Bailangshui flows from west to east, passes through Liucheng, reaches Yanjun and turns south. From here, its downstream is also called Daling River locally. To the south of Bailangshui and to the west of Daling River is Yingzhou.
In the south, most of the area here is composed of gently undulating hills and low mountains, which cross the Wugu River and Xiaoling River. Under the irrigation and nourishment of the river water, the valley area of the two rivers is very easy to cultivate and is a fertile land.
In this era, almost all the people in this land gathered here. Because there was no government management, they spontaneously formed villages and fortresses to survive and reproduce in this valley area. The residents here are mainly Han people, which was the era of great prosperity in those days.
Descendants of the people who were governed by the Andong Protectorate in Tang Dynasty. In the following decades, Xi people, Khitan people, Shiwei people, and Mohe people came to join the army for various reasons. While integrating into the life of the Han people, they also accepted the farming civilization.
In addition to the influence, it also brought with it the customs of various ethnic groups such as nomadic herding and hunting, which also made the local people strong and brave and good at fighting.
Although most of the people in southern Yingzhou are here, it still seems vast and sparsely populated. Especially in the river valley area, which is sparsely populated, it has not been well cultivated. Large areas of fertile land are vacant and no one is farming. Li Chengzhong
What Feng Dao is concerned about is the land and people in this river valley area.
Cheng She is a son of a farmer in Chengjia Village under Bailang Mountain. If he is distinguished according to the standards of later generations, his family status should be regarded as a rich farmer. Because his family is wealthy, Cheng She studied for several years with the only old gentleman in several nearby villages when he was a child.
The private school was enlightened and I knew a lot of words. Later, the Khitan tribe invaded the south, and Cheng She fled with the village into the White Wolf Mountain. Under the guidance of Feng Dao, Cheng She, who had studied there, took on the management
He performed well in his work and was valued by Feng Dao. He immediately followed Feng Dao and continued to study hard while working.
In the first experimental Yingzhou Civil Servant Examination, Cheng She performed well and was promoted to deputy section chief of the Personnel Section of the Changshi Mansion. He actually took charge of the official personnel affairs in the absence of a section chief. Immediately afterwards, Cheng She
She was entrusted with the important task of presiding over the census of Dingkou in southern Yingzhou.
The census of Dingkou in southern Yingzhou is divided into two stages, which are divided based on topography. The first stage mainly counts the number of Dingkou and villages in the Xiaoling River Basin, and initially estimates the number of acres of land; the second stage
In this stage, we will conduct an inventory of the population, villages and farmland in the Wugu River Basin south of the Xiaoling River and farther away from Liucheng.
In order to carry out this Dingkou census, Cheng She dispatched all five civil servants currently in the Personnel Department, and transferred ten accountants from commercial inns in Liucheng, and formed a team based on the combination of one civil servant and two accountants.
Five groups. Cheng She divided the Xiaoling River Basin into five sections, and each group was responsible for one section and conducted inventory at the same time. He personally led the first group and was responsible for inventorying the more than 50 miles of rivers between Liujiatun and Yangshanzhai.
area.
Cheng She and his party of five, in addition to himself and the two accountants, were accompanied by two soldiers who were guarding the military capital. After leaving the south gate of Liucheng, after passing fifty miles of pasture, they could see the lines outlined by the green mountains on the sky in the distance.
Outline, this is the mountain range known locally as Pine Ridge.
After walking for more than an hour, they reached the foot of the mountain. Cheng She saw fields here and there in the east and west. It was midsummer, and the wheat seedlings in the fields were pleasant. Birds were occasionally pecking at them, and guinea pigs were running around, but there was no human habitation.
Cheng She set up a pergola and looked around, but could not see where the farmers were, so he led the team to continue walking into the mountains. After turning into the mountain ridge, he saw a simple wooden house on the mountain ridge, and two young men were going to Cheng She outside the house.
While waiting for others to look around, Cheng She walked up the hillside and waved to the two young men.
When they got closer, the two young men saw soldiers among Cheng She and his party. They turned around and ran back to the wooden house. One held a wooden fork and the other held a hunting bow. They came out again and Cheng She shouted: "Stop! Don't come here!"
Cheng She stopped and said with a smile: "These two young men are businessmen from Liucheng. Don't be nervous."
One of the two young men asked: "We are merchants, where are the goods?"
Cheng She said: "The goods are all in the city, but I haven't brought them with me. I just want to explore and see what is needed in the mountains. By the way, I carry salt with me. You can check the quality. If necessary, I will
I’ll bring more next time.”
The two young men hesitated for a while, then slowly came closer, but they still held their guns and bent their bows, showing a wary look.
Cheng She asked the two guards on his side to take off the baggage on his back, took out a leather bag, poured a pinch of salt foam into the palm of his hand, and stretched it out. The two young men saw that it was indeed white salt.
After a moment of wariness, he stepped forward, took a little bit from Cheng She's palm, put it into his mouth, smacked his lips, and nodded.
One of them, Sayazi, ran to the back of the mountain ridge, and the other said: "A few of you will go to the house to rest for a while. Erlang will go to the house to call the elders over. He will be there in a moment."
Cheng She thought it was stuffy in the house, so he didn't go in, so he found a place to sit on the ground outside the house. The young man went to get a ladle of water, and Cheng She and others took the wooden ladles one by one and drank to quench their thirst.
Not long after, a few people came out from behind the mountain ridge. The leader among them was already gray-haired, but he walked like flying and looked very strong. The old man came to Cheng She and others, looked at him briefly, and said with a cupped hand:
"Old man Guo Changshun, what do you call me?"
Cheng She briefly introduced himself, and Guo Changshun nodded and asked, "What kind of goods does merchant Cheng have in Liucheng besides salt? What do you want to exchange for?"
Cheng She said: "In addition to salt, there are also cloth, farm tools, etc. Whatever is available in the mountains, I can change it. There is no need to be picky."
Guo Changshun asked to see the quality of the salt again, tasted it again, and sighed: "It's good salt, but I'm afraid a certain country man can't afford such fine salt."
Cheng She said: "They are all produced in Yancheng. I have some connections here. Mr. Guo doesn't need to worry. This is my first time here and I just want to open a trade route. I will give you a fair price for your village."
Guo Changshun nodded and asked, "Shang Cheng seems to be a native of Yingzhou?"
Cheng She spoke authentic Yingzhou dialect, so he couldn't hide it from Guo Changshun, so he said: "Yes, a certain person is from Chengjia Village at the foot of Bailang Mountain. After Liucheng was recaptured by General Li, the world became much more peaceful, so he went out to walk the trade routes.
Trying to make a living."
Guo Chang started to inquire about Cheng She's price by the way. After a chat, the two decided on the exchange ratio, whether it was food, fur, wild animals, etc. No matter what it was, Cheng She gave a relatively good price.
Low price. He did not mainly seek business profits, but just wanted to make good friends with Guo Changshun, so everything went smoothly.
After the negotiation was concluded, Cheng She saw Guo Changshun's smile and knew that the time had come, so he began to inquire about the situation nearby.
"Mr. Guo, I just saw that there are cultivated fields in front of the mountain, but there are no people. I don't know why?"
"Those fields are cultivated by a certain family. Because the world is not peaceful and the war is chaotic, they don't dare to live under the mountains for a long time. After farming, they all go back to the mountains to rest."
“If no one takes good care of it, the land will not produce much.”
"Life is at stake, there is nothing you can do, just produce as much as you can."
"Now that General Li has occupied Liucheng and the situation in Yingzhou is stable, Mr. Guo can let his family go out."
"I've heard about it, but I don't know General Li's background, let alone how long the imperial court can operate here after conquering Yingzhou this time. I'm not afraid of Cheng Shang's jokes. I'm such an old man and I've seen a lot. Earlier we
This place has always been the imperial court, but later it was occupied by the Xi people. More than ten years later, the Xi people were driven away by the Khitan people again. Not even a few years later, the imperial court is back. Who can say what will happen in the future?
Are you sure? We are always fighting and killing, and we don’t know when there will be peace. We ordinary people have no choice but to hide in the mountains and wait and see."
Cheng She understood Guo Changshun's concerns, so he described Li Chengzhong's official position, experience and future plans for Yingzhou in detail, and explained to Guo Changshun the policy of the Chang Shi Mansion on collecting taxes and fees for farmers' farming. Cheng She finally
He was also worried about the collection of agricultural taxes. He was afraid that the people who lived in the valley and were accustomed to farming and harvesting themselves would not be willing to bear the Trinity system set by the government, so he tried to be patient and detailed when talking about it, and explained the levy.
The purpose is to prepare troops to defend the border.
Finally, Cheng She said earnestly: "Mr. Guo, don't blame the government for imposing taxes. In order to create a peaceful and stable life for the people, the government needs to recruit and train troops. After all, there are Khitans in the north and Mohe in the east.
Man, only when the government trains and dispatches troops can we all make a living with peace of mind, don’t you think that’s the truth?”
Guo Changshun said: "The tax is exempted in the first year, halved in the second year, and one-third is paid after the third year? Is this really the case with the government's tax? I heard that it is more than double this in Guan. If this is really the case
, that’s a good thing.”
When Cheng She saw that Guo Changshun was so knowledgeable, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Mr. Guo is indeed sensible. In this case, someone can report to the government on his behalf and bring this place under his rule."
But Guo Changshun shook his head: "Although the government's collection is very good, but now a certain tribe dare not agree to it without authorization, and a certain class cannot make the decision."
Cheng She was startled: "Why is this?"
Guo Changshun said: "This place is called Liujiatun, and the Guo family is just one of them. A certain family farmed, fished and hunted here, but it was also under the jurisdiction of Yangshan Village. They had to pay the harvest to Yangshan Village regularly every year. After all, half of the output had to be given away.
In the past, after paying the taxes for Yangshanzhai, we were no longer able to afford the taxes levied by the government. Not only Liujiatun, but also every village within fifty miles along the Xiaoling River, including Shidan Village, Liujiayao, Songlinkou and so on.
Paying the harvest to Yangshan Village is a fixed rule and cannot be changed, otherwise it will bring disaster to the whole family. Of course I am willing to pay the grain to the government, but here at Yangshan Village, I have nothing to do."
Only then did Cheng She understand that the reason why people were willing to accept government control was because the government tax was lower than that of Yangshan Village. From what Guo Changshun said, it seemed that Yangshan Village was an independent country here.
After thinking for a while, Cheng She said: "I dare to ask Mr. Guo, what is the inside story of this Yangshan Village?"
Guo Changshun said: "It's a long story. If Cheng Shang doesn't mind it, he can go to a certain house and sit there. It's getting late, so he can take a rest at Guo's house. How about that?"
Of course Cheng She was willing, and immediately followed Guo Changshun across the mountain ridge, down into the river valley, and headed for Guojiacun. To be continued. (..), your support is my biggest motivation.)