Start with detective Li Yuanfang

Chapter 848 Emphasize the people, uphold justice, fight against bullies, and govern the powerful!
"Quick! We must transport the tax money out and send it to the capital before the bandits arrive!"

"This is my last contribution to Hebei!"

Under the stern urging of Tao Miao, the prefect of Zhending Prefecture, a group of Western Army soldiers dressed as bodyguards escorted the convoy and hurried on the road.

This is the tax collected on Hebei West Road recently, but it is not for this year, but for next year's "advance loan", that is, the tax for next year is collected in advance.

The standard Yin eats Mao's grain, and Yin's year eats Mao's grain.

This kind of short-sighted behavior that only cares about the present and does not care about the future often happened in later dynasties, but it was rare in the Song Dynasty.

It is not that the government is lenient, but that the taxation of the people has reached the extreme. After all, Zhu Xi said, "The method of carving and stripping the ancients is prepared in this dynasty." "Han" "The number of the second tax in the Song Dynasty, depending on the Tang Dynasty, increased to seven times"...

The reason why there are so many multiples is explained earlier. The exemption of corvee due to the military recruitment system is a major reason. If you want to "borrow", it is not a sustainable fishing in the wild, but a direct killing of fish, which will completely force people to die.

But now that Zhending Mansion, as the seat of Hebei West Road, issued such an order, it is precisely because anyone with a discerning eye can see that Hebei may no longer belong to Zhao Song in the future.

Since it has become the enemy's territory, why don't you hurry up and borrow as much tax as possible and send it to Jinling in the south of the Yangtze River?
The prefect Tao Miao watched the team leave, heaved a sigh of relief, stroked his long beard, and walked towards the tower with generous steps.

As Yanyun occupied longer and longer, the Liao Kingdom did not go south to Kouguan for a long time, and actually let the most fertile Nanjing Road be lost, and the world gradually understood two reasons.

First, the Liao Kingdom is definitely not as powerful as it used to be.

Second, the township army is really tyrannical. They were able to restore Yanyun, not because they took advantage of the situation when the main forces of the two countries were at war, but because they really had the ability.

In fact, this should have been seen earlier, but many people are subconsciously unwilling to believe and admit it...

That being the case, Tao Miao did not take any chances.

Relying on him and the mere western army in the city, it is impossible to defend the city.

What he, the prefect of Zhending, wanted was to attract firepower so that the team transporting tax money could escape the pursuit of the township soldiers safely. By the time the other party reacted, it was too late.

"The old man is loyal to the country, and his name will be left in history!"

Tao Miao's sleeves are fluttering, and he has the demeanor of a capable minister. His mind has already begun to emerge. How will the history records record him as a loyal minister who would rather die than surrender. Be sure to say to the executioner: "Let me face south and die!"

To bow down facing the south like this, and accept the torture, the posthumous title should also be "loyal and strong"...

This kind of calmness that puts life and death above all else made the soldiers who came forward show a little admiration, until the soldiers who should have stayed away returned to the front with blood dripping and mourned: "The township army has already killed outside the city!" , Surrounded the Quartet, and when I tried to rush out, I was still overtaken by the cavalry, and all the tax money was taken away!"

Tao Miao's complexion changed drastically, and he sighed long and hard: "This old man has betrayed the court, but my Zhending Mansion will never be easily taken by the bandits! Listen carefully, everyone, even if we kill a bandit, we will be loyal to the country. If you can defend for several days, you will be able to severely defeat the enemy's morale, let everyone see that our Great Song Dynasty is long, and the country and society will never be moved by forest thieves!"

"Oh! oh—"

There were fairly neat echoes from all around, and there was not much movement from the defenders, mainly because Zhe Keshi and the hundreds of Western troops who stayed in Zhending Mansion with Zhong Shidao began to take the opportunity to boost their morale.

"None of you can kill, and it is even more impossible to stop our township army half a step. If you resist in the corner, you will only kill yourself!"

But just as the call for pre-war mobilization fell, a sharp voice sounded, and a group of people appeared not far away.

Although there are only a hundred of them, the Western Army has already shown a lot of fear when looking at the opponent's elite appearance, and Tao Miao gritted his teeth: "The township army is really ambitious, and sent people to sneak into my Zhending Mansion a long time ago. Are you done? Thief, report your name!"

The leader said in a deep voice: "People from Zhending Prefecture! Meng Kang!"

Because Meng Kang is good at building ships, he has now become an important member of the navy. He has been building a navy at the Cangzhou Shipyard. Since then, he witnessed the Liao army capturing Zhending Mansion, and he returned for the first time.

I couldn't help being shocked when I saw this. Although the Zhending Mansion was not as prosperous as the Daming Mansion in the past, it was also a government along the way, but now it has become such a withered appearance. His voice reveals sadness: "The faint king fled to Jinling, the dog official Strict taxation, have you ever thought about the common people in your heart? I’m afraid there is not even a single bit of it! Zhao Song Guozuo will last forever? Pooh! Zhao Song will not perish, heaven will not allow it!”

Speaking of this, Meng Kang turned to the defenders again, and shouted: "Folks, this dog officer doesn't care about everyone's lives at all, but you work for him instead, is there any reason for that?"

Hearing the familiar dialect and the incomparably sad and indignant voice, the local defenders looked at each other and loosened their grip on their weapons: "That's the reason... that's the reason..."

"Dare you, thief! Don't listen to his nonsense..."

Before Tao Miao, who was full of shock and anger, could refute, Jie Zhen and Jie Bao, who were around Meng Kang, had already shouted: "Special attack battalion, attack!"

Compared with the Hook and Scythe Battalion and the Knife and Ax Battalion, the Special Attack Battalion was selected from hunters with high martial arts skills. The weapons and ordnance are well-equipped. Door battle.

At this moment, the special attack battalion showed its strength. As soon as the two sides fought, the elite Western Army retreated steadily, almost overwhelmingly suppressed.

And when there was a lot of fighting on the top of the city tower, and smoke and dust rose from below, the township army that intercepted the tax convoy also surrounded Zhending Mansion.

"Follow me to kill!!"

The chief general, Shi Wengong, took the lead. Seeing the battle above the city wall, but the moat below hadn't recovered at all, he immediately rode his horse and galloped towards the city gate.

Half an hour later, the stubborn resistance of Zhending Mansion completely disappeared.

The Song army had too few soldiers available, not to mention civil officials like Tao Miao, even if he gave way to Zhe Keshi and his teacher's way, it was difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. When Meng Kang successfully shook the already weak morale of the defenders, the battle There are no more twists and turns in war.

By the time Shi Wengong entered the city, hundreds of western troops had been killed, not only the record of the special attack battalion, but also the direct defection of the defenders. Tao Miao, the prefect of Zhending Prefecture, was tied up in front of him.

Shi Wengong stood on the horse and looked down, showing deep hatred and disdain: "Hebei West Road was first ravaged by Liao dogs, and then it was not long after being rebelled by field thieves. What kind of wolf are you, and you actually collect all the taxes for next year? You scholar-bureaucrats, have you read the sage books into the dog’s stomach? Bah!”

Tao Miao's beard fluttered, and he glared angrily, and roared, "This old man is so loyal, what face do you have to reprimand you, a rebellious minister and traitor!!"

"So that's it, you want to leave a name in history?"

Shi Wengong said coldly: "We killed you directly, but fulfilled your name of loyalty. Come on! Bring him out, parade him in the street, and see how the people of Zhending Mansion treat this utterly loyal courtier. How did the history books record you as a 'pre-loan magistrate'!"

Tao Miao was stunned at first, and then dragged all the way, screaming all the way: "You can't stir up riots and ruin the old man's reputation! You can't stir up riots and ruin the old man's reputation! You can't——!"

The hysterical voice faded away, Shi Wengong felt more comfortable, and said to the left and right: "The chief coach said that only by using both kindness and force can we effectively govern the place. The other township troops have no chance, but we are lucky, there is a place where thunder can be used! "

All the generals nodded again and again, but felt a little unsatisfactory: "It's just that this resistance is too weak, it is simply vulnerable!"

Meng Kang came over and reminded the important thing: "The chief coach has repeatedly emphasized that the people are important. The taxes of the people in Hebei must not be looted by these corrupt officials again. They must be returned to the people!"

Shi Wengong nodded: "That's right, according to the idea of ​​throttling learned in the academy, we will also implement the total distribution in various states and counties!"

Before Wang Anshi’s political reform, after local government offices received local taxes, they divided up the needed money according to the annual budget, and then handed over the rest to the central government. With containment, the situation could be maintained. It was not until the Renzong Dynasty's natural disasters and the Xixia War that the financial problem broke out completely.

The reform idea of ​​the Qingli New Deal is to save expenditure. The imperial court chose to give power to the local prefectures and counties. They would rather have a deficit in the central government's finances than excessively strive for profits from the local governments. They followed Mencius's "people-oriented" thought.

The core idea of ​​Wang Anshi's reform is to open source. He believes that instead of dispersing resources in vain, it is better to concentrate all resources in the court, relying on the authority of the court to devote themselves to innovation. Using the words that later generations are more familiar with, it is to develop productive forces, so as to achieve globalization. An increase in the total value of social wealth.

This kind of thinking is very aggressive, but ideals and reality are different after all. Due to the specific changes of Wang Anshi’s reform, from the original total distribution to the distribution of tax rights, the central government’s control over finances has undoubtedly increased significantly. Local finances are becoming more and more difficult, virtually reducing the fault tolerance rate of governance.

However, Shenzong got a huge amount of wealth, and he could immediately flex his muscles. On the contrary, he felt that I had the advantage, and the waves rose. In the end, it actually turned into a struggle with the people. Wu Juhou's group of "repressive ministers" emerged, and the people hated him to the bone. , Shenzong is very trusting, the key is that the dividends obtained from foreign wars have not been able to make up for the overdraft of domestic power.

So to sum up, the idea of ​​throttling is that the upper limit is low, but the lower limit is high. As long as it is done well, at least peace can be maintained, and ordinary people may not live well, but they can survive.

The idea of ​​open source, the upper limit is undoubtedly very high. If it is operated properly, it will be a prosperous and powerful country. People in a prosperous age will undoubtedly have a much more comfortable life, but the lower limit will be very low. Risks and benefits coexist. If there is a little carelessness, the country will play Take it off, and the people will suffer unspeakably.

Wang Anshi's reform, in fact, was almost played off. Of course, there are many factors involved, and it cannot be judged by the results alone.

And with these lessons learned from the past to make a comparison, and combined with the current scarce lineup of Wenzhi under his command, what Li Yan chose is the "people-oriented" idea of ​​living with the people and the old-fashioned throttling.

There is no way, everything must be done step by step, let the people who were ravaged by the war before live a stable life, and then consider whether they can live a better life.

As for the development of productivity and the increase of the total wealth of the whole society, wait until the world is conquered and the country is stabilized before starting. There is no need to rush to implement it from the period of rebellion.

Of course, some things can't be delayed until that time, and we have to take the opportunity to do them.

For example, every time the dynasty changes, there is a justifiable "open source" method——

"The head coach has something to say, fight against bullies, rule over the powerful!"

"The people of Hebei suffered from the disasters of the Liao people and the Tianhu, and their lives are already difficult. This dog official can actually collect a lot of taxes for next year. Are there any big landlords in the states and counties who are cooperating?"

"While these big landlords took away the people, did they also sacrifice their wealth for the sake of loyalty to the emperor?"

"If not, those who dare to be generous with the generosity of others and pretend to be loyal are all bullies in the village, and the people will fight them down, and the inferior tyrants will also be punished severely!"

"Yes!"

Shi Wengong gave an order, and everyone took orders, and he also ordered his personal guards: "This matter is of great importance, so hurry up and ask the high supervisor to send someone to come, and then choose the target of struggle, interview suffering, and settle accounts, all of which must be supervised by them." !"

People are not sages, and there is nothing wrong with it. Although the composition of the township army is composed of the bottom group of good people who are willing to come forward to protect their hometown, it is much easier to manage than the Song army recruiting local ruffians and bandits, but if it is all about self-consciousness, If you can always maintain strict military discipline and make no mistakes, that is a fairy tale.

Regulators are a must.

With the gradual improvement of Yan Yun's authority department, and various supervisory envoys will also be arranged. Among them, the person in charge of this department needs a person that everyone can trust, so Li Yan invited Gao Qiu who resigned and returned home.

Gao Qiu was overjoyed and gladly took up the post. Pei Xuan and Gao Lian also served as his deputy envoys. At this time, Gao Lian, the supervisor, was in charge of Shi Wengong's journey.

His task is very heavy. Next, which landlords will be defined as bullies, and which tyrants will be controlled. It is time to test the township army, to avoid public revenge and take the opportunity to make trouble.

"Cracking down on lawlessness, rather than sweeping it all out, we must uphold justice, promote kindness, and punish evil!"

When Gao Lian showed up with a neat monitoring team, he emphasized the twelve-character policy at this stage: "Focus on the people, uphold justice, fight against bullies, and govern the powerful!"

"Kill this dog official!!" "Kill this dog official!!"

At the same time, on the streets in the distance, more and more people rushed out of their homes, glared at the parade prison cars, and then threw stones in their hands.

When Tao Miao, the prefect of Zhending Mansion, was crushed to death, the Hebei East and West Routes, the Daming Mansion and Zhending Mansion, all belonged to the township army within a day.

(End of this chapter)