Chinese New Year

Chapter 643: Reporting to the Capital
While the palace city of Bianliang was still under construction, a temple had already been built in Fengqiu County, north of Bianliang.

In recent years, temples have really blossomed everywhere. The more severe the fighting, the more suffering the people have, and the more prosperous the temples have become.

Last year, Shao Xun arrived in Youzhou. There was a Buddhist temple called "Tanzhe" there, which was built at the beginning of the Yongjia period. It was very popular and people from both the Hu and Han regions came to offer sacrifices.

However, if you think that Buddhism will not develop if the world is peaceful, you are wrong.

In fact, it may be faster. These wizards really have some skills. Their ways of recruiting believers are diverse and down-to-earth. Their teachings are also very attractive. It is impossible for them not to be popular.

For example, today (mid-November), a market has gathered outside this temple under the vague guidance of the monks.

Early in the morning, when He Lunfang left the inn, he saw this bustling market.

The post station was originally named after Chenqiao Township where Fengqiu County was located, and was called "Chenqiao Post Station". When Lord Liang heard about it, he ordered it to be renamed "Gongchen Post Station".

The post station had seven or eight people and fifteen or sixteen horses. Fengqiu County allocated three hectares of land for cultivation and four hectares of riverside wasteland for grazing livestock. These seven hectares of land were called "post fields" and were controlled by the post station itself.

The State of Liang had been established for more than four months, and the post station system that had been destroyed in the war was slowly rebuilt.

As for the distance between Bianliang and Yecheng, the distance between two post stations ranged from 20 to 50 or 60 miles, with an average of one post station every 30 miles, which was very dense, ensuring that official letters could be easily conveyed.

Gongchen Posthouse is located more than 50 miles north of Bianliang.

From the post road, go south through Cangyuan Posthouse to Daliang Posthouse located in the north of Bianliang City.

To the north of Gongchen Posthouse is Dongyan Posthouse, located in Dongyan County. Further north is Wenshi Posthouse, which is divided into two branches in Henan and Hebei, both located near the ferry.

The post station system of this thoroughfare has only been restored here at present, and will have to be rebuilt slowly in the future.

The accommodation conditions at the post station are not good.

His superior, the Fifth Military Minister Liu Anzhi, did not allocate much money, but let him bear his own profits and losses.

However, he also knew that it was not easy to run a post station. In recent months, the standards for food and accommodation for officials of different levels have been set, which are generally simple meals. If you want to eat delicious food, you can pay for it yourself.

The post station can provide food and accommodation to the outside world to subsidize expenses.

As long as the post stations on the post roads between Bianliang and Yecheng do not act recklessly and operate normally, they can still make some money.

He Lun had become wealthy over the past ten years or so, and his living standards had also improved. He looked down on the meals provided by the post station, and not only asked the servants to bring tableware and bedding, he also bought a sheep with his own money and killed it for food. He also asked the post station to send someone to buy wine nearby - all he cared about was that the post station's houses could shelter him from the wind and rain.

After eating and drinking, he left the post station, walked while digesting his food, and soon arrived at the market.

"I heard that the aristocratic estates set up markets behind closed doors and were self-sufficient. How come there is a market in Fengqiu?" He Lun asked, looking at the farmers setting up stalls outside the temple.

"There are no large manors in Fengqiu anymore. A single wealthy family has few fields and followers, so it is difficult to set up a closed-door market." The accompanying retainer replied, "There was once a Mao family that could be considered a large family, but it declined during the Cao Wei period, and has also been unstable in this dynasty. After the war among the kings, it gradually disappeared."

He Lun was filled with emotion when he heard this, and said, "In the past, Mao Xiaoxian (Mao Jie) was an old man of Cao Gong, and his strategy of 'serving the emperor to command the disobedient' was also a brilliant strategy of the time, but why did he fail like this?"

"The Mao family's foundation was not stable to begin with. They are a newly emerging powerful family. It is common for them to fall into decline in one generation," said the retainer.

Mao Jie was originally a county official. His family was not considered a big family in Pingqiu (Fengqiu), and had no reputation. After struggling for half his life, he ultimately failed to make any further progress and fell from a high position.

It is not easy for a carp to leap over the dragon gate. In the process of charging towards the nobles, it was not just the Mao family that fell.

"In fact, there are descendants of the Mao family serving as assistant officials in the General's Mansion and Liang State." The retainer said, "A part of the Silver Spear Camp is stationed in Fengqiu, and the Mao family donated more than 20 hectares of land, all of which were obtained by occupying the people's land during the turbulent times. Lord Liang praised them and selected two of their sons and nephews to serve in the government."

"You're quick to see the opportunity." He Lun said with a smile.

The He family of Donghai was actually a newly emerging lower-level aristocratic family in the Jin Dynasty. If the family wanted to climb up, they could only rely on Lord Liang, just as Mao Jie decisively surrendered to Cao Cao back then.

I just don’t know whether the fate of the He family in Donghai will be as bleak as that of the Mao family in Chenliu.

The market was bustling with all kinds of things for sale, but the most eye-catching thing was livestock.

He Lun even saw a soldier in military uniform leading a horse over, which he sold in exchange for a few calves.

"After the Yinqiangzhongying family moved here, they had land and houses but no cattle, so they sold horses and bought cattle." The retainer explained.

He Lun nodded slightly.

The arrival of more than 6,000 soldiers greatly prospered the market.

I heard that there was also a market in Cangyuan, and the soldiers and families of Longxiang Mansion often bought and sold all kinds of things, which gave rise to a market - the market was held once a month or once every two weeks, at regular intervals.

He Lun was born into an aristocratic family, and because of his humble family background, he had come into contact with many lower classes. According to his observation, the more aristocratic manors there were, the less likely it was that such a market would appear.

The prosperity of the market is actually the result of the decline of the manor economy. As far as Fengqiu County is concerned, the manor system is weakening every year. Perhaps this is what Mr. Liang wants to see.

He Lun looked at the farmers and small merchants who were shouting their wares in the market.

Someone strung a few "fresh fish from Jishui" together with a straw rope - it was really not easy to go fishing in the river in such a cold weather.

There were young men who looked like servants of a wealthy family, holding a few chickens with their feet tied, and they were arguing with each other - the local ethnic group sent their slaves out to sell chickens and ducks, so it was obvious that they were not a big family.

Someone brought a load of millet and beans to exchange for salt and cheese. He Lun was speechless when he saw this. Duke Liang took great care of the ten counties of Liang State and collected very little tax, so that the people could exchange grain for salt and cheese. However, he repeatedly exploited the nobles outside the ten counties. Wasn't he afraid of arousing public anger? There were also people carrying a load of juicy winter vegetables. As soon as they appeared, they were surrounded and competed to bid for them. In winter, for those who had extra money at home, meat might not be difficult to get, but winter vegetables must be in urgent need.

In addition, there are straw sandals, straw raincoats, straw hats, baskets, winnowing baskets and other items woven by farmers in their spare time.

Some people also cut firewood and make charcoal to sell.

Some people collect herbs and make various ointments to treat bruises, injuries, headaches and fevers.

……

He Lun was amazed by what he saw. This place and Fangtou were truly two different worlds.

In Fangtou, there were only military towns and forts, and scattered villages were almost invisible. The common people would rather not go out to exchange daily necessities, fearing that something might happen. It was not the same as in Chenliu.

But then again, it wasn't always like this in Liang State.

If the fort manor had not been turned into a village, there would not be such a prosperous market, and Lord Liang would have had to demolish more forts, perhaps even in his lifetime.

******
When He Lun and his party arrived in Bianliang, many county officials had already arrived.

The twelfth lunar month is approaching, and the ten counties of Liang State will send county and county officials to Beijing with local specialties in preparation for the New Year's greetings.

Yes, after the establishment of Liang State, there were two people in the Jin Dynasty who could receive congratulations from officials on New Year's Day.

Emperor Sima Chi of Jin had all the officials come to congratulate him.

Duke Shao Xun of Liang was also congratulated by all officials.

Isn’t it said that everyone wants to divide the land and establish their own borders?

Otherwise, why would the enthronement edict ask Shao Xun to "forever remember the heroic deeds of Huan Wen"?

This is true feudalism. If it were transferred to the Spring and Autumn Period, the emperor would be the "Son of Jin" and Shao Xun would be "Mr. Liang", which was extremely respected.

He Lun stayed at the manor of Wang family in Junyi, and pulled his carriage and horses into the yard.

As a general of the outer garrison army, He Lun went to the capital to report on his work and brought with him several carts of white linen.

This was a local specialty presented by Chaoge County, escorted by the county magistrate, and transported to Bianliang together with He Lun who was passing by, in order to ensure safety on the road.

After three days at the manor, he found Wang very busy. Two of the three days were noisy, and the assistant official of the land department came with a large group of officials to check Wang's land.

No one in the Wang family was an official, and according to the laws of the Jin Dynasty, they were not allowed to own so much land.

According to the law, the highest-ranking officials in the Jin Dynasty could only own fifty hectares of land, but in practice, many local tyrants who were only ninth-rank officials or even non-officials owned far more than fifty hectares of land.

Regulations are regulations, and reality is reality, and the two are extremely different.

Even in the early days of the Jin Dynasty, this law was a joke and was never seriously enforced - the Jin Dynasty itself also found it difficult to enforce this law.

He Lun watched coldly and discovered that the Wang family of Junyi, as a local tyrant, owned more than 700 hectares of farmland in the four counties of Junyi, Kaifeng, Xiaohuang and Fengqiu, most of which were occupied twenty years ago.

The officials of the Duchy's Land Administration seemed to be quite polite. They only asked Wang to return the land he had occupied since the first year of Yongjia (307), and did not mention the land before Yongjia.

How should I put it? This made the Wang family feel a little painful, but it was not unacceptable. In short, it was very entangled.

He Lun felt that Liang Gong was playing with fire...

But if you think about it from another angle, the land at the foot of the capital is occupied by powerful families, which doesn't seem to be a big deal.

I heard that Lord Liang was going to move the Silver Spear Army here gradually and add more soldiers to guard Bianliang, so he would definitely need a lot of land.

After the beggars left, a large number of them were given up.

Let the wealthy families spit out a part of it, and then we can get another batch.

From then on, there were no particularly large noble families around Bianliang City, and the land was divided into small pieces, with each household having a relatively equal share. As for whether there will be annexation in the future, that is a matter for the future. If you can still control it a hundred years later, isn't that crazy?

"What a world!" He Lun sighed.

He is a little worried now.

Duke Liang might be able to stabilize the situation by doing this in the ten counties of Liang State, but if he gets carried away and tries to do this in the whole world, it would be dangerous.

In fact, even if he only surveyed the land within the territory of Liang State, Duke Liang's prestige among the scholar group would be damaged, as he only won the hearts of the military men.

Duke Liang also relied on the support of the military community to maintain a fragile balance with the aristocratic and powerful families.

Governing this world is like walking on thin ice. You cannot make a mistake in any step and you have to grasp the degree very well.

(End of this chapter)