The county seat of Qixian County, the inner hall of the Yamen.

Li Yan received the documents and seal letter from the general of the township soldiers from the order of Su County, and he is now the official general of the township soldiers in Qi County.

"Mr. Li," Su Jing said, "From now on, you will be the head of the township soldiers in this county." You have to recruit village soldiers, protect the township, collect thieves and thieves, and ensure the peace of the county. ”

Li Yan hugged his fists and said: "I must do my best to protect the stability of the county." ”

"Well, that's good." Su Jing nodded and said, "Can you send some people to the county seat?" to strengthen the garrison of the county. ”

Yang Shoubei on the side also helped: "That's right, General Li's subordinates are so strong, coming to the county seat to escort will definitely make the county seat impregnable." Let's send fifty men first, and if something happens, send more people to defend the city. ”

Li Yan explained: "The county honor, Yang Shoubei, there are only fifty people under the lowly position, and there are really no extra manpower to guard the county seat." Moreover, the county town is high and deep, and Yang Shoubei's subordinates are also strong, and there is no need for lowly manpower to assist in guarding. Just like this time the thieves invaded the territory, three or four thousand thieves and elite soldiers can't help the county in the slightest. ”

Yang Shoubei smiled proudly: "That is, my Yang someone's command, naturally one is a hundred!" ”

"The number of people is too small, so we need to recruit more." Su Jing reminded: "The imperial court means that there must be at least six or seven hundred township soldiers in the county, and when there is an incident, they will cooperate with the official army to quickly exterminate the thieves who have committed crimes." ”

Li Yan took the opportunity to say: "There is naturally no problem in recruiting manpower, but this salary~"

"According to the regulations of the imperial court, some food and salary should be given, but just after a catastrophe, displaced people are everywhere, and there are also levies on liao and expropriation, the county really has no spare power to supply." Su Jing said helplessly.

Li Yan already knew that this was the result, so he pretended to think, and then said: "The county lord has also seen it, and now the wasteland outside the city is everywhere, please allow lowly cultivation to help with food and wages." ”

"This," Su Jing hesitated for a moment, and said, "As far as this county knows, these fields are all owned land, and if it causes disputes, it seems to be a troublesome matter." ”

Every county has a fish scale register, although the land census is not in place, but there is this thing after all. Moreover, there are so many barren fields outside the city, and if it causes chaos, it is about the same scale as the homeless people, and he doesn't want to make trouble for his tenure.

Li Yan said: "Please rest assured, as long as the tax service of these fields is not exempted, they will not come back." ”

Su Jing thought about it for a while, it was indeed the case. Those yeoman peasants, who could not afford to pay taxes and labor money, abandoned the land and fled, naturally they would not return to the net. As for saying that the imperial court was exempted, that is impossible. Even if the thieves were appeased and returned to their hometowns with a death-free card, the local government was still urging them to pay money and grain, not to mention these escaped farmers. Over the years, he has been a thief and a captive, and the money used has gone to the sea, even if it is a natural disaster, it can only be reduced a little, and the rest still has to be collected.

So he smiled and said, "Yes, you can go and cultivate seeds." However, the service money can be exempted, and this tax still has to be paid, so it will be 50%. Shangguan is also urging the county tightly, and there is nothing more important than paying taxes. ”

Li Yan arched his hand and said: "Humble Xie County." Fifty percent of the tax, the lowly position will naturally be paid. However, there is no obligation to compensate for the arrears of the land cultivated by the lowly man. ”

"That's natural, as much as you plant, you will be taxed, and no one will compare with you." Su Jing readily agreed.

Yang Shoubei suddenly interjected: "County Zun, I also want to share the worries of the county Zun." ”

Su Jing frowned and said, "Your soldiers have food and salaries, why do you still have to plant?" ”

"But it's always uneven." Yang Shoubei complained.

Su Jing refused: "That's not going to work either!" Your people have all gone to farm, who will bear the safety of the county?! ”

Yang Shoubei explained: "The county lord doesn't have to worry, none of the soldiers under the lowly post will continue to guard the county seat. The lowly position asked the families of his soldiers to farm, and only asked the county lord to give the lowly rank the same treatment as Li Jiangzong. ”

"The fields on the outskirts of the county are all cultivated!" Su Jing reminded.

Yang Shoubei clenched his fists and said: "Don't worry, the county will let them go to a farther place to cultivate wasteland, and I guarantee that it will not cause a little trouble to the county honor." ”

Su Jing nodded at this time, and said threateningly: "If there is a lawsuit, this county will definitely enforce the law impartially!" ”

"That is, the county is the world's blue sky, and the humble position will naturally not ask for trouble." Yang Chengshou hurriedly complimented.

Li Yan completed his goal, so he said goodbye to Su Jing. Unexpectedly, Yang Shoubei chased after him from behind.

"Yang Shoubei, what do you have to say?" Li Yan asked.

Yang Chengshou said with a big grin: "I don't have any instructions, I just want to ask, how many fields do you have now?" In what direction? ”

Li Yan thought for a moment and said with a smile: "It's still Yang Shoubei's thoughtfulness." In this way, let us draw a line between the north and south gates, and the west will belong to us, and the east will be garrisoned, so that there will not be filth between us and the peace. ”

"I have a lot of people!" Yang Shoubei said coldly: "I'm afraid the land in the east is not enough!" ”

Li Yan didn't answer Yang Shoubei's words, and arched his hand: "Let's just decide." Li still has something to do, so he will leave first. After finishing speaking, he left immediately, without giving Yang Shoubei a chance to speak.

Looking at the back of Li Yan leaving, Yang Shoubei scolded hatefully: "A general with only fifty people under his command, what arrogant capital is there!" He had completely forgotten the corpses of the more than 200 thieves who had fallen outside Qili Village.

Li Yan returned to Qilizhai with six more crossbows and more than a hundred crossbow arrows. The crossbow was now his main weapon, but he still didn't relax his training on his spears. A crossbowman without the protection of a spear is a lamb to the slaughter as long as he is pushed to the distance of hand-to-hand combat by the enemy.

Li Yan will show the general documents and the seal letter to Li Zhong and Li Mu.

Li Mu said disdainfully: "Put the general, the thousand generals, the seven-grade petty officials." There is no imperial decree yet, fourth brother, you don't dare to tell people that you are an imperial court official, hahaha. ”

Li Zhong played with the small seal letter on that side and said: "In the end, it is the appointment of the government, and there will be a lot less trouble in the future." ”

Li Yan said: "Our first task is to keep the harvest in those fields, so that we can have food this year." The next thing is that they cannot be requisitioned into the establishment of the official army. ”

"Don't worry, no one wants a team of less than fifty people." Li Mu said lightly.

Li Zhong asked, "Do you want to make an announcement below?" That's a great thing. ”

Li Yan immediately said: "No! We just need to know, they don't have to know. They just need to know that we are the ones who let them have food and clothes to wear. ”