess Wanchun after she gave her luxury carriage to Chen Fei. And this coachman actually regarded Chen Fei as his master in his heart, after all, Princess Wanchun was able to give her carriage to Chen Fei, and the meaning of this was already very obvious. So at most, he's just driving for the other owner, and it's no different.
"The difference between the Tang Dynasty and the later generations is really big enough!" Chen Fei sighed in his heart.
Chen Fei went from Chang'an to Shuozhou, in fact, from Shaanxi to Shanxi, and they are actually just neighboring provinces. If you use the plane of the future, you can get there in less than a few hours. And in this era, Chen Fei actually walked for half a month. And in this half a month, in fact, Chen Fei tried his best to ask the driver to catch up with the car, so that he could arrive within half a month. If you really slow down and march, I'm afraid you won't be able to reach it for more than half a month. And this also shows the difference between ancient times and later generations, if it weren't for Chen Fei having a mobile phone to relieve boredom, then he would really be depressed to death.
"Wanrou, let's get out of the car and take a walk. After sitting in the car for half a month, I have some back pain, come down and take a walk to soothe it! Chen Fei said.
Chen Fei took Li Wanrou to the bottom of the car, and then looked at the surrounding environment. It is already the middle of October, and the autumn harvest has long passed, and the people have already stored up the year's harvest. And the people have also paid the agricultural tax, and then enjoy the harvest of the year. At this time, there was nothing on the farmland, and it looked very barren.
"It's the time of the slack season, and if it doesn't take long, it should be winter, which is the hardest time of the year. Fortunately, I didn't take office until after the autumn harvest, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to organize agricultural production. Chen Fei complained in his heart.
Chen Fei knew that the ancient magistrates had a responsibility, which was to organize agricultural production, but this Chen Fei didn't know what to do at all. Chen Fei grew up in a welfare home when he was a child, but the welfare home is in the city, so Chen Fei did not participate in agricultural production. So Chen Fei didn't know what agricultural production was all about, even if he was in the army, he didn't learn it. Chen Fei didn't know how to organize agricultural production, so he knew that he might have some difficulties. However, Chen Fei is also lucky, after all, this time he came to take office after the autumn harvest, and he does not need to be responsible for agricultural production. As for next year's agricultural production, Chen Fei doesn't know what to do.
Chen Fei came to the farmland, and then saw someone cleaning up the wheat straw here, and then Chen Fei took the initiative to go up.
"Fellow, is this Shuo County?" Chen Fei asked.
"This son, who are you?" The fellow said.
Chen Fei took the initiative to say: "I'm from Chang'an!" ”
"Chang'an? That's a place full of nobles, where did you come from, what are you doing in this poor country? The fellow asked.
Chen Fei thought to himself, "If I had a choice, would I come here?" ”
However, Chen Fei said, "Hehe, come here to have a look." ”
"Am I aware of the people's feelings?" Chen Fei was also secretly thinking in his heart.
Chen Fei had seen many officials and even the emperor on TV before, and he had observed the people's feelings among the people. However, these are all things on TV, and Chen Fei didn't expect that he was about to conduct a private interview with Weifu to observe the people's feelings. And since Chen Fei is ready to take up the post of county commander of this Shuo County, of course he must understand the situation of this Shuo County. So Chen Fei also stopped and took the initiative to ask about the situation to see what was good and bad in this Shuo County.
"Childe, what's there to see here? You are not enjoying happiness in Chang'an, how can you come here? The fellow said casually.
"Personal hobbies, hobbies, just hobbies!" Chen Fei said.
"It's weird! Don't enjoy the good blessings, but come to us in the backwoods to see? "The fellow was very disdainful.
Chen Fei immediately asked, "How are you doing here?" ”
"Barely survive!" The fellow sighed and said.
Chen Fei frowned, this fellow actually said that he could barely survive, so it didn't seem very good!
"Now that the troubled times have just ended, the imperial court has given us 100 acres of land for each family, including 20 acres of Yongye field and 80 acres of mouth land. And we're planting a hundred acres of land now, which is not bad. Compared with the troubled times of the year, it is much better. However, before the troubled times, how could ordinary people like us have land? The fellow said.
Chen Fei also probably understood what the fellow was talking about, that is, during the Sui Dynasty, the domestic land annexation was serious, so the people had no place to stand. After a troubled era, the population was greatly reduced due to the war, so the land was vacant, so that the surviving population had enough land. But these are all built on the incomparably bloody war, so these people are just the rest of their lives in trouble.
"Hey, Chinese history is such a cycle of chaos and rule. In addition to land annexation, there is actually another important reason for this, that is, the problem of productivity. Chen Fei thought secretly.
Chen Fei is a later generation, and he naturally looks at problems from a very high angle, and he can see that this is actually a factor of productivity. The lack of productivity in ancient times resulted in a lack of food to eat, which, combined with the increasing population, increased the pressure on the land. At this time, if we look at it from a macro perspective, the per capita grain is constantly decreasing. Of course, there are reasons for land annexation, but in fact, the main one is the lack of productivity, which is not enough to feed so many people. And at this time, if the government continues to raise taxes, I am afraid that it will really force the people to death, and finally they will be forced to revolt and rebel.
And if you want to put an end to all this, you must develop productive forces, but Chen Fei has no good way.
"Fellow, are you full of food now?" Chen Fei asked.
Chen Fei began to care about these people, whether they could eat enough, after all, only when they were full could they be stable! Otherwise, if they can't eat enough, you, the future county master, will be unlucky. If someone starves to death, then Chen Fei really has no face to be this official.