Xiazhou.
On a quiet road at the foot of a mountain, Da Xiwu was riding a war horse, looking desperately at the thick smoke in the distance.
The billowing black smoke is heading into the sky, and it can be seen clearly from a long distance away.
The knights around Da Xiwu had already begun to curse.
They tried their best and paid a lot of money, and finally temporarily put aside Hu Luguang and covered up their traces. However, just half a day later, they were betrayed again.
The thick smoke in the distance was not lit by them.
It was the smoke used by ordinary villages to notify surrounding armies when they encountered bandits.
In order to prevent threats from the north, the Puppet Zhou Dynasty built many beacon towers in the villages along the road so that the village officials along the road could provide the latest enemy movements at any time.
But Da Xiwu never imagined that one day, the beacon tower they built would become a weapon against their own people.
These beacon fires exposed Da Xiwu's position and constantly provided the surrounding Han troops with the latest movements of Da Xiwu and others.
The deputy general next to Da Xiwu was so angry that he couldn't even speak.
"What a mob!"
"Tricky people!!"
"They are all Zhou people. This group of people just came here and they rebelled?"
"It's really unethical!"
"That's what untouchables are like. They don't know etiquette and have no virtue!"
The lieutenant general said angrily: "My lord, let's destroy that village first. As long as we kill several villages that betrayed us, no one will dare to betray us again."
Da Xiwu's face was calm and he ignored the little Xianbei next to him. After all, he was young and it was too simplistic to think about the problem. If the village was really massacred here, the impact would only get worse.
Now it's just about betraying the whereabouts, massacring the village might be something else.
Da Xiwu had no choice but to lead everyone away from here again.
He already knew in his heart that Hu Luguang must have noticed the movement here, and he would come and kill him before long.
Da Xiwu ran away again, and his headaches became more and more frequent.
Although winter has passed, spring planting is about to come, and the climate has begun to warm up, but warming does not mean that it is no longer cold.
In such a season, wearing heavy armor and galloping on horseback to reach Xiwu's age, he is still alive, which shows that his body is really strong.
They did not dare to run up the mountain, otherwise the road would be blocked. They could only run down the path and try to get out of the forest as soon as possible. Where to go next, Da Xiwu was not sure yet.
According to Yu Wenxian's original strategy, the purpose of Da Xiwu's attack was to attack the cities that were not very heavily defended, and to attack the enemy's grain roads and warehouses, so that the enemy would not dare to ignore him and put pressure on the other party.
However, Da Xiwu really has no way to implement the strategy now.
Because Hu Luguang is still behind him, he can't take Hu Luguang with him to attack the city, right?
What we have to do now is to find a way to get rid of Duluguang.
But Hu Luguang, the dog thief, is a mad dog. Once bitten by him, there is no way to make him let go, unless his teeth are knocked out.
It’s just that not many people have the ability to knock out Hu Luguang’s teeth.
Da Xiwu led everyone and quickly disappeared into the distance.
Shortly after he left, a troop of cavalry appeared here.
They were all lightly armored, numbering around two thousand in number. They surrounded them from both sides at extremely fast speeds. After arriving, they began to scout the surroundings for the enemy's whereabouts.
Hu Luguang rode a fast horse and came here joltingly. He lowered his head and looked at the traces left by the enemy, and then looked up at the thick smoke in the distance.
He asked everyone to continue exploring the surroundings while he approached the direction of the thick smoke.
After walking on the path for a long time, Hu Luguang suddenly stopped, raised the arrow in his hand, and pointed it at the bushes nearby.
"Who?!"
The next moment, several people dressed as hunters came out shouting. Their faces were frightened and they quickly identified themselves as hunters from nearby villages.
Hu Luguang looked them up and down, then asked for permission and looked at them.
"Is it your village that lit the wolf smoke?"
"Exactly."
"When we found out that there were thieves approaching, we immediately went back to inform the villagers, arranged for the old and the weak to hide, and also led some young people to make traps on the road."
Hu Luguang asked: "Where did the person go?"
The hunters hurriedly pointed out the way for him.
Hu Luguang's face looked much better. He looked to his left and right, and the warriors took out some money from their arms as a reward for these hunters.
Hu Luguang promised: "If I can kill the traitor general, I will write to your majesty to pardon your entire village's taxes for one year."
After saying that, he hurriedly left with the knights.
Da Xiwu led everyone on the run, and after running for a long time, they came to a stream. Just as they were about to settle down and rest, black smoke rose again in the distance.
Da Xiwu froze on the spot, just looking at the smoke in the distance without saying a word.
It seems that my time has come.
Within the county town, a large number of people gathered at the entrance of the government office, forming a long queue. The spring breeze was not rough, but the temperature was not low either. Many people were rubbing their hands and stamping their feet to keep themselves warm.
There should be more than 600 people among these people, and there are military officials watching them on the left and right.
In order to prevent unrest, Hu Luxian adopted a batch-by-batch approach, one street by street within the city, and one village by village outside the city.
Directly opposite the official office, there were many clerks sitting in front of the gate. They were all holding documents and verifying the situation carefully.
"Wang Daque, it's done."
The clerk handed the brand new household register to the farmer in front of him.
"Three people, except for the mulberry fields, all the other fields have been banned by you."
"Without this land grant, it is finally gone."
Tears filled the farmer's eyes, he grabbed the household register in his hand, and couldn't help asking again: "It's gone, right? The land grant in the future will have nothing to do with us? Taxes are collected based on mulberry fields, right?"
?”
"Yes, yes, next one!"
The clerk waved his hand rudely and asked the man to leave.
Over at the government office, several local officials stood beside Hu Luxian, staring at the situation in the distance and chatting in low voices.
These farmers gathered at the entrance of the government office, and the main business they handled was to return their fields.
That's right, Hu Luxian brought people to snatch their fields!
But they were so willing to be robbed that each of them was afraid that they would be late and that the new government would not have time to take away their own fields.
Hu Luxian and Gao Changgong, the two governors, do not look like governors, and the generals do not look like generals.
Gao Changgong, the governor, couldn't stay idle at all, so he rushed out with the knights, and now they all rushed to Yanzhou.
As for General Hu Luxian, he was worried about the government affairs of the counties most of the time. Gao Changgong was at the front, and he was behind to clean up the mess.
Every time Hu Luxian captured a city, he would find ways to restore the official system so that orders could be issued. Then, the first thing he did was to abolish the original land grants during the Zhou Dynasty and conduct an inventory of household registrations.
For these farmers who were forced to have more than a dozen sons and hundreds of acres of farmland, this was a benevolent policy.
Looking at the farmers who thanked them profusely and burst into tears, Hu Luxian couldn't hold back any longer.
He looked to the left and right, "There is no natural reason why the Zhou Kingdom should not be destroyed. It is simply ridiculous that the people are so happy after being taken away and given the land."
The people standing next to him were all old officials with good reputations in the local area who could not find any crimes, including some newly joined military officials.
The newcomers naturally have nothing to say about this, but the old officials know it all too well.
The person closest to Hu Luxian at the moment is the temporarily appointed county magistrate. He is an old man, thin and thin. He used to serve as an official in the city. He was arrested and thrown into prison because of his opposition to the officials in the city.
Just as he was preparing for the verdict, Gao Changgong and others called in.
He also changed from a prisoner to a temporary official of the New Han Dynasty.
The old man looked at the scene in the distance and said angrily: "This is how they make money and get rich!"
"Oh? Who are they?"
"Who else could it be?"
"It's those who are officials, those who are powerful in the local area, those who are Xianbei"
The young man on the side was frightened and hurriedly stretched out his hand to pull the old man.
The old man was not afraid, and pulled away the young man's hand, "What are you afraid of? I'm not scolding Xianbei like General Hu Lu!"
Hu Luxian was not angry either. He just said softly: "I am not Xianbei, but Chile Dingling."
"It's okay, just keep talking."
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The old man then continued: "They first made up household registrations for these peasants. If there are three children in the family, then it is said that there are thirteen, and if there are ten children, then there are twenty."
"They are all speaking for the greater good. They don't care if they die young. They suppress them if they can. They will never change them."
"Then, they granted land based on this household registration. It was all a false grant. Anyway, those people didn't exist at all, and it was impossible to come to the government to ask for it."
"But the land grants under the government's name were issued, but they were not awarded to these non-existent people. They were directly sent to the hands of local wealthy families."
"Local wealthy families obtained a large amount of land out of thin air, and the taxes were borne by peasants who had nothing to gain. As a result, the government increased taxes, and the wealthy families obtained farmland, and those noble military leaders expanded their military households.
"number"
The system of granting land in temples was played out by the wealthy families and nobles of Zhou State.
All kinds of policies aimed at benefiting the people can turn into cannibalistic policies in their hands, and they are so violent that farmers not only have to bear their own taxes, but also the taxes of the gentlemen.
Already.
This is simply using farmers as cattle and horses. We are not afraid of the farmers going bankrupt. If they go bankrupt, we can continue to let them shine elsewhere. This is a complete industrial chain, from birth to death, it is of use to the masters.
Don't waste.
Hu Luxian was not that surprised.
As old rivals, Qi and Zhou each have their own merits.
The state of Qi is in chaos. The emperor kills people indiscriminately, and the nobles kill people indiscriminately. There is no morality at all. They are blatantly cannibalizing people. The state of Zhou is better. They are very good people on the surface, but they only eat in secret and don't show it to others.
People watch.
Hu Luxian lowered his head and began to make calculations in his mind.
He thought for a moment, then came back to his senses, looked at those people, smiled and said to them: "I already know a lot about things here, please don't worry about me, just go and do your work, I will leave by myself
Yes, there’s no need to come and deliver it.”
Everyone did not dare to disobey, so they said yes and left each other.
Hu Luxian then left here with the rest of the soldiers and generals. Someone was waiting for them with the war horses.
Hu Luxian got on his horse and led everyone towards the city gate.
Hu Luxian was not riding very fast. He looked to the left and right and said seriously: "Have you heard that? Those wealthy people here are definitely not good people."
"There is no need to hesitate any longer, and don't worry about whether it will cause any trouble, arrest people, or ransack homes."
"I don't care about their position, whether they take the initiative to get close to them or hide at home after we enter the city. We will thoroughly investigate their past behavior and deal with them according to the law. We will start to deal with it now."
"The rich, powerful, and those over there"
Hu Luxian gestured to the glorious and majestic pagoda in the distance.
"Have done everything you need to do, don't leave anything behind."
After listening to his words, the lieutenant general felt a little embarrassed.
He asked: "General, after all, we are just a local army, or a Lingzhou army. It is already a bit unreasonable to assign military officials to take over the city. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to order another order to govern it?"
"Local generals are not allowed to interfere in local affairs."
“What should I do??”
Hu Lvxian looked helpless, "Our governor has gone out to fight, what else do you think I can do?"
"Should we wait for the governor to come back from the war? Or should we wait for the officials arranged by the temple to arrive?"
"How long will it take?"
The deputy general scratched his head and said, "That's it, General, why don't you send someone to deliver the document to Governor Gao first and wait for Governor Gao's reply?"
Hu Luxian touched his chin and said, "It's okay to send a letter. I just have to wait for the letter to come back before doing anything."
"Let's do it first."
"I am not an ordinary general, I am also a relative!"
"Isn't it true that when I become a foreign relative, I just hope that I can use my status to 'do something wrong'? If I don't dare to do this, wouldn't I be a foreign relative in vain?"
Several officers just smiled bitterly when they heard this.
Shouldn't relatives care more about this kind of thing?
But Hu Luxian was very determined. The main reason was that spring planting was about to begin, and new crops were harvested in Xiazhou and Yinzhou. If he couldn't make the decision, he would get rid of the lurking borers, gain the trust of the people as soon as possible, and mobilize them to farm.
, then this year's autumn will be too difficult for the Han Dynasty, and there are too many places that need relief.
Regardless of other people's opinions, Hu Luxian wrote down his thoughts and actions in a document and sent it to Gao Changgong, and then immediately ordered all places to follow his orders.
Hu Lvxian's first step is to join those wealthy families who specialize in feeding the common people for a living.
Rich families are different from powerful people. The powerful people's families are usually dominated by officials, occupying the lower levels of the local government and taking over some businesses that the wealthy people disdain to do.
A big clan is a big clan that has been passed down for many years with real officials, governors and even ministers.
Not all wealthy people are bad, but most of them are not very good. As for powerful, this is a derogatory term. Those who are called powerful are definitely not good people.
No matter they are rich or powerful, they can only speak within the rules. Just look at the Qi State and you will know that what kind of bullshit rich people dare not breathe when they encounter Lao Xianbei, just because the other party does not follow the rules.
The same goes for the people of Zhou State. Before the Han army came in, according to the rules, no one dared to challenge them. But after the army came in, they really couldn't use what little means they had.
Military officials from various places brought garrison troops and began to search and plunder.
The local people encouraged the people to expose it, and at the same time they brought out the prisoners and asked them about the dirty things in the place.
These evil officials and officials who were arrested were very knowledgeable about local affairs.
Hu Lvxian launched a purge in those newly acquired lands, and wanted to flush the place clean before the arrival of new officials.
Sure enough, there was local turmoil, and it was discovered that the Han army began to pursue them. Those who had bowed their heads for the time being also bared their fangs, preparing to flee or seize the city.
However, their little armor, slaves, and bows and crossbows were more than enough to deal with the people, but they were far behind against the Han army.
Everywhere was shaken by the "atrocities" committed by the Han army.
In a good house, there will be no end to crying; in a great house, no chickens or dogs will be left behind.
The temple that Yu Wenyong didn't dare to attack directly was not a big problem for Hu Lvxian. After such a search, Hu Lvxian could not take his eyes away from what he found.
The temples of the Zhou Kingdom were extremely wealthy, even richer than the wealthy families. These people, who did not have to pay taxes, came up with the most advanced ideas to harvest Guizhou. Countless grains and food were hidden in various dark rooms and secret passages.
money.
As heads fell to the ground one by one, the food stained with blood was found.
The most disgusting thing is that a lot of the food has been piled up for too long, more than a few years, and it is no longer edible.
Hu Lvxian didn't understand their intentions. They had mountains of food, but they just put it away, letting it rot and get damaged. They refused to lower their desires a little, let alone give a little bit to help the surrounding people.
common people.
What Hu Luxian did was quite smooth, and he became more and more comfortable.
After Hu Luxian used his fists and implemented a series of benevolent policies in various places, which greatly reduced the burden on Zhou people in the past, Da Xiwu died.
Various places were pardoned and given land, and the taxes that had increased sharply in recent years were eliminated. The common people who watched the powerful people who insulted them were caught and chopped down were happy to light beacons and report the nearest location of the thieves.
Chapter completed!