The Rebellion of the Eight Kings lasted for fifteen or sixteen years, throughout the reign of Sima Zhen. From the overthrow of Sima Lun by the kings and the greeting of Sima Zhen to the accession of the new emperor Sima Chi to the throne, it was the time when the rebellion of the eight kings reached its climax. And in the past few years, it is also the time when Biyu and Shu Yan have come to Ren Ruyin, worked hard, and showed their skills.

Luoyang and Ruyin can be described as two heavens of ice and fire.

After these few years, Ruyin has been prosperous under Shu Yan's governance. Among all industries, agriculture is particularly important. Under Shu Yan's supervision and strong support, 20 large and small canals have been built in the entire Ruyin County, which has greatly alleviated the situation of heavy dependence on the weather, and most of the years are drought and flood to ensure harvest, and the yield per mu of crops has reached the highest level in history.

In addition to increasing yield per mu, Shu Yan also vigorously advocated the reclamation of wasteland. According to the principle of whoever cultivates the land and owns it, as long as it does not exceed the standard of 100 mu of land occupied by one husband and one woman stipulated by the imperial court. In the past few years, tens of thousands of acres of wasteland have been reclaimed. In response to the problem that most families have limited labor and cannot take care of too much arable land, Shu Yan established an official cattle system. Organize counties and townships to purchase official cattle for breeding, and if private households cannot afford to raise cattle, they can lease official cattle for use. Guanniu does not make money, but only collects rent according to the accounting cost. This move has greatly facilitated the lower-class peasant households, has been widely welcomed, and the peasants' enthusiasm for farming has been greatly strengthened.

With the example of the Shi family, Shu Yan continued to strictly investigate the family and weaken their power. According to the standards set by the imperial court, all the surplus land and population of the big clan were liberated, which fundamentally curbed the expansion and annexation of the common people by the wealthy clan.

The annual increase in cereal production and the continuous emancipation of the population have led to a rapid increase in the taxable objects and taxable scale of household and field rents. There were more handed over to the imperial court, and Ruyin's own treasury was also full.

On the one hand, we must take care of the imperial court, and on the other hand, we must also take into account the common people, especially the disadvantaged groups.

Although there is a unified standard for household surveys, which is four hundreds, three silks, and three catties of cotton, this is only an approximate number. In practice, it is necessary to judge and fine-tune the increase or decrease according to the population status of each farmer and the advantages and disadvantages of the fields. Differential treatment of the amount of tax and the non-implementation of one-size-fits-all is a reasonable measure taken by the imperial court to take care of the poor and weak, but there are advantages and disadvantages, and the so-called policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. It is precisely because of the inconsistency in the amount of taxes paid by each household that the grass-roots tax collectors such as the township townsmen, together with the small people with real power such as You and the pavilion chief, have the opportunity to manipulate the others, favor one over the other, and engage in favoritism.

Shu Yan unified the approval standard of the endowment from the township pavilion to the county, and the county directly sent officials to approve it. The county-level officials directly negotiated face-to-face with the common people, and this move suppressed to the greatest extent the possibility of favoritism and irregularities by the grassroots township officials. Although the process is cumbersome, after tackling tough problems, the effect is remarkable, and the tax has achieved unprecedented fairness. There is a cloud in the Analects: "Do not suffer from few, but suffer from inequality." It's not terrible for everyone to be poor, it's unfair to be terrible. Even if some families may have increased their taxes compared to before, as long as it is reasonable, nail households will be convinced. The tax burden has been equalized, and the enthusiasm and spirit of the people have become more and more sufficient.

Shu Yan, whose parents died when he was a child, knows the suffering of orphans. But no matter how hard it may be, when a man reaches the age of thirteen, even if he is half a ding, he will begin to bear a certain amount of taxes; At the age of sixteen, it's the same standard as an adult. At such an age, he is not fully grown up, and he is not suitable for such a responsibility. Shu Yan has always thought this is unreasonable.

The age of the adult stipulated by the imperial court is 16 years old and under 60 years old; The age of the half-ding is 13 to 15 years old, 61 to 65 years old; Under the age of thirteen and over the age of sixty-five are the old and young, and no tax is paid. He once suggested in the court that the age of Chengding be changed to be over 20 years old and under 58 years old; The age of half-ding was changed to 16 to 20 years and 58 to 63 years. However, this suggestion was fiercely opposed by the ministers, and even Emperor Wu at that time did not agree with it.

At that time, Shu Yan, who was a car with a mantis arm, was once indignant after being frustrated, and he has been haunted by it. Now that he is the actual controller of a county, and the world is in turmoil, all counties are basically in a semi-autonomous state, and he can very much postpone the age of the county to fulfill his wishes.

But as he grew older, his concept has quietly changed slightly, and he was still young and vigorous before. The laws of the imperial court are the cornerstone of social stability and must be regarded as the norm. Only by abiding by this criterion can we form a system of civilization. And once it is made, it cannot be changed without authorization. If everyone thinks their will is legitimate, isn't that their own thing?

Shu Yan, who holds the power of a county, did not openly violate the laws of the imperial court and blatantly postpone the age of Chengding. But he didn't give up his obsession. The saying that money is easy to do things not only applies to individuals, but also to officials. When collecting taxes, Ruyin still strictly followed the imperial court's regulations on the standards for chengding, but gave a certain degree of tax refund to taxpayers who were at the critical age of chengding and semi-chengding. In this way, it is equivalent to indirectly postponing the lower limit of the adult age and advancing the upper limit. However, the taxes paid by the imperial court did not decrease as a result, because the part of the tax refund was fully compensated by the county.

Society not only needs the objective restraint of the legal system, but also needs the subjective guidance of morality. Shu Yan attaches great importance to the guiding role of the social atmosphere, and not only gives spiritual commendation to good moral models such as thrifty women and husbands, filial sons and grandsons, but also gives preferential treatment of tax exemption and exemption. In fact, this is not Shu Yan's first creation, every dynasty will reward the supporters of traditional morality, but this is generally limited to peaceful times, and now the situation of the Great Jin Dynasty, I am afraid that only Shu Yan can take care of this.

In addition to managing the affairs of the county itself, the governor or minister of the county must also inspect the counties under his jurisdiction at least once every three years. This is a rule of the imperial court, and it is also a tradition left over from ancient times.

In the eight counties under the jurisdiction of Ruyin, it will take a while to go around all of them hastily, not to mention that the inspection is not a formality, but an in-depth visit to various places to solve practical problems, and a slight delay will take several months. Biyu is still unwilling to take care of the daily affairs of the county, and of course he is even more reluctant to go to the grassroots counties and townships with more difficult conditions after such a long and tiring journey. Helplessly, with Shu Yan's repeated urging, although he delayed again and again, he still couldn't resist in the end.

After inspecting this circle, Shu Yan solved some unjust, false and wrongful cases, and long-standing and long-standing problems that have been unresolved for a long time. However, Biyu has experienced the mountains and rivers of eight counties, which is not worth the trip.

After inspecting the last county, Biyu and Shu Yan returned to Ruyin City with their carriages and horses. Hiyu sat alone in the car. Shu Yan and the officials followed on horseback.

Nowadays, the living standards of the people in the entire Ruyin County have been significantly improved, and their mental outlook has also been greatly improved. This is not hearsay or the praise sung by the people below to the county officials, but what everyone saw with their own eyes during the inspection, as the rulers, of course they were happy, and Shu Yan was of course even more pleased.

The group talked and laughed, and was not in a hurry. Unknowingly, it was only thirty or forty miles away from Ruyin City, and everyone was a little thirsty. Du Jian, the chief bookkeeper, said: "There is a small village in front, why don't we go and ask for some water to drink?" ”

Shu Yan agreed. Du Jian urged the horse forward to ask for instructions from Biyu. Biyu drank the water he carried with him, although he was also a little thirsty, but he would rather endure it, and he would never drink the water in ordinary people's homes easily.

Ah Zhuang and Ah Ji accompanied Biyu and others on the side of the road, and the others all followed Shu Yan into the village to beg for water.

At this moment, it is the beginning of the year, it is the time of the morning meal, and most of the people are eating. Shu Yan felt that there were many people, so he walked past a few doors, but he didn't rush into the door to disturb. was hesitating, when he suddenly saw an old man walk out of the door, glanced over a few times, and then walked over quickly, and asked in a very surprised and frightened tone: "Isn't this Shu Cheng and a few officials in the county?" ”

Shu Yan looked at the old man carefully, and seemed to feel a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it. As a county official, he often appears in the public eye, and it is normal for him to be recognized by the people, so he didn't feel strange, and only vaguely responded: "It's Shu." This is my husband's treasure house? ”

"I don't dare to call it a treasure house, it's just a cottage. However, it is more than enough to shelter from the wind and rain, cool and warm. If a few officials don't dislike it, please sit inside. ”

Shu Yanzheng didn't know where to go to ask for water to drink, and someone took the initiative to invite him, of course he was happy: "It's not a secret, I have been waiting for a long time, and I am a little thirsty." If it's convenient for you, please give me some water to drink. ”

"Convenient, convenient. With the arrival of several officials, the grass hall is full of brilliance. Come in, come in. ”

Everyone followed the old man into the house.

The old and young of this family were eating, and when they saw the appearance of these officials, they all timidly avoided it.

"It's not the right time, I'd better go outside." Shu Yan was deeply disturbed and was about to go out.

Where was the old man willing to let go, he smiled and said, "It's just the right time." Thanks to the food given back then, Shu Cheng can just understand the changes in the lives of the people over the years. ”

"Food?" Shu Yan looked at the old man even more inexplicably.

The old man laughed and said: "Shu Cheng is busy with affairs, and the nobles are so forgetful, they definitely can't remember the old age." In the county office, in order to understand the real living conditions of the people, Shu Cheng once looked for a few random people on the street, and gave him a full meal after only asking once, I don't know if a few officials still remember? ”

Shu Yan remembered. When he first arrived in Ruyin, he found that the diet level of the county officials was much higher than that of the people. wanted to limit the dietary standards, but the officials were not convinced, so they found a few people on the street to understand the real situation. This old man is one of them.