Chapter 443 Luo's arrival, the sky clears up
A family of three hid in a dilapidated house, looking at the heavy rain coming outside, and then looking at his wife and daughter who were sleeping soundly. He was a little dazed, wondering why the world suddenly became like this.
Although the clerks had also been domineering in the past few years, at least no one dared to provoke a good family man like him who had served in the Han army.
He lived in his youth under the rule of Emperor Xiaowu, which was a time when his family was on the rise because Emperor Xiaowu greatly improved the treatment of the Han army.
Although Emperor Xiaoding suffered a great defeat, his overall reputation was not bad.
But since the Emperor ascended the throne...
Wang San recalled the sudden tax increase, which the court wanted to collect taxes based on the total value of assets.
However, value should be a common agreement between people, but the court wants to collect taxes according to their calculations.
In order to give an account to their superiors and show their performance, the county magistrates and the clerks, in order to make money for themselves, naturally had to report to the higher authorities and extort as much as possible from good businessmen like Wang San.
As for those merchants who have backers, such as wealthy merchants in the county who have marquises, princes or royal nobles as their backers, those who do not want to bring bad luck can report normally.
After all, most of the marquises were unwilling to provoke the emperor at this time, so they could only give up part of their interests to ensure the greatest interest, that is, the fiefdom.
However, so far no one has forced the marquises to report more. Although every county magistrate wants to kill the marquis who guards the county, and the county magistrates can do it (after all, the power of a county is far greater than that of a county of the marquis), when the emperor is obviously biased towards the marquis, the county magistrates are still relatively safe.
Some royal nobles and foreign relatives relied on their closer relationship with the emperor and were bolder than the marquises, so it didn't matter if they reported less.
For example, there is not much difference between a shop being worth 100,000 coins and 80,000 coins. No one will actually come down to check a shop a thousand miles away. As long as the reported figure is not as outrageous as 40,000 coins, no one will beg for mercy. In this way, a lot of taxes can be saved.
Wang San felt a little sad. Since when did he have to rely on the nobles to avoid being exploited by the court officials?
“Tatttatt.”
Wang San woke up suddenly. This was the sound of a cavalry. He used to be a member of the Han army. The sound of horse hooves was majestic and powerful. It was most likely a war horse!
Who would ride a horse in weather like this?
Wang San didn't know who would come, but he wanted to leave. At this moment, he didn't want any accidents to happen.
But anxiety immediately appeared on his face. It was raining heavily outside and he couldn't go out at all. His daughter was still young. If she got caught in the rain, it would be almost impossible for her to survive.
Helplessly, he could only hold the sword and wait quietly for the unknown fate to come.
There was a slightly noisy sound coming from outside, and Wang San listened quietly.
"Sir, this is an abandoned village. Judging from the situation, the entire village must have been relocated."
"Hurry up and have all the brothers go inside to rest. Drink the medicine and ginger soup you brought. Collect all the dry things in the house and dry your clothes. Make sure you don't catch a cold."
“Yes!”
The vague conversation reached Wang San's ears, making him relax a little. At least it was not someone sent by the court to arrest him. From the conversation, it seemed that a powerful person was traveling.
“There’s someone here!”
Wang San looked up and saw a tall and strong man, who was obviously an extremely strong warrior.
Wang San and his wife and daughter were taken away by the warrior to meet the leader of the group, feeling very anxious.
The moment they stepped into the house, Wang San and his family of three were stunned. It was raining heavily outside and the light in the house was not very good, it could even be said to be a little dim. The only source of light was an oil lamp lit by the flint brought by the warriors.
But Wang San and his family of three could clearly see the person in front of them.
He was a very handsome man, who seemed to be in his twenties, but looked very weathered. He sat quietly in the room looking at Wang San's family of three. The holy mark between his eyebrows seemed to shine with infinite light in the hazy yellow light.
Holy marks!
Wang San felt that he must be dazzled, but how could that feeling be wrong?
His whole body was trembling. Young Master, Young Master, it turned out to be Young Master Zhao!
Great and supreme Su Wang, have you awakened from your deep sleep and come to save us?
“Plop!”
Wang San and his wife knelt on the ground, his voice filled with endless screams, and he cried out in pain: "Prince Su, my lord, save me!"
All the suppressed emotions burst out. After seeing Luo Sheng, it was as if she saw a ray of light in her deep despair. The surging emotions could no longer be controlled and completely rolled out, scaring even Luo Sheng.
When the little girl saw her parents crying, she also started crying. Two lines of tears flowed down her delicate little face, which made people feel distressed. Even the mentally strong warriors around her couldn't help feeling sad.
Luo Sheng looked at the little girl with surprise. He felt a hint of something special from the little girl. He withdrew his inquiring gaze and looked back at Wang San and his wife who were kneeling on the ground.
First let someone help them up, and then ask them carefully.
Wang San confessed everything that had happened to him. The brave warriors around him were all furious. They had never expected that the officials outside Zhaocheng could be so corrupt.
Although it was Wang San's one-sided statement, Luo Sheng actually believed it in his heart.
Because this is very consistent with reality, but even though he already believed it, adhering to the good habit of listening to both sides will lead to enlightenment, while listening to only one side will lead to confusion, Luo Sheng still decided to go and see it in person.
Besides, he came all the way from Hexi just to see what the world would become under these policies.
Wang San’s experience is very typical. This kind of thing definitely happens to not just him, but countless people.
"After the rain stops, we'll go to the county and take a look."
Luo Sheng ordered that Wang San and his family be taken to another room to rest, and that they be given medicine and ginger soup to prevent colds. After Wang San left, the housekeeper came forward and whispered, "Sir, if we go to the county to investigate this matter, should we keep a low profile?
I am worried that some officials may become desperate and take risks.”
Luo Sheng was silent after hearing this. What the butler said was actually a theory among the Luo family, called the "Luo family countercurrent law."
The name of this concept is taken from the saying "If you don't advance, you will retreat." The main meaning is that as a dynasty lasts longer, even if the Luo family does nothing, it will have more and more enemies.
When a dynasty is just beginning, the emperor is wise and brave, and cares for the people. Most of the ministers are honest and incorruptible, and can control their greed. At this time, although the moral standards of the Luo family are high, they are not particularly eye-catching.
However, as the dynasty lasted longer, the government became corrupt, the powerful became decadent, and the world became full of black crows, the white-feathered Luo family would become more and more conspicuous.
Especially since Luo Shi was unwilling to blend in with the crowd and still acted independently, many people believed that as long as Luo Shi was alive, they could not live and could not enjoy themselves.
The Han Dynasty has not yet reached this point. At least the nobility has not fallen so quickly. The balance between the royal family, princes and marquises is maintained very well. Currently, the marquises are still thinking about fighting to maintain their wealth and have not yet extended their claws to ordinary people.
But officials are different. Most of them come from powerful families in counties and prefectures. They do not need to worry about the disappearance of their fiefdoms every day like the marquises and princes. These people have collections of books at home and produce officials from generation to generation, so the situation is very stable.
In a power field, those who hold power are never those who are in power for a short period of time, but those who hold power for a long time.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties of later generations, many county magistrates were sidelined by clerks. If they were willing to live in seclusion, they could stay in their positions for three to five years and then move on.
If one wants to do something, then it depends on who has better means. If someone in the court protects him, then he can leave in disgrace. If no one protects him, he will be stripped of his official title or even lose his life. There are many cases where one loses his life.
Look at the Lu family and Anyang Han family who are now on good terms with the Luo family. They have to ask for Luo family’s opinions on many things to see if they have touched Luo family’s bottom line.
The good thing about the Lu family is that they are relatively clear about the Luo family's bottom line.
The Anyang Han family is not as good, but Marquis Anyang often goes to Zhaocheng, and he has not done anything wrong over the years.
A family like the Luo family is completely different from a family like the Yuan family of the Three Kingdoms period, where three officials were elected for four generations. The Yuan family's appeal and reputation are not due to three officials being elected for four generations. Who doesn't know what the three officials were in the late Eastern Han Dynasty?
The Yuan family formed a huge community of interests when they served as one of the three highest officials in the country. This interest group was headed by the Yuan family, and this was the source of the Yuan family's appeal.
In other words, it was because Yuan was a good leader who could share benefits with his subordinates. He was able to give what the emperor was unwilling to give, and this was the source of Yuan's reputation.
But can Luo give those powerful officials what they want?
cannot!
Those people are cunning and despicable, completely different from the Luo family. How can the two parties with completely opposite interests walk on the same path?
It is an indisputable fact that over the past hundred years, more and more people in the world admire the Luo family, and more and more people hate the Luo family.
This was why family members were a little worried when Luo Wuji wanted to transfer the brave warriors to the Western Regions, because beneath the thriving appearance of the family, there was a gradually emerging crisis, and it was an irreconcilable crisis.
The only way is to reshuffle the cards, create chaos in the world again, and purge all those corrupt bureaucrats and nobles, but in reality, the situation does not have to go to that point.
At least for now, no one dares to take action against the Luo family.
Luo Sheng thought a lot and was silent for a long time, then he said in a deep voice: "The family is at its peak. There is no sign yet. We cannot hesitate because of possible dangers. We still have to go and take a look. However, check the horses and weapons, and tell all the clansmen to be more vigilant."
“Yes!”
Seeing Luo Sheng's insistence, the butler responded softly.
Brothers, please give less testimony. I’m afraid that the posts will be deleted layer by layer. I really don’t mean that. I just simply write something based on the content of the book.
I have decided that I will write two opposite conclusions later, so there should be less evidence.
(End of this chapter)
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