The sky was dusk, and Uesugi was clear, no, it should be said that it was the source of elegance, standing on top of a wilderness.

The wind is very strong, I don't know if the season is autumn or winter, and the surroundings are very desolate.

However, looking into the distance, Yuan Qingya can see the faint smoke of cooking in the distance.

Now, Uesugi Kiyoshi exists in this body in a very strange state.

He couldn't control the body, but he could see, hear, and feel.

It's like a dream.

He is no stranger to this state, but once it comes, it is safe.

Yuan Qingya was wearing a samurai uniform, with a sword at her waist, alone, and paused to look at the smoke in the distance.

"Hmm... There should be a village there, probably the last scattered village in this area, right? ”

"Anyway, go check it out."

Muttering to herself, Yuan Qingya walked in the direction of the village.

He has a fast foot, although in this wilderness, it is normal for Wangshan to run a dead horse, but this distance is not a problem for Genji's strongest swordsman.

After a short journey, Gen Qingya came to the surrounding area of this village.

In the history of Japan, from the Nara period to the Heian period, land annexation was very severe, and in the current era of Minamoto Kiyomasa, it was almost impossible for farmers to own their own land.

The manor land system was popular, the wealth of the country was concentrated in the hands of the aristocracy, and the peasants went bankrupt in large numbers, and the people were struggling to make a living.

Coupled with Japan's strict taxes in ancient times, the common people here are really living in dire straits.

Before the original source Qingya, the lord of Musashi Province set a tax of seven princes and three people.

Seventy percent of the tax.

These harsh taxes were enough to crush the majority of peasant families, who toiled for a year and suffered famine and even starvation.

Therefore, it is not uncommon to see scattered villages in the wilderness, they cultivate uncultivated land, hide in the barren mountains and mountains, although they cannot live in fear, but the harvest is at least their own, and they can eat a full stomach.

Of course, they will also be targeted by ghosts and bandits.

Therefore, the lifespan of such villages is generally not very long.

After Minamoto Kiyomasa succeeded to the throne of Musashi, he took matters into his own hands, reducing taxes one after another, attracting displaced people and such villages, and even personally visited various places, lobbying the leaders of the nomads to cultivate fertile land near Edo Castle and increase the population.

This should be his last stop.

As soon as Kiyoshi Uesugi stepped into this village, he was met with many different and complicated eyes.

There was surprise, there was envy, there was hostility, and there was deep fear.

That is the fear of the "people" for the "officials", in this almost slave society, etched in the bones.

Uesugi Kiyoshi is dressed in a gorgeous samurai suit, with a sword at his waist, full of momentum, these countrymen who have never seen the world naturally blame him on the ranks of the "big guys".

The women and children nervously returned to the thatched hut and the door was closed, and the men in the village gathered one after another, not daring to approach, looking at Yuan Qingya from a distance, all whispering.

Yuan Qingya is very familiar with this kind of gaze, and every nomad's village will greet him with this gaze.

He has visited many villages, and he is already familiar with the road, so he didn't talk nonsense, but just said loudly: "Who is the village chief, I have something to visit." ”

Soon, an old man with gray hair, an obvious old face, and wrinkles on his face squeezed out of the crowd at a speed that was not slow, and bowed to Yuan Qingya with a respectful expression.

"My lord, I'm the village chief... What do you command? ”

Uesugi Kiyoshi could see the slightest fierce light in the eyes of this old man.

He is not surprised, making a living in this wilderness, kindness to outsiders, is the deadliest poison, and he has seen too much of this kind of fierce light.

"Alright, don't be so jealous of me."

"I'm not a bandit, I'm not a tax collector."

"I know why you're building a village here, and that kind of harsh taxation is a change for me, and I want to escape."

"But... There's a lot of danger, right? ”

Looking at the withered village, Yuan Qingya shrugged.

"If nothing else, your village won't last a few years, and if there are passing bandits and wandering monsters, the process may be accelerated."

As soon as he said this, the old village chief's eyes immediately became a little sad.

He naturally understands these truths.

But people always have to live.

Yuan Qingya paused deliberately and continued: "What I brought is good news. ”

"The new lord of Musashi Province has promulgated a benevolent government to reduce taxes, and from today on, the taxes of Musashi Province will be the three public and the seven people, and all the fertile fields around Edo Castle have been collected by the lord of the country, and they will be distributed uniformly, and if there is no land, they can also find barren land around Edo Castle and reclaim it on their own, and there will be no taxes in Shinta for five years, and there are many new decrees, so I won't go into details."

"I'm a herald, and I've got the word out."

"Believe it or not, it's up to you, but it's not that far from Edo Castle, you can't trust me, just send someone to take a look."

"I know, it's not easy to live, everyone seems to be better, right?"

How to deal with these farmers who are not kind, as long as they are lured by profit, they will willingly follow your instructions.

Because they have had a really hard time.

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, there was an uproar.

The tax of 30% is simply a gift from heaven for these hard-working farmers.

At the very least, no one will have to starve to death again.

Settling in the vicinity of the castle is also safe, trading in the town is more convenient, and life is countless times better than wandering in the wilderness.

Yuan Qingya ignored the noisy discussion.

If it doesn't happen, in a few days, someone will be spying on the information, and in a few days, the whole village will move around Edo Castle.

Today's Japan is a vast and sparsely populated country, with all kinds of uncultivated fields, but population scarcity is a big problem.

Yuan Qingya just wanted to turn around and leave, but suddenly sniffed her nose.

"Strange smell..."

"What is this, demonic?"

"It's not quite right, it's different from ordinary demonic energy, and it doesn't smell bloody."

"Youkai that doesn't hurt people?"

"It's not quite like it, this demonic aura is too weak..."

"Hiding in this village?"

Yuan Qingya glanced at the village again, hesitated for a moment, and sighed.

"Forget it, there are dozens of people, there must be nearly a hundred laborers, just leave it alone, be eaten by monsters, and lose it."

"It's so tiring to be a [leader]..."

He paused, and pretended to glance at the sky.

It was indeed approaching evening, and the sunset was shining and the twilight was deep.

"Well, at this time, I don't think I can go back to the city, can you find me a place to spend the night?"

"I'll leave early tomorrow morning, and... I'll pay. ”

Yuan Qingya took out more than a dozen "ferry money" from her sleeve, spread it in her hand, and stretched it out.

The development of Japan's currency was very tortuous and bizarre, and I will not go into detail here, but in the Heian period, the purchasing power of the currency was greatly reduced because of the poor quality of the coins minted by the state.

On the contrary, the "ferry money" from the Celestial Empire during the same period became hard currency.

The copper coins given by Yuan Qingya are not much, but they are by no means small.

Although many villagers had a greedy glint in their eyes, none of them dared to act rashly.

They are still deeply wary of Yuan Qingya or psychology.

For example, in modern times, if you live in a small village in the wilderness, and suddenly an outsider with a gun who is a police officer and wants to stay overnight and give a small sum of money, which is not very good or meager, do you dare to take it in?

Neither does it receive it, nor does it not receive it.

If you accept the danger, you may turn your face if you don't accept it.

The sword at this time was equivalent to the firearm of later generations.

The elderly village chief's face was also wrinkled, if it was usual, he might have refused directly, anyway, the emperor was far away, it was just a big deal for the village to move, as for seeing the wealth and plotting to kill Yuan Qingya, he didn't dare, even if they dare, they might not be able to fight.

With the old, weak, sick and disabled people in the village, plus those farm tools that are laborious to plough the fields, it is really difficult to keep him in the face of a well-trained samurai armed with a sword.

After pondering for a long time, the village chief's eyes lit up, and his face became more respectful.

"My lord, no problem."

"Ah Qing, Ah Qing!"

"Let this lord stay at your house for one night!"

"This adult is willing to pay a lot of [money], enough for you to buy a lot of books, right?"

Yuan Qingya looked at the village chief's eyes, raised her eyebrows, and her smile became meaningful.

It was a young girl who didn't look very old, maybe because of malnutrition and some yellow muscles, her face was good, but it was not amazing, but there was a lingering bookish aura between her eyebrows, which made Yuan Qingya even think of Heianjing, the female official in the palace.

She stood alone outside the crowd, seemingly ostracized.

It's not hard to understand either.

Because she has pale hair.

In ancient times, the facial features that were different from ordinary people were often the beginning of being excluded and isolated.

For example, now, when trouble came to the door, the village chief pushed it to her as soon as possible.

Because she may be the type of "not distressed if she loses", for this village, she is an outsider, and she is a part that can be discarded.

Just because of that gray hair?

Yuan Qingya hesitated a little on the surface: "There is a difference between men and women... Isn't that okay? ”

The village chief hurriedly shook his head and explained, "My lord, we don't pay attention to this in a small place like us!" ”

"You are a big man from the city, you can't let you sleep in the wilderness, we must obey the orders of the lord of the country, go to the city to die, I hope you can help us with a few more good words, and win the land that can be cultivated."

Some ordinary polite words, there is no sincerity in the words.

"Hey, A-Qing, you have no opinion, right?"

The village chief glared at the girl, and his tone became a little stern.

The girl glanced at the village chief expressionlessly, looked at Yuan Qingya again, and nodded silently.

"Please come with me."

After saying this coldly, she turned and left.

Yuan Qingya didn't shirk either, because he seemed to have found the root of that faint demonic aura.

He nodded slightly to the village chief and followed quickly.

The village is enclosed by a rudimentary wooden fence, a temporary gathering place for dozens of families, and outside the fence there is very poor farmland that may have made no effort in farming because they may have migrated at any time, and the village's largest source of food is probably hunting and fishing.

Musashi Province is close to the sea, and it is not far from the sea.

This girl, known as Ah Qing, lives in a very remote place, away from the crowd.

Yuan Qingya followed behind Ah Qing leisurely, stood still in front of this simple thatched house, and said with some pointing: "You seem to be very unpopular?" ”

"I can see that I am an unstable factor in this village, and they are afraid of me."

"Those who are afraid of my identity, and those who are afraid of me, are even more afraid of the sword in my hand."

"They are afraid of me as they are of bandits."

"That's why I was pushed to you... Why did you say yes? ”

"Aren't you afraid?"

Hearing this, Ah Qing slowly turned his head, and a meaningful smile appeared on his somewhat weak face.

"The new Kuniji of the dignified Musashi Province shouldn't suddenly go berserk and kill your people, right?"

"I can still earn some pocket money if I take you in for one night, so why not?"

Yuan Qingya's complexion changed suddenly, and her breathing paused for a beat.

Then, he suddenly laughed out loud with some joy.

"Interesting... How do you see that? ”

Ah Qing pursed his lips and said as a matter of course: "Master Guoji, how about removing the family tattoo on your clothes before you go out next time?" ”

"Gentian pattern, who dares to use it except Genji?"

"You also said that the new national secretary is a member of the Genji clan, and you are wearing the Gentian gentian pattern, running around and busy for some trivial small villages."

"And then... Do you need to go on? ”

Yuan Qingya raised her eyebrows and continued to ask, "Oh... I can't be a close confidant of the national secretary, and I am also a member of the Genji clan, and I am also here to do things for him? ”

The girl in front of him had completely aroused his interest.

Her name is Yuan Qingya is "Guosi", which is the name of the official position, not like those ignorant villagers, who call the lord of the country.

She saw the gentian pattern on Gen Kiyoya's body, and knew that it was Genji's family crest.

This was already amazing knowledge for the common people at that time.

Ah Qing shook his head, stared at Yuan Qingya and said, "No, there will be no noble lord of the Genji clan who will personally come to this kind of small village to deliver the message, they have a large retinue to command." ”

"You are the only one who can do such a thing, because this is your decree, and you have to see for yourself that this decree is passed on to every homeless settlement."

"Of course, you're strong enough to bring an entourage, and you're smart enough to know that these fools will rush over like moths to a fire when they hear the slightest benefit."

"So, your decree will be executed perfectly."

"And... The taxes you give out are not petty profits, and I have never seen such a light tax. ”

"It's quite discerning, unlike those big men who don't care about the lives of untouchables, in this troubled era, population and labor are the most important guarantees, you know this very well."

"Let me guess, the original city lord was killed by you?"

"Otherwise, your tax reduction decree would not have been enacted so easily."

"Well, it's okay no matter what, it's a reward for you, I want to remind you."

"The people and the officials are always opposite sides, and if you are close to the people, those small groups of the aristocratic class will naturally reject you."

"The tax you set is very low, but the fertile fields near the city belong to the estates of the various wealthy clans in Musashi Province, and they have every right to collect taxes from those who cultivate the land privately, and those civilians can only dare to be angry and dare not speak."

Yuan Qingya looked at A-Qing's gaze with some admiration.

"I've thought about what you said, so I've been preparing for this for months."

"Now, the land of Edo Castle is all Genji's."

"I don't have any worries, and I don't worry about being obstructed."

It's a bit incredible to change A-Qing now.

"How is that possible... How did you do that? ”

"How can those wealthy people obey you?"

"The land is their lifeblood, they have been rooted in Musashi Province for hundreds of years, and they have strong roots. How can you beat them? ”

Yuan Qingya shrugged her shoulders very casually.

"It's easy."

"Those who are obedient are kept, and those who are disobedient are slaughtered."

"The hardest thing to manage is that... What's it called, Otomo? ”

"However, when the three heads of the family were killed one after another within ten days, they would not dare to disobey my orders."

"These people who don't take human life seriously, are full of fat brains and vegetarians, I wish they were all working against me, and I could have one more reason to clean them up."

“...”

"Don't talk about that."

"You're called... Ah Qing? ”

"Would you like to come and work with me?"

"There are too many fools around, there are too few who can help me, smart people like you are really rare..."