Chapter III Enwezi’s Decree of the Territory Comes into Effect
Chapter 3: Territorial decrees are issued and Enwezi takes effect
The Qi army promulgated the decree in Hecheng and Lincheng. Ordinary people did not care whether the flag flying on the city tower was Chen, Xiang or Qi. They only wanted to farm stably and live a life of food and clothing. Only the old ministers and elders cared about the power of the past.
, unwilling to surrender so easily.
This Lotus City was originally a remote place in the Chen Kingdom. The sky was high and the emperor was far away. Those powerful people who wanted to be rich were accustomed to the life of the local emperors who were domineering in their own territory. Naturally, they were unwilling to accept changes in the status quo. Therefore,
Although He City is now under the rule of Qi State, there are still many big families who are making troubles with Qi officials overtly and covertly.
Of course, Zilong understood the thoughts of those people. He first used strong force to dispatch troops to escort the officials from various government offices outside the city to their posts, and arranged for troops to be stationed on the spot to organize the local officials. The first thing the officials did when they arrived was to convene
Li Zheng, the elder, took the officers and soldiers to the local areas to measure the land and count the population; then he posted notices and ordered the local militia groups to be disbanded within a time limit.
Most of these militia groups are headed by large landlords in various villages and towns. On the pretext of protecting the land and protecting their families, they spend some money and food to organize young tenant farmers and long-term workers from all over the country to form militia groups, which work in the fields on weekdays.
When working, when encountering bandits or disasters, they would sound the gong and gather together to fight together. Most of these militia groups are controlled by those big households, and naturally they are not willing to hand them over easily. Some militia groups have as few as dozens or hundreds, as many as hundreds or thousands.
In the past, under the rule of Chen Guo, due to the strong power of the militia, Chen Guo's decrees could only be implemented in the city, and were basically ineffective in the countryside. When the government levied grain and tax, the big households who were sitting on the militia often responded in vain, and they were in a hurry.
They gathered militia groups to fight against the officers and soldiers. In other places, neighboring villages and villages competed for land or rivers. Under the instigation of large households, armed fights often occurred between militia groups. Sometimes there were casualties, and the government was helpless. So He
The trouble caused by the militia groups in various parts of the city is actually greater than the trouble caused by banditry.
Now, Zilong asked soldiers to protect him, and the officials counted the acres and population. The wealthy gentry households that had been falsely reported were divided according to the reports, and all the excess land was taken back to the government as farmland, and the underreported population was taken as farmhouses.
The government replaced the land, organized it into tracts, and then let the villagers cultivate it. They agreed with the villagers on the harvest. When the harvest was harvested, they handed over the grain and grass according to the acres of land allocated by the government. The harvest set by the Qi army was reasonable, and the villagers enthusiastically claimed it.
Farming. Then the annual grain tax was divided from household to household. I copied the names of the heads of the landowners and farmers and went to the government office on time to order the tax. The tax was not increased by one class at a time, and one was not even seated next to each other. This made the big landlords grit their teeth and be frightened.
Trembling.
Some were timid and cautious, seeing that the situation was not right, and knowing that their little arms could not twist their thighs, they immediately obeyed; there were also some who were hesitant, just trying to push the envelope and wait and see; naturally there were those who were accustomed to being overbearing, and naturally refused to give in and relied on
The servants and servants made harsh words, saying that if the Qi army came to force them to plunder them, they would fight to the end. They also instigated some farmers to refuse to disband the militia in order to confront the Qi army. The officials reported all the reasons one by one to the police in detail.
Zilong, who is in charge of the government office in the city, knows.
Zilong was not in a hurry to take any action. He just asked the officials to implement the law step by step and recorded everything he encountered one by one.
When spring came and the flowers bloomed, it was the farming season again. Government offices across Hecheng prepared farm tools, purchased livestock, and called on the villagers to plow and sow. At this time, bandits from Wolong Mountain also began to go down the mountain to plunder.
The bandits in Wolong Mountain are now dominated by the Fengqiling family. Since Meng Qi was ambushed by the Qi army that night, the surrounding mountain strongholds also got the news. The spies sent out the next day reported back one after another, and the leader Meng Qi from Fengqiling
It's really amazing: The Qi army fought with him for half the night, but he actually escaped. The Qi army had retreated, and Fengqiling was still in Meng Qi's hands. Then Meng Qi sent out a hero's notice and invited the leaders of the village to discuss matters, and he went on time.
Seeing that Meng Qi did have some skills, most of them agreed to merge with Fengqiling, either willingly or forced to do so. There were those cottages far away from Fengqiling that had a large number of people and refused to accept it.
Meng Qi brought his brothers from the mountain to fight. No matter how powerful the opponent was, they could never survive the next day. Basically, the stronghold was occupied that night, the leader was killed, and the minions below either surrendered or dispersed.
With such a three-two formation, Meng Qi's prestige became greater, his men and horses became stronger, and mountain villages from all over the country came to accept surrender. In a short time, the top of Wolong Mountain was captured by Meng Qi.
Seeing that it was time to go down the mountain to plunder, Meng Qi assigned his brothers to find out the garrison situation of the Qi army, ordered them to avoid the official troops, and specifically plundered the villages and towns and wealthy households where they were not garrisoned. When they arrived, all the gold, silver and food were robbed.
, burned and killed them all at the slightest resistance. He went down the mountain several times and robbed countless treasures and food, which impressed the newly joined bandits in admiration.
In those places that were robbed, although there were militia groups or servants, they were naturally the only ones facing the vicious bandits. When they hurriedly sent people to the government offices to ask for help, the troops and horses sent by the government returned.
Before they arrived, the bandits had already disappeared without a trace.
After being robbed by bandits several times, some large households jointly went to Hecheng to complain that the officials in the government office were unable to rescue them, allowed the bandits to cause trouble, and did not care about the lives of the people. They requested that the officials be replaced and more troops be sent.
Zilong comforted him with kind words and blamed himself for not protecting the place well. However, Hecheng is a hundred miles away, and his own troops are not enough to dispatch. They can only be stationed in a limited place. There is really nothing they can do to help everyone's suffering: Don't you want to
If you resist paying taxes and grain, then my soldiers also need to eat grain and pay. Whoever pays my troops will naturally protect whomever they pay. Don’t you all have militia groups that don’t need official offices to be stationed? Then your militia groups should deal with it first.
, it just so happens that I don’t have enough manpower to distribute.
After two visits, he naturally understood: the bandits did not dare to provoke the Qi army, but chose places where there were no troops to plunder, and refused to pay grain and taxes in accordance with Qi's laws, and the Qi army refused to disband the militia.
Send troops to protect, if this continues, the loss of money and food will be small, and losing lives will be unjust. So we quickly disbanded the militia in accordance with the law, subscribed to the money and food according to the amount allocated by the government, and asked the government agencies to station, and cooperated to do a good job. Then proceed
Naturally, things were done according to the rules when we came down, and everyone was in harmony. As soon as the official office arrived, the flags of the Qi army were flying in the wind, and everything was peaceful, so there were no bandits to plunder.
There are always those who grit their teeth and refuse to give in. Either they were robbed by bandits of all their wealth, or they died under the knife of bandits, and they just cried out for help. Some had no choice but to pack up their property, drag their children and run away with their daughters.
When they arrived at Xiang Di or Chen State, the Qi army confiscated all their lands.
Hecheng and Lincheng have had good weather for the past six months, and the farmers and merchants live and work in peace and contentment. In the spring, the government distributed sufficient seeds to the villagers, and sowing and farming were carried out on time, waiting for the harvest in the autumn. Merchants were also encouraged, tax exemptions and exemptions, and there were many traffickers and foot soldiers.
They gathered in the two places. After more than half a year of governance, Hecheng and Lincheng were managed by Zilong and Xiaozhuge in an orderly manner, creating a prosperous scene with good government and people.
During this period, King Wuyou also came twice. He checked the map and county records, learned about the local customs, and checked around. Then he put aside his official duties and went to visit various places on the pretext of inspecting the fiefdom. Zilong and
Xiao Zhuge knew the temper of his prince, so he was not surprised at all. He was just trying to cover it up so as not to be caught by the admonishing ministers in the court.
Zilong and Xiao Zhuge also had their own division of labor: the official affairs of Lincheng and Hecheng were handled by Xiao Zhuge; Zilong was responsible for recruiting troops to expand the military strength. The 100,000 Qingzhou troops stationed in the two places were in the same village except for daily drills.
When it comes to land reclamation and farming, most of the soldiers came from farmers before joining the army, so they didn't make a living doing farm work.
In the past six months, various cottages on Wolong Mountain have been gradually annexed by Fengqiling, and Meng Qi's cottage has grown day by day. During the slack season, Zilong sent troops in batches to clear out the banditry in Wolong Mountain, and every time the Qi army advanced,
Meng Qi took his brothers from Fengqiling away early. The bandits who occasionally had discord with Meng Qi were wiped out by the Qi army. After the Qi army retreated, Meng Qi led his troops back to the stronghold.
The army's fighting strength was strong, and Meng Qi and a kind of bandits also restrained themselves. In addition, relatives at the foot of the mountain frequently summoned them, and many bandits went home to surrender. The government ignored them and picked up plows and hoes to become farmers. Year-round
The plague of mountain bandits that harmed the local area is gradually subsiding.
With the progress of border reclamation in Hecheng and Lincheng, the villagers occasionally had conflicts with the frontier armies of Chen and Chu. Whenever these situations occurred, the Qi army was excited and immediately launched an attack to the northwest of Qi.
The territory is gradually expanding with the support of Lincheng and Hecheng.