On the second day of February, the yang energy rises and the earth completely thaws, which means the beginning of spring ploughing for the crown belt country within the Great Wall. The open space outside the east gate of Jimo City, Jiaodong County, has long been surrounded by crowds, and a lively "whip spring cow" ceremony is being carried out here.

The protagonist of this ritual is a spring cow made of loess and the size of a real cow. This is the Jiaodong potter took half a month to make, the shape is very exquisite: the old cow is strong, the back is high and hunched, the shoulder blade muscles bulge, it is bowing down to pull the plow, the ox's tail swings lightly, as if to repel mosquitoes and flies, vivid.

And Heifu, on the other hand, stood awkwardly behind the cow's buttocks, holding a colored staff made of five-colored silk in his hand. According to tradition, the county magistrate should play the role of the "jumang" in charge of the growth of plants and trees, whipping the clay spring ox in front of him.

This is the ancient custom of the Central Plains, it is said that it was started when Zhou Gongdan, and the cattle were unearthed to show the morning and evening of farming, implying that the spring was welcomed, the beginning of farming, and the five grains were abundant.

However, Nanjun and Guanzhong are the beginning of spring, but Qidi is set on the second day of February, probably because the weather is slower to warm up near the sea?

In any case, Heifu respected the local customs and did not forcibly change the time. He also changed out of his official uniform, wore a green coat and a green hat, stood next to a green flag, and put on this ridiculous-looking blue-green crown, and performed in front of thousands of people.

This is Chen Ping persuaded him, the county guard must show that he works hard with the people, so that they can be less hostile, if he doesn't care about this matter like the previous county guard, how can the people of Jiaodong treat him as a parent official?

So, after the drum sounded, Heifu circled around the spring ox, picked up the whip, and whipped it down at the back of the spring ox.

After the three whips were whipped, the next Changshi Chen Ping, Tian Qifu, Niu Chang and others stepped forward in order, repeating Heifu's movements, and there were two old farmers next to him, shouting agricultural songs in Jiaodong dialect......

Compared with the attention of the officials, the onlookers, especially the farmers who rushed to the suburbs after hearing the news, did not buy it, and most of them looked indifferent.

Ten years ago, Jiaodong people would be elated every time they ploughed in spring, because they were idle for a winter, and they should also go to the field to move their muscles. The taxes of Qi are light, and everyone is too lazy to work hard, so they plough roughly, and when they harvest in autumn, they pay eleven taxes, and then one-tenth of them will be produced as a doctor of filial piety. The rest can be at their disposal, and the small life will be enjoyable.

But after Qin took control of Jiaodong, the people of Jiaodong found that they had to spend a lot of time in the fields, and they had to work intensively in order to produce more food, so that after the Qin officials took away 1.5 stones, the family would not go hungry......

Farming has become a heavy burden, and who can be happy? The peasant songs of the past are also like a fish in the throat, and they can't be sung!

There was even a disciple of the Jisumida clan who was mixed in the crowd, and whispered to the person next to him: "This county guard is also ridiculous, no matter how he whips the spring ox, how to say that he attaches importance to farming, the government collects one stone and a half rent per mu, can it be less than half a fight?" ”

"Yes, our harvest for more than half a year has not gone into the bag of Qin officials!" The crowd agreed.

Over the past five years, resentment over heavy taxes has built up in the hearts of the peasants, and although life has not been hard enough to survive without rebellion, it has also left them breathless. The dissatisfaction gradually spread, and even caused the black man to whip the spring ox, and when he asked people to distribute the mud of the spring ox to the farmer, no one reached out!

You must know that the farmers in Jiaodong believe that "the meat of the native cattle is suitable for silkworms and the plague", and if you grab a piece of it, you can use it as a talisman, which means that this year's grain harvest is abundant......

But instead of being angry, he went up to the head of the city, and waved at the thousands of people who were watching, and said:

"I was clothed, ploughed in Nanjun, and later became a secretary with a meritorious lord, ranking in the court. His Majesty ordered me to guard the county of Jiaodong, hoping that I could benefit the people and make the head of Qiantou rich. ”

Because of Qin Yan and Qin Zi's outstanding results, Confucian Laisheng, who was designated by Heifu as his temporary translator, relayed Heifu's words, which immediately caused an uproar.

A bold farmer, encouraged by others, said loudly: "The county guard said that it was a joke, the government collects half of the Thai tax, how can the head of the Qianqian be rich?" ”

This remark triggered a burst of echo, and the Tianjiao doorman who was mixed in the crowd whispered again:

"I heard that this county guard has 2,000 stones of rice every year! How many farmers would have to work all night to provide for it? ”

"That's right, the bounty given to those two scholars yesterday is also worth hundreds of stone meters, and this is also the blood and sweat of several families!"

"In my opinion, Qianshou is poor, and Qin officials are rich, right!"

The shouts of the peasants were heard by Heifu, but he stopped the soldiers from becoming angry and wanting to send troops into the crowd to suppress them, which would only backfire, but laughed and said:

"The second and third sons are right, in Jiaodong, each mu produces 3 stones, but they have to charge a rent of one and a half stones, which is indeed the rent of half of Thailand. The reason why this is the case is because the government does not know that the yield per mu in Jiaodong is so low! ”

There were a few old farmers who didn't say a word, and they couldn't help but speak out at this time: "Three stones are still low? ”

Qin called the stone, Qi called the kettle, in fact, the capacity is the same, even the mu system is 240 steps of mu, so the uniform weights and measures decree is much smaller than the book with the text. It is only necessary to replace the old quantities such as "beans, districts, kettles, and bells" that have been difficult to eliminate by the folk with the nouns of Qin, and then cancel the difference between small buckets and big buckets.

In the eyes of the farmers in Jiaodong, the yield of their own land is still good, after all, people have a saying: Haidai is only Qingzhou, the field is only up and down, and the land is in the middle......

In the whole world, although I dare not say that it is the best, it is also in the middle and upper!

"That was in the past, but now it's very different."

At the signal of Heifu, Chen Ping, who was ordered to be in charge of spring ploughing, stood up with a smile and told the farmers by the city gate an astonishing fact:

"A good field in Guanzhong can produce six stones and four buckets per acre, and ordinary ones can also produce four or five stones!"

"If six stones are collected for one and a half stones, is it still half the rent of Thailand?"

The farmers looked at each other, and after a while, the people who had the spirit point calculated the result, compared with the actual rent to be paid by the Jiaodong people when Tian Qi was two-tenths, it seemed that it was really not much worse!

Chen Ping took the opportunity to peddle: "As long as Jiaodong can follow Guanzhong's example and build canals, the second and third sons will listen to the orders of Tian Guan and use the new manure method to cultivate, although they can't immediately produce six stones per mu, but they are also expected to produce three and a half stones, or even four stones!" And the land rent is still one stone and a half unchanged, and the remaining grain belongs to each household! The government will never charge more than half a bucket! ”

"Due to the lack of manure, this method can only be used by a hundred farmers around Jimo. The government will send people to teach, and they can come to the city every month to pick up manure for free! ”

Heifu wanted to promote advanced agricultural technology immediately, but unfortunately the public toilet in Jimo had just been built, and there was a serious shortage of manure, and Jiaodong was not like Nanjun, where most of the land was in the hands of wealthy households, and the government did not have a large amount of public land, so it could only encourage Qianshou to be the first batch of people to contract production to households.

But as soon as this statement came out, no one responded, and it was related to the harvest of his own fields, and the capital of Guizhou hesitated.

"It's fake." Someone muttered under his breath.

"In the past five years, Qin officials have only been in charge of collecting rent, regardless of drought or flood, they have to pay one stone and five buckets, when have you managed our harvest?"

"However, what if this method is useless, not only can it not increase production, but it will reduce it?"

This situation was also expected by Heifu and Chen Ping, the government's governance in the first five years was too unsuccessful, and the hostility and suspicion of the farmers could not be dispelled in a few words.

So Chen Ping whispered a few words to Heifu, it's time to invite the real protagonist today.

Heifu bowed his head, and the county soldiers beat the drums, and the beating of the drums stopped the peasants' chatter, and Heifu said to everyone:

"Fang Cai Benjun guards wear green clothes, green hats, and green flags, and play the role of a jumang whipping cow, but everyone knows that it is fake. However, today, I have invited a real 'Jumang' in this world who can increase the yield of crops! ”

This made the farmers stunned, in the myth of Qidi, Ju Mang is the god of wood, in charge of the germination and growth of trees and crops, he is also the god of spring, the harvest and yield of crops, all Ju Mang has the final say!

Everyone raised their heads, wondering what trick this black-faced county guard was up to!

Seeing Heifu competing, Chen Ping appeared in front of everyone with an elderly man in his arms, and there were several middle-aged farmers in brown clothes with restrained expressions behind him.

"I heard that Jumang's bird body and human face are gods, this old man, is the so-called Jumang? Is this deceiving our leaders? ”

The Tian disciples hidden in the crowd began to coax, causing a lot of approval. But then, they were shocked by the identity of the old man and had nothing to say!

Heifu personally helped the old man to the city wall, and introduced loudly: "This elder is the head of the peasant family specially invited by this official from Xue County, Ye Lao Xu Sheng!" ”

"You think the words of the government are not credible, so is the words of the farmer credible?"