"The water is coming, the water is coming!" With the voice full of joy, everyone's eyes were focused on the ditch.

The clear water flows silently from the newly built canal. Occasionally, it makes a splashing sound when it encounters some protruding stones in the canal.

This sound reached the farmer's heart and was probably more beautiful than the sound of heaven.

As expected, last year had a mild winter, and this year it has been two consecutive months without rain. However, unlike the north, the government has invested a lot of money in the area under the control of the Song Dynasty.

While building canals, a large number of experienced well diggers were also organized to dig wells on a mobile basis. Basically every village would drill a deep well.

On the endless fields, a reservoir will be built at regular intervals. When the water in the canal flows through, you only need to remove a baffle, and the water will flow into the pond. When the pond is filled, you can plug it in again.

If the water barrier is removed, the water will happily flow into the distance again.

The winding canals irrigate tens of thousands of acres of land in the surrounding area.

Zhang Ren looked at the huge water truck in the distance, and then looked at the flowing river water under his feet, and deeply understood what it meant to be prepared and to fail.

Last winter, when they were busy helping the people build canals, the government also sent specialized craftsmen to build water trucks to lift water from the river. Using human or animal power, the water could be moved from distant places.

Among the rivers and among the canals.

The entire investment is not a small number.

Such a waterwheel costs dozens of dollars to build. If every village in the entire Shangqiu area had one like this, it would be a really big deal.

Not only waterwheels, but as far as Zhang Ren knew, the government also allocated some funds to build these canals.

According to the new law, if every household does not want to do corvee, they need to pay a fee of 100 fen for the upper household, 80 fen for the middle household, and 50 fen for the lower household. The money is not much, even for the most difficult families.

, will also find ways to hand over the money.

The imperial court then used the money to recruit personnel for project construction.

Of course, compared with the past, this money is far from enough, so the court still needs to use money to subsidize it.

In Zhang Ren's opinion, the imperial court was doing a loss-making business, but then he thought about it again. With the shrewdness of the chief minister of the dynasty, he was afraid that there were things he didn't understand. Whether he was losing money or not, he might not be able to rely solely on money.

Come up and take a look!

Border villages like theirs have a small population, and most of them are resettlement areas. With money allocated from the top, you have to do other things by yourself.

Zhou Hong, the village chief of Xiahe Village, is a capable person.

Not long after he came here, he established a relationship with the garrison.

What is the most popular in the local garrison?

Of course, the majority are men.

So Zhou Hong had a lot of young and strong laborers who could help him work.

Most of these soldiers came from the countryside, and when it came to their work, they were all very good at it.

Zhou Hong is also very good at life. He used part of the money allocated by his superiors to buy pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc., and sent them directly to the military camp to improve the food for the soldiers. His home-made fish sauce was even more expensive.

The big altar was sent to the military camp, which made everyone in the military camp very satisfied.

Everyone else felt that the money allocated from above was not enough, and Zhou Hong couldn't use it all here. He even used the remaining money to build another mill in the village, buy several large livestock, and even

Opened a grocery store.

Of course, this is all public.

In just a few months, Zhou Hong's political achievements have made him famous in the region.

Everything he saw was lush and green, and Zhang Ren suddenly felt proud.

It’s a good harvest year before our eyes!

When the time comes, the harvested wheat will also contain your own sweat!

In the past few months, I have made many trips just to push the manure truck into the village!

This is how the bottom line is broken step by step.

Zhang Ren never thought that he would become a soldier.

I never thought I would be helping farmers farm.

Nor would I have thought that I would be pushing a manure truck to fertilize the fields.

Zhou Hong regularly delivered some fresh vegetables to the military camp every month, and then dragged the manure from the military camp back to be composted or burned as fertilizer.

Sometimes they don't have enough manpower, so the military camp will arrange for people to send them there.

It's a win-win result.

During this time, some people from the military camp were dispatched to help build roads in the village, mainly the road from the village to the garrison camp.

Now, as the village is slowly prospering, the relationship with the army has become closer.

Fertilizer is delivered every month, and fresh vegetables are exchanged or sold to the military camp in the village. The army also collects many torn clothes and asks women to repair them in the village. The original road will be replaced when it rains.

The mud was up to the top of my feet, and it was a sunny and dusty day, making it difficult to walk.

Taking advantage of this period of peace, the two parties agreed to spend some labor to repair the road.

The soldiers repaired the roadbed, and the villagers paved and compacted the road with gravel seeds.

"Everyone, take a break, take a break!" The women came over carrying cans of tea, shouting as they walked.

The soldiers with bare arms waving pickaxes all straightened up and took the tea bowls handed over by the women, but their eyes swept over each other's bodies, and some even deliberately showed off their meat and said something.

If you don't need money, it's just money you spend.

But that's all.

Military discipline is strict.

Among them, if you commit adultery, you can basically say goodbye to your head.

Of course, in the past three years, the sows would also look at Diaochan and dare not take action, but it did not stop them from looking at her lustfully and making fun of her.

These women are also very tough. Not only are they not afraid of the sharp eyes and small knives, but their tongues are often as sharp as swords. They can defeat these soldiers with just a few words.

After getting along for a long time, each other also knows who the other person is.

Zhang Ren was also shirtless. The muscles that used to be lazy have now turned into bronzed muscles, and his eight-pack abs moved as he swallowed big gulps of tea.

It's not a good tea, it's just leaves picked from a local tree called Ningqing. It's slightly processed and dried in the sun, and then brewed with boiling water. After it cools down, it has a sweet taste. It's the best way to quench your thirst. It's the best tea for everyone.

Favorite drink.

"Zhang Xiucai!" Zhou Hong came trotting over from a distance on a donkey, holding a roll in his hand: "A new newspaper has come out, please read it to everyone!"

As soon as he heard that a new newspaper had come out, he cheered and everyone around him automatically gathered around Zhang Ren.

Whether in the army or in the village, there are very few people who can read and write. Just like Zhang Ren's place, Zhang Ren has taught Lao She how to read for half a year, but the result is

But it is not obvious at all. If you can learn it today and forget it tomorrow, you can come and go and write your name fluently, that is already very good.

Taking the newspaper from Zhou Hong, Zhang Ren sat down on the stone roller and unfolded it.

Everyone looked at Zhang Ren eagerly.

The newspaper was already a month old, but to these people, most of the content in the newspaper was still new and unheard of.

Newspapers are a new thing.

He appeared only half a year ago.

Nowadays, movable type printing technology has been very mature, and some highly skilled printing workshops have even begun to overprint some colorful pictures. However, these are basically books, and they are expensive and not affordable for ordinary people.

This monthly newspaper of the Song Dynasty was proposed by the First Assistant and sponsored by the Ministry of Rites.

Basically, what is published are the major policies of the imperial court.

What is commendable is that those laws and regulations that are very confusing to most people are explained and explained by dedicated people in this newspaper.

What does this law want to do, what purpose is it intended to achieve, what are the methods, etc.

And these things are actually written in vernacular.

To put it bluntly, it is words that the general public can understand.

In the eyes of scholars, this is really not something that can be put on the stage, but for people like Zhou Hong, it is easy to understand.

Such a newspaper is expensive, with a copy costing ten cents.

In addition to selling in the city, each village will be given one free copy by the government. This is a regulation of the Jiangning court.

Every time Zhou Hong went to the county, he would basically come back with a newspaper like this.

But because of the distance, what he brought back were from the previous month.

As Zhang Renlanglang read, the audience below were all attentive, nodding from time to time, and sometimes people like Zhou Hong would ask questions, and Zhang Ren would also give some answers based on his own understanding.

With these things in mind, the imperial court's decrees and policies are no longer mysterious in the hearts of ordinary people, and it is not just anyone who can interpret the imperial court's policies according to his or her own wishes.

But in the past, it was really like this.

This is why the so-called royal power does not go to the countryside.

But now, the royal power is seeping down bit by bit.
To be continued...