"Thank you, brother!" Xiao Jinjing responded gratefully, and then dodged into the bag specially prepared for it in Du Long's arms. There was nothing to say all night, and the villagers helped to prepare breakfast the next morning. Last night, the old village chief distributed the gold coins given by Du Long. Some silver coins, few people have touched gold coins like this! After taking such a big benefit from others, naturally everyone ran out to help prepare breakfast! After breakfast, a group of more than 200 people rode on their horses and bid farewell to the old village chief who had been sent out. Du Long then led the team and continued to hurry towards the southwest direction. After gaining experience, their team then calculated the time, and tried their best to rush to some counties to solve the food and lodging time. It took another two days, and this afternoon, they finally arrived at the boundary of Fengli County, Xiguzhou! After three days, Du Long was in a hurry, but when he arrived at the boundary of Fengli County, he was not in a hurry, and began to lead the team to slow down, carefully appreciating the customs of Fengli County! On this road from the capital to Fengli County, the villages and towns we passed through at the beginning were all rich, but the further we went to the southwest, the villages and towns along the way became poorer and poorer! Entering Xiguzhou, Du Long and others first entered Yongye County. There, everyone clearly felt that the county town of Xiguzhou was much poorer than all the county towns that passed by before! But when they arrived at the city of Fengli County, they discovered that the people of Yongye County were infinitely happier than those in Fengli County next door. The villages and towns in Fengli County were not only sparsely populated, but also lived in dilapidated houses. All the fields grow weeds, and only a very small part of the fields grow crops! "It's strange! Why do the people of Fengli County leave their fertile fields instead of cultivating them, but want to grow some crops and vegetables in those barren mountainous lands?" In the team, Su Jinbao looked at the deserted fertile fields, and The figures who were farming on the barren hills said doubtfully.
As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone immediately realized that it was as he said, and this strange scene was indeed extremely strange! Looking at this fief that was poorer than he imagined, Du Long frowned and said to the two captains who led the army: "Sun Lin, Wang Shun! You two arranged for everyone to rest on the spot! Old Ma, how much are you with us? Let’s go to the village ahead together!” "Obey!" Du's family general Sun Lin and Yulin Army Commander Wang Shun respectfully ordered his subordinates to rest in place. Then Du Long led a group of friends and old horses to the village not far away! On the way, Du Long suddenly changed his mind and rode his horse towards a hillside. On that hillside, there happened to be several villagers who were sitting under a big tree drinking water and chatting when they saw more than a dozen horses. The war horses rushed up suddenly, their faces turned pale with fright, and they all stood up. Riding his horse and approaching, Du Long gathered his horse and jumped down, bowed his hands politely to the panicked villagers: "Don't be afraid, fellow villagers! We are just travelers passing by here, and we want to drink water as an excuse. road!" "So that's it! Hehe, we thought it was an official messenger!" All the villagers were visibly relieved when they heard this, and one of them, who seemed to be more eloquent, responded with a smile. "Official errands? Why are you so afraid of official errands?" Du Long asked suspiciously. "Hey! My son, you look like the children of rich nobles, how can you know the sufferings of us common people!" After glancing at the group of well-dressed men and women, the man sighed bitterly: "We planted flowers on these hillsides. The crops are actually a last resort!" "I'm wondering too! Why do you plant crops on these barren hillsides when you leave the fertile fields underneath uncultivated?" Du Long asked with a puzzled face. "Young Master, you don't know! It's not that we don't want to plant crops in those good fields! It's because we were forced to die by corrupt officials, so we ran to the mountains to farm. The annual harvest here is absolutely pitiful, but the least We can still have a few meals to eat, but if we want to go down to plant fertile fields, then we have worked hard for a year, and I am afraid that we will owe the government food. If you say this, who else is willing to go to plant those fertile fields ?” "Where did you say that?" Du Long really didn't understand the meaning of this village man's words. "Hey! Let's put it simply! The land below has to be taxed, but the land above is not taxed, but it is illegal. Do you understand, my lord?" The man gave a long sigh and roughly explained. "I don't understand! Where in the world do you not have to pay taxes for planting land? Does the government here want you to hand in all your harvest every year?" Du Long shook his head, still puzzled and puzzled. "The problem is that our bullshit government here owns a fertile land as a sample land, and then every year everyone harvests according to his land and pays half of the tax. Isn't this a scam?" "Under the same region and the same climate, it is not wrong to use this method to collect taxes! Many places are using this method to collect taxes!" Su Jinbao continued. "Bullshit! Our Fengli County is next to the Forest of Monster Beasts. Every year, monsters visit suddenly. As long as they come here once or twice, our crops may fail. Their government land is protected by soldiers and horses, so it's fine. How can we afford to pay that tax?" As soon as Su Jinbao said that, the village man immediately responded indignantly. After chatting for a long time, Du Long and his team finally figured out why these villagers would go to the mountains to plan food instead of farming their good fertile fields. "Could it be that the officials here don't know about this situation? Let the people under Fengli County be so poor that they don't have anything to eat?" Du Long asked in disbelief. "Ah! It's us ordinary people who are poor. Those officials don't expect to make money from the little grain in the fields. They rely on the self-interest of stealing gold mines in the forest of monsters and beasts, and they are so rich!" After chatting for a long time, other villagers finally let go of their doubts, an elderly villager sighed softly.
Looking at the crooked crops on the hillside due to malnutrition, Du Long felt an indescribable anger gathering in his heart. Such inactive corrupt officials are really hateful! "Hmph! How unreasonable! Everyone, I am Du Long, the newly appointed lord of Fengli County. I will definitely punish these corrupt officials severely, so that the people under my rule can have a home where they can live and work in peace and contentment!" Sign up and make your own commitments. "The new lord?" One of the villagers sneered with disdain: "Hey, we have had a few lords here, but soon because the fiefdom can't make money for them, they have to post money here, and all of them turned away. It's too late, how can anyone be willing to take over such a rotten fiefdom?" "Haha, Du Long! This world is really full of wonders! I, Su Jinbao, have traveled to countless counties and cities all over the world. Today is the first time I heard that the fiefdom lords have been reduced to the point of subsidizing money!" Su Jinbao seemed to hear the most ridiculous thing Laughed like a joke. Being ridiculed by this guy, Du Long, the newly appointed lord, immediately blushed, and said depressedly: "It's really strange! A fief earns more or less money! How can there be a situation where money is paid back?" The older villager explained with a gloomy face: "The reason is very simple! The name of the governor of Fengli County is Qian Jinlong. I heard that what he likes to brag about most at the wine table is that he has a background that goes straight to the left of the capital. Fan! With this background, he secretly colluded with others to mine gold mines without permission. The speed of making money is not comparable to the little crops produced in the field! So..."