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Chapter 831: Return to Liang (IV)
Well, let’s talk about it when we have time!
Magistrate Cai hurriedly pushed the door open, mounted his gray horse, and led a group of yamen runners to the village where the trouble was.

The north was dry, so the first step to reclaiming fertile land was to build canals. When there was sufficient water, every household could irrigate their land. When there was insufficient water, there were many fights over water.

This is not the first time that Magistrate Cai has dealt with such a matter this year.

After we went there, we first checked to see if there were any casualties. Fortunately, three of the people who had been making trouble today were slightly injured, and no one was seriously injured or killed.

Magistrate Cai first breathed a sigh of relief, then gave an order with a stern face, and the yamen runners tied up the people who were leading the riot.

Magistrate Cai did not return to the government office, but began to interrogate the villagers in front of them.

"Have you read the notice issued by the government office?"

"The water in the canal does not belong to any one household or village, but to the government office. The water in the canal must be used in a planned way, and must not be snatched, let alone used to cause trouble."

"Whoever started it today will be sentenced to half a month of hard labor to dig a canal."

"Everyone, listen to this sheriff. If you do it again, the whole village will not be able to use the canal anymore."

To govern the people, you can't just say nice things. When it's time to establish authority, you can't be soft-handed. After hearing the case in a stern voice, Magistrate Cai let the villagers go.

The eight men who were sentenced to labor had their hands and feet tied and were sent directly to the canal repair site. The place was full of soldiers from the border army. Not to mention eight men, even if there were eighty or eight hundred of them, they would not dare to cause trouble. The soldiers were not so good-tempered. Once they glared at someone, they would punch him.

After dealing with the matter in this village, another incident occurred in Guiliang City. This time, the residents living in the same courtyard had a conflict.

Most of the people who came back alive from the Rouran tribe were young and middle-aged men, and there were very few women and children. It was even rarer for couples to reunite. A bunch of bachelors lived together. It was fine in the short term, but after a long time, friction and conflicts arose.

This is also a problem that cannot be solved in the short term. If you want so many strong men to get married, you need a lot of young women. There are too few women, and only 10% to 20% of men are suitable for marriage. The remaining 80% to 90% will most likely remain single in the next few years.

Magistrate Cai had no other choice but to scold both parties involved in the fight and then punish them both by making them repair the canal.

It was dark when Magistrate Cai returned home exhausted. He processed another batch of official documents and went to bed late at night. He got up at five in the morning the next day and left the government office in high spirits.

In the spring of the eighth year of Zhaoping, 400,000 mu of good farmland was reclaimed in Guiliang City. In the autumn of that year, Guiliang City had a bumper harvest. The governor of Cai County could finally stand up straight and collect the land tax.

The land tax in Daliang has always been 5:1. That is, for every 5 dou of grain, one dou had to be paid. Five years after Her Majesty ascended the throne, the tax was changed to 8:1. This year, another decree was issued to change it to 10:1.

The people planted high-yield crops and harvested two or three times more grain than before. The land tax they paid was greatly reduced. With this combination of factors, every household had surplus food and lived a good life.

As far as the imperial court was concerned, the productivity of the fields had increased, and the land tax, which was one-tenth of the total tax, was similar to before, and did not affect the operation of the court.

The autumn taxes from all over the country were deposited into the national treasury. The Ministry of Revenue was busy for half a month and took stock of this year's accounts.

After reading it, Minister Feng's old face relaxed like a chrysanthemum, and he smiled as he went into the palace to report to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this year's autumn tax is 10% higher than last year."

Don't underestimate this 10% tax. With such a large territory in the Daliang Dynasty, it would be a great merit if the autumn tax could be collected stably. It would be even more remarkable if it could grow gradually and steadily.

Jiang Shaohua rarely saw Minister Feng so happy, so he joked with a smile: "So, the Ministry of Revenue has enough budget this year, so I can expand the army a little more?" Minister Feng thought for a moment and said: "Each army can recruit some new soldiers."

Jiang Shaohua nodded: "The Rouran are determined to fight back. After recuperating for a few years, they will definitely invade the border again. I plan to have the border troops recruit more soldiers."

The border troops have always been the army with the most casualties and the heaviest losses. In the national war two years ago, the border troops lost nearly 50% of their troops and were almost crippled. In the past two years, they have been recruiting new soldiers and barely restored their previous strength. The new soldiers need to be trained, to fight in actual combat, and need weapons, armor, and war horses. In short, everything costs money and food.

Minister Feng didn't care about these things. He was only responsible for raising money and food. After calculating for a while, he gave a more accurate number: "The additional troops will not exceed 20,000. We can still afford it."

For serious matters, the imperial court must issue an imperial decree.

Jiang Shaohua gave the order, and Wang Shu, the sheriff, drafted an imperial edict and sent it to the border troops.

After receiving the imperial edict, General Fan was overjoyed: "Great! The emperor has always been thinking about our border troops!"

"The emperor is so kind to the border troops, we cannot let him down."

General Fan was very excited: "The Emperor has allowed us to expand our border troops by 20,000 men. He also ordered General Liu to train our troops for us."

There were several generals with the surname Liu in the court. The General Liu mentioned by General Fan was none other than Liu Hengchang of the Nanyang Guard Battalion.

The Nanyang Guards became famous in a battle two years ago and were known as the best soldiers in Daliang. Liu Hengchang's reputation rose rapidly, and some people even said that there were rumors behind his back that when Duke Weiyuan and the Left General retired in the future, Liu Hengchang would definitely be the successor.

The emperor specially sent his trusted generals to come, and General Fan not only did not feel offended, but was even very happy.

Liu Hengchang had a bright future ahead of him, so he couldn't stay in the frontier army forever. He was just here to help train the troops. At most, he would train for a year or two before returning to the capital.

The credit belongs to Liu Hengchang, as the soldiers he trained were all elite frontier troops. In fact, he got the most benefit.

Of course, this was also due to General Fan's personality. If it were General Zuo, who was overbearing, he would never tolerate his soldiers listening to other people's orders.

A month later, Liu Hengchang brought 500 people to the border army. These 500 people were all elites selected from the personal guard camp. Liu Hengchang alone could not train 100,000 elite soldiers. These 500 people would be dispersed and assigned to the border army as training lieutenants. One person was responsible for training 200 soldiers.

Before coming, Liu Hengchang specifically instructed his guards: "When you arrive at the border army, just keep your heads down and train the troops. You are not allowed to interfere in the specific affairs of the border army at will, let alone cause trouble."

"Remember, we are here to train the border troops on the orders of the Emperor, not to recruit them. We must not anger General Fan."

All the guards nodded in agreement.

They definitely won't do anything rash. They wouldn't dare to recruit border troops.

At most, it is to publicize the divine power and benevolence of Her Majesty the Empress. If the border soldiers are unwilling to come here, it is not their fault.

……