Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 235: The Blade Points Inward

"Sorry..."

During the autumn harvest season, the people were happily harvesting corn, and the officials from the yamen, escorted by soldiers, came to the outskirts of the city in horse-drawn carriages.

Longyou has a small population, and most of the people live in the city and farm outside the city. Only a small number of states with large populations will set up villages not far outside the city.

Minzhou, the second most populous city in Longyou, has a Dale Township with three villages under its jurisdiction, located 50 miles from Youchuan County to Yile County.

The seat of government in Dale is Dale Village, which was established four years ago, while the other two villages were established last year and they all accommodated people who moved in from Shannan West Road.

The people of Dale Village are different from those of the other two villages. They were all separated from Hezheng County. This year is the first year after the three-year tax exemption and also the first year of collecting tax grain.

Because of this, all the grassroots township officials including the captains, brigade commanders, team leaders, and cooks of the Dale Township Militia gathered together.

The militia system was implemented in Longyou, which was conducive to the collective reclamation of public land and also made it easier to distribute grain.

Facts have proved that this system is indeed good in the short term. For example, Dale Township has set up a militia to govern three villages with more than 200 households, including 89 households in Dale Village. There is one brigade commander, two team leaders, and nine cooks.

The village was settled and reclaimed. The brigade commander gave the order, the team leader passed it on, and the team leader called the meeting. The men went out to reclaim the public land, and the women stayed at home to make linen.

During the period of reclamation, the militia captains and brigade commanders would go to the county warehouse to get grain once a month.

After the grain was collected, it was distributed to each brigade, team, group and household by the lieutenant in charge of the county government.

After the three-year reclamation, the militia was still retained, but it no longer drew grain from the county warehouse. Instead, it paid tax grain during the summer and autumn harvests each year, just like the current Dale Village.

"Zhang Zhibai!"

From a distance, a strong man in his forties at the entrance of Dale Village came forward to greet the tax and grain team from the county government.

Two straightforward men, twenty horse-drawn carriages, and twenty armored soldiers. This was the team that came to Dale Village to collect taxes and grain.

"Captain Wang..."

The man called Zhang Zhibai asked the team to stop, then got off the car and bowed to the 40-year-old strong man. It was obvious that both parties were very familiar with each other.

After the polite exchange, Zhang Zhibai looked at the eighty-nine households of Dale Village waiting for the autumn harvest in the distance, then nodded and said, "It's time to start harvesting."

"Yes!" The captain of the Dale Township militia, who was called Captain Wang, bowed quickly, turned around and began to shout at everyone to harvest the grain.

At the same time, twenty soldiers also moved the things off the carriage.

Two tables and chairs, hundreds of pockets, and two "official bowls", one large and one small.

After arranging these things, the twenty soldiers left five to guard the armor, and the rest went to the fields to help the people harvest grain.

In the fields were civilians and soldiers harvesting crops, on the country road were two Zhibais sitting and watching, as well as six people including the captain and brigade commander of Dale Township, and five soldiers guarding armor.

Facing Zhibai and the militia captains and brigade commanders who were sitting on their chairs and making jokes, the soldiers guarding the armor looked down on them but remained unmoved.

The village in the distance was peaceful. Most of the houses were made of adobe and thatched roofs. Outside the houses were fences made of branches, and in the yard were poultry distributed by the government.

Two hours later, large tracts of millet fields were harvested and the grain was bagged and piled on the roadside.

A woman came from the village carrying a shoulder pole. Soon she walked to the table and chairs and placed the food she was carrying on the table.

A plate of fried meat, a bowl of stewed chicken, a plate of fried cabbage and several bowls of rice - this is the food on each table.

"You're killing chickens and sheep. This is such a waste."

Seeing this, the two straightforward people couldn't help but joke around, with smiles on their faces, and their hands unconsciously picked up the bowls and chopsticks.

Captain Wang smiled and said, "Of course, of course. You have come all the way here to collect taxes and grain. These are what we should prepare."

I don’t know if it’s because he has too many dealings with the government, but this Captain Wang, who looks like an old farmer, actually has a mercenary and fawning look on his face.

But all this was very useful to the two straightforward people. They changed the subject and began to discuss the other two villages in Dale Township.

Six people sat at a table, and the captains from the other two villages would occasionally interject.

As for the other table, it was for the twenty soldiers.

In the field, a soldier with a higher status frowned and said, "It's five-five shift change. Eat early and come early to help the people finish their work!"

"Yes……"

Under his order, twenty soldiers began to take turns eating, but they ate very quickly and returned to the fields to work after eating, leaving only five soldiers to guard the armor.

From noon to dusk, the two straightforward men from Yile County and the four captains and brigade commanders from Dale Township were all chatting, but the people of Dale Village only harvested 20% of the grain fields in the village.

Seeing this, Captain Wang began to arrange for the two Zhibai to rest and had dinner prepared.

Their dinner was equally sumptuous, with roast lamb being a must, and the stewed chicken soup was also delicious.

They did the same thing for the next five days, doing nothing every day, until the sixth day when the villagers finished harvesting, and then they started working.

The names of each household were written on the bags, so each household only needed to lay out their own grain and wait for it to be weighed.

They came forward one by one and poured their grain into the large official bowl.

"One stone" is written outside the big bucket, and when the big bucket is full, it means there is one stone of grain.

The villagers of Dale Village were paying taxes for the first time and didn’t know the ins and outs of it.

After they filled the pile with food, they were about to stop, but Zhang Zhibai frowned and shouted, "Keep pouring! We have to pile it higher!"

"Ah?" The villagers were puzzled, but in the end they were timid and still dumped the grain into a pile.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhibai nodded with satisfaction and said, "One stone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhibai, who was not far away, began to write and draw on the document.

The other villagers did not dare to say anything when they saw this. Instead, someone in the soldiers' team had experienced literacy training, so he frowned and said:

"Isn't this big bucket one stone? What should I do with the extra ones?"

"Boo, and see what they do!"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent, and Zhang Zhibai immediately looked at Captain Wang and the others.

Captain Wang and his men started to work, putting the excess food from the large bucket into another bag, until the grain in the official bucket was level with the official bucket. Then they stopped.

Then they put the grain in the official bowl into another bag and asked the villager to continue pouring the grain.

After repeating this several times, Zhang Zhibai finally spoke: "Liu Quan, there are six people in the family, 38 acres of cultivated land, 7 acres of wasteland, the autumn harvest of the eleventh year of Dazhong was 35 dan, and the grain tax was 7 dan."

As soon as he finished speaking, Captain Wang and his men began to help with the distribution. They carried seven of the thirty-five bags of grain from Liu Quan's family and loaded them onto the truck. Afterwards, they signaled Liu Quan to take the remaining twenty-eight stones of grain away.

Liu Quan and his family looked at the two bags of grain placed next to the two Zhibai men, wanting to say something but stopping themselves, but finally left in disappointment.

"Damn it, why are these two bags of grain not handed over to the government office, nor returned to this person? What's the point of leaving them there?"

Several soldiers spoke in surprise, but the captain signaled them to shut up with his eyes.

Without waiting for them to continue speaking, the two straightforward men and Captain Wang and others began to weigh the grain again, using the same method as before.

They weighed from early morning to dusk, and the twenty horse-drawn carriages sent by the county government were already filled with grain. There were still two piles of grain, one large and one small, placed on the drying yard in the village.

There were more than 200 bags in the big pile, with words such as "Da Le Township Tax Grain" written on them.

The smaller pile contained more than eighty bags of grain, with no words written on the bags.

After doing all this, Zhang Zhibai, along with another Zhibai, Lieutenant Wang of the militia, and three brigade commanders, found the captain who led the twenty soldiers, smiled and bowed, and said:
"Captain Cao, I know the rules. Brothers, you can take one bag of food each, and the remaining six of us will share it with you."

Zhang Zhibai pointed at the small pile of grain not far away and discussed it with Chief Cao with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Captain Cao laughed, but he was not happy but angry.

"You are quite skilled at this. I guess this isn't the first time you've done this, right?"

"Forehead……"

Zhang Zhibai felt a little embarrassed, and then he felt something was wrong.

Without waiting for him to speak, Captain Cao pushed him to the ground and said, "Damn it, I finally know why Marshal Jie hates you so much!!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, the other twenty soldiers all took action and pinned the other Zhibai and the rest of Captain Wang and others to the ground.

Before Zhang Zhibai and his men could figure out what was going on, they saw two soldiers holding down Captain Wang who was trying to struggle, and they started cursing:

"Don't move, we are from the Censorate!" Zhang Zhibai's face turned pale in the blink of an eye. He hurriedly explained to Chief Cao: "Captain Cao! I was confused! I was confused! This is the first time I have done such a thing!"

"First time?" Captain Cao laughed angrily. If they could be so skilled the first time, then those people he caught in Hezhou were simply idiots.

"No need to explain. Just wait to be expelled from Hexi!"

"By the way, I am Cao Mao from the Censorate!"

Cao Mao tied up Zhang Zhibai and interrogated him all night. He then took people to arrest Zhao Quan, the recorder of the Minzhou Household Department. He then followed the clues and arrested 32 officials related to him.

Eight days later, the list of corrupt officials in Minzhou was handed over to the Longyou Protectorate and placed on Liu Jilian's desk.

"Corrupt officials and their families will be exiled to Hexi. Let Zheng Chu and Jiu Juyan make the handover. Saltpeter must be available. If it is not enough, use horses and spices to exchange it!"

Liu Jilong did not kill them, but in accordance with the principle of waste utilization, he exiled them to Hexi.

After he finished speaking, he put down the document and glanced at everyone in the hall.

In his eyes, some people are still in fear, some are terrified, and some are filled with mixed emotions.

He looked at their complicated expressions and felt a little uncomfortable, but more angry.

"It's only been a month and a half, and 78 corrupt officials have been found in Hezhou and Minzhou. What do you want to say?"

Liu Jilong questioned everyone, but everyone remained silent, not knowing what to say.

After the corruption of Linzhou officials occurred, Cao Mao followed Liu Jilong's advice and selected 200 people from the army and officials to form what Liu Jilong called the Censorate.

The Censorate had no other work except to inspect the entire Longyou area, investigate people's livelihood, and focus on issues such as corruption and extortion among officials and the military.

Faced with an increasingly severe external environment, Liu Jilian focused on internal affairs, while Cao Mao's footprint expanded from Linzhou to the entire Longyou.

Facts have proved that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Once people fall into comfort, they will begin to develop many inappropriate thoughts.

Cao Mao conducted open and secret investigations in Hezhou and Minzhou for one and a half months, and arrested 78 corrupt officials. The total number of officials in Hezhou and Minzhou was only more than 670.

The proportion of over 10% made Liu Jilong and even Gao Jinda and others feel scared.

"In our current situation, what can we use to challenge the imperial court?"

Liu Jilong couldn't help questioning everyone. Gao Jinda, Zhang Chang, Li Ji and others seemed to be speechless. They all kept their mouths shut and didn't dare to speak first.

Looking at them, Liu Jilong could not help but teach them: "War is not fought on the basis of individual bravery, but on the people's will."

"The reason why we were able to capture Helin, Weilan and other four states in two years is not because we are so brave and good at fighting, but because the people of Longyou are loyal to us."

"Many of us have poor backgrounds. It can be said that most of us were slaves under the whip of Tibetan nobles."

"I used to think that since everyone comes from a bad background and has experienced slavery, they would at least have some empathy."

"We have finally turned the tide, and we should be thinking about how to lead the people to live a good life, rather than thinking about how to exploit and oppress these people who have not enjoyed a few years of peace and tranquility."

"If we become like the Tibetan nobles of the past who like to exploit and oppress the people, how can we govern Longyou in the long run?"

Liu Jilong spoke earnestly, and Gao Jinda had no choice but to bow and say, "General, we were negligent in overseeing this matter."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Shu, Zhang Chang, Li Ji and others bowed, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "This can't be entirely blamed on you."

"We have recovered the entire territory of Longyou. In order to properly govern the prefectures and counties, we have selected a number of illiterate soldiers and generals from the army to serve as local officials."

"Although they have received six months or even three years of literacy education, their thinking has not kept up with reality."

"They think that they suffered in the past, and now that they are officials, they can enjoy themselves. This kind of thinking will continue to grow in a comfortable environment and will become a hidden danger in our governance of Longyou."

"Faced with this kind of atmosphere, we must forcefully rectify it and use practical actions to tell those who have this kind of thinking in the team that corruption and violation of discipline is the bottom line. Once the bottom line is crossed, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"I reiterate once again, corrupt officials in Hezhou, Minzhou and other states, along with their families, will be relocated to Hexi!"

Liu Jilong spoke again and reiterated his decision, and this time he meant that hundreds of people would be relocated away from Hexi.

If the same situation happens to the remaining ten states, then thousands of people in Longyou will have to migrate to Hexi.

You know, since the Tang court replaced Feng Ao, Bai Minzhong and Liu Tong, the number of people who moved to Longyou from abroad is less than two thousand.

Now he has to relocate thousands of people, and Liu Jilian feels extremely reluctant.

However, no matter how reluctant he was, he knew clearly the consequences of failing to curb this evil trend.

The Longyou Army was able to win the battle thanks to the people’s support and the enlightened system.

If the bureaucracy is corrupt, it will affect the army, and in the end, someone might really dare to drink the blood of soldiers and embezzle the military pay of brothers in the battlefield.

If it really comes to that, the number of people sacrificed will not be a thousand, but tens of thousands.

Indecisiveness leads to disaster.

Physically eliminating these people is just the beginning. What we should really do is to arm the entire team with ideas.

Liu Jilong has been preparing for this, but has not yet succeeded.

"Do you have any objection to me doing this?"

Liu Jilong asked everyone in front of him, and they all wanted to talk but hesitated, but finally shut their mouths.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Liu Jilong could only try to smooth things over by himself and said with a smile: "Go ahead."

"If you all don't speak, then no one around me will dare to tell the truth. How will I know what you are thinking and how to solve the problem?"

Li Shangyin and his companions found it difficult to adapt to Liu Jilong's rapid transformation.

One second he was ruthlessly relocating more than a hundred people, and the next second he was smilingly asking them to give their opinions.

They didn't know whether Liu Jilong really wanted them to give their opinions or was just testing them.

In the past, they would definitely say whatever they wanted, but as the affairs of the Longyou administration were revealed, their thoughts became more and more complicated.

"Marshal Jie, I just think... there is no need to move their families to Hexi as well!"

After holding it in for a long time, it was Zhang Chang, who was most familiar with Liu Jilong, who spoke first.

After he opened his mouth, Gao Jinda and others also put forward their own suggestions as if a floodgate was opened.

"Since the last incident, everyone in the government has been worried. Now that the autumn harvest is coming, many officials are worried that if they do something wrong, they will be accused of corruption and driven out of Longyou."

"If this continues, no one will dare to do anything."

Gao Jinda expressed his concerns based on his observations, and Cui Shu echoed him, "General, the army also has this concern."

Liu Jilong nodded and looked at Li Shangyin: "Yishan, what do you think?"

"Your humble servant..." Li Shangyin hesitated for a moment, and finally said:
"I think there is really no need to implicate my family. After all, it is not easy for us to move in..."

After the four of them finished speaking, Liu Jilong frowned and sighed:
"It's precisely because it's difficult to bring in people that I can't let them mess around."

"If we only deal with them individually, how can we deter others who are ready to make further moves?"

After he said this, Gao Jinda and others wanted to talk but hesitated, but finally shut their mouths.

Seeing their expressions, Liu Jilong took a deep breath and said, "I see. You are worried that I might go too far."

"Well, I will write an article myself to explain why I did this."

"You can print this article on the blackboards of the county offices and military camps. I believe that most of the brothers will understand my intentions after reading it."

Liu Jilong communicated with them in a friendly manner, which made the four of them relax a lot.

What they were most worried about was that Liu Jilong would kill many people in one fell swoop because of this incident and start to be suspicious of them.

Fortunately, Liu Jilong remained magnanimous. He not only guessed what they were thinking, but was also willing to give an explanation.

Seeing this situation, they didn't say anything more. They just wanted to see what article Liu Jilian would write to respond to the entire Longyou.

Liu Jilian did not make them wait too long. After returning that day, he wrote the article the next day and had it posted on the blackboards of the Protectorate, the provincial government, the county government and the military camp in Didao City.

　There was a power outage this morning, so I'm sorry for the delay. I think the second update will be finished before 1:30.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)