Chapter 268: Conscription and Road Construction
Liaodong County Governor's Office
Lu Desheng was writing a memorial, which was a request to move the county magistrate's office to Houcheng. After it was finished, he would send it to the emperor in Chang'an.
He wrote very quickly, and the whole article was full of flow and was all about the necessity of moving the government.
Wait until he finishes writing and puts down his pen.
Guo Chunsheng, standing by, said worriedly, "Sir, is there something wrong with changing the plaque? It's not that you can't change it, but you should write a memorial to the emperor first to ask for his permission."
The Liaodong County Governor's Office was built after the first governor selected a location and asked the court for permission. It was later relocated for other reasons, but before any relocation, the court had to be informed and approved.
"You make sense. Am I not just asking for instructions?" Lu Desheng said lazily.
Guo Chunsheng: Sir, are you sure you are asking for instructions rather than acting first and reporting later?
"Sir, I mean, you're changing the plaque so quickly. What if the emperor doesn't agree?"
Lu Desheng sneered in his heart, "He will agree." How could he not agree?
At the beginning, when the new emperor agreed to send him away and placed him in Houcheng, Lu Desheng was a little suspicious that the new emperor wanted him to die in Houcheng.
You know, Houcheng is located on the border of the Xianbei grassland, which is the front line of war every year. It is so dangerous.
It was true that he wanted to be exiled to Pingzhou, and it would have been best if he could be in Liaodong County. However, among the eighteen counties in Liaodong County, the new emperor had arranged for him to be in Houcheng, which made him doubt the new emperor's intentions.
At one point, Lu Desheng felt that he had thought too badly of others. After arriving in Houcheng and reuniting with his daughter, he couldn't help but express his doubts.
Then his daughter told him with certainty that his suspicion was correct, and the new emperor had indeed had sinister intentions in sending him to Houcheng.
He was furious at the time. What the hell was Song Mo? Compared to the late emperor, he was not even a little bit inferior!
Guo Chunsheng was puzzled. Why was Lord Lu so sure that the emperor would agree to his relocation of the Liaodong County Governor's Office to Houcheng?
Lu Desheng snorted. Could he tell him that the emperor wanted him to die in Houcheng?
In addition, "I decided to place the County Magistrate's Office in Houcheng to reassure the people. Why doesn't the Emperor agree?"
Song Mo had better agree.
If you don't agree, don't blame him for passing the blame to him!
Guo Chunsheng shook his head, "Sir, you are too willful."
Lü Desheng ignored his words and didn't act recklessly. Was he still Lü Desheng? If he had carefully considered every aspect, the emperor would probably have been unable to sleep.
Guo Chunsheng became even more worried. "Your Excellency executed first and reported later," he said. "Even if your intentions were good, the Emperor is only fifteen and willful. He doesn't care if you're doing it to appease the people or not, so he won't agree." Wouldn't that be a slap in the face for Lord Lu? How would he explain this to the people?
If that were the case, the one who would have to answer to the people would not be him, but the emperor! Lu Desheng thought to himself.
He wrote the memorial and sent it directly to the emperor in Chang'an via the post station as quickly as possible.
For the people of Houcheng, a closely related event happened the day after the Houcheng County Government replaced its plaque. The event was that the county magistrate issued his first decree after taking office, which was to levy labor service and build roads.
Lü Songli recently took a look at the Dali Law and found out that Dali stipulates that men become adults at the age of sixteen and are obliged to perform labor service from the age of sixty to the age of sixty, with an age span of forty-four years.
Every adult male had to perform labor service for about one month every year.
She knew that compared to later times, ancient taxes and corvée labor were very heavy. In many dynasties, the land tax was around one-tenth of the tax rate. Fifteenth, twentyth, or even thirtyth percentiles were uncommon, and only powerful dynasties, during periods of prosperity, dared to set such low rates.
Lu Songli remembered that in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms she had read, the taxes in Shu Han were really heavy.
The policy implemented by Shu Han at that time was "one out of every three male adults was drafted, and 46% of the tax was levied". One out of every three male adults was drafted, which meant that one male adult in the family had to join the army, and 46% of the tax was levied, which meant that 40% of the farmers' harvest had to be handed over to the state.
One can imagine how hard life was for the common people at that time, but there was nothing they could do. In troubled times, the common people were lucky enough to have their lives safe, and they did not demand a high happiness index at all.
Lu Songli planned to build a road starting from Chencun, the border between Wuliu County and Liaoxi County, connecting Liaoyang and Wangping, and finally ending at Houcheng.
Based on the official roads of the four counties, they were widened, connected and leveled.
In fact, at this time, it would be better if there was cement or asphalt.
But she thought about it, asphalt is extracted and decomposed from petroleum, so forget it, she didn't have the conditions, but cement was still something she could think about.
She knew the approximate composition of cement. Living in an era of rapid infrastructure development, people of her generation often came into contact with cement in their daily lives.
I know the approximate ingredients, but I don't know the exact ratio.
But there is no rush for this matter. Let's wait until her brother Lu Mingzhi makes the paper.
Moreover, at this time, they were still too weak, and it was not the time to take out the cement.
Lu Songli felt that this was the time when the people of Houcheng had the best impression of her father, and this year's corvée labor had not yet been completed, so the road construction should go smoothly and the people should not have too much resistance.
Lu Songli guessed correctly, their conscription and road construction went smoothly.
After Geng Yuan returned home, he thought about it and decided that he couldn't just let it go. So he personally visited several landlords and powerful people in the same circle.
After a period of discussion, they unanimously decided to send someone to sound out Lu Desheng and ask him whether he needed more money for the construction of Liaodong County or Houcheng.
The person Geng Yuan and his friends entrusted was none other than the local Guo Chunsheng.
Lu Desheng: "What do they mean?"
Guo Chunsheng knew their intentions very well and thought to himself, if I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?
"Sir, they probably want to lend you money."
Lu Desheng was about to lose his temper when his daughter interrupted him, "We know about this. Thank you for troubling Mr. Guo."
Seeing that the situation was not going well, Guo Chunsheng quickly retreated, leaving the battlefield, no, the venue to the Lu father and daughter.
"My daughter, why don't you let your father reject them?" In the past, Lu Desheng would have refused without saying a word.
You looked down on me before, but now I'm going to make you feel out of reach. He was so kind to others before, and they gave him two or three thousand taels each! Who are you looking down on?
Lu Songli quickly advised, "Dad, we can't go against money."
"Are you still short of money?" Isn't your son-in-law currently attacking Wangping's Black Dragon Village? He looted quite a bit of silver from the previous attack on Black Wind Village. Haven't you spent it yet?
Lu Songli sighed, "Dad, before it was just a Marquis City that needed money to build, but now there are eighteen counties in Liaodong County crying out for support. We have to prepare some money."
Lu Desheng was disappointed.
Next, Lu Desheng accepted all offers of money from Geng Yuan and other wealthy landlords in Houcheng.
My daughter said that if you want to do big things, you can't be morally obsessed. Now there are still many places in Houcheng and even the entire Liaodong County that need money. People trust them and are willing to lend them money for development. Why should they refuse?
Of course, Lu Songli also agreed with some of her father's ideas. The treatment of Geng Yuan's group was inferior to that of Lan Bingrong, who had generously donated money at the beginning. When there was an opportunity, under the same conditions, they would be treated worse.
Lan Bingrong took risks and spent real money to play with them. He should be rewarded for making the right choice.
When Geng Yuan and others came to the door with the silver, Lord Lu's forgiveness and smiling face made them feel relieved.
These people were quite generous in lending money this time, with some lending as much as 20,000 yuan and some as little as 10,000 yuan.
Boxes of silver were carried into the government office one after another, and in the end everyone took away a promissory note with the seal of the Liaodong County Magistrate.
Lan Bingrong did not come this time, so Lu Desheng took the initiative to give him a promissory note with the Liaodong County Magistrate's seal on it, and then arranged for someone to send it to his home.
Geng Yuan and the others felt a pang of displeasure when they saw this, but they also knew that since they were a step behind, it was normal for Lord Lu to look at Lan Bingrong differently.
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