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Chapter 1653 Rise (15)

Seeing the old man running up the stone road first: "Bang! Bang! The general is mighty!"

The heavy armored infantrymen with large shields standing on both sides of the road tapped the iron shields neatly with their hands, making a dull crashing sound. The sound of gold and iron intersecting made the blood of Grand Duke Hans, who had been a soldier all his life, excited. The "general is mighty" in his mouth made Grand Duke Hans burst into tears.

Zhao Hu rode his horse forward slowly, and the horse's hooves made crisp kicking sounds on the wide business road paved with gravel. He was followed by the lame treasurer Starn, the stubborn old man Grand Duke Hans and a dozen or so people wearing Defenders in light mail.

This tour is Zhao Hu's temporary intention to come near the iron tower fortress to see the spring plowing that is about to start. The Grand Duke Hans, who is unwilling to go to Chaoyang City to recuperate, is bored staying in the iron tower, and insists on following Zhao Hu out to see the south. spring colors.

On both sides of the wide commercial road are large fields that have just been reclaimed. The dark soil clods turned over with iron plows exudes the fragrance of the soil. Rows of newly reclaimed ditch fields are like chessboards drawn on the earth.

In the early spring of April, on the phosphorescent Tieta River, farmers from nearby villages are driving ten-meter boats to fish in the freshly thawed river. In the fields waiting to be irrigated, green shoots have emerged on some of the land.

Zhao Hu tried his best to take a deep breath through his nose. The spring rain that had just stopped made the air still smell of damp soil. Zhao Hu was basically satisfied with this progress, but the stubborn old man who followed him showed a strange look. For Grand Duke Hans, who has been staying in the snow-capped mountains in the north for many years, it is still the first time to see the spring scenery in the southern water town.

Zhao Hu knew that this was the first year for him to govern the three counties. Whether he could stabilize the people who were fluctuating in the war, whether he could gather the strength to dominate the south for himself, and whether he had sufficient food security were the most critical issues.

The refugees who fled from the north to the south were resettled by Zhao Hu in groups of [-] households and [-] households in a village, and they were placed in the sparsely populated barren hills and tidal flats in the two counties of Tieta and Sartor.

The refugees who settled down began to reclaim their new fields one after another, which revitalized the two counties that had been barren and desolate because most of the people fled.

According to Zhao Hu's idea, Internal Affairs Officer Starn re-divided the wasteland of the two counties into 25 areas, and each area housed [-] villages. Starn, the financial officer in charge of internal affairs, was so dizzy that he almost vomited blood.

In the end, under Zhao Hu's instruction, all the refugee chiefs were called to discuss. After a whole month of negotiation, the land boundary was re-drawn, and it was finally completed before the end of the spring plowing rainy season.

At the end of spring in April, the air is fresh, the rainy season has just ended, the ponds and gullies are full of water, and the land is moist and fertile, waiting for planting. This is the most important spring plowing time of the year.

Lord Lord's new "Cultivation Decree" has already been sent to the chiefs of 480 villages in three counties, large and small, one month in advance.

This new law is completely different from farmers who used to sow seeds in the soil at will, then ignore them and let them fend for themselves. Soil depth and sowing density are strictly regulated.

This made many farmers dissatisfied because it greatly increased their workload, but after the promulgation of the new "Farm Equipment Leasing Act" before the start of spring plowing, such opposition almost disappeared.

Rewards for meritorious deeds, punishments for deeds, carrots and sticks, force and temptation coexist, and the rewards come first, and everyone strives to be the first. The five rough horses that can be divided are used for plowing the land.

Moreover, the grain tax paid during the autumn harvest only needs to be handed over one-third of the grain according to the new regulations. The top ten who pay the grain will not only be rewarded with a thousand gold lukes from Marquis Zhao Hu, but also get five more nauseous horses. Reward, for those impoverished villages, this is simply a windfall, which shocked all the farmers.

Even the richest local rich man in the village may not have a poor horse to plow the land at home. The richest Sien old man is still standing in the field with his buttocks up sowing.

How many people have never stepped out of the village in their lives, and the farthest they can go is the back mountain to hunt wild game, pick wild vegetables, go around the town, and see the majestic castle of the lord from a distance, that is the pride worth mentioning. It is synonymous with seeing the world.

Not to mention seeing a horse, even a donkey, not to mention the dazzling golden light in the legend, now who would dare to jump out and sing against the Lord's new "Cultivation Law"?

Those poor and screaming poor households in the village would use the farming tools in their hands to let him know what the bravery of a farmer is.

Naturally, villages that did not follow the new farming laws would not only be given less than five poor horses, but would also need to hand in half of the original grain during the autumn harvest. The voice that originally complained to the lord quickly turned into support for the new law. .

The time for spring plowing has not yet arrived, and every village has already begun to plow the land in full swing.

Grand Duke Hans pointed to a few farmers driving rough horses to plow the soil in the field beside the road, digging the soil with a depth of about ten centimeters and asked suspiciously: "Lord Zhao Hu, your land needs to be dug so deep. Is it? Horses are very valuable materials. You actually send them to farmers to plow the fields. In our place, you just need to find a piece of wasteland and sprinkle the seeds on it to germinate. In the cool autumn, it will naturally grow into golden wheat. When the wheat is harvested, we will have enough food to hunt in the mountains.

It's a waste of manpower to use horses to plow deep and meticulously like adults. If so many manpower are sent to do some logging in this season, wouldn't the work of fishing be better!It can also be sold to merchants to make some money. "

Grand Duke Hans showed a bold northerner's smile on his face, without the slightest awareness that he was a guest of the Iron Tower, he expressed his views without hesitation, and even pointed out Zhao Hu's shortcomings and inappropriateness from time to time.

Zhao Hu was not in the mood to explain ancient China's intensive cultivation to a stubborn old warlord. Seeing the arrogant appearance of old man Jones in front of him, Zhao Hu quickly responded with an embarrassing expression: "We can't do anything, we here But the barren southern mountainous area is naturally incomparable to the fertile northern snow land ruled by the Duke, especially we lack the most basic agricultural tools here. In order to resist the Kazakhs, all the iron tools were cast into weapons by Samor. The farmers below should not be allowed to dig the soil with their hands.

The original large amount of food in the iron tower was also used up to redeem the adults. In order to ensure that all of us have enough food to survive the winter, even the horses in our army had to be sent to the farmers to plow the land. This kind of embarrassment made the Duke What a joke! "

This is Zhao Hu reminding the stubborn old man: "I redeemed you from the Kazakhs with food! It's not my food, you are still eating animal skins from the Kazakhs."

Hearing Zhao Hu's answer, Grand Duke Hans, who was still arrogant just now, blushed slightly. Thinking of the grievances he had received from the Kazakhs, his high-spirited face darkened, and he said unwillingly: "It's a pity that the Kazakhs are now cut off. Otherwise, I can compensate you for the loss of the iron tower."

"Compensation?" Zhao Hu's face was slightly astonished, and even Starn beside him pretended not to hear.

Dare to feel that the arrogant Grand Duke Hans doesn't know that his family is still arguing with a few small lords around him, and the thousands of farmers mobilized in his territory are still howling with hunger.

In order to feed the thousands of peasants temporarily recruited, the Hans family wasted their money, and the depleted property of the territory was even worse. It is said that it was about to go bankrupt.
"What? Don't believe me? I am Grand Duke Hans, one of the three northern dukes! I guarantee the reputation of my Grand Duke Hans. As long as the road to the north is clear, I will give you the most precious thing of the Hans family. , as my compensation for your Iron Tower." Seeing the disbelieving faces of Zhao Hu and others, the stubborn old man became anxious, and shouted, waving his thin arms.

"As long as the road to the north is smooth, I will take the title of Grand Duke of the North as my compensation!"

There are only five hereditary grand duke titles in the entire empire, three in the north and two in the imperial capital. They have always been hereditary, and they are responsible for the important defense tasks of the north and the imperial capital.

Similarly, this prominent title has many privileges that other general lords cannot obtain, such as independent military power, autonomy, no need to pay the emperor's authorization tax, and the emperor has no right to interfere with appointments in the territory. It is simply an independent small empire.

This stubborn old man seems to have seen through his weakness a long time ago, that is, he sent troops to occupy the second county without the emperor's permission. Thinking that he has the title of grand duke on his head, he can completely eliminate the trouble of owning the three counties. The bully pushes back the emperor's order, and there will be an extra fertile duchy. I will be the co-lord of the four counties of the empire. At that time, I will grab a lot of beauties in front of me, and see who doesn't like it. With a big wave of his hand, naturally a younger brother went up to chop.

Zhao Hu's eyes glowed, and he swallowed his greedy saliva. He also saw Zhao Hu who was in a mess of happiness in front of him. The dark and thin Grand Duke Hans showed a sly curve at the corner of his mouth, and secretly smiled in his heart: "Silly Zhao Hu! The five hereditary princes Duke, do you know what hereditary is? If you want to eat meat, show some sincerity!"

(End of this chapter)