Xuzhou, formerly known as Pengcheng.
It borders Yanzhou to the north, Yizhou and Sizhou to the east, Song and Bo to the west, and Haozhou to the south, and is under the jurisdiction of Henan Province.
Xuzhou has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It was later known as the "crossroads of five provinces" and the "Athens of the East". It is also the hometown of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, and King of Chu, Xiang Yu. In the vast Chinese nation, nine emperors were born in Xuzhou, so there is a saying that "nine dynasties of emperors were from Xuzhou."
In order to relive the warmth of his hometown, Zhu Li passed Sizhou without stopping and went straight to Xuzhou. No matter in his past life or in this life, this place is his hometown and he has deep feelings for his hometown and cannot let it go.
Yongfengli in Feng County is Zhu Li’s ancestral home. It was originally a small town, but now it is in ruins and nine out of ten houses are empty.
Occasionally, a villager with ragged clothes and pale faces would secretly stick his head out, glance at Zhu Li and others, and then quickly shrink back.
Nowadays, people are not only afraid of the government, but also the soldiers. Most of Zhu Li and his entourage are riding tall horses and carrying guns and swords, which makes the villagers afraid. This cowardly scene makes people feel sad.
Since the sixth year of Qianfu, Zhu Li fled his hometown with his parents. Four years have passed since then. He has grown from a thirteen-year-old boy to a sixteen-year-old general. The New Year is approaching, and he will be seventeen after the New Year.
But my hometown seems to be even worse than what I remember. In my fused memories, my hometown at that time was not as poor and dilapidated as it is now.
The world has changed so much, things and people are no longer the same, it makes people feel cold and disappointed.
Suddenly, a figure appeared from the side. The tattered bedding was so dirty that the color could not be distinguished. The man was wrapped in it. He staggered and rushed towards the crowd like a headless fly.
The man's steps were unsteady. He stumbled every three or two steps. In just a short distance, he fell four or five times.
Zhu Li was very familiar with this situation. He remembered that there were often people in the refugee group who would have this kind of situation. This was because they were hungry and cold, causing them to feel dizzy, their limbs to become weak, and they could not even walk steadily.
As soon as he saw the person coming, Zhu Li quickly jumped off his horse and quickly walked towards the person, reminding him urgently, "Be careful."
Before he finished speaking, he walked up to the man, not caring about the dirt and stench on his body, and hugged his shoulders, holding the man steadily.
This is a young man, his face is covered with thick dirt, his lips are dry, his eyes are dull, and he is stammering, as if he wants to speak, but in the end, nothing comes out.
"Zaixing, let's find a place, boil some hot water, and soak the steamed buns." Zhu Li knew what to do in this situation. If a person is very hungry, you can't just give him a steamed bun. If you are not careful, he may choke to death. This is the experience learned from the past.
After hearing Zhu Li's instructions, no one dared to delay and they quickly chose a larger courtyard. The courtyard was already deserted and the group moved in directly.
Some were looking for firewood, some were building pots, and some were boiling water, all in a hurry and very anxious. The women in the carriage also got off the carriage, and the maids and servants who were familiar with the work hurried forward to help, and the others began to sweep and tidy up the room.
Zhu Li hugged the starving boy and, with the help of Yang Zaixing, found an empty bed and laid him flat on it.
He tore the ground into small pieces and fed them into Xiaolang's mouth one by one.
The other person was already half starving to death. Zhu Li was afraid that the man would die before the hot water boiled, and all his efforts would be in vain. It would be better to let him eat something first and be careful.
A group of people worked hard for most of the day and finally snatched the half-starved boy back from the gates of hell. The little guy was only twelve or thirteen years old, and he ate seventeen steamed buns with soup and water in one go. Even Yang Zaixing, who was known for his appetite, was stunned by his ability to eat. Was this a starving ghost reincarnated
After finishing his meal, Xiao Lang regained his spirits. He looked at Zhu Li and the others with indescribable gratitude. He had never thought that these noble people would help him. He was just very hungry and wanted to come out to find something to eat.
"How can you be so hungry? Is there no one in this town who has food?" Zhu Li frowned slightly. After all, they are still fellow villagers. Could he just watch a fellow villager starve to death and no one would care
The young man looked at them timidly and finally spoke: "We don't have any. The government has taken away all the surplus food. We can only lie together in the house. When we are hungry, we just make a few snowballs to deal with it. This way we can hold on for a few more days."
"Now that all the food has been taken away, the government doesn't care about your life or death?" Yan Keqiu asked, puzzled.
The young man was a little timid. He turned his head and peeked at him, and whispered, "There's nothing we can do about it. I heard that the Reformation Army has started a war again, and the military rations cannot be delayed. Also, what we handed in was only what we should pay."
"It should be paid, what does that mean?" Zhu Li was puzzled.
"Even if our income is used up, it's not enough to pay the taxes." The boy was timid and spoke in an even lower voice.
All the income is not enough to pay the taxes. Why are the taxes so heavy? Is this something a local official can do? If this is true, one has to wonder whether Shi Pu, the governor of the Ganhua Army, wants the people to commit suicide.
Zhu Li was not the only one who was puzzled. Others were also very confused. Yan Keqiu frowned and said, "The way to be a king is to save the people first. If you sacrifice the people to save yourself, it is like cutting your own leg to feed your stomach. Your stomach will be full but your body will die."
"At the beginning of the country, the Tang Dynasty used the Rent, Labor and Taxation Law as the standard for taxation; after the Anshi Rebellion broke out, due to the large-scale loss of population and serious land annexation, Emperor Dezong adopted Yang Yan's suggestion to levy taxes based on the land, commonly known as the "Two Laws"; as far as Yan knows, neither the Rent, Labor and Taxation Law nor the "Two Laws" has ever seen a situation where all the people's income is not enough to pay the taxes, unless..." Yan Keqiu seemed to have thought of something and hesitated to speak.
Seeing that no one believed him, Xiao Lang was a little panicked, afraid that he would be regarded as a bad boy who lied, so he quickly reminded them: "Sir, haven't you heard of stalls evading taxes?"
"Tax evasion?" Zhu Li looked more and more puzzled.
But as soon as these three words came out, many people in Zhu Li's group were shocked and their faces turned pale immediately, giving people a feeling of lingering fear. Yan Keqiu also looked the same.
"Sir, do you know about this kind of tax?" Zhu Li frowned, looked at Yan Keqiu and asked suspiciously.
Yan Keqiu naturally knew about this. He and his daughter became illegal residents because they could not bear the burden of taxes. In the end, they had to beg on the streets to barely survive.
Swallowed hard and spit
Yan Keqiu said in a low voice: "General, this kind of taxation appeared in the early Tang Dynasty, but it became more and more serious later."
"The root cause is the increasing annexation of land. The serious annexation of land has made the people's taxes increasingly heavy. In the end, they can only end up with no means of living. This place can no longer survive, so the people have no choice but to leave their homes and become fugitives."
"Yes, after the Zhenguan Administration, the number of escaped households has never been eliminated, but the local government does not care about it at all. In order to collect taxes and levies in both quantity and quality, the government will distribute the taxes and levies of the escaped households to their neighbors. This kind of taxation is called 'tax evasion'. The implementation of tax evasion has also forced more and more escaped households in the Tang Dynasty, and the people have become increasingly poor." Han Zhong took over Yan Keqiu's words and continued to add.
Zhu Li was speechless for a long time after hearing this. No wonder the villagers who stayed in the small town had such a hard life.
When the townspeople suffered from the war, almost eight or nine out of ten fled. Just imagine, originally each household only had to hand over one stone of grain, which was enough to pay the tax; but after nine out of ten people fled, they needed to hand over ten stone of grain to pay the full tax. The tax rate soared tenfold, and it would have been strange if they didn't starve to death.
To be honest, it was also because of his family that these villagers were in such a difficult situation, which made him feel very guilty.
But the root cause is not the villagers who fled, but the local government. However, now is not the time to consider these things. I am afraid that the situation faced by other villagers who remain in the town will not be too good.
Zhu Li did not dare to delay and immediately ordered Yang Zaixing and Jing Ming to lead nearly a hundred ghost warriors to buy food from the more prosperous towns nearby. At the same time, he asked Shen Ji and Xu Kan to explore the town and count how many villagers were still left there. He also personally took Yuchi Jin to comfort and visit them.
Although these villagers hardly recognized him and he couldn't even call out their names, they were still his fellow villagers after all, and he had to take care of them because they were connected to him by blood.
After a busy day or two, the remaining fifty or sixty villagers in the town were finally well fed and well clothed, and had a little life. Zhu Li finally felt relieved.
In the dilapidated courtyard, Zhu Li looked at Yan Keqiu and said seriously, "Sir, these villagers of mine fled at first, but later came back. It's obvious that they can't leave their hometown. I can't take them away. If I let them stay here, their final fate will definitely be miserable. How can I save them?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Keqiu frowned slightly and said, "General, the governor of the Ganhua Army is Shi Pu, who is cruel and treacherous, and there are corrupt officials like Chen who help him to do evil. If you want to change the lives of these people, you must kill Shi Pu, Chen and others. Otherwise, even if you can help them temporarily, it will not be a long-term solution."
Zhu Li's face was gloomy, but he had to admit that what Yan Keqiu said made a lot of sense. Since the root of the problem came from the government, then the only way to solve the problem was to replace the officials who served as parents to the people.
Zhu Li was silent, obviously agreeing with his opinion, so Yan Keqiu continued: "I have heard that last year, the former Wuning Jiedushi Zhi Xiang sent Shi Pu, Chen and others to the west to Guanzhong to suppress the bandits. When the army reached Heyin, Shi Pu forged Zhi Xiang's order, slaughtered people in Heyin and plundered Zhengzhou, then returned to Pengcheng, forced Zhi Xiang to leave, and claimed to be the regent. It can be seen that this man is definitely not a good person. With such a man in Xuzhou, how can the people of Xuzhou not suffer? As long as he is in power, the people of Xuzhou will never have a good life."