Qian Qianyi's voting according to the family is a matter of course, not to mention that voting according to the family is not good even if it is voted according to a small family, from less people to more people to suffer, which in itself is one extreme to another. Zhou Yanru didn't agree with Qian Qianyi's idea, of course, he didn't explicitly object, he knew that this was just an idea that Qian Qianyi came up with by chance, and maybe he would forget it tomorrow.

The next day, Qian Qianyi really didn't mention this matter again, and the hospitable shopkeeper Luo also said goodbye to the two early in the morning, saying that he was going to go by land to do some business, and he said that he would at least turn to the Chinese New Year before going home, and agreed that everyone would meet again in the future. Qian Qianyi and they didn't want to take the lead, they were halfway through the hitchhike and wanted to let the master take the land route, which was a little embarrassing anyway. Lao Wu, the boss of the boat, explained that the shopkeeper Luo got off the ship halfway every time, and let the boat continue to Luo's house to transport some goods back, and the shopkeeper Luo had already paid for the ship, so everyone could sit down with peace of mind.

When Zhou Yanru lamented that rich people are different, Qian Qianyi said that they would also get off the ship halfway after a while, and now it doesn't make much sense to continue like this, so it's better to hire a car by land to catch up with the Qincha fleet. When they arrived at a relatively large market, Qian Qianyi and his entourage got off the boat, bid farewell to Lao Wu, the boat boss who had been with them for a few days, and everyone was ready to go to the market to find a car dealer to send them south quickly. It is very magnificent to see this place on the boat, there are dozens of piles for the light energy ship, and it is rare to have dozens of boats at any time in a country.

What they saw on the boat was a little exciting, but when they came ashore, they found that what they saw on the ship was nothing at all, and several straight and wide roads led into the distance, and along the way, a large village appeared about two miles from the shore. The usual Zhuangzi is scattered with 100 courtyards, the general pattern is that trees or bamboo are wrapped around the outside of the courtyard, and the edge of the fence is probably a vegetable field plus a courtyard gate, and inside is the house where people live. There are generally a few yellow or flower dogs wandering around the entrance of the village, and occasionally you may see a few chickens barking and jumping up and down.

The above is the appearance of an ordinary village, but this Zhuangzi is different from ordinary villages, the straight road maintains a certain distance and is side by side in front of the village, the road surface is built into a slight arch to avoid water accumulation, and there is a ditch flowing along the roadside. There are also ponds side by side at the edge of the village, which seem to be able to raise fish and water the ground in dry weather, because the lotus leaves in the pond have withered and yellow in winter, and the road is full of mud marks as if someone has dug up the lotus root inside.

Qian Qianyi understood at a glance that this was a village formed by Zhao Shujiao's people, because he had seen such a layout in Shanglin Yuan, even if there were some differences between the two, it was limited, so he understood the origin of the two at first sight. Of course, the people who live in it now may not be the original team of Zhao Shujiao, but it is likely that they are the families of those people, and no one can live here for no reason. Qian Qianyi probably looked at it and walked towards the middle of the village with a surprised face, there was a relatively tall building in the middle, Shanglin Yuan was the place where the officials worked, there may be no officials here, but it should also be the place where the village chief is.

As soon as Qian Qianyi and his entourage walked to the edge of the village, they saw several suspicious men greet them, and the leader asked, "Where are you from and what are you doing here?" ”

After receiving Qian Qianyi's approval, the captain of Qian Qianyi's guard stepped forward and replied: "Here are Lord Qian and Master Zhou from Beijing, I know that you are Zhao Zongbing's people, and I want you to help send us to Nanjing, who is the village chief of your village?" ”

The man who asked the question replied, "What proof do you have from Beijing?" Besides, we don't have a village chief here, only 100 households and 100 households, I am the 100 households surnamed Zhou who is in charge of the inspection today, you are really an adult from Beijing, I can invite Li Qianhu to come for you. ”

Qian Qianyi understood as soon as he heard it, it must be Zhao Shujiao who arranged the soldiers and their families according to the army establishment after they were settled, and the meaning of this Zhou 100 households means that the highest here is 1,000 households, but I don't know if there are 1,000 people here or 1,000 families.

Qian Qianyi came out at this time and said: "I am Qian Qianyi is the Qincha who went to Nanjing by order, this is the Qincha Zhou Yanru Zhou, we got off the boat halfway and secretly searched for the seal without bringing the seal letter with us, you see if you can trouble you to send us a ride by horse, and when we arrive in Nanjing, we naturally have the credentials to show you." ”

Zhou Baihu looked Qian Qianyi up and down for a while, and then said: "Since it is Lord Qian and Lord Zhou, I will report to Li Qianhu immediately, presumably no one dares to pretend to be Qincha, now is not the time to invite you to have a light meal earlier, how about we send you by car after eating?" ”

Qian Qianyi was overjoyed when he heard this: "It's so disturbing." After speaking, he led people to follow Zhou Baihu to the village.

Zhou Baihu led Qian Qianyi and his party to a small courtyard, placed everyone in a small hall and sat down, and then went out to find Li Qianhu. No matter how you clean the outside, there are traces of dirt on the ground, but here the windows are bright and the ground is clean and dusty, indicating that the people here are not people who work in the fields. The small hall is small in size with only two tables, and behind it is a locked room, through which you can see a long case with stacks of ledgers on it, which shows that this is a tent room with a meeting room.

Not long after, Zhou Baihu came back, but he came alone, Zhou Baihu first called someone to serve tea, and then said to Qian Qianyi: "Lord Qian, forgive Li Qianhu for going to the county to deal with affairs, and he may only come back at night, and now he has no chance to meet the adults, and the villain can call the shots when the adults are done chasing the fleet, and when the adults finish eating, they will arrange for someone to send you." ”

Li Qianhu may have really gone to the county, but it is not ruled out that Li Qianhu does not want to see Qian Qianyi and them, after all, it is not good to have a military establishment here, and they are too close to civilian officials, and Qian Qianyi's identity as a messenger cannot be proven. Of course, Qian Qianyi knew the reason and didn't ask much, seeing that the time was still early, he said to Zhou Baihu: "Zhou Baihu, please sit down, anyway, it's still early to eat, and we're not very hungry, I have something to ask you, but because you are in the army, I don't know if it's convenient?" ”

Zhou Baihu sat down and said: "Your Excellency is polite, your Excellency may not know that our situation is a little special, we can organize ourselves to do some auxiliary things during the war, such as repairing a wall and building a room, etc., which is not much dangerous, but in normal times, we are the same as ordinary people, and we pay grain and taxes according to the rules of the imperial court." If Lord Qian has something to say, even if you ask me, you must know everything, and there is nothing inconvenient about not fighting now. ”

Qian Qianyi said: "You started to say that this is the head of Li Qianhu, I don't think the scale of your here is only a thousand people, it is probably estimated that there should be four or five thousand people, do you have only one thousand households here or how many thousand households?" ”

Zhou Baihu said: "Adults have good eyesight! Li Qianhu was mainly in charge of the original 1,000 people under General Zhao Bing, and after settling in this place, he brought his family members here, and there should be four or five thousand people. ”

Qian Qianyi asked: "You also said at the beginning that I can understand the payment of grain and taxes according to the rules of the imperial court, but where did the land you occupy come from?" This is not a wasteland. ”

Zhou Baihu said: "These lands are mainly the land that some large families have withdrawn from belongs to the official land, and some of the acres of land that were originally rented out by the government, and the imperial court has specially replaced some of them in order to settle us people." Although it seems that we have taken a big advantage, we have not lost to the locals, please look at the style of this village, are you still satisfied? To tell you that we have been here for a few years, we have been working as plasterers, not only building houses for ourselves but also repairing them for the locals, so that it was accepted by the original locals, and the adults may not know that the locals are very xenophobic. ”

If you drag your family and run to other people's territory to occupy it, you won't feel comfortable for anyone to come, and you are still a soldier with knives and guns, even if you don't pull out at any time to show off your might, others will be vigilant and hostile when they see it. Qian Qianyi thought so in his heart but didn't say it, but just asked: "Do you want to repair the house for the locals for nothing or are you paid?" ”

Zhou Baihu said: "Of course, we can't do it in vain, first General Zhao will negotiate with the local governor, and then the county will negotiate with the thousands of households to settle down, such as how many houses we build for them, how many roads, how much they should be paid, and so on." At first, we were a little too busy to be understaffed, but then we recruited people from among the locals, and then we reorganized some of the gang forces, which was somewhat smooth. Now that villages like this are expanding, of course, there are many unexpected problems, such as the difference between private and public fields, but in any case, they are developing in a good direction. ”

Qian Qianyi asked: "So the locals are almost the same as you?" ”

Zhou Baihu thought for a while and said: "There is still a difference, at least they are not composed of military formations like us, and they are not trained as soldiers, so they can naturally distinguish from the road." ”

What Zhou Baihu said is indeed not wrong, in terms of the attitude of meeting Qian Qianyi at the beginning, they are also farming, but the army is different from ordinary people, and the soldiers are always vigilant against people and things that do not know the bottom, so Zhou Baihu will bring people to inquire. When ordinary people encounter this kind of thing, they will generally close the door to avoid trouble, the timid hide in the bed, and the bold hide behind the door to peek at each other.

Qian Qianyi nodded and asked, "Have you heard about the elected officials in the Nanzhili area?" Have you ever elected an officer here? I mean, are you elected as the head of the township here? ”

Zhou Baihu thought for a while and said: "I seem to have heard of it, but we can't be randomly elected in the army here, isn't it chaotic in the army?" ”