As the saying goes, "Just make the cold to the bone, you might as well use the peach and plum with the years." "Although the spring snow in this new month is bitterly cold and menacing, it also goes very quickly, and melts away without a trace in a few days. Out of the first month, the wind warms, everything recovers, for the people to eat as the sky of the dynasties, a major event in mid-spring is the "home field ceremony".

The so-called "home ceremony" is that the Son of Heaven bows down and plows the field to set an example. It not only contains the hope for a smooth new year, expresses the ruler's emphasis on "persuading farmers to cultivate mulberry", but also conforms to the etiquette culture - the so-called "heaven and earth, respect the ancestors and the king, and the three books of etiquette." However, this year's "Home Ceremony" is very different from previous years because of the displaced people incident in the first month.

On the eleventh day of February in the Qi calendar, early in the morning, Emperor Qi led the prince and hundreds of civil and military officials to the eastern suburbs of the city to worship the god of agriculture. Traditionally, the emperor walked a few steps symbolically with the tail of the plowshare, and the ceremonial officer announced the ceremony. This time, Emperor Qi insisted on plowing the land with an arrow, and he was so tired that he was sweating profusely before he walked up the ridge, and everyone present was so shocked that their jaws were about to drop.

After the "home ceremony", the inner court issued a decree on the second day:

"The people are the foundation of the country, and the fields are the foundation of the people. Now the Qin Dynasty Erzhou displaced people have no food and clothing, waiting to be fed, and Zhou County, a suburb of Beijing, has a lot of ownerless fields. Let the people not be left without food, and the land shall not be desolate. According to the proposal, the crown prince, together with the household department and the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion, re-checked the ownerless fields in the three counties of Meng, Xin and Yi, and properly resettled the displaced people in the two states of the Qin Dynasty, so as to consolidate the foundation of the country and reassure the people. Chin!"

As soon as the oracle came out, it was officially opened to resettle the displaced people.

Therefore, the matter was led by the crown prince Xiao Minglong, he made up his mind to vacate the Mingde Palace, which deals with daily government affairs, and drew six experienced officials and sixty young officials from the East Palace, the Household Department, and the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion, divided into three verification groups, each group corresponds to a county, and he himself took Teng Wang Xiao Yuanying, Xiao Di, Jing Si, Long Shaoyang and other cadres to dispatch in the center.

Clear-eyed people can see at a glance that this matter is nominally the crown prince, but in fact, it is handled by Er Xiao, An, and Long. They wrote a Chen every two days, showing the progress and presenting it to the prince.

Among these four people, Teng Wang Tianhuang is a nobleman, and he is suspected of raising the price when he is pulled in, and he looks like he doesn't care. Xiao Di's legs and feet are inconvenient, so he comes to inspect every three or five days, and the rest of the days he plants flowers and birds, listens to music and watches dances, and enjoys himself. Although quiet thinking is almost every day, he is helpless to be born as a martial artist and knows nothing about government affairs and the people, but this person is self-aware, never interferes, and the copywriter has just signed it. In this way, the burden fell on Long Shaoyang, who was also a layman at first, but he was humble and cautious, shameless in asking questions, and mingling with the officials and officials.

These officials and petty officials have been doing things for a long time, and they know very well what these four people mean, and they are nothing more than grabbing merit and making capital, but they have long been commonplace, and they are not very resistant, not to mention that they are either nobles and high-ranking people, or they are newly promoted celebrities, which one can afford to provoke? After a period of time, these people actually found that they were not high above them, shouting at five and six or six, but they were peaceful and easy to deal with, so that the top and bottom were actually a ball of harmony.

The crown prince Xiao Minglong came to inquire in person every five days, and Xiao Yuanying, the king of Teng, rewarded silver taels from time to time, and these officials and officials worked harder and harder. From morning to night, on the one hand, set up points inside and outside Los Angeles, register and count the number of displaced people, and on the other hand, carry documents and file volumes from the prefecture and county, check the registered population, urge the issuance of documents, and free up manpower to follow the prefecture and county officials to go to the countryside to measure and review the land.

After more than a month, the number of displaced people and the ownerless land have been counted and verified, followed by the distribution of land, the policy was originally approved by His Majesty, and the implementation was smooth, and after another month or so, the land has been divided into six or seven tenths, which can be described as the first results. Most of the remaining encircled land is in the hands of local wealthy families, and it is not easy to let these people spit out the meat that has been eaten in their mouths without a thunderous trick - this point, from the prince to the small officials, everyone is like a mirror in their hearts.

On the morning of this day, Long Shaoyang was reading the Chen document sent by Fu County, squinted his eyes, and saw Xiao Yuanying lying on the side of the easy chair with both hands on the armrests of the easy chair, looking at the caisson in a daze, so he asked with a smile: "Your Highness, what are you thinking?"

"I'm wondering, think about why this kid hasn't come today, he's already there at this hour—it's not like his way. ”

Long Shaoyang teased: "It turns out that His Highness also has something to worry about. The Prime Minister's Mansion came early in the morning, saying that Brother An was going to accompany the Prime Minister on a business trip - I was afraid that he would not come today. ”

Xiao Yuanying said "um", looking suddenly realized.

At this moment, there was a sound of crutches, Long Shaoyang just stood up, and Xiao Di had already limped in.

I only heard Xiao Yuanying say in a weird manner: "Those who come often don't come, and those who don't come often come." Xiao Di, look at your complexion, it really makes the little brother envious. It's like us, nesting here all day and all night. Hey, if I stay up for another three and a half months, I'm afraid that if this errand is not completed, I will suffocate to death!"

Hearing him say this, Xiao Di was not annoyed, glanced at Xiao Yuanying with a smile, looked at Long Shaoyang again, turned around and said in a loud voice: "Come on, prepare a carriage immediately, we have important things to go out to handle." "The attendant of the East Palace has already agreed.

Xiao Yuanying stood up from the easy chair and said happily: "Brother Xiao, are you serious?" In the blink of an eye, he had replaced "Xiao Di" with "Brother Xiao." ”

"Of course. Xiao Di smiled, stretched out his hand and pressed it down gently, signaling Xiao Yuanying to be calm and restless, while pacing in the house, he said leisurely: "Your Highness, Shaoyang, according to the number reported by the prefecture and county, now this field has been divided into six or seven ten, and the rest are some hard bones, I am afraid that it will be difficult to make progress for a while." Why don't we take this opportunity to drive to the following prefectures and counties to inspect the field, not only to understand the facts, but also to live and live. Stuffy here all day like this, wouldn't it be a disappointment to the great spring light outside!"

When Long and Xiao heard this, they were very happy in their hearts, and they couldn't help but applaud.

At that moment, the three of them rode in the same carriage, walked out of Pingdingmen, and galloped straight west.

It was April in Mengxia, and the temperature warmed up, but I saw that the road was full of lush greenery, flowers were in full bloom, birds and insects were singing in the grass and trees, and everything was thriving.

The carriage galloped for more than thirty miles and entered the territory of the new county. The three counties of Meng, Xin, and Yi, which resettled the displaced people, are the closest to Los Angeles, and the resettlement and division of land have almost been completed. All the way down, I saw that the two sides of the road were longitudinal and horizontal, and the peasants were scattered in the fields, some were plowing the land to release water, and some were bending down to plant seedlings, a busy scene.

The three of them sometimes looked through the window, sometimes got out of the car and stopped, and their hearts were full of joy. Teng Wang Xiao Yuanying has been clothed and fed since he was a child, how have he ever seen such a situation? Full of curiosity, pointing and pointing, asking back and forth, Long Shaoyang and Xiao Di patiently explained on the side.

Stop and walk all the way, unconsciously, but see that the road is getting narrower and narrower, so that it is rugged and difficult to walk, but the scenery along the way is more and more quiet, the grass beside the road is like grass, and the surrounding hills are undulating, like waves - it turns out that the coachman has just arrived, the car is getting farther away, and he does not know the road, and he is confused into the mountains, and he can no longer distinguish the direction. At that time, the sun was high, everyone was tired and hungry, and Xiao Yuanying was even more bitter, shouting that he forgot to bring water and dry food.

The carriage turned around a mountain col, only to see a few big locust trees on the side of the road in front, tall as a cover, the shadow of the tree swaying, Xiao Yuanying patted the carriage, and shouted: "Coachman, rest for a while under the big locust tree in front, this king's legs are numb and heavy, and he is about to disobey the call." As he spoke, he thumped his calves with his hands.

Long Shaoyang was about to tease him a few words, when he suddenly heard a voice say: "Hey, I really have my own arrangements in the dark." I didn't expect to go around and around to get here—I should have thought of it. Your Highness, Shaoyang, our lunch has fallen!" In his voice, he was surprised and excited, and it was Xiao Di who spoke.

Xiao Yuanying was stunned for a moment, and said, "Where is it, where is it?" Why didn't this king see it?"

Xiao Di smiled faintly, and Nunu said, "It's not far ahead." ”

The carriage traveled about a stone's throw away, and saw a row of three huts on the side of the road, each with a locust tree on each side, but the trunk was like a dragon, and the crown was like a cloud. Tree branches, wooden strips, bamboo, etc. are made of fences, of different heights, enclosing the front of the house, and flowers such as pumpkins and loofahs are hung on them in twos and threes, looking like an ordinary farmer's house.

The three of them got out of the car and walked to the fence gate. When I looked up, I saw that the vegetables in the courtyard were green, and the bees and butterflies were flying, but the door of the hall was closed, except for the insects whispering, there was silence in all directions.

Xiao Yuanying didn't wait for discussion, so he called the door loudly. Who knew that he shouted three times in a row, but no one answered.

After a while, Xiao Yuanying glanced at Long and Xiao, pursed his lips, and was about to turn around. Suddenly, there was a "squeak", the door opened, and out came an old woman in her sixties, dressed in gray coarse cloth, with gray hair and a wrinkled face.

Seeing this, Xiao Di hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and saluted, "Mama Liu, I'm sorry." ”

The old woman looked at Xiao Di, and looked Long Shaoyang and Xiao Yuanying up and down, half loud, neither hot nor cold: "Who am I, who is shouting at noon, it turns out that you are here." It's just that you come alone, why do you still bring two outsiders. You know—Madame doesn't like strangers the most. ”

Xiao Di said: "The younger generation has no intention of disturbing the old lady's tranquility. When the next group of people went out on business, they lost their way on the way, hungry and tired, and they were uninvited guests. begged for saliva to drink in your house, and asked Mama Liu to make it convenient. ”

The old woman snorted, noncommittal, turned around and entered the side room, but left the door of the hall open.

Xiao Yuanying listened to the conversation between the two, thinking that they had known each other for a long time, and seeing that the old woman was indifferent, her face was like frost, she couldn't help but be surprised and suspicious, and opened her mouth to ask, but was stopped by Xiao Di's look.

At that moment, the three of them pushed open the fence door and entered the house through the courtyard, only to see that the space in the house was narrow and dim, and a square table was placed in the middle, with four chairs on both sides, mottled in color, showing that it had been a long time. A gray coarse cloth hangs in the middle of the first right, which is a side room.

Hearing someone come in, a man on the bed stood up tremblingly and walked closer.

The sunlight outside the door came in, and I saw her goosebumps, an ink-colored jade hairpin on her head, and an old woman who was over the age of six.