On March 3rd, all the troublesome settlement and relocation matters were finally completed. How the land is divided, whether there is any concealment of the number of land inspections, how to drive the weeds in the field, the cost of building these houses, where the raw materials come from, and so on, are all annoying. Naoe Tadahei and Sena Shiyoshi, who are the best at doing this, one is in Ejiri West, and the other is busy verifying the data of the whole county and negotiating with the small wealthy clans. Neither of them could pull away.

Without Naoe Tadahei and Sena Yoshiyoshi by their side, these chores are really annoying, but fortunately Imagawa Kaede helped a lot, otherwise Yu Qiuping would have to be as tired as he used to rush to homework before the end of the holiday.

And the lords of several nearby cities, such as Asahina Shinji of the castle, sent envoys to greet Yu Qiuping. Even Okabe Motonobu of Narumi Castle reluctantly sent an envoy to indiscriminately ramble a few words. Only the Pelican Hall Changzhao of Dagao City still didn't pay any attention to these things and didn't say anything.

Just when Yu Qiuping felt that he was done and could rest for a few days, Imagawa Kaede suddenly walked in with a stack of papers. She is wearing a blue kimono today, which is particularly beautiful.

"Ping," she sighed a little sullenly, "and there's a lot going on." ”

"Something else!" Yu Qiuping let out a long roar, "Trouble is dead!" He said as he reached for the wad of paper.

"In 35 villages, the people have been displaced by years of war, and many elderly people in the village have not survived." Imagawa Kaede sighed, "Of the thirty-five villages, the village chiefs of fourteen villages have passed away. There is no village chief in the village now, there is no one to manage the order, and a new village chief needs to be appointed. ”

"Speaking of which, how are this kind of village chiefs usually elected?" Yu Qiuping asked curiously.

"If there is a person of special virtue, the lord will appoint him, and the people will naturally support him." Imagawa Kaede shook his head and said, "But there are not many old people in these villages. There is no patriarch of a great family who is strong enough to convince the people. As a result, the appointment of village chiefs is questionable. ”

"Is that so," Yu Qiuping pondered, "if the people I directly appointed cannot serve the public, will it still arouse dissatisfaction?" ”

"Naturally, yes. After all, the village chief in the village is still very influential. Imagawa Kaede smiled, "Speaking of which, I read the history of your previous life that you were writing recently, and it mentioned the democratic referendum. It seems interesting to say that in Japan of your time, the bureaucrats and heads of state were elected by popular vote. Let the people elect the village chief themselves, or you don't have to appoint the village chief yourself to offend people. ”

"Huh?" Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment, "Although it is indeed the development trend of future politics, it requires the quality of the people to be very high, and they have strong political participation, but they have to be judged." Yu Qiuping shook his head, "Even in the countries I mentioned in my previous life, the democratic system was the most perfect, and the voter turnout was not too high." How much more are these illiterate people? They don't care about anything, they only care about their own land, and they can't tell the difference between good and bad. The political program, policies, and personality of those candidates are not clear to them, and how to choose them. ”

"But what you said is to elect the emperor of the whole world, and of course the people don't have this ability and quality." Imagawa Kaede retorted, "But if we just elect the head of the village, I think it can still be done." ”

Imagawa Kaede paused and continued to explain: "First of all, the people they want to elect are all villagers, and they all know which people are loyal and kind people, and there will be no situation where they don't know the candidates at all." Also, the village chief doesn't need any advanced political program or anything like that, they just need to be willing to do things for everyone, repair canals, maintain law and order, etc., and they can get everyone's support. ”

"Even so, there will be a lot of people who are too lazy to vote," Yu Qiuping shook his head, "They must feel that these things have nothing to do with them, and their participation is not high." And there may be people who don't believe us, thinking that we will definitely operate in the dark, and decide on a good candidate a long time ago, just a formality. ”

"There is nothing to be done about the latter, and at most the process is to make the process more transparent." Imagawa Kaede pondered, "But the former is still promising." Ping, aren't you planning to cut taxes in this year's autumn harvest so that the people can recuperate? Wouldn't it be better to simply say that only those who come to vote in the election can get a tax cut? ”

"Don't say it! That's a good idea. Yu Qiuping laughed. Let's not talk about what this method will be in the end, Yu Qiuping himself is a little bit eager to try to try what the result of the referendum will be, so it is a good play. What's more, this referendum can indeed bring no small benefits. "Let's try it out, let's try it in a village first." Yu Qiuping called a servant, "When Sena-sama returns, call him and dozens of acting officials, and we will work out the rules for the election and return home." ”

On March 6, the constitution required for the election was drafted, and the pilot village was selected as a small village called San'an Village, a small village in the south of Zhili City, with a total of 233 people. There were 97 adult males. Since most of the old people in the village died in the war, there were no people in the village who were highly respected enough to serve the people.

Yu Qiuping ordered that anyone who came to vote for the village chief could be exempted from half of the grain tax during the autumn harvest this autumn. If there are no adult males in the family, a representative is sent to vote. Those who want to run for election must first get the guarantee of ten people, so as to avoid all cats and dogs from running for election. Since the village chief still has some power in his hands, it is estimated that there will be people who want to fish in troubled waters.

Since Yu Qiuping predicted, because there were no particularly prestigious people, it was very likely that the votes would be scattered. Voters may not pay much attention to what those campaigners promise to do or package themselves when they cast their ballots; Instead, they voted on the basis of favors, and voted for their neighbors or other people in the clan. The final result is likely to be that everyone only has a dozen votes and has little authority.

Therefore, Yu Qiuping decided to adopt the final elimination system to conduct the election. After each round of voting, the person with the fewest votes is eliminated and then votes again. Until the last person is elected. As a result, many people will lose their popularity and support, and will try to cast their votes according to the candidate's own conditions and what they promised to do.

Since most of the people are illiterate, Yu Qiuping adopted a special election method. After each candidate took the stage to speak, he waited aside. When everyone finished speaking, Yu Qiuping would put a box in front of each candidate. Voters go to the polls with pre-stamped ballot papers, and go up to whoever they want and put their ballots in. This kind of efficiency is naturally very low, so it should be able to cope with the election in a small village.

The election was scheduled for March 20, when spring planting was almost over. On the 10th, Yu Qiuping sent people to publicize the news of the pilot project in San'an Village, and arranged for people to inquire about the views of the people.

"Hey, Liuzi, have you heard that the one in our village has been elected?" In the evening, two farmers walked side by side on their way home with hoes on their shoulders.

"Who doesn't know, Brother Shichiro," the farmer who was called the sixth son changed his hoe and carried it on his shoulder, and his arm was a little sore, "Didn't the samurai master say that if you go to the election, you will be tax-free half this fall?" ”

"If an ordinary samurai lord said this, I would definitely not believe it, but even if I don't believe it, I have to try my luck." The farmer who was called Shichiro said, "What's more, the county of our county is the rainy autumn and red leaves, doesn't it have a reputation for being a promise!" It is said that at this time last year, the Oda family's tens of thousands of troops besieged the castle of the Oda family, and the rain and autumn Momiji agreed with the samurai on the other side that as long as he went to help the peasants on the other side of Owari, he would lift the siege. ”

"Hey! I've heard about that, too! Liuzi smiled, "Later, His Highness Momiji really withdrew from the siege!" What a good person who speaks reliably and is kind-hearted! ”

"For the sake of half of the grain, I have to vote for everything. Is that the name called? Shichiro was a little skeptical that he had memorized the name, "It's really fun to vote for the village chief." The samurai adults didn't know what they wanted to do. ”

"Isn't it because there aren't any trustworthy people in the village?" The sixth son sighed, "The old village chief, as well as the third master of the East Village, and a few old men, are gone." Who else in the village can convince everyone. Isn't this just the only choice? ”

"I heard that your brother is going to choose the village chief?" Shichiro suddenly remembered that the elder brother of the sixth son seemed to have had a meal in the village a few days ago, and after the meal, he asked everyone for a painting of ten people.

"Yes! My fifth brother is a kind and honest man, so it must be right to choose him! The sixth son was suddenly interested, "Our neighbors have all said that they will give the tickets to the fifth brother!" The fifth brother said that when he became the head of the village, he would rebuild the mill in the village, but the old mill was long gone. ”

"I didn't think about who to vote for, anyway, I'm Tu Na grain." Shichiro said nonchalantly, "I don't know how long it will take, and whether it will delay planting crops." ”

"Come and vote for my fifth brother!" The sixth son immediately invited, "If my fifth brother can't be selected, if I can't do it, I'll let the cow pill in the west be chosen!" ”

"Him! Don't want it! Shichiro immediately snorted, "That Uchimaru looks arrogant all day long, relying on a few small amounts of money at home, the cow can't do it!" I also choose your fifth brother! ”

"Okay, just wait for your words, Brother Qilang!"

"Oops, it's really troublesome." In the evening, a farmer complained to his wife and children while eating at home.

"What's that election thing again?" The wife sent a small piece of pickled radish to her mouth, took another bite of rice, and said, "His Royal Highness Momiji has given us tax exemption, what are you not satisfied with?" ”

"His Royal Highness Momiji has a good heart, I naturally understand." The farmer sighed, "But I don't understand the election or something." I've been listening to that samurai master talk about the process for three days in a row, and I can't understand what kind of voting or elimination. ”

"What should I do, when the time comes, what should I do if the samurai master blames it?" The wife was also a little anxious.

"I don't care," the farmer shook his head, "I'll go draw it when the time comes, and then I'll sit there and wait." When the time comes, I'll do whatever you want, just find a random place to stuff my ticket, and when it's over, you can go. ”

"You Brother Ushimaru, you're going to be the village chief!" Niu Maru's home in the village is holding a small wine banquet, inviting dozens of neighbors. In the middle of the tables, a person stood excitedly and said, "Please support me with Niu Pills!" ”

A few people at the nearby table shouted hello, and the other people at the distant table gobbled up millet porridge and pickles, planning to eat more for free today, and eat less tomorrow to save some food for the family.

"Brother, haven't you all been charged? What are you going to do this time? "Last time, Niu Maru had a treat, and asked everyone to draw a bet for him to make up ten people.

"This time, I invite everyone to dinner, and I invite everyone to vote for me!" Ushimaru said excitedly, "After I become the village head, I will definitely do a good job for the villagers!" ”

"What are you talking about, it's just to show off." In the distance, two people at a table who had a bad relationship with Ushimaru whispered.

"It's just that, I know how to swing all day long." Another person muttered in a low voice, "How majestic it is to be the head of the village." If there is any dispute in the village, he has to adjudicate it, and it is not that everyone has to deal with him. ”

"The old village chief left early, how fair the old village chief was back then. Everyone believed what he said. The first person said in a low voice, "This cow pill is unreliable at first glance." ”

"Forget it, eat all the other people's." Another person sighed, "If you don't vote for others when the time comes, you won't be able to get over your face, how can you be a man?" ”