Crowned the New Han Dynasty

Chapter 211: Banquet in the north, war in the south

"There are so many wastelands here. I don't know why."

Looking at the continuous wasteland outside the car, Chen Zhi couldn't help but ask. The people he asked were none other than Tao Ya and Zhao Xing.

Compared with the Jiangnan gentry like Lu Ying, the gentry like Tao Ya and Zhao Xing who have traveled to many places know more about the situation in various places in the north.

Along the way, many things happened in the past few decades, and there were no detailed records in Chen Zhi's collection of books, let alone memories from later generations, so most of them had to ask Zhao Xing and Tao Ya.

However, the further north he went, the more Chen Zhi noticed a problem. Compared with Xuzhou, after entering Qingzhou, there were significantly more wilderness and wastelands.

The further north you go, the more obvious the situation becomes.

Tao Ya and Zhao Xing heard this and looked at each other. Tao Ya said: "This is because the previous war in the north has greatly reduced the population. Many places east of the capital Luoyang are still densely forested and full of wild beasts."

Zhao Xing also nodded and said: "Even in a place with a large population, there are actually many barren fields. Shu Xi Gong once said that the ten counties of the prefecture are narrow and populated, especially in the Three Wei Dynasties. However, the cattle, sheep and horses are herded. within the territory.”

After hearing this, Chen Zhi became thoughtful.

"There are also wastelands in densely populated places? Is it also because of the war or other reasons?"

He traveled all the way, seemingly in a hurry, but in fact, wherever he went, he would ask about the situation, understand the customs, and found a lot of problems, and then faintly realized that in this era, there are actually a lot of land conflicts hidden, and There are conflicts about land, for the feudal dynasty...

"That's fatal!"

Shaking his head, Chen Zhi's expression changed slightly when he saw the shadow of the village in front of him and the figures wandering around the village.

These are undoubtedly farmers here, but at a glance, they appear to be thinner and more simply dressed than those in Xuzhou.

Looking at it, Liu Gang couldn't help saying: "The people in this town don't seem to be living very well."

"Probably because this piece of land is related to Gongtian." Zhao Xing was silent for a while, and said this sentence.

Immediately, corresponding memories emerged in Chen Zhi's mind. Although he went out to study, he brought a spring and autumn pillow, and at night he still read and played chess in his dreams. History of the founding of the country.

This part of the history is written in a rather cryptic way, and there are praises and criticisms for some big figures, but Chen Zhi is not interested in these. He already knew the nature of those people in his previous life, so he doesn't need to learn more. What he focuses on is describing these people. other information disclosed.

"It can be seen from historical data that the land ownership system in the New Han Dynasty actually had two natures, one was granted by the state, and the other was sold by private individuals. The land granted by the state was generally related to military merits and official positions and could not be traded freely; while private sales were It’s not something that ordinary people can do. They are usually landlords and powerful people. However, the land sources are different, and the landowners’ practices are different.”

After thinking about it, a group of them got out of the car. After receiving the news, the three elders and other township officials in the town came up to greet them, and they immediately exchanged greetings.

When he entered the village, Chen Zhi felt that the people here were different from those in Xuzhou.

He remained silent for the time being, and then some people from the convoy took out the ingredients and held a banquet. This was to not increase the burden on such villages and towns. After everyone had a meal and started chatting, he asked: "Are the villagers here? Are they all tenants?"

Tenants were households who rented the land from the landlord and cultivated it. In this era, it was easy for them to form a complete dependence relationship.

Qiangfu in the town said: "Yes, our entire village is the tenant of Mr. Chu. Mr. Chu is a kind man. The past two years have been bad, and those families who really can't make it will have their income reduced by one year. With [-]% of the land rent, the family will not be ruined. I don’t know how much better than the masters in other places."

As soon as these words came out, the dinner table suddenly fell silent. Even Tao Ya and Zhao Xing looked astonished after hearing this, and then looked up and down at the rose man carefully.

This man is about 40 to [-] years old. Although he has an official position, at first glance he looks like a farmer in the fields. He looks very simple and his clothes are ordinary. When he speaks, his expression is normal, and he does not seem to be hypocritical. He is obviously sincere. But this statement, It was very surprising.

You know, Chen Zhi and the others came all the way from the south, although they only found a village to settle down and spend the night at night, they passed through more than one village during the day, and they also met many landlords and tycoons in the villages and towns.

Qingzhou and Xuzhou have suffered from natural and man-made disasters in the past two years, and the harvest has been poor. This is not only the case in this place, but also in the villages and towns along the way. The wealthy families who occupy a large amount of land are indeed greedy for money, forcing the tenants and their families to have no other choice, but there are more The land rent will be somewhat reduced or exempted, after all, they have to consider their reputation.

Reputation is very important in future generations who worship money and have no fear, let alone this era where reputation is equal to future?

The gentry in many villages, towns and counties along the way, in order to gain a good reputation and judge a good rural product in the coming year, will basically reduce the land rent. The common ones are tenants under the name, and every household will reduce it, such as Mr. Qinghu of the Wang family in Wuyuan. , on the land under his own name, he directly exempted everyone from land rent.

This move actually meant nothing to the nobles, and it had very limited meaning to the people who suffered the disaster, but it was much better than the master Qiangfu mentioned.In a village not far from this village and over a mountain, an old gentleman there who had served as a county official exempted the entire village from [-]% of the land rent.

In this comparison, Mr. Chu and the good man here are not even close to each other, but that Qiangfu's tone is so determined.

Liu Gang couldn't help but ask: "Zhang Qiangfu, are there any other masters around you?"

The Qiang husband was taken aback when he heard the words.

At this time, Chen Zhi suddenly asked: "Zhang Qiangfu, have you traveled abroad recently?"

Qiangfu shook his head and said, "I only went to Lanling County seven years ago. Since then, I have been staying in my hometown due to natural disasters and thieves."

When everyone heard it, they understood.

After living in one place for a long time, what you see and hear is blocked. Even if you can receive outside information from certain channels, you will still be misled. Even in the information age in the future, there will still be many people who sit in the well and watch the sky, let alone now?

This is also the reason why the children of aristocratic families will study abroad with a little foundation. Traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books, not just for the sake of looking after them.

After three drinks, Zhao Xing became interested and asked, "Why is Mr. Chu missing?"

Qiang Fu said: "Master Chu went to the field to supervise these two days. Due to the poor harvest, many people in the field were lazy and cheating. Master Chu was worried about the people below, so he went there in person."

When Zhao Xing heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said: "It seems that Mr. Chu is a merchant and he is not willing to suffer any losses."

When the words fell, Zhao Xing stopped asking, and then the topic changed, and everyone talked about other things, but whether it was the Qiang husband or the three elders who accompanied him, it didn't cost an acre or three cents of land. , either the Zhang family or the Li family is short, or the farm work is difficult to do.

After they were full of wine and food, Qiang Fu and others left, leaving Chen Zhi and the others behind.

Liu Gang couldn't help but murmured: "Listen to what that Qiangfu said, Mr. Chu is really nothing. He is stingy and harsh, but he still lets people talk about his good points everywhere. It's a shame that Qiangfu can boast so much."

But Tao Ya laughed, shook his head and said, "Yunji, you're wrong, that Qiang Fu is not boasting out of nowhere, but sincere admiration."

"How is this possible?" Liu Gang looked surprised. At the previous banquet, Chen Zhi and others had guessed the reason, but Liu Gang didn't think so much. This had nothing to do with wisdom, it was purely the accumulation of experience.

Chen Zhi said with a smile: "The reason why you are surprised is because your Liu family often reduces rents to tenants. You don't think Mr. Chu's behavior is kind, but you know that before I came here, I transferred the rent of my tenants to All land rents are waived. If you suddenly told me that your Liu family is a kind person by reducing rent, do you think I would be surprised? Compared with your family, am I more kind?"

As soon as he said this, Liu Gang understood. He also laughed and said, "Brother Shouyi, you are praising yourself in a different way."

Everyone immediately laughed.

After a few words, Lu Ying asked Chen Zhi about his next plan, and then suggested: "I think this village is quite poor, and there seems to be something inside. How about staying for two more days to investigate and find out more?"

Since they were studying together with a few friends and discovered the problem, they must be interested in investigating. Lu Ying's suggestion was not surprising. Everyone else agreed. Anyway, their convoy had prepared many things. Apart from occupying a house, they had no interest in this village. There is no need to worry too much about the actual impact.

In this way, Chen Zhi and others stayed here for the night.

For them, this was an ordinary night, but for Wei Ou and others, it was a sleepless night as they waited for the news to come back.Quick horses have been sent out to notify the county captains of Wuyuan County, Fuyang County and Lanling County.

At that time, Yu Qi suggested that it would be enough to notify Wuyuan County. However, Wei Ou felt that it was not safe, so he notified three counties at the last breath. Among them, Wuyuan County and Fuyang County belonged to Pengcheng County, while Lanling County belonged to Donghai County.

With the potential influence of Wei Ou and others, as well as the influence of the Xingtan forum, the officialdom of the three counties did not dare to look down upon it, and immediately organized manpower. They even alerted the stationed troops because they could not figure out the strength of the horse thieves. A local foreign army.

This is not the local garrison, but a group of soldiers and horses left behind by Zhu Shou according to Chen Zhi's military strategy after he led his army to prepare for emergencies. The person who leads this army is one of Zhu Shou's troops. The deputy general, named Yang Shuo, had 2000 troops under his command, including [-] cavalry.

At this moment, Yang Shuo had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by his staff and found out about this.

　Change it first!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)