My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 593 This Damn Pressure

Deng Zhi learned that Jiangzhou would continue to expand the Ciqikou wharf this winter, which would require large-scale conscription of labor.

He wanted to see how Zhuge Liang's system of labor service payment, or the "rent and labor service system" reform was implemented and what the public feedback was so that he could report to Zhuge Jin when he returned. So he hired a small boat that day, crossed the Jialing River, came to the south bank, and visited the site.

This is not because Zhuge Jin did not trust his second brother and had to send his own people to investigate. It is because some things need to be heard from both sides. During the reform period, Zhuge Liang was busy with many things and might not have the time to personally understand the situation. Zhuge Jin sent someone to investigate with good intentions.

Because the place to be expanded was originally a commercial port, the transportation was naturally very convenient. Deng Zhi's boat could dock directly at the pier and land at the destination.

From a distance on the Jialing River, he saw that the Ciqikou Wharf seemed very prosperous, with merchant ships coming and going in large numbers, and cattle, horses, and trucks coming and going on the shore.

To the west of the commercial port, there is a construction site that looks bustling from a distance, with many civilians and laborers working there. Some are building various houses, warehouses, and stores, while others are cutting wood, transporting wood, and measuring water levels. The division of labor is clear and well organized.

Of course, it was impossible for all the materials needed to build the new dock to be produced within a few miles of the area. Therefore, there were many cargo ships on the river that were specifically used to transport wood and stone. They unloaded the goods at the old dock and then used carts and horses to transport them a short distance of two or three miles to the new dock construction site.

Although there were many ships carrying building materials, it did not hinder the original daily operation of the commercial port. Merchant ships selling Sichuan brocade, salt, tea, steel, ironware, and porcelain were able to berth and load and unload in an orderly manner, showing that the scheduling was exquisite.

"I have heard for a long time that under the rule of Lord Zhuge, people's livelihood and internal affairs are well-organized, and the four classes of people are in their proper positions and in good order. Unfortunately, when I was an official in Jingzhou a few years ago, Lord Zhuge had already followed the lord to Shu, so I never saw him in person. I didn't expect to see him today, and he is indeed extraordinary."

Deng Zhi hadn't even gone ashore yet, but just by sitting at the bow and looking out, he felt a sense of respect in his heart.

He couldn't help but ask the boatman, "Old man, I heard that this Ciqikou was a new port that Zhuge Lingjun started to build after he followed the master into Sichuan. It was still a wasteland two years ago?"

This boatman was not even a citizen of Liu Bei's rule, but a citizen of Yan Yan's jurisdiction on the other side of the river. They were just making a living on the river, and there was no distinction between them. However, after hearing Deng Zhi's question, he still said with pride:

"Of course not. I have been begging for a living on this river for decades. Even when the world was peaceful, I couldn't have such a good life as I do now.

Over the past few decades, how many local officials have been replaced? Even fishing and ferrying have to be taxed in various ways, and there is no fixed rule. It was only after Zhuge Lingjun came that the tax was imposed.

It is said that there were kind-hearted officials in Ba County in the past, but they could not handle the people below them who wanted money. Only Zhuge Lingjun could make the people below him obedient. "

The boatman's words were simple and some details were unclear, but Deng Zhi could sense his emotions, and he must have been frightened by the repeated collection of taxes in various ways when he was young.

How many ordinary people can understand the laws of the court and the regulations of the government? It's always the case that when a powerful person asks for money, no matter if they understand the name or not, as long as they don't have the power and the fist is not strong enough, they have to give in. Otherwise, they can only flee and become refugees, or surrender to the powerful and become slaves and become hidden households.

But even this illiterate old man could personally feel that under Zhuge Liang's rule, tax collection was methodical and there was no repeated extortion or levy.

In particular, Deng Zhi learned that the other party was not a civilian living in the area under Liu Bei's military jurisdiction, but lived around the old city of Jiangzhou guarded by Yan Yan. Because the territory under Zhuge Liang's rule was more stable, he specially paddled his boat upstream to earn a living.

This made Deng Zhi respect Zhuge Liang's governance ability even more.

Being able to make the people under the rule of other princes come to work for you even if they cannot move, is the greatest recognition from the people.

When Deng Zhi thought of this, he couldn't help but feel sad for the civil servant in charge of Jiangzhou under Liu Zhang's rule - with a reference like Zhuge Liang across the street, it must have been very painful to be an official in Jiangzhou.

He had just arrived and didn't know much about the local situation, so he casually asked, "Father, you said you live in Jiangzhou Old City, which is under the rule of General Yan? I guess General Yan is just a military commander. Is there no capable civil servant in Jiangzhou City or even Ba County to stop the exodus of people?"

Upon hearing this, the boatman instantly revealed a contemptuous expression: "I don't understand those things, but what good can the civil servants in Jiangzhou have? Compared with the people of the Zhuge family, they are really... Haha, I only know that the civil servant in charge of Jiangzhou City is named Zhang, and he is a county magistrate. I heard that he is extremely greedy!"

Deng Zhi could tell from the other party's words and expressions that he was very disdainful of the county magistrate. He only knew about his evil deeds but didn't even bother to ask about his name.

Finally, Deng Zhi asked one or two more questions before he could guess that the civil servant in charge of Jiangzhou was Zhang Song. He had heard of Zhang Song because a few years ago, Zhang Song had been sent out of Sichuan as an envoy to participate in the alliance meeting at Mangdang Mountain in Xiaopei, representing Liu Zhang to join forces with Liu Bei. The ordinary officials under Liu Bei's rule had also heard of Zhang Song.

Deng Zhi couldn't help thinking to himself, "I didn't expect that Zhang Biejia, who came back to take charge of public affairs, would be so out of touch with reality. Ordinary people would say he was greedy.

Liu Zhang really has no ability to judge people. Everyone says that he is weak and incapable of ruling. Looking at it today, it is indeed true.

Send Zhang Song to compete with Zhuge Lingjun for the hearts of the people. I'm afraid it won't be long before Jiangzhou... When something unexpected happens, who can General Yan count on to help him defend the city?"

However, Deng Zhi could only think so because he was too low-ranking. Therefore, he was not qualified to understand how Zhang Song was a top figure and his relationship with the top leaders of Liu Bei's camp.

... Deng Zhi was filled with emotion all the way, and the boat finally docked safely at the pier.

He didn't say anything more, paid the boat fare, asked where to go, and headed straight for the new dock under construction. He wanted to see the construction site with his own eyes, and it would be even better if he could catch some corvée laborers who were taking a break and understand the people's sentiments.

Unfortunately, Deng Zhi did not have the opportunity to approach the construction site directly. The newly built dock was well managed, and when Deng Zhi was about to approach, he was driven away by the patrolling soldiers as an idler.

It was just that he was dressed fairly well, like a scholar or a minor official, so the patrolman did not make things difficult for him, but just tried to persuade him to leave.

Deng Zhi had no choice but to wander around in circles. Fortunately, he found a place not long after he walked.

It turned out that there was a row of shops on the old pier that had been requisitioned by the government, apparently to recruit laborers for corvée labour. There were crowds of people outside the doors, and it was obvious that there were many applicants.

Seeing that the place did not drive away outsiders, Deng Zhi went back and watched for a while.

Soon, he noticed that at the door of the inn, there were several grassroots officials shouting:

"To do labor service to repair the dock, twenty coins a day! Thirty coins for those who want to go into the water! Thirty to forty coins for those who can do carpentry work, depending on the level of their skills!"

At the door of the store, a group of idle men were queuing up, waiting for work, and then they squeezed forward.

However, with the soldiers maintaining order and asking everyone to line up, the situation was quickly brought under control.

Soon, the clerk had recruited enough people. Some people still couldn't find work and were unwilling to give up. The clerk explained a few words:

"Calm down! There is a fixed plan for the number of workers to be employed every day. It's not winter yet, the river water level is not low enough, and the work on the pier can't be done. There is no use having more people.

We also need to count the number of people who can pay to serve as a substitute before we can hire you. The county government does not take any commission, we only hire people based on how much money others pay.

However, those who come to queue today can register their names, townships and villages first, and get number plates. If there is a chance later, they will be hired first.

You don’t have to run around every day. When you need people, you can go to the township or village and find the head of the village to inform them. When the time comes, those who have received the license plate can just follow the head of the village.”

After hearing this, everyone felt that the government was reasonable and stopped complaining. Some people just came to join in the fun and make a little money if they had the chance, but they left when they saw there was no chance.

Others who were extremely poor and had little or no land, estimated that they would have nothing to do for a long time this winter, so they registered their names and put their fingerprints on the application, hoping to do some work to make a living.

After the clerk in charge registered the job, he also gave each person a small piece of steamed bread made of coarse rice bran as compensation for the poor people who lined up to apply for the job. After all, some people walked more than ten miles to try their luck, but they didn't get the job, and they had to work hard to walk back.

Of course, in the current environment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang's care for the petty officials to give a small rice bran steamed bread to the volunteers was already a very remarkable benevolent policy. Most of the princes hired people for work by capture, and there was no such thing as giving a little coarse grain that could barely keep people alive without working.

Deng Zhi secretly observed from the side and understood Zhuge Liang's operation. Zhuge Liang implemented the law of paying labor service in the territory under his rule in Jiangbei, which meant that if anyone did not want to perform labor service every day, they would pay 30 coins to the government.

According to the old laws of the Han Dynasty, each person had to perform corvée labor for at least 20 days a year, plus 10 days of unpaid travel time (because in many cases the corvée labor was not performed in one’s hometown, but rather far away. If the travel time did not exceed 10 days, the government would not give additional compensation, and this time would not be counted in the number of service days, which was a loss for the people. The corvée labor time was only calculated if the total round-trip travel time exceeded 10 days)

All in all, a person would have to pay at least seven or eight hundred coins a year to be exempt from corvee labor.

Considering the old law of the Han Dynasty, the annual tax for a male adult was only 240 coins, and the annual tax for a female adult and a male under 15 was only 120 coins. Paying 700 to 800 coins a year to avoid corvée labor was already three times more expensive than the head tax of copper coins.

It can be seen that the people under Zhuge Liang's rule were willing to pay for exemption from military service. Not long after the new policy was announced, so many people had already paid.

However, the world is not the same. The people under Zhuge Liang's rule only want to spend money and don't want to work, while the people under Zhang Song's rule really want to work and make money.

Deng Zhi felt emotional. He waited until a group of poor people who had failed to apply for the job had completed the registration by pressing their fingerprints and squatted aside to eat steamed bread made from bran. He then went over to them and asked them questions quietly.

"My dear father, the people of Jiangzhou are so eager to do the labor service worth 20 coins a day? Why do the people under the rule of Zhuge Lingjun on the north bank prefer to pay the money?"

The poor man he asked was also in a very depressed mood. He had not found any work today, so he did not answer his question in a good tone:
"How can it be the same? I heard that under the rule of Zhuge Lingjun, anyone can find a job in Jiangbei New City. No matter what you do, isn't it better than making twenty or thirty coins a day?
But compared to the corvée labor of Zhang Juncheng, the thirty coins a day is not bad, and it also provides two meals. "

(End of this chapter)