In the past many years, Shu Yan has walked this road countless times, in the cold and heat, in the wind and rain, without exception, all of them are wearing brown clothes and measuring step by step with their feet, but now they are riding on a high-headed horse in official uniforms. Although Shu Yan is not a person who loves vanity, at this moment, he also has a feeling of pride. Entering the entrance of Shujiazhuang, he slowed down his horse. Familiar streets, warm folks, everything is so kind. The villagers didn't recognize this crowned young man riding a horse at first, but when they recognized it as Shu Yanlai, they were very surprised, and Shu Yan had already dismounted and greeted them.

Gradually, when I walked to the front of my house, several grass houses were still there, although they were old, but they were still strong. The street in front of the door was also cleaned, and when I turned the earthen wall, I heard the sound of Lang Lang reading, obviously Han Ruoxin was teaching the children in Shujiazhuang. Shu Yan didn't want to disturb the teachers and students in class, so he stood in the courtyard and quietly looked at this long-lost home.

The yard was neatly tidied up, and there was not a single clutter. The two main rooms were used as a school, and the other room was kept for residence, and all his household utensils were properly stored in one side room. The sound of reading is muffled and frustrated. This voice did not sound as grand and imposing as it came from the Da Zhen School in Luoyang City, but it was very precise and powerful. Shu Yan saw all this in his eyes and was very relieved in his heart. Although it is just a small school, it can also be seen that Ruoxin is a trustworthy person.

Shu Yan was relieved, and when the door of the grass hall opened, a person walked out: "Brother Yan! ”

"Ruoxin."

When the two met, they were overjoyed, grabbing each other's arms and clapping each other. Shu Yan saw that Ruoxin had grown taller, perhaps because he was a gentleman, he was much more mature than his peers, and like his father, he had a seemingly tall but approachable temperament. Entering the house, these students are all children of Shujiazhuang, and they are very familiar with Shu Yan. Shu Yan is the legend of Shujiazhuang, and the school where they were able to go to school was provided to them by Shu Yan for free, so when these children saw that Shu Yan was back, they all cheered and surrounded Shu Yan in the middle.

It was lively for a while, and it was not too early, so Ruoxin sent them home. Shu Yan saw that the two children of Shu Xiaoliu's family next door were also among them, so he asked, "Are the two brothers of the sixth uncle's family also willing to study with peace of mind?" ”

"Ken. Since you were promoted to filial piety and became an official in Luoyang, the whole village has regarded you as a role model, there are fewer idle people, and there is no more stealing chickens and dogs, and with this school, everyone is willing to let the children study here. ”

"How much is your salary now?"

"It's the same as before."

"It's been so long, haven't you ever paid money in Xuxue? How many acres of land do you still live on? ”

Ruoxin nodded: "Not only did we not send it here, but I heard that Xuxue in other places has not sent money, and they all figured it out by themselves, and now I don't worry about anything else, I'm afraid that some teaching assistants won't be able to survive and leave the museum, in that case, Xuxue will just be a decoration." ”

Shu Yan couldn't understand it very much, but although he was angry in his heart, he was still comforting Ruoxin on the surface: "Tell everyone not to worry, maybe it will be fine in the future." ”

"How so?"

"You don't know yet, our little king Sima Mo of Ruyin has died, and our Ruyin Kingdom is about to be restored to Ruyin County. That's why I'm back. ”

"Oh? Is that so? Ruoxin was a little surprised, "If that's the case, I hope it can be improved." ”

Since they hadn't gone to visit Pavilion Chief Xia yet, the two chatted for a while and then went out. On the way, I got some wine and bought some meat dishes. After 20 years of peaceful and stable development, now ordinary villages and towns can buy the daily necessities they need, unlike when Shu Yan was born, even wine had to go into the city to buy.

When I arrived at Xia Tingchang's house, it was already dark, and at first Xia Tingchang didn't recognize who it was, but when he recognized it was Shu Yan, he was so excited that he almost didn't shed tears, and took Shu Yan's hand and asked long and short questions. Shu Yan told the reason for coming back this time, and chatted affectionately for a while. He asked Pavilion Chief Xia and Ruoxin to chat first, and he went to the kitchen to cook.

There is no pomp like a wealthy family in a small family, a single person, and the number of seats is also important. After Shu Yan finished the meal, the old and young drank around a small wooden board, which made it more affectionate.

The Shu Han family has been thanks to the help of Pavilion Chief Xia over the years: helping them take care of the funeral, helping them negotiate with the Shi family, reducing or reducing taxes for them, recommending filial piety to Shu Yan, and so on. The two teenagers were very grateful to him for his old man. Shu Yan poured a full bottle of wine and said to Ruoxin: "Speaking of which, we brothers really want to thank Grandpa Xia for his help to us over the years, let's toast Grandpa Xia." ”

Pavilion Chief Xia listened to the beautiful words, he drank the wine, sighed again and said: "You two lonely young men, as the pavilion chief, on behalf of the people of Quanshujiazhuang, I should help you a little as much as I can." Now, you are flying on the branches and becoming a phoenix, and I don't worry about you anymore, but Ruoxin is still young, and I want to help him and orphans like him, but I can't do anything......"

Shu Yan said: "Ruoxin is doing well now, although Xuxue has not paid him a salary, but he is enough to eat and drink, what are you worried about?" ”

"I'm not worried about anything else, it's just that he's now over sixteen years old, and he's in the age of a man. The three-year tax period for which I have applied for a pardon for you has expired, so that he will have to pay four hundreds, three horses of silk, and three catties of cotton every year from this year onwards. Not only him, but there are also several families of orphans like him, and it is really unreasonable for them to have to bear taxes like adults at such a young age. Yan'er, you are an official in Beijing, so you should suggest this matter to the imperial court. ”

Shu Yan smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Father-in-law Xia, why don't I think so, I have already reacted to the imperial court about the proposal to raise the age of Chengding, but it is useless, there are too many interests touched, and even the emperor can't be the master." ”

Xia Tingchang shook his head: "In this case, I can only set these orphans lower when determining the level, and do my best." ”

Ruoxin saw the two sighing, so she poured wine for the two of them, and said: "Father-in-law Xia, Brother Yan, you don't have to worry about this matter, even if the court reduces the exemption for orphans like us for a few more years, we still have to pay it in the future, and I don't care about these three years and two years." ”

Shu Yan was very relieved when he heard Ruoxin say such ambitious words. After drinking, he said to Xia Tingchang: "Father-in-law Xia, we have a total of 110 households in Shujiazhuang, how many are orphans, how many are old children, and how many are widows?" ”

"One hundred and ten half-adult households?" Xia Chun put down his wine glass, "Who told you?" It's 70 households. ”

Shu Yan thought that Xia Tingchang was old, and he couldn't remember it clearly after drinking some wine, so he retorted with a smile: "Why not?" Today I checked the household survey book in the county government office, and paid special attention to the page of our Shujiazhuang, can there be a mistake? ”

"You must be mistaken, Yan'er. Although I drank some wine today, as the pavilion chief, I couldn't be clearer about the household registration and knew it well: there are 360 households in Shujiazhuang, including 270 households in Chengding; 70 semi-adult households; No households, twenty households. ”

"That's even more wrong. Except for the total number of households, all the others are not matched: I see that the book says that there are 360 households in Shujiazhuang and 200 households in Chengding; 110 semi-adult households; There are 50 households without classes. ”

"How is that possible? You must have read it wrong, so much worse? That's a few hundred corns, hundreds of silk, and hundreds of catties of cotton! ”

Shu Yan was even more puzzled, and he thought to himself: Although I only glanced at the book at that time, I might have misread one item, but it is impossible to read all of them wrong. But looking at Father-in-law Xia's attitude, he seems to be very sure. Who the hell is wrong with the two of us?

Ruoxin said: "Father-in-law Xia, Brother Yan, why fight around? Wait until tomorrow to look at the book and confirm it, won't you? ”

Shu Yan nodded. Xia Tingchang was still drunken and nagging: "I can't be wrong, if you don't believe it, I can tell you all the households in the village one by one......"

After bidding farewell to Pavilion Chief Xia, Shu Yan and Ruoxin went back to sleep. The next day, Shu Yan didn't get up in a hurry. Because he knew the habits of Jia Gong and others, he had never been early. He estimated the time, and arrived at the front office a little earlier than the usual practice of the yamen, thinking that he must be the first to arrive, but he didn't want to be left behind today. Jia Gong, Qiu Shoutai and others were already sitting there drinking tea.

"Jia Dazhongzheng, Qiu Guoxiang, you guys are so early today."

"Yes, it was delayed for half a day yesterday, so it's a little early today."

Jia Gong has such a positive attitude, and Shu Yan is of course happy: "Jia Zhou is right, we should do things for the imperial court." In that case, let's get started. ”

"You don't have to stay here with us, I have another task for you."

"Another mission?" Shu Yan just found a place, and before he could sit down, he was stunned, "What do you mean?" ”

Jia Gong was not in a hurry, took out a letter from his arms, and said: "Ruyin is the jurisdiction of Yuzhou, and Ruyin should communicate with Yuzhou in addition to the state-established counties. I have a letter here, which is about this matter, and I want you to make a trip and send it to Yuzhou Thorn History. ”

"Dazhongzheng is right, but this kind of thing should be more appropriate for the people of Ruyin's department, some of them are idlers, and there are several fast horses, and I was sent by the emperor to have a serious business, why did you let me go?"

"Isn't it a serious business to let you deliver a letter? Don't underestimate this, your errand is much more important than flipping through a book here. I'll tell you the truth, I'm not at ease with anyone but you. Jia Gong took a sip of tea and slowly put down the teacup, "Shu Lang, you are a clear person, you should know very well, since the emperor asked me to preside over this errand, you are now my subordinates, and I can command each of you, right?" ”

"My subordinates are willing to listen to the orders of the state capital, but I still want to see the household survey book."

"Regarding the problem of household survey, naturally there are people from Dasi Nong who are in charge, and they are in charge of this, so you don't have to worry about it."

Shu Yan knew that he couldn't match Jia Gong and had to go to the state government, but he was thinking about the problem of Shujiazhuang's household registration in his heart, and wanted to confirm whether he was wrong or Xia's father-in-law was wrong. So he stood up and said: "Dazhongzheng, the lower officials are willing to go to Yuzhou to run there, but I still want to know more about the book about Shujiazhuang that I read yesterday, I wonder if you can let me take a look at it again?" ”

Before Jia Gong agreed, Qiu Shoutai responded first: "Of course this is okay." As he spoke, he handed Shu Yan a brand-new book, and said, "In order not to delay today's review, I ordered someone to copy a new book overnight." ”

Shu Yan knew that the old one had been defiled by Jia Gong, so it was only natural that the new copy should be made. It doesn't matter if it's new or old, he only cares about what's inside. But when he opened the book, he was surprised and suspicious, and shouted "weird" and "not right." It turned out that the new book clearly recorded: "There are 360 households in Quanshujiazhuang, including: 270 households in Chengding; 70 semi-adult households; No households, twenty households. ”

"What's wrong?" Qiu Guoxiang asked with a smile.

"The number of households is wrong, why is it different from what I saw yesterday? Prime Minister, I don't think your people have made a mistake in copying, right? ”

"How is that possible? I specially sent a most careful bookkeeper to copy word by word, how could it be wrong? ”

Am I wrong? Why is what is written on this consistent with what Pavilion Chief Xia said? But I remember that what I saw yesterday was not like this, right? Thinking of this, Shu Yan still didn't give up, and asked Qiu Guoxiang again: "Can you let me take a look at the old book from yesterday." ”

"The old book is already filthy, and it will be destroyed directly after copying, so what do you want it to do!"