Zhang Liao is destined to wait in vain.

That night, Liu Wei stayed in an ordinary farmhouse, and only Zhao Yun was alone.

In the small courtyard, a cauldron was set up, and the white-haired old man stirred the cauldron with a stick, and said with a smile with Liu Wei and Zhao Yun: "I haven't had guests at home for a long time, don't laugh." ”

Liu Wei looked at the leftovers in the pot, the wild vegetables that I didn't know where to find them, and the vague minced meat, and said with a smile: "My husband is polite, we brought some dry cakes, just give saliva." ”

The old woman in the house walked out on crutches, smiled kindly, and said, "There is no shop in front of the village here, and there is no shop in front of the village, and we are all in the house, if you go again, there will be no place to sleep." ”

Liu Wei looked at her and said, "Old woman, is it just you?" What about the kids? ”

The old woman's legs and feet were a little bad, so she sat down beside the old man with difficulty, first looked at the pot, and then said with a smile: "The eldest is gone when he was born, the second child was killed, the third child was dragged to war, there has been no news for many years, and I don't know where he died." ”

Liu Wei listened to the old woman's calm and calm tone, looked slightly stunned, and said, "It's the juniors who are presumptuous." ”

The old man took back the wooden stick, covered it with a fruit lid, sat down next to the old woman, covered her with a blanket on her legs, and argued with Liu with a smile: "I have seen it a long time ago." ”

Liu Wei looked at the two of them without any sadness on their faces, and said with a smile: "The old man's mind is admired by the younger generation. ”

"What a mind,"

The old man leaned on his wife's crutches, his face reminisced, and said, "It was all decades ago. ”

Liu Wei is actually not good at talking to people, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

But Zhao Yun spoke for the first time, and said: "Old man, this place is deserted, and the second elder can't be relocated, how do you live?" ”

The old woman leaned on the old man's side, and there was a smile in her folds, and said, "It's not difficult, wild vegetables are everywhere, and I have raised some chickens and ducks, just enough to eat." ”

"Don't you eat rice noodles?" Zhao Yun looked puzzled.

The old man said, "I'm too old to eat." ”

Liu Wei looked at the teeth of the two, and if he had a understanding, he said: "I see that there is a lot of wasteland everywhere, and it should be okay to plant less, right?" ”

The old man shook his head with a smile and said, "No, these lands all have owners, and once they are planted, the master knows that they will lose money." ”

Liu Wei was stunned, looked around carefully, and said, "I'm afraid there are thousands of acres of wasteland here...... That, how much do you have to lose? ”

"Ten years of tenant rent." The old woman is humane.

Liu Wei frowned and said, "So much wasteland, let it be barren, and don't let people plant it?" ”

"That's right." The old woman is humane.

Liu Wei was a little confused about the truth in this, and said: "Why, if you plant for people, you can recover some rent, this is completely wasted, isn't the main family losing money every year?" ”

The old man looked at Liu Wei with some strangeness, and then said a little suddenly: "Guest, it's also from the Dashi clan, right?" ”

Liu Wei nodded thoughtfully, and said, "It's not big, it's all thanks to the ancestors Yu Yin." ”

The old man smiled and said, "No wonder. Actually, we didn't understand it before, but it was a down-and-out gentleman who passed by and explained to us the reason. ”

"I want to hear about it." Liu Wei's expression was slightly solemn.

Seeing him like this, the old man couldn't help but recall the gentleman's words carefully, and said, "The gentleman said that the lord's family does not want to reduce the rent. If the wasteland is planted for the poor, then it will be pasted with grain seeds and farming tools, and the cost will not be recovered for a while. If the other tenants are dissatisfied with these wastelands, it will be worth the loss. ”

The words were a little twisty, but Liu Wei thought about it for a while and still understood.

The lord has more than this piece of land, and if the tenant rent is lowered here, or even if the poor are to open up the land for farming, it will be difficult for the tenants on that side to give an account, because these lands would rather be wasted than planted by the poor.

Liu Wei remembered the milk theory, that is, he would rather pour it out than reduce the price.

"Is there a lot of wasteland here?" Zhao Yun saw that Liu Wei was deep in thought, and picked up the conversation.

"Many,"

The old man glanced at the lid of the pot and said helplessly: "In the past ten years, there have been wars everywhere, too many people have died, and I don't know how much wasteland has been left behind. ”

"Since it's a wasteland, how can there be a landlord?" Liu Wei raised his head and looked at the old man.

The old man stretched out his hand and lifted the lid of the pot to look at it, and then said, "Those who flee will sell their land before leaving." ”

The old woman followed, "Their land is not good, and the good land has long been bought." I heard that the Li family in Dongzhuang bought more than 5,000 acres of land for 2 million dollars. ”

Two million yuan, equivalent to two thousand taels of silver, more than 5,000 years of land, this mu is only 400 yuan on average, which is really cheap.

Liu Wei sighed in his heart, and then said: "Are these lands in the hands of the big scholars?" ”

The old man stood up, picked up the bowl, and began to serve Liu Wei a meal, saying, "This is not clear, but all those who follow the big families of the scholar clan are well fed and clothed, which is different from us." Childe, coarse tea and light rice, please don't dislike it. ”

Liu Wei hurriedly got up, took it with both hands, and said, "Thank you, old man." ”

The old man smiled and gave Zhao Yun a meal.

Liu Wei took a sip and felt that there was all the taste, and there was no salt, which was very bland.

Zhao Yun took the bowl handed over by the old man, didn't drink it, glanced at Liu Wei, and said, "I remember, the government will measure the land from time to time, and these are not measured and registered?" Will the government also allow these acres to be wasted? ”

The old man also served him and his wife a bowl, sat back and said, "These little old men don't know, anyway, these lands have been abandoned for some years." Some homeless people ran here, and they also wanted to reclaim the land, but they were all beaten away. ”

The old woman took a bite, looked at Liu Wei and Zhao Yun, and wondered: "I see that the two guests are dressed gorgeously, and they are not like ordinary people, how can they like to inquire about the things that these people know?" ”

Liu Wei was stunned, touched his face with his index finger, and said embarrassedly: "I have been studying at home all the year round, and this is the first time I have gone far away, which makes my mother-in-law smile." ”

The old woman was immediately relieved, and said with a smile: "No wonder, no wonder, the old woman has lived a few more years, and she has seen many such scholars." ”

Liu Wei took another sip, felt a little stinging pain in his throat, and said, "Old man, do you eat these on weekdays?" ”

The old man seemed to have a little misunderstanding, and said, "It's to entertain guests, and on weekdays, I can't eat so well." ”

Liu Wei smiled and agreed, swallowing this bowl of 'good rice' with some difficulty.

Zhao Yun was not as 'hypocritical' as Liu Bian, he ate quickly, and soon half a bowl was eaten, and seeing that Liu Biao didn't speak, he said: "Uncle, will the government here forcibly send conscription?" ”

The old man gave the old woman the vegetables in his bowl and said, "There used to be one, but this year there is none." I heard that there are other important matters on the part of the government, and in the past, the roads were repaired through the fields, but now they have stopped. ”

The old woman took a bite and looked at Zhao Yun and said, "It seems that some young people are gone, I don't know where they went, and we old bones are left, and we can't do anything." ”

Liu Wei glanced at Zhao Yun and said thoughtfully: "Has the population of Xiapi County also decreased so much?" ”

The old man seemed to have a good impression of Liu Wei, a scholar who was ignorant of the world, and said with a smile: "The guests came all the way south and saw a lot of deserted villages and wastelands, right?" It's not ten rooms and nine empty, but it's almost there. ”

Liu Wei nodded slightly, the situation in Xiapi County was even worse than he expected.

The population has plummeted, the land is barren, thousands of miles of wilderness, and there are few people.

"Do you pay taxes?" Suddenly, Liu Wei looked up at the old man and said.

The old man sighed and said, "If you want it, you can't run anywhere with the poll tax." There are a few juniors who came back from Yanzhou, and one of them has 50 yuan a year, regardless of men, women, and children. ”

Liu Wei looked at the situation on the four walls of the old man's house, and silently wrote down this one in his heart.

……

Early the next morning, Liu Wei said goodbye and slowly left the house with Zhao Yun.

The old man looked at Liu Wei and Zhao Yun's back, and sighed lightly: "Another offspring who is ignorant of the world, and I will have to suffer along the way." ”

The old woman also looked worried, and said, "These two descendants are quite polite, not those people, I just hope they go home early." ”

The two of them were a little patient, and when Liu argued, Zhao Yun turned around a forest, and his back disappeared, and then he turned back.

Supporting each other, they walked back to the courtyard tremblingly.

The old man bent down to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, opened Liu Bian's bowl, found a money bag, reached out to take it, and was suddenly startled, and trotted out, but where was Liu Bian's shadow and Zhao Yun's shadow.

"What's wrong?" The old woman asked suspiciously, leaning over on crutches.

The old man shook his head and said, "It is indeed a good posterity, and he left us a bag of money." ”

The old woman glanced at the money bag in the old man's hand, looked at the forest, and sighed: "Such a good offspring, I hope it will not be taken away." ”

"Your Majesty, there are several bandit-occupied hills ahead, so we have to make a detour." Huangfu Jian followed behind Liu Wei and said.

Liu Wei glanced at it, turned to Zhao Yun, and said, "Zilong, you deliberately asked those few words, did you mean it?" ”

Zhao Yun didn't move, bowed down and said, "Yes." ”

Liu Wei snorted and said, "Those questions are indeed what I want to know." ”

Zhao Yun has always been cautious and never talks much by his side.

Walking slowly, Liu argued: "The matter is more serious than I expected: on the one hand, there are many wastelands and the population has plummeted; On the one hand, the land is concentrated and cannot be cultivated. It's just that Luoyang City has set a policy and issued a document, which can't solve the problem at all. ”

Huangfu Jianchang, Zhao Yun, Lu Yu and others did not speak, this topic is no longer something they can put their beaks on.

Liu Wei walked slowly, looked up into the distance, and said with a deep gaze: "The land issue is still a fundamental issue. There are also big problems in taxation based on land, and solving these problems requires unified action from top to bottom, with the imperial court strengthening its will and the local government working together to be effective. This again involves the problem of the rule of officials, and the rule of officials cannot be solved in a few words and in a year or two. I originally thought that in five years, plus the previous five years, ten years, there should always be a small success, but now that I look at it, let alone a small success, half of the goal may not be achieved......"

Liu Wei was the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the foundation of the Han Dynasty was in the scholars. Without the support of the scholars, the court of the Han Dynasty would have died a long time ago.

The continuous expansion of the Keshi clan is eroding the foundation of the Han Dynasty, and in the long run, the Han Dynasty will still die.

But as long as Liu Wei changes his identity, he can break the jar and smash all the forces that are not conducive to his rule, and start all over again.

Just like Cao Cao in history.

Cao Cao wanted the power that belonged to him, not the Han Dynasty, and he wore the cloak of Han Chen, and swept away all the forces that opposed or were unfavorable to him, with little scruples.

But Liu Wei can't do it, he is not wearing Han skin, he is the real emperor of the Han Dynasty, he wants Han skin, and he wants Han bones!

Lu Yu and the others followed behind Liu Wei, not daring to say a word.

This is a 'national policy', and they are not qualified or brave enough to 'participate in the discussion'.

Liu Wei walked slowly, constantly pondering, and various countermeasures flashed in his mind.

I don't know how long it took, Lu Yu spoke up and said, "Your Majesty, there is a letter from Luoyang, saying that Sima Gong died of illness. ”

Liu Wei had no accident, stopped, put his hands behind his back, and said, "Let Xu You preside over the funeral, and the style is a little bigger." At the same time, he handed over a message to Shangshutai, and Xu Yu succeeded Cao Shangshu. ”

"Yes." Lu Yu responded.

Liu Wei took a deep breath, shook off the distractions in his mind, and said, "Is there any news from Yanzhou?" ”

Huangfu Jian stepped forward and said, "Back to Your Majesty, there is nothing special for the time being." Cao Sima didn't make any big moves, and the soldiers and horses transferred from the forbidden army camp were already in Chenliu. ”

Liu Wei snorted, looked at the north with blazing eyes, and said: "All changes must be based on stability, 'separation of military and government', and the return of military power to the imperial court, in order to deal with the chaos that may be caused by the 'new deal'." ”

Cao Cao's movements are a little slow.

"Your Majesty,"

Zhao Yun stepped forward at this time and said, "Zhang Liao, Lu Bu is here." ”

When Liu Wei heard this, he turned his head and saw two fast horses galloping not far to the east.

After a short time, the two of them came to Liu Wei, without weapons, jumped off the horse, knelt down on one knee in unison, and said, "Minister Zhang Liao/Lu Bu, see Your Majesty!" ”

Liu Wei glanced at the two of them, this Lu Bu's figure was actually not as strong as Zhang Liao.

"No courtesy." Liu Wei said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The two got up at the same time and bowed down in front of Liu Bian.

Compared with Zhang Liao's calmness, Lu Bu was very excited, eager to try, and stopped talking.

This is not the first time he has met Liu Wei, but it is the most recent!

He lowered his head, his eyes lit up, and he was thinking about how to get close to this majesty and hug the thickest thigh of this big Han dynasty.

"Let's go with me."

Liu Wei continued to walk forward, glanced at Zhang Liao, and said, "I have read the report from Xuzhou, and your Tuntian is doing a good job. ”

"The minister is just doing what he is told." Zhang Liao said, his face was calm and unmoving.

Liu Wei smiled and said, "Tuntian shouldn't be able to support your expenses, and the rest is from you to raise donations?" ”

Zhang Liao looked slightly hesitant and said, "Yes." The scholars of Xuzhou will donate a certain amount of money and grain to the ministers every month to supply military supplies, and the ministers will report this matter every month......"

Liu Wei waved his hand and said, "I didn't say that you did anything wrong, so you don't have to mind." ”

Zhang Liao bowed and said, "Yes." ”

Liu Wei looked into the distance, pacing, and kept thinking in his heart.

In the troubled times, the lord chooses the ministers and the lord, and the family is also constantly betting, when Liu Bei was in charge of Xuzhou, many families supported, and now it is Zhang Liao.

In addition to money and food, there are also children of the family, who are among the shogunates of the 'king's orders'.

Multi-sided betting, two-sided and three-knife, is the practice of the Shi clan at the time.

(End of chapter)