A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 511 Powerful

Liu Meng walked to the horse, took out a few candies from the bag beside him, and then waved to the children: "Come here."

The children were timid and did not dare to go over. The adults next to them said in a low voice: "If the master has any instructions, just tell me to do it."

Seeing their looks, Liu Meng said angrily: "I'm not a tiger and I will eat you, what are you afraid of?"

As he spoke, he walked forward, put a few pieces of malt candies into the hands of several children, and said carelessly: "You brats are also lucky. His Highness King Wu rewarded me with malt candies, so you can also taste the sweetness!"

The children swallowed, looked at the adults and didn't stop them, and then carefully put it in their mouths and licked it. The rich sweetness instantly spread to the entire taste buds. The child's eyes lit up and he quickly ran to his mother: "Mom, try it, it's so sweet!"

The woman rubbed his head and said with a smile: "Mom doesn't like to eat, you can eat it yourself."

Liu Meng smiled slightly, and then said seriously in the tone of a lieutenant general of the scholar army: "From now on, I will serve as the head of the family, and if you do things well, I will naturally not lose the benefits. Don't cheat on me!"

"Yes!" Everyone responded one after another.

Liu Meng nodded slightly. He was a veteran of hundreds of battles. He had made many military exploits in the border areas over the years, and was only then banned from being a peasant soldier. Now he has his own manor, land and army, and he is very happy in his heart.

But after seeing those adult men, I felt a little disappointed. He has also seen some other peasant soldiers. Most of those peasant soldiers in the army are fifty generals or one hundred generals, and they are followed by two tribes, never leaving.

That step was also a brave one, but when I saw these steps of my own today, I felt very disappointed.

In his mind, Bu Qu should be the kind of brave man who works hard in his spare time, goes into battle during war, and is able to wear a strong sword.

Now it seems that this gap is not generally large.

He is dull and stupid, not good at words and a bit submissive. Can such a unit really be able to follow him into battle to kill the enemy? It seems that they can only do things like transporting grain and grass, repairing armor, washing and feeding horses. But it's not bad, as long as they can serve as auxiliary soldiers, and they are not expected to go into battle to kill the enemy.

Liu Meng shook his head, and then directed the craftsmen to build the house. After each peasant soldier was granted a title, the imperial court would send craftsmen to help them build houses. Of course, the houses built by the imperial court were not large, and were mostly small courtyards with more than a dozen houses. If you want to build something bigger and better, it’s not impossible, you need to pay for it yourself.

As for wanting to build a Wubao, that is suicidal. The imperial court does not allow such local tyrants to appear at all. Anyone who dares to show up will be killed immediately. Otherwise, a large number of forts would have been built on the numerous plateaus in Guanzhong, northwest of Luoyang, and Longyou in the north.

Liu Meng also saved a lot of money in the army over the years. This time he was made a peasant soldier and received some rewards. The weapons and armor were also rewards from the court, but it was only this time. If the weapons and armor were lost or damaged, they would be lost in the future. You can only take care of it yourself.

Liu Meng used his money and asked these craftsmen to build him a much larger manor, enough to house more than a dozen families. Next, he married the daughter of a merchant in the city. This merchant was a businessman who served the nobles of the county and city, and was considered powerful in the local area.

Then he got the support of his father-in-law, who helped him reclaim 150 acres of land. He even built a section of a canal to irrigate the farmland. As for whether the local powerful people had any objections, Liu Meng didn't care at all. Really speaking, how can they compare with peasants and soldiers? Although they have a big family and a big business, can they be exempted from tax? cannot. Can I be an official? This is possible, but you need to pass the academy assessment. If you can't pass the imperial examination, you are just a rich man.

Peasants and soldiers were different. They were exempted from corvee service and only had to perform military service. The agricultural tax was only half. As long as they performed meritorious service, they could become officials. It's much easier than them taking the Academy exam.

Maybe after a few battles, you can be knighted by then. By the way, I must give birth to a few more boys this time. I will choose the most outstanding one in the future and teach him all my killing skills. When I grow up, I can go on an expedition with him, and maybe I can achieve meritorious deeds.

By the way, the most important thing for my old Liu family now is to spread its branches. Maybe it will become a big family in a hundred years.

Many times, things don't go the way you want.

This is the case with the powerful Peng Jing here in Min County. Originally, he planned to occupy some more wasteland after the imperial court organized the familiar barbarians into households. In a place like this, it would be enough to separate one household from the family and occupy the wasteland. In a few years, it will be expanded to a thousand acres.

As the head of the Peng family, he is only in his thirties. It is the time when he dares to fight hard. How can the family be strong if he does not occupy so much wasteland.

Several officials in the county belong to his family, or have a close relationship with his family, giving him enough room to operate.

But before he could do anything, the imperial court directly sent people down, and all the wasteland was under the control of the government, and then used to distribute it to the people who migrated here. Before he could react, a large number of northern refugees arrived and quickly occupied those wastelands.

But this is fine. It is difficult to cultivate wasteland to harvest food. Let those mud-legged people cultivate it for a few years and plant food for a few years. When the land becomes fertile, we can then unite with the officials and keep it for them to look good when tax collection comes. All arrangements were made for collecting grain and labor, forcing them to half death, and then he came out to be a good person.

It only takes a small amount of money to enjoy the cultivated fields and the people.

If this method doesn't work, then send someone to lend him grain or cattle. He only needs water when the rice is filling. Then the grain harvest will be gone and he won't be able to pay back the money. If the profit is compounded, they won't be able to pay back the money. Be obedient and make your people and your land your own slaves.

Although these local powerful men were not officials, they colluded with the officials to oppress ordinary people and seize water sources. There were really many ways to annex fields.

The imperial court, too, has always restricted land annexation. What's wrong with land annexation? It's not like we don't pay taxes. It's also convenient for you to collect taxes. You don't have to run around, and you don't have to notify those mud-legged people back and forth.

You can just be your official in the county town. If you have nothing to do, you can have a drink, go on an outing, and watch a song and dance performance. You can just let us rural sages watch over you in the county town. When the time comes to collect taxes and recruit troops, we will help you. You did it well. How much time and strength does this save?

The world has been at peace for more than a hundred years, and many people have this idea in their hearts, but they only dare to talk about it in their hearts. Just like the way he looked at Liu Meng, there were three hundred armored and armed soldiers in this county alone. Three hundred soldiers, even his villagers and men combined didn't have that many.

(End of this chapter)