The names of the two young men who were sent were Li Qing and Zhao Hong, the son of Li Long and the son of Zhao Lin respectively, both of whom were eighteen or nineteen years old, strong in blood and adventurous. After receiving the password, he pushed over a flat boat and rowed down the river to the center of the river.

The first-class flowed for more than 20 miles, and the two of them saw a mountain in the east that looked like a green snail from a distance, and there were hundreds of roofs in the big woods under the mountain, which seemed to be a small village. So he rowed the boat to the shore, hid it in the grass, and walked towards the village. When approaching the village, the two found that there were four or five people working in the vegetable field, and felt that the folk customs here were very different from them, intuitively speaking, the first thing was the clothing, the clothes of both of them were coarse cloth, and the emphasis was on simplicity and naturalness, and the clothes of the residents here were mainly indigo, and some totem birds were embroidered on it.

There is a cross street in the village, and the street is lined with shops, and people come and go. For the sake of safety, the two took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, stole two pieces of clothes in a courtyard in the outermost part of the village, and swaggered into the cross street, only to see that there were all kinds of goods sold on the street, local specialties, rice grain, mountain flavors, cloth, and so on. The two walked from the street to the end of the street, and after walking around the street, they went to the street again, and finally found a shop selling salt. Then I folded back, returned my clothes, and went back to report.

When Si Zihou heard this, he was overjoyed, and returned to Taohu to ask someone to prepare some rich fruits and grains, and sent people to that village to exchange for salt one day. Since then, everyone has lived and worked here in peace and contentment, and lived a stable life.

When Wu Zihan provoked his four younger brothers to attack and frame each other, the fourth son led Taohu to a completely different path.

Since we have opened up this paradise of Peach Lake, we must think about future generations and make a long-term plan, so Si Zihou called the people of Peach Lake together and said: "Everyone can't stand the chaos created by Daqingshan Han and escaped, how can we avoid the fate of Daqingshan in this place, we have to think about and plan early, so I invite everyone to come today, I hope to discuss something out." ”

Everyone listened and said: "The fourth prince loves the people and saves us from the sea of suffering, we are naturally grateful, from now on, everything is arranged by the fourth prince!" ”

Sizihou shook his head and waved his hand, and said, "No, no, you can't count on me alone." How wise and powerful my father is, but he gave birth to us unscrupulous sons. Therefore, we still need to set a rule, even if we are a hundred years later, our children and grandchildren can abide by it and avoid the mistakes of Daqingshan. ”

They also said, "We are all good at fishing and farming, and if we are asked to come up with any rules, we can't even break our heads." "I still insist on letting Sizihou stand up by himself.

Li Long also said: "Everyone has their own strengths, and it is really difficult for them to legislate. ”

Si Zihou said: "I can't imagine out of thin air, behind closed doors, I want to ask everyone's opinions to be able to establish a satisfactory rule." ”

Zhao Lin said: "It's better to select a person from each industry for the time being, come to the meeting every day, and make arrangements after the rules are formulated." What do you think? ”

Sizihou nodded, everyone said yes, and then ten people were selected to come out and enter the discussion stage.

The first one everyone agrees that for the safety of Peach Lake, you can't leave Peach Lake without reason, and you can't leak the situation of Peach Lake to anyone outside.

The second is the children of Peach Lake, when they reach the age, they must enter school to study and practice martial arts. Zhao Lin taught liberal arts, and Li Long taught martial arts. Liberal arts are classics handed down from ancestors, and if someone loves poetry, as long as they complete the course, they can listen to it outside of class. Reading is only for reason, not eloquence. Every day's classes are in the morning, and after the end of the day, you can go home, farming, fishing, fishing. When they reach the age of 20, they leave school without examining the merits and leaving the school together, and from then on whether or not to continue their studies depends on their own will, and they will never be reluctant. Because it is surrounded by deep mountains, wild beasts infest from time to time, although after years of development and construction, and guardrails, it is no longer as powerful as the first two years, but it is still possible to encounter it anytime and anywhere. It is even more necessary to beware of one day when the traces leak and are known by the mountain people outside and come to infringe. Therefore, everyone is extremely serious about practicing martial arts. Every morning, in the square by the lake, the old and young of the village come here to practice martial arts; People who are interested will learn from each other, not to win or lose, of course, but to get each other's guidance.

The third is to abolish the title of master and servant. Sizihou also takes his children to work in heaven and earth every day. Although Li Long and Zhao Lin agreed with Sizihou's approach, they still came to his house every day to do some housework and help in the fields. Si Zihou refused many times, but the two did not accept it, saying: "The two of us have already sworn to serve you for the rest of our lives, and this must not be changed!" Sizihou had no choice but to follow the two of them.

And so on, there are 18 general rules, which will be implemented according to this for the time being. If there are deletions or additions in the future, we will discuss them separately.

Twenty years later, the population of Peach Lake had tripled. One of the reasons is: the land of Taohu is vast, the wind and rain are smooth almost every year, the grains are abundant, and people do not worry about eating and drinking. Another reason is that the title of master and servant is abolished, and the adult maids and male servants all move out to start a family, and there are more than ten more households at once. With the right time and place, the ability to give birth naturally increased, and even cattle, horses, and poultry were extraordinarily bred together, and they really reached unprecedented prosperity and wealth.

At this time, Sizihou was already over seventy years old, and he thought deeply, feeling that if the population continued to multiply like this, although there were advantages of this fertile mountains and rivers within a radius of hundreds of miles, I was afraid that there were too many people, the good and the bad were uneven, and it was difficult to be one. The first two generations are good to say, they all spend safety together, support each other, and have deep feelings, as for the third generation and below, it is inevitable that the relationship will gradually fade, and disputes will follow. If someone indulges in pleasure and feels that Peach Lake is boring after a long time, envy the prosperity of the city outside, flee privately, leak the news, and cause trouble, it will inevitably lead wolves into the house, and Peach Lake will not escape the catastrophe at that time.

So the ten elders combined and revised the village rules: a village chief was elected for a five-year term. During his tenure, the village chief holds the power of life and death, and except for a few of the most important rules, which are absolutely not allowed to be changed, everything else can be done cheaply. Even if the village chief is a virtuous person, he will only serve for ten years, so as not to dominate the family and form a power and a neighbor. In addition, there is no limit to the number of members of the presbyterian council, and the condition is that it must be of high moral standing and convinced. The abdicated village chief and those who have contributed to Taohu can join the association as long as the conditions are met. The function of the presbyterian council is to assist the village chief, to advise at any time, to promote the good and eliminate the bad, and to have the right to supervise. If the village chief is unethical and derelict in his duties, the council of elders will first admonish him privately, and if he does not change, he will summon all the residents of Taohu, explain the reason, and dismiss him in public. If it is a traitor who spreads a rumor or slander, the village chief can defend himself, and the elders will find out the truth.

As for the punishment, it is also extremely prudent. The village chief has the power to exercise corporal punishment, but must call the parents and elders of the offender's family to carry out the execution in person. The purpose is to rehabilitate the offender, so there is no prison in the village. According to the severity of the offense, he shall be punished to work in the fields or lakes for six months, or one year. At the same time, there are also a number of clauses for atonement for sin, and as long as the performance is good, the crime can be exonerated in advance.

If he has really committed a heinous and heinous crime, in addition to the village chief gathering all the residents for a public trial, it is necessary to pass the presbyterian council's reunion and confirm that there is no doubt before it can be executed, and the parents will take him home and be imprisoned at home for five years, ten years, or twenty years, depending on the seriousness of the circumstances.

As for the fields, the system of public and private fields is implemented. The public land is owned by the whole people, and the adult labor force must first complete the work in the public land before they can manage their own private land. The output in the public field is used for the daily expenses of Peach Lake, holiday gatherings, drinking gatherings, and so on.

The position of village chief was four sons at the beginning, and he was re-elected for two consecutive terms and served for ten years. The second village chief was Li Long, who served for five years; The third village chief was Zhao Lin, who also served for five years. Now, Li Long and Zhao Lin are both old and don't want to continue their terms, so they chose a smart and capable person to be the village chief among the ordinary people. Li Long and Zhao Lin then joined the Council of Elders, assisting the new village chief.

In the past 20 years, through the hard work of successive village chiefs, Taohu has been built like a splendid shop.

Peach Lake is originally beautiful, coupled with manpower management, over the years, deliberately seeking work, so countless buildings and pavilions emerge in endlessly, one by one in the green mountains and green waters, flowers and trees between the forest. The smoke and waves on the lake are vast, endless, three or five small boats, haunted by it, a scene of peace and prosperity. A circle of weeping willows was planted on the shore, and as far as the eye could see, the greenery was endless. The water of the lake is crystal clear, and the fish swim back and forth, jumping and making sound from time to time. Under the willow shade and flower trees, there are often village children and village elders, lying on the ground fishing, and from time to time they hear shouts and exclamations, that is the village children caught a big fish.

All year round, there are flowers in every season, not plum snow for spring, cold fragrance ten miles, is the lotus pond everywhere, thousands of flowers. As for Li Yantao, Gui Fu Lanxin, Maple Leaf Liudan, and autumn flowers are like brocade, and they are enjoyed all year round, and they can't be finished. It is really a paradise for everyone, a paradise that is unique in the world, a paradise on earth.

If anything, it leaves something to be desired? That is, there is no strangeness, and people's hearts are happy. As mentioned earlier, there is a shortage of salt in Taohu, and the annual production of fruits, rice and wheat is extremely large, and it has accumulated too much for more than 20 years, so it left three years of grain storage, and the rest was transported out by ship in exchange for daily necessities.

The rules in the village are that it is procured once a year, and twenty people go out each time, and four boats. Because the waterway is inaccessible, and there is a fear that too many people will attract attention, so they go out in batches and make detours, pretending to be mountain people from other areas, and always keep an eye out for good deeds to follow. Although the village bazaars traded were all other ethnic groups, they were still very straightforward, and both parties were honest and mutually beneficial, and they also trusted each other and made friends.

This year there was an accident.

Before the people of Peach Lake arrived at the market, they saw wolf smoke rising everywhere. When I got closer, I was surprised, only to see the fires everywhere, the ruins of the walls, the sad faces of the adults, and the crying of the children!