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Zhoujia Village is a village less than 20 miles away from Chenzhou City, and most of the people in the village have the surname Zhou, so they took this name. According to the genealogical records of the village, the ancestors of the Zhou family moved here more than 300 years ago, and then branched out to form the village. Now, there are thousands of people in the entire village, and within a radius of more than ten miles, it can be regarded as a big village.

However, like most villages in the mountainous areas of southern Hunan, this village also has many people and little land, and the land is mainly concentrated in the hands of the village chief, that is, the patriarch of the Zhou clan and the clan elders. Most of the others were tenant farmers of these landlords, who farmed for a living. Often, after a year, after paying the taxes and paying the landlord's rent, there is not much left, and the family's rations are not enough. In a good harvest year, you can often eat a few full meals, but if you encounter a disaster year, I am afraid that you will have to beg for food or borrow food from the landlords. However, when the landlords borrowed grain at high interest rates, the previous debts were often not repaid, and new debts were owed. Year after year, they can't afford to pay it back!

Many families, in order to make a living, have to sell their children and daughters. The life of the villagers is very difficult.

Before, when the Xinhua army and the Qing army were fighting, although Zhoujia Village was not affected by the war, but when the Qing army was defeated, it robbed the entire village, and the patriarch and several clansmen were landlords and suffered the greatest losses. So much so that later, they began to intensify their exploitation of the villagers. It makes the life of the villagers even more difficult. After the signing of the treaty between Xinhua and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the entire south of the Yangtze River belonged to Xinhua. Xinhua began to dispatch local governments, and new policies began to be implemented. But. In Zhoujia Village, it seems to belong to an independent kingdom, and the policies of Xinhua Kingdom cannot be controlled here at all. Even after the establishment of the Chinese Empire, it still seems to have no connection with the outside world.

According to Xinhua's immigration policy, families who are willing to immigrate to Nanyang or Australia will be given 50 acres of land. Such a policy. It caused a sensation in Zhoujia Village. Some people who can't get by have long wanted to escape from here. After the implementation of the new policy, they went to the county to sign up. Outcome. Before he could get out of the village, he was intercepted by the patriarch with a few clan elders.

The patriarch Zhou Chenglong severely reprimanded the villagers who wanted to emigrate, saying that they were ignoring the ancestral family law and asking them not to sign up for immigration. Otherwise. will be severely punished by the ancestral family law. Some villagers who didn't believe in evil went to sign up without authorization, but after they came back, they were arrested by the thugs of the patriarch Zhou Chenglong and beaten half to death. On the day of the execution, the old and young people of Zhoujia Village were summoned to watch, which greatly deterred the other villagers and made them no longer dare to sign up privately. In the eyes of these simple people. The patriarch is the biggest, and the ancestral family law cannot be violated. No matter how hard their days are, they can only bear it silently. Therefore, since the implementation of the new policy of the empire, no one in Zhoujia Village has signed up for immigration. As for the ransom of the landlord's land, it is even more impossible. Those landlords regarded land as fundamental, and even if the price was increased, they would not want to buy it, let alone the price offered by the government, which was only 70 percent of the market price.

The new county magistrate is a young man transferred from Nanyang, surnamed Chen, named Chen Huayuan. In Chenzhou County, there are many villages like Zhoujia Village. After County Magistrate Chen learned about the situation in Zhoujia Village, he personally brought people to Zhoujia Village to do work, but was pushed back by the patriarch Zhou Chenglong. Zhou Chenglong claimed that he had never stopped the villagers, and that every thing they did was of their own volition, and that they were unwilling to leave their homeland. As for the land, Zhou Chenglong is unwilling to sell the land, can the government still force it to buy and sell? Although County Magistrate Chen knew that the villagers of Zhoujia Village were afraid of the patriarch's threat and did not dare to sign up. But if these villagers don't stand up themselves, he can't do anything!

As a result, the matter of Zhoujia Village could only be shelved like this.

This situation was very common in the provinces, and the new policy of the empire was met with great resistance. And the local clan power is the biggest resistance.

On March 12, 1845, Zhoujia Village welcomed a group of outsiders, who were businessmen who went north. Although Zhoujia Village is only a dozen miles away from Chenzhou, these businessmen still chose to live in Zhoujia Village temporarily. Zhoujia villages like this are very xenophobic. However, these merchants from the south were willing to give money, so some villagers received them and invited them to their homes. For the poor people, the accommodation fees given by these foreigners have been their income for several months.

The influx of outsiders caused a sensation in Zhoujia Village. In addition, these outsiders were merchants, and some people who had a little money to spare bought their goods one after another. This group of businessmen is none other than Long Yufei and his party. Fortunately, in order to disguise their identities, when they set off from Guangzhou, they deliberately brought some silk and satin, otherwise, they really couldn't fool the past.

"Old man, how was last year's harvest?" Long Yufei's family is a family of an elderly man in his fifties, the old man's name is Saturday, he has two sons and a daughter, and he has already started a family. There are a total of five thatched sheds in the house, in addition to the one where the family lives by themselves, the other two rooms are vacant for Long Yufei and them to live in. Long Yufei and the others proposed to stay for three days, and asked the family to help them cook on Saturday, and gave a total of five Chinese yuan for Saturday. This is equivalent to five taels of silver, and I am very happy on Saturday.

"This boss, last year's harvest was not good! Last year, there was a military disaster, and a lot of food was wasted. Saturday said with a bitter face.

"That's it! But didn't the government announce the exemption of agricultural taxes? In this case, isn't it similar to previous years? Long Yufei asked. Many provinces south of the Yangtze River were in the midst of war last year, and in order to compensate for these people, the government deliberately exempted the agricultural tax of that year.

"The government is exempt from agricultural taxes, but doesn't the landlord's rent still have to be paid? After paying the rent, we don't have much money left! Said Saturday.

"Old man, doesn't the government advocate immigration, if you immigrate to Nanyang, everyone can get fifty acres of land. There are a total of five adults and two children in your family, and you can get a total of more than 300 acres of fertile land! Why don't you try it? Minister of Civil Affairs Zhou Yuan asked.

"Oh, sir, don't talk about immigration! Last time, the boy of the third uncle's family went to sign up for immigration without permission, and when he came back, he was beaten half to death by the patriarch, and he lay in bed for several months, and now he got out of bed! The patriarch strictly ordered that he was not allowed to sign up, who would dare to go? Saturday said with some panic. It can be seen that he regrets not being able to participate in immigration. After all, according to the government's regulations, their family can get a total of more than 300 acres of land, so if they calculate it, they will become landlords. Who wouldn't want such a good thing?

"Is it a private punishment? Why don't you go to the high officials? According to the decree of the Empire, the punishment for private use will be divided into felonies! Long Yufei said with a cold face.

"That's the patriarch, isn't it natural for him to deal with the clansmen according to the clan rules?" Saturday was stunned.

"Alright, Dad, don't talk about that. If the patriarch knows, we will be miserable! Saturday's eldest son, an honest man, said. Obviously, everyone was afraid of the patriarch.

"Sir, your meal is ready, I'll bring it to you!" Saturday's eldest son said.

Long Yufei and the others brought some rice noodles and dried meat, and handed them over to the Saturday family to help them make them. While eating, Long Yufei saw Saturday's two grandsons, staring at the meat on their table, and couldn't stop swallowing. Long Yufei knew that these poor people couldn't eat meat a few times a year, and the vegetables they usually ate didn't even have much oil and water.

"Huzi, give them some of our dishes!" When Long Yufei saw this situation, he felt very uncomfortable.

"Yes, boss!" Li Hu said. When they were outside, they all called Long Yufei the boss and Zhou Yuan as Mr. Ledger.

"Oh, how can this be done!" When Li Hu brought two plates of meat to Saturday, Saturday hurriedly said, looking a little cramped.

"Old man, it's nothing, it's all given to you by our boss, and the little ones are fighting tooth sacrifices!" Li Hu said with a smile.

"Well, thank you then!" Saturday was very grateful.

After eating, Long Yufei went back to the room to sleep with a heart. In the thatched house, the smell was not very good, although Li Hu and the others laid a thick mattress for Long Yufei, but they were still a little uncomfortable. After all, Long Yufei has been a king and an emperor in the past few years, although he can't compare with the luxurious life of the emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he can be regarded as a brocade and jade, and he has never lived such a life. Fortunately, Long Yufei was born as an orphan, and he has suffered a lot of sins before, so it is not impossible to live such a life.

Long Yufei, Zhou Yuan and Li Hu were in one room, and in the other room, there were several palace guards. The other guards were also scattered in the homes of some villagers next door to Saturday's house. Although the possibility of encountering danger in such a small mountain village is very low, Li Hu also does not dare to be careless. Someone was on duty every night.

"Your Majesty, there are many small mountain villages like this, and in these places, the patriarch has the final say. The common people don't know how to resist either! Minister of Civil Affairs Zhou Yuan knew what Long Yufei was thinking, so he said.

"Yes, it's all because of the lack of culture. When the empire grows, it must first have universal education! Long Yufei said, this road has a long way to go! (To be continued......)