After 7 days of hard work, the garment factory rushed out the first batch of militia uniforms, Li Zuo and Li You learned that they brought people to the garment factory early in the morning to transport the military uniforms that were rushed out, and when they arrived at the camp, Li Zuo asked people to count the number of clothes, this batch of military uniforms was exactly 1,000 sets, but the militia had more than 6,000 people, and this thousand sets of military uniforms were not enough, so the leaders of the militia got together to discuss, and finally decided to distribute the uniforms in order

This is cheap, the first battalion and the second battalion of the militia led by Li Zuo and Li You brothers, the soldiers in new clothes stand in a neat square formation on the school field, the red military uniforms look festive and have an overall sense of oppression, people are daunted, the soldiers who change into new clothes are all in good spirits, and they are not at the same level at a glance and do not want to look at the soldiers who have not changed, which really responds to the old saying that people rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles

Gao Yuan looked at the soldiers who changed into new clothes, and was very satisfied, "Well, yes, this is different with new clothes, if they are equipped with unified armor and unified weapons, it will be more imposing."

Li Yang: I think about the plateau as you think, and we'll start this matter after this time

Yuan Kui: But didn't the national capital issue an order that the militia should not wear armor, and there are eyeliners sent by the national capital among the leaders of the militia group, so I don't think we should make trouble for ourselves

Li Yang: There's no urgency here, I invite you to come today to see how the newly made military uniforms are

Gao Yuan: Yes, when all the brothers of the militia group change into military uniforms, the momentum will be different

Yuan Kui: On the plateau, I think we have to buy a suit of clothes for our brothers

Gao Yuan: "Hmm", let's go to the garment factory now, order military uniforms for the brothers, and the militia will all change their uniforms, if the trap camp and the fire trap camp don't change, then our face will fall to the ground

Yuankui: Then what are we waiting for here, let's go

Plateau: Go

As soon as I left the camp, Gao Yuan and Yuan Kui went straight to the garment factory, and I returned to the manor, as soon as I arrived outside the manor, I saw a carriage parked at the door, needless to say, there must be someone at home, who could it be, so I asked the family on duty outside the door: Why is there someone at home

Jia Ding: The young master is the shopkeeper of the Taizhou Chamber of Commerce

Li Yang: How long has he been here?

Jia Ding: It's been a while, young master, you are not at home, you are afraid of neglecting the shopkeeper Cao, so let people go and ask the young lady to greet the shopkeeper Cao first and wait for you to come back

Li Yang nodded with satisfaction after hearing this: You did a good job

As soon as I entered the door, I saw Song Shiting and Hengyan greeting the shopkeeper Cao, I panted and arched my hands to Cao Lin: Shopkeeper Cao, I'm sorry - I'm sorry, there are some things to deal with outside, I didn't expect you to come today

Cao Lin shook his hand: The head of the Li family doesn't matter

Song Shiting and Hengyan saw that I was back, got up and nodded at me: Husband, you are back, then my sister and I will go back to the room first

Li Yang nodded at the two ladies: Okay

I can see from the expressions on the faces of the two of them that they are a little reluctant, and it can be said that the reputation of the female dependents of this era is more important than life, and the two of them can greet this stranger out of politeness, and I can imagine how embarrassing it is for them to greet the shopkeeper Cao

Watching the two ladies leave, I sat down in the main chair: I don't know what the shopkeeper Cao came here today

Cao Lin: The head of the Li family is going to collect grain in more than 20 days, and you see that the note we made before will expire soon

It turned out that Cao Lin came to urge me to return the grain: Shopkeeper Cao, you can rest assured, I am a trustworthy person, and when I finish collecting the grain, I will send someone to send you 14 million catties of grain with interest to the house, if I fail to return the grain as agreed, then we will come according to the agreement on the document

Cao Lin: Cao likes to deal with happy people like the head of the Li family, and if there is a place where Cao can help in the future, the head of the Li family will actually say it

Li Yang raised his hands: Then I thank the shopkeeper Cao here

At this time, Cao Lin stood up from the chair: The head of the Li family, Cao Mou, will go back first

Li Yang also stood up from the chair: Shopkeeper Cao, it's noon when I see it, I'll ask people to prepare a few dishes, you can eat here at noon

Cao Lin missed a smile on his face: The kindness of the head of the Li family Cao has been understood, but there are still some things in the Chamber of Commerce that I need to go back to deal with

Li Yang: In this way, I won't keep you today, and you will definitely appreciate your face next time you have the opportunity

Cao Lin: Definitely—definitely

To say that the shopkeeper of Deyi Firm is definitely a figure in Taizhou Mansion, he didn't know where to find out that the price of Li Yang's grain collection from the villagers was 500 wen yuan a load, so the wealthy bag shopkeeper asked Dong Qing to take his men to the villages near Alan County to collect grain, and the price of each load of grain was a hundred more than the price given by Li Yang, and the villagers wanted to sell them the grain in their fields when they saw that this group of grain merchants gave a lot of money

But Li Yang had the grain requisition notice distributed to the villages as early as two months ago, and the villagers all knew that the purpose of this grain requisition was to repay the official land tax, but the villagers were embarrassed by the fact that the money was not earned, so the villagers from all villages gathered at the village chief's house to ask the village chief to give him an idea

Villager: The village chief is now willing to collect 100 taels of grain from our field at a price of 600 taels per quintal, which is 100 taels more than the price of grain given by the Li family, 10 but the grain is only one or two taels more

The other villagers responded: Yes, the village chief, we farmers can't earn much money all year round, and we can live a much more comfortable life than before with an extra silver tael

Chief: Then you came to me and wanted me to do something for you

Villager: Village chief, see if you can go and tell the head of the Li family that we are willing to pay 500 wen yuan for each load of grain that we need to pay

Village Chief: Don't forget that part of the land you have now is reclaimed by the head of the Li family from the government, and we have already agreed with the head of the Li family to reduce the tax on grain

Villager: The head of the village, the head of the Li family, divided the reclaimed fields to everyone to cultivate, we all remember this kindness, but we also have to live, we use silver to pay the land tax, the village chief, you will go and discuss with the head of the Li family for the whole village

Other villagers: Yes, the village chief, the whole village depends on you

When the village chief heard this, he sighed: Then I'll try it

Although reluctant, this is related to the livelihood of the whole village for a year, so the village chiefs of each village gathered together to discuss how to deal with the current matter, but no one was willing to take the lead to talk to Li Yang about this matter, although Li Yang has no official position, but his influence in northern Taizhou has not been affected in the slightest, just when the impasse is reached, the head of Keer Village, Yuan An, proposed: I think this matter should first go to Han County Ling and ask him to make decisions for the villagers

Cao Yong, the head of Gray Village, echoed: He has a good relationship with the Li family master, if he can come forward, it is estimated that this matter can be done, even if it doesn't work, we won't offend the Li family master because of this

The other village chiefs also felt that this method was feasible, and after making up their minds, the village chiefs came to the county government together to ask Han Juzheng to petition for the villagers, as the parent official of Alan County, Han Juzheng understood the ins and outs of the matter, and said that he would go to Brother Li to discuss this matter and appease them to go back first, and he would give the village chiefs an accurate answer within a day or two

After sending the village chiefs away, Han Juzheng came to the Li family manor, wanting to discuss with Li Yang what to do about this matter, and when he came to the study, Li Yang was studying the waterwheel drawings sent by Ma Nan with Guanshan

Li Yang beckoned to him as soon as he saw Han Juzheng coming: Juzheng, you are coming just in time, I have a drawing of making a waterwheel, and it can lead water to where it is needed

Han Juzheng walked to the table, looked at the drawings on the table, and exclaimed, "Oops", how did I forget this, a few years ago, my father and I went to Hangzhou Mansion to visit an uncle, and I became a big family there who used water trucks to irrigate the fields

Li Yang: Hangzhou is far from the south

Han Juzheng: Yes, Brother Li, our Yanzhou Mansion in Zhejiang, Hangzhou Mansion, Huzhou Mansion and Jiaxing Mansion are all close to the south, especially Hangzhou is a place to send goods for trade with the south, so some things in the south will also flow into the south, and most of the goods are sold from Hangzhou to various places

Li Yang: Then Hangzhou Mansion can be regarded as a rich place

Han Juzheng: That's right, Brother Li, Hangzhou is second only to the national capital in Zhejiang, Brother Li has a caravan to buy grain from various villages these days, and the price they gave this year is 600 yuan per quintal, which is 100 yuan more than the grain requisition notice we issued before

Li Yang: It's a good thing that the villagers can earn more money

Han Juzheng: But now the villagers want to pay the land tax with silver and copper coins, so that they can earn an extra 200 yuan per mu of land

Li Yang's expression became solemn after hearing this, he turned around and sat down next to the chair, picked up the teapot on the table and got a glass of water, and after thinking for a while, he looked at Han Juzheng with his eyes in his eyes: Juzheng, I want to hear your thoughts

Han Juzheng: Brother Li Yu Gongjuzheng naturally hopes that the people under his rule can become rich, but I don't want this matter to affect your business

The sudden appearance of this group of businessmen did disrupt Li Yang's original deployment of grain requisition, and he could also understand Han Juzheng's dilemma, on the one hand, it was related to the livelihood of tens of thousands of Li people under his rule, and on the other hand, he was a very good friend

But Li Yang is a person with a strong sense of justice in modern thought, if you want to develop the economy, you must first trade freely, and as a friend, you should not make trouble for Han Juzheng, it is not wrong to say that the villagers want to earn more money and live a better life, after thinking about it, he agreed to this matter, after all, using silver to pay taxes and using grain to offset taxes are the same purpose, as long as there is silver in hand to collect grain, there is still room for maneuver

"Juzheng, I think that those who are willing to pay grain should let them pay grain, and those who are willing to pay silver let them pay silver."

Han Juzheng: Brother Li, I think so too

Li Yang: Ju Zheng is waiting for the grain to be harvested, don't rush to sell the grain collected from the 20,000 acres of fields in the county, let's keep these grains in our hands for emergencies

Ju Zheng nodded, "Hmm, Brother Li, then these grains will be stored in the granary of the manor."

Li Yang shook his hand: It is better to be an official or private, private or separated, everyone has greed, I am afraid that it will be difficult to divide it if I want to divide it after this release

Han Juzheng: Then I'll start the granary storage of grain in the next few days

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of harvesting grain, in order to ensure that all villages could harvest grain smoothly, the militia deliberately took half a month's vacation, Li Yang called it a busy agricultural holiday, and every year when plowing the fields and harvesting grain, he would take half a month's vacation, and this half month was still a paid vacation, which was absolutely unique at that time, and the militia group of 6,000 people only left 1,000 people and the coastal defense battalion to prevent the attack of the pirates, and the villagers were even more bladed to collect grain to prevent bandits

The golden fields are full of villagers who harvest grain, God bless Alan County This year is another harvest year, everyone's faces are filled with the joy of harvest and full of enthusiasm, Han Juzheng mobilized all the vehicles in Alan County to transport grain, and the villages are busy killing pigs and sheep and sacrificing to God to thank God for blessing this year

Among them, the largest is that the Li family not only slaughtered three pigs and sheep but also slaughtered a cow, one is to worship the heavens, the other is to worship the ancestors of the Li family, the altar is located on the top of Longfeng Mountain, by the head of the mountain to preside over the sacrifice, Li Yang also specially invited the prefect Sun Yuanwu and the guard general Yuanbin and the village chiefs to come to participate in the sacrifice, the path to the top of the mountain is hung with colorful ribbons, the three families of Li - Gao - Yuan selected a hundred people to twist the Yangge along the way, the sound of gongs and drums echoed in the mountain col, the scene is extremely grand

At noon, as soon as I arrived at Guanshan Mountain, I took out a pile of yellow paper and threw it into the sky to start the sacrifice, the first incense stick was made by the prefect Sun Yuanwu - the guard general Yuanbin and the county commander Han Juzheng came, the three of them as representatives of the official family to show their concern for the people, the second incense stick is mainly the guest is mainly the village head and some clans with a large number of people in Alan County, the third incense is the Li - Gao - Yuan three family members are mainly Li Yang - Li Song - Gao Yuan - Gao Lin - Yuan Kui - Yuan Hong and others, This sacrifice greatly increased the status of the government and the Li family among the villages and clans

After the sacrifice, Li Yang invited Sun Zhifu and General Yuan and the village chiefs to inspect the fields under Longfeng Mountain, when they saw that the fields were full of fruits and golden grains, and the villagers who harvested grain in a tight and orderly manner, and one after another carriages full of rice passed by us, Sun Yuanwu was very satisfied with this, he raised his hand and patted Li Yang on the shoulder: You have done a good job, I am very pleased, although you have no official position now, you can also serve the country by opening up wasteland and paying taxes

Li Yang: Students should remember the teachings of adults

Sun Yuanwu looked at the villagers harvesting grain in the field, and suddenly he took off his official uniform and rolled up his trouser legs to the muddy field, he borrowed a sickle from the villagers, and then bent down to cut the rice, and his skillful movements surprised everyone present, Li Yang invited a skilled painter to paint all the scenes

After more than ten days of hard work, the fields under the rule of Alan County have been harvested, and the large and small mills are processing grain day and night, and after half a month, the brothers gathered in the conference hall at one time, and everyone is full of laughter, and it seems that everyone's harvest this year should be good

It wasn't until Han Juzheng hurriedly entered the council hall that everyone quieted down and looked at him with all their eyes, he bent down and held up a piece of paper panting: The 239,200 fields in Alan County received a total of 1 million and 4,640 quintals of grain, the highest harvest of grain was 450 catties per mu, the lowest was 390 catties per mu, and the grain tax was 100,000 and 460, but the surplus grain was 900,000 and 4,180 quintals

When the people present heard the news, they applauded one after another: This year is another year of harvest, and the villagers of Shili and Eight Villages can have a peaceful year

Then Li Song got up from his chair: 128,000 quintals of grain were collected from the 32,000 acres of fields of the manor, and 115,000 quintals were left after paying 13,000 quintals of grain tax

After Li Yang heard this, he instantly felt that the whole person was relaxed, and he settled down according to the excitement in his patience: After collecting the grain, we should also pay back the grain owed to Cao's shopkeeper, and the second child, you will take 15,000 quintals from our grain, and the remaining 125,000 quintals will be evenly distributed to each household

Han Juzheng: After the grain is repaid, Alan County has 779,180 quintals of surplus grain, and each of the 21,100 households under Alan County has 36 quintals of grain

Li Yang: Ju Zheng will collect the land tax as soon as possible, so I can start raising military supplies

Han Juzheng: Brother Li, I plan to take the deadline of 10 days, and the grain and silver that can be paid within 10 days can be taxed, and once the deadline is over, the grain will be levied

Li Yang: Okay, that's it, Juzheng, I'll send two battalions from the militia to help you collect taxes

Han Juzheng: Okay

Li Yang: The second child has gathered 100,000 loads of grain in the past few days and sent it to the yamen of the state capital

Li Song: Then I'll do this, and when I get it ready, I'll send the grain to the yamen of the state capital

Li Yang: Li Long-Li Hu, you two will take someone to show me the granary

Li Long and Li Hu got up and clenched their fists: Young master, you can rest assured that this errand will be handed over to our brothers

Gao Yuan: In the past few days, the village warriors of each battalion are about to return to the camp, and the commanders of each battalion must be asked to train their troops and resume their defense

Yuankui: I think the defense of each village should also be strengthened, and when the Haikou landed, they targeted the weak villages to strengthen their morale

Li Yang: Gao Yuan, I really can't spare my hand, if you can free up your hand, you can watch something for me during this time on the militia side, you can let Li Zuo and Li You do it

Gao Yuan sighed: Okay

After speaking, Li Yang looked at Yuan Kui again: The defense of Yuan Kui's villages will be up to you

Yuan Kui: My battalion for the defense of the ten villages is far from enough, can you transfer a few battalions from the militia to me?

Li Yang: Then you need a few battalions of troops

Yuankui: 4 battalions should be about the same

Li Yang: The Plateau-Yuankui militia group, you two can look at it and make up your mind

Under the leadership of Han Juzheng, it took only seven days for the officials and Xiangyong to collect the land taxes from each village, including 80,000 taels of grain and 50,000 taels of silver, and all the collected grain was stored in the granary of the Li family's manor, and after Li Song counted correctly, he could collect 100,000 taels of the first batch of military grain and deliver it to the official family

Li Yang, who was sleeping soundly that night, was woken up by a hurried knock on the door: the boss is about to get up and have a big incident

As soon as he heard that this was Li Song's voice, he got up from the bed in a daze, walked to the door and pushed it open, and saw Li Song standing outside with a flustered expression and sweating profusely, before Li Song could speak, he saw that the fire was bright not far away, and the fire was particularly conspicuous in the dark night, Li Yang also relieved himself, and when he saw that the direction of the fire was where the granary was located, he sighed in his heart, but don't be the granary fire, thinking of this, he only felt a fainting, and his body leaned over, and he was about to fall, but fortunately, there was a threshold next to him, so he didn't fall to the ground

Li Yang held on to the door frame: Something happened to the second child

He still had a trace of illusion and hoped that Li Song would tell him that it was not the granary on fire, but things are often like this, the more you are afraid of something, the more he comes, Li Song stretched out his hand to support me, and tears flashed in his eyes: Boss, our granary is on fire, it is a full 100,000 loads of grain, and I was going to transport these 100,000 loads of grain to the state capital yamen tomorrow to deliver military rations

Li Yang looked at the fire in front of him: Let's not talk about this first, let's hurry to the granary and have a look