Qin Yuan watched Murong Yanran lift the hem of her long skirt, follow the ridge, and walk into the field along the edge of the field, stepping deep and shallow in her boots to avoid the crops.

Murong Yanran talked with the farmer for a while, then walked back along the ridge of the field.

Ignoring the mud on his feet, he explained to Qin Yuan, "It's not that they don't want to use buffaloes, nor is it that the buffaloes are sick, but the crops here are really growing in different depths. If the buffaloes work on the crops, they will be too rough, so people have to work on them one by one."

Qin Yuan nodded and said with a smile, "Now, do you understand why I must see it with my own eyes?"

Murong Yanran and others nodded solemnly.

Many things that I saw with my own eyes were indeed different from what was written in the books.

If we simply implement policies based on our own assumptions, mistakes are likely to occur.

Murong Yanran was about to mount her horse and continue forward when Qin Yuan suddenly asked.

"How much tax do they actually pay here?"

Murong Yanran has always been Yan Jiaoran's secretary and knows this question very well.

He immediately said proudly: "The decree of Emperor Taizu Gao in the 21st year of Kaiyuan is still in effect. The average level of the Great Zhou is half a dou of rice per mu of land, and in Songjiang Prefecture it is about three dou of rice."

According to statistics in the 26th year of Kaiyuan, the eight prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River (Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yingtian, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Hangzhou, which are today's southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) collected a total of 6.86 million dan of rice and wheat, accounting for 20% of the country's total tax grain.

Among all the prefectures, Suzhou was the most taxed, and the tax grain paid by Suzhou alone was nearly one-tenth of the national total.

The high tax system in the grain-producing areas of Jiangnan was due to both imperial power and actual financial needs.

But in any case, this theoretical figure is still affordable for landlords and farmers.

"Did they also tell you three dou of rice?"

Murong Yanran nodded.

Qin Yuan smiled slightly: "I heard that Lord Murong is proficient in mathematics. Next, how about combining what we have seen and heard and calculating how much tax should be increased."

After saying this, he spurred his horse on and continued on his way.

This time, after walking about two miles, Qin Yuan stopped again.

"What is that?"

In the distance, a wooden basin was floating on the canal that irrigated the paddy fields, and there seemed to be something in the basin.

"Could it be that someone's washerwoman's basin accidentally floated away?" Murong Yanran speculated.

"no."

Li Dejian squinted his eyes and stared at it for a moment, then said with certainty, "There's a baby wrapped inside."

"Go and fish it out." Qin Yuan said simply.

Li Dejian nodded, whipped the chariot under his crotch with a whip, and when he reached the canal, he jumped off the horse gracefully without even stopping.

Then he took two steps at a time and jumped onto the edge of the canal. With a light reach of his long arms, he pulled over the wooden basin that was slowly floating down the canal.

When Li Dejian came back with the wooden basin, Qin Yuan and others saw that it was a very cute little girl.