The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 187 The storm is about to break out

In the small courtyard, the greenery in dozens of large and small flower pots has grown vigorously. Together with the green flower curtains and light green window screens that are slightly floating in the wind, it is filled with a unique spring vitality.

"Gululu", the sound of boiling tea sounded again. Pei Xingjian reached out to pick up the teapot, divide the tea, and move the cups. His simple movements had a rhythm like flowing clouds and flowing water.

Liuli waited for a while, then picked up the tea cup and took a sip. It was probably because she hadn't drank tea for a few days. When the salty and bitter taste with a delicate fragrance flowed on the tip of her tongue, she suddenly felt a little more. A kind of friendly feeling.

Pei Xingjian also lowered his head to drink tea. The tiredness that was common in the past few days was wiped away from his face, and his brows returned to their original clearness and stretch. He sat there quietly, but he had a rock-solid determination. Liuli looked at it for a while before speaking, "Why did you remember to come back and make tea today?"

Pei Xingjian put down the tea cup and said, "It's nothing. The matters in the office are almost finished. Liu Ajian suddenly invited me over today. When I saw her girl making tea, I remembered that someone gave me a box of tea from the Great Buddha Temple two days ago. Good tea. I suddenly remembered that I haven’t made tea for you for a long time. How are you enjoying it?”

Liuli smiled and nodded. Seeing the smile in Pei Xingjian's eyes, he felt a little funny. Didn't he know that he couldn't taste the quality of tea at all? Hearing the words Liu Ajian, he paused and asked, "How is Liu Ajian? But you need our help if you have something?"

Pei Xingjian shook his head, "She seemed to be in good spirits. She just asked me to come over because she heard that I wanted to rectify my taxes. She said that she could give me a secret palace medicine to pretend to be sick."

Malingering? How could Pei Xingjian pretend to be sick? Liu Li couldn't help but shake her head slightly, "Liu Ajian also has good intentions."

Pei Xingjian raised his eyes and looked at Liuli, and after a while he said, "Why don't you advise me to avoid this matter?"

Liuli was startled for a moment and looked at Pei Xingjian without knowing why. Why did she persuade him to stay away? Didn't he come to Xizhou just to manage one side and stabilize the defense? Are you still trying to stop him, saying it's risky? What can you do without risk? She was used to it anyway.

Pei Xingjian's gaze seemed to have been looking into Liuli's eyes, and the smile at the corner of his mouth became deeper and deeper. He suddenly stretched out his hand to tuck a strand of hair hanging from her forehead behind her ears. He gently traced his fingers across her cheeks and whispered, "Don't worry, I won't act rashly. You should also be careful. When I go out in a few days, Agu will stay in the house. If you want to go out, you must take him with you."

His fingers had the faint fragrance of tea leaves, and his smile and voice were strangely softer than usual. Liuli looked at him blankly, and then came back to her senses, "What's wrong?"

Pei Xingjian smiled faintly and said, "It's nothing. I used to be worried that I wouldn't have enough time, but now I feel relieved. In a few days, they will be ready in Wucheng. I will not let them down."

　　…………

March in Yangchun is the busiest season for field work after spring plowing. However, in the fields of Wucheng Township, less than half a day's journey from Xizhou, the green seedlings and young rice that were carefully cared for by people in the past are now useless. People are willing to take a second look. In every village, whether they are tough women, idlers, husbands or children, they are either hiding in their homes and rummaging through boxes or cabinets, or gathering together and whispering.

 Half a month ago, a government notice shook the entire Xizhou like thunder: the new governor, Pei Xingjian, wanted to rectify the taxes of Xizhou and call for the payment of rent owed over the years! Seven days ago, it was decided that the recovery of arrears would start from Wucheng Township, where the arrears were the most serious.

As the news became more and more accurate day by day, people had to begin to believe that this time, it was not the talkative local officers from Xizhou who came to visit the countryside, but the officials sent by the Tang Dynasty who were serious about it - Pei Changshi, who was an expert in solving cases, was actually just a piece of Guo Duhu's gang, a greedy person who sucked blood to enrich himself!

In the past few days, those expressionless Xizhou government officials and government soldiers, led by the village chief Li Zheng and others, broke into the doors of every household in Wucheng and rural areas and asked them to click on the tax arrears that they had re-calculated. When they took their fingerprints and registered their fields, horses, slaves, slaves, and surplus grain one by one, many people had almost seen the terrible prospect that all these things would be confiscated by the government.

People are in panic, and some single men have already packed up the few clothes they have at home, planning to run away if the situation goes wrong. Even if they become fugitives, it is better than going to jail. But more people are gradually becoming angry amid their uneasiness - after only a few years of stable life, are the officials of the Tang Dynasty actually starting to torment the people of Xizhou again?

I don’t know who first mentioned “punishment without punishment”: The land in Wucheng Township was originally poorer than elsewhere, and there were no decent pastures or orchards, so life was naturally more difficult than elsewhere. Several families can now afford more than ten dollars at a time. Stone grains and a dozen bolts of silk to pay the taxes owed for several years? Is it possible that the government can drive everyone into the wilderness? I heard that Zhang Huaiji and Zhang Junjun were the ones who came here to collect money. The Zhang family from Dunhuang has lived in Xizhou for generations. I guess they won’t kill everyone...

However, on March 11, the day before the government was to collect the tax arrears, the news that "Zhang Canjun fell from his horse, and Pei Changshi will personally lead people to collect it tomorrow" was like another message on the branches bent by heavy snow. With the addition of a stone, it was like a splash of sparks in a frying pan. In a state of near-desperate panic, the anger in the chests of the people in Wucheng and rural areas burned up. The original spread and the whispers at the village entrance Gradually it turned into a raging crowd.

“Exactly, it’s better to have a scar as big as a bowl on your head than to starve to death!”

Hearing this voice from the crowd not far away, a young officer with a round face stood and listened for a while, then turned around and walked to the other end of the village as if nothing had happened, and said to another officer After a few words, the latter glanced at him in surprise, "Xiao Xian'er, you usually just play tricks on me, but these words are not nonsense now!"

The officer called Xiao Xian'er frowned, "How long has it been and I am still making such a joke? If you don't believe it, go and listen to it. What kind of words are they saying? And they are getting more and more outrageous! Wucheng You don’t know what the folk customs are like in this place? Now the situation seems to be bad. You should hurry up and ask the government office to send more soldiers. If there are not 200 people tomorrow, I’m afraid it won’t be able to suppress them. ! To tell you the truth, my heart was pounding and I was definitely not joking. Think about it, it’s better to give the boss a false alarm than to not report anything when something really happened!”

The officer thought for a moment and nodded, "I will trust you this time, Wang Xiaoxian!" After saying that, he untied a horse from the tree at the head of the village, got on the horse, and headed towards Xizhou City in a hurry.

Wang Xiaoxian looked at the flying dust in the distance and whispered a few words of "Amitabha" and two more words of "Infinite Heavenly Lord". However, the Buddha and the Heavenly Lords were obviously very busy and did not hear the little officer's prayer. After lunch, we waited until the sun went down, but no news came back from Xizhou. Wang Xiaoxian walked around the village again, but the crowd seemed to have not diminished. The man's low complaints were mixed with the woman's sharp curses, which sounded more and more disturbing. He couldn't help but stand at the intersection and craned his neck to look in the direction of Xizhou City. He finally saw dozens of fast horses coming from a distance. Before he could be happy, the cavalry passed by on the road and headed straight for Wuhan City. Heading towards the city. Wang Xiaoxian stared blankly at the horse team going away. After a long while, he stamped his feet and walked back to the house arranged for them by the servants in the village. Of the four or five people who originally came to this small village on errands, he was the only one left. He walked around in a circle and couldn't stay any longer, so he changed into casual clothes and went out again.

That night, the crowd gathered at the head of the village slowly dispersed until the third watch, and increasingly louder curses spread throughout the village. Wang Xiaoxian sneaked back into his room after midnight, staring blankly at the still empty wooden bed opposite, his heart filled with panic.

 Early on the next morning, before dawn, there was movement in dozens of households in the village. It didn't take long for hundreds of men and women to gather at the end of the village. They were probably tired from scolding the night before. At this time, no one was willing to say another word. They just walked silently towards Wucheng a few miles away in the pale sky.

Wang Xiaoxian walked at the front of the crowd. The silence behind him did not make him feel relieved. Instead, he felt more and more uncomfortable on his back. After walking for a long time, he couldn't help but glanced at Muramasa next to him, "Not today." How come all the heads of households are following orders from Wucheng?"

Muramasa's face was a bit gloomier than the sky. He glanced at Wang Xiaoxian lightly and said, "Wang Yamen, if your father and brother go to Wucheng today, can you not go with him to take a look?"

Wang Xiaoxian was stunned for a while, and his fair, round face wrinkled up like a bun, "My family is from Shangxian Township, and we will have to receive it from there in two days. We also owe ten shi of corn and ten zhang of silk." cloth…"

Muramasa's expression softened a little, and he sighed, "We Xizhou people, whose family is not in a similar situation? Except for those big families who are doing business and have herds of cattle and sheep, who can produce so much food, cloth, and silk in one go? When it comes time to pay rent, who hasn’t tightened their belts to save money? They have just been relaxed for the past two years, but they encountered such a... evil star!"

Wang Xiaoxian's expression moved slightly and hesitantly said, "I'm afraid Pei Changshi is not such a person. I saw him with my own eyes in the Protector's Mansion. He really figured out the cattle thief. He couldn't be more friendly on weekdays." . He has just arrived in Xizhou, and he doesn’t know where he is. If you talk to him carefully today and let him understand your difficulties, wouldn’t he be unreasonable? "

Muramasa sneered, "He wants to be reasonable, but what kind of year is this? These officials, huh, is it possible that they still value the life and death of us people more than their own future?"

In the past few days, the Tang Army has sent troops from Chang'an and will go to war with the Helu tribe this autumn. The news that Xizhou must prepare military rations has already spread throughout the counties and villages. Wang Xiaoxian couldn't help but think of his family's efforts to provide himself with this bowl of rice. What he was doing, and then thinking about the dark green official uniform on Pei Changshi, he couldn't help but be speechless for a moment.

The road to Wucheng, which is seven or eight miles away, can be reached in less than half an hour. In the dawn, the small city between the two mountains looked particularly solemn. In the open space outside the East City Gate, some figures in coarse linen clothes were standing scattered. Someone recognized these people behind Wang Xiaoxian and came over to say hello. Wang Xiaoxian also saw a few people behind the crowd. The familiar faces walked over quickly, but when they saw the uneasy expressions on those faces, the smiles on their faces suddenly froze.

As the sky gets brighter and brighter, more and more people gather in the open space. However, in Wucheng Township with 500 households, less than 400 households need to pay taxes, but now there are more than a thousand people. Most of them are tall men and half-grown boys, and there are also a few neatly dressed women. They look like a large area of ​​darkness. Even the tall wooden table placed slightly higher in front of the open space is made to look like a toy. Inconspicuous. In the crowd, buzzing comments were heard one after another. Although the sound was not loud, the suppressed anger could be clearly felt even when standing far away from the crowd.

As the sun jumped out, the east gate of Wucheng slowly opened. In the sunshine, dozens of people rode horses from the city. It was not until they turned over and dismounted in front of the open space that Wang Xiaoxian recognized that the first one was Pei Changshi. , the tall man accompanying him was Fan Gao, the lord of Wucheng City, and two army soldiers, Cangcao and Hucao, were also following him. The twenty or thirty people behind him were the officers of the Duhufu and Wucheng, and the last thirty people were It was a soldier in military uniform, holding a knife on his waist and standing beside the crowd with a cold face. The discussion that had just started suddenly fell silent.

Wang Xiaoxian hurriedly looked at the city gate a few more times. There were indeed people walking this way, but he could see that they were all in civilian clothes. He couldn't help but be stunned: Why are there so few people today? Could it be that Xizhou didn't receive its emergency message at all? The number of government soldiers and officers who have come now is more than double the number when they were sent here to register property a few days ago! He looked at the crowd around him again, and the increasingly gloomy faces made his heart suddenly lift a little bit. He couldn't help but take a few steps closer to another old guard, but he heard the other party also whispered He made a sound of "Alas", and the sound seemed to be squeezed out from clenched teeth.

 Coming from the direction of Wucheng were some Xizhou people who were dressed much more respectably than the farmers. They occupied an east corner of the open space and waited silently. Bags of documents were also taken out of the saddle by the guards, and a few particularly thick volumes were carefully placed in the middle of the high case.

The sun has slowly risen, and the sunlight outlines the swaying figures behind the desk. When a tall figure took a step forward and stood still behind the desk, the open space of more than a thousand people suddenly became quiet.

The majestic voice of Fan Zao, the Lord of Wucheng, could be heard far away in the wilderness, "Today, all the households in this township were called. Why, you already know it. The rent and land tax arrears in this township have not been in arrears for a day. The current situation is The situation is turbulent and military supplies are tight. It is time for Xizhou to work together to overcome the difficulties. Xizhou Pei Changshi is here now. I hope you will understand the general situation and don't think that you can get through this time!"

After saying that, he turned around and bowed his hand to Pei Xingjian, his voice almost no softer than Shicai's, "Pei Changshi, the 382 households in Wucheng Township have settled their arrears according to your instructions, and their property has been registered. Now everyone We are all here, please tell me, Chief!"

 A slender figure took a step forward. In the increasingly dazzling sunlight, no one could see the expression on his face clearly. More than a thousand Wucheng people standing quietly held their breaths and clenched their fists involuntarily.

Hmm, I’m asking for pink for no reason, will anyone pay attention to me? In fact, I have been very diligent this week. I have maintained a daily update of 4,000 without recommendations... In the past two days, I have been thinking about writing a work about the tax policy of the Tang Dynasty, but I really don’t have time. I will submit the project report before December 31st. , the PPT I made was so ugly that I burst into tears...

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 (End of this chapter)