Father can be an enemy to the country

"In this way, when the court urges the tax, grain and military supplies every year, the county only needs to issue the order to the district chief on duty, and then the district chief will lead the ten chiefs on duty to supervise the local tax and grain."

"In addition, the head of the village and the chief are also responsible for resolving neighborhood disputes, brothers' disputes over property, and jointly protecting against theft and other rural affairs." Liu Bowen said slowly: "These things are originally done by the gentry and sages of each township and village. He presides over it with prestige. This is because for thousands of years, the imperial power has not been in the county, and the power in the county has been in the hands of the gentry. This is a pattern that no one can break in the past. "

Zhu Zhen nodded, so if the county magistrate wants to secure his position, he must consciously respect the squires, otherwise the guaranteed tax will not come in, the case will not be solved, and even the water conservancy project will not be able to find the manpower.

And the squires are actually the cruelest to the common people...

"But your genius father came up with a way to break the situation." Liu Bowen praised: "He wants the wealthy grain farmers to take turns serving as the head of the village and the head of the first class. In this way, everyone has the opportunity to become a local emperor, and the local emperor is worthless. ”

"Furthermore, through the lijia system, those large families are divided. The interests of each li and each jia are different, and it is difficult to get them to unite. This is the vicious nature of the lijia system. Place!"

"My father's plan is really brilliant." Zhu Zhen also understood. "Yes, we don't have the ability to send imperial power to the countryside. Then we will issue grace orders in the countryside - divide the power of the squire into small pieces and distribute it to more people. In this way, there will be no local emperor who can claim kingship and hegemony!"

"Yes, it's wonderful." Liu Bowen nodded and said: "But those local emperors who are used to being kings and hegemons are willing to give up their power? What's more, they have to clear out their land. They could have used less power to Pay taxes, and now you have to pay more taxes.”

"That must be something you don't want to do." Zhu Zhen said softly.

"So, the government is not happy about this matter, the squires are very angry, and the landlords are also complaining." Liu Bowen looked at Liu Lian and said:

"How difficult do you think it is to advance? How many open and hidden arrows are waiting for you! You can't just look at the glory of that crimson robe and don't think about how many people will bleed behind it! Maybe it's your own blood too! "

"Father..." Liu Lian said with a stubborn look on his face: "Everything you said is right, but there is only one thing wrong - my son does not covet that scarlet robe!"

"Then you are?"

"I will be thirty soon!" Liu Lian said solemnly:

"My father has taught me since I was a child that when studying, I must cultivate myself, manage my family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world! I must establish a destiny for the people! If you don't do these difficult and dangerous things when you are thirty, at what age will you do it?"

"If you are not Liu Ji's son, I will let you go!" Liu Bowen raised his voice.

"Dad, your son will have to be under your wings for the rest of his life?" Liu Lian also raised his voice. "You have to end up with the reputation of accomplishing nothing and being the father of a tiger and the son of a dog?"

"That's not what I meant. You are going to make me and you angry to death!" Liu Bowen coughed angrily.

Liu Lian hurriedly stepped forward to caress his father's back, but he kept saying, "Dad, this is not a battlefield, it's just an official job. I am neither greedy nor dishonest. I will succeed at most and not lose my reputation."

"You think too simply!" Liu Ji patted the table and said, "Going to Jiangxi is as dangerous as the battlefield!"

"Then I can't be a deserter!" Liu Lian looked at Wen Tuntun, but he was stubborn. "If you back down when you know there is danger, wouldn't that be a coward?"

"Oh, you have to figure it out..." Just like Boss Zhu, no matter how good he is, he can't do anything to his own son; even with Liu Bowen's ability, he can't do anything to Liu Lian.

"Thank you very much, Dad..." Liu Lian quickly kowtowed to his father. "My son will not embarrass his father!"

"Alas..." Liu Bowen sighed again.

"Well, I will send a small flag to protect my senior brother. Master, don't we have to worry?" Zhu Zhen said.

He already has two guards and horses, and he has enough confidence to speak.

"Everywhere you go, you are protected by the army? What does that look like?" Liu Lian firmly disagreed and said, "Thank you, junior brother, but when you are a third-rank political official, you are already equipped with guards."

"Send at least two people to follow you, right? They don't wear military uniforms, they just pretend to be your long-term followers," Zhu Zhen insisted: "The guards assigned to you by the local government are not that reassuring."

"Junior brother, why do you care about me?" Liu Lian looked at him suspiciously and said, "You are not interested in my daughter, are you? Then there is no need to please me. Your marriage is all decided by the emperor, you still Go please your father."

"I don't..." Zhu Zhen said immediately, "I just care about my senior brother."

"Thank you, junior brother. It's my fault that I'm overthinking." Liu Lian cupped his hands apologetically, but in the end he couldn't resist Lao Liu and reluctantly agreed.

Liu Ji's face looked a little better now.

~~

When Liu Lian went out satisfied, only the master and the apprentice were left in the study.

"Master, are you really worried about senior brother?" Zhu Zhen asked softly.

"Nonsense." The expression on Liu Bowen's face at this time was no different from that of an ordinary old man. "It's the same feeling as a parent."

I know for certain that this parting will be scattered, not as good as being together in death and life...

"Then let me talk to my father." Zhu Zhen said: "Let senior brother stay in the capital."

"No need." Liu Bowen slowly shook his head and said: "He is already thirty. As a father, I can only try my best to persuade him to change his mind. But once he makes a decision, I can only let him go..."

"Okay." Zhu Zhen nodded. His father was not like that. No matter how old his brother was, he would beat him if he disobeyed. He would beat him until he obeyed.

"Let's not talk about him." Liu Bowen sighed again: "Did your trip to Korea go smoothly?"

"Not bad." Zhu Zhen nodded and told Lao Liu about Gao Li's affairs again.

"Well, your arrangement is quite ingenious." After hearing this, Liu Bowen nodded and said, "When the court is free to deal with Naha Chu, they will be completely honest."

"Well. The monarchs and ministers of this country like Yelang to be arrogant. They always think that they are invincible before they have seen how powerful we are." Zhu Zhen said seriously: "So in the future, we must show our strength to them, which can be regarded as killing the monkeys and warning the chickens. "

"But even if the Chief Envoy is set up, it can't be a real county in Goryeo, right?" Liu Bowen said: "The sky is high and the sky is far away, and the people are used to being their own country. The cost of direct jurisdiction by the court is too high."

"Yes, Goryeo is too poor and weak. With that little tax, it is not enough to suppress rebellions and provide disaster relief every year. I am afraid that even the bureaucracy must be supported domestically." Zhu Zhen said with deep approval:

"Although a gentleman is known as a righteous man, and a villain is known as a profit. But when it comes to national affairs, it is impossible to ignore economic accounts. Even if something is a short-term loss, the long-term income must be greater than the expenditure, so that you can do it and keep doing it. .”

After a pause, he added: "So the counties of Korea may not last long, but we can replace the king of Korea with the vassal king surnamed Zhu in the future..."