Chapter 133 Yuan Li's Revenge

Yan County

Fushi Village.

Zhao Xu stood on the ridge of the field, and beside him were the government officials and the village head and the head of the village.

After the failure of the Northern Di autumn hunt, Yan County returned to peace.

Seeing that the autumn harvest was about to come, he came to the field to take a look.

After all, food is the first necessity of the people. It would be very dangerous if they could not be self-sufficient in food in troubled times.

At the same time, he also came to relax and relieve his troubles this time.

These days, Yang He reported that many merchants cried and complained about being robbed by bandits when passing through Fanyang.

It seemed that overnight, the bandits in Fanyang grew out of the ground.

They reported the case to the Fanyang government, but all they got was a sentence, "Wait."

This kind of robbery occurred frequently during this period, causing heavy losses to merchants.

Some merchants smelled the hidden tricks and simply gave up their business in Yan County.

Some merchants asked the palace to transport the goods directly to the destination.

They were unwilling to bear the risk of transportation.

For this point, he naturally knew what happened.

Yuan Li was playing dirty tricks on him.

Of course, he didn't dare to do it openly.

But this dirty trick was his specialty.

After all, he was a shameless person who could take the heads of the people as the heads of the Northern Di people to take credit.

In general.

Due to the division of the counties in Yanzhou, the people of Yan County had to pass through Fanyang if they wanted to go south.

Now, his trade route was threatened.

His thoughts were pulled out of this bad thing.

He looked at the golden rice sea.

Under the breeze, the drooping rice ears swayed gently.

This made him feel much happier.

Fortunately, the autumn hunting of the Northern Di people was ahead of schedule.

At that time, the rice was still green and the fire could not be lit.

If he came now and fought for some time, the Northern Di people would definitely set fire to the fields, and he would suffer heavy losses.

After all, before the harvest, the people ate food that the palace had purchased from the wealthy families before, or confiscated from the three families of Zhang, Huang and Du.

If we can't harvest more food, the stored food will be eaten up.

"Your Highness, the rice grains are full. After the autumn harvest, it seems that we don't need to buy food from the south anymore." Liu Fu went down to the field and picked a rice ear to look at it.

"While the weather is good, let the villagers harvest the rice quickly. Who knows, the northern barbarians may come again." Zhao Xu said to Feng Zheng.

He is the head of Fushi Village, and the autumn harvest is within his responsibility.

"Your Highness, the villagers don't need to urge this matter. They are all worried about it." Feng Zheng laughed.

The rice is ripe, and the villagers are happier than anyone else.

Zhao Xu nodded. The land system implemented in Yan County is basically the same as the contemporary household contract responsibility system.

The people signed a contract with the palace as a household unit, agreeing on their farming years.

In this way, they worked more on their own fields and harvested more, which greatly stimulated their enthusiasm.

At the same time, the government office extended its jurisdiction to the village.

Instead of the imperial power not going to the countryside as before, letting the gentry manage the countryside, causing chaos and disorder in the countryside management.

The government issued orders through the government office, and the village head and the head of the village must follow the orders, otherwise they will face punishment.

"The people's self-cultivation is one thing, and at the same time, you village head and head of the village must supervise in time, provide convenience for the villagers, and find the government office if there are any problems." Zhao Xu took the rice handed over by Liu Fu.

These rices are all rich and full, which is gratifying to see.

Fan Zheng nodded. After the arrival of King Yan, he, the village head, felt the changes in the countryside the most deeply.

The former officials dared not be so arrogant as before.

Instead, they really worked for the people.

With such a trend, he, the village head and the head of the village, naturally did not dare to slack off, and said whatever he had.

The same is true when facing King Yan.

So he said, "Your Highness, there is a problem in the village. It's not a big problem, but it's not a big one."

After a pause, he said, "Some of the villagers' farm tools have not been replaced for many years and are difficult to use. This will affect the autumn harvest. At the same time, after the autumn harvest, they will sow and plant winter wheat. The village does not have enough oxen to plow the land. If we rely on manpower alone, we are afraid that it will delay the sowing time and the wheat will not grow well next year."

Liu Fu heard this and said, "Your Highness, this is the current problem of the entire Yan County. I see that the steel of the Armor Department is very good. Can we use this steel to forge farm tools and sell them to the villagers?"

"Some time ago, the Armor Department was fully engaged in making armor and weapons. Its own steel production was just enough. Now it is estimated that some can be moved out." Zhao Xu pondered.

Military affairs belong to military affairs, and production belongs to production. Both are important and neither can be left behind.

After all, without military affairs, production cannot be protected, and without production, supplies cannot be provided for the military.

However, there are many people in Yan County. It would be a waste of resources to let the Armor Department make farm tools.

Because the Armor Department has more important things to do next.

Therefore, the forging of farm tools can only be left to the countryside.

"In this way, the government office will select some blacksmiths in each city, and the Armory will provide them with steel ingots, so that they can use the steel ingots to make farm tools." Zhao Xu said.

He had seen the farm tools of the villagers, most of which were made of pig iron, and the quality was very poor.

If good steel was used to make farm tools, the productivity of the people in Yan County would be improved.

Liu Fu and Fan Zheng were both happy to hear this.

"As for the oxen, I have an idea." Zhao Xu said.

The people in Yan County were basically tenants of the wealthy families, so they naturally had no oxen.

The oxen confiscated from the Zhang, Huang and Du families were all in the hands of the palace.

At the same time, when other wealthy families lost their land, he also asked the government office to buy the oxen.

Therefore, the oxen in Yan County are now basically in the hands of the palace.

This period of time has also become a burden for the palace, because the oxen need to be grazed.

He wanted to solve this problem during this autumn harvest.

"Please let your Highness know." Liu Fu has been worrying about this matter.

But if the oxen are sold to the people, the people are so poor that they don't even have pants, how can they afford to buy oxen.

"People who want oxen can buy them from the government office." Zhao Xu said.

Liu Fu sighed, he thought the King of Yan had some novel ideas.

Zhao Xu ignored Liu Fu and continued, "This king knows that the people don't have money, so the people don't have to pay the money all at once. They can take the ox home first and sign a contract with the government office. For example, one ox costs ten taels of silver. They can pay one tael every year and pay off the money for the ox within ten years. If they feel they are capable, they can pay three to five years."

Feng Zhenghe's eyes lit up immediately, and they scratched their heads with joy.

The palace collects one tenth of the rent.

Each household has six mu of land, and each mu collects two shi of grain, which is 240 jin.

At present, one shi of grain in Yan County costs one tael of silver. After deducting the rent for this season, there will be more than ten taels of income.

After deducting the family's food and expenses for half a year, at least two taels of silver can be left.

This is for half a year, and there will even be a surplus of four taels a year.

In less than ten years, they will pay it off in two or three years.

"Your Highness, I want to buy two cows." Feng Zheng raised two fingers.

"Dream on, each household is limited to one." Zhao Xu rolled his eyes, he was prepared for this.

As the group was talking, they saw Chang Wei coming with a team of cavalry.

After getting off the horse, Chang Wei's face was full of anger, "Your Highness, Yuan Li, that bastard, sent people to sneak into the south of Yuanyang County and burned a lot of rice in the south."

Zhao Xu heard this and was immediately furious because of the commerce being blocked.

"Take the troops to Yuanyang County, and I will make him spit out as much rice as he burned."