Fenghou

Chapter 1358 New Village
At this time, by the Yellow River in Lingzhou, Chen Qing and his generals were also investigating the ice surface of the Yellow River.

An experienced veteran said: "Reporting to Your Highness, the situation this year is similar to that of the previous year. It is estimated that there will be a complete thaw and ice flood in late February."

"What about last year?" Chen Qing asked again.

"My villain remembers that the ice flood last year appeared on the last day of February. This year it will be a few days earlier, but Fengzhou is colder than ours, and the ice flood may not appear until early March."

"Is it possible to transport supplies on the ice now?"

"no!"

The old boatman quickly shook his head and said, "The ice layer is unstable. Some places are thicker, while others are very thin. People walking on it will definitely break and fall into the water."

Chen Qing nodded, and said to several generals, "I'm thinking about taking the battlefield to Fengzhou, and I can't put the battlefield in Lingzhou."

Yang Zaixing said: "If this is the case, then you can consider using camels to transport supplies first. We have [-] camels here, and we can transport the food, grass and supplies over a few more trips."

"But tents, barracks and other luggage cannot be transported."

"If you can fight directly, the camp doesn't need it."

Chen Qing thought for a while, and asked Li Muqing, "Is there any news about the scout?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is no news about the scouts yet, but it should be within two days."

Chen Qing nodded and said to the generals: "Let's go back to the barracks first!"

All the generals turned their horses around one after another. Chen Qing suddenly found a village on the other side of the river, so he said to the generals: "You go back to the barracks first, and I will go to the other side to check the people's conditions!"

Zhang Ao, the governor of Lingzhou, and Wang Bo, the governor of Lingzhou, accompanied Chen Qing to the pontoon bridge to the south. When Lu Wei was the prefect of Lingzhou Prefecture, Zhang Ao was the judge. Renamed as governor.

Lu Wei praised him very much, praised him for his practicality and down-to-earth attitude, and strongly recommended him to Chen Qing to take over as the magistrate. Although Zhang Ao did not come from a major, he was still promoted by Chen Qing to be the chief official of Lingzhou.

A group of people crossed the pontoon bridge and arrived at the south of the village.

The village is a new one. In the past, it was a large manor of the Xixia dignitaries. The Han slaves who farmed the land lived in low and dilapidated mud houses. After the Xixia was wiped out, almost one million Han slaves did not return. The land, shops and houses were distributed to them, so they stayed on Lingxia Road and became the owners of Lingxia Road.

At present, the southern and western mountainous areas of Lingxia Road are dominated by Qiang people, and Xiazhou Mansion has been established. Lingzhou Mansion is a place where Han people live together. Almost a million Han people live here. In the future, the population will multiply, and they will continue to move northward. Migration to Toyosu.

A group of people approached the entrance of the village, and a dozen small dogs ran out and barked wildly. A middle-aged man yelled, and the dozen small dogs ran back in fright.

"It turned out to be Zhang Inspector and Wang Changshi, and their humble positions are far away!"

Inspector Zhang Ao saw that the other party turned out to be Liu Yong, the law officer of their government, and he was also surprised: "Liu Sishi, why is your family here?"

The man said embarrassingly: "This is my parents' house. Today is a day off. I'm here to visit my parents!"

Chen Qing smiled and asked, "Inspector Zhang, is this your subordinate?"

When the man saw Chen Qing, he was really startled, and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, "I don't know His Highness is here, I'm so rude!"

Zhang Ao introduced: "He is Cao Sishi of the government office, his name is Liu Yong, and this is his parents' home."

Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "Please get up! I'll visit your parents and find out about the situation!"

"Please follow the humble position!"

Liu Yong led the crowd into the village. The houses in the village were all green brick and tile houses. At first glance, they were built in a unified manner. The army built several large brick and tile workshops, and fired a large number of bricks and tiles to build houses for the people. In order to let the people stay in Lingzhou with peace of mind, Chen Qing gave them a kind of welfare.

Everyone walked into a large yard at the head of the village. This private house covers an area of ​​about one mu. The yard is very large. There are several jujube trees planted in it. There is also a group of chickens in the yard and a well. It looks quite interesting in agriculture.

"It's sunny today, just sit in the yard!"

Liu Yong quickly went into the room to find more than a dozen small stools, and an old couple also moved the chairs out. There was a man in his thirties next to him, and a couple of children and a woman behind him. They should be a family.

"It was my brother's family. My parents liked the country and lived with them."

Chen Qing nodded. At this time, Liu Yong brought his parents up again. When the old couple heard that it was His Royal Highness King Yong, they knelt down and kowtowed. Chen Qing asked his soldiers to help them up.

The old man said with tears in his eyes, "Your Highness is our reborn parents. If it weren't for Your Highness, we would have died a long time ago. How could we live like this today?"

"Elders, you are welcome. The country is based on the people. I am also sincerely happy to see that you can spend your old age in peace. Please sit down!"

Everyone sat down, and at this time many villagers came to the yard. They heard that it was King Yong, and the villagers couldn't help cheering.

Chen Qing arranged for several elders to sit down, surrounded by villagers, which made Chen Qing's soldiers quite nervous.

"How much land does the old man have now?" Chen Qing asked Father Liu with a smile.

"Reporting to Your Highness, our family has 60 mu of land, the eldest son and the second son each have [-] mu of land. The old man is over [-] years old and can no longer claim land, but he gave him [-] mu of vegetable fields."

Chen Qing was a little strange, as if there was no extra vegetable land in the land grant regulations, he turned his head and looked at Zhang Ao.

Zhang Ao quickly explained: "The rule is that each household has one mu of house land. If you give up the house land, you will be given ten acres of vegetable fields. These ten acres of vegetable fields are actually compensation for Liu Yong."

Chen Qing knew very well that there must be something tricky about it. Liu Yong became an official in the city and enjoyed a separate house in the city. His household registration is in the city, so his land and house in the countryside should be given up, but Liu Yong obviously occupied both ends.

Officials will take advantage of the loopholes in the system to benefit themselves. This happens everywhere, and it cannot be avoided. Although it cannot be avoided, it does not mean that Chen Qing can ignore it.

Chen Qing didn't say anything, he smiled and said: "Old man Liu raised a good son!"

The people around were all laughing and watching the fun, the governor Zhang Ao and the chief governor Wang Bo both understood what King Yong was saying, and they looked at each other nervously, saying something was going to happen.

Chen Qing asked old man Liu and other old people again, "What crops are you growing now?"

Old man Liu said: "Our family mainly grows wheat, and also planted [-] acres of cotton. Growing cotton is more profitable than wheat. We plan to grow another [-] acres of cotton this year."

"Is there any corn?"

"I've heard about it, but I haven't considered it yet, mainly because I haven't planted it before, so I'm a little worried."

Another old man said: "Our family has planted two acres, and we dare not grow more!"

"Our family also planted an acre!" Another old man also said.

Chen Qing hopes to promote the cultivation of cotton and corn on a large scale in Lingzhou, but he also knows that this kind of thing cannot be forced, and farmers must feel that it is profitable before they will plant.

The key is to be guided by profit. The purchase price of corn should be the same as that of wheat. If the output increases, the income will double. Once the news spreads, everyone will grow corn.

Chen Qing greeted everyone a few more times, then got up and said goodbye.

The people sent Chen Qing out of the village, and everyone bid farewell to each other. At this time, the governor Zhang Ao said in a low voice: "When I find out that Liu Yong is occupying both ends, I will immediately take back his family's [-] acres of land."

Chen Qing said lightly: "There is no need to confiscate the land. If I take back the land right after the inspection, I will be scolded with a broken spine!"

Zhang Ao was sweating profusely and said: "I didn't think carefully, I will change Liu Yong's house into an official residence, or let him buy it according to the market price, and his household registration will also be transferred back to the countryside."

Chen Qing said coldly: "I don't care what to do. I'm here to fight, not to inspect government affairs. You can explain to the Supervision Department later!"

He got on his horse, whipped the horse and went away.

(End of this chapter)