Do you know that it starts with Meng Tong?

As if he understood the doubts in Sun Zhuo's heart, Wei Chen smiled and shook his head, sighing softly: "Instead of letting these fat families take over these silt fields, it is better to treat them as wasteland and give it to those who have no family." The people who cultivate the fields should regard it as compensation for the river troubles they have suffered over the years..."

Chapter 237 Suppression

The Great Autumn Flood of the Yellow River in the seventh year of God's blessing came not violently. Not only did it not cause any trouble to Yuzhou's impregnable river defense, it also brought hundreds of hectares of fertile silt fields to Yuzhou.

Oh no, it should be called Wasteland now.

The Yuzhou Prefectural Government has posted notices to encourage registered landless poor farmers in the prefecture to actively reclaim "wasteland". All acres of land reclaimed will belong to the landowners.

As soon as the news came out, the whole Yuzhou was shocked.

Everyone who has farmed the land knows the benefits of silt fields. If you plant on silt fields, you can get three seasons of food. If you have a few acres of silt fields, even a poor bachelor can get a good deal. daughter in law.

The people were all wondering that such a good land would be treated as wasteland. Could it be that the official took the wrong medicine?

Oh, Wei Qingtian said it!

That's alright...

The common people are not stupid either. After thinking about it for a moment, they will understand that this is Lord Zhizhou making concessions to benefit the people and trying to find ways to benefit us!

For a time, the embankment by the Yellow River was crowded with people, all carrying hoes to open up wasteland.

There are even many poor people from Xinzheng County who came with their families. Anyway, at home they are working as farm laborers for those wealthy families. They might as well settle on the edge of the embankment and concentrate on "opening up wasteland"!

Wei Chen did not expect that the enthusiasm of the people was so high. Thousands of people came from various counties and villages in Yuzhou. Gu Tingye and his government officials were unable to control the situation.

Fortunately, the outer embankment formed a natural wall, blocking the people who wanted to flood into the embankment. Otherwise, Wei Chen would have had to ask Zhao Zongquan to mobilize the Yuzhou regiment to suppress them.

Wei Chen personally stood on the top of the embankment and reiterated the stipulation that only landless poor farmers could enter the area between the inner embankment and the outer embankment to open up wasteland. Before entering the embankment, the government would check the household registrations one by one. Once it was found that the family already had land, they would immediately Twenty whippings.

Wei Chen had already established a solid reputation in Yuzhou. After hearing Wei Chen's words, many people who wanted to come and take advantage of the situation gave up and went back home dejectedly.

Of course, there must be others who are determined to fish in troubled waters. When they are found out later, Wei Chen will let them know how powerful they are.

Then, Wei Chen announced three prohibitions to the people who stayed behind.

First, houses are not allowed to be built on silt fields, and people must live on embankments.

This is to prevent the flood from being too strong and the inner embankment unable to support it, submerging the people living in the embankment.

Second, from April to September every year, no farming is allowed in the embankment.

Because this period is the flood season of the Yellow River.

Third, privately raising the inner embankment is not allowed.

Although the silt fields are fertile, they need to be avoided during the Yellow River flood season and can only be cultivated in spring and winter.

In order to extend the farming time, some people will privately raise the inner embankment, so that farming can be done all year round.

But in this way, the pressure on the inner embankment will also increase, which can easily cause danger.

If a flood occurs and the flood management is improper, not only the inner embankment built with tens of thousands of taels of silver will be destroyed, but the outer embankment may also be endangered, with disastrous consequences.

This is obviously not worth the loss.

Wei Chen didn't want his virtuous policies that benefited the people to harm them in the end, so he took the trouble to explain the importance of these three prohibitions to the people.

The people below nodded in agreement. Of course, their focus was still on the silt field they were about to get.

Excitement was written all over his face.

"We will have our own land soon!"

"I just took a look. This field is really fertile. Even if you can only plant it half of the year, as long as you work hard, you can harvest a stone or two!"

】

"In the past, good land like this had been taken over by wealthy families, so where would it be our turn!"

"It all depends on Wei Qing!"

Wei Chen felt quite helpless as he listened to the people's words of praise. He didn't know if they listened to the three prohibitions just mentioned.

Of course, Wei Chen could also understand their mood.

The Yellow River has been plagued for years, and countless people have been displaced. In order to make a living, they have to sell their land at a low price and become long-term laborers for wealthy families.

Now that they can finally get their own land, they are naturally overjoyed.

Wei Chen originally did not expect that the people would all consciously abide by the regulations. Corresponding supervision and inspections would soon begin as the people entered the embankment to open up wasteland.

The newly established River Engineering Department must also take responsibility in this regard.

Those old river workers are old farmers themselves, and they are better able to put themselves in the shoes of the people. Let them go deep into the people to promote production safety, and the effect may be much better than Wei Chen's dry talk here.

After Wei Chen's lecture, it was time to check the household registration status and let the people enter the embankment.

Sure enough, several people who were trying to fish in troubled waters were discovered, and Wei Chen was pointed out one by one by the angry people without Wei Chen asking anyone to check them.

After a little interrogation, Gu Tingye found out the purpose of these people's visit. It turned out that they were all servants of a large family in the state and were sent to inquire about the conditions of the silt fields.

Wei Chen immediately asked Gu Tingye to whip these people twenty times until their skin and flesh were torn, and then hung them up for public display.

Seeing this scene, the people watching applauded.

It's okay to be bullied by these evil servants who take advantage of others. Now that life is finally about to see the light of day, they actually come over to cause trouble. Even the most honest people can't bear it.

Fortunately, Wei Chen finally vented their anger on their behalf.

Wei Chen watched several people wailing in pain while being tortured, and he couldn't help but snorted in his heart.

The thirty-mile embankment has created a full [-] hectares of silt fields, which is a full [-] acres of prime farmland. Such a big fat piece of meat has many hungry wolves staring at it!

According to past practice, if there is such a good thing, the big gentry in the state must be followed first, and where will it be the turn of those small people who are promoted to fight.

The money of the wealthy gentry is returned in full, and the money of the common people is divided into [-] and [-]. This is normal operation.

But Wei Chen did the opposite, only taking care of the poor and excluding the wealthy gentry, which naturally made them hate him.

Wei Chen knew this very well. If he dared to make this decision, he would have enough confidence to deal with the storm that would follow.

In a small place like Yuzhou, there were only a few wealthy country people. Wei Chen asked himself whether he could control the situation.

Dealing with a few evil servants this time is just a small warning to those big households.

To be honest, Wei Chen wished that someone would jump out and become a target, which would help him establish his prestige and prevent others from thinking of him as a kind-hearted gentleman.

Within the next month, thousands of people came to settle on the dike one after another, and the silt fields were quickly allocated with a limit of ten acres per family.

It was always calm during this period, which inevitably made Wei Chen a little disappointed. This local tycoon in Yuzhou was a bit timid...

But think about it, Wei Chen's prestige in Yuzhou is growing and he is loved by the people. The state government is unified, and the government officials and regiment officials are firmly in their hands. At least in Yuzhou, no one can shake Wei Chen's authority. .

Even if some people are dissatisfied with Wei Chen, they can't do anything about him. They can only make some small moves secretly, but they can't stir up any trouble.

Besides, Wei Chen invigorated Yuzhou's business, and these local big players also benefited a lot. It's not a good deal to fall out with Wei Chen just for the sake of silting the fields.

As a result, the local gentry could only endure the situation and let the matter of siltation go away. Only the poor people benefited and praised Wei Qingtian, who loved the people like his own son.

Chapter 238 Getting rid of the old and welcoming the new (two-in-one)

Near the twelfth lunar month, it snowed in Yuzhou intermittently for seven or eight days.

The snow was not heavy today. It only fell for half an hour and then stopped. Soon the clouds broke and the sun rose, and the thin winter sunshine shone down.

The thin layer of snow looked even thinner in the sunshine, unable to cover the tender green wheat seedlings that had just poked their heads out in the fields.

Ruixue is a prosperous year.

Heavy snow can kill pests in the fields and maintain soil moisture, so the folk saying is not groundless.

Looking at the endless fields, the lush green was separated by the white lake, Zhao Zongquan couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Even everyone including Wei Chen, Gu Tingye, and Zhao Ceying who went out to inspect the city were all smiling.

There is hope for a bumper harvest in Yuzhou next year!

After walking around the field ridges and inspecting the emergence of wheat seedlings, Wei Chen said goodbye to a few people at noon and took a carriage back to Yuzhou City.

It’s time to get rid of the old and welcome the new, and the streets and alleys of Yuzhou City are filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year, with the sound of firecrackers popping up one after another.

Today's Yuzhou City, driven by the Jun porcelain trade, has finally regained the style of its thousand-year-old city, gradually exerted its location advantages as an important place in Hejin, and became a part of the land trade route from Chang'an to Luoyang. A shining pearl.

Such changes have brought real benefits to the people of Yuzhou.

The first is that it greatly increases the employment opportunities for the people. As long as they are willing to work hard, they will not have to worry about finding jobs.

The second one is to double the price of Junci. All industries in Yuzhou City will benefit from it, and even the entertainment service industry will benefit from it.

Article [-]: Merchants from all over the Zhou Dynasty gathered in Yuzhou City. Vinegar from Shanxi, salt from Changlu, brocade from Sichuan... these things that were usually only heard of can now be bought at the doorstep. The New Year's goods that the people of Yuzhou can purchase have been greatly enriched.

These days, there are few places in the entire Zhou Dynasty that offer such treatment.

"23, kang fire; 24, clean the house; 25, Bo Dong drum; 26, cut the meat; 27, kill a chicken; 28, stick croak; 29, go drink wine; [-], make flat food; New Year's Day Son, stick your butt out and make a bow..."

Wei Chen was sitting on the carriage, listening to the nursery rhymes outside, and couldn't help but sigh: "New Year's Eve is only two days away."

"Yes, Master." Yuan An, who was beside him, rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Can we have a day off tomorrow?"

"No." Wei Chen Dandan glanced at Yuan An: "I still have something else for you to do."

"Oh~~"

Yuan An didn't dare to raise his eyebrows and could only lower his head in frustration.

Wei Chen couldn't help but feel amused. He slapped him on the back of the head and said, "In a moment, take a few large ingots of silver to the bank and exchange them for silver ingots. Wrap them in red paper and give them to the servants in the house. It's yours. Wrap it up." Double."

"Okay!" Yuan An immediately became energetic after hearing this, with a smile on his face.

Seeing this, Wei Chen also smiled and shook his head.

Not long after, the carriage stopped. Yuan An looked out the window and reminded: "Master, the state government has arrived."

Wei Chen nodded slightly, put on his coat and got out of the carriage, walked straight into the back office, and came to his study.

Several wintersweet trees in the courtyard were in bloom at this time.

The elegant fragrance floats in the pure ice and snow. The light yellow flowers and brown branches are dyed pure white by the fine snow, just like the jade tree and Qionghua.

The window of the study room was slightly open, and the fragrance of wintersweet drifted in, which saved Wei Chen from burning incense and meditating.

As soon as he sat down, Wei Chen noticed a few more letters on the corner of the table.