Soldiers come to the world

In the early morning, before the sun came out, the sky was just bright, and a layer of white mist shrouded the Jianghan Plain.

It was the end of autumn and the beginning of winter at this time. Although the Jianghan Plain was not as cold as the first wind in the north, it was still a bit chilly, and a layer of hoarfrost had condensed on the endless fields.

The autumn harvest has long since ended, and the fields are deserted and deserted. Apart from flocks of birds looking for food, there are also a few old farmers who get up early and clean up the wheat fields that have just been sown.

It was a quiet morning, but soon, a fierce sound of horseshoes broke the tranquility of the morning.

On the official road to the west of Wuchang County, a team of more than five hundred soldiers was marching rapidly. The leader was a young general with a silver helmet and iron armor. , it was Liu Jing.

Beside him was a civil servant, Wuchang county magistrate Deng Long, who specially accompanied Liu Jing to Huang's Villa.

Su Fei was not accompanied today, he had just taken over the position of the county magistrate, he had a myriad of things to deal with, Wei Yan and the others were also busy training soldiers, so they had no time to accompany him.

The Huang's Villa is not far away, fifty miles west of Wuchang County, backed by a vast lake. In fact, the so-called villa is just a false name, but there is a man-made rockery less than a hundred feet high in the backyard.

"My lord!" Deng Long pointed to the distance and said with a smile: "Go straight along this official road, and you will arrive at Huang's Villa at about noon."

Deng Long was very talkative, and he told Liu Jing about Wuchang's human relations, officialdom, and family origins along the way. Although Liu Jing didn't speak most of the time, Deng Long could see that Liu Jing was listening very carefully, so he said happily down.

But there is one thing that makes Deng Long difficult, and that is the address for Liu Jing. He also knows that as a subordinate, it is a bit unreasonable to call Liu Jing the son of Jing, but it is not appropriate to call Sima, after all, Sima is Chaisang's other. Bu Sima, now Wuchang County.

In fact, it is most appropriate to be called the prefect, but he has not been appointed by the state pastor, and Deng Long always feels that calling him the prefect is not in line with official rules.

Of course, he also knows that sometimes you can't be too polite. For example, Su Fei didn't follow the rules when he was appointed as the magistrate, but what if Liu Jing was transferred away and a new prefect who was well-mannered came in?

So Deng Long still bit the bullet and called Liu Jing the son, but fortunately Liu Jing didn't care about it, which made him a little relieved.

He introduced the customs along the way, and the team walked for another hour. At this time, they had already walked out of a forest and entered a wider farming area.

This is the hinterland of the Jianghan Plain, from Wuchang to Xiakou, with a radius of hundreds of miles. The land is fertile and the water source is abundant. It has always been an important grain-producing area in Jiangxia County.

It can be said that this area with a radius of hundreds of miles is the most affluent center in the entire Jiangxia County. If you control this area, you also control the entire Jiangxia County.

It is also for this reason that the Huang family has been encroaching on this rich land for decades, has occupied nearly [-]% of the fertile land, has thousands of slaves, and controlled tens of thousands of tenant farmers, making the Huang family firmly occupy Jiangxia County dominant position.

However, all of this has been wiped out with the eastward expansion of the Jiangdong Army. Except for Huang She's whereabouts are unknown, the entire Huang family has been wiped out, and their tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land have become landless.

The team walked through the official road in the field. Liu Jing saw that there were many farmers doing farm work in the field. He looked back at the soldiers again. Everyone seemed a little tired, so he smiled at Deng Long: "Magistrate Deng, take a rest." Just a while!"

"It's just right, I'm a little tired too, drink some water, take a rest and continue on my way."

Liu Jing turned to everyone and said, "Everyone, take a break!"

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers looked for the grassy fields to sit down, took out the water bottles and drank water and chatted.

Liu Jing did not rest, but slowly walked into the field. Not far away, a few old farmers who were hoeing the ground were looking at the army with fear, but when they saw their leader officer walking towards him, the old farmers were frightened. Turning to leave, Liu Jing stopped them, "Several elders, please stay!"

A few old farmers didn't dare to leave, and turned their heads to salute, "What's the matter with this general?"

Liu Jing tried his best to use a gentle tone, and said with a smile on his face: "I want to chat with some elders and take up a little time, is it convenient?"

Of course the old farmers didn't dare to say bad things, but Liu Jing's kindness made them feel a little calmer, and they all sat on the ground, forming a circle.

"Several elders, how is the grain harvest this year?" Liu Jing asked casually as if chatting about family affairs.

The old farmers looked at each other, and one of them shook his head and said: "This year is a small year, and the rice production is generally [-]% lower than last year, but the summer wheat harvest is good, which makes up for the shortfall in the autumn harvest."

"Has the Jiangdong Army's invasion affected everyone?"

"It's okay! Basically, there are no field battles. I heard that Mr. Huang was defeated in the first battle, and it has no effect. To tell the truth, the general, we didn't even see the shadow of the Jiangdong Army."

Liu Jing nodded, this is true, the Jiangdong army mainly traveled by water, and did not attack Xiakou by land.

At this time, Deng Long also came over. He was wearing a civil official robe, and he often went to the countryside for inspections. He was very popular in Wuchang County. kowtow!"

Deng Long was a little embarrassed, Liu Jing was right next to him, the old farmers kowtowed to himself instead of saluting him, he stole a glance at Liu Jing, but Liu Jing acted as if nothing had happened.

Deng Long realized in his heart that Liu Jing probably didn't want others to know his identity. Thinking of this, he smiled slightly and said, "Several elders, please, let's have a casual chat."

Now that the county magistrate spoke, everyone dared not listen, so they sat down again, and Deng Long also sat down. He didn't know Liu Jing's intentions, and he was silent when he was very talkative.

Liu Jing smiled again and said, "Did the elders farm land for the Huang family?"

"Of course!" An old farmer said, "We are all his tenants, renting from Huang's family for a living."

Another old farmer pointed his hand, "To tell you the truth, the general, the land in this area, all the way to the lake area in the north, belongs to the Huang family's land, but hearing that something happened to the Huang family, everyone is uneasy."

Liu Jing laughed, "If something happens to the Huang family, you won't have to pay the autumn harvest rent, isn't it a good thing?"

"Of course this is a good thing, but what about the future? If the government takes away the land, how can we make a living?"

Several old farmers said this, all looking at the county magistrate Deng Long, this is their shrewdness, it is best to ask about this while the county magistrate is around.

Deng Long smiled wryly. Although the land title deeds were all in the county government, it was up to Liu Jing to decide how to deal with it in the end, and he had no right to explain it.

In fact, when Liu Jing came out to inspect today, he didn't want to see Huang's Villa. It was just a manor. The valuable gold and silver were snatched away by the Jiangdong Army long ago, and the food was transported away by Su Fei. Only some heavy things were left. furniture and utensils.

Maybe the scenery is good, but he is the busiest now, and he doesn't have time to do a one-day tour of the manor. He will take Tao Zhan to take a closer look when he has time later.

Liu Jing came out to inspect the land today, in fact, for the land. In his opinion, the Huang family's greatest wealth is the land, which has ten thousand hectares. How to handle the ten thousand hectares of land is related to his control over Jiangxia.

The key to solving the problem of land is the human issue. Tens of thousands of hectares of land involve the vital interests of tens of thousands of tenant farmers, and a little carelessness will cause civil disturbances. How can he not handle it carefully?

Liu Jing laughed again and said: "Don't worry, everyone, the land always needs people to cultivate it. You can't let Magistrate Deng go to the field to cultivate it yourself. Ten thousand hectares of land! Do you think Magistrate Deng can handle it?"

Liu Jing said it very humorously, and everyone laughed. At the same time, they felt relieved. What he said was right. People are always needed to farm. In the past, they were farming for the Huang family, but at worst, they will be farming for the government in the future.

However, the two sophisticated old farmers recalled that this officer was so openly teasing the county magistrate, but the county magistrate smiled wryly and did not dare to get angry. Doesn't this mean that the officer's status is far higher than that of the county magistrate? ?

who is he?Several people had doubts in their hearts at the same time.

"What if!"

Liu Jing smiled and said: "I just said that if, if you hand over half of the land, and the other half of the land is officially owned by you, you don't have to pay the land rent, but just pay the land tax to the government normally. do you accept?"

Several old farmers did not say a word. At first glance, it was really unacceptable that they had to hand over half of the land, but they were tempted again later, and the other half of the land was privately owned by them. The land was given to them.

Everyone knows how to settle accounts. They have to hand over half of the annual harvest to the Huang family. In the future, the land will belong to them, so there will be no need to pay land rent. Although the land is reduced by half, the labor will also be reduced.

Moreover, the production can be increased without actually losing any money. More importantly, the land will be owned by oneself from now on, which is a lot of wealth. No one can refuse such a condition.

After only a moment of silence, several old farmers became excited, "Of course it's good, but is there such a good thing?"

"Don't we need to pay for the land again?"

"Then can the cattle from the Huang family be given to us as well?"

． ． ． ． ． ． ．

Everyone asked in one go, but this time they didn't ask Deng Long, the county magistrate, but surrounded Liu Jing. Everyone could tell that this young officer was probably a man who could make decisions.

In fact, Liu Jing has repeatedly considered this plan. He needs stable owner farmers, and it is undoubtedly the best way to restore the Huang family's tenant farmers and slaves to owner farmers.

But he also needs land, which is used to reward military exploits and pay for the families of soldiers who died in battle, so the best way is to split the benefits in half, leaving half of the benefits to the farmers on the original land, and keeping the other half in his hands. It will be able to balance the interests and make everyone happy.

Next to him, Deng Long finally understood Liu Jing's thoughts, and he secretly admired him. He thought that Liu Jing wanted to take the wealth and land of the Huang family for himself, and most people would do this.

But he didn't expect that Liu Jing was thinking about restoring self-cultivating farmers. In this way, not only the people in Jiangxia would be grateful to him, but more importantly, the government's tax revenue would be greatly increased.

If the whole Jingzhou can be dealt with according to Liu Jing's thinking, then Jingzhou will become stronger very quickly.

Deng Long secretly thought: "This is a person with a very long-term vision, maybe he can really achieve something great."

. . . . . . . . .