In the sparse woods, the crowd is dense and impermeable.

Li Chongwen stood on a grain cart, surrounded by numb-looking straw labels. In order for everyone to hear his speech clearly, he crossed his waist with his left hand, waved his fist with his right hand, and shouted hoarsely:

"The Son of the World has a purpose!

Anyone who enters Wangzhuang in my Renshou County, regardless of age, men, women, young and old, each person will be given five acres of land for rent!

First come, first served, last arrived, no not!

The rent is half of the annual harvest, and fifty percent of the rent belongs to oneself!

Reclaim wasteland, no rent for two years!

If there are relatives in the family who are selected to protect the caravan, each person will be divided into five acres of land, and one person will have two buckets of food subsidies in a month!

Before this year's summer harvest, your food, as well as farm tools and this year's seeds, will be loaned to you by the prince, and you will pay it off in installments in the future, and each person will pay back five buckets of millet every year!

You can raise chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle, sheep and fish in front of and behind your house, in mountains and forests, and in ponds. Everything that is raised is your own!

If you can't finish it, or are reluctant to eat it, you can sell it to the villager. The dealer gives money according to the market price!

All the deeds of the households in our royal palace, including digging water cellars, building dams, digging canals, accumulating manure, and arranging village dings, building village walls, and other things on the village, are all subject to the dispatch of the head of the village, and the village distributes the grain for work. If you don't listen to the orders and make trouble rudely, let the head of the village punish you!

It's just that there is one more point, Ben Xiu Cai wants to make it clear to you now: this world is not peaceful, there are often thieves harassing, as long as Ben Xiu rings the gong, you all have to take a hoe out and beat me hard, but you are not allowed to push three or four, and you are afraid to move forward! Did you hear me clearly? People who didn't hear clearly are asking questions in front of them now, so as not to talk behind their backs in the future! ”

When Li Chongwen spoke, Lu San consciously played the role of a field for him, carrying a nine-ring broadsword and standing beside the grain cart to look at everyone. Under his coercion, the crowd cowered and did not dare to speak. After waiting for a long time, a loud voice finally sounded in the crowd:

"Sir, my two sons have joined the caravan, and there are only two of us and a daughter left in the family. May I ask my lord, how much land can my family share? ”

The head of the black press below swayed. Li Chongwen looked around several times, but could not find the person who asked him.

"Who's asking? You walk in and talk! Li Chongwen said loudly.

"Big man, the villain is so crowded that he can't walk!" The voice said helplessly.

The crowd burst into laughter. Li Chongwen also laughed, and he shouted: "You raise your hands, raise them high, so that Benxiu can see you clearly!" Don't call Ben Xiucai master, Ben Xiucai, like you, is also a poor man who has just eaten brown rice with the great grace of the world! You can call me Mr. Li or Li Xiucai! ”

A swarthy arm stood up in the crowd, not far from Li Chongwen's right. Li Chongwen turned around and asked, "What's your name?" ”

"Old ...... Mr. Li, the villain Wei Gan, the second in line, people call me Wei Er! My two sons, Wei Shen and Wei Chen, have both joined the caravan of the prince! ”

"Wei Lao Er, your two sons have joined the caravan, there are still three people left in the family, there are a total of five people in the family, each of them is five acres, and your family can divide twenty-five acres of land. Each member of the merchant team receives a subsidy of two buckets of rice per month, and your family has two soldiers, which means that your family can also receive an additional subsidy of four buckets of rice every month! ”

Two buckets for one person, four buckets for two people, and twenty-five acres of land! Oh! The crowd erupted. The family whose sons have joined the caravan is a big deal!

Most of the families here are family members of the caravans. Li Chongwen patiently explained to Wei Lao Er, that is, to preach to all the families of the caravan: "When the soldiers are in the barracks, all the food and clothing are provided by the army, and there is no need to spend extra money. His military pay and allowances were used to support his family. The standard of military salary set by the prince is that a soldier can support a family. ”

Everyone was elated, but Wei Laoer, who asked the question, had a sad face: "Twenty-five acres of land, there is only one old man in the family, how can I finish planting?" Fifty percent of the rent after the autumn harvest ......"

Li Chongwen thought about this question last night, and he immediately replied: "The land belongs to the palace, and you are not allowed to buy and sell privately!" However, if you don't have enough labor at home, you can sublet it to another race. As for how much to sublet, you can negotiate it yourself. If you really can't rent it, the village can help with the adjustment. In short, no land is allowed to be abandoned! After half a year of abandonment, the village took over the land! If you want to eat well, you have to find your own way! ”

You can sublease the rest of the land you get, isn't this just becoming a second landlord? The grass labels were overjoyed, and they began to think in their hearts.

Wei Laoer, who was asking, listened to Li Chongwen's answer, and asked again: "The old man's daughter is sixteen." What happens when she gets married? Will the dealer take back the land? ”

Wei Lao Er's question was true. As soon as he finished speaking, there was an immediate sound of chattering around him, and it seemed that the problem was universal. Li Chongwen thought about it last night, but he didn't expect this woman to get married. He stood on the grain cart and touched his chin and thought, but did not answer for a long time. Seeing this, the voices of the people in the audience became quieter, and finally they fell silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Li Chongwen's face.

Suddenly, a slender female voice emerged from among the people: "The skin and bones are separated. If the bones of the field can't move, the skin of the field can move! Since the woman has divided the land, of course, she can also sublet! Nong only collects rent, who will pay the rent and what he does? ”

The woman's voice was clearly not a local Sichuan accent. Although Li Chongwen didn't hear what she was talking about, he was still stunned. He kicked Lu San, who was still stunned, with his toes, but said, "This girl, you speak slowly, Ben Xiu didn't hear clearly." If the girl really has any good ideas, she might as well teach the students a thing or two. ”

"This girl said that Tian Pi Tian Gu ......" The voice stopped abruptly, obviously being gagged.

Li Chongwen was so anxious that he stomped his feet on the grain truck, pointed in the direction of the woman's voice and shouted: "Catch that woman!" She's a spy who got in! ”

The crowd erupted in an uproar, interspersed with female screams.

The girl was quickly escorted by the dealers, not one, but two. Lu San walked behind the prisoners with the nine-ring broadsword, and while pushing away the people watching the excitement, he shouted with a triumphant smile: "Don't squeeze, go back!" Hahaha, if you want to run to my Shu Wangfu to mix white food, this is the end! Don't squeeze, go back! Hahaha, look at how Mr. Li interrogates her! If it's a spy, hahaha, I'm going to open the meat with this big knife, hahaha! ”

The two girls were not tall, and their faces were blackened with cigarette ash, and they could not see their faces clearly. One had red eyes, and the other was crying profusely, flushing out the black ash on his face one after another.

"Let go of them." Li Chongwen ordered. The red-eyed girl shook off the straw labels, her eyes squinted at Li Chongwen, and her right hand rubbed vigorously on her left shoulder, and it was clear that it was twisted.

"The two girls are not locals." Li Chongwen solemnly concluded to them: "Why do you pretend to be a banker? What are the intentions, I hope 1510 will make it clear! ”

Lu San spread his legs, put down the big knife he was carrying, hugged it in the crook of his arm, and made a posture that the executioner often posed before the knife was opened.

"Say! Don't talk about Lao Tzu...... Click! ”

"When did the palace become so arrogant?" The red-eyed girl calmed down, and asked Li Chongwen with disdain, "Since Nong is a showman, this Ming king's law should also know a thing or two: Can the palace kill officials and dependents?" ”

In the Ming Dynasty, there were no more than three types of outsiders in a place: officials and dependents, travelers and merchants, and thieves and soldiers. Most of the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty were officials in other places, so they were called "liuguan", which corresponded to the "Tusi" who were local officials. The word official really reminded Li Chongwen. He hurriedly jumped out of the grain cart, made an apology to the girl who spoke, only to pass the thief across the border, had to strictly guard against spies, and inquired about the origin of the two girls.

The girl saw that Li Chongwen was sincere in his apology, so she said that she was the only daughter of Liu Sance of Renshou Zhi County, and she left her hometown of Taicang Prefecture in the middle of last year and followed the caravan into Sichuan to find her father. After arriving at Chengdu Mansion at the end of last year, he didn't dare to go south alone because Shuzhong was too chaotic. happened to meet the palace escorting the grass mark to Renshou County, so he and the maid Xiaolan blackened their faces and blended into the team. They thought that as long as they arrived at the boundary of Renshou County, they would reveal their identities to the person in charge, and they didn't want to hear Li Chongwen's speech just now, so they couldn't help but say things and leaked their identities in advance.

After listening to Miss Liu's words, Li Chongwen was silent. He thought about it, and said in his heart that they should know sooner or later, and it was better to tell the truth earlier, so that they could make a decision about where to stay. So, he told the thieves in the middle of last month to break through the county seat of Renshou County, and kill all the county officials and gentry and the soldiers and civilians defending the city.

Li Chongwen himself is a person who has lost his parents, and he knows what kind of violent reaction ordinary people have when they encounter such a situation. Unexpectedly, Miss Liu only had tears in her eyes, but she didn't shed it, she just pinched each other with her hands, bit her mouth, and was silent. But the maid was crying and whimpering, and asked the young lady what to do.

Li Chongwen saw that the young lady didn't speak, so he shouted: "That Wei Er, don't you have a girl?" Call over and wait for this Miss Liu. ”

The young lady suddenly opened her mouth and said, "Mr. Xie Li, I don't need it!" Except for Xiaolan, I can't trust the people next to me! After saying the cruel words, he hung his head and said nothing.

I have to hurry today. Li Chongwen was a little anxious, so he asked: "Miss Liu, a woman from a foreign country, there is no village in front of the village and no store here, according to the students, Miss Liu should follow the team first." When we settle down in Renshou County, let's talk about the future, how about it? ”

Miss Liu didn't hesitate at all, and immediately nodded.

Li Chongwen was pardoned, and quickly climbed back to the roof of the grain truck and announced: The woman just now was not a spy, but a young lady from an official eunuch's family! They just strayed into my Wang Zhuang team, so don't talk about it anymore. The daughter of your family is married, so what to do with the land under her name, Ben Xiucai didn't dare to make a decision for a while. Wait until the son is invited and there is a will, and the show will make another announcement. Now everyone hurry up and hurry up. Remember clearly: land is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and those who do not arrive are not allowed!

Na Lu San put the nine-ring broadsword back on his shoulder, and also shouted: "Everyone go faster, go to the paddy field early!" I went to the field late! The only thing that went to the end was the rotten fields on the stone mountain! ”

Hearing the shouts of Li Chongwen and Lu San, those dying grass marks seemed to have been given a shot in the arm as a whole. The team rumbled forward, leaving a cloud of flying dust in its wake. Li Chongwen jumped out of the grain cart and said to the young master and servant who was standing still: "Miss Liu is inconvenient to walk, so it is better to get in the car and follow the students." It's safer that way! ”

Miss Liu thanked Li Chongwen, and the master and servant quickly climbed into the grain cart. Li Chongwen also took the reins from Lu San's hand and turned over on his horse. He sighed softly, and drove his horse after the large group.

The Longquan Mountains are just ahead.

In the evening of the next day, the team of about 1,000 people hurried over Longquan Mountain and rushed to a Wangzhuang outside Renshou County. Although what they saw and heard along the way had prepared them psychologically, when they actually saw it, they were still deeply shocked by the scene in front of them!

Note 1: Field, the right to use the land (the right to cultivate); Tian Gu, the ownership of the land. The separation of skin and bone is a manifestation of the four rights of ownership (possession, use, income, and disposal) in the market economy. This is similar to the current state-owned land system.