Reborn farmhouse busy farming

Chapter 264

Wei Que stayed until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month before leaving for Beijing, but the four old men who came with him stayed behind.Wei Que is now considered half of the Luo family. He kept these four people, and the Luo family did not push them away. After all, they have known Wei Que for so many years. Speaking of which, Wei Que has helped them a lot. Leaving these old men may not have any great use, but it is not very useful. It is okay to keep them in Luo's house, but it is just to bake two more cakes and put two more bowls of water when cooking porridge.

Later, Cheng Sheng indeed led a hundred soldiers to help carry the earth and repair the city wall. Luo Baisu is short of manpower at the moment, and Wei Que also said that he will say hello to the military defense department of Ba Xun Mansion. There would be people coming from time to time, so he didn't refuse. He just asked Cheng Qing to bring a few strong ones and bought a few live pigs from Lingxian County. Both Wei Que and Cheng Sheng have said that these soldiers are paid, and the imperial court also manages food, but it is not good for people to come to help out of their kindness, but he doesn't take away anything, and he doesn't even serve delicious food.

Now Luo Tiandu is not only in charge of the family's money bags, but she also keeps the 3000 taels allocated by Ba Xun's mansion. There is no way that she is the only one in Luo's family who can take on the position of accountant, so she will raise her hand. Xian does not avoid his in-laws, so he rushes the ducks to the shelves.She knew that Luo Baisu asked Cheng Qing to go outside to buy pork, so she took 60 taels of silver to Cheng Qing. Besides buying pigs, she also dragged two carts of side dishes from outside, and asked him to buy some wine by the way, she thought Those who were trained as soldiers, and the barracks were strict, thought it was rare to have a drink on weekdays. Since all the meat was bought, there was no need to save money on drinks.

On the fourth day, Cheng Qing came back, accompanied by an acquaintance, Mr. Xu, because when Mr. Xu came here with Luo Baisu years ago, he met several young men from the same village who went up the mountain, and started After doing such activities, I was really worried. After returning to Ba Xun, I often inquired about Yi County, and learned that a high-ranking official from Beijing had arrived in Yi County at the beginning of the year, and many soldiers had also passed by. The family couldn't sit still anymore, I was afraid that someone from Beijing came to search the mountains to catch the bandits. I remembered that when he returned from Yi County, the Luo family repeatedly asked him to go to Yi County after the New Year if he was free. Coming to help, he packed his bags and told his son and daughter-in-law, and came to Yi County again. On the way, he happened to meet Cheng Qing, and the two came together.

Luo Tian was overjoyed when he saw him. Now Yi County has money, food, and manpower, so it lacks a local acquaintance as a guide.Mr. Xu is a local, and he still has a certain prestige, he can speak Mandarin, and he is very mature and thoughtful in doing things. He is really a very useful person.

Cheng Qing bought four big fat pigs, a cart of radishes, a cart of cabbage, a cart of potatoes, and a cart of wine, so the 60 taels of silver was naturally spent.Luo Tian did the math, even these are not enough to feed 300 people for a few days. Fortunately, Wei Que said at the time that these people's food should not be taken care of by himself, otherwise after two months, the Ba Xun Mansion's expenses would Silver is not enough for their food.

Now she finally understands why the Xing family was able to earn tens of thousands of taels of silver every year in Jiangnan, and it was not enough to fill the pit of the second prince. Three thousand armored soldiers, eating and drinking every day is a big expense. The family really can't afford it.

A few days later, a small lieutenant brought 200 people over, saying that they were helping Luo Baisu build the city wall and reclaim wasteland. Since there were not many 200 people, they did not all enter the city, but set up a military camp ten miles outside the city. He brought a close friend over to pay a visit to Luo Baisu first. Anyway, they were not soldiers stationed directly in Yi County, and they had to be nodded by the governor of Yi County to enter the city.

Luo Baisu was really overjoyed: "This is called? It came so fast."

It was really fast, Wei Que started on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and today is only 28, so Xie Yuan's manpower will arrive soon.Yi County is also several hundred kilometers away from Ba Xun Mansion. Even if Wei Que travels fast, it will take three or four days to get to Ba Xun Mansion. It should be that Wei Que went to find Xie Yuan when he arrived in Ba Xun Mansion, and then Xie Yuan should be Without a moment's delay, he ordered someone to rush over from Ba Xun Mansion.

Anyway, it's easy to say that someone in the court is easy to handle. If it is Luo Baisu who goes to the Baxun Mansion to send people, let alone a local official, he can borrow people from the Military Defense Department, even if he is willing, it should be done. The formalities still had to be completed, and if it was delayed for a month or two, no one would be able to reach Yi County.

That man was a partial general under Xie Yuan, surnamed Liao, saw Luo Baisu, saluted each other, and then said: "Lord Xie personally ordered, if you have anything to do, just tell Master Luo, and he will not obey orders. "

Luo Baisu was already very happy to see people coming, and said with a smile: "I am worried about the lack of manpower, and General Liao's arrival can relieve my urgent need."

Liao Pianjiang said he didn't dare, and after asking Luo Baisu's purpose for asking him to bring people here, he wanted to go back and bring people to start work immediately.

Luo Baisu told them that they had come all the way, they had traveled a long way, so they had to rest for a while, after being entertained by the county government in the evening, the official start of work would start tomorrow, no matter what Liao Pian would say, he would order Fang to light the fire and cook the pot , And asked Mr. Xu to lead some hunters with good craftsmanship, butchered the four big fat pigs he bought, cleaned them up, and stewed them in a pot.

The food for 300 people is not that particular. The large pieces of meat stewed with radish and cabbage, together with the local rice wine, presumably those soldiers who have been working hard in the military camp all year round will not be picky enough.

Seeing this, Liao Pianjiang couldn't stop him, so he went outside the city to lead people into the city, and chose a corner closer to the fortifications to set up a tent and set up the camp.Since they want to build the city wall in Yi County and help to reclaim wasteland, it will take a month or two. The county town is deserted enough, and the total number of living people is less than 200. Can't disturb the people.

That night, the 200 people led by General Liao Pian and the 100 people sent by Cheng Sheng had dinner at the Yi County Government Office.

The county government yard was not big enough, so Luo Baisu placed the tables, chairs and benches in the open space outside, and put a large pot of stewed meat and mellow rice wine on the table. Those soldiers only ate dry food during training in the barracks, and rarely had the opportunity to make tooth sacrifices, so Seeing the applause for the good wine and meat, they immediately yelled and ate, and there was a burst of applause from time to time.

Even in the yamen, Luo Tian could hear the bustling noise outside, which didn't subside until nightfall.

On the second day, General Liao Pian led his men to start repairing the city wall. They were used to it, and they didn't need Luo Baisu's instructions. The stone quarry plucked stone, and the wall pierced through the wall.

When Luo Baisu saw this, he completely dropped his hands and concentrated on the land reclamation at hand.

He still had a good idea, but when he actually did it, he encountered a problem. The people were not willing to reclaim wasteland at all, even if the imperial court supported it, especially considering that Yi County has always been poor and weak, and issued a decree that anyone who is willing to reclaim land in Yi County For wasteland, if you open up three acres, you can keep one for yourself, and you will be exempted from paying taxes for the first five years, and the grain seeds for the first year will also be provided free of charge by the government. Let you work hard, the food you get for the first five years will be yours, and after five years, one-third of the land you opened will be yours. It has never been such a good thing in hundreds of years The strange thing is that with such favorable conditions, there are still a few people in Yi County who are willing to reclaim wasteland and farm land. They would rather live in the mountains and waters to hunt some live animals, and endure the cold and starvation in winter to live in poverty.

Mr. Xu knew the reason, sighed, and said, "If not a single blade of grass grows here and no one grows food, over time, those barbarians will know that there is nothing to grab here, so they won't come here. If they open up wasteland and cultivate land, When the barbarians know about it, they will inevitably be disturbed from time to time. The barbarians are fierce. After they come, they will not only rob food, women, and children, but if they resist, they will be killed by the barbarians. They are all scared out of their wits by the barbarians."

Luo Tiandu said: "I didn't know what happened before, and I didn't say anything, but now the imperial court is preparing to open up wasteland in Yi County. You see, the military camps have been set up, which shows that the imperial court attaches great importance to Yi County. Now, there are soldiers to help us block, what are they afraid of?"

Xu Sanye said: "That's the reason, but the people here have been in fear for too long, and it's not something that can be done overnight if they suddenly let go of their fear." Here, who knows whether the imperial court will pay so much attention to Yi County in three to five years?If after two years, these soldiers withdrew, and the barbarians would drive straight in, it would be these common people who would suffer.

Luo Tiandu thought back to the time when he first entered the city, all the people in the county ran away, and the last time the barbarians came in, they were forced to hide on the mountain and were almost found by the barbarians. They were terrified. It's just an experience. The people here have been looted by barbarians for so many years, how many relatives have been killed, and how many sisters and daughters have been robbed. The court has ignored them all these years. The government has long given up hope, and now the imperial court suddenly mobilized them to cultivate wasteland, and no one dared to take that risk.

If you don't farm the land, you will starve. If you plant the land, you may not even save your life. In contrast, although hunger is terrible, it is better than losing your life.

She had no choice but to ask Luo Baisu: "Father, what do you think should be done?"

Luo Baisu listened to them, one old and one young, talking for a long time, and Luo Tian asked about it, and said: "Seeing that the spring plowing is about to start, this matter cannot be delayed. If the spring is delayed, there will be no harvest for a year. You Tell your mother, let her prepare breakfast early tomorrow. After I have eaten, I plan to go to the village below. The people don’t believe in the government now, so I have to find a way to convince them and let them see the determination of the court. This is also me The land in Daqing is absolutely impossible for the imperial court to ignore."

(End of this chapter)