Chapter 871 The Old Man

Chapter 871 The Old Man

Chapter 871 The Old Man
In late March, Wang Xuan went from Pingyang to Yewang to check the fields.

There is only one last stubborn stronghold left here: the fortress of the former refugee leaders, brothers Guo Mo and Guo Zhi.

Guo Mo once led his troops to flee to Henan and fought for King Liang. When attacking Liu Ya of Hanoi, he led his troops back and occupied the fort that he had abandoned.

Over the years, he was basically not investigated, and other people were dealt with first. Today, in the ninth year of Shengui, Guo’s Fort finally faced the "big test".

"Yuanxiong, we met once in Luoyang. During the battle of Heyang, you two brothers were very brave and fought hard, and it was not in vain." Wang Xuan walked in the fields, looking at the clerks who were measuring the fields, and said to the two Guo brothers: "The Shan family has withdrawn from the land before Yongjia, so you should stop dreaming."

Guo Mo was speechless.

Guo Zhi was indignant, but he did not dare to say anything unpleasant to Wang Xuan. He could only complain: "Who can cultivate all the wasteland? If the King of Liang needs land, he can just find someone to cultivate it."

Wang Xuan had a good temper and was too lazy to argue with him. He just looked at the places with wooden signs nailed to them.

"Zhang Xiaoer!" a clerk shouted loudly.

Zhang Xiaoer huddled in the crowd, looking at the clerk and then at the Guo Mo brothers.

Guo Zhi glared at him.

"Zhang Xiaoer!" the clerk called out again.

A rough man in the crowd pushed Zhang Xiaoer.

Zhang Xiaoer stumbled forward, gritted his teeth, and said, "I'm here."

The clerk glanced at him and said, "This piece of land is yours. Since it is lower farmland, I will give you twice as much as you want, which is 49 acres of farmland, 8 acres of mulberry forest, 3 acres of riverside grassland, and 5 acres of house and garden. You can dispose of it as you like. Keep the deed."

Zhang Xiaoer was still very scared at first, but when he saw the deed, it was as if something was activated. His eyes turned red. He took it, carefully put it in his arms, lowered his head and left.

He glanced at Guo Zhi, then quickly looked away and went straight to look for his family.

"Don't leave in a hurry." The clerk shouted behind him, "From now on, you don't have to pay taxes to the owner of the dock, only taxes and labor service to the court. If someone robs you, you can go to the gate of the county government and beat the drum to seek justice."

"Yes, yes." Zhang Xiaoer paused and left quickly.

His wife and children were wiping away tears.

In the past, it was indeed necessary to seek refuge with the fortress lord, otherwise they would not be able to survive, but now Hanoi is no longer a war front, so it seems that this is no longer necessary.

Being a villager in a fortress has its pros and cons.

The advantage is that you can get protection, but the disadvantage is that you can only make a living, which is comparable to Cao Cao's farming, and most of the food and cloth have to be handed over to the owner of the fort.

I just hope that the imperial court’s exploitation is not as severe as that of the fortress owner, otherwise there will be no difference.

Outside the main gate of the fort, the drawbridge had been lowered, and a group of strong men handed over their bows, swords, spears, and armor, then left with their families.

Seeing this, Guo Zhi immediately walked over.

"Mr. Guo." The women and children hid behind, while the men came forward to pay their respects.

Guo Zhi sighed to the sky, returned the greeting, but said nothing.

A lot of land was cleared out of the fort, and many of the farmhands left. The fort could no longer afford to support so many elite troops, so a group of them had to be released.

These people will be registered by the county and given land and gardens, and will have nothing to do with the Guo brothers from now on.

Of course, that's only in theory. In reality, you can influence them through gratitude and friendship and use them for your own benefit.

But in the end, there is no title, and no master-servant relationship.

It is their duty to help you. When it comes to the next generation, I am afraid it will be even worse and they will not even listen.

Shao is really ruthless, his tricks hit the vital points directly: land and population.

After the land was cleared, the remaining fields could not support as many people as before, and the strength of the entire fortress declined greatly.

When your strength declines, everything will go wrong.

Do you have enough money to make friends with noble people?
Is it still possible to make various sophisticated equipment?

Is it still possible to raise all the clan members and appoint them as accountants, managers, or even military leaders?
It seems like none of them work.

This is an all-round recession that is heartbreaking.

Fortunately, the imperial court was kind enough to rank their fort last, allowing them to earn more money and grain for a few years. The hundreds of thousands of bushels of millet and wheat in the warehouse were not confiscated, which was quite considerate.

But it’s still uncomfortable after all!

If Shao was not at the height of his power, he would have rebelled long ago. But then again, if he was not at the height of his power, Shao would not have dared to do this.

"Yuanxiong." After watching this big show, Wang Xuan smiled and said, "The twenty counties of Liang State have been quantified. This is an iron rule. No one dares to disobey it."

"Yes." Guo Mo responded calmly, as if he had already accepted his fate.

Wang Xuan added: "Don't say that the court has forgotten your past friendship. The post of county magistrate of Yangping County is vacant, and one of you two brothers can take the position. In this way, you will be an official in the future. Isn't it better than being a general without any foundation?"

Hearing this, Guo Mo felt a little relieved, thinking that at least he did not lose nothing.

He planned to take the position of county magistrate, while his younger brother would stay in the fort to manage the family business.

Wang Xuan glanced at Guo Mo's expression and said nothing more.

The last place in Hanoi County that needs to be measured will be sorted out in the next few days.

So far, nine counties of Liang State, including Chen, Liang, Nandun, Xincai, Ji, Dunqiu, Henei, Puyang and Xingyang, have completely completed the land measurement. Five counties, including Runan, Jiyang, Taiyuan, Xinxing and Wei, have entered the final stage. Five counties, including Pingyang, Leping, Yangping, Ruyin and Chenliu, will still need some time, but will definitely be completed this year.

Shangdang County is rather special and land measurement has not yet been started.

Outside of these twenty counties, counties like Yanmen, Xiangcheng, Henan, Hongnong, Jibei, Changshan, Zhongshan, Gaoyang, Hejian, and Zhangwu were not within the territory of Liang State, but either the land measurement had been completed or there was no need for land measurement.

Although there are many powerful people in Dongping, Gaoping, Jinan, Leling, Boling, Xia Pi and other counties, the difficulty of measuring land is not very great, and it is still possible to implement it forcefully.

In short, things are still moving in a good direction, although many people are not very happy - Wang Xuan himself does not really agree with it, but for various reasons, he just forces it to go ahead.

******
On March 25th, just as Wang Xuan completed measuring the fields and returned to Yewang, he met a group of scholars heading north from Henan.

"Meizi."

"Yingzhi."

Wang Xuan and Bian Tao smiled at each other and walked away arm in arm.

"What is Meizi doing in Yewang?" Bian Tao said with a smile, "Why is Meizi not staying in Pingyang but coming to Yewang to hang out? Is there something grand here?"

"I dare not stay idle." Wang Xuan said: "Now I don't know how many people are eyeing your position. If you are idle, you will stay idle forever."

"Official fanatic!" Bian Tao sneered and said, "I don't work as an official. I wander around the manor all day long, but I am free. If it weren't for the call of King Liang and my father's urging, I would not bother to leave Jiyin."

“When discussing Taoism in Jinyang, how can we miss the Six Dragons of the Bian Family?” Wang Xuan said with a smile.

"The Six Dragons of the Bian family are a thing of the past. Why mention them again?" Bian Tao sighed, "In the past, there were also the Eight Pei Fangs and the Eight Kings, all of whom were outstanding talents of their time. Not to mention the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and the Twenty-Four Friends of the Golden Valley Garden. Sigh. I just can't understand why, after so many years of the King of Liang in power, there hasn't been another Five Sages, Six Friends, Seven Dragons, Eight Das, etc."

Wang Xuan was speechless and could only smile bitterly.

"I met Yang Zuyan in Yuanju a few days ago." Bian Tao continued, as if he had a lot of grievances. "He became a minister and went to the local area to make a fuss, that's all. I invited him for a while, but he actually refused. Why is he pretending? Back then, we had disheveled hair, exposed our chests and abdomens, and stayed at home drinking for several days. I never saw him absent. Since he went to Liang County, he didn't come several times when I called him. It seems that he has suddenly become a hermit. This time, I met him, and asked him what official business he had to bother him with. He should be casual and throw the official seal to his followers and let them do it. We will just drink and have fun. He also hesitated and actually slipped away."

"Alas! He has changed, Yang Zuyan has changed! Meizi, he used to curse 'incompetent officials' and 'vulgar affairs' in front of me, but now he is busy with vulgar affairs every day. Do you think he has changed?"

Wang Xuan also wanted to slip away.

When I first met Bian Tao, I felt a little friendly, after all, we used to hang out together. Even after I became an official for King Liang, we got together several times, and each time we had a great time.

But in the past seven or eight years, he has increasingly felt that he is not of the same kind as them, so he has gone to fewer occasions and gradually faded out. As for whether there is any conspiracy behind his back, it is hard to say, but he no longer cares much anyway.

Thinking of this, he suddenly understood why the scholars were no longer as prosperous as before after King Liang came to power...

"Yingzhi, I--" Wang Xuan hesitated.

"I know. You have something to do." Bian Tao was a little unhappy and said, "Anyway, you and I are not going the same way. I will go to Jinyang via Shangdang, and you will go back to Pingyang via Wangwu."

This was a bit sarcastic, and Wang Xuan felt a little embarrassed, so he pointed to a group of scholars in the distance and asked, "Are these all the outstanding people in Yuzhou?"

"Yes." Bian Tao looked back and said, "Who dares not to obey the order of King Shao? The soldiers of the East Sea are so powerful that everyone wants to flatter them. They don't even allow people to tell the truth, and they even send people to remind them not to 'make trouble'. It's amazing."

Wang Xuan felt that he couldn't continue the conversation with him, so for the sake of their past friendship, he reminded him, "Given the situation, why does Yingzhi have to act like this? Even if you feel unhappy, you should at least consider your father."

Bian Tao finally calmed down, and after a moment he said, "You can hold me back, but not others. This is because the resentment has been accumulating for a long time and is difficult to resolve. Meizi, you were at the Guo brothers' manor before, right?"

"good."

"The Guo brothers were forced to resign from a large number of their lands, and their followers and farmhands were dispersed. Do you think they cursed in their hearts?" Bian Tao asked, "The Guo family is like this, so how is my Bian family any different? What about others? Even if the land outside Liang State is not measured, after seeing this kind of thing, they will definitely have some thoughts. The King of Liang has been saying for so many years that 'we must tolerate each other for the sake of the country', and now that the world is generally peaceful, he still wants to tolerate it. How long will he tolerate it?"

Wang Xuan didn't want to argue with him any more, so he just said, "We can save these few things for when we discuss the Dao in Jinyang. If we make it known to everyone now, I'm afraid it will arouse the jealousy of the villains."

Bian Tao heard this and thought to himself, "Do you think I'm stupid? I won't say this in Jinyang. Why should I step forward when others are charging into battle? If I cause my grandfather to lose his job, won't you kill me?"
Seeing that Bian Tao stopped talking, Wang Xuan quickly said goodbye to him and went to Pingyang.

(End of this chapter)