The sun is fierce.
Zhu Ji was riding a horse on the official road, with a long motorcade behind him.
Oxcarts are loaded with coal.
Not long ago, I went to Shouguang County to help Han Zhen purchase coal, but I was lucky enough to escape.
At this moment, Zhu Ji didn't understand what happened. As he approached the county seat, he finally noticed a clue.
The Xiaodong River next to the county seat is a lively scene.
It looks like the embankments are being dug to irrigate the wasteland.
When they arrived at the gate of the city, the guards guarding the city also changed, with unfamiliar faces.
And all of them wore bamboo armor, long swords on their waists, and long spears in their hands.
Raising his head, he could vaguely see a group of patrolling soldiers on top of the city tower.
Seeing the caravan, Hu Zhong looked at it warily.
He recognized Zhu Ji. After all, Zhu Ji had made several trips to Xiaowang Village a while ago.
But Hu Zhong still reached out to stop him.
"For what reason!"
Zhu Ji didn't put on any airs. After smiling, he asked his servant to give him a reason.
Hu Zhong didn't know a few words, but he could prove that it was issued by the county government and had a unique seal and seal on it.
Just by looking at these things, you can know whether they are true or false.
Otherwise, with so many counties and counties in the Northern Song Dynasty, is it possible that the soldiers and officers on duty at the gate of every city were not literate?
As for the evidence of fraud... basically there is none.
First, official seals are carved by specialized craftsmen, and these craftsmen have been serving the court for generations and are not accessible to ordinary people.
Secondly, when Wu Luyin was caught, he was imprisoned as a bandit for several years. With good luck, he was granted amnesty by the officials and was soon released.
But forging road signs and government seals is a serious crime of beheading.
The difficulty of counterfeiting and the severe penalties make few people willing to do it.
And powerful people don't need to make lies at all. For example, Zhu Ji, with Changzhi County looking after him, shouldn't the road guide be opened casually?
After checking the credentials, Hu Zhong waved his hand, indicating that they could go in.
After riding into the county town on horseback, Zhu Ji could clearly feel that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the county town.
I walked all the way to the county government office with an uneasy feeling. I saw that the thin hall on the right was very busy, with clerks and tax collectors coming in and out from time to time, and their footsteps were hurried.
In the lobby, Chang Zhixian was sitting in the lobby and engrossed in writing.
"Oh, it's Yuan Chen who's back."
Hearing the footsteps, Chang Zhixian looked up, then lowered his head and continued writing.
Zhu Ji patiently waited until Changzhi County put down his pen, then asked: "Brother, has something happened in the county?"
Chang Zhixian picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and replied lightly: "The farmers rebelled the night before and entered the county town."
"ah?"
Zhu Ji was shocked.
Suddenly, he discovered that his brother-in-law had also undergone some changes.
The originally sophisticated and smooth cheeks now looked somewhat energetic.
In a daze, he couldn't help but recall his brother-in-law's heroic demeanor when he was a Jinshi in high school, giving advice and writing passionately.
Seeing him staring blankly at him, Chang Zhixian asked: "Why does Yuan Chen look at me like this?"
After coming back to his senses, Zhu Ji couldn't help but smile and said: "I just feel that there is something different about my brother."
"Is there any?"
Changzhi County was stunned.
Zhuji joked: "She looks a bit like she was in high school."
Hearing this, Chang Zhixian looked complicated.
He had to admit that he had spent the past two days extremely happily, and the thoughts that he could only suppress in his heart could now finally be realized.
Without any constraints, the entire Linzi County was left to his drastic transformation.
Building water conservancy projects, rectifying subordinate officials, doing frivolous work and underpaying taxes...each of these things was something he had wanted to do but did not dare to do.
Zhu Ji seemed to have thought of something, and said in surprise: "By the way, eldest brother's suppression of the rebel bandits should be a great achievement. In addition to the previous achievements in suppressing the bandits, he should be promoted after all."
Promotion?
It would be good if he could leave Linzi County alive.
Chang Zhixian smiled bitterly and recounted what happened last night.
After listening, Zhu Ji looked horrified and lowered his voice: "Brother, now that Han Er has taken control of the county, won't we lose our lives at any time?"
"Don't worry, then Han Er still needs to rely on me to help him cover up, and the refined salt business can't do without me."
Changzhi County had a thorough understanding. If Han Zhen wanted to kill him, he could have done so when he entered the county government office the night before.
Zhu Ji was still worried and said in a worried tone: "Then Han Er is afraid that his plan is too big. If he raises the flag of rebellion, his eldest brother will be implicated."
However, Changzhixian shook his head and explained: "This man is not an idiot. He is well versed in the idea of hoarding food and becoming king slowly. I think he has insufficient soldiers, insufficient weapons, and scarce food and grass, so he will never take the initiative to erect the army in the short term." Anti-Flag.”
"By the time he becomes powerful, I will have already taken my money and been promoted. What does it have to do with him rebelling against me?"
At that time, instead of blaming him, the court may reuse him.
After all, when I, Chang Yukun, was here, the Haiyan River in Linzi County was clear and Anping was under my rule.
If he changes to another person, there will be wars and wars. The contrast between the two makes it more obvious that he has the ability to govern the world and his methods are clever.
…
…
With more than 300 young prisoners of war being incorporated into the army, the number of soldiers expanded to nearly 700.
Many veterans were promoted and served as captains and captains.
On the military camp grounds, Nie Dong was teaching new recruits how to read military drums and recognize battle flags.
There are few people at the moment, and these are small-scale operations. We don't need to do this yet, but it won't necessarily happen in the future.
There are several types of drums, and they are matched with different flags to command the army.
For example, it is often said that troops should be withdrawn at the behest of gold.
As soon as the golden drum sounds, it means retreat.
But how to retreat specifically, whether to retreat quickly or slowly, to lure the enemy or to defeat, which troop retreats first and which troop stays behind, you need to cooperate with the Golden Drum Banner.
Otherwise, drum sounds alone cannot convey such complex signals.
It sounds complicated, but it's actually not bad. Over time, soldiers will naturally be able to remember it.
Moreover, the army also has special messengers.
On the other side, in Xiaowang Village, Han Zhen is starting construction with more than 2,000 new villagers.
In one part, shelters were built, and in another part, assembly line salt ponds were built.
In response to industrial expansion, lime kilns and brick factories were also expanded.
The number of lime kilns expanded from the original three to twelve, and two brick factories were also added. Fortunately, the population increased sharply during this period, so there were sufficient workers.
Nowadays, work has become the main source of income for most villagers, and fields are not that important.
Xiaowang Village has gradually begun to see a trend of transitioning from agriculture to industry.
There are no more children playing in the village.
All were driven to school by their parents.
The sun sets.
Every household in Xiaowang Village lit up with smoke.
"It's time to get off work!"
As the supervisor shouted, Lu Jiu stopped his movements.
After rubbing his sore arms and handing the tools back to the supervisor, he walked down the mountain talking and laughing with his two co-workers.
He was originally a fugitive from the mountains and came to Xiaowang Village very early. His family was assigned two acres of wasteland and five buckets of rice.
I heard that the refugees who come now are not divided into fields and are only given a bushel of rice.
Lu Jiu felt lucky every time he thought of this.
When he was in the mountains, the group of fugitives laughed at him for being so dizzy. How could such a good thing happen?
Now, all the runaways who laughed at me at the beginning are filled with regret.
When the lime kiln first recruited workers, he didn't come and missed it.
It was not until the second batch of recruitment that I was finally selected.
Lu Jiu is very satisfied with his current life. His mother-in-law takes care of the two acres of farmland at home. Even though it is two acres of dry land, he can still get a harvest of one or two stones a year.
He works in a lime kiln, takes care of two meals a day, and earns three hundred pence.
Next year we only need to pay 10% of the land tax, and life will get better and better in the future.
When I came to the lime kiln at the foot of the mountain, I took out my own bowls and chopsticks, and then lined up to receive the meal.
It’s still wheat rice tonight, but there’s an extra serving of tofu soup.
Lu Jiu found an open space and sat down, and started eating hungrily.
A co-worker commented: "Today's vinegar and shepherd's purse are good, it goes very well with rice."
"really."
Lu Jiu nodded in agreement.
After two bowls of wheat rice and a bowl of tofu soup, Lu Jiu patted his belly with satisfaction.
His home is halfway up the mountain, but every time after work, he would go to the river at the head of the village to take a bath.
When passing by the market, Lu Jiu couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Not long ago, this place was just a wasteland, but in a short period of time, it has become the most lively and prosperous place in the entire village.
Xiaowang Village is changing so fast, changing every moment.
At this moment, the worker on the side scratched his head and asked doubtfully: "Damn it, when did you open another shop?"
After hearing this, Lu Jiu discovered that there seemed to be another shop in the market.
Yesterday, there were still six rooms. Today, if I count, it has become seven.
The newly opened shop is not big, and there is a flag hanging at the door with a huge word "wine" written on it.
After sniffing my nose, I could faintly smell the aroma of wine.
Another worker seemed to know the inside story and said in a sour tone: "This wine shop is owned by Zhang He's family."
When they heard it was Zhang He, everyone immediately understood.
Who doesn't know now that the gang of soldiers are the richest in the entire Xiaowang Village, and every home has begun to build a house with blue bricks and red tiles.
It is said that another reward was issued two days ago.
It's a pity that the village chief is no longer recruiting soldiers in the village, otherwise Lu Jiu would definitely apply.
After washing off the dirt on his body by the river, Lu Jiu returned home with tired steps.
"The boss is back."
At the door of the simple thatched hut, the old woman was cooking in an earthen pot.
"I'll squint for a while. Remember to call me when it gets dark."
After giving instructions, Lu Jiu stepped into the hay shed.
The woman responded: "I understand."
He also has to go to the village to take night classes for an hour in the evening.
The village chief said that as long as he could write and do arithmetic, he could apply for scribes and stewards.
The supervisor of the lime kiln earned an extra one hundred dollars a month just because he knew some words, and he didn't have to do anything. He only supervised them cutting stones and writing and drawing on paper every day.
…
…
After a busy day, Han Zhen returned to the house, passed through the hanging flower door, came to the hall and sat down, before taking a sip of herbal tea.
Mrs. Han and Zhang immediately came forward and reported in a soft tone: "Uncle, there is not much food in the granary."
Although the summer harvest had just started some time ago, there are now thousands more people in Xiaowang Village, and the consumption is naturally not the same.
Han Zhen asked: "How long can we hold on?"
After Han Zhang calculated it with his fingers, he replied: "If you save some food, you can last for ten days."
"Well, I understand."
Han Zhen nodded.
He has entrusted Changzhi County to go to the south to purchase grain, but it will take half a month to transport it from the south, even by waterway.
It seems that we can only transfer a batch of emergency supplies from the county government granary first.
After the purchased grain arrives, the gap will be filled.
As soon as we finished dealing with it, we saw a small insect running over in a hurry.
"Brother Han, we have run out of coal. After burning the bricks in this kiln, the brick kiln will have to stop working."
Han Zhen frowned and said, "Zhu Ji hasn't sent the coal yet?"
Xiaochong shook his head.
Han Zhen ordered: "Go to the county seat on horseback and urge me."
"good!"
Xiaochong responded, turned around and walked out the door.
(End of chapter)
