Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 260 Xu Minli Starts Business
The sixth month of the lunar calendar is the harvest season. In the wilderness, golden ears of rice, like waves on the sea, rise and fall one after another in the wind.

On the outskirts of Changsha, along the banks of the Xiangjiang River, in the large rice fields, countless farmers are busy harvesting rice.

On a field ridge, Wang Yan, Du Yinxi and other Huguang officials sat on the ground and rested for a while, then picked up the sickle and joined the harvesting army.

At this time, a village woman, with a few children, walked to the edge of the field from a distance with a clay pot in her arms. An old farmer rushed to meet him, took the pot and bowl, and shouted to the busy officials: "My lords!" Come here, take a break and drink a bowl of tea~"

Hearing the words, Wang Yan quickly hugged the felled rice together, then straightened up, and said to Zhou officials: "Everyone has worked hard, let's take a rest first~"

Officials are all literati, and they are ashamed of labor, but since Wang Yan and Du Yinxi took over Changsha, they have repeatedly taken officials to the countryside to inspect and personally participate in labor.

Wang Yan, who is a stately prince, and Du Yinxi, who is also the governor of Hunan, took the lead in helping the people. Naturally, other officials had no reason to stand aside and watch the show.

At this time, many civil servants were naturally overwhelmed by the hard work, but it was inevitable that there would be a trace of unprecedented emotion in their hearts.

Wang Yan and the officials came out of the rice field together and worked in the field, and the old farmer asked the woman to pour tea for the senior officials.

Wang Yan drank it all in one gulp, then asked with a smile: "Old man, just now I saw that the rice grains in the field are full and there are a lot of seeds. Based on the experience of the old man, this year can be regarded as a good year?"

Hearing this, the old man hurriedly said: "My lord has good eyesight, this year is indeed a good year, but this is all thanks to Chu Guogong and Du Futai, who sent soldiers to dredge the canals, so that the farmland can be watered during the drought." With irrigation, water can be drained when water is produced, and this is the reason for this year's bumper harvest."

Du Yinxi laughed and said, "Since it's a good year, the old man's family will live better this year than in previous years?"

"It's better~ It's better~" The old farmer said hurriedly after hearing this: "This is also thanks to Chu Guogong and Du Futai. When Governor He was here, even in such a bumper year, he still couldn't get enough to eat. Now the government will send Governor He The set taxes have been changed, and we have paid the official rations, not only is the family ration enough, but there is also a surplus."

After hearing this, Du Yinxi couldn't help smiling at Wang Yan. Obviously, both of them were very satisfied. The people's livelihood in Hunan could be restored with their efforts.

As for Wang Yaner, for more than two months, his men and horses have been rested, and this summer grain harvest also means that his men and horses can get enough food and grass.

For Man Qing, autumn is the best season to use soldiers, while for Wang Yan, as long as the city is harvested in summer and the seedlings are planted again, he can raise troops and attack Wuchang.

After drinking the tea, Wang Yan led the people again to work in the fields. At this time, on the Xiangshui River, several large boats full of supplies were dragged by the trackers, creaking upstream.

Most of the tea on the ship was harvested from the Anhua area. Wang Yan ordered people to carry the tea up the Xiangshui River to Hengyang, and then use mules and horses to cross the Nanling Mountains, transport it to Guangzhou, and sell it to Xiyi. The benefit can be doubled.

Du Yinxi looked at the boat, staggering towards the south, and must have felt in his heart: "In the land of Huguang, if I can wait for two years in peace, the people's strength will recover, and the money and food will be sufficient."

Wang Yan also nodded and said: "Song Gaozong once said that the city of Guangnan has a lot of profits, and it is better to be promoted to an official for a long time. The common merchants are willing to come, and they will move one hundred thousand yuan, all of which are lenient to the people. Today I am The situation in the dynasty is struggling with money and food, so we should learn from the Song Dynasty."

Du Yinxi heard the words and sighed: "The land of Sanxiang is rich in products. The Duke of the State transported the materials to Guangnan, and the profits were far greater than the land tax added by Tengjiao. This move not only eased the power of the people, but also benefited the government. Richness is actually a good strategy.”

"The most needed materials in Guangnan City are porcelain, tea, and silk. However, with the fall of Beidi and Jiangnan, the trade of porcelain and silk has dropped by more than [-]%. The trade volume in Guangnan has dropped sharply. , across the Nanling Mountains from Guangnan, the roads are inconvenient, and the transportation of porcelain and the like is inconvenient, but the transportation of tea and silk is a little more convenient." Wang Yan said to many officials: "The governor wants to recruit porcelain craftsmen. Choose a place to open a kiln and burn porcelain. In Hunan, they grow tea and spin silk, and encourage women to embroider. The development of Hunan embroidery has become an important thing in the trade between Hunan and Xiyi. What do you think of Dufutai? ?”

"Good~" Du Yinxi praised: "The talent of the Duke is comparable to Guan and Yiye."

Hearing this, Wang Yan smiled slightly and said, "Since Futai agrees, then after we go back, we will start preparing. Come on, everyone, after cutting this piece of land, go back and rest~"

At that moment, Wang Yan bowed his head and began to harvest swiftly, while the old farmers who had already finished harvesting slowly gathered outside the rice fields, watching the officials sweat profusely, their faces were full of novelty, and their hearts were touched again.

In the evening, Wang Yan and his party completed the task, and then dragged their tired bodies, under the eager eyes of the people, stepped on their horses, and headed for Changsha City.

In the wilderness along the way, there are figures everywhere after harvesting, pushing the ears of rice back to the threshing ground, a scene of busy harvesting.

A group of people looked at this scene with joy in their hearts, and the scene of tens of thousands of horses galloping outside Changsha City made their blood spurt.

In the Battle of Dongting Hukou, Wang Yan defeated the Qing soldiers and captured a large number of war horses, which finally enabled him to achieve his goal of supervising and forming a cavalry army.

Nearly ten thousand war horses, plus several thousand before Wang Yan, he selected [-] good horses, and asked the generals to pick some, and the remaining bad horses were handed over to Li Suiqiu to try to sell.

In the past two months, Yuan Zongdi and Wang Shixiu have practiced [-] cavalry every day, which made them gradually recover some combat power, but at the same time, the consumption was astonishing.

On the other side of the cavalry camp is the infantry school ground. When Wang Yan and his party passed by the school ground, tens of thousands of horses were gathered together in the camp. Looking at the middle ground, twenty strong soldiers were chasing He kicked a ball fiercely, and the soldiers beside him cheered all over the sky from time to time.

After entering the city gate, Wang Yan parted ways with many officials and went back to their homes to rest.

When Wang Yan came to the mansion, he wanted to wash up first to relieve his fatigue, but his servants told Wang Fuzhi that he had been waiting in the mansion for a long time, so Wang Yan got off his horse and strode into the mansion.

In the living room, Wang Fuzhi was talking with a man. When they saw Wang Yan coming in, he got up immediately, and the man bowed on one knee and said: "After my post, Yu Taichu of the Qingmu Hall of the Tiandihui will enter Chu under the order of the chief rudder, and inform the country of important events." male."

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(End of this chapter)