Go to ancient times and engage in construction

As night falls, the lively crowds in the market disperse, and the farmers have to go home before dark. The merchants living in the throat city also drive their livestock back to the city with their goods. The suspension bridges of the four major city gates of the city were hoisted, and the city gates were heavily closed.

Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong went to the most luxurious mansion in the city with more than 100 relatives. When they arrived at the gate of the mansion, the host of the banquet had already led the dignitaries in the throat to stand there looking up.

Seeing Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong coming on horseback, everyone stepped down the steps to greet them. Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong hurriedly got off their horses to greet everyone. The mansion stood around the banquet hall, and a group of guards stood around the mansion, occupying various points for vigilance.

Although the throat city fell into the hands of the state of Wu for almost a year, as the highest leaders of the city, the personal safety of Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong was often threatened. There are also local tyrants whose interests have been violated by Huo Sizhong's administrative reforms. Huo Sizhong has been assassinated three times in Northwest County for six months.

In order to protect Huo Sizhong's safety, Wei Qing specially selected a hundred elites from the army to take charge of Huo Sizhong's security affairs full-time. Today's entourage who came to the banquet is the hundred elites sent by Wei Qing.

Wei Shuxing, the host who invited Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong to the banquet today, is the most famous family patriarch in Yanhoukou City. After Wei Qing took the Yanhoukou City, the family patriarch behaved very peacefully and did not show any hostility towards Wu move.Wei Shuxing believes that King Wei's rule over the throat city is similar to Zhao or Wu's rule, as long as the ruling lord does not deprive them of the privileges of these aristocratic families.

Wei Qing occupied the throat city, but it didn't matter to the aristocratic families who did not resist. Even when the throat city was in the most critical situation, they only asked the family to provide their own manpower to help defend the city. It was returned, not embezzled, but some servants were attracted by the treatment of soldiers in Wei Qing's army. When Wei Qing recruited new recruits for the first time, some servants bid farewell to the master's family and joined the army.

But after Huo Sizhong, the new sheriff came, the family found that their interests had been touched invisibly.

As soon as Huo Sizhong arrived in Northwest County, he redistributed the land. Huo Sizhong distributed the land in the hands of the government in the amount of [-] mu per household.As long as they have been married, they can be counted as one household. In order to get more land, the people of Northwest County have divided their households into households. The phenomenon of big families living together for several generations was dismantled, and the father and son were divided into households. The brothers were divided into households in the same clan, and the family was demolished to the smallest unit.

The nobles in the throat city have hundreds or even thousands of acres of land in their hands. They don't care about the [-] acres of land, so they will not separate their families and still live in the clan.The nobles don't care about the land allocated to them, but the farmers who lease their fields do. These farmers have terminated the contract with the nobles, left the farm, and re-allocated the land with the government. They built thatched houses according to the land allocated to them. Tend to your own fields.There are only slaves left in the noble manors to help them plant, and the state of Wu has various laws and regulations to protect the existing slaves, and the nobles cannot be driven by violence at will like before.And to the horror of the nobles, after five years, the status of existing slaves will automatically become civilians. If these slaves who have become civilians want to leave the master's house, the master's house must not interfere.

For thousands of years, nobles with land did not need to pay taxes to the monarch according to the number of acres of land, but only paid tribute according to the size of the fief, and drove the common people in the fief to perform corvee and auxiliary military service for the monarch.The amount of tribute paid is not much, which is about the same as the field tax collected by Northwest County now, and the corvee and military service are exempted like civilians. Relatively speaking, the burden on the nobles is lighter than before, but the departure of the commoners makes the nobles Many laborers are missing, and their fields are faced with no one to cultivate.

And the taxes they have to pay are the same as those of the common people, which also prevents them from recruiting refugees to farm, because the taxes to be paid to the nobles for renting and farming the land of the nobles are higher than those of the government.Refugees who have fled to Northwest County, as long as they report to the local government for a temporary household registration, they can still get land from the government to cultivate, but after three years of continuous cultivation, the government will sign a 30-year land contract with them. At that time, he officially became a citizen of the state of Wu.

The nobles lost a lot of labor, the fields were facing barrenness, and their interests were seriously damaged. This is also the reason why Huo Sizhong suffered more assassinations than Wei Qing. The nobles were very dissatisfied with the new county guard.

The dissatisfied nobles gathered together to make plans, wanting to return to the glorious days before, but the elite soldiers of Yanhoukou and Qucheng were too powerful in fighting, and the rebellious nobles were not sure of defeating them.The conspiring nobles couldn't defeat the army, so they wanted to assassinate the leaders of the Northwest County. They felt that if the leaders who promoted these policies that harmed their interests were eliminated, these policies would naturally not be implemented, and life would return to the past.

It's a pity that several assassinations were unsuccessful. Instead, Huang Zhong's spies all over the place discovered that they had gathered together to conspire, and Wei Qingshunteng caught them.Wei Qing looked young, but he acted very viciously. After the conspiring nobles were captured and tortured, none of the dissatisfied nobles escaped. They were all arrested and imprisoned. Adult men were sent to the mines for mining, young women were forced to marry soldiers in the army, minors were also remarried with their mothers, old women could return to their natal families, and those who had nowhere to go were working as female workers in government-run garment workshops. In short, Not only did some nobles in Northwest County fail to revolt, but they even exterminated their families. As a result, Northwest County lost one-fifth of its noble families.

Wei Shuxing did not participate in the ranks of rebelling against the state of Wu, he was used to acting cautiously, and he was not sure that Wei Shuxing would not act recklessly, the facts proved that Wei Shuxing was right to be cautious.

The nobles wanted to win over Wei Qing, Zeng You and Huo Sizhong. The nobles found out that Wei Qing was originally a Wei, but when he was young, there was a famine in his hometown. Wei's father and mother took Wei Qing to the country of Wu. Wei Qing's parents After his death, Wei Qing was adopted by a beggar. After the death of the old beggar, Wei Qing wandered from place to place and followed Huo Sizhong's parents to Nanbu. After being adopted by Zheng Yuming and Chu Chaohui, Wei Qing gained his prominent position today.

When Wei Qing's parents passed away, Wei Qing was just babbling, and he didn't know where his hometown was, whether he was a Weiren, or an old beggar told him.After Wu Guo and Zhao Guo reached a peace agreement, Wei Qing was awarded the title of "Master" by Wu Wangting, and was appointed by Chu Chaohui as the highest military officer in the throat city.This Weiren who wandered to Wu country at a young age has become the head of the real power in the throat city.

It is said that no one asks about the poor in the busy city, and the rich have distant relatives in the deep mountains. After Wei Qing's identity as a guard was known to everyone in the throat, more than a dozen people came to Wei Qing to recognize his relatives, and many of them were noble families. Speaking of Wei Qing The genealogy of the family has a nose and eyes, and Wei Qing will beat out all these people who come to recognize their relatives. He doesn't know his life experience, can others know better than him?

Wei Shuxing originally wanted to take advantage of Wei Qing's unknown background to build a relationship with Wei Qing, but after learning that Wei Qing disliked other people's recognition of his relatives, he had no choice but to give up.

If you can't start with your life experience, you can only start with your in-laws.Both Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong are young and promising. Zeng You is 25 years old and has not yet married. For a while, the three of them were invited to a banquet at home. I have seen such scenes.

"General Wei, Governor Huo, I am honored to have two of you here today, my humble servant is really brilliant." Wei Shuxing was around fifty years old, and his speech and behavior were similar to Chen Meng's, revealing his shrewdness.

"Patriarch Wei is very polite. It is an honor for the Wei brothers to be guests in your mansion." Wei Qing spoke very politely.

Originally, Huo Sizhong had a higher position than Wei Qing, but Huo Sizhong did not have a title, while Wei Qing was a knight. In the eyes of the nobles, a noble status is based on a title, so when Wei Shuxing called the two of them, he put Wei Qing in the same place. Front.

"The food in the mansion is crude, not as refined as the king's, but the little good chef heard that some distinguished guests came, so she went into the kitchen and made a roast lamb chops." Wei Shuxing stroked his beard and recommended his daughter bravely. Now It was an extraordinary period, the future of the clan was in the hands of the two immature young people in front of them, and Wei Shuxing couldn't care less about face.

"Don't dare, don't dare, how can I ask Miss Ji to cook in person." Wei Qing said modestly, but he was laughing inwardly, and the beauty offensive came again.

Huo Sizhong was a little dazed, he didn't know why Wei Qing had to pinch himself hard when he hit the case, couldn't it be that the patriarch Wei's daughter cooked a dish, why was he so excited, in the valley and in the capital, his sister often cooks for visiting Zheng Yuming Subordinates eat.

Huo Sizhong didn't understand the reason why Wei Qing pinched him until Wei Ji Nu presented the food at the banquet in person. Wei Ji Nu held up the food case and knelt in front of him, it was not good to eat, and it was not good to eat without it. As if making some kind of promise, without talking, Huo Sizhong couldn't hold back his face to the beautiful girl whom he was looking forward to.

"Thank you Ji Nu for your kindness. Seeing this delicacy, it's like seeing Si Hua cooking for my two brothers." It was Wei Qing who rescued Huo Sizhong and took over the food table from Wei Ji Nu.

"Sihua, are you the sister of the two adults?" Wei Qing took over the food table in Wei Ji's female hand, and heaved a sigh of relief.

"That's right, it's my twin sister." Wei Qing answered with certainty, he and Huo Sizhong were adopted by Zheng Yuming and Chu Chaohui, the relationship between Zheng Yuming and Chu Chaohui was famously harmonious, and no third person could stand.

Those who were close to the two of them vaguely understood that Zheng and Chu would not find a woman to leave offspring, and the three adopted by the two of them were likely to be the heirs of the two of them.People in King Wu's court had unconsciously regarded the three of them as Zheng Chu's adopted sons and daughters.Wei Qing, who is far away at the throat, is keenly aware of this from the tolerance attitude of the king's capital sent to the throat to handle errands. Wei Qing wants to become Chu Chaohui's adopted son in his dreams, so he doesn't care if he has the same surname as the Huo brothers and sisters. , directly positioning Huo Sihua as his own sister.

"I heard that Huo Ji is extremely intelligent, and she has been writing textbooks for students at a young age."

Wei Ji knew a lot about Huo Sihua. The Wei family in Yanhoukou City and the Weizhong family who moved to Wangdu are of the same clan. The two families are still in contact. With the establishment of the post station, Yanhoukou and Wangdu can have letters through the station. During the intercourse, Wei Ji knew something about the affairs in the city of Kangcheng, the capital of King Wu, and Huo Sihua participated in the formulation of elementary school textbooks at the young age of 13.

"Where the younger sister is smart, it is Master Zheng and Master Chu who teach well. If female Ji is interested in academics, she can go to Wangdu North College to study, Wu Guonan North College, there is no limit for girls to study." Huo Sizhong Recommend two academies to Wei Ji, the two academies said that there is no restriction on female enrollment, but no female applicants, no restriction is the same as restriction.

"Is Huo Ji's daughter studying in North College?" Wei Ji's daughter was curious.

"Um, no, my younger sister doesn't have time to study in the North College. She wants to teach the female officials in the palace." There are noble daughters in the palace as female officials. These women have a certain cultural foundation. The only masters in the palace are Wu Wangsheng and the queen couple. The two of them don't need many female officers to serve them. Zheng Yuming gathered these girls and asked Huo Sihua to train them, and planned to let these female officers serve as female tutors in elementary schools in the future.

Seeing that Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong treated his daughter with pleasant expressions, Wei Shuxing was delighted in his heart, thinking that the marriage would be successful, and when his daughter finished the banquet, he winked at a nobleman who was accompanying him.

The nobleman understood, stood up and toasted Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong: "The two adults are young and promising, they should get married and start a family as soon as possible, and give birth to an heir as soon as possible."

"The marriage of my brothers must be decided by the two adults of my family. The two adults of my family have an order. My brothers can only discuss marriage after they are twenty."

Wei Shuxing's face darkened, Wei Qing was politely rejecting the marriage.

At this point, Huo Sizhong also understood the reason why Wei Shuxing invited him and Wei Qing to the banquet. It was because the interests of the local nobles were damaged. When force resistance was not enough, they took the route of wooing them. This was done only for their own interests to be guaranteed.

When Huo Sizhong implemented the land policy in the Northwest, he knew that it would touch the core interests of the nobles. Although the nobles lost power, they controlled most of the important social resources. They were the main body of culture. They have offended them severely, and Northwest County will lose these important resources, which is not conducive to local development.

"Patriarch Wei, Huo Sizhong wants to set up a few workshops for your family. I wonder if Patriarch Wei is interested?" Huo Sizhong pondered for a while, and offered Zheng Yuming's method to win over the nobles of Ulsan.

"Workshop?" Wei Shuxing frowned, isn't a workshop just a business?Merchants have always been considered by the monarchs to be the culprits of disrupting the social and economic order. They have no contribution to society, only destructive industries, so merchants have always been suppressed by the monarchs.

"Since the implementation of the new land policy in Northwest County, do you think there will be a shortage of labor on the farms?" Huo Sizhong spoke sincerely.

When Huo Sizhong said this, the nobles in the hall could no longer bear the grievance in their hearts. They all looked at Huo Sizhong angrily, cursing inwardly, so you know the damage the new land policy will do to us.

Wei Shuxing's eyes lit up when he heard Huo Sizhong's words. It seemed that the new sheriff was doing things clearly, but he didn't know if he would solve this problem and let the nobles avoid this harm.

"Mr. Huo, that's exactly it."

"In fact, your manors can grow cash crops. The planting of cash crops and farming time are staggered, and the method of hiring farmers can be adopted." Farmers are definitely willing to work to make money when they are slack.

"What kind of cash crops are valuable?" Wei Shuxing shook his head, if there are good cash crops, he should know.

"There are many fruit trees in Ulsan, which bear large and delicious fruits, and these fruit trees can become fruitful after three years." The soil in the northwest region is suitable for planting fruit trees such as apples.Several fruit trees inside the villa wall have been grafted and planted in the valley.Even grapes have been planted on hundreds of acres.It is trivial to get thousands of fruit seedlings from the valley.

"But if there are too many fruits, they will rot before they can be sold." Some nobles objected.

"This requires a workshop." Huo Sizhong smiled, and he was going to start a chain project in Northwest County. "When the fruit is ripe, it can be made into fruit wine, and the brewed fruit wine can be stored for a long time, so that it can be exported to various places."

"Fruit wine?" Wei Shuxing's eyes sparkled even more this time.

"That's right, the fruit wine brewed from the fruit tastes better than the green wine. At that time, the princes from all over the country will rush to buy the fruit wine."

"Is the fruit wine really delicious?" The nobles present were dubious.

"The Prime Minister sent someone to bring a few jars of fruit wine to the county, and the county will send someone to fetch it for you to taste."

Huo Sizhong ordered his followers to go to the Yamen to fetch the wine and cider brought by Zheng Yuming's envoy, and to taste it for the nobles present.

After Wei Shuxing drank the wine, he immediately decided to plant grapes in the Wei family's fields, while another nobleman decided to plant apples. Two noblemen took the lead, and other noblemen agreed to plant fruit trees in their own estates and asked Huo Sizhong for technical assistance. Suddenly, the banquet held with the meaning of a blind date turned into a banquet for investment promotion.