Taiping Inn

It was noon in a blink of an eye.

There are many sheds on the dock, which are made of large pots of vegetables, as well as steamed buns and porridge that have just been cooked. The ancients had two meals a day, but after the Great Jin Dynasty, it gradually turned into three meals a day. It was just that during the famine, the food was insufficient, and it gradually turned into two meals a day. However, in Liaodong, because of the sufficient food supply, it still maintained three meals a day.

Li Xuandu pointed to the shed where he was cooking and asked, "Is this the food necessary?"

"It should be right?" Qin Su was also a little uncertain. Not to mention that she didn't have much contact with family affairs, even if Qin Daoyuan was here, he might not be able to answer this question. After all, this is not a big deal, maybe only the manager here knows it.

"You'll know when you go over and ask." Li Xuandu said.

Qin Su said, "There are all men over there. Without women, I can't go there. I'm waiting for you here."

As Qin Su said, all the men do physical work on the dock. She, a woman, was too conspicuous. Li Xuan would not force Qin Su, responded and walked forward alone.

At this moment, the bell rang on the dock, and the people working stopped their work and rushed to the sheds separately. However, they were not urgent and had no intention of grabbing food. It was obvious that they were full and sufficient. , there is no big difference between going early and late.

After a while, someone had already received the meal: two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge, and a bowl of vegetables. In the eyes of ordinary people, it is already a very sumptuous meal. After all, the people have a hard life and never see any oily fishy all year round. Most of the time, they only want to be able to fill their stomachs, and there is no taste.

Those who received the meal would find a place to sit down and spread it in groups of three or three across the dock.

Li Xuandu was still wearing a black crane cloak and long boots with shoe-covered shoes, which seemed out of place with the entire dock. The people around him only thought he was the shopkeeper of the company who came to patrol, and did not dare to stop him, so he allowed him to walk around.

Li Xuan passed through the crowd and patrolled around his eyes. He saw an elderly man eating very quickly. After a while, he ate his portion clean and was sitting alone on a stone to rest.

"This father-in-law, eating too fast can easily hurt your body." Li Xuandu stood not far away.

The old man was shocked when he saw Li Xuandu and hurriedly got up to salute, but Li Xuandu reached out and held it down, "Don't be nervous, I'll just chat casually."

The father-in-law was a little wary, "This... the young master is not a local?"

"I am from Qizhou. Neizi's mother's family is in Liaodong. This time I accompanied Neizi back to visit her relatives. It happened that my family's mother had some industries here, so I took a walk around and took a look." Li Xuandu was also the truth.

The old man no longer warned and relaxed, "It turns out that the young master is from a wealthy family. No wonder he has so many things to pay attention to when eating."

Li Xuandu said: "This is not about being particular, but about being the truth, hurting the stomach."

The old man shook his head and said, "There is no way, I'm used to it. A few years ago, there was no food to eat, so he fled everywhere. When Qingyang's teachings sent food to recruit people, he had to compete with others for food. Sometimes, how much he could eat depends on how much he could eat. Fast and slow, eating a meal can last for three or four days, and you will have nothing to eat if you are a little slower."

"I think others don't have the habit of being a father-in-law." Li Xuandu said deliberately.

The old man immediately became energetic when he heard this, "I'm sure you don't hide it from the young master. I'm not from Liaodong. I was originally from Zhongzhou. I fled to Qizhou and caught up with the Qingyang Sect. Later, the Qingyang Sect was destroyed by the government. The little old man was sent to Liaodong by a big ship. God is also aware of God. He met Mr. Zhao and Mr. Qin. Those who wanted to farm gave land and seeds, those who wanted to work gave wages, and those who wanted to provide food and accommodation, and those who wanted to provide food and accommodation. We are a way out.”

Li Xuandu asked, "Master Zhao and Master Qin are so generous? I heard that they still have a lot of soldiers. Where can Mr. Zhao and Master Qin get the money to support so many people?"

The father-in-law said for granted: "Farming requires taxes, and those who do business also have to pay taxes. Isn't this money?"

Li Xuandu asked again: "The court also collects taxes, but the court still has deficits every year and does not have any money for disaster relief. Why is Liaodong so rich? Is Liaodong's taxes very heavy?"

Speaking of this, the father-in-law became a little excited, "The young master is a foreigner and doesn't know the situation in Liaodong."

"Then please tell me." Li Xuandu smiled and felt interesting. The person in front of him was obviously not from Liaodong, but now he regarded himself as a Liaodong.

The father-in-law was very proud and said, "The taxes in Liaodong are much lower than those in the court. The young man doesn't do business, he is just a worker, and he doesn't know how much the commercial tax is. However, the young man has a few from Qizhou together. The companions who came to Liaodong were younger than the young man and went to open up the land together. The young man asked them how much the agricultural tax was, and they said that thirty tax was two, which was 15 tax. "

Li Xuandu said: "As far as I know, the court has thirty taxes, and the Liaodong area has thirty taxes, which is clearly the court's taxes are lower, but how can I say that the Liaodong taxes are lower?"

"As soon as I heard what the young master said, I knew that the young master had never planted a field." The old man smiled, "The court clearly had thirty taxes, but that was just a regular tax. In addition to the regular tax, there were also various miscellaneous taxes. All kinds of messy names add up, even if you pay all the harvests in one year, it is not enough. But it is different in Liaodong. It is as much as you say. Without those miscellaneous taxes, it is lower than the court."

Li Xuandu sighed, "I understand, say goodbye."

After saying that, Li Xuan turned around and left.

The old man looked at Li Xuandu's back and muttered, "I understand? What do you understand?"

Li Xuan left here quietly and returned to Qin Su's side.

Qin Su asked, "What did you find out?"

Li Xuandu sighed, "My father-in-law and Zhao Butang are so smart, I'll experience it today."

"What do you mean?" Qin Su said curiously.

Li Xuandu said: "Now it seems that the vassal treasury in Liaodong is much richer than the treasury of the imperial court. At least there is no famine in Liaodong, and it can also lend money to open up land for the people and raise an army of 200,000. In contrast, the imperial court , there is no money for disaster relief, nor does it cost to raise soldiers. This is interesting. The land and population in Liaodong are less than one-quarter of the imperial court, and they are not rich places such as Jiangnan. How can we collect so many taxes? There are no people yet Worry? The court occupied such a large territory, so many people, making various clever names, and all kinds of taxes. The tax collection was so angry that the people were resentful, forcing the people to abandon farming and flee, but in the end the tax they received was not as much as that in Liaodong? Think about what this is?”

Qin Su immediately understood, "These taxes were greedy for the people in the middle."

Li Xuandu said: "A Liao salary is only 2 million taels of silver, which is not much, but when it is distributed to the people, it forces the people to escape. How many times has this been increased? To put it bluntly, If the court can get one million taels of silver, the people below will have to pay ten million taels of silver. The remaining nine million taels of silver will be separated by the corrupt officials. But the court does not have the ability to replace it yet. Because these officials and the gentry behind them are the foundation of the Great Wei court. Without them, the court would no longer exist. This is the reason why Zhang Xiang’s new policy failed. "

Qin Su said in amazement: "Where is this place in Liaodong?"

Li Xuandu said: "The court collected one million taels of silver, and the people paid 10 million taels of silver. Liaodong collected two million taels of silver, and the people paid 2 million taels of silver. Silver. The result is that Liaodong is richer than the court, and Liaodong is more popular with the people. How can such an imperial court be invincible?”

Qin Su said, "So this is what Dad intended to suppress the gentry."

Li Xuandu sighed: "I understand now that Zhang Xiang's new policy is destined to be impossible to succeed. The court wants to provide disaster relief, use troops, and taxes must be increased. However, natural disasters have been repeated, and the harvest is already bad, and because of the war, the young man Ding was seriously injured, and many fields were farmed by the elderly, weak, women and children, and the harvest was even more miserable. I just hope that the court would allocate funds for disaster relief or exempt taxes. In this way, it became a dead end. The court had no money, the people had no money, and the gentry had no money, and the people had no money, and the gentry had no money. Money. The gentry digs the corners of the court and tries to exploit the people. But in a sense, the gentry is the pillar of the court. If you want to deal with the gentry through the court, you will only seek death. The only way out is to set up a new door. ”

"It's just that, there's another problem." Li Xuandu changed his mind, "At the beginning of the dynasty, the administration was clear and clear. There was nothing that was not attentive, and no one was not working hard. It was because of the difficulties and difficulties of the times. It was only for the rest of his life to find a life from the deaths. . Then gradually improved and the court became stable, and gradually became lazy. The minority became the majority, and then laziness became the wind. Although it was powerful, it could not be reversed and difficult to remedy. Some were driven by their achievements and desires, and the party was the same and the differences were fought against each other, and talents gradually saw When it is difficult to deal with, the situation becomes complicated. It is like a cake, now it can be eaten 100%, gradually only 80%, and finally only 50% or 20%, which is difficult to maintain. I am thinking , Can Liaodong get rid of this law? ”

Qin Su fell into deep thought and did not answer rashly.

Li Xuandu sighed and said, "The four words "the people of the world" are easy to say, but how difficult it is to do. In the temple, it is not just a few scholars who sit and try some tricks, that is purely a talk on paper. It is not a whole day. In this plan and that plan, these tricks and power tricks cannot solve the problem of eating. How to change these real problems? How to avoid them? This is the fundamental reason, so the Taishang Taoist ancestor said: 'Govern a big country is like cooking small fresh food.'"

Qin Su said, "Do you have any solutions?"

Li Xuandu shook his head and said, "There is no good idea. We are now crossing the river by feeling the stones. At this time, it is difficult to achieve something if you have the cultivation level of immortality. This is like embroidery, it is not enough to have the strength. of."

Qin Su was silent for a while and asked, "Do you still want to continue walking around?"

Li Xuandu immediately got up and smiled and said, "Of course I have to walk around and take a look. I am becoming more and more interested in Liaodong now. No matter what in the future, Liaodong is very satisfied with me now."