The snow on the mountain road severely slowed down the caravan's speed.

The terrain of Silang Mountain is not as steep as the northwest of Pingzhou. Because of the caravan, the road here has been specially repaired. In addition to being a little slippery, it is also flat.

Meng Qi was not in a hurry to rush. He stopped and watched the scenery beside the road to pass the time.

There were not many people like them who joined the team midway, including peddlers, woodcutters, and even servants escorting supplies in the yamen.

People who work in the yamen are divided into different levels. I won’t talk about the grades. Just about these inequality servants, some have worked in the yamen for a long time, while others are people who come to perform corvee service.

The latter is not a relaxing job of delivering letters, but rather transporting supplies to the government, such as firewood and charcoal used in winter, sand, bricks and tiles for building houses, etc. To put it bluntly, it is a coolie who doesn’t have money.

The corvee service will be distributed to each male, and each person needs to do about a month of heavy work for the government every year. The government has the final say on what to do and how long it will take to do.

In Zhushan County, the county government manages food and accommodation, and does not have much work. The people are also familiar with the people in the government. Everyone chats while working, which is very lively. It is obviously not the case outside. Those people push carts without saying a word, and those who look like supervisors are not in the mood to joke. They just want to hand over the errands quickly and go home.

At this time, we can see the power of the Si family. The vehicles that transported things to the government did not dare to cross the Si family caravan, but followed like a small caravan.

When it was getting dark, I had not arrived in Qiuling County yet.

Caravans of all sizes all stopped. They found an open space, surrounded the cars in circles, and then set up a bonfire in a sheltered place to keep warm.

Thinking that they would arrive home soon, everyone was smiling, but the only officers were anxious.

“Tomorrow is a deadline!”

"...We will report the situation and may be able to be comfortable." The official in charge of the supervisor had no choice but to say to the officers who were surrounding him with a frown, "There is snow everywhere. If you go to the night road and damage your vehicles and food, wouldn't the blame be even worse?"

"If we hadn't met the Si family caravan, we would have walked faster!" a servant said angrily.

Someone next to him immediately covered his mouth and whispered: "You want to die? The Si family has always been arrogant. I have been delayed for a day and I will only receive a few whips. If I hit the Si family's goods, how do you compensate?"

The officer was dissatisfied after hearing this and wanted to say something else.

The supervisor pointed to the shaking knife of the Si caravan guard and said, "Even if you can afford it, can your arms and legs be harder than the knife? I won't kill you, but what if you have no hands and feet? When your family sued you, he said that he mistakenly recognized you as a bandit and sent some money for medicine. How can your family live at that time?"

The officer had nothing to say and sat aside.

Mo Li could hear the words of the group clearly. He looked at the vehicle transported by the service. The ruts were very deep. The car was covered with waterproof tart cloth, which was covered tightly, and could not tell what it was.

There are more than 20 such big cars in total, without cattle and horses, and all rely on manpower.

"Is the corvee service outside so heavy?" Mo Li asked in a daze.

Even though the book says that the harsh government is more powerful than the tiger, the place where the Moli passes is not the people's life. The caravan driver just now said that Qiuling County is very rich and the people's lives are much better than before.

Is this much better?

Mo Li asked unconsciously. Meng Qi looked at the servants and whispered: "If you don't want to do labor service, you can use money to redeem it. Qiuling County has more wealthy people and more people willing to spend money. If you don't have to sell hard labor, you naturally feel that life is much better than before. However, in this world, there are always some people who can't afford money and fewer people work, but what you have to do is still there, so for the poor, labor service is even heavier."

"The money for redeeming corvee labor is not the cost of hiring someone to work in the government?" Mo Li asked subconsciously, how come he has fewer people working?

Meng Qi paused and did not answer.

Qin Lu had never been an official and knew nothing about these privacy. Mo Li naturally could not learn these things. He had not left Zhushan County for many years. When he saw something completely different from the one I remembered, he couldn't figure it out for a moment. In fact, without Meng Qi's explanation, Mo Li could figure out the answer even if he thought it slowly.

The government collected money for redemption of corvee labor, but did not hire anyone to work, and still ordered the poor people to use one person as two people, and then recorded another job on the account. In this way, the money saved was entered into the pockets of greed people in the county government.

“Is this a very common thing?”

"No matter where it is, it is very common..." Meng Qi was stunned for a while, as if recalling something, and then said, "The Chu Dynasty once promulgated a new corvee law for this purpose. Anyone who is distributed corvee service is not allowed to redeem. If the family has surplus wealth, they can send slaves or hire people to serve on their own. The government will not collect money on their behalf."

After hearing this, Mo Li felt that this was a way to curb oppression from the root.

Unexpectedly, Meng Qi's next sentence was-

"The implementation of the new law failed, and those officials who made money could always find loopholes. Through the yaku shop, they stipulated that wealthy families must hire people through the yaku shop run by the yaku shop. The money was transferred, and they went to the yaku shop's bao. In fact, there were no hiring workers at all, and things were still the same and not solved. There were even more unscrupulous officials who simply collected 'single money' from the yaku shop, each with ten cents. If they did not pay, they would be forcibly 'hired' by the yaku shop. Originally, they only needed to serve for one month, but they were extended to two months, but they worked as hiring workers but could not get a penny. Even if they sued, the government office and county office would have been in a mess..."

Mo Li's breath became a little quick when he heard it. He didn't know what to say. The officers squatted beside the car, as if they were still worried about not being able to arrive in Qiuling County in time.

Mengqi, who was surrounded by her, continued: "The Chu Dynasty implemented a new law, including the corvee service law, with a total of twelve articles. It also established a patrol position for the new law, but the final result was unsatisfactory. Corrupt officials cut down a lot, and there were also many patrol inspections who colluded with corrupt officials. For example, the corvee service law, doctor, do you know why it failed?"

“…The administration is corrupt?”

"No, it's because the county government system is incomplete." Meng Qi seemed to have completely restored his memory as a national teacher. He talked freely, "In a county government, there are not many officials who earn the court's salary seriously. The people who are convicted, jailers, and detainers are not considered the court's salary at all. The money they feed their families is given by the county government. Where does the county government come from? They deduct oil and water from the places that the court acquiesced. In addition, the county government has a term of office, and they come and go without a fixed number. Only these minor officials have been squatting in the county government for a long time, and they have become local tyrants and can even undermine the magistrate. If they refuse to work, the magistrate has no way, so they can only follow them and give them benefits."

The moli was silent.

This seems to be what Mr. Qin said, and it was only Xue Lingjun who understood it, but they knew very little?

"Doctor, look at your appearance, I guess there is no such thing in Zhushan County." Meng Qi suddenly laughed and said leisurely, "This made me curious and wanted to go to Zhushan County to see... But no matter how good the place is, it is not always like this."

Mo Li heard from the mountain people what Zhushan County looked like before Xue Lingjun came.

Although Xue Lingjun is thirty years younger than Mr. Qin, in the eyes of ordinary people, he is already old enough to know his destiny. Even if Xue Lingjun is in good health and lives for a few more years, what if decades later?

Dr. Mo gradually discovered that his expectations for the future seemed to be increasingly difficult to realize.

At least he could not imagine that in the future, there would be a group of minor officials who exploited the people and a group of Holy Lotus Altar scholars who deceived the people.

Qin Lu traveled around the world and finally settled in Zhushan County under Xue Lingjun. But what can Mo Li do? Qimaoshan is there. He can wander outside, but he can't move his nest in the end, so he still has to go back to Zhushan County.

"Doctor regret leaving his hometown?"

"Although the hometown is good, if you don't come out, how can you detect the future crisis?" Mo Li replied.

How well the people in a place live depends entirely on what kind of person are the magistrates who come to take office? How to change?

Mo Li thought a lot, and when he came to his senses, he suddenly realized something: Even his small dragon vein is still worried about Zhushan County, so what about the Taijing dragon vein?

Once the dragon vein transforms into shape, as a human being, he will encounter the same troubles.

Taijing is the capital of all dynasties. A bad emperor is much more troublesome than a bad county magistrate.

Can the Taijing Dragon Vein resist such a bad mood?

Mo Li subconsciously looked at Meng Qi with a deep gaze.

Meng Qi was waiting for the doctor to continue asking him for advice. When he suddenly met this look, his neck chilled, as if something was discovered.

“…”

It's strange, what's going on with this feeling? Meng Qi muttered in his heart.

"Huh?" Mo Li happened to see a man with his head and face covering running to the officer not far behind Meng Qi. He lost his energy. The officers seemed to recognize this person and hurriedly covered him.

At this time, the caravan also became chaotic, as if something had happened.

Immediately afterwards, I saw a group of people holding torches and coming from far to near.

The leader was a man like a black tower. He rode on his horse, glanced at the messy camp with a blade-like gaze. The people behind him came up to interrogate if they had seen strangers coming from the direction of Qiuling County.

Everyone shook their heads together. There were only those who went to Qiuling County along the way, but they hadn't seen anyone taking the opposite direction yet!

The guards of the Si family caravan seemed to recognize these people and stepped forward and started talking.

"... Something must have happened!" The coachman who had been talking to Mo Li in the afternoon clapped his legs, "These people are all from Sijiabao. It's so dark. Are they chasing who are they chasing?"

Mo Li looked at the servants from the corner of her eyes and found that they had already hidden the person in the shadow behind the car.

"Don't cover your face, and show your face!" The people from Sijiabao ordered arrogantly, and rushed in and distinguished when they saw someone.

The small caravan was in a hurry and begged them not to overturn the goods.

"What are you doing?"

When the private soldiers of the Si family saw the officials, they questioned them without hesitation.

The supervisor of the worker quickly blocked, "These are all food and supplies from neighboring counties, and they are for chewing the troops under General Liu. You must not break them down!"

Hearing the name of the general of the bandit, the leading black-skinned man immediately frowned.

At this moment, a sound of horse hooves came from the end of the mountain road, and Mo's ears moved, confirming that they were in the direction. Then, more than a dozen riders who looked familiar to Doctor Mo appeared at the intersection.

"What's going on? Is there still a blockage?"

When Liu Dan lifted the reins of the horse, he looked at the private soldiers of the Si Jia who were holding torches coldly.

Although there were few people around Liu Dan and many people in the Si family, the black man had a cautious expression as if he was facing a great enemy.

"General Liu asked me, someone stole the Si family's objects and ran out. I am ordered to pursue me?"

"What object, so precious?" Liu Dan sneered.

Before the other side could answer, General Liu whipped over, "What a brave man, what are you? It would be fine if you don't kneel down when you see this general. The Si family's things were stolen and not reported to the official. He actually said that he was ordered to pursue him. Who are you ordered?"

The black man seemed to be able to do martial arts. He avoided this attack and said with anger: "The Si family lost the heirloom treasure, which is priceless. The head of the family ordered us to recover it. In desperation, he neglected the general and asked for forgiveness."

Liu Dan did not continue to chase him and whip him, but just sneered: "Herbirth heirloom? I think it is something shameful!"

No one dared to answer the conversation. Liu Dan obviously wanted to find the person before Sijiabao. He glanced around with the light of the bonfire, and then unfortunately met Meng Qi, who had just taken off his cloak.

"Ahem!!"
Chapter completed!