Aggrieved Fish Sprite

The snow on the mountain road seriously slowed down the speed of the caravan.

The terrain of Silang Mountain is not as steep as the northwest of Pingzhou. Because of the caravan, the road here has been specially repaired. Apart from being slippery, it is also smooth.

Meng Qi was not in a hurry to hurry, he stopped and walked, looking at the scenery beside the road to pass the time.

There are not many people like them who joined the team halfway, including shopkeepers, woodcutters, and even escorts in the yamen.

People who work in the yamen are also divided into grades, not to mention those who are of high grade. In terms of these low-level servants, some have been working in the yamen for a long time, and some are ordinary people who have come to serve in corvee.

What the latter did was not the easy work of delivering letters, but delivering materials for the government, such as charcoal for winter, sand, earth, bricks and tiles for building houses, etc., to put it bluntly, they were coolies who did not need money.

The corvee will be distributed to each male, and each of them needs to do heavy work for the government for about a month every year.What to do and how long to do it, the government has the final say.

Working in corvee in Zhushan County, the county government is in charge of food and housing, and there are not many jobs.It was obviously not the case outside, those people were pushing carts without saying a word, and the person who looked like a supervisor was not in the mood to joke and just wanted to quickly hand in the errand and go home.

At this moment, one could see the tyranny of the Si family. The vehicles transporting things for the government did not dare to cross the Si family caravan, but followed behind like a small caravan.

When it was dark, I hadn't reached Qiuling County yet.

Caravans, large and small, stopped. They found an open space, surrounded the cars in a circle, and built a bonfire in a place sheltered from the wind to keep warm.

Thinking that they would be home soon, everyone had smiles on their faces, only the servants were anxious.

"Tomorrow is the deadline!"

"...We'll go and report the situation, maybe we'll be more accommodating." The official in charge of the supervision had no choice but to say to the guards who came up with a sad face, "There is snow everywhere, if you drive at night, you will be damaged." Isn't the crime more serious for vehicles and food and grass?"

"If we hadn't met the Si family caravan, we would have been able to go faster!" a guard said angrily.

Someone next to him immediately covered his mouth, and said in a low voice: "You don't want to die? The Si family has always been overbearing, and you and I will be punished with a few whips for a day's delay. If you collide with the Si family's goods, how will you pay for it?" ?”

The guard was dissatisfied and wanted to say more.

The supervisor pointed to the shining knife of the Sijia caravan guard and said, "Even if you can afford it, are your arms and legs tougher than a knife? They won't kill you, but what if you lose your arms and legs?" What to do? When your family sues, they say they mistook you for a bandit, and send some money for soup and medicine. How will your family live by then?"

The guard had nothing to say, and sat down on the side with his head sullen.

Mo Li could hear the words of the group of people clearly. He looked at the car transported by the guards. There were deep ruts, and the car was covered with a waterproof tarpaulin. It was so tightly covered that nothing could be seen.

There are more than 20 such large carts in total, and they are not drawn by horses or oxen, but rely entirely on manpower.

"Are all the corvees outside so heavy?" Mo Li asked in a daze.

Even though it is said in the book that the tyranny is fiercer than the tiger, the places that Mo Li passed by were not in dire straits. The car driver of the caravan just said that Qiuling County is very prosperous, and the life of the people is much better than before.

Could this be so much better?

Mo Li asked unconsciously. Meng Qi looked at the servants and said in a low voice: "If you don't want to serve corvee, you can buy it with money. There are more rich and wealthy people in Qiuling County, and there are more people who are willing to spend money. You don't have to. Going to work as a coolie, I naturally feel that life is much better than before. However, in this world, there are always some people who cannot afford the money. There are fewer people working, but there are still things to do. Therefore, for the poor, corvee heavier."

"Isn't the money used to redeem corvee labor the cost of the government hiring people to do the work?" Mo Li asked subconsciously. How could there be fewer people working after coming and going?

Meng Qi paused, but did not answer.

Qin Lu had never been an official, so he knew nothing about these secrets, so Mo Li naturally couldn't learn them. He hadn't left Zhushan County for many years, and he saw things that were completely different from what he remembered, and sometimes he couldn't understand them for a while.In fact, Meng Qi didn't need to explain, Mo Li thought slowly and could figure out the answer.

The government received the money for the redemption of the corvee, but did not hire people to work. It still used the poor people, treating one person as two people, and then recorded a sum of hired labor in the account.In this way, the saved money went into the pockets of the county government officials who were greedy for ink.

"Is this a common thing?"

"No matter where it is, it's very common..." Meng Qi was in a daze for a while, as if recalling something, and then said, "The Chu Dynasty once promulgated a new corvee law for this purpose. Anyone who is distributed to corvee will not be allowed to redeem. Those who have spare money can send servants or hire people to serve, and the government cannot collect money on their behalf."

After hearing this, Mo Li felt that this was a way to curb the oppression from the root.

Unexpectedly, what Meng Qi said next was——

"The implementation of the new law has failed. Those officials who are making money can always find loopholes. They passed the dental office, stipulating that wealthy households must hire people through the government-run dental office. The money changed hands and went into the pockets of those officials. In fact, no hired workers went there at all, and the matter remained the same and had not been resolved. There are even more unscrupulous officials who simply charge the people in corvee service "single money", ten coins per person. If they do not pay, they will be punished. I was forcibly 'hired' by the dental office. Originally, I only needed to serve for one month, but it was extended to two months. I didn't get a penny as a hired worker. Even if I appealed, the government and county government have long been colluding..."

Mo Li's breath became a little short when he heard that, he didn't know what to say, those guards were squatting beside the car, as if they were still worrying about not being able to reach Qiuling County in time.

Meng Qi next to him continued: "The Chu Dynasty implemented a new law, including the corvee law, a total of twelve articles, and established a patrol post for the new law, but the final result was disappointing. Corrupt officials cut down a lot. Those who colluded with corrupt officials There are also a lot of patrol inspections. For example, the corvee law, doctor, do you know why it failed?"

"...official corruption?"

"No, it's because the county government system is incomplete." Meng Qi seemed to have fully recovered his memory of being a national teacher. The food that these people, such as the detainees and detainees, do not count as royal salaries at all. The money they support their families is given by the county government. Where does the county government get the money? They deduct the oil and water from the places that the court tacitly approves, and the magistrate has a term of office. There is no fixed number of coming and going, only these small officials have been sitting in the county government for a long time, they have become local snakes, and they can even take the magistrate to the ground. If they refuse to work, the magistrate has no choice but to follow them and give them benefits. "

The ink carp was silent.

This seems to be what old Mr. Qin said, it was Xue Lingjun who understood, and they knew very little about it?

"Doctor, judging by your appearance, there must be no such things in Zhushan County." Meng Qi smiled suddenly, and said leisurely, "This made me curious, and I wanted to go to Zhushan County...but no matter how good the place is, there is no place like this." Not always."

Mo Li heard from the mountain people what Zhushan County was like before Xue Lingjun came.

Although Xue Lingjun is 30 years younger than Mr. Qin, in the eyes of ordinary people, the age of knowing the destiny is already very old.Even if Xue Lingjun is in good health and lives for a few more decades, what about after a few decades?

Doctor Mo gradually discovered that his expectations for the future seemed more and more difficult to realize.

At least he can't imagine that in Zhushan County in the future, there will be a group of petty officials who exploit the people, and a group of holy lotus altar believers who will confuse the people.

Qin Lu traveled around the world back then, and finally settled in Zhushan County under the rule of Xue Lingjun, but what can the ink carp do?Qimao Mountain is there, he can wander outside, but he can't move his nest after all, he still has to go back to Zhushan County.

"The doctor regrets leaving his hometown?"

"Although the hometown is good, if you don't come out, how can you detect the crisis in the future?" Mo Li replied.

How the people of a place live depends on what kind of person the county magistrate is?How to change?

Mo Li thought a lot, and when he came back to his senses, he suddenly realized one thing: even his little dragon vein had to worry about Zhushan County, so what about the Taijing dragon vein?

Once the dragon veins take shape and live in the world as a human being, they will encounter the same troubles.

Taijing is the capital of all dynasties, a bad emperor is more troublesome than a bad county magistrate.

Could Taijing Longmai be able to bear such a bad heart?

Mo Li subconsciously looked at Meng Qi with deep eyes.

Meng Qi was waiting for the doctor to continue asking him for advice, when he suddenly met this look, the back of his neck shivered, as if some secret had been discovered.

"..."

Strange, what is going on with this feeling?Meng Qi muttered in his heart.

"Huh?" Mo Li happened to see a man with a hood covering his head and face not far behind Meng Qi running to the guards, and fell down due to exhaustion. The guards seemed to recognize this person and quickly covered him.

At this time, the front of the caravan also became chaotic, as if something had happened.

Immediately afterwards, I saw a group of people holding torches, coming here from far and near.

The leader was a man who looked like a black tower. He rode on a horse and scanned the messy camp with his blade-like eyes. The people behind him came up to ask if they saw the stranger coming from the direction of Qiuling County.

Everyone shook their heads in unison. They only went to Qiuling County on the way, and they haven't seen anyone going the wrong way!

The guards of the Sijia caravan seemed to recognize these people, and stepped forward to speak.

"...Something must have happened!" The coachman Mo Li had talked to in the afternoon patted his legs and said, "These people are all from Sijiapu. It's so dark, so they are chasing someone?"

Mo Li looked at the guards from the corner of his eye, and found that they had already hidden him in the shadow behind the car.

"Don't cover your face, show your face!" the Sijiabao man ordered arrogantly, rushing in to recognize everyone.

The small caravan was in a hurry, begging for mercy not to damage the goods.

"What are you doing?"

When the private soldiers of the Si family saw the official servants, they questioned them unceremoniously.

The supervisor quickly obstructed, "These are all grains and grasses from neighboring counties. They are for General Liu's soldiers and horses to chew on. They must not be damaged!"

Hearing the name of General Dangkou, the leading black-skinned man immediately frowned.

By chance, there was a sound of horseshoes at the end of the mountain road, and Mo Li moved his ears to confirm that it was the direction they were coming from, and then a dozen or so horsemen that Dr. Mo was very familiar with appeared at the crossing.

"What's the matter, is the road still blocked?"

As soon as Liu Dan lifted the reins, he looked coldly at the private soldiers of the Si family holding torches.

Although there were few people around Liu Dan and many people around the Si family, the black man had a cautious expression as if he was facing an enemy.

"General Liu invited, someone stole the belongings of the Si family and ran out, and I was ordered to hunt them down?"

"What item is so precious?" Liu Dan sneered.

Before waiting for the other person to answer, General Liu whipped his horsewhip over him, "What the hell are you? It's fine if you don't kneel down when you see this general, but you don't report to the officials when things from the Si family are stolen. By whom?"

The black man seemed to be good at martial arts, he dodged the blow, held back his anger and said: "The Si family has lost a family heirloom, which is priceless, the patriarch ordered us to get it back, and neglected the general in a hurry, please forgive me. "

Liu Dan didn't continue chasing him and whipping him, but just sneered: "A family heirloom? I think it's something shameful!"

No one dared to answer, Liu Dan obviously wanted to find that person before Sijiabao, he glanced around by the light of the bonfire, and unfortunately met Meng Qi who had just taken off his cloak.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

General Liu breathed a sigh of relief and almost choked himself to death.

The author has something to say:

This chapter explains from the side why Meng Qi has political ideals→_→

Taijing Dragon Vein: Chen Dynasty, what kind of broken emperor?

Taijing Longmai: Either you die, or I kill you!

Taijing Longmai: I can't take it anymore, I want to find friends, I want to establish a dynasty that I like!

----

History books: Chen Chao's vitality is exhausted, and Li's dragon veins are in full swing.

Then Meng Qi swung the history book away.