Demoness, Where Are You Fleeing To?

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the Liaodong area is already covered in snow.

In Qilitun, east of Benxi City, Wang Sangui used a human-pulled sled early in the morning to drag a ten-foot-long red pine tree back to Qilitun.

At this time, Wang Sangui was sweating profusely, but then he unloaded the red pine together with several young and strong men who came nearby. They worked together to chop it into pieces of wood as thick as a finger, and baked them outside a strange-looking stone house.

The shape of this 'stone house' is very strange, like a semi-circular stove, with a raging fire burning inside and a very hot flame outside.

After dealing with the red pine tree, Wang Sangui was free.

It was noon at this time. He took down the account from the foreman, then wiped his sweat and walked towards the big wooden house built in the center of Qilitun with a glowing face.

Over there is the canteen of Qilitun. Before their fields produce crops, immigrants like them would eat in this large canteen.

Wang Sangui is also one of the immigrants. He is originally from Shandong and his family is near Yidu City, Qingzhou Prefecture. He is the third son in the family, so he is called Wang Sangui.

Just in October this year, the harvest of Wang Sangui's ten-acre millet field plummeted due to drought, with the harvest being only 70% of previous years.

This made the entire seven-member Wang family very worried. Their family only had fifteen acres of farmland, including ten acres of corn and five acres of sorghum. With the current harvest, after paying the court's taxes, there will be at most about twenty shi left.

This little food cannot sustain their family until next year.

In previous years, several young people in the family would go to the city to do odd jobs to earn money to support their families. But this year, for some reason, very few people are hiring part-time workers, and wages are extremely low.

To make matters worse, the second eldest child in the family, Wang Ergui, has been engaged to the Ma family at the end of the village and has made an appointment to get married early next spring. But if this situation continues, they won't even be able to raise the money for the bride price.

It happened that at that time the imperial court was recruiting people for farming in the local area. Wang Sangui gritted his teeth and followed the guard Baihu who was recruiting people near Yidu City to Liaodong, and was assigned to Qili Tun.

At first, he felt very uneasy. The Jin Dynasty had recruited people to fill in the border more than once, but which one could achieve good results?

In the end, these immigrants died of exhaustion, freezing, and starvation, making the people fear them like tigers.

What's more, everyone is attached to their hometown. If they don't have to, who would travel thousands of miles away from home to seek life in a strange environment?

But after arriving in Qilitun, Wang Sangui discovered that the situation here was far better than he imagined.

The imperial court actually gave him two sets of cotton-padded clothes and two pairs of leather boots to keep out the cold along the way. .

After arriving in Qilitun, large wooden houses were prepared in advance for them to live in. Although Wang Sangui had to be crowded together with more than twenty people, and the smell in the house every day was indescribable, there was a novel thing like a 'fire kang' underneath these large wooden houses. A fire was lit every day and it was warm to sleep on.

The winter in Liaodong is obviously colder than that in Shandong, but Wang Sangui feels that it is warmer here in Benxi City.

In addition, the imperial court distributed him fifty acres of land and various farm tools.

Of course, these things cost money just like those cotton-padded clothes. Wang Sangui needs to work here for several years. Only when the debt is paid off can these things truly belong to him.

In fact, Wang Sangui came a little late. The imperial court began to move people to fill Liao in September.

Those who came early could plant a season of winter wheat in the fifty acres of land allocated by the court.

The climate in the Northeast is cold, and most of the land will be frozen in winter. However, the temperature near Benxi City is not bad, so winter wheat can still be planted.

Wang Sangui also regretted it privately. Why didn't he make up his mind earlier? Otherwise he can harvest a crop of wheat next year.

Although they were all raw fields, after the burning, the land was actually very fertile and the harvest was very high.

In the end, Wang Sangui had no choice but to bury a yellow-brown tuber in the soil under the instructions of the local farming community, and then cover it with a thick layer of straw to keep warm.

It is said that the tubers are called 'potatoes' or 'fenyang sweet potatoes'. Wang Sangui has never seen them before and does not know their final harvest.

Wang Sangui didn't even bother to pay attention to it. Apart from burning a few fires in the potato fields every other day, he didn't pay much attention to it now.

Just because after the twelfth lunar month, all the young people in Qilitun were ordered by Qianhu to cut down trees nearby.

In the Northeast, the most suitable weather for logging is winter. Firstly, the weather is cold and dry, and the wood is easy to cut; secondly, the snow is also easy to transport. You only need to make a simple sled, or directly water it to make an ice ditch.

Part of the wood was used to make houses, part of it was used to build the Qilitun village wall, and a large part was sold to timber merchants.

However, several adults in Qili Tun, including the Tuntian Qianhu, the Tuntian Qianshu, the Tuntian Administrative Officer, etc. were very fair, and they were still paid after letting them work.

Wang Sangui was paid for his work every day, and he could earn more than 100 yuan a day.

Although the money was unavailable and had to be used to offset debts and food expenses, Wang Sangui was still very motivated and felt that he was very promising in his day.

It is said that the person who presided over the farming in Liaodong this time was the auxiliary minister of the dynasty and the commander-in-chief of the five armies. He captured the Fenyang County Prince alive after the Mongol Khan took off his clothes.

Wang Sangui, like his brothers in the same room, now kneels and kowtows in the direction of Beijing every night.

He used to believe in Luo Jiao, and the people in his area either believed in White Lotus, Maitreya, or Luo Jiao.

But since arriving in the Northeast, Wang Sangui only hoped that the Fenyang County Prince would live a long life and take care of the common people like them.

He thought that such a person must be a star in the sky, or some emperor came to earth to save people in distress.

Maitreya of the Maitreya Sect doesn't know when he will come down to earth to save the world, but the people in Qilitun all live their lives pointing to the Fenyang County Prince.

If they didn't have a separate house, they would have erected a longevity tablet for Prince Fenyang at home.

After Wang Sangui stepped into the wooden house, he followed his past habits and took his wooden bowl to the big pot at the door.

The food in Qilitun is not very good. It is usually a bowl of millet porridge and four large steamed buns weighing two taels. Although they all have the same taste, they can be eaten in large quantities.

But at this moment, Wang Sangui's nose suddenly moved, and his eyes showed surprise.

"Is it smelly?"

He looked at the iron pot on the side in surprise. The white soup was boiling in it, exuding a strong aroma of meat.

Behind the iron pot was a yellow-faced Taoist wearing a blue robe, and a female Taoist girl aged sixteen or seventeen.

The female Taoist girl wore a boy's bun and a pointed face. She was not pretty, but her skin was fair and her temperament was kind and lovable.

But Wang Sangui was more concerned about the broth. He swallowed and asked the chef who served him the millet porridge.

"That's not meat, it's beef and sheep offal bought from the straight women in the north." The chef glanced over there and said, "It's quite delicious. I just drank a bowl of their haggis soup, and it didn't taste good. It's fishy, ​​you can try it.

But the two people over there are the mage and Taoist boy from the nearby Xuanhuang Emperor Temple. If you want to accept their charity, you have to agree to worship their Xuanhuang Emperor. Tsk, it’s a pity that there’s only one bowl and they don’t let you drink more. It is said that I will come to donate alms in the future, but I don’t know if that is true. "

"Shi Shui" refers to the internal organs of various animals. Jin people generally do not eat such things.

Just because the internal organs of cows, horses, pigs and sheep are so stinky that it makes people want to vomit, how can they eat them?

But strangely enough, the cattle and sheep sewage brought by these two people was not only not fishy, ​​but actually had a fragrant fragrance that made people salivate.

Wang Sangui had long noticed that several people in the restaurant were eating and drinking the mutton soup, as if the things in the bowl were extremely delicious.

He took another wooden bowl and walked over without hesitation: "Two Taoist priests, please serve me a bowl too. You are from the Xuanhuang Emperor Temple, right? The three nobles of the little people must devoutly believe in the Emperor from now on. .”

After hearing this, the yellow-faced Taoist corrected himself with a smile: "It's the 'Great Emperor Miluo Zhenxuanhuang'. The emperor we worship is the current Emperor of Heaven and the righteous god of the three realms.

Brother Wang, when you look at my handprints, you only need to follow this posture and recite three times, "The Supreme Milo, the Supreme Emperor Xuanhuang, will kindly protect you." Remember to be sincere. It is best to recite his holy name every morning. Also, if you are free in ten days, you can come to our temple and listen to our temple blessings.

Tao, preach the "Xuanhuang Induction Sutra" written by my family's Emperor Xuanhuang. "

Wang Sangui disagreed in his heart, but with a pious expression on his face, he recited three times, "Emperor Xuanhuang is kindly protecting you."

He thought to himself, let's get the benefits first and eat the haggis soup before we talk about it.

Who knows what this Xuanhuang Emperor is? I, the third noble king, only trust the Duke of Fenyang!

But then, when the yellow-faced Taoist man poured soup into his bowl, the female Taoist boy next to him smiled and said to him: "Brother Wang, you must come! Listening to our temple's sermons can drive away evil spirits. Also , we had another almsgiving after the sermon, and prepared a lot of food like today."

Her voice was clear and tactful, and seemed to touch people's hearts.

This made Wang Sangui's face turn red involuntarily, and he felt sick in his heart.

However, he knew that almost all the women's crowns in the temple had a certain level of cultivation, which was not something a poor boy like him could imagine.

What Wang Sangui cares more about is 'giving' and 'eating'.

At this time, the female Taoist girl handed another folded yellow talisman to Wang Sangui: "This is the evil-proof talisman that we have consecrated with the power of the emperor. You can take it with you. Brother Wang only needs to be pious every day." I believe in my emperor, if you encounter evil spirits and demons in the wild, then this talisman will definitely save you from danger. Brother Wang, I will never lie."

Wang Sangui's mind immediately moved slightly, and he looked at the yellow talisman solemnly.

After he arrived in Liaodong, he was most worried about monsters and monsters. Six immigrants from Qilitun have encountered man-eating monsters in the wild, and only two of them survived.

Wang Sangui wondered if this talisman paper really had such power?

If this is the case, then it is not a bad idea to believe it yourself.

※※※※

When Wang Sangui was wavering on whether to believe in the "Xuanhuang Emperor", in the court of the Jin Dynasty, Li Xuan shocked the court with a memorial.

"Distributing the fields of guard posts in the world to local military households for farming, is it regarded as a permanent industry?"

In the Jinluan Hall of the Gate of Supreme Harmony, Assistant Minister Wang Wenzheng glared at Li Xuan: "Isn't this allocating tens of thousands of acres of the imperial court's land to private owners? I will never agree!"

But the several auxiliary ministers present looked slightly condensed and thoughtful.

If there were any officials present at this time, they would probably impeach Li Xuan for using the court's land and property to buy off the morale of the guards.

However, today was just a small discussion, with only a few auxiliary ministers present.

Since Li Xuan became the assistant minister, he has cooperated with Chen Xun to adjust the yin and yang, work together with the courtiers, and stop the trend of criticism.

Therefore, the several auxiliary ministers present first considered the issue from the political aspect.

Distributing farmland to local military households and treating it as permanent industry is equivalent to handing over the land to these military households permanently.

So what are the benefits?

Military households are definitely more motivated to farm and will take care of their crops attentively.

This will definitely increase grain production and increase the court's annual income.

In the past, these military households in the guardhouses received a fixed amount of money and food from the court, and were then dispatched like dogs. How much energy could they use on their fields?

Therefore, the fields of the Wei Suo Army have the lowest yields. UU reading www.uukanshu.net

Especially this year, the court's harvest was poor, and the corn harvest in many Weisuo fields was less than two shi. This made the three million Weisuo troops of the Jin Dynasty a burden on the court.

In addition, this can also effectively prevent the guards' officers and local nobles from occupying the fields of the guards. It can be said that all the shortcomings of the guard's military system have been eliminated.

They can all imagine these benefits.

But several auxiliary ministers also had a premonition that there would be great resistance to this matter.

Once Li Xuan's memorial spreads in the court, it will definitely cause an uproar.

How can those officials sit back and watch when tens of thousands of acres of fertile farmland in the imperial court are divided up among private individuals? In particular, the person who promoted this matter was the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies of the dynasty, the first person in the army.

Chen Xun, the first assistant, was moved, but his face showed a bit of embarrassment: "Prince Fenyang's method still has some merits, but it goes against the emperor's clear message."

"How could it go against the ancestral teachings?" Li Xuan explained with a smile: "The land still belongs to the court, but it is contracted to the military households for farming. The court and the military households split it 50-50, just like civilian tenants.

And didn’t I say that in the King’s Memorial? If the local average grain production cannot be reached for three consecutive years, the court has the right to take back these fields and punish them according to law. This king calls this law the ‘Contract Liability Law’. "

He then put his hands behind his back and looked at all the auxiliary ministers in the court: "Masters, you should know the pros and cons of the Weisuo Army better than I do. Now, although the Weisuo Army has been reorganized by me and the young master, it is If you treat the symptoms but not the root cause, it will still be corrupted sooner or later.

And now that the cold wave is rising in the world, natural disasters will inevitably occur frequently in the next ten years, and the food output of the Wei army is simply not enough to be self-sufficient. This year alone, we will lose two million taels. Therefore, this ‘Contract Responsibility Law’ must be implemented throughout the world! If there is any problem, I will shoulder it! "