Zhu Zhengze's skin was dark, and there were several calluses on his rough palms.
He is less like a scholar and more like a farmer.
At this moment, he stood there quietly and did not speak.
Han Zhen looked at the other person up and down and asked, "I have a job here with a monthly salary of five hundred Wen. Are you willing to do it?"
Zhu Zhengze's reaction seemed to be half a beat too slow. After a few seconds, he shook his head and said, "If we are doing work, what should we do with the fields at home?"
Han Zhen was suddenly speechless.
The chief on the side couldn't look at it and scolded: "You are a good guy, now that you have wages, why don't you just rent the land to others for farming?"
Hearing this, Zhu Zhengze thought for a moment and suddenly smiled: "Good!"
It’s really stupid to read.
There is no other way, there is only one scholar in the village, so let’s make do with it.
Anyway, I don’t expect him to do anything, as long as he can write.
"Since you agree, you will be the village secretary from now on, follow me and be responsible for recording documents."
After a few more instructions to Fang Sansan, Han Zhen and the others took paper, pens and tools and went out to measure the fields.
The tool used to measure fields in ancient times was called a walking bow, which looked like a drawn long bow.
The distance between the two bow feet is one bow.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the official standard was that one bow was five feet, and one mile was three hundred and sixty bows.
The walking bows were cast uniformly by the government and distributed to various counties and villages. Privately manufacturing the walking bows was a serious crime.
This was to prevent some large landowners from deliberately making their bows larger so that they could measure more land for their families.
Xiaowang Village is located in a mountain depression, so the fields are scattered widely, with a few acres here and a few acres there, and some are even halfway up the mountain.
Han Zhen's plan was to take the big house as the center point and measure from top to bottom.
When the group of people reached the mountainside, Han Zhen pointed to a field in front of him and asked, "Whose field is this?"
Before the village chief could answer, he saw a man and a woman from a family walking towards the field carrying hoes.
Seeing the three of them holding rifle bows, the two looked confused. The man stepped forward and asked cautiously: "Chief, what are you doing in my field?"
"Measure the fields."
After hearing what Li Chang said, the man's face changed and his eyes were filled with surprise and uncertainty.
Seeing this, Han Zhen smiled and comforted him: "Don't be nervous, I'm just measuring the fields and asking some questions."
The man said anxiously: "What do you want to ask, young man?"
"What's your name?"
"Wang Xiao."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-four...no, it's twenty-five."
"What are the names of the people in the family..."
During the questioning and answering, Wang Xiao explained the situation at home in detail.
He didn't dare to hide it or make it up, because the village chief was right next to him, they belonged to the same village, and they knew each other well.
After asking, Han Zhen turned to look at Zhu Zhengze: "Did you remember it?"
Zhu Zhengze nodded.
Han Zhen was still a little worried and glanced at the paper.
Not to mention, Zhu Zhengze was very dull, but his handwriting in small regular script was extremely beautiful, and he recorded all the information about Wang Xiao's family verbatim according to the format he mentioned before.
Han Zhen nodded with satisfaction, took a walking bow and began to measure the fields.
After measuring, the three of them hurried to the next field, leaving Wang Xiao and his wife looking at each other.
The woman asked in confusion: "What are they doing?"
"Who knows, as long as our family has a lot of land, it will be fine."
After Wang Xiao muttered something, he took the hoe and started working.
…
With the help of the village head, the land survey and household registration were carried out at the same time, and the progress was extremely fast.
Even if it is a deserted field, the village chief can accurately tell whose family it belongs to, how many people there are, and when they fled into the mountains.
By noon, Han Zhen had measured one-third of the village's fields.
The progress was faster than he expected, and he estimated that all the measurements would be completed before evening.
At this moment, the three of them were sitting under the shade of the tree and resting.
"Brother Han, we are here to help you."
Masangou's voice sounded.
The five people trotted to the shade of the tree, and the monkey immediately handed over a cloth bag and a jar of water.
Opening the cloth bag and seeing steamed buns inside, Han Zhen took out two and handed them to the manager and Zhu Zhengze beside him.
"Thank you, Xiaolang... village chief."
The chief took the steamed buns and thanked him.
Zhu Zhengze looked at the steamed buns in his hand, got up and ran away.
This sudden scene made everyone stunned and looked at each other.
Soon, Zhu Zhengze came back and sat down panting.
Han Zhen couldn't help but ask: "Why are you running?"
Zhu Zhengze was stunned for a few seconds as usual, and then he breathed heavily and replied: "Village chief, please forgive me, it's just because my mother at home has not eaten yet, and I can't bear her starvation, so I am a little anxious."
He is a pure and filial person.
"Eat."
Handing him another steamed bun, Han Zhen turned around and asked, "Have all the family members taken it?"
"Took it over."
The monkey and the bug nodded.
"Is there any news from the county?"
Hearing Han Zhen ask this question, the manager on the side couldn't help but pricked up his ears.
Ma Sangou said with a proud smile: "The gang of thieves in the county government were scared out of their wits. I heard from the people in Xiaochong Village that the city gate was always closed after we left. On the way back just now, I took a special look. , it’s not open yet.”
Han Zhen couldn't help but nodded. It seemed to be almost as expected.
The reason for this is that the county defense is empty.
The Northern Song Dynasty was a typical example of strong branches and weak branches. There were no troops stationed in the county, and the only defense forces were a few government officials and archers recruited from the countryside.
What use are those dozen or so archers?
The combat power is not as good as the nursing home of a wealthy gentry.
It is no wonder that Song Jiang was able to control three states and ten counties with only thirty-six bandits under his command.
If he hadn't encountered Zhang Shuye, he might have been able to live happily for a while.
Moreover, in the next period of time, there will be no peace in the county. I am afraid that there will be some open and covert fighting, and no one will have the energy to pay attention to this remote village.
"Brother Han, please stay here and rest while we help you measure the fields."
As Gu Song said that, he went to get the walking bow on the ground, but Han Zhen called out: "No, I have another task for you."
"What mission?"
Several people's eyes suddenly lit up.
Han Zhen waved to them and said sternly: "Go to the mountain, carefully explore the topography of the mountain, and let me know when you come back."
This was just in case. If the officers and soldiers came and Xiaowang Village could no longer defend themselves, they would retreat into the mountains without a black eye.
"good!"
Seeing his serious expression, Ma Sangou and others did not dare to neglect him and nodded in agreement.
Han Zhen warned again: "Be careful and don't show off when you encounter wild animals. If you meet a fugitive, you can tell them about the situation in Xiaowang Village. As long as the fugitive is willing to come down the mountain, he promises to give him two acres of dry land to cultivate and five pecks of rice." grain."
Two acres of wasteland and five buckets of rice were Han Zhen's method of attracting fleeing households.
There are countless wasteland in the village, and one day it will all be divided, but by that time, these methods are no longer needed, and the fleeing households in the mountains will spontaneously go down the mountain to seek refuge.
"Brother Han, we are going."
The five of them took their knives and went straight to the mountain.
The village chief chewed the steamed buns and said thoughtfully: "The village chief wants to gather the fleeing households in the mountains?"
"That's right!"
Han Zhen said with a smile: "The village chief can tell the villagers that if they can bring in a fugitive household, they can ask me to receive the usual reward. If the fugitive household is a blacksmith or a scholar, the reward will be doubled!"
Ma Sangou and the others alone cannot win over a few fleeing households, but they still have to mobilize the power of the masses.
Moreover, they were outsiders, so the fugitives probably didn't believe them despite what Ma Sangou and the others said. They just thought they were trying to trick them into going down the mountain and arrest them from the government to receive rewards.
But if the villagers in Xiaowang Village try to persuade them, the effect will be completely different.
"really?"
Li Chang stood up.
The amount of money given to a fleeing household is doubled for the blacksmith and scholar, so the money is given away in vain.
Who doesn’t know a few people who have escaped from the mountains?
You should know that life in the mountains is not easy for fugitives, and many necessities are not available in the mountains.
You always need to eat salt, right?
To reclaim wasteland, you also need agricultural tools, right?
There are none in these mountains, so you can only find villagers you know well to exchange them.
Han Zhen nodded and said: "It's true!"
After receiving a positive reply, Li Chang's hands were shaking with excitement. If he didn't need to measure the fields, he would have gone to the mountains by now.
