In the spring of the second year of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court promulgated a new policy, greatly reduced taxes, and began to rest with the people.

After the decree was issued, local officials from all walks of life in the Song Dynasty hurriedly convened local officials, household heads, and other township officials to hold a meeting in the county government.

This shows the importance of rectifying the rule of officials first.

Because in the early Song Dynasty, all the government servants in various states and counties implemented the "color service" wheel errand household law, also known as the errand service law.

Among them, there are two types: "township service" and "official service".

The Li Zheng in the township service is mainly responsible for collecting taxes, while the head of the household is mainly responsible for receiving official documents from the government, similar to the duties of accountants, secretaries, and clerks, and assists Li Zheng in urging and supervising taxes.

If it was before, if the local officials did not do their job, it was very likely that they would ignore the new policies of the imperial court and forget about them.

These village officials were responsible for conveying the decrees from above, and if the magistrates did not do anything, the only result would be that the local magistrates and government officials would collect the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes that should be collected, and the taxes would be paid less, and the rest would become their own pockets.

But now that the government has been in place, and policy subsidies and wages are given to local officials, and the promulgation of new policies must be included in the examination law, every month the state has an imperial history to come to inspect. Once it is found that the policy is not notified or there is a mistake, the black yarn hat is not guaranteed.

Therefore, the county orders and county officials in various places are grasping the affairs of the new policy.

Gangnam East Road, Shinshu.

Liu Yong, the new governor of Shinzhou, was just transferred from Mingzhou, Zhejiang Province at the beginning of this year.

He was a jinshi in the first year of Jingyou, served as a Muzhou regiment training officer for three years, and served as a magistrate of Yuhang County for three years, and served as the Dinghai salt supervisor in the second year of Baoyuan, and has been a local official for nine years, with outstanding political achievements.

Therefore, this year, Liu Yong was selected as the top grade. Under normal circumstances, he should first be sentenced to Liupinzhou, but because of his meritorious service in the prefect's court to crack the Jiangnan smuggling salt case, and his political performance is really good, he was promoted to a higher level and promoted to Wupinzhizhou.

At this moment, Liu Yong first convened the county orders at the yamen of the state capital of Shangrao County, the seat of Xinzhou, to convey the policies of the imperial court, and waited until April, after about half a month, he suddenly dressed up in disguise and went out to patrol in micro-clothes to see the local situation.

Shangrao, as a place of governance, strictly conveyed the will of the imperial court, and the Shangrao county order not only urged the Yaqian Lizheng and the head of the household to convey the news, but also personally went to the fields in various townships and said this happy event over and over again.

When the peasants learned that this year's tax revenue would drop sharply, they wept with joy and ran to tell each other, and peasants could be seen everywhere in the fields who were in good spirits and even straightened their waists.

Liu Yong was very happy to see this situation, praised the Shangrao County Order, reported his merits to the Imperial History Division, and then went to other prefectures.

Shinshu has six prefectures, and many of the villages are located between the mountains, so it is not easy to convey the news, and sometimes the county seat is far from the villages under its jurisdiction, and it may take a day or two to walk just to walk.

Among them, in the Junyang Mountain of Yiyang Baofeng Town, there are several villages between the mountains and mountains, named Qingshan Township, along the Qingshan River, that is, the Shuanggang River, a tributary of the Rao River in later generations, to the south for more than 70 miles.

Baofeng Town is only more than 30 miles away from Yiyang County, but this township is the most remote township in Baofeng Town.

Seeing that the summer tax had to be paid, the landlords in the township and Li Zheng had a crooked brain, concealed the news of the abolition of a large number of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and urged the peasants to continue to pay taxes, and almost all the taxes that did not need to be paid fell into their pockets.

By July, Liu Yong had inspected many places, most of which had basically completed the issuance of government decrees, the peasants were in high spirits, and the whole state was in full swing and jubilation.

"Today, Your Majesty is known for his benevolence, in the past, the Liao State and the Western Xia were forced too hard, so that the redundant troops were very heavy, and the country had to pay more taxes to maintain the military affairs.

At the foot of the mountain in Qingshan Township, Liu Yong, disguised as a mountain goods merchant, and Xinzhou Tongju Jiang Xuan walked on the riverside mountain road, they have now walked most of Xinzhou, and after inspecting Baofeng Town, they will go to Guixi, where is the last point.

Liu Yong was wearing an ordinary long coat and coat, and Jiang Xuan was also in a similar shape, and the two of them were accompanied by seven or eight guards composed of state officials, who seemed to be dressed up one by one.

Although the waist is bulging and looks weird, it is generally difficult to see if you are not a knowledgeable person.

Jiang Xuan said with a smile: "What Taishou said is extremely true, the Son of Heaven is benevolent and loves the people like a son. And why not? This time, we traveled all over Shinshu to see if the local people had already enjoyed the grace of the imperial court. ”

"On the incumbent side, there is the responsibility of pastoral land, the court values the people's livelihood, values the people, and we dare not slack off."

Liu Yong let out a long sigh.

They then followed a rugged mountain road and were led by a guide into the mountains.

As they walked past a small hill, a figure appeared in front of them, a man of about thirty years of age, carrying a burden, and on each side of the burden was a basket, and in the basket sat two children.

Seeing Liu Yong's large group of people, the man was stunned for a moment, and then continued to walk forward.

Seeing this scene, Liu Yong frowned, and walked over in the name of asking for directions and said, "This Yi relative, may I ask if the front is Qingshan Township?" ”

In the Song Dynasty, Yi Qin almost meant fellow villagers and villagers.

The man replied, "Yes." He didn't stop long, and kept going.

Liu Yong hurriedly said: "Relatives Yi, where are you going to carry Li'er?" ”

The man's feet were quicker and there was no response.

Seeing this, Liu Yong instructed left and right: "Arrest him." ”

In an instant, several officials went up and grabbed the man, and the man was shocked: "What are you doing, what do you want to do!" ”

"Don't arrest my grandpa, don't arrest my grandpa!"

A little girl shouted.

Liu Yong was stunned for a moment, he thought that this man was in a hurry, quite suspicious, and thought that he was a trafficker who stole children.

I didn't expect him to be the father of these two little girls.

When he was about to go up for interrogation, he was behind him, and a woman's voice was getting closer and closer, mixed with whimpering: "Woo woo, the master, come back quickly, that's your daughter!" ”

In a few moments, at the end of the road, a woman hurriedly ran out.

She was wearing coarse linen clothes, her clothes were sewn and mended, and her whole face was yellow and thin, but at this time, her face was extremely sad and crying.

Seeing this situation, Liu Yong was even more confused, so he had to let his subordinates let the man go first.

It was at this point that the woman had already come to the front, first rushed to the two children, hugged them, and cried like a tearful person, saying, "You have to sell your own daughter, are you still a person?" ”

The man also burst into tears and cried, "What can I do? There are so many taxes to be paid this year, and the steward Wang has even snatched the hoes at home, and if he doesn't sell them, he will starve to death this year. ”

In an instant, Liu Yong understood, he looked at Jiang Xuan next to him with a solemn face, and Jiang Xuan's whole face was gloomy.

Now all parts of the country are grasping political achievements and new policies, and if Xinzhou does not do it at this juncture, and is caught by the imperial history and reported to the imperial court, then their assessment will be completely unpassable.

Performance pay is a trivial matter, the key is that they are all from Jinshi. In ancient times, it was often difficult for those who entered the door to be promoted to high positions, so they paid more attention to the actual performance.

But the Jinshi diploma is much stronger than the Menyin Jinshi and the same Jinshi background, and it is often the priority of the imperial court in terms of promotion.

If they fail to pass the assessment at this juncture, it will undoubtedly make their future worrying.

The young couple was already hugging and crying.

Jiang Xuan walked over and was about to speak, when a large group of people came from behind.

The leader was a thin man, and when he saw the young couple in the boulevard of the small hill in front of him, he was overjoyed and said, "Quick, take them back." ”

"Steward Wang, what are you doing? I just want to sell my own children, and you won't allow it? ”

The man exclaimed.

"Who allowed you to go down the mountain and sell it in town? If you want to sell, you can only sell it to our family. ”

"But your family only paid so much money, and they still have to use it to pay off their debts, and they don't give us money and food at all, so if you continue like this, you will starve to death this year."

"It's only natural to pay back debts, who made you owe money?"

The steward sneered.

Liu Yong couldn't contain his anger at this time, and said righteously: "You are waiting for Xiaoxiao, you have forced people to break up their wives, what else do you want?" Don't you have to force people to die, and your family is ruined? ”

"You old man is so unreasonable."

After all, Steward Wang is just a housekeeper of a landlord and a rich family in the township, and he can't talk about any eyesight, seeing that Liu Yong and the others are dressed as rough clothes, he sneered: "They owe our family money, so they should use their children to pay off their debts, and if the children can't pay it, they will take their wives!" ”

Liu Yongsheng was extremely angry and was about to let someone copy the guy.

Jiang Xuan next to him calmed down, and saw that there were quite a few people on the other side, there were about a dozen, and he felt that the heroes would not suffer the losses in front of him, so he whispered to him: "Taishou, there are many of them, it is better to go back first and gather people to come later." ”

This sentence woke up Liu Yong, if he was in his twenties, he would probably be on it, but he is getting older and older, although he used to hang out in Fengyue places and was sought after by prostitutes.

But because of this, I am used to seeing laughter and sophistication, but I am more and more sophisticated and mature, and I don't have that ruthlessness.

He had no choice but to take a few steps back.

Seeing this, the king's steward smiled proudly: "You old man just be your merchant, be less nosy, and arrest people back." ”

"Steward Wang, we will naturally pay back the money we owe, you"

The young couple wailed.

But many thugs rushed forward, tied them up, and swaggered back.

At this time, Liu Yong frowned, he was thinking about something.

Is it really just watching?

Although Jiang Xuan is reasonable, even if he goes to Yiyang County to transfer people, it will take two days to come and go, and the young couple does not know how many difficulties and tortures they have to suffer.

What's more, it is difficult to say whether this landlord has anything to do with the Yiyang County Order.

Not jokingly, he came to Weifu for a private visit, if it is near the county seat, even if it is the surrounding mountain villages, everything will be fine if he shows his identity.

But in this deep mountain and old forest, people beat them to death, and they just found a place to bury them, I'm afraid that no one will know where he is in this life.

So Liu Yong was entangled for a while.

What should I do at this time? ’

If they go back and transfer troops, I am afraid it will be too late, and they may destroy the evidence of the crime. ’

At this time, it is the best time to arrest people, there are all human and material evidence, and there is no room for denial! ’

But I'm less human now. ’

By the way, what would I do if the prefect was here? ’

He'll be able to figure it out. ’

'Yes, outwitted!' ’

Liu Yong immediately thought about it, and then said to everyone: "Everyone, I have a plan, if I can succeed, I will definitely achieve a great success, and when the time comes, the number of places in this year's examination may be expected." ”

This Xu examination is the Xu official examination, which is conducted after the separation from the two taxes this year.

In this way, if the local officials have a salary and a way to rise, it is very likely that the officials will start to study and pursue progress, and it can also greatly prevent the officials from colluding with others and breaking the law and discipline.

Knowing that there is merit to be earned, and there is also a chance to participate in the Xu official examination, and if you are lucky enough to pass the assessment, you can still become an official, and many officials are all excited.

"Taishou, please say, even if you go to the soup and fire, you will not hesitate."

"Please rest assured, these little people, I will not let them get away with one by one!"

"Taishou gives the order."

The crowd pulled their weapons out of their backpacks or waists.

Liu Yong made up a plan, and after everyone heard it, they immediately acted according to it.

The next group quickly began to follow the past.

Among them, Liu Yong and Jiang Xuan followed behind the king's steward, and suddenly stopped them, saying that they had something to discuss.

Taking advantage of the other party's stoppage, the officials around him, who had already penetrated into the deep mountains and old forests, suddenly rushed out of the forest. On the right side of the road is a small slope more than one meter high, and several people in Hula are holding knives and shouting, saying that they are state officials.

This battle obviously frightened the king's stewards, after all, they were just thugs and housekeepers in the countryside, and the most encountered were the county officials with water and fire sticks, who had ever seen someone with a knife?

If Liu Yong had a conflict with them from the beginning, maybe under the other party's already vigilant situation, even if his identity was revealed, the other party might simply not do anything and fight with them with the stick in his hand.

But now he suddenly attacked and immediately put the knife on everyone's neck, so that these people couldn't react at all.

Immediately after Liu Yong quickly identified himself, the situation was instantly controlled after a servant cut down a thug who was about to escape.

The officials tied up more than a dozen of them, and then Liu Yong let go of the young couple and told them that he was ready to go and arrest the landlord, but he was not familiar with the situation in the township and hoped that they would help.

The young couple was still stunned, but when they heard that Liu Yong was the master of Zhizhou and was coming to arrest someone, they cried with joy and expressed their willingness to lead the way.

However, Liu Yong was also worried that the landlord would resist, so he asked him to find the people in the village who were oppressed by the landlord, gather them, and not say anything at first, but said that they saw hares, pheasants, and the like in the mountains, and asked them to come and hunt with sticks and weapons.

Liu Yong specially told him not to go to people who colluded with the landlords, to find people who were oppressed by the landlords and owed debts, and that they must be young and courageous.

When the man heard this, he immediately ran to the village to find someone.

With Liu Yong as the backstage, he was also bold in doing things, and soon summoned about 30 young people who knew him from his village in Qingshan Township and two nearby villages.

After everyone arrived, Liu Yong shouted to identify himself, and then everyone rushed towards the landlord's house with sticks, hoes, and poles.

In an instant, the landlord of Qingshan Township was outwitted!

(End of chapter)