The next day, Li Qing left Xijin Mansion under the protection of dozens of cavalry and went to Hejian Mansion, the distance between the two places is less than three hundred miles, and the cavalry gallop can arrive in one day, but Li Qing did not go so fast, Li Qing observed the people's situation while walking along the way, although Hebei Province had just been incorporated into the Great Xia Empire, but this did not affect the lives of the local people, on the contrary, because Li Liangzuo ordered a tax reduction in order to let the people recuperate, and changed the agricultural tax to one of twelve, which was greatly supported by these people; Today, the agricultural taxes of the Great Xia Empire were much lower than those of the Great Song Dynasty.
Li Qing walked all the way and said to Yan Shu, who was following him: "It seems that the empire's rule here should have laid a solid foundation, you look at the green seedlings around here, the coming year must be a bumper harvest year."
"That's what the prince said, but I haven't seen such a scene for many years."
Yanshu replied; "Lord Wang, it's not early, or let's go to the front village to have a room, don't leave tonight."
After Yan Shu won Hanzhong, he was transferred back to Xingqing Mansion by Li Liangzuo as a first-class viscount, after Li Qing was named the king of Guangyang, because Yan Shu was a general of the Liao State, he was more familiar with Liaodi, so Li Liangzuo transferred Yan Shu to Li Qing's command as the head of Guangyang Wangfu Shi was in charge of Guangyang Wangfu, this is not an ordinary big housekeeper, the palace soldiers are under its jurisdiction, and if Li Qing has a fief in the future, it will be equivalent to the prime minister of the feudal country.
"Let's go ahead and have a look."
Li Qing said happily; This is Li Qing's happiest moment, because here he finally no longer has to be controlled by Li Liangzuo, and he basically does whatever he wants.
Because Li Qing and his entourage did not wear official uniforms, in the eyes of these ordinary people, Li Qing was also the son of a big family, and he didn't come out to hang out; Li Qing came to the entrance of the village, dismounted and threw the reins to the attendants who followed him, and Li Qing walked to the entrance of the village, where a group of children were surrounding the mud.
Li Qing walked to an old man wearing patches on his clothes and was basking in the sun, Li Qing walked up to the old man and said, "Uncle, we are merchants from the north, can we come to your house for a rest night?"
The old man looked at Li Qing and his group, and then said, "Yes, yes."
Then he shouted to the child who was living in the mud not far away: "The cow eggs and dogs are left home, stop playing." ” Li Qing and his group followed behind the old man, walking towards the old man's house, this village is not small, but it is very messy, this is a true portrayal of the countryside in this period, in the original ruling area of the Great Xia Empire, there is a plan for each village, clean is a must, but there is not yet, many policies of the Great Xia Empire have not been implemented here, the dirty living environment is very easy to cause diseases, once the disease is serious, it is likely to lead to the epidemic of plague, which is more terrible than war.
The old man's yard is very large, the family lives together, the old man has three sons, the eldest son and the second son have already started a family, and the younger son is also about to die, and those two children are the two grandsons of the old man; When the old man entered the house, he shouted, "Wife, hurry up and cook, there is a guest in the house." ” "Here it is, here it is," said an old lady as she came out of the house.
After the tables, chairs and benches were set, Li Qing asked the old man to sit down and the two chatted together: "Old man, what about your sons?"
"The eldest and second sons have gone to hunt in the woods to the west, and it is estimated that they will be back in the evening; The youngest son worked as a boy in the city and only came back once in a while.
The old man said.
In fact, there are still a lot of wild animals, and hunting is also an important way for farmers to survive and improve their lives, Li Qing asked again: "How is the old man's life now?"
"Yes, it's much better than in previous years, the new imperial court came to publicize the new policy, saying that in the future, the tax will only be drawn according to the land, which is much better than before."
The old man said with a smile on his face full of wrinkles.
"Why didn't these two grandsons of your family go to school?"
"What kind of school, I can help work in the field after waiting for a few years, or I don't go to the city to find a job, it's good to subsidize the family with some money, and our family has never had a scholar in eight lifetimes."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, the old lady came over and said, "Old man, come here." ” After the old man passed, the old lady whispered to the old man: "Old man, so many people eat at our house, you look at them all five big and three coarse, then they can't eat our rations for a month."
"Oh, it's not that there is no food at home, not that the government came some time ago, and every household distributed food, so let you do it, why are you so verbose," the old man said with some dissatisfaction.
Although the voice of the two talking was very small, it was still heard by Li Qing, Li Qing smiled and said to Yan Shu: "Go and fetch a piece of gold for them, and let them make the dried meat we brought, this poor country is estimated to not even have a little meat for the New Year." ” "Yes, Childe."
Yan Shu commanded.
Yan Shu walked up to the old man and the old lady with dozens of catties of jerky and said, "Old man, stew these jerky when you cook for a while, and this ingot of gold is my son-in-law's reward for your hard work." ” The old lady took the jerky, but the old man said that he would not accept the gold, and this ingot of gold was ten taels, and the old man did not dare to accept it; The old man came to Li Qing with the gold and said, "Childe, this gold can't be accepted by the old man, it is an honor for the old man to entertain the son." ” "Old man, you can keep it," Li Qing said with a smile; "Then this money is used for the two dolls to study, maybe you will be able to show off your family in the future."
"Then thank you, Childe."
The old man was so excited that he was about to cry, the old man had never seen such a big gold in his life, so the old man hurriedly ordered: "Go, the old woman will take the money to buy two jars of wine, and entertain the distinguished guests." ” The farmer's rice is very simple, stewed in a pot with vegetables and jerky, and then each person has a big bowl of bad rice, this period of rice is eaten by dignitaries, and the common people can eat rice is already very good, especially the two little guys eat that fragrant, as if they have never eaten meat.
When it was dark, the old man's eldest and second sons returned, and there was nothing in their hands; When the eldest son entered the house, he said to the old man: "Dad, today is not bad to have two hares and four pheasants, and the second son and I have sent them to the city to sell, and you can collect the money; What's going on with those people outside Dad?"
"You two keep the money, Daddy is happy today; The old woman went to give her son a hot meal," the old man told his two sons about the matter.
In the early morning of the next day, as soon as the day dawned, Li Qing and his party left the old man's house, and in the afternoon the old man's third son came back, and the old man took out the gold and said: "San'er, in two days, my father will go into the city to change this ingot of gold, and then buy some things to the old Wang's house in the next village to give you a dowry; By the way, there are still words on this gold, look at what is written."
The third child took the gold, looked at the words written underneath and said, "Dad, it says Guangyang Palace, he is the prince of the Great Xia Kingdom." ” "Well, the old man really has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, it turns out that yesterday was a prince," the old man said in shock; "Go quickly, and the old woman will offer the stool made by the prince and this ingot of gold."
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