Zhou Xian turned around and asked Zhao Qin: "Is there a leader among them?"

Zhao Qin said: "There is, but who it is, we have to wait for the subordinate to ask."

Zhou Xian nodded and said, "You ask them to recommend twenty leaders by themselves and bring them to see me."

At this time, the north gate opened wide and several riders ran out.

When Zhao Qin saw the visitor, he said to Zhou Xian: "The person in front is Yan Zhengyuan. He has made great contributions to defending Yizhou this time."

Yan Zhengyuan walked to Zhou Xian, turned over and got off the horse and said, "Governor General, Gao Futai holds a banquet, please go there."

Zhou Xian nodded, took the post from him and looked at it, and asked, "Who else will go besides me?"

Yan Zhengyuan said: "Gao Futai, Judge Li, and several gentry in Yizhou City."

Zhou Xian paused for a moment and said, "There are too few people. Go back and tell Gao Futai and ask him to summon the rich gentry and households in Yizhou City in my name, and say I have something to discuss with them."

Yan Zhengyuan was stunned for a moment and asked, "I understand."

Just as he was about to leave, Zhou Xian called him and said, "Inspector Yan, the court is very troubled, and it is the time for men to work hard. You help Gao Futai, stick to Yizhou, and ensure that the city is not lost. Being a small inspector, I feel a little wronged. Do you want to ask you, are you willing to serve in the army?"

Yan Zhengyuan thought for a while and said, "The villain is willing, but Gao Futai."

Zhou Xianxiao said, "You don't have to worry about this, I will tell Gao Futai."

At the gate where the prisoners were imprisoned, twenty leaders selected stood stiffly opposite Zhou Xian. Zhao Qin brought a tree stump, Zhou Xian sat on it, glanced at everyone, and smiled faintly: "There are not so many tree stumps, just sit on the ground! I don't think you will care too much. Zhao Qin, get some wine and I'll drink some with them."

Zhao Qin asked the soldiers around him and brought them all together, only two sheepskin bags were made in total.

Zhou Xian took a freshly hewn wooden bowl, poured a full bowl, and said to everyone: "My name is Zhou Xian. My current official position is the Governor of Shandong. In other words, I am responsible for everything in Shandong. Although you were thieves before, they were short of food, so I don't plan to pursue you any more. If you want to leave, you can leave now, or wait for two more days here. Because in two days, our army's food and grass will arrive. At that time, I can distribute some money and grain to you. It won't be too much, but it can save food and last for nearly ten days, which is enough for you to return home. I only have one requirement, and you can't follow the thief again."

After saying that, Zhou Xian picked up the wooden bowl and drank it all.

At this time, many people gathered around. Listening to Zhou Xian's words, their faces were full of disbelief.

Zhou Xian poured himself another bowl, "I just heard an old man say that most of you were forced to follow the thief because they had no food. I couldn't help but wonder, if you could do something after you return home, can you survive without following the thief? You, you, and you, answer me." Zhou Xian ordered three people casually.

The three of them shook their heads and nodded. But after a moment, they nodded and shook their heads again.

Zhou Xian smiled, picked up the wine bowl and drank it all. "Don't worry. In my current identity, I said that I would not pursue you again, so I would not. If I don't keep my word, how can I control the army? At least in my opinion, even if I let you return home, most of you will not survive this winter. Therefore, here, I will show you another way to live, which is to stay here. The former King Heng of Qingzhou had 600,000 mu of land, and now he is in Jinan and has become the rebel king of the Ming Dynasty. The fields under his rule should be taken back to the government. In Yizhou, there are 300,000 mu of fields, which are all good fertile fields. Due to the war, these fields have not yet been sown. If you go to farm now, although it is a little late, you can barely catch up. I can make the decision to share these fields with you, each of them with ten acres of land."

The old man who started chiseling trees and making bowls was also among the twenty leaders. He couldn't help but ask, "Sir, are you telling us to share these fields for free?"

Zhou Xian smiled faintly and said, "Old man, how can there be so many free things in the world? In the first year, you hand over 60% of the food you earned from farming to the government; in the second year, half; in the third year, 40% of the food you earned. Then, these fields belong to you. After the fourth year, you only need to pay a certain amount of taxes in accordance with the tax laws of the court. This is equivalent to the government giving you the fields to you in advance, and you use the food you planted yourself to slowly pay back the cost of buying the fields. But there is a condition that you cannot buy and sell these fields at will within fifteen years. Old man, do you think this transaction is OK?"

The old man said without thinking, "Yes, of course. Sir, are what you said really true? Those fields belong to King Heng! What should he do if he wants to go back in the future?"

Zhou Xian nodded with a smile, "It's true, I'll make the decision for you about this matter. Besides, you can follow the thief in order to eat in one bite, so why can't you pick up weapons to protect your fields? Another thing is to worry about the future. The key is whether you can survive now. Before the food harvest next year, I will provide you with food. I will definitely not be able to eat enough, so I can only barely prevent you from starving to death, because I also lack food. Do you understand what I said?"

The old man took the lead and replied: "Understanding, understand. It is already a gift from the adults to not starve to death. How dare we ask for anything else?"

Zhou Xian nodded and asked, "Are anyone among you literate?"

After a while, only three people stood up, "The little people went to private schools for a few years."

Zhou Xian said: "I will send a few books to do it later. You will assist him in registering the names and ages of those who are willing to stay. Give me an accurate number of people. From now on, I will issue the land deed according to my name."
Chapter completed!