My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 85 Thank you
This Daxing City was the new name for Chang'an during the Han Dynasty.

After Emperor Wen established the Sui Dynasty, he initially intended to make Chang'an, the city that had been the capital of the Han Dynasty, the capital. However, Chang'an at that time was in disrepair and heavily polluted due to war. So Emperor Wen started construction on the east side of the Han Dynasty's Chang'an, expanding upon the existing city and building a new capital.

This new capital city is called Daxing City. Construction began during the reign of Emperor Wen and continues to this day without interruption. The canal built by the sage this year runs from Daxing to Jiangdu. Judging from the sage's appearance, construction will continue so that Daxing City can connect to every corner of the world.

Although the concept of prefectures and kingdoms no longer exists, the concept of hometown and community remains unchanged, and people tend to be closer to their fellow townsmen.

Tian Xiangzheng's accent did sound different to Li Xuanba.

After he took his seat, Tian Xiangzheng told some interesting stories about his hometown. Only Tian Xiangzheng and Li Xuanba could understand these stories. The others listened with blank expressions, completely unaware of what was so funny about them.

Tian Xiangzheng didn't treat Li Xuanba like a child at all. In his eyes, Li Xuanba was a golden opportunity, and as long as he could hold onto him, he could ensure the wealth and prosperity of his family for generations to come.

Seeing that Tian Xiangzheng's attitude was very respectful and his tone was so humble, Li Xuanba directly stated the purpose of inviting him.

“I have formed a local militia, which is now stationed in Changwu Township.”

Upon hearing Li Xuanba's words, Tian Xiangzheng raised his head slightly. Tian Xiangzheng had always thought that Li Xuanba chose Changwu as his base because he was also from Guanzhong and would definitely seek help from his own people if he needed to get things done. What could those stinking beggars from outside the pass possibly accomplish?

"I plan to have the knights set up a patrol line in Changwu to protect the people from thieves."

Li Xuanba explained his thoughts in detail, and Tian Xiangzheng did not hesitate. He immediately said, "It is an honor for the people of Changwu that Third Young Master cares so much about the affairs of Changwu. In the past, bandits roamed this place. I wanted to fight them, but I was not strong enough. Now that Third Young Master is taking the lead, I will do my best!"

"Third Master, I will soon lead men to various villages and have them cooperate with your local militia. If anyone disobeys, I will deal with them myself. I will complete this task within three days, no, within two days!"

Tian Xiangzheng looked rather impatient, as if he was about to get up and get to work at any moment.

Li Xuanba then said, "I am extremely grateful for the help of the village head."

"How dare we? How dare we? This matter has nothing to do with you, sir. We should be thanking you for helping us!"

"However, there are a few more things I'd like to discuss with the village head."

"Please speak, my lord."

"One of them is the matter of allocating land."

As soon as Li Xuanba opened his mouth, Tian Xiangzheng's smile froze. He hesitated for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "What does Young Master mean?"

“The amount of land allocated is completely wrong. I have been to many villages and many people have not received actual land, but they are paying taxes based on an extremely high amount of land allocated. The household registration is wrong, and the land allocation is also wrong. They have tried to appeal several times, but they can’t find a way to do so.”

“In recent days, many people have come to me to complain about this issue.”

“There is a family in Mengcun with one man and two women who are being taxed according to the land allocation for ten men, but have actually been allocated less than sixty mu! What is the reason for this?”

Tian Xiangzheng remained silent for a moment, then said helplessly, "My lord, you are unaware of this."

"This land allocation issue involves a great deal of issues. Who doesn't know that allocating land among the people is unreasonable? But there's nothing we can do. The people above want political achievements. The amount of arable land can only increase each year, not decrease. So we can only submit our reports according to their demands. If there is more arable land, then the taxes will inevitably increase."

"In recent years, the reported amount of cultivated land has become increasingly outrageous. I think that in a few more years, the nominal cultivated land of the Sui Dynasty will probably be larger than its territory."

Li Xuanba's face was grim. He asked, "Isn't this something that can be changed?"

Tian Xiang hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "If you want me to change it, I can go and verify it again right now and report it to you truthfully!"

"However, it won't pass through the county town. The county officials will definitely come after me. There are three wealthy families in Changwu who have close ties with many people in the town. One of them has a daughter who married into the Zheng family. They will also try to deal with me."

"And the local village officials will also hate me because of this."

"However, I am not afraid. If Third Master asks me to do it, I will give the order to do it right now!"

"However, there is one thing I would like to ask of you, Sanlangjun."

"what's up?"

"If I die an unnatural death, I still have two children in my hometown. I hope that you can take care of them for me."

Li Xuanba's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that the land allocation issue in a single township would be so difficult. If that was the case, what about a county? What about a prefecture? It would probably be an enhanced version of the opposing forces that the township head had mentioned earlier.

In the countryside, one would only offend county officials, local strongmen, and other village leaders.

If one were to reach the position of prefect, wouldn't one offend officials in the imperial court, even the emperor, then offend prominent families in the prefecture, and then offend all the prefectural officials and their colleagues?

Li Xuanba suddenly realized why no one dared to get involved in these matters!
Offending so many powerful forces at the same time, even a Duke couldn't withstand it, right?
The courtyard was quiet. Everyone, from Zhang Du to the others, remained silent. When Li Xuanba mentioned this earlier, they all agreed with him.

After all, they were all witnesses to these events, and they knew all too well the suffering that this outrageous land grant had brought to the common people.

During the reign of Emperor Wen, a massive famine broke out in Guanzhong, affecting a large number of people, many of whom starved to death. The cause of the famine was said to be the lack of rain for several months. However, just the year before, the court officials had told Emperor Wen that the country was thriving, the people were prosperous, and every household had stored grain, praising the great effectiveness of the land allocation system.

No one knows where the stored grain went, but a huge famine broke out. At that time, granaries in various places were piled up to the brim with grain, which was obtained through high taxes and was enough to feed people for decades.

Emperor Wen was kind-hearted. When the country had ample food supplies, but the disaster victims were starving and dying every day, he decided to lead the disaster victims from Guanzhong to Luoyang for food.

There have been emperors in the past who took disaster victims to eat elsewhere, but we have never heard of their granaries being overflowing.

Throughout the journey, Emperor Wen wept every day, mourning the disaster victims who died along the way, and decided to abstain from meat to express his grief.

Oh, by the way, the forced labor in the Sui Dynasty is still ongoing at this moment.

In response, an anonymous source said: "Emperor Wen of Sui loved grain but not the people."

Everyone wanted to change the situation of the land being nominally granted, but Tianxiangzheng's words immediately calmed everyone down. It seemed that the consequences of this matter would be quite significant.

Li Xuanba frowned deeply.

He suddenly looked at Tian Xiangzheng and said, "If someone comes to question you, I will go and talk to him about the principles of being a subject."

"Go ahead and do it with confidence. I will send someone to follow you and prevent anyone from harming you."

"I hope you can thoroughly investigate the actual number of lands granted and the actual number of people, and grant them truthfully so that the people of Changwu can live in peace."

"Now that we know the harm, how can we ignore it?"

Without hesitation, Tian Xiangzheng immediately stated that he would do his best.

Tian Xiangzheng is not afraid to do some dangerous things. He even hopes to do more for Li Xuanba. As long as Sanlangjun can remember him and help him or his descendants in the future, then it will be worth it!
Tian Xiangzheng talked to Li Xuanba for a long time, and then, surrounded by several local soldiers, he quickly walked out of the courtyard.

He's off to take care of something important!
Tian Xiang was thinking to himself, "Once this gets out, the county officials will probably be scared to death."
He laughed loudly and walked away quickly.

Meanwhile, Li Xuanba was packing his things, preparing to go back to see his father and have a proper talk with him about this matter.

Li Xuanba returned to the car, took Sanshi with him, and hurriedly left.

San Shi sat in the car without saying a word, his big eyes flashing as he stared at Li Xuanba beside him.

Li Xuanba touched his face suspiciously. "Is there something there?"

"Did Third Master go to that dilapidated temple?"

"Oh, I went. I remembered what you mentioned about Zhao the One-Eyed. Later, I found some time to go and take care of that thief. I also arranged for those kids to stay at the farm."

"Thank you."

San Shi said softly, then quickly lowered his head.

Li Xuanba shook his head, but just grinned.

"No need to be so polite, it's nothing serious."

(End of this chapter)