Chapter 284 Suffering and Snakes
Chapter 284 Suffering and Snakes (Part 2)
The dusk was like a layer of soft gauze, slowly spreading over a tax collection desk in a village somewhere in Yingtian Prefecture.
This is also next to the tea stall.
Li Xiuwen, a 40-year-old new clerk in the household registration department, was concentrating on checking the tax bill in the dim light.
He was a child of a poor family who had taken the imperial examination three times but failed each time. On his cuffs there was still the bitter aroma of medicine made by his sick wife, which lingered on his lips.
In fact, even Yan Shan, who was in charge of the party affairs of Fushe, had not realized that there were many invisible barriers to joining Fushe now.
Nepotism, high membership fees, and even whether one is from Jiangning, these conditions are like invisible barriers that constantly keep people like Li Xuwen out.
Li Xiuwen has always been yearning for the Fushe Society and longed to become a member of it, but he has never been able to do so and could only sigh helplessly.
Fortunately, Xu Liushou implemented the civil servant selection examination and also carried out the initiative of merging officials and civil servants. This was undoubtedly like a ray of light, illuminating the official career path of people like Li Xiuwen.
Otherwise, they may never be able to step into officialdom throughout their entire lives.
Even though he was a student, his status was much higher than that of ordinary farming people.
But if one cannot enter officialdom, even if one can sustain one's life, one will be filled with pain and helplessness deep in one's heart for not being able to realize one's ambitions because of one's education and broader horizons, just like a bird trapped in a cage, with wings but unable to soar into the sky.
When Xu Qing was giving lectures at Fushe, he said that people have two kinds of "food". One is material, which is used to maintain life and is indispensable; the other is spiritual, which determines who you are and gives life unique meaning.
When Li Xuwen heard these words by chance, it was like a person who had been groping in the dark for a long time suddenly found a bright light. He was deeply touched and could not calm down for a long time.
After successfully passing the civil servant examination, Li Xiuwen received an unexpected surprise.
The government sympathized with his difficulties and arranged a simple job for his sick wife in a nearby workshop.
Although the salary is meager, it can just offset half of the monthly medicine expenses. If you buy medicine at a government-cooperated pharmacy, you can enjoy more discounts.
This is the welfare that Xu Qing carefully prepared for the new officials - the government will step in to solve the personal family difficulties of the new officials.
As a pilot area, Yingtian Prefecture has sufficient capacity to carry this care.
After all, these benefits don’t cost much when you calculate it carefully.
Moreover, for an official, if he has evil intentions and abuses his power, the personal gains he seeks are far more than this.
Xu Qing also discussed this issue specifically in the inner court.
He knew very well that greed was part of human nature and difficult to eradicate completely, but the degree and methods of greed varied greatly.
Some officials are not born without conscience, but are forced by their family circumstances and the pressure of life to occasionally break the bottom line of the law. Once they break the bottom line, they will be dragged down step by step and become corrupt.
These are the people Xu Qing needs to win over and make use of. He cannot sit idly by and watch them be corrupted and fallen by the wealthy and powerful.
Moreover, to maintain the stability of the country, the role of grassroots officials is crucial.
Ensuring their basic living is equivalent to consolidating the foundation of the country's rule.
As long as these people can be properly appeased, there is nothing to be afraid of even if the local gentry and nobles attempt to rebel.
"Stability is above all else!" This is the core principle that Xu Qing adheres to in his current administration.
The Dayu Dynasty is now facing constant internal and external troubles and the situation is complicated. Because of this, stability is particularly precious, like a magic needle that stabilizes the sea in a storm.
Xu Liushou's methods are tough, like a sharp knife, but he is not a bloodthirsty person and will not abuse his power easily.
So once someone bumps into his knife, they have to reflect on what mistake they have made.
Li Xiuwen was one of the many scholars who admired Xu Qing.
There are many scholars like him who come from humble backgrounds. After receiving the benefits of the new officials, their respect for Xu Qing has grown day by day, like the endless flow of a river.
In Li Xiuwen's eyes, Xu Liushou never boasted about creating a peaceful and prosperous era, nor would he use the Confucian concept of universal peace and prosperity to confuse people.
He just keeps his feet on the ground and pushes for change in the world step by step.
Perhaps in the process of change, some places will experience brief chaos and things may seem to be worse, but in the long run and overall, the entire society is moving steadily in a good direction, just like a giant ship breaking through the waves in a rough sea. Although it will encounter wind and waves, it will always sail firmly towards its target port.
"Father-in-law, your family's five mu of paddy fields should pay one stone and two dou of tax according to regulations, which is definitely not the two stones of tax last year. Now the court is implementing the Single Whip Law, which is converted into silver coins as..." Li Xiuwen stretched out his hand to stop a trembling old farmer. His movements were gentle and calm, trying his best to calm the old farmer's anxiety and fear.
He then took out from his bag the "Key Points for Identifying Fake Fish Scale Books" compiled by the Fushe Society, opened it carefully, pointed to a paragraph highlighted in red ink, and patiently explained: "I'll read it to you. Here is a detailed description of your family's land. See if it makes sense..."
Li Xuwen particularly cherishes this opportunity to do practical work. He does not miss any details and is fully engaged in every communication with the people.
The "Key Points for Identifying Forgeries in Fish Scale Books" that Xu Qing distributed to new officials was like a compass for them to follow and was a rule that must not be violated.
In this regard, Xu Qing was firm in his attitude and did not give local authorities any room for free maneuver.
Everything is based on the "Key Points for Identifying Fakes in the Fish Scale Book". Perhaps to outsiders, this approach seems somewhat dogmatic, rigid, and lacks flexibility.
But Xu Qing knew clearly that the most terrible thing every time a new law was implemented was that the regulations were vague. Once the officials below were given room for discretion or reckless behavior, the consequences would be disastrous.
For example, if a county magistrate abuses his power and acts arbitrarily, it may lead to the destruction of the families of thousands of ordinary farmers.
The people of the Dayu Dynasty, especially the farmers, had a very difficult life.
After two hundred years of land annexation, the remaining self-employed farmers have financial resources as thin as a piece of paper. Any slight disturbance may become the last straw that breaks the camel's back for their families.
The regulations introduced by Xu Qing may not fully conform to the actual situation in some special areas, and may even seem a bit harsh, but overall, for the vast majority of people, they can still be regarded as good policies.
Just like in a barren desert, although water resources are limited and difficult to obtain, it still gives people hope for survival.
Xu Qing now understands more and more what the old Prime Minister Zhang Tai'a did.
Being in a high position in the government, it is inevitable to exploit the people in order to maintain the huge operation of the court.
This is like a helpless "evil", but the key lies in how to "do evil" in order to be more beneficial to the court, and how to minimize the harm to the people while maintaining rule.
...
...
A Cui, the proprietress of a nearby tea stall, eavesdropped for a while with a copper kettle in hand, and finally could not help but interrupt: "Secretary Li, no one has silver coins on hand. If you want to exchange them, you have to go to Mr. Liu's house. But his grain bucket..." As she spoke, she lowered her voice and made a tilted gesture stealthily, hinting at something fishy.
When Li Xiuwen heard this, his back suddenly stiffened, as if he was hit by an invisible force. The scene in the warehouse three days ago suddenly appeared in front of him: he found the interlayer bucket and took the yamen runners to seal it up overnight.
At that time, the sinister laughter of the warehouse clerk Lao Zhao seemed to still echo in my ears: "My young sir, have you read Liu Zongyuan's On the Snake Catcher?"
There seemed to be endless ridicule and threats hidden in that laughter, which made people shudder.
Now, these silver coins are the snakes.
At this time, the old farmer trembled as he took out the silver coins he was going to pay the tax. In order to collect the silver coins equivalent to one stone and two dou of grain according to the Yitiaobian Law, he spent a full three stone of grain.
This was because he arrived early and had an advantage. The losses suffered by the villagers who arrived late were much more severe than his family, but even though they were full of grievances, they could only endure it silently, grit their teeth and swallow their anger, and dared not complain at all.
In previous years, harvesting an extra three or five buckets of grain would be enough to plunge a family into despair and their lives into an abyss from which there is no escape.
But now the world is different. During the slack season, you can earn some money to supplement your family income by working as a laborer in the city. If your family is safe and sound, and you don't get sick or suffer disasters, and you live frugally for three to five years, you can save enough money for your son to marry a daughter-in-law.
In the old farmer’s mind, such days are just like the legendary Yellow Heaven World, so beautiful that it is hard to believe.
By the way, the money earned from working in the city is almost always settled in copper coins. I heard that I could go to the government bank to exchange copper coins for silver coins, but in the eyes of the old farmer and others, they were of humble status and were absolutely "lowly people", so how could they dare to try it easily?
Besides, who knows how much will be deducted if you exchange copper coins for silver coins?
Moreover, in their perception, those who go to money houses are all respectable and well-known people, either scholars or wealthy businessmen.
They felt deep down that they were not worthy of setting foot there, and were afraid of polluting other people's place, so they could only stay away from it.
Therefore, the old farmer acted as if he didn't hear the reminder from the tea stall owner A Cui, and continued to prepare to complete the important task of paying taxes.
For them, paying taxes is like a disaster that they must go through. As long as they can get through it, they can live a relatively stable life.
Moreover, the government now provides meals when it requisitions corvée labor during the slack season.
I heard from the village private tutor that there is actually salary, but I have never heard of anyone actually receiving it.
Although everyone had doubts about this matter, they did not dare to ask too much or spread it around.
In their view, being able to have food to eat while doing corvée labor was already a great blessing, so how could they dare to ask for more?
They also heard from their teacher, who occasionally acted as a storyteller, that the rule of providing meals was specially set by Xu Liushou, the master of literature.
Xu Liushou is truly the savior of these poor people. We will always remember them.
It is said that Xu Liushou has six heads and can see all the sufferings of the people.
But the old farmer really couldn't imagine why humans could have six heads.
He sometimes attended temple fairs, and the Buddha statues he had seen were only those with four heads and eight arms.
Wow, this is incredible! Xu Liushou has two more heads than the Buddha in the West!
...
...
At three o'clock in the morning, in the household duty room, Li Xiuwen had seven different types of measuring buckets piled in front of him.
When he was comparing the volume of the ninth bucket with a vernier caliper, he suddenly heard the crisp sound of a tile falling to the ground.
Pushing open the window, I saw three masked men climbing up the outer wall of the granary with a ladder in the moonlight, and the ox-ear knives on their waists were shining with green light.
"Catch the thief!" He grabbed the gong and started beating it hard, but from the darkness he heard the muffled groan of the night watchman, Old Wu.
By the time the night watchman arrived, the thieves had already fled, leaving behind only a line of chalk-written blood on the warehouse wall: "How long will the new dynasty last?
...
...
A province in the northwest.
A young laborer who was transporting grain was squatting in the corner of the porridge shed counting the rice grains. This was the seventh grain of brown rice covered with yellow mud that he had found in three days.
Suddenly, a strange noise was heard coming from the grain truck.
The disaster relief officials immediately led people to surround the grain carts, but saw that the old man escorting the grain carts suddenly foamed at the mouth and spider-web-like blue spots appeared on his neck.
"It's the Miaojiang poison!" The accompanying medical officer screamed and stepped back.
The disaster relief officials tore off their official uniforms and wrapped their hands with them. When they continued to count, they found that thirty dan of relief grain had already been replaced with stale rice that had been soaked in water.
Now that the imperial army is heading north, there is no more food left for disaster relief.
Disaster relief officials fell into despair.
Similar things happened in different government offices and on convoys transporting relief grain.
...
...
Before the army sets out.
Xu Qing received news summarized from various places.
What he could not tolerate was that such a thing happened even in the government office of Yingtian Prefecture.
It seems that he killed too few people.
Do these people think his knife is not sharp enough?
Xu Qing suspended the army's expedition.
This would result in serious losses, but Xu Qing didn't care.
"Ask Duke Wei to come see me."
(End of this chapter)