Kai Fu Han

Chapter 216 Private Visit 3
"No, no, it's great to have friends from far away. The distinguished guests have come all the way from the south to our Penglai. It's our honor to come to our Jiangjia Village. Bin Wazi is young and ignorant, so it's a big deal to bring you here. I am enthusiastic about contributing to my hometown. Although our village does not have any valuable specialties, there are still some local specialties and game. Please stay here today and let me entertain the distinguished guests. I hope you will not blame Bin Wazi. "Jiang Rui supported Xu Han's arm and led him towards the village.

As soon as Xu Han heard this, he knew that Jiang Rui had misunderstood and thought that he was really a big businessman who came to Penglai for inspection. Jiang Bin, an official of the Li Department, took him to Jiangjia Village selfishly, hoping to bring income to Jiangjia Village.However, Jiangjiacun didn't have any special products that could be used. Worried that he would be angry, Jiang Bin did something bad with good intentions, delaying Jiang Bin's future.

"You always misunderstood. Jiang Bin didn't take the initiative to bring me here, but I came here on my own." Xu Han said.

Jiang Rui was obviously relieved after hearing this, and the arm muscles holding Xu Han's arm also relaxed.

"That's good, that's good, but I'm afraid Jiang Bin will miss the government's affairs for his own gain."

"You are really thoughtful, and I can't hide it. I am actually a bachelor of the Zizheng Palace of the State of Zhao. Although it sounds like a high official, I have no real power and am just idle. This time I was invited by Li Si Zhou Xinyuan to come to Dengzhou for a visit. I have nothing serious to do. You You can rest assured." Xu Han said.

"Since the elder is the guest of Li Si, we in Jiangjia Village must treat him well. Come on, please come inside and let you taste the seafood and game from the north."

"Don't rush to eat. It's just noon. I just had breakfast and my stomach is still full." Xu Han refused.

"Then...?" Jiang Rui didn't know how to entertain him for a while, and looked at Jiang Bin unconsciously.

"Mr. Xu, do you want to walk around the village?" Jiang Bin suggested.

"Okay, let's go around, let's chat casually." Xu Han replied.

A few people started wandering around the village. Jiangjia Village was not big. They finished their wandering in a while and came to the fields outside the village. They saw someone pulling out taller "crops" in the field and asked Jiang Rui for advice: " What is this doing?"

Jiang Rui looked in the direction of Xu Han's finger and explained: "This is plucking oats. The wheat seeds are mixed with oat seeds. They can't be distinguished at first. Only when they are about to mature, the oats will grow taller than the wheat." , can only be distinguished at this time. Although oats can also be eaten, it will affect the wheat harvest, so the taller oats will be pulled out during the final maturity period."

"I understand, farmers' knowledge." Xu Han nodded and said: "Look at the crops growing very well, it should be a good harvest."

"It seems that the harvest is good now. As long as there are no strong winds and heavy rains, we will definitely have a prosperous year this year." Jiang Rui replied.

"Not necessarily. In the previous dynasty, Li Shen wrote a poem "Compassion for the Farmers", which said, 'You sow a grain of millet in spring, and harvest ten thousand grains in autumn. There is no idle land in the world, and farmers still starve to death.' If you harvest a lot, the government taxes will be collected. If there are too many, no matter how good the harvest is, the people may not be able to have enough to eat." Xu Han began to make false statements.

Jiang Bin listened and stood aside expressionless and silent.

Jiang Rui shook his head and replied: "What you said was correct in the past. Even if there was a good harvest, there would still be old and weak people who starved to death when there was a shortage at the end of the year. But it is different now."

"What's the difference?" Xu Han asked.

"Since the Xinghan League took control of Penglai County, the world has changed. The leader of the Xinghan League is a star from the sky who has come down to earth. Not only can he cast immortal magic, but he is also kind-hearted and especially cares for us working people. I clearly remember the first day of June this year. On that day, when the "Xinghan League Land Law" was implemented, it was so earth-shattering that people rushed around to tell each other and were happy and excited. This year's summer grain harvest was only [-]%. Even the tenant farmers who rented the land from the landlords only received [-]% of the harvest. We need to pay an additional [-]% of the land rent. After the summer harvest, every household’s granary will be full.” “My family was not prepared at the time, and there was no place to store the grain. But I was so worried that I finally sold nearly half of it to Government. When you were walking in the village just now, you should have seen that none of the villagers were sallow and thin." Jiang Rui added the last sentence to prove that he was not lying.

"If that's the case, then this place is truly a paradise." Xu Han murmured.

"I don't know if it's 'Utopia' or not, but I, who is about to be buried, have really caught up with good times before I die. I hope these good times can last forever, so that my descendants will no longer be like me. A lifetime of hardship." Jiang Rui said, his tone full of expectations.

"Uncle, it will definitely last forever. If anyone wants to take away the good life we ​​have now, they must first step over my corpse." Jiang Bin interjected.

"What nonsense are you talking about, kid? Even if you die, I have to go first. You are still young, and you still have a long time ahead." Jiang Rui touched Jiang Bin's head, his tone full of approval.

Xu Han looked at this scene and suddenly felt a little scared.If the people under the jurisdiction of the Xinghan League thought so, it would be an extremely terrifying thing. "When people unite, Mount Tai will move." Who else in the world can suppress the Xinghan League? If the Xinghan League takes advantage of the situation and develops outward, who can stop it?

"There's nothing much to do in the countryside. Let's go back, sit down and drink tea, and then I'll treat everyone to lunch."

"Okay, then it's better to obey orders than to be respectful." Xu Han responded.

Several people returned to the village chief's house and sat at the stone table in the yard to chat. The village chief's wife and eldest daughter-in-law were busy in the kitchen making lunch.

At noon, the village chief's two sons came back from outside and sat down to chat. After a while, the food was served. There were six dishes, including fish and chicken, and one of them was a plate of meat that Xu Han didn't recognize.

"This is wild boar meat. When the troops went south to suppress bandits, the carts crushed some of my crops. Not only did they give me the money, but they also gave us some wild boar meat. Although it tastes a bit woody, it is very chewy." Jiang Rui introduced.

The information revealed in the words made Xu Han very sad. This kind of love between the military and civilians could not be seen anywhere else.

When the dishes were all served, the village chief's wife brought out a large bowl of rice from the kitchen.

"I know you are from the south and you are definitely not used to our northern noodles, so I specially steamed rice for lunch today." Jiang Rui said.

"Where did you buy this rice? Do you grow it yourself?" Xu Han asked.

“Most of our people here don’t know how to grow rice, and we don’t have such good paddy fields. We all buy it from grain stores in the city, and the price is not expensive. Brown rice only costs four cents per catty, which is cheaper than buying white flour. "Jiang Rui replied.

(End of this chapter)