Qin Official

In late April of the thirty-third year of Qin Shihuang's reign, outside the city of Xiuxian County, Xiao He, the Cangcao man, stood at the pavilion and post, holding a book and looking at the endless stream of oxcarts and people's chariots coming one after another on the road. The carts were full of millet, The animals were struggling to move wheat, beans and other grains in front of them, while the peasants were pushing behind them, sweating profusely, and the sounds of carts and carts rattling.

These are the grains sent from the counties in the southern part of Jiaodong County to the warehouses in Hexian County for storage. As a warehouse manager, Xiao He is responsible for the counting, collection and inspection of grains. He must supervise each other with the local warehousemen and clarify responsibilities, and no mistakes will be made. No.

Historically, Xiao He was an expert in logistical supplies. He stayed in Guanzhong, making Guanzhong a solid rear area for the Han army, and continuously transported soldiers with food and wages to support operations. Now he is in charge of Cangcao, and he is making the best use of his talents.

"Xiao Cangpu."

Xiao He had just finished checking the batch of grain with the warehouseman and watched it being put into the warehouse and sealed. At this time, a man of about thirty who was following the grain team came on horseback, stepped down from the saddle, and greeted Xiao He. .

"Chen Changshi."

Xiao He did not dare to neglect Chen Ping, Heifu's chief aide, and quickly returned the favor.

Chen Ping said: "How about it? Chen Ping personally kept the grain, and nothing went wrong?"

Xiao He said: "Chen Changshi is meticulous in his work. One car is not too much, and one car is not enough."

"That's good."

Chen Ping looked around and said with a smile: "If you have enough food, you will have enough soldiers. Only by ensuring that the army has sufficient food can the army across the sea fight. Xiao Cangpu, can you accompany me to walk around this warehouse?"

Chen Ping took the initiative, and Xiao He naturally couldn't refuse. He handed the book to Cangshu Fu, and after giving him a few words, he invited Chen Ping to take a look at the newly built large granary.

The granary occupies a very large area, and each of the earthen granaries is like the clusters of earthbags in the Jiaodong hills. In each earthen granary, a full 10,000 stones of grain are stored.

Xiao He patted the thick wall of the warehouse and introduced: "There are a hundred earthen warehouses like this, which means that they can store millions of stones. Although they have only accumulated half of them now, by June or July, they will be able to store millions of stones." The food is overflowing, enough to feed the Eastern Expedition army for a year!"

Chen Ping nodded, thoughtfully, walking in the fortress-like, heavily guarded warehouse. Chen Ping's attention was attracted by several tabby cats (Chinese tabby cats) lying on the roof of the warehouse, yawning and basking in the sun. ) attracted, pointed at them and said:

"There are many raccoon slaves."

Xiao He said helplessly: "The long history should know that the "Grain Law" is strict. Not only do different grains have to be stacked separately, but if the doors and windows of the granary are not tightly closed and fingers can be inserted, the person in charge is guilty. There are more than three rat holes in the granary, and There is a penalty of one shield. There are many rats in Jiaodong, and this raccoon barn has hundreds of earthen barns, so we can only raise dozens of raccoon slaves to catch rats."

"It's better to raise more."

Chen Ping smiled and told an interesting story: "You don't know, the county guard likes the civet slave very much. He often buys fish to wear willows and feeds the civet cats raised at home. My wife talks about him a lot. But the county guard said plausibly. The raccoons live in the palace and the rats disperse. Nowadays, Jiaodong is becoming more and more prosperous, but the officials at the top and bottom are quite slack, and it is inevitable that some big rats will be born. I just want to raise a few more raccoons and kill these big rats!"

Xiao He nodded. Heifu had been emphasizing the rectification of officialdom, but what he didn't expect was that Chen Ping continued on the topic of civet cats and rats:

"But in my opinion, the food stolen by a hundred giant rats is not even one-tenth of the loss during this transportation..."

He seemed to have something in his words. Xiao He was cautious and did not dare to answer it rashly, but Chen Ping said to himself:

"Xiao Cangyu should know that all the counties in Qi were in chaos last year, but Jiaodong relied on the county governor to prepare for the rainy day and exterminated the fields, so nothing happened. In addition, the county governor ordered farmers to travel to various counties to learn about the methods of compost retting and solar terms. The song was passed on to farmers, so the autumn harvest was abundant. The public and private fields in the county covered more than 6 million acres (Qin acres) of land, and a total of 15 million shi of millet and 10 million shi of wheat were obtained."

Xiao He nodded: "This is already a great harvest."

Chen Ping said: "Then I dare to ask Xiao Cangpu, how much benefit has an ordinary household in Jiaodong benefited from this great harvest?"

Under Chen Ping's gaze, Xiao He finally answered the question head-on.

"Today in Jiaodong, one man can manage a hundred acres of farmland with five people in his arms. If you add millet, wheat and beans to one, you can get three hundred shi per year. The government collects a rent of one and a half shi per mu, so 150 shi are gone, leaving only 150 shi. Every month, people can earn 300 shi. Eating one and a half stones, five people eat 90 stones of millet throughout the year. After excluding the 10 stones left as seeds, there are still 50 stones. 50 stones can be exchanged for two thousand five hundred, and the land can be used for sacrifices. Excluding the shrine of the Spring and Autumn Period. , the money is 300, and the remaining money is 2200. For clothing and shoes, each person needs 300 money, and five people use 1500 money for the whole year, so each household only has 700 money left."

These data are all recorded in Xiao He's mind. Although they may vary from person to person, they are generally not bad.

It's not over yet, the court still needs to collect a wave of money. For a family of five people, it costs 23 yuan per person, which is more than a hundred.

In the end, there was only more than 500 money left. According to purchasing power, it would be equivalent to less than 1,000 RMB in future generations. This is the flexible expenditure that a small farming family in Jiaodong County can use every year. For them, it is already extremely generous. However, if they encounter unfortunate illness, death, or funeral expenses, the family will be unable to make ends meet if the court collects more oral taxes.

Chen Ping raised his palms and praised: "Xiao Cangpu is worthy of being an official. As I said, even if there is a good harvest, the people in the county can only live with food and clothing, and it may not get much better. If there is a bad harvest or even a famine, the small farmers will We will be struggling with hunger and cold.”

Xiao He smiled dryly: "That's not the case."

"Whether this is the case, Xiao Cangpu should know better than me."

Chen Ping said with some emotion: "I also dare to say that although the yield per mu of Jiaodong, which has been governed by the county governor for two years, is still not as good as that of Guanzhong, it is at least among the top forty counties in the world. Even so. In some counties where the yield per mu is even less. , but they received the same amount of land rent and tax. There, the men really did not have enough food for their hard work, and the women did not have enough clothes for their spinning work!"

Xiao He asked carefully: "What Chen Changshi means..."

"That's right, the court land rent is too heavy!"

There was no one else around, and Chen Ping looked like he was having a heart-to-heart talk with Xiao He:

"Xiao Cangpu is just like me, and he is also good at Huang Lao's skills. You should know that apart from the people in Qin who have long been accustomed to this rent, who in the other counties and heads of Guizhou can endure it for a long time? Not to mention that the young men in the family have to go out from time to time. Serving as far away as Yuyang and Yuzhang... Not every county can be as friendly to the outside garrison soldiers and corvettes as the county governor, so that they can have no worries about food and clothing."

Xiao He looked around and said to him: "How much rent to collect and how many taxes to collect are determined by the imperial court. This has been the case for more than a hundred years."

Chen Ping said in a low voice: "Actually, the county governor has already made suggestions on this, suggesting that rents and taxes need to be reduced, and the eleven and twelve taxes are appropriate. But your majesty still has the southern and northern wars to fight, and Lishan Mountain There are mausoleums to be built, the Great Wall to the north of the Great Wall to be built, and the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West to be found, all of which require money and food, so rent, taxes, corvee, and labor must not be reduced!"

"What the county governor can do for the time being is to increase the output per mu of Jiaodong people as much as possible, keep the oral tax at once a year, and never increase the tax! He also exempted some Lu Zuo taxes as promised."

Xiao He knew what to say at this time: "Of course, the county governor is not only a good official of the court, but also the father and mother of the people."

He changed his voice and said: "But it is precisely because of this that if the people pay more taxes, the government will get more food. With the money from the salt and gold mines, the warehouses will be overflowing and the governor will build a large building in Qingdao Port." By sailing ships, organizing manpower, and digging ditches in various counties, I don’t have to worry as much as when I was short of money and food two years ago.”

This cunning Xiao He never expressed his attitude no matter how Chen Ping tried to tempt him.

Chen Ping said meaningfully:

"But it is precisely because of Jiaodong's generosity that His Majesty appointed the county governor as the supervisor. The food and clothing of the Eastern Expedition army will be borne by Jiaodong..."

Chen Ping knew Fusu's plan to send troops. From at least June until the spring of next year, Jiaodong would provide food and clothing for the army within ** months.

Fusu's army, including soldiers and civilians, totaled 30,000 people, as well as many livestock, plus Jiaodong's own boatmen. Taking into account the loss of food transportation and the risk of ships sinking in wind and waves, it was fully calculated. Every month, at least It is necessary to transport 100,000 shi of grain, a total of one million, and the warehouse that was finally full will be empty.

This does not include the ships and manpower that Jiaodong prepared for this war.

"Two years of hard work in Jiaodong and one year of hard work by the people were spent on this battle, which only provided tens of thousands of people for the expedition."

Chen Ping turned to the south:

"If a big war involving hundreds of thousands of people breaks out in the south, wouldn't half the world be in turmoil?"

Xiao He didn't dare to answer any more. Chen Ping laughed dumbly, but sang a poem.

"The big rat, the big rat, has no food for me! I am not willing to take care of a three-year-old girl. The girl who is about to die is suitable for that paradise. A paradise, a paradise, and my love will be mine..."

"Xiao Cangpu, although the people are glad that the Qi chaos has been quelled and it has not spread to Jiaodong, and they are still obedient for the time being, in their eyes, we Qin officials who go to the countryside to promote grain and labor are also Shuangshu. , do you want to expel us one day?"

After saying this, Chen Ping bowed to Xiao He and walked away.

Xiao He also bowed. After a long time, until Chen Ping disappeared, he raised his head, his eyes full of doubts.

"Is Chen Ping just complaining when he said this to me? Or is he trying to imply something? Are these his words, or did the county magistrate ask him to say them?"