"Chen Lidian, someone is here again!" Wang Wu and Wang Qi, who bowed their heads and ate chestnuts, turned around and raised their heads at the same time.

"Could it be that Big Brother Wuya is back?"

", they only set off at the hour, but it's not too late, how can they come back, and they won't be home at this time tomorrow!"

Chen Xu stopped what he was doing and turned to look, only to hear the sound of kicking and trampling horses' hooves and soon arrived in front of his house, and then a jujube red horse first emerged from the bamboo forest, and on the horseback sat a girl wearing a light blue cloth skirt, her hair was neatly combed, and there was a red knot on her forehead, her eyebrows were clear and her facial features were exquisite, with a short sword hanging from her waist, and a pair of suede boots on her feet.

Why did this little girly come suddenly!

Chen Xu was stunned, and several horses appeared behind Jiang Chuyue, and a middle-aged man and three soldiers surrounded Jiang Beiting and also reined in the reins at the gate of the courtyard.

"Brother, the sister you spanked is here again!" Xing'er couldn't help but whisper a reminder.

"Oh~" Chen Xu came back to his senses, quickly put down the bamboo shovel in his hand and said, "Mother, the county commander is here, let's go and greet it together!" ”

"Huh? Prefectural Commander? Chen Jiang was so nervous that he almost cut his hand.

"Don't be nervous, just salute, little sister, let's go together!"

After Chen Xu finished speaking, he walked to the gate of the courtyard with a smile and said, "Lord County Commander, what kind of wind blew you here today?" ”

"The folk woman Chen Jiang has seen Master Jiang!" Chen Jiang followed behind nervously.

"The people's daughter Chen Xing'er meets the county magistrate!" Apricot also saluted after her.

"Wang Wu and Wang Qi have seen the county commander!" Wang Wu and Wang Qi also strode up and saluted together.

"No courtesy, no courtesy!" Jiang Beiting hurriedly dismounted, supported Chen Jiang with both hands, touched Xing'er's head, and then nodded to Wang Wu and Wang Qi to say hello.

Jiang Chuyue didn't roll her eyes at Chen Xu this time for the first time, and stood next to her after dismounting, her eyes looking around the yard, obviously surprised by Chen Xu's new house and big yard, and at the same time very interested in the strong sweet smell floating in the yard.

"Virtuous nephew, when did you build this house, it is so tall and neat, I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money and merit?" Jiang Beiting looked carefully at a large house in front of him that looked more spacious than the county government and asked in surprise.

"This is covered with adobe bricks, that is, mud and corn grass mixed to make, not valuable, is to spend some time and labor, now every household in the village has changed into this kind of mud brick house, warm in winter and cool in summer and more durable than bamboo and thatched houses, in the future adults can also promote mud brick houses in Pheasant County, and even the city wall of Pheasant County that is about to collapse can also be repaired with adobe bricks, which is much easier than using rammed earth." Chen Xu stood next to him and explained

"Why didn't you report this law?" Jiang Beiting stroked his beard and asked with a slightly serious face.

"I was going to report it, but I was busy with the autumn harvest and autumn planting, and I wanted to promote the fire kang, so Xu forgot about it!" Chen Xu explained helplessly.

"Well, I really can't blame you for this, now that the cold winter is coming, it's too late to even promote it!"

"Thank you for the forgiveness of the county order, this method of making adobe is extremely simple, in a few days I will ask the carpenter in the town to hand over the production method to the county government to report, the county commander please come in for a short rest, Wang Wu, hurry up and make a pot of tea!" Chen Xu led Jiangbei Pavilion to the living room, and at the same time instructed Wang Wu to make tea.

Jiang Beiting trembled slightly at his feet and said with a smile: "You're welcome, nephew, I have already drunk tea at Qinghe Town Primary School, and I am not thirsty at this time, hey, what are you doing here?" You can smell the thick sweet smell all over the yard. ”

Jiang Beiting said, turned around and walked directly to the table where rice candy was made.

Wang Wu and Wang Qi are Wang Qian's entourage, Jiangbei Pavilion has seen them last time, and they also know that the two of them have been hospitalized and recuperated in the Qinghe Town Health Center by the tiger, thinking that the two have never left, but as the saying goes, the prime minister has seven officials in front of the door, not to mention the personal guard of Wang Qian, the god of the Great Qin Army, if the matter of making tea for themselves reaches Wang Qian's ears, the consequences are a little unpredictable, so it is better not to be greedy for this mouth.

"Hehe, the adults came here today, the Winter Clothes Festival is coming soon, Xu has nothing to do at home, and is going to make some sugar cakes, when the time comes, you can entertain guests, and you can also have your own pastime when the cold winter wax moon is over, this sugar cake tastes good, adults taste it!" After Chen Xu finished speaking, he took a piece of cut rice candy and handed it to Jiangbei Pavilion.

Jiang Beiting took it in his hand and looked at it a few times, then put it in his mouth and took a bite, and couldn't help but praise again and again: "It's sweet and crispy, and there are walnut kernels, which are extremely crispy, and they are indeed delicious things that have never been eaten!" ”

"Little lady and everyone come to taste it together!" Chen Xu turned around and greeted Jiang Chuyue and Liu Qingshan and the three soldiers, so several people came around, and one of them took a piece and ate it, and the evaluation after eating it was naturally one-sided and praised.

"Since Lord Jiang likes it, bring some when you go back, it's windy outside, sit down and talk in the first room!" Chen Xu said with a smile.

"Well, it's really good, it just so happened that the county guard invited me to Wancheng for a party, and bringing some of this halva is also a good meeting gift!" Jiang Beiting also showed a satisfied smile on his face, and followed Chen Xu into the house, and after a while, Chen Jiang used a clay pot with a long mouth to make a pot of tea, and only Jiang Chuyue sat with him, and the middle-aged man and the three soldiers were chatting with Wang Wu and Wang Qi outside.

"Master Jiang, I don't know why you suddenly came to Xiaohe Village today?" After pouring tea and sitting down, Chen Xu asked.

"The cold winter is coming, the county guard of the county has passed the Xianyang order, I am afraid that this winter will be extremely cold, and I am told to do a good job of cold prevention measures, so I have been patrolling the subordinate towns and towns, and today I just arrived in Qinghe Town, and the three old men said that you don't go home to avoid the cold, so I can only come to visit!" Jiang Beiting said while drinking tea.

"Hey, hey! Master Jiang, the autumn harvest and autumn planting have ended, every household is busy repairing the kang, almost all the workshops in the town have been closed, and even the primary school is on vacation, what am I still doing in the town? What's more, there are Liu Po and the three elders in the town to take care of them, and they will naturally come to inform me if there is something, this Winter Clothes Festival is coming soon, and everything at home is not ready yet, otherwise when the cold winter comes, won't our family all have to be frozen......"

"I can't talk to you, full of nonsense!" Jiangbei Pavilion pouted, "But your Qinghe Town is really good, everything is in order, I asked a few villagers in the town at random, the fire kang, firewood and grass, cattle and horses have been prepared sufficiently, and several pavilion chiefs have heard that they are also running back and forth in the countryside to supervise the renovation of houses and ondols, so your Qinghe Town is much better than other towns in Zhizhi County!" ”

Chen Xu was a little surprised and asked: "Lord Jiang, is the construction of the fire kang in other towns not progressing well?" I have already handed over this method of building a kang for more than a month, even if the financial resources and manpower are limited, it is okay to repair the warm couch into a ground kang, and at least there is no problem for the family to heat up in the cold winter......

Jiang Beiting shook his head and said with a slightly ugly face: "Many towns and towns are old, conservative, heavy and flexible, and extremely dull, although you have already printed hundreds of copies of the drawings of the fire kang, and I have already told the county to distribute them in a timely manner, but in the past few days, I have been running and inspecting in a row, and less than thirty percent of them can be completed!" ”

"Why?" Chen Xu was even more surprised.

In a month's time, it is only necessary to build an earthen kang, and the amount of completion is so low, you must know that even if Xiaohe Village is such a closed and remote place, it is basically the most mountainous in Pheasant County, and all the fire kang or adobe bricks have been repaired a long time ago, and every household is a Datong kang built according to Chen Xu's design, as long as the family can sleep warm after the fire, except for Xiaohe Village, other villages under Qinghe Town, Chen Xu's request is that the family should at least repair a kang, and it will snow heavily in the harsh winter. There can be no problem with the family huddled together to warm up and sleep, the family lacks men or the situation is particularly bad, Chen Xu also asked the village to be responsible for organizing the villagers to help build, this labor can be worth next year's conscription, and also provides free hoes, knives, axes, copper saws and other tools, plus a few pavilion chiefs are also three days and two ends of the village supervision, so the promotion of the kang is particularly smooth in Qinghe Town, basically all have been repaired, otherwise Chen Xu will not stay in Xiaohe Village every day to prepare all kinds of delicious New Year's goods.

"There is a lack of tools, supervision is not effective, most of the township officials are contemptuous, and they are only willing to stick to the old ways, and some towns have not sent out the drawings after receiving them......

"Human life is a matter of heaven, why are they so perfunctory?" Chen Xu was a little angry in an instant, and his face became ugly.

"Alas!" Jiang Beiting shook his head, "It's like this in the world, but after my inspection, I have strictly ordered that it must be promoted quickly, but I'm afraid it's too late!" ”

Chen Xu's cheeks twitched lightly a few times, and his emotions slowly calmed down, as the saying goes, it is in the sky to make things happen, don't say that you can't manage this kind of thing, even Qin Shihuang can't manage it, how big the world is, in this era of extremely underdeveloped communications and transportation, an order wants to spread from Xianyang to the whole country, at least it will take more than a month, and this mountain will be deliberately forgotten by lazy officials.

Most of the township officials are wealthy families in the town, and they are generally the most prestigious figures, and the system of joint sitting with the township pavilion as the core seems to be close and fair, but in fact it is in the hands of the local lords and bullies, whether it is tax grain or forced labor, the most oppressed or the most ordinary and poor people.

For example, in Qinghe Town, carpenter Liu Erwa, stonemason Liu Da'an, and You Hui Liu Po are actually a family, although they are separated by two or three generations, but the broken bones are connected to the tendons, so the Liu family is really a big family at the overlord level in Qinghe Town, and they are generally more obedient to Chen Xu, and the gap between the villagers and them is very large, and they have to be careful when they meet and talk.

In addition, the pavilion chief Gao He and the potter Gao Ping are also a family.

Niu Quan, the grain warehouse manager, and Niu San, the carpenter, are also a family.

There are more than ten surnames in Qinghe Town, but there are only three or five names that can be ranked.

These families basically don't have to serve as a servant, and basically they never have to pay taxes, all kinds of workshops in the town are controlled by them, and the craftsmen are basically from their ancestral crafts, so these families are also the richest, although now they are all respectful to Chen Xu, that is because Chen Xu was a county order in the past, and he had to be respectful, and now Chen Xu's investment in the transformation of their workshops is a community of interests, and they have also received tangible benefits, so there is also respect from the heart, but anyway, Just like the villagers' autonomy two thousand years later, it looks beautiful, but in fact, the village bandits and bullies are in charge, and the three no-families with no power, power and money are the heaviest class in the entire Great Qin to bear taxes and servitude.

One of the most typical examples of this is Liu Bang, the founding ancestor of the Han Dynasty, who was born in a farmer's household, does not like to farm and only likes to fool around outside, but he is bold and righteous, and became the pavilion chief after mixing up his reputation, and then became more and more public, gathered a large group of gangsters like him in Shili and Eight Villages, and became a local tyrant, and even the county officials Xiao He and Cao Shen of Pei County were his worshipful brothers, which laid a strong foundation for the later rebellion.