Chapter 160: County Magistrate

Chapter 160: County Magistrate

Chapter 160: County Magistrate (I love both wine and sweet potatoes)
After the spring rain, the mountains are covered with red clouds.

The area of ​​Ruzhou and Pingdingshan was the territory of Ying State during the Spring and Autumn Period.

This country has the eagle as its totem and was the fief of Yinghou, a member of the royal family of King Wu of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The world has changed dramatically. A thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the ancient Ying State has long disappeared in the long river of history.

But the people on this land are still there. They have reclaimed the barren land, developed a splendid culture, and established an even larger empire.

The old and young Ying State now welcomes a new guest.

There are many bridges in Liang County.

Early in the morning, the new county magistrate Yang Man rode his horse across the Bohou Bridge and organized county officials to measure the land.

The county officials obeyed the order obediently and dispersed after hearing the order clearly.

Yang Man looked at their backs and remained silent.

This is a tough job that no one wants to do, not even himself.

There were no particularly prestigious aristocratic families in Liang County, and even in the entire Henan County, there were few aristocratic families - even if there were, they were slowly moving away.

Although there are no native aristocratic families, there are many nobles who moved here from the capital.

There was constant war in Luoyang, and many officials were afraid, but they were reluctant to leave the capital, so they moved to the suburbs and counties, and many of them occupied land to build villas.

The Du family had settled in Yi Yang three generations ago, and this dynasty also vigorously built Yiquanwu. The Jingzhao Du family unexpectedly became the local tyrants in Yi Yang County.

In fact, there were only a few people who used the fertile land near Luoyang to grow crops openly like Shao Xun. The nobles who fled to the suburban counties probably laughed at Shao in secret. Jingu Garden was good, with complete irrigation canals, fertile fields, and water mills, but could it be protected if war came?

Compared with other suburban counties, such as Yanshi, Goushi, Gongxian, Xincheng, etc., Liang County is a bit far away after all. Not many nobles and wealthy families come here to settle down, but most of them are ordinary small nobles. Moreover, they don't plan to settle down in Liang County for a long time, and they are very cautious. If something goes wrong, they will leave for Nanyang and Xiangyang.

Therefore, it is relatively easy to clear the land from them.

But Yangman was still very annoyed.

As a new generation of "talented and extraordinary" of the Yang family of Taishan, he had no intention of entering officialdom now, even though he was already 34 years old this year.

Helpless, the elders in the tribe persuaded him and he finally accepted it and left his hometown to come to Liang County.

After all, he is just a county magistrate. If he is not satisfied with the job, he can just leave and give up the position.

Now he was feeling unhappy, so he found a tavern and sat down to rest.

The attendants rushed forward, some laid carpets, some moved tables, some took the tableware.

If we weren't in the wilderness, there would be the sound of stringed instruments...

It was a small country shop, the food was crude and even a little unsightly.

Fortunately, the shop owner was eloquent, knowledgeable and interesting, so Yang Man did not leave in anger on the spot.

"Legend has it that when Empress Bo returned to her hometown during the Han Dynasty, the government built a stone bridge over the Ru River, named 'Bo Hou Bridge', which is this bridge." The shopkeeper prepared his specialty dish quickly and said flatteringly after serving it over, "There is also one in Jiacheng, but it has been destroyed."

Yang Man took a quick look and did not pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he asked, "This bridge is very new. I'm afraid it's not the original bridge?"

"Mingsong, you have a keen eye. You saw it right away." The shopkeeper continued to flatter Qian Bai, with a smile on his face that almost tore the corners of his mouth apart.

"Are there any famous places of interest?" Yang Man asked.

"No."

Yang Man lost interest and was thinking about his own things.

The servant also came out from the kitchen and brought a dish. It was fat fish caught in the river, cut into fish sashimi and stewed with wild vegetables.

Yang Man then picked up her chopsticks, ate a few slices, and nodded slightly.

The servant retreated silently.

The shopkeeper looked at Yang Man in amazement.

The county magistrate was from an unknown family, but he had such a grand ceremony. Wherever he went, he brought his cook, tableware, wine utensils, desks and other things with him, which was different from the small families like them.

Seeing that Yang Man ignored him, he left quietly.

Yang Man stayed in the tavern until evening, and finally saw the first person who came to complain.

"Mr. Yang!" A big man with a full beard fell to the ground and said aggrievedly, "Why do you want to measure the land?"

Yang Man was also helpless. Yes, why do we need to survey the land? Hasn't it been like this for many years?
Wasn't the land occupation law promulgated by the court always a joke? Why bother?

But he had no choice but to be the bad guy.

“Li Li, why does your family have to occupy those fields? There are no farmers to cultivate them anyway, so they will only grow weeds. It’s better to let them go, and you can avoid a disaster.” Yang Man flicked his sleeves, put his hands behind his back, stood at the door of the tavern, looked at the mountains and plants in the distance, and said.

"Sheep." Li Li looked entangled and said, "It's full of grass, so we can use it for grazing. Besides, there are still a lot of good farmland..."

"How dare you say that!" Yang Man suddenly turned around, pointed his finger at Li Li, and scolded, "You got most of your family's land without knowing why, and you thought I didn't know? Two years ago, the Yang family moved south to Xiangyang. Did you take away the house and land left behind by their family?"

"Mr. Yang?" Li Li stammered twice and didn't dare to speak.

Last month, the county magistrate held a banquet and invited all the scholars and powerful people in the county. Li Li went. At that time, he felt that Yang Gong was very easy to talk to and very talkative. He treated people with a feeling of spring breeze.

After he came back, he told everyone he met that he was worthy of being a descendant of the Yang family of Taishan, and that he had his own demeanor, and everyone agreed with him.

But who would have thought that when he turned against me, he would become a completely different person.

Seeing Li Li in such a bad mood, Yang Man also sighed and gave him a few words of advice: "General Shao Xun wants land, but I am not trying to make things difficult for you. Some of the land that was seized by trickery and robbery should be spitted out. Some of the farmhands who were forcibly recruited as soldiers should be released. That's all I have to say. Think about it carefully." A tyrant with no family background or official position, but taking advantage of the chaos in the world, desperately occupied land and forcibly recruited soldiers. No one would punish him. If he really met a cruel person, he could bring disaster to his family.

General Shao Xun is such a person.

The Yamen Army under his command has more than 5,200 people. This is not a passing army, but a long-term garrison in Liang County. Even if I am reluctant to use the army to attack Li Li's fortress, you will always go out of the fortress to farm, right? There are many ways to control you.

It is really irrational to go against such a long-term military leader. It is better to have a good talk and see what conditions he offers.

Li Li was quickly driven away.

After he left, the second and third groups of people came soon...

******
A small boat quietly approached the shore.

Amidst the lush green willows, Shao Xun, Tang Jian, Huang Biao, Wu Qian, Chen Yougen and others came out chatting and laughing.

"My dear, you really keep your word." Chen Yougen grinned and said, "If you said you would give me the land, then I will give it to you."

"When did you ever go back on your word, sir?" Huang Biao glanced at Chen Yougen and said.

"Huang Biao, you bitch, why are you always being so mean to me?" Chen Yougen was furious: "It happened last time in Luoyang. I don't want to argue with you, but you're still getting excited, right?"

Huang Biao sneered and said, "It doesn't matter if you yell at me, but it will be bad if you disturb the mistress."

"What mistress? It's just..." Chen Yougen stopped talking halfway and slammed on the brakes.

This is how people talk without thinking. Damn, I was tricked by Huang Biao again.

"Enough." Shao Xun said, and then led everyone into a house.

The house is located on the north bank of the Ru River, hidden among red flowers and green willows.

The first thing that catches your eye when you enter the door is a lotus pond.

It was already March, the breeze was gentle and the water was rippling.

Under the lotus leaves, frogs croaked.

Next to the green trees, fish leap out of the water.

In a pavilion beside the pond, Le Lan Ji instructed several servants from the Chengdu Palace to prepare meals.

When you come to water towns in Henan Province like Liangxian and Guangchengze, the first thing you want to eat is fish.

Shao Xun didn't like eating fish sashimi, so Le made fish soup herself.

Some rice fields have actually been opened up on both sides of the Ru River - this trend should have been led by places such as Xincheng further north - so rice porridge is naturally indispensable.

In addition, there are common meat, cow and sheep milk, fruits and vegetables.

Shao Xun practiced martial arts every day and also exerted his strength on her. Le was so happy that she almost tore apart several cookbooks on vegetarian food, trying different ways to nourish his body.

The only thing that made her unhappy was probably that Shao Xun always liked to stay behind.

Sometimes a person would have wild thoughts, and she always felt that her lover liked her buttocks rather than her, and she had a feeling of being worried and anxious.

After a few people sat down, Le quietly disappeared.

Shao Xun tapped the stone table twice with his right index finger, and everyone held their breath and listened attentively.

"From Yushanwu, transfer 300 people over first. It's up to you, Chen Yougen, to decide who will come first." Shao Xun said.

"Yes." Chen Yougen agreed.

"It is said that 150 mu will be allocated, but it may not be the full amount." Shao Xun added: "But it should be roughly the same, there must be more than 100 mu. As for how to cultivate it, it is up to you. You can cultivate it at home or recruit soldiers to cultivate it. But there is one thing, you can't fall behind in honing your skills. There are several military drills every year, and martial arts will be tested at that time. If you are not good enough, you can stop being a soldier and let others do it."

"Yes." Chen Yougen's heart sank, and he silently thought about the first batch of candidates.

After much thought, I could only transfer the most capable ones over here.

Those guys got a really good deal!
From a penniless bandit and desperado, he suddenly had a family and a business. Was this a blessing from his ancestors?

This is also what he admires most about his husband.

Many people wondered why a man of such a violent and cruel nature would be willing to be inferior to others?
Chen Yougen could only sneer at this.

You know nothing!
The most powerful person in the world is not the one who is cruel or brave, but the one who knows how to save the world and bring this shitty world back to normal.

I admire people like this, and he does what he says. Isn’t he much better than you?

"The armor, weapons, and horses used by the Long Sword Army soldiers belong to them." Shao Xun said, "But this is only for this time. If they are damaged or lost in the future, you will find a way to deal with it yourself."

"Food and wages will be paid until the end of this year, and will not be paid next year."

"There are some refugees from Hebei in Luoyang. I will send people to gather them, with a limit of one thousand households. They can choose their own people. After they are taken back, they will be registered and become their own tribes. As usual, I will help to support them for one year. From next year onwards, each tribe will support itself."

"If the land you were allocated is really not good and you won't be able to harvest much grain next year, please report it yourself. Wu Qian will personally check it out. If it is true as you said, we can give you another batch of grain next year at our discretion."

"I will carefully consider all the details of the government soldiers this month and announce them to all the soldiers. In short, once you are given the land, you must obey military orders, whether it is martial arts training, military drills, or going to war. If you don't obey, you will be punished by military law."

"Yes." This time everyone responded.

The first batch consists of only 300 people, but it won’t be just this batch.

Everyone can look forward to it.

(End of this chapter)