Chapter 289 Wang Sizheng's Departure
After a long time, Wei Xiaokuan asked Su Cho:
"General, do you think that the powerful families are the source of trouble?"
Su Chao shook his head and said:
"The general believes that the corruption of officials is the cause of the chaos."
Wei Xiaokuan was skeptical, but he also felt that it was impossible for Su Ze to shout such a slogan.
Now the civil servants under Su Ze's command and the Su brothers, who were both military officials, were all from aristocratic families. Feng Shu was from the Feng family of Bohai, while he himself was from the Wei family of Jingzhao.
There are also the Jia family of Guzang and the Li family of Longxi. These families served Su Ze and were able to control the territories of five states and one county.
Otherwise, even if Su Chao worked himself to death, he would not be able to govern such a large territory.
Besides, Su Ze was the General Pingxi appointed by the imperial court, so how could he openly speak hostile words against the powerful families?
It’s just that this discussion of the rise and fall of dynasties is both a summary of history and a prophecy of the current situation, just like the Buddhist theory of reincarnation, with a strong sense of fatalism.
Wei Xiaokuan also understood why Su Ze made cleaning up the bureaucracy his top priority in governing the country, and was willing to offend some powerful families in order to replace those unqualified and incompetent officials.
Wei Xiaokuan crossed his hands and said to Su Cho:
"I have learned a lesson from my humble position."
Su Chao nodded. He and Su Ze had discussed many issues regarding land and population when they were studying under Li Daoyuan.
Su Ze implemented the three-chief system and insisted on granting land to the people. This would have been impossible to implement if the five states and one county he occupied were not sparsely populated frontier areas.
Su Cho was also very curious. If Su Ze occupied Guanzhong, or had the opportunity to get involved in Hedong in the future, how would he deal with the land issue facing the powerful families all over the place?
Su Cho didn't know, but up to now, Su Ze had taken every step very steadily, and Su Cho could only tell himself not to worry too much.
Su Chuo sighed and said:
"The imperial court stipulated that the land tax was 10%, but in order to maintain the expenses of the military government, I have increased the tax rate of the five states and one county to 30%. However, the people still think this is a benevolent policy. This shows how low the original local government has raised taxes."
Wei Xiaokuan deeply agreed with this. With the continuous military operations in recent years, the land tax collected by Su Ze was very high compared to when Empress Dowager Wenming implemented the Three Chiefs System.
In addition to land taxes, the people also had to bear the obligation of military service and engineering labor.
However, Su Ze had one point, that is, both the land tax and the corvée labor that needed to be undertaken were agreed upon with the people. The three chiefs traveled around the village, and at the end of each month, they would gather all the people's representatives in the village square and announce the corvée labor that each household would share.
When it came time to collect land taxes, the county's household officials would, under the mutual supervision of the three chiefs, publicly deposit the land taxes that each household should bear into the treasury.
This tax rate was surprisingly lower than the taxes previously imposed by the imperial court on ordinary self-cultivating farmers. The people actually believed that this was the benevolent policy of General Pingxi, which made Su Cho, who set the tax rate, feel guilty.
Su Chao looked at Wei Xiaokuan, sighed and said:
"Now is a time of unrest in the world. I have imposed such high taxes. It would be great if future generations could lower the taxes and make the levies lighter."
Wei Xiaokuan looked at Su Chao and really admired this military chief. He said:
"The people of the five states and one county are grateful to the general for providing them with a place to live."
Su Chao nodded. This was the only way for now.
-
In May of the first year of Xiaochang, Yu Jin escorted Princess Chenliu's wedding carriage and finally arrived at Yongle City.
Outside Yongle City, Su Ze accepted the marriage certificate brought by Yuan Fotu, and then used the Baichi Tower in the Wengcheng outside Yongle City as a temporary place for Princess Chenliu to stay. This place became Princess Chenliu's maiden home, and she would get married from here at the wedding.
No matter how open-minded the people of the Northern Dynasties were, Su Ze could not meet Princess Chenliu before they got married. After all, the poems in the Book of Songs about unmarried men and women having sex outdoors were all about ancient times.
Princess Chenliu covered her face with a fan and met Su Ze from a distance, which helped to ease her homesickness.
Su Ze had already prepared a temporary camp for the imperial guards, craftsmen and their families brought by Princess Chenliu, and they were quickly settled in.
From the moment he entered Xiazhou, Yuan Buddha felt a completely different atmosphere.
Safety.
Hu Chen retreated back to Jingzhou, but the King of Beihai in Huayin City was frightened and dared not go out of the city to wipe out the rebels, resulting in the entire Huazhou being filled with bandits.
Of course, no one was so blind as to rob the wedding procession escorted by Yu Jin, but the countless burned villages he saw along the way came as a great shock to Yuan Buddha.
He was a fierce general on the battlefield who could defeat a thousand enemies with one horse, but the fighting on the battlefield was a life-and-death struggle, and Yuan Buddha could not bear to see ordinary people being tortured.
Since he is called Buddha, he is naturally compassionate.
But after entering Xiazhou, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and he could see large amounts of reclaimed land and neatly organized villages, which gave Yuan Buddha a feeling of being in a paradise.
Yuan Buddha, along with Yu Jin, was warmly received by Su Ze.
Yuan Buddha was the prince of Guangyang, and his status was higher than Su Ze's. However, when he saw Su Ze, he bowed to him and said:
"General Su is able to protect the country and the people. This is a great merit."
Su Ze was stunned. He also thought of the silly Yuan Buddha who could say such words.
But he found this sentence very useful, so he pulled Yuan Buddha up and said:
"When we were in Luoyang, Su Ze was taken care of by the prince. Now the court has asked the prince to arrange a marriage. In Buddhist terms, this is truly a fate from heaven!" Su Ze also heard the report from his followers. Yuan Buddha vowed to protect Princess Chenliu at all costs. Although he was not a general like Yu Jin who could lead troops, his bravery was enough to make him a brave general like Dian Wei who could charge into battle.
When he was in Luoyang, Su Ze had a good impression of Yuan Fote. This time he wanted to recruit him and didn't want to let him leave.
Yuan Fote has a straightforward character, but he is not a fool. When he came to the northwest, his father Yuan Shen once told him that if Su Ze could really govern the place well, he should stay with Su Ze and not return to Luoyang.
Yuan Buddha was very surprised at that time. It was his father who asked him to make friends with Su Ze and Yu Jin in the early years, and he attacked Su Ze in the court some time ago.
Now he is asked to join Su Ze.
However, sensing his father's farewell intention, Yuan Buddha did not ask any further questions.
At that time, the court had not yet appointed Yuan Shen to lead the troops to war. Later, when he received the news that Yuan Shen had been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, Yuan Fotuo kowtowed in the direction of Luoyang and understood the intention of Yuan Shen's words.
Su Ze asked tentatively:
"The roads in Guanzhong are not smooth now. Why don't you stay in Xiazhou for a while before returning to Luo to report?"
Yuan Buddha nodded, Su Ze took his hand and said:
"When we were in Luoyang, we also traveled with Sijing (Yu Jin) in the same way. Let's serve some wine today!"
Yuan Buddha suddenly said:
"General, when I was escorting the princess north, I took in some people who wanted to join you. One of them is interesting. Would you like to meet him first before drinking?"
Yu Jin also chimed in and said:
"General, that man is indeed interesting."
Su Ze was curious and said:
"Since you all say this person is interesting, let's meet after drinking!"
Yuan Buddha was not good at speaking. He looked at Yu Jin, who paused for a moment and said:
"This man was a counselor under the King of the North Sea. He was expelled by the King of the North Sea after he was defeated in the battle at Shayuan because of his advice."
Su Ze also had some knowledge of the Battle of Shayuan, and knew that the King of Beihai won first and then lost. What kind of ability could such a counselor have? He was actually expelled by the idiot King of Beihai.
Su Ze waved his hand and said:
"Then let's drink today, and tomorrow we'll bring the people the prince brought with us to meet them together."
Yu Jin was not very good at speaking, he said anxiously:
"General, this Wang Sizheng is really a man of many talents. Please meet him."
Wang Sizheng?
Su Ze was stunned for a moment and asked:
"But is it Wang Sizheng from the Taiyuan Wang family?"
Yu Jin and Yuan Buddha looked at each other. They didn’t know how Su Ze heard of Wang Sizheng’s name, and they nodded.
Su Ze immediately said:
"See you! See you now!"
Yu Jin and Yuan Buddha were both puzzled. Is Wang Sizheng so famous? How could he make Su Ze's attitude change so drastically?
Yuan Buddha immediately asked someone to bring Wang Sizheng in.
After the Battle of Shayuan, the King of Beihai put all the blame on Wang Sizheng and directly dismissed him from his position in the military government.
If Wang Sizheng had not been born into the Wang family of Taiyuan, the King of Beihai might have chopped off his head as punishment for his crime.
However, after Wang Sizheng was dismissed from his post, he could no longer survive in Huayin City. Later, he heard that Yuan Fofuo was escorting Princess Chenliu to the north. Wang Sizheng made up his mind and escaped from Huaying City. He intercepted Yuan Fofuo's team along the way and asked Yuan Fofuo to bring him to Su Ze.
After talking with Wang Sizheng, Yuan Fotto felt that this was a talent and recommended him to Yu Jin.
After talking with Wang Sizheng, Yu Jin also felt that although this young man was a bit armchair strategist, he still had some talent in military strategy.
Su Ze saw a young man in white. Although he looked dusty, his handsome appearance could not be concealed.
Su Ze muttered to himself, wondering if it was because of the integration of northern ethnic groups. Logically speaking, his appearance was good, but compared with his subordinates, he seemed a little mediocre.
If compared with first-rate handsome guys like Gao Huan and Erzhu Rong, he is even worse.
However, Su Ze did not directly recruit Wang Sizheng. After all, he was the General Pingxi of the Wei Dynasty, while Wang Sizheng was just a scholar who was expelled by the King of Beihai because of his mistakes.
After meeting Su Ze, Wang Sizheng was calm and composed in front of Su Ze. His demeanor was indeed that of a historical celebrity.
Su Ze asked:
"General Yu said, you want to see me? Do you want to serve in my Pingxi General's military office?"
Wang Sizheng crossed his hands again and said:
"I am seeking to see the general, not for the sake of my career."
"If it's not for a career, then why?"
Even Yu Jin and Yuan Fo were puzzled. Wang Sizheng tried every means to make friends with them along the way just to meet Su Ze, and not for the purpose of taking up an official position?
(End of this chapter)