After Li Yan finished handling the affairs of Qi County, he returned to Guide City. On the way back, he stopped in Suizhou and Ningling for two days to inspect the resettlement of displaced people in these places.

His subordinates are all familiar with it, and they are doing a good job. The barren land was directly divided, and the fields that the big families still insisted on cultivating were kept for them, but they also agreed that they must hand over 20% of the harvest every year.

These big households were also scared of the thieves, and at the same time, they also learned something about the big families in Qi County, and found that the big families in Qi County have been better off so far than in the previous two years. So these big families don't resist much, anyway, if there is an unsatisfactory situation, those officials and gentry will definitely be the first to oppose it, and then they will follow.

Li Mu said to Li Yan: "Fourth brother, the officials and officials in the county, do you also control it?" ”

"Let's find an opportunity," Li Yan said, "There are always people who are willing to cooperate with us, but don't be too anxious." ”

"Am I not afraid that they will cause us trouble?" Li Mu explained: "If they come to collect taxes and donations again, won't we have enough manpower." If we let them take advantage of the loophole, our faces will not look good. ”

Li Yan frowned and said, "We are here, can we still let them succeed?" Even if they take it away, you will double the punishment again. In this way, we can not only let those who are disobedient remember for a long time, but also let the people know that we can call the shots for them. ”

Li Mu immediately nodded and praised: "It's still the fourth brother who thinks thoughtfully, let's just do it"

Li Yan reminded: "You must control the intensity and don't make a big mess." Our recruits are still in training, and when the training comes out, it can be regarded as a better place to control. ”

Li Mu nodded confidently and said, "No problem, I guarantee that there will be no big problems." ”

After inspecting Suizhou and Ningling, Li Yan returned to Guide City. By this time, it was already April, the winter wheat harvest had begun, and it was time to plant all kinds of vegetables and grains. However, the area east of Guide City was not safe, which made the official gentry of Guide City very dissatisfied.

As soon as Li Yan returned to Guide City, several major families brought other big families to find him.

"General Li," Shen San said first, "You've been here for a month, why do you always stand still?" The imperial court asked General Li to come here, not to kill time. ”

Li Yan said lightly: "The imperial court can't send hungry soldiers." It's not that I don't want to exterminate the thieves, but what can I do to exterminate them? The government treasury and the county treasury are empty, and my soldiers can't even eat, so how can they go to kill the thieves? ”

These families are all big and rich people, and the river beaches in Guide Mansion are all anointed land, there are many palaces, and there are many of these big families. And now that the grain is becoming more and more valuable, they are really anxious to see that the fields are barren but cannot be turned into money.

The Ye family master spoke: "This is not necessarily the case, right? As far as we know, General Li's income in Qixian is very high, how can he have no food to eat? ”

These people have some connections in various places, and it is relatively easy to inquire about something.

Li Yan said with a cold face: "The general is now a guerrilla in Guide Prefecture, not a garrison of the township soldiers in Qi County."

Master Shen San was impatient, and said directly: "My Shen family sponsors General Li with two hundred taels of silver, and I ask General Li to send troops as soon as possible to quell the thieves and restore stability." ”

"My Ye family also contributed two hundred taels." The old man of the Ye family also opened his mouth to report the donated silver taels.

The others also planned to report it, so that Li Yan could send troops quickly. But Li Yan raised his hand and said with a smile: "Everyone, now my soldiers can't eat enough, how much food can you buy with the mere silver taels you give?" ”

"General Li has something to say," said Shen San with a dark face.

Li Yan was not polite, slapped the table, and said loudly: "Okay, Master Shen is happy, then Li will not go around the corner, I need 50,000 stone of grain." As long as you bring the food, I will immediately send troops to clean up the area around Guide Mansion first, so that you can produce with peace of mind. ”

"Fifty thousand stones" Master Ye stared at Li Yan with fiery eyes, and scolded: "Even if it is the tax of the entire Shangqiu County, there are not so many soldiers, how many soldiers do you have?" Can you eat so much food? We're not meat tickets, they're at your disposal."

In fact, the 50,000 stone of grain, each family is divided into one cent, which is not much for so many of them. Their families have tens of thousands of acres of land and hundreds of thousands of acres. Thousands of acres can't enter their circle at all. But those grains were all white silver, and these grains were enough to sell for six or seven hundred thousand taels of silver, and the two hundred taels of silver they donated were really far away

Li Yan said casually: "To solve the thieves, we must not only fight and kill, but also give the homeless people a stable environment. If there are no more homeless people, there will naturally be no more thieves. I think you all understand this. But how do you settle the displaced people? Then they have to have food, they have to have jobs, they have to be able to feed their families, and then they can settle down. There are many wastelands outside the city, and I used them to settle the displaced people. But the first thing needed is food, which is why Li opened his mouth to everyone. ”

"Just let them go back to their hometown," the old man of the Liu family said: "Most of the displaced people are from other counties, and even some are from other provinces. It is enough to let them go back to their places of origin, there is no need to place them here. There are not many hungry people in the area, so if you calculate it, you won't need much food. ”

Li Yan shook his head and sighed: "You are all reasonable people, everyone should know how the thieves in Shaanxi were dealt with a few years ago." The result? Everyone has seen it now, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong both ran out of Shaanxi and returned to their hometowns? If they can live in their hometown, why should they come here? If you really repatriate to your hometown, you won't even be able to live a peaceful life for half a year, and tens of thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of thieves will sweep across Henan. ”

He paused, looked at the expressionless officials and gentry, and continued: "You all know the famine of the past two years, and there is not much food in the local government treasury. As soon as these outcasts are sent back, they will turn around and join the ranks of the outcasts. The thieves will also eat, they will wander all day long, where will the food come from? Isn't it from your hands? I can tell you clearly that by that time, there is nothing Li can do. Whether you want to produce a lot of food now, or wait for the thieves to break the city in the future and destroy the wealth, you can consider for yourself. ”

After finishing speaking, Li Yan left the lobby of the barracks, so that these officials and gentry had a quiet environment that would help them think.

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