Civil servants of the Tang Dynasty

The tolerance leader Jia Laoer who came in with him watched Tang Cheng's back go far away, turned around and looked at Hu Lianghai, "Master County Captain, this Tang county magistrate looks a little different from the previous county magistrates... ".

……

After Tang Cheng came out of the county office, he went straight to the Longmen Inn with the best conditions in the city. The Longmen Inn is really a very thought-provoking name, but unfortunately the inside of the inn is very ordinary, and the legendary lady boss is even more so. There are no shadows.

After settling down in the best room in the inn, Tang Cheng waved his hand and reprimanded Xiao Er and the accompanying Tolerance and others, and then lay down on the couch without taking off his boots, and then closed his eyes, not knowing Is he tired and wants to rest or is he thinking about something.

Zheng Lingyi warmly twisted the handle of a towel in the copper basin sent by Xiao Er, then quietly walked to Tang Cheng and sat down, carefully wiped the hands and face of the man with closed eyes, took off his boots He asked with a soft smile, "Longmen County is even worse than expected. I don't know what regulations the county lord has?".

Zheng Lingyi's movements of wiping her hands and her face, and even her deliberately teasing smile had a great effect on Tang Cheng's mood adjustment at this time. Hearing this, although he still didn't open his eyes, his face was much softer than before. Little, without answering, he asked: "Mrs. Tang once lived in Yangzhou City as a ship envoy, so she must have taught me."

Hearing the word "Mrs. Tang" come out of Tang Cheng's mouth, Zheng Lingyi pursed her lips and smiled, put down the handle of the towel, got up, walked behind Tang Cheng, and massaged his head with her slender fingers, "Just now at the gate of the city It's an opportunity."

"Using the clean-up of the tolerance of dereliction of duty and gambling as the official debut of the new post, this can not only give a good impression to the common people, but also promote the rectification of government discipline in the county government, and establish authority by this. Well, if it is changed to other places It's really a good way." Tang Cheng knew the elegant meaning after hearing the string song, "but Longmen is not any other place, such small fights won't help much, and maybe it will be self-defeating." Immediately, Tang Cheng called Liang Hai in the future and said Everything has been succinctly recounted.

Zheng Lingyi was still a little unconvinced at first, but after listening to Tang Cheng's words, his face became a lot more serious, "I didn't expect that the Dragon Gate would be corrupted so far. What have you achieved now?".

"This place is rotten to the root. Since the disease is terminally ill, it's useless to warm up and recuperate. If you don't do it, you have to use a strong medicine." Tang Cheng shook his head, "I just don't know what the medicine is." I don't want to understand, let's wait until I have a thorough understanding of the condition, anyway, this first dose of strong medicine must not only be effective, but also let those desperate patients build up some confidence in me as a doctor. If you don’t meet these two goals, you can’t take it lightly, otherwise no one will believe it if the efficacy of the medicine is unknown.”

Zheng Lingyi pondered for a while and then nodded, "Well, Quan is patient and waits for the opportunity. With the situation in Longmen County, my husband is right to think so."

"There's nothing I can do if I don't bear it. After all, my understanding of Longmen is limited to what Hu Lianghai said, and what he said may not be comprehensive. The more complicated Longmen is, the more you have to see the situation clearly before talking about other things. The experience accumulated here is at least useless now."

Hearing this, Zheng Lingyi's face relaxed a lot, and even smiled a little, "I was afraid that you would worry about it, but now I feel relieved."

As soon as he arrived at Longmen, Tang Cheng made up his mind that he didn't want to be troublesome for the time being, but the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind continued, and the matter took the initiative to find him, and it was the most difficult thing for the yamen in this county. On the third day, several common people brought a man with blood and blood to complain.

The reason for the complaint is simple, they were beaten by Xi Ren, and when asked about the whole incident, they are basically pure victims with nothing wrong.

Such a major event in the small county town spread throughout the city almost in a gust of wind. At this moment, the people of the city finally focused their attention on Tang Cheng, the new county magistrate.Those tolerances stared at him even more closely. Although their left hand was holding a water and fire stick, their right hand was already quietly resting on the cloth button of the skirt. Go home with black skin and eat by yourself.Let them fight Xi Manzi desperately just for the money and rations of a business trip, don't even think about it!

How to do?

Chapter 222 Don't be an official, being an official is average

After listening to Tolerance's report, Tang Cheng didn't express his opinion. He turned around and looked at Hu Lianghai who rushed over with him, "What should I do?".

The county government hall is being renovated these two days, Tang Cheng is still staying at the Longmen Inn, Hu Lianghai Benzi is personally supervising the renovation of the courtroom, he really cares about this matter, it is obvious that he will finish this matter After that, Tang Cheng should also countersign the official document, and he will be able to escape from the sea of ​​suffering completely.But I didn't expect that when I was doing a good job, I would be sued by the superior. The bloody man who was beaten was released in front of the court. How can I do the renovation?Hu Lianghai, who was determined to leave, didn't want to get involved in such a bad thing, and was afraid that the accused would be entangled because of his unrepentant status as a county lieutenant. Immediately came to Tang Cheng, and it was faster than Jia Xu, the tolerance leader who reported the news.

Tang Cheng's question confused Hu Lianghai, what's wrong with me!The hand that was holding the teacup froze there, "My lord asked me? Such a big event has always been handled by the county lords in person, the next official...".

"I'm new here, and I don't know enough about the affairs of the county, and I have to borrow the experience of the county captain." Tang Cheng was not as excited or flustered as the news report tolerance expected, and he talked to Hu Lianghai as usual. It's talking and laughing at Yanyan, at least on the surface, it looks like lifting weights lightly.Seeing him like this, the tolerance thought to himself: "Daisy monster, this Tang Danhui looks young, but in terms of calm demeanor, he is stronger than the previous county magistrate."

Tang Cheng said with a smile, he had already walked to Hu Lianghai's side, and brought him the tea pot next to him to refill the water, "Such things like today must have happened before, I don't know how it was stopped before?".

At this moment, Hu Lianghai really hated himself for being so thin-skinned, why he didn't chase after Tang Cheng and directly countersign the official document after welcoming Tang Cheng to his post two days ago.

"It's difficult." Hu Lianghai took a sip of tea with a bitter face, "I won't say the reason. According to the past practice, we still need to appease the injured. As for arresting people..." Hu Lianghai sighed and shook his head Shaking his head, he obviously didn't dare to make such a hope.

"Practice?" Tang Cheng, who was looking at Hulianghai, frowned when he heard this word, "What do you mean by that?".

Hearing this, Hu Lianghai didn't answer directly, but greeted the tolerance who followed: "Jia Xu, you are an old Longmen, tell your lord."

"Returning to my lord, things like today will happen every time a new county lord arrives, and generally it will not exceed five days. It has been like this for more than ten years. The practice that the county captain said refers to this," the head of the tolerance After Jia Laoer finished explaining, he paused and thought for a while before continuing: "Master County Lieutenant is right, Xiren is easy to hug, and he is very arrogant. If these brothers want to arrest the perpetrators, they are really powerless, and if they are not handled properly, they may cause great changes, adults, think twice."

This will happen every time a new county magistrate takes office. Is the meaning still unclear?What happened today was clearly Xi Ren's temptation to him, the new county magistrate. After thinking about it, Tang Cheng couldn't help showing a sneer on his face, but he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back without speaking.

After Jia Laoer finished what he said just now, his eyes were fixed on Tang Cheng's face. He knew exactly what the subordinates were thinking. To be honest, he was really afraid that Tang Cheng would overreact to this matter. Well, if he really got to that point, he, the chief arrester of the Longmen, would be done. After all, it was a somewhat greasy job, and it was really hard to bear to lose it all of a sudden.

Thinking like this in his heart, Jia Laoer felt a chill in his heart when he saw Tang Cheng's obviously ferocious sneer, it's over, it seems that the city he showed just now is all fake, this Tang Paradox After all, Hui is still a second-rate guy who can't stand it, and what he said just now is in vain. Hey, the job of the chief arrester is over.

Seeing Tang Cheng's ferocious sneer, Hu Lianghai's hands shook violently, and the water in the teacup splashed onto his sleeves. At this moment, he made up his mind that he had to write the countersigned matter no matter what. Get it done, this damn Longmen County really can't stay here for a moment.

Jia Laoer and Hu Lianghai's eyes were fixed on Tang Cheng. In the silent room, their heartbeats gradually merged with Tang Cheng's pacing, waiting for the final moment of decision. Every pacing of Shi Tang Cheng seemed to have some thrilling meaning.

Finally, Tang Cheng stopped, turned around and looked at Hu Lianghai.

"Since there are conventions to follow, I will trouble Mr. Hu Liang to take care of this matter today." Tang Cheng smiled and bowed to Hu Liang Hai. It would be better if you call Liang County Wei Wan and don't refuse."

Finally, when he heard Tang Cheng's words, when Jia Lao Er heard this, he felt that the big rock in his heart fell to the ground with a bang. Fortunately, he still decided to follow the old path of the previous county magistrates. It's safe again, at this moment, Jia Laoer can only wish that Hu Lianghai nodded and agreed quickly.

"My lord, this..." Hu Lianghai was about to cry when he waited and waited for this, his face turned red in an instant, "Such important events have always been presided over by the county lord, The next officer..."

"There are always exceptions to everything, ah." After Hu Lianghai's hesitation, Tang Chengxiao became more humble and friendly, "Huliang County Lieutenant has been an official for many years, and he is familiar with the affairs of the county. In addition, there are conventions for the handling of this matter. It can be followed, I believe that Master Huliang will be able to handle it properly."

"Familiar with county affairs", Hu Lianghai wanted to slap himself a few times when he heard this sentence, why did he have to be so mean on the way here a few days ago, now it's good, he put himself in it.While regretting in his heart, he scolded Tang Cheng for being rude, seeing how young he was, his heart was really ruthless.

"The ability of the lower officials is limited, and it has only been seven months since I took up the post in Longmen." Even the clay figurines were a little bit angry. The door is looking forward to returning, even the imperial court does not take filial piety because of public service, my lord made an appointment with his subordinates the day before yesterday."

"Could Lieutenant of Huliang County have forgotten the imperial court's example of 'seizing love'? As an official of the imperial court, we are ordered to guard one side for the emperor, and we should be the food of the emperor. Loyalty to the emperor, filial piety must be followed, and the emperor's kindness is also indispensable. "Report", although the smile on Tang Cheng's face did not fall, but the words were full of sternness, "It is the job of the county lieutenant to investigate and arrest the robbers. Master Hu Liang has not left his post for a day, so he should be dedicated to his duty."

Seeing Tang Cheng's dignified and irrefutable words, Hu Lianghai gritted his teeth so he could barely hold back and didn't stretch out his hand to shave his ears. It was too shameless. Although he was young, he had to talk about it. The old county magistrate in his 50s can't compare with him for his thick face and his ability to prevaricate in the officialdom.

The fire in Hu Lianghai's stomach was rising. Although he managed to hold back from yelling at Tang Cheng as a capricious villain, it was impossible for him to agree to take on such a hot job that would definitely cause people to poke his spine. It was just a joke for a while Panting heavily with his neck in his throat, the atmosphere in the room was extremely suppressed.

Seeing this, Tang Cheng turned his head away, "Arrest Mr. Jia, bring Mr. Huliang a cup of hot tea."

Just now, Jia Laoer, who had been immersed in the yamen for 20 years, no longer looked at the young Tang Cheng as a melon egg, and immediately walked over to pick up the tea pot after listening to the order.

After Tang Cheng made a break to adjust the dull atmosphere in the room, he turned around and spoke to Hu Lianghai in a gentle manner, "Lord Huliang's pure and filial heart really makes me admire, and there is absolutely no reason to hinder him. The county lieutenant can rest assured that I will never forget the agreement made two days ago, so let's make an appointment for one month. One month from today, I will personally host a banquet to see you off. Within a month, I will bother you for a while longer, the chief arrester Jia Xu can bear witness to this statement, so what do you think, Mr. Liang?”.

One month, such an urgent job like today has already been dealt with in a month, this Tang Cheng really made a good plan.But the situation is stronger than others, Tang Cheng can't leave if he doesn't countersign the official document for a day, even though Hu Lianghai is full of anger and reluctance, how can he go any other way?

"One month?" Hu Lianghai gritted his teeth in just three words.

Hearing this, Tang Cheng put away the smile on his face and met Hu Lianghai's eyes and said solemnly: "One month".

After taking a deep look at Tang Cheng, the blue veins on his forehead twitched again and again, and Hu Lianghai lowered his head, let out a long breath, and said in a low voice: "The next official takes orders."

"Okay." Hearing this, Tang Cheng also breathed a sigh of relief, "This official has just arrived, and I intend to leave to inspect the place in the past two days. Since this is the case, I will entrust the full authority of today's affairs to Mr. Huliang. I will go here for a while." We must return within a month, and we will not delay the return date of the county lieutenant."

Going to the countryside to inspect at this juncture?After Hu Lianghai thought for a while, he realized that Tang Cheng was clearly trying to squeeze out the use value from his bones. If he, the county magistrate, slapped his ass and left at this time, it had nothing to do with this matter. He, the unlucky county lieutenant, was in trouble and the people pointed at him and scolded him. After everything was settled, Tang Cheng came back from below. Not only was the trouble gone, but his reputation among the people as the new county magistrate was not damaged at all. , and even get a reputation of being diligent and caring for the people.

All in all, in one sentence, by himself, he, Tang Cheng, resolved the inevitable crisis without losing anything.

Hold on tightly to the door of life, and use it as a bargaining chip to make the most of what you can.If it wasn't about him, Hu Lianghai would really applaud Tang Cheng's play from the perspective of being an official; chills.Such tricks at such a young age... At this moment, the Longmen county lieutenant only wanted to get through this month so that he could leave as soon as possible. go back!

Now that the matter was settled, Hu Lianghai turned around and left without staying for a moment. Jia Xu, who came to report the news, followed him out and couldn't help but look back at Tang Cheng in the room. He didn't even realize it. It was clear that he was looking at the same person, but the look in his eyes was so different from when he came here.

Just as he was about to leave, Jia Xu finally merged the young and exaggerated Tang Cheng with the word "county respect" in his heart.

……

Watching Hu Lianghai go out, Tang Cheng even smiled at Jia Xu when he turned his head, but when the figures of the two disappeared, Tang Cheng who turned around and looked at the vast sky through the half-opened window was silent Let out a long sigh.

With a creak, the room in the inner room at the corner opened quietly, and Zheng Lingyi came out with soft footsteps.

Gently walked to Tang Cheng and stood still, Zheng Lingyi looked out of the window for a long time in silence, "Judging from the current situation of Longmen, husband, your decision just now is the most correct, you can't come forward about today's matter, otherwise no matter how you deal with it It's all wrong."

"Yeah, I did nothing wrong." Tang Cheng didn't look back and didn't turn around. "I used to meet two governors when I was an official in Jinzhou Prefecture, and the second Yao Shijun was released from the Sixth Department of the Imperial City. Yes, the biggest characteristic of this person is that he never personally handles the situation, he doesn't even give a clear opinion, whenever there is a difficult task, he pushes out his subordinates, and if the errand is done well, the work will be divided, and if the errand is not done well, the work will be shared. It’s good and it won’t hurt him, it’s because of his ability that since he took office, although he hasn’t made any great achievements, he has continued to make small achievements, and there are almost no faults.”

"All the veterans who have experienced in the six departments of the imperial city are veterans, and he is not the only official like him."

Tang Cheng didn't answer Zheng Lingyi's words, and Gu Zi followed his own thoughts and continued: "I was the person he chose to build the road in Jinzhou that day. I used to hate him so much, but I didn't expect I used the same trick when I first became the chief officer." At this point, Tang Cheng laughed silently at himself, "I used to hear a saying that if you are not an official, being an official is mediocre. From today onwards, I am no longer qualified. I despise Yao Erqing."

"Yao Erqing is doing this for his own official position, but my husband has to do it for Longmen County. How can this be compared?" Zheng Lingyi moved closer to Tang Cheng, "How can the world be as you want, all the people who can achieve their ambitions throughout the ages Who has never done something against their will? To achieve a big thing, you need to be careless, and your husband doesn't have to suffer so much."

Hearing this, Tang Cheng smiled silently, stood silently for a while, then turned around and said, "Ling Yi, pack up, let's go to the countryside."

"Well, it's good to go to the countryside to avoid it, but now even if you live in an inn, you can't hide it from others."

"Although I'm avoiding for the time being, I can't hide. I can't hide. I will come back after a month at most. I really want to go down and see what Longmen looks like. The road to Longmen What should we do? This is a plan that has been discussed before, and we can’t mess ourselves up just because of today’s events.”

Hearing this, Zheng Lingyi smiled reassuringly, but still said in his mouth: "The biggest problem of Longmen now is ridiculing people. If this can't be solved, nothing else can be done."

Tang Cheng nodded, "That's why I want to go down even more. Now if I want to solve Xi Ren's problem, if there is no strong force to support it, even small tricks and small thoughts can't play a decisive role. Since the above is unreliable, Then we'll just have to go down there and look for it."

"Next?" Although Zheng Lingyi didn't say anything more, the worry that quietly floated on her face had undoubtedly revealed her mood.

Chapter 223 A ray of light, don't even try to run away

Without investigation, there is no right to speak. Although this saying has long been said in later generations, it is indeed a wise saying in practice.Since Tang Cheng came to Longmen County not far away, he didn't think about being just a county magistrate of copywriting - like most literati county magistrates do nowadays.As a traveler who has lived in later generations for many years, even if he has never eaten pork, he has always seen pigs run away. He understands that if he wants to be a good and accomplished chief official, he must truly put forward targeted opinions and opinions on local construction. Policy, then a large number of investigations is an essential prerequisite.If it's just copywriting and copywriting, no matter how beautifully written the official reply is, no matter how brilliant the prose is published, no matter how beautiful the landscape and pastoral poems are, it is useless.

This time, I want to have a close and in-depth understanding of Longmen County, and hope to find a way to solve the Xiren problem on this basis and conduct a preliminary investigation to verify whether the expected development direction is feasible.With such a purpose, the way of travel with prominent official authority and chess and cards becomes unfeasible.When Tang Cheng, who was dressed in a light robe with bamboo patterns, got into the carriage he had brought and was about to set off, a tolerance man in a soap suit came in panting from outside the Longmen Inn.

Seeing the anxiety of the tolerance, Tang Cheng suddenly had an idea, "Could it be that Hu Lianghai couldn't hold the stage, and what happened to that matter?" If this is the case, it will be really troublesome, and he will not Not to show up in an extremely unfavorable passive situation, which is what he desperately wants to avoid.

Whether it is the future or the present, the first impression of a new official is so important. A bad word can even be circulated in the market for many years, and it will even become the laughing stock of allusions and be brought up repeatedly.Since he wants to make a difference in Longmen County, Tang Chengcheng is absolutely unwilling to appear as a weak image that is indistinguishable from his predecessors.

"This subordinate has met your lord," Tolerance breathed heavily and bowed to Tang Cheng, then took out a letter from his arms, "Shicai sent a letter to your lord, and Longmen sent it to the county government. The chief arrester is assisting Mr. Huliang to get out in no time, so I sent it to him under special order." After finishing these few words in a polite manner, the tolerance took a long breath of relief. Damn, talking like this is really tiring .While handing the letter to Tang Cheng, the tolerance took the opportunity to look carefully at the new county magistrate. He was also really curious about what happened to Mr. Jia?Just after coming to Longmen Inn to meet the young county magistrate, it was as if he was a different person when he was mentioned again. He hadn't seen that respect for the Shangguan for many years.

After Tang Cheng took the letter and saw the word Zhang Mingzhi in the lower left corner of the cover, his heart moved, but he didn't show it at all on his face.

"Thanks for your hard work." After Tang Cheng nodded kindly to Tolerance, he raised his foot and stepped on the floor of the treadmill, and then there was a rattling sound, and the reinforced Xuan carriage slowly drove towards the door of the inn.

In the slight jolt of the carriage, Tang Cheng, who was sitting upright when he was facing a business trip just now, got off the curtains, leaned on the pillow and opened Zhang Liang's letter from Chang'an.

Since leaving Chang'an that day, this is the third letter from Zhang Liang that Tang Cheng has received, the first of which was received shortly after he returned to Jinzhou. What revealed more was Li Longji's tone of voice. Although there was no actual content in the letter, the words of his consolation and meritorious service in the palace change were heartwarming.The second letter was received by Tang Cheng when he was about to leave Jinzhou to take up his post. In that letter, Zhang Liang not only congratulated him on his wedding, but also said more about how he helped Zhang Ziwen to become the governor.

Opening the third letter, Zhang Liang's beautiful cursive script suddenly appeared. When they jointly attacked Empress Wei that day, Princess Taiping didn't show any wariness towards Li Longji. This nephew was just born as a concubine, so what if he made meritorious service?On top of him is Li Chengqi, the eldest son who has already been crowned King of Song.

Unexpectedly, this elder nephew Li Chengqi is a waste that cannot be supported by mud, and he gave up the position of prince in a short time. From that day on, the relationship between the aunt and nephew, who were destined to work closely together, completely changed.

Li Longji is no better than Li Chengqi, he is ambitious and destined not to be at the mercy of his aunt.A prince who supervises the country and a princess who assists the government have inevitably started fighting openly and secretly before the smoke of the previous palace change has cleared.Although Li Longji's strength developed rapidly during this period of time due to the prestige accumulated through Gongbian's meritorious service and the status of the prince, but the more so, the more pressure Princess Taiping suppressed.

The gap in strength between the two is too great, and now the fledgling Li Longji is at a comprehensive disadvantage. One example is that many prince officials listed in Zhang Liang's letter have recently been relegated or even exiled.Although he didn't say it explicitly, the anxiety revealed between the lines is beyond words.Since the situation was like this, it was too much for Tang Cheng to be sent far away to Longmen County. After all, he was also registered in Princess Taiping's heart.

Hebei Road, which owns the northern capital of Jinyang, is not only the land of Longxing in Li and Tang Dynasties, but also the first avenue in Tang Dynasty. If it is more important than the Jiangnan East and West Roads in the Jiangnan area, such a place will naturally become Aside from Princess Taiping's focus, there are not many places where the prince's family can intervene. Sima, the only governor of Youzhou who might be able to lend Tang Cheng leverage, is still silent, fearing that his identity will be exposed.

When Tang Cheng, who had read the letter, was thinking about it, Zheng Lingyi beside him asked softly, "Who sent the letter?".

"Zhang Liang, Zhang Mingzhi", Tang Cheng casually agreed and handed over the letter in his hand.

Zhang Liang was the one who went to Yangzhou on behalf of Xiangwang's mansion during the tung oil business. Zheng Lingyi was no stranger to him. Hearing this, he accepted the letter and said happily, "His letter came at the right time."

Hearing this, Tang Cheng shook his head and gave a wry smile, "Besieged on all sides! It was also the time when the mud bodhisattva was crossing the river. Now we can't rely on anyone but ourselves for this Longmen matter. Although Zhang Mingzhi didn't say it directly in the letter, he did The meaning is very clear."

Zheng Lingyi sighed when he heard the words, and shook the letter in his hand after reading it, "It would be the best way to open the Longmen situation if we can borrow from above, but now there is no hope at all."

"The life in Chang'an City will not be too easy in the past two years. There is no hope, so there is no need to be disappointed." Looking at the rolling hills outside the window, Tang Cheng patted Zheng Lingyi's hand, "Everything goes smoothly, every time Difficult things are difficult, the world is like this, when it is difficult, you are the only one you can rely on, don't worry, a Longmen County can't suffocate me, there will always be a way to find a way."

"As long as you're not disappointed," Zheng Lingyi nodded slightly and snuggled into Tang Cheng's arms quietly.

Once out of Longmen County, both sides of the rugged mountain road became more and more desolate. Although the place Tang Cheng crossed over was in the mountainous area, compared with Shannan Dongdao, there are even more mountains here.

Although the mountains on Shannan Dongdao are large and high, surrounded by clouds and mist every day, there are at least some dam-like flat land surrounded by mountains, with continuous waterways and even some paddy fields that produce rice.The Longmen in front of me is very good. Although the mountain is neither high nor steep, it is really unstoppable. It is continuous one after another. On both sides of the road, when you go down this mountain, you go up the slope of another mountain. There is almost no flat land where the mountains are connected.

Since there are few flat lands, there are naturally few good lands that can retain water and fertilizer. If one can only rely on slope land for a living, the common people live far away from each other, and often they can only see three or five huts after walking one or two sides of the hillside. , what I saw along the way, at least Longmen County in the mountainous area is really barren.

Originally, the problem of mocking people on the grassland was annoying. Zheng Lingyi, who grew up in the Guanzhong Plain, couldn't help but sighed again when he saw the mountains in the mountains and the sight of no people for three to five miles.

Poor husband is full of passion but came to such a ghost place, what can I do with it!

At noon that day, Tang Cheng and his party solved the problem of eating in the carriage with their own dry food. In the evening, they stayed at a nearby farmer. sad.Seeing this, Tang Cheng, who was not easy to ask questions, winked at Zheng Lingyi's girl, and after a while, the girl came back after asking clearly, and said that the housewife's trouble was because the house lacked cooking salt.

Living in this mountain is enough food to survive, and there are some game meats in the mountain, but eating salt is a big problem. First, it is not convenient to buy salt from many mountains and roads; second, Longmen does not produce salt, and the place is far away. , the price of salt from the south is really high, the slopes are barren, and the food that the mountain people worked hard to sell is not much left after paying the rent and taxes of the imperial court, and they dare not exchange too much for salt. This restaurant has been running out of salt for several days, relying on slightly stinky pickles for dinner, but this thing is so good for entertaining guests, not to mention that Tang Cheng and others saw that they were from a wealthy family, so they would accept it for a while. If you can't borrow it, the daughter-in-law is really embarrassed and can't help it.

After hearing this, Tang Cheng looked at the host who greeted them warmly in shabby clothes, his prematurely decayed face and hands like rakes, he felt sad in his heart. On the other hand, I feel ashamed of the difficult life of my family at the beginning. Although he has only been in office for a short time, he is now a legitimate magistrate of Longmen County. Miserably, he couldn't bear it either.

"Go, send the bacon jerky we brought to the stove." After giving the order, Tang Cheng called the host who was busy going in and out but didn't know what to do, and casually chatted about some short stories in the family. In terms of things, how much land is planted, what is the harvest, how is the soil strength, what farm tools are used, what crops are planted, etc., they are asked very carefully one by one.

Tang Cheng himself had farmed the land, so he was no stranger to it, and he could get the point when he asked. Originally, he sat opposite Tang Cheng and didn't know what to say. When the hostess mentioned the crop work, he suddenly became alive. stand up.

When Tang Cheng heard the amount of taxes they had to pay each year, his face changed slightly. The male farmer who was talking didn't notice anything unusual, but he didn't escape Zheng Lingyi's eyes.

When the farmer got up and went to the kitchen later, Zheng Lingyi asked softly: "What's wrong?".

"This place is barren, but the three taxes of rent and adjustment are higher than those of Jinzhou." Tang Cheng said with a dark face, "I'll do the math. When the three items are combined, the taxes are almost ten to four." , nearly double the Ministry of Household Regulations."

"Two taxes per five, which is indeed high. I remember that Emperor Taizong Zhenguan once issued an edict of one tax per twelve."

"It's been decades since I went to Zhenguan. That's the old imperial calendar. Every five tax is not light, and Longmen County has doubled it. No wonder the people born in the Taiping era can't even afford salt." After a while, Tang Cheng said hesitantly: "That's right, the total population of Longmen County is almost equally divided between Tang people and Xi people. If my expectation is not bad, this must be the increase of Xi people's share of taxes." to these people."

"Well," Zheng Lingyi nodded upon hearing the words, "The Ministry of Households calculates local taxes on a head-to-head basis, which is very likely what my husband expected."

"Stupid! Luckily, Longmen County is vast and sparsely populated. The people suffer more and open up more wasteland, and there is still food to eat. If this is changed to some densely populated counties in the Central Plains, I don't know how many people will starve to death in a disaster year." That's it." While speaking, Tang Cheng tapped his fingers on his knees in a hurry, "In the final analysis, it is still a problem of ridiculing people. These people are not only lawless, they have become cancer moths."

"Yeah, after looking at it now, I realized that the problem of Zhongxi people in Longmen County is even more serious than we expected."

Xi Ren’s problem needs to be solved urgently, otherwise everything that was conceived before will be impossible to talk about. Knowing where the problem that needs to be solved urgently is, but suffering from finding a suitable solution, let’s not mention the depression in Tang Cheng’s heart, because It's something on my mind, I ate very little food that night, and it was already dark after the meal. Such a poor family can't afford even ordinary oil lamps, let alone candles. The pine trees used for lighting in the house Mingzi's light was not only dim, but also kept flickering and jumping non-stop, and a lot of black smoke wafted out during the burning process. Tang Cheng didn't sit down in such an environment, and chatted with the male farmer for a while and asked what he thought. After asking the question, I fell asleep early.

The next morning, as soon as the cock crowed three times, he heard rustling noises outside. Tang Cheng, who was awakened, couldn't sleep and got up to look. The slope has fallen, and at this time the sky outside the door is only the first dawn of dawn.

Firmly rejecting the host's proposal to stay for breakfast, Tang Cheng asked Zheng Lingyi to quietly leave behind a flying ticket worth ten pennies before going out. These Tang farmers are so hardworking but they can't even afford salt. Such a reality really makes Tang Cheng feel uneasy. , there are more than [-] Tang people in Longmen County, and no less than [-] households. Maybe he can give every family ten guan money?Even if he can afford it, so what if the ten pennies are used up?

This is just like a concept about poverty alleviation in later generations. Blood transfusion is not as good as blood production. It is necessary to find a way to fundamentally change the living conditions of these farmers. But facing the harsh farming environment here, what can be done? How to solve this problem from the root?

Walking all the way, looking at the continuous mountains on both sides, Tang Cheng, who has completely entered the role of county magistrate, fell into hard thinking.

One day when Tang Cheng's Xuan car was driving on the rugged mountain road, there was a sudden sound of horseshoes in the valley between the two mountains. Hearing the rush of the horseshoes, Zheng Wu, who was accompanying him, looked towards the road. After a while, Tang Chengcheng in the carriage heard Zheng Qi's joyful voice outside saying: "Laifu, it's Laifu who's back."

Along the way for thousands of miles, Zheng Wu and the three formed a close friendship with Laifu. Among the three brothers of the Zheng family, Zheng Qi, the youngest, was the most sympathetic to Laifu. After seeing clearly that someone was coming, he was the first to urge his horse to meet him. .

Hearing that Laifu had returned, Tang Chengsui also got out of the carriage and waited for him to come while moving his hands and feet.