Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

After staying at home for two days, Du Fu continued his journey north to Fangzhou on Guanzhong Road.

The further north the carriage went, the more unpleasant the conditions along the way made Du Fu feel.

On the road, there were several groups of refugees, dressed in rags and dragging their families with them, heading south from Guanzhong Road to Gyeonggi Province.

Each of these refugees was so skinny that they had no human shape, and some were so weak that they could not even walk. They could only lie down on the ground, look at the sky, and wail repeatedly.

Du Fu couldn't bear to look any further, so he pulled up the curtain and entered the boundary of Fangzhou.

After getting off the carriage, Du Fu looked up and saw that the sky was gloomy and light rain was falling again.

The earth and rocks under my feet were muddy, and my shoes sank into the mud as soon as I stepped on the ground.

The fields in the distance were unattended, overgrown with weeds, and in a mess everywhere.

Entering the official road of Fangzhou Fucheng, the street was empty and no one was walking around. There were only a few officials in coir raincoats who were busy carrying something.

Du Fu found a clerk, asked about the location of the mansion, and walked along the long street toward the city.

When we walked to the gate of the mansion, many people gathered in the courtyard. No matter how hard the military guards tried to drive them away, they just refused to leave.

Du Fu took two steps forward and heard some people shouting: "There is no food in the house! Please show mercy and open a granary for relief!"

The shouts of the people rose and fell one after another.

In the mansion, after a long time, a clerk came out and said: "Every day at noon, the mansion will set up a restaurant to serve porridge. Aren't you satisfied with this?"

Some people lamented: "The porridge in the house only has half a spoon per person, and most of the soup is water, and the rest is bran. When I insert chopsticks into it, it cannot stand upright. It is really impossible to wrap my belly."

The chief secretary said: "Guanzhong is suffering from floods and droughts. This is the case everywhere. You all go and ask around. In Danzhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Ningzhou and other places, even the charity shops have been withdrawn. It is a great favor to have porridge in the mansion.

"

The people wanted to beg again, but the chief clerk snorted coldly, then turned around and returned to his residence.

Seeing this, Du Fu stepped forward and showed the official documents to Wu Wei, and then he was able to enter the mansion.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, the clerk who had just been in charge came over, looked at Du Fu and asked, "But Du Shaoling, the school secretary?"

Du Fu looked at the chief clerk and asked, "Dare I ask..."

Chief Secretary: "At the beginning of last year, I went to Chang'an with Shangguan to report on my work. On the Shangyuan Festival, I attended the Dingyuan Literary Meeting and asked Du Shaoling for advice on poetry."

Du Fu gradually had an impression: "Are you... Mr. Xie?"

Mr. Xie nodded and said with a smile: "Du Shaoling treats people with sincerity and is low-key. Xie has a particularly new impression."

Du Fulian boasted a lot, then glanced outside the door and asked Mr. Xie: "Du was traveling along the way and saw an endless stream of refugees. There was a great disaster in Guanzhong. What is the situation?"

Master Xie first made a gesture of silence, then looked around, and finally took Du Fu to a deserted place and said: "There is a disaster in Guanzhong and the situation in the city. You are aware of it, but don't make it public.

"

Du Fu was puzzled: "After a natural disaster, the people were in dire straits, why couldn't they speak out about it?"

Secretary Xie: "The imperial court has always looked at local political achievements based on taxes. In a state, the taxes paid this year must be at least no less than in previous years. Only the official performance evaluation of the state government can be judged.

You may get a higher rank. Only by getting a higher rank can officials have the opportunity to be promoted."

Du Fu: "When a disaster comes, we can't hide it and not report it. Besides, if the state is hit by a disaster, if we don't save it, the tax revenue will naturally be gone. How can we get a high performance evaluation?"

Mr. Xie: "What you said actually contains two questions. I will explain them one by one so that you can understand."

Du Fu: "I would like to hear the details."

Secretary Xie: "The continuous floods and droughts in Guanzhong started in May this year. Originally, the various state governments thought that this disaster would last for at most two or three months and would end. Therefore, for performance evaluation, when reporting to the court,

We just reported a minor disaster and did not ask for help from the imperial court."

Du Fu: "This disaster lasted from May to November, which is half a year. Moreover, the scope of the disaster affected the entire Guanzhong Road and surrounding counties. It can no longer be regarded as a minor disaster. We should tell the truth to the court.

, please ask for help again!”

Secretary Xie said: "In the past, maybe it was done this way. However, now that the Right Chancellor is replaced by Yang Jialang, he is from Duzhisi and takes taxes very seriously. Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel pays great attention to local affairs.

The evaluation of officials is based on paying tribute and taxes regardless of the reasons. This has resulted in state officials not wanting to affect their career by reporting disasters."

Du Fu: "How can reporting a disaster truthfully affect your career?"

Secretary Xie took a deep look at Du Fu, shook his head and said: "I'm afraid Du Shaoling doesn't understand the twists and turns in this officialdom. I'll give you an example, and I'm afraid you can understand it. Take the neighboring Fangzhou and Ning

As for the states, if two places were hit by disaster at the same time, Fangzhou reported to the court, saying that this year's taxes would be greatly reduced, hoping that the court would agree to open warehouses to release grain, and then provide food aid from other states; but Ningzhou said that although the government would

There was a disaster, but the whole state government united as one, and the officials took the lead. They not only minimized the disaster, but also paid taxes to the court in accordance with the established amount. Tell me, which state official will the court appreciate? "

Du Fu was stunned and said nothing.

Chief Xie smiled helplessly and said: "The imperial court compared the performance of the two states and came to the following two conclusions. First, Fangzhou and Ningzhou were indeed hit by disasters, but it was not serious; secondly, the governance level of Fangzhou officials was low and they could not

For sharing the worries of the imperial court, Ningzhou officials not only paid taxes but also managed disasters, so they should be commended."

After thinking about it, Du Fu asked again: "Hydrology, celestial phenomena, and agricultural officials in various places will report disaster situations to the imperial court. Doesn't the imperial court take a look at it?"

Mr. Xie said: "When Li Linfu was the right prime minister, he must have watched. Not only did he watch, he would also send a commissioner to come down to check carefully and report it in time. But since Yang Jialang became the right prime minister, the servants have gradually figured out his temper.

.Youxiang Yang does not like bad news, only good news. Even when reporting to a saint, he always reports good news but not bad news. Therefore, over time, most local officials who deal with him are unwilling to spoil his mood with bad things.

I just want a prosperous career in the future."

Du Fu: "The state only reports good news but not bad news. Now there is a natural disaster. Where do the taxes paid to the court come from?"

Mr. Xie: "This involves the second issue... If I want to make a long story short, it would be in two words - selling the house."

Du Fu: "Selling the house?"

Mr. Xie: "There is Bachuan in Chang'an City. In the name of the government, land was acquired to build houses and then sold to the people, thereby obtaining a large amount of wealth. Today, state capitals in various parts of the Tang Dynasty follow the script and replace the private sector with government-run ones.

Land was expropriated to build houses, and the goods obtained from selling the houses were used as taxes and paid to the court. This was the source of local taxes and tribute."

"Moreover, this method of using the proceeds from the sale of houses as tax tribute also has the appearance of competition. This year, your Fangzhou will pay a tribute of 500,000 guan, and I, Yanzhou, will pay a tribute of 600,000 guan. In this way, all places will pay tribute.

The trend of selling houses is prevalent, even at low prices, in order to collect the most taxes and tributes in the shortest time."

Du Fu looked shocked when he heard this, and after a long while he stammered and asked: "If... we sell our houses like this, and if this continues, if there is no more land for sale in the state, and a large part of the tax revenue is cut off, what will happen in the future?"

To deliver a message to the imperial court?"

Mr. Xie blinked his eyes and said with a smile: "When that day comes, the officials in this state will have already prospered and moved to other places. Such troublesome things will be left to the next officials to worry about.

That’s it?”

Du Fu froze on the spot, as if he had been struck by lightning, and remained silent for a long time.

An hour later, after finishing his duties as a school secretary in the state capital, Du Fu walked out of the mansion in a daze.

As he walked down the street in despair, the rain in the sky became heavier and heavier, splashing mud and soiling Du Fu's official robe.

With a knot in his heart, he walked aimlessly for a while, and finally came to a market entrance in the city.

Du Fu raised his head and looked towards the market, and saw hundreds of people gathering together as far as the eye could see, regardless of the heavy rain.

There was a man who looked like Su Lao, standing under the bamboo shed on the high platform of the courtyard, holding up the paper in his hand, and shouted loudly to the people in front of him: "The world is broken, Yinglong enters the world, opens up the three realms, and preaches for nine days!"

The rain keeps falling.

This shout spread far and wide without stopping for a long time.