The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

The one who came from outside the courtyard was a Zuo Shi, who took off his shoes outside the hall and came in to kneel and worship.

Xun Zhen and Le Jin both sat down and collapsed. Xun Zhen asked, "What's going on?"

"Xixiangzhi is pressing for chickens and money for the past two months."

"Xixiangzhi? Chicken, money?"

"As a rule, this township needs to buy two chickens for Xixiang every two months, 1,000 yuan, which should have been given in the middle of the month, just to catch up with Xie Jun's departure and Xunjun getting off the bus, so it has been delayed until now. Xixiang Zhi Qiangfu can't wait, this is the second time someone has been sent to remind me."

...

The post, also known as the post, is the place where the post is sent, that is, the post station in the Tang Dynasty and the urgent delivery shop in the Song Dynasty, which are found in every county. Its responsibilities are mainly to pass the mail, receive the messenger, and provide the messenger with food and drink.

Generally speaking, a small county has one post office, and a large county can have several, either in the county or in the countryside. Yingyin is a large county, there are three post offices in total, all of them are located in the main traffic roads and must pass through, and one of them is in this township.

"Zhi" and "Ting" have similarities and differences.

In terms of sending mail and receiving messengers, the two are the same, so they are also called post booths. The difference is that the pavilion has security duties, and usually not only receives messengers, but also provides accommodation for the people.

Not only is the place large, but there are also many officials in the building. There are long and rafters, the elders are in charge, and the rafters are in charge.

Their immediate boss is the county governor. Under the supervision of the post, each setting has a history, which is also led by county-level officials, supervised by the chief, and uploaded and distributed. The next person is Zhi Qiangfu, who is responsible for managing specific affairs. Most of them are one person, but there are also two people. The next one is Zhicheng and Zhizhu, and there are stables, chefs, and Chuanshe, who are responsible for horses, food, and Chuanshe, respectively.

There are many officials, and there are more full-time mailers who deliver mail and do chores at ordinary times. They also have to raise cattle and horses, and provide food and drink for officials. The daily expenses are not small. "In this way, in the village, the village also needs to provide a part.

...

Xun Zhen said, "Two chickens, one thousand dollars."

This Zuo Shi replied: "Originally, according to the regulations of the county, we should give two chickens and a thousand dollars every month. After Fei Chang became the county governor, he took care of the village and reduced our village to two months. give it once."

As mentioned above, the people of the time had a lot of ideas in the village. Although Fei Chang was a guest of the eunuch's family, he did not forget to "benefit" the village. Xun Zhen nodded and said, "I know about this.  …, you go and write the official document, bring it here, I will sign it for you, and then go to the Xiangzuoyuan to pay the money." Xiangzuo manages the money. Although Huang Xiang has resigned, his Zuo Shi has not resigned, and now he is temporarily in charge of the income and expenditure of the township.

Zuo Shi agreed, but refused to leave. Xun Zhen asked, "What? What else is there?"

"Xunjun, after giving this money to Zhili, do you want to collect it from the village according to the previous practice?"

Xun Zhen had just been in office a few days ago, and since he took office, his main energy has been spent on reading the briefs and papers of previous years. To be honest, he is not very familiar with the daily work in the village. He asked, "Is this money collected from the village before?"

This Zuo Shi said as a matter of course: "That's of course. ... We are just a township, not a county, and the taxes we collect are all handed over to the top, and there is usually no savings, and we have to maintain the official temple and maintain the various Daily expenses. Let us pay, where do we have the money?"

"Does the county know about this?"

"It was first approved by the county, and it has been more than 20 years now."

Xun Zhen pondered a little, and said, "Since it was approved by the county court, the expropriation will be done accordingly."

Zuo Shi agreed, but still refused to leave. Xun Zhen held her temper and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Probably because it was cold in the hall, Zuo Shi slapped his hands and warmed his face, and then said with a smile: "Xun-Jun, the practice in previous years is to pay one and receive two."

"Pay one and receive two?"

"That is to ask the villagers for four chickens and two thousand money."

Xun Zhen said: "When I was studying scriptures from Brother Zhong, I occasionally listened to him discussing current affairs. Eight of the ten sentences were 'below the state and county, all are greedy and let loose. Xuan Biao said that when Gai Sheng, a doctor of Taizhong, was the prefect of Nanyang, he received hundreds of millions of dollars, and should be removed from office and imprisoned, and his money and bribes should be confiscated. ..., Brother Zhong was very indignant when he heard about it, thinking it was a sign of the country's subjugation. Although I didn't say anything at the time, I was very agree with his 'judgment'. Brother Zhong praised the county magistrate for this, saying: He is light-hearted, and does not collect money, which is the blessing of the county. The county magistrate is indeed honest and upright, but he is only clean and honest himself. ——Even the villagers are greedy. Remnant!"

He asked: "When did this 'pay one and receive two' start?"

"It has been more than ten years since Xie Jun's predecessor Youzhi."

"You said just now that the money was collected from the villagers, but I suddenly remembered something: when I was the head of Fanyang Pavilion, why was no one ever collected this money?"

"Two thousand dollars is not much, so there is no need to collect it from the whole township every time. There are eleven pavilions in the township, dozens of li, and the pavilion is the second, and the expropriation is rotated. Once every two months, six times a year, eleven It takes two years for the pavilion to be rotated again." Seeing that Xun Zhen seemed to ponder, he smiled, "When Xun Jun was the head of Fanyang Pavilion, he engrafted the common people, Zebei Zhuli, and all the villagers praised him. I have also heard about this. Now that Xunjun has an order in the township, if you still think about Fanyang, you can be like Fei Chang, and when it’s time to get to Fanyang, you can let them go.”

Xun Zhen glanced at him and said to herself, "There is always a pavilion to give out this money. It will be freed from Fanyang. Isn't it added to the other pavilions? Am I giving kindness? Or am I fighting for hatred?" , "That's not necessary. Which booth should it be this time?"

"It's Su Ting's time."

Xun Zhen pondered and thought: "As an official, one should go with the flow, follow the old rules, and follow the old rules. Because if the old rules are changed, it will be difficult for the officials who take over. However, I recently read the booklet in the temple and learned that the complicated Although the people of Yangting have worked hard, they are already good in the whole township. The people of other pavilions and li are even more difficult to make a living. Now in the deep winter, the weather is cold and the ground is freezing. How many people can't even provide food and clothing, how can they bear to receive the extra money? I didn't come here to be an official, so this old practice will change!"

The collection of 1,000 yuan and two chickens was approved by the county. Even if Xun Zhen was reluctant, there was nothing he could do. This is a big taboo. In the eyes of people who care about it, they will definitely be questioned. Xun Qu's father and uncle are both "party members", and he has been implicated in the first place. The relationship has just been released, and I can go to work. If I break the taboo again, maybe I will be falsely accused and questioned. Therefore, this approval from the county court will be followed, but "paying for one and receiving two" is too much.

Two thousand dollars and four chickens were distributed equally to each person. The villagers in Dating received two or three dollars each, and the villagers in Xiaoting received four or five or five or six dollars. For a family of five, each household has to pay a dozen or twenty or thirty dollars. This may not seem like much, but it is a large number for the destitute villagers and the poor people who have been overwhelmed by various corvée taxes.

——He looked at the official temple slips in the past few days, and his family was less than a thousand dollars, and his family was only four walls. He is not hard-hearted, how could he not be sympathetic? How much more pity, it's just shocking. Although he had heard about the hardships of the people at that time, and had seen one or two cases from time to time, how could he, who came from later generations, have personally seen such a large-scale, without omission, and spread all over the country? Mourning is everywhere.

——This is the first time that he has come into contact with these things at the grassroots level in such a real and close manner, which is far more shocking than the previous "hearing". Because of this, he couldn't sleep for several nights. He woke up in the middle of the night, wrapped his clothes around the room, sighed for a long time, felt a block on his chest, both pity for the people and hatred for greed, knowing that although the Yellow Turban Rebellion had turmoiled the country, it would hurt people. The vitality of the world has been restored, but on the one hand, the people are struggling to survive, and on the other hand, they are extortionate, how can the people not rise up? How can this world not die?

——At the time of Fanyang, although the people of Fanyang were poor, they could still make ends meet, and his main focus at that time was on life-saving, so benevolence to the people was more to win over people's hearts and gather people, but this Once, he decided to abolish the old practice, but he had no other intentions to mix it up, just to show mercy to the people and to do what he could do within his power.

"Although I do everything possible to save my life, every single one of the people in this country is also a life."

He pondered over and over again, and Zuo Shi didn't understand a little, didn't he just collect thousands of dollars? It has been like this for more than 20 years, what is there to reconsider? Xun Zhen made up her mind and said, "Since collecting money from the township is approved by the county court, I can't break the rule, but 'pay one and receive two' is not necessary. In the past few years, there have been epidemics one after another. The years are not good, and it is not easy for the common people.”

Zuo Shi was anxious and said: "Xun Jun! This is the old example, how can it be changed?"

He was sitting on the ground on his knees, but now he was so anxious that his waist was straight forward, and his buttocks left his heels, turning into a sundae sitting.

Xun Zhen noticed that the clothes on his body, although not exceeding the standard, were the clothes of a small official, but the workmanship was fine, and there was a jade pendant hanging from his belt, just looking at the appearance, he could tell that it was very valuable, and said to himself: "This small official's clothes are very valuable. I don't know how much of the clothes and decorations come from this 'pay one and receive two'." With a smile on his face, he said, "The old practice is not irreversible. The people have worked hard for the past few years and need to recuperate." See this Zuo Shi I also wanted to persuade him to know what he was thinking and think about it. In order to avoid him being entangled, he simply said, "I will pay for the extra two thousand dollars for them."

"what?"

Zuo Shi couldn't believe it, opened his mouth wide, and let out a cloud of heat. Le Jin, who was sitting next to him, was also surprised. Zuo Shi asked with certainty: "Xun-Jun, are you out for them?"

"Exactly, I'll do it for them."

Zuo Shi's **** fell back to his heels and said: "Xun Jun is kind and considerate to the common people, which is a good thing. But Xun Jun, this time you paid for them, what about next time? Next time you will pay for them. Is it?"

Hearing this, Le Jin snorted. Xun Zhen looked at Zuo Shi closely, and said to herself, "I first came here that day, and this Zuo Shi also greeted me with Gao Su. After I came to the village, they were also very respectful to me, but now when it comes to money, they are timid. But it got bigger."

——This Zuo Shi seems to be thinking of Xun Zhen, reminding Xun Zhen that "giving money for the villagers is a bottomless pit, after this time, there will be another time", which actually implies two meanings, one is , "scare" Xun Zhen so that he can change his mind. Second, if Xun Zhen refused to change her mind, then, from now on, "this thousand money and two chickens will be passed on to you."

All in all, this thousand money and two chickens must be collected.

Xun Zhen thought to himself: "There are more than ten people in the township of various types of officials. Every two months, one thousand dollars and two chickens are distributed to each person equally, which is only forty or fifty dollars a month. Look at this small official. His greedy appearance, ..., hehe, I'm afraid I've been scolding Fei Chang a lot in private." Fei Chang changed the one-month payment to two-monthly payment, which reduced the burden on the villagers, but also reduced the The extra money of the villagers.

Although this little official was rude to push him, Xun Zhen decided to bear it for the time being. The focus of his attention now is the third clan, and he doesn't want to create a branch at this time. He immediately smiled and said: "I will pay for it, what is a thousand dollars?"

"Then the villain will go back and write the official document, please draw a promise."

"Okay."

Before Zuo Shi left, he said again: "Xunjun, according to the usual practice, in this thousand money, two chickens, there are two hundred money, one chicken is yours. If you deduct this part, you will pay another eight hundred money and one chicken. A chicken will do."

"Okay, okay."

When Zuo Shi walked out of the hall and the courtyard, Xun Zhen smiled and said to Le Jin, "Wen Qian, I'm letting you see a joke! This little country official has never been out of the house, and guards an acre of land all day long, too I have no vision." He stretched out his hand, pinched his thumb and forefinger together, revealing a little slit, "I have such a big vision! A thousand dollars and two chickens are also in my eyes. Laugh, trivial things are just nonsense for a while."

Le Jin was still angry and said: "Zhenzhi, you are too good to talk! This little official is obviously forcing you to pay, so why do you agree? I heard you talk about your night attack against thieves last night. As you said: 'Zhuanghuai is fierce', I wish I could be with you at that time. Why didn't you take out the decisiveness of that night thief and scolded him severely?"

"A small official, a thousand dollars, why bother! The most important thing today is..." Xun Zhen looked outside the Wangtang, the jujube trees in the courtyard were sparsely sparse, and there was no one in the courtyard, except for the bamboo slips in the half courtyard, he leaned forward to accept the case , lowered his voice, "The most important task today is the Third Clan."

"What did Zhenzhi mean?"

Xun Zhen turned around and said with a smile, "I have to bear with this little official first!"

Le Jin felt that he had learned a little more about Xun Zhen: he was brave and tolerant, and he was a person who knew the importance of priorities. He sighed heavily, suppressing his anger towards the clerk, and said, "What Zhenzhi said is true, that third clan is indeed more hateful than this clerk.  …, Zhenzhi, I don't know how things are going. ?"

Xun Zhen looked at him so angry ~www.wuxiahere.com~ and found it a little funny, and at the same time she knew a little more about him: when Le Jin was personally insulted by the third Lan, he could hold back; The official was rude, but couldn't hold back. Two points are explained: first, Le Jin can think of others, because he does not want to cause trouble for Xun Zhen, so he can hold back when he is humiliated by the third Lan; He is more sensitive and may be more concerned about the attitudes of others, so he can't bear it just by watching the rude officials.

After a few words of consolation, he replied, "Today, after Junqing, Ayan, Xiaoxia, and Xiaoren got up, they went to find people respectively, and began to inquire about the third clan's bottom line."

"What do I need to do?"

"I can't use it now. But when I have collected enough evidence of the third clan's crimes, when I start to take people, I will inevitably borrow your strength. - They have a large number of clansmen, and they have more Qingxia and dead soldiers. At that time, If they resist arrest, there will be a tough fight."

"Zhenzhi, you allowed Xiao Xia and Xiao Ren to hand over that defiant Cantou to them. I also ask you to promise me to hand over the third Lan to me."

Xun Zhen laughed: "Okay! It's a word."

When the two of them were talking about the third clan, none of them worried that they would not find "sufficient evidence". In their opinion, the third clan seemed to be dead.

——

1. Gaisheng, the prefect of Henan.

"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty? Qiaoxuan Biography" says that Gai Sheng was corrupt when he was the prefect of Nanyang. "At that time, the Taizhong doctor Gai Sheng had an old favor with the emperor. He was the former prefect of Nanyang, and he paid more than 100 million yuan. Financial bribery. The emperor does not obey, and he is promoted to the servant."

Cai Yong's "Taiwei Qiao Xuan Stele Yin" said that Gai Sheng was embezzled when he was serving as the prefect of Henan. He took over hundreds of millions of dollars in the county, causing profound poisoning.”