Chapter 21 The genius of measuring land

Chapter 21 The genius of measuring land

Thirty miles is not too far. In the afternoon, Li Tai and his party arrived at Shangyuan Township.

Shangyuan is located on the east bank of Luoshui River. Half of the territory is hilly. The mountain is named Shangyan Mountain, and it is also commonly known as Tieyan Mountain because of its shape. It is not the Shangyan Mountain where Shangshan Sihao lived in seclusion in the early Western Han Dynasty, but this Shangyan Mountain also has historical sites from the Han Dynasty. The Longshou Canal that diverted Luo water for irrigation during the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ran through here.

These surface knowledge were all told to Li Tai by county officials who were traveling with him. The county official's name was Zheng Man. He was originally not very happy to go out of the city for business, but when he learned that Li Tai was from the Li family in Longxi, he suddenly became enthusiastic.

This feeling is probably similar to those of later generations of outdoor variety shows, where passersby would always enthusiastically help those variety stars. In ancient times when the concept of aristocratic families was prevalent, Li Tai, who was born in the Li family of Longxi, was naturally full of celebrity and could more easily win the goodwill of others.

The administrative seat of Shangyuan Township is located in Shangyang garrison on the south side of the hills. It is a small-scale dock built on the mountain. The garrison leader also serves as the township chief. The so-called township chief is just a common name, not a formal official title.

The three-chief system was implemented in the townships of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Five households had one neighbor chief, five neighbors had one li chief, and five li had one party chief. There was no so-called township chief.

The township chief in the Western Wei Dynasty, whose official name is the supervising corporal, is not a head teacher who manages classroom discipline, but a grassroots official who collects taxes. He is not a local administrative official, but is affiliated with Daxantai. The tax revenue was directly transferred to the military, which was also a variant of the military-first politics of the Western Wei Bafu regime.

"The land Gao Situ received was not equal land, and no rent or transfer was required. However, the country is facing a difficult time, and the Daxingtaixing style requires all the land rewarded by the ministers to donate their property to support the military, so it is necessary to pay for it here. Report to the Township Supervisor.”

Arriving at the Shangyang garrison, Zheng Man explained to Li Tai again, and then came closer and whispered: "The order is new and the outcome is undecided. If there is a poor harvest in the fields and it is inconvenient to use, there are adjustments. "

Li Tai smiled knowingly after hearing this, but he still felt strange in his heart. Can you, a civil servant, teach me how to poach the court?

Shangyang garrison was the place where soldiers from Zuojin Township gathered for training during their leisure time. However, the late spring and early summer were busy with farming. Li Tai saw many farmers working in the fields along the way from Huazhou City, so he naturally had no time to practice martial arts.

Therefore, there were only a dozen slave soldiers stationed in this garrison, and even the garrison leader was not in the fort. When he stepped forward and asked, it turned out that he had gone to farm.

Under Zheng Man's repeated urging, a slave soldier reluctantly went to find the garrison leader.

Everyone waited outside the garrison for more than half an hour before the garrison leader came belatedly on a horse. He was a tall, middle-aged man in his forties with a hat on his head. Clinging to a lot of mud.

"It's you Zheng Chou who comes to trouble me again and interferes with my farm work! If the harvest fails, my family will go to your house to beg for food!"

The garrison leader who looked like an old farmer pointed at Zheng Man from a distance and shouted.

"You clumsy man, don't be rude in front of nobles! This time you come to your hometown to receive a reward from the high-ranking Situ of the Kuoding Dynasty. This gentleman works in the government and is a direct descendant of the famous Li family in Longxi. He is willing to work in your hometown. It’s to bring glory to your country!”

Zheng Man was also used to the vulgarity and rudeness of the villagers. He first laughed and cursed, then pointed at the garrison leader and said to Li Tai: "This one is the garrison leader here Zhou Changming. Although the description is vulgar, he is also a strong man of rural justice."

Li Tai dismounted and clasped his fists and said: "Hello, Lord Zhou, I have just come to your hometown to make a living. If your words or actions violate local customs, I hope the Lord will give you some advice."

"Longxi people? What are you doing in my hometown? I don't care what high official you are, just remember not to harm my hometown feelings. The foreign country is big and the earth is big, but this hometown also has its own rules! If those swords, guns, and sticks of yours dare to attack my hometown people, A country boy is not afraid of risking his life!"

The garrison leader had obviously never heard of the Li family in Longxi, and was very resistant to Li Tai and other external visitors, and his words were quite rude.

Li Tai was not a self-willed person, so he sneered after hearing this: "A homeless person only lives with blood and a bow and a sword in his hand! If people don't bother me, I won't harm others. If it's true, Unfortunately, there is a lack of harmony. Life and death are small matters, but morale is a big deal!"

When the garrison leader heard this, his expression also changed. He stared directly at Li Tai. After a few breaths, he walked straight into the fort and ignored everyone.

"This Zhou Changming's anger is not directed at Li Lang. Since Daxingtai established the rule of Huazhou, most of the public lands in the state have been ceded to honorable ministers. The military department is arrogant and domineering, and often duels with the villagers in the fields. Li Lang is a distinguished scholar, Nature is good at treating people, and if they don't interfere with each other, they won't harm the harmony..."

Zheng Man saw that Li Tai looked a little ugly, so he quickly stepped forward to persuade him.

After hearing this, Li Tai just nodded and said nothing more. When he was in poverty, even Zhao Gui, a general of the Western Wei Dynasty, dared to write and offend him, so he was naturally not afraid of provocation from his fellow countrymen. However, the purpose of moving out of the city into the countryside is ultimately for the sake of development, and I don’t want to have too serious a relationship with these rural people.

After a while, the garrison leader Zhou Changming came out of the fort and threw a deed directly to Li Tai: "The original seventeen hectares of farmland in the north are used to plant grains in the open air, plant mulberries in the mountains, and other miscellaneous plants. If it goes against the rules of the field, don’t blame me for uprooting and destroying them according to the king’s law!”

After saying this, the garrison leader strode away.

After this unpleasant meeting and handover was over and the land deed was obtained, Li Tai rode around the fort again to observe the terrain, thinking about how to attack as quickly as possible.

Zheng Man didn't know what Li Tai had in mind, but when he saw him lingering and refusing to leave, he thought it was not a good thing, so he quickly stepped forward to persuade him: "It's getting late, and the garden property needs to be measured and recorded..."

Li Tai then turned around, waved to Buqu, and continued on his way to his hometown.

Although Shangyuan is half hilly, the hills are not barren mountains with abrupt cliffs and rocks. They are all covered with thick layers of soil, some of which have been reclaimed into fields, and those that have not been reclaimed are densely covered with vegetation.

The farm is located more than ten miles away from Shubei. On the way, we also passed a rural grass market on the plateau. There were some old women selling agricultural and sideline products and some simple farm tools on the plateau.

Li Tai had already sensed the xenophobic sentiments of the villagers from the garrison leader Zhou Changming. He was worried that if the conflict intensified, he might not be able to buy anything he wanted, so he paused and asked Li Zhusheng to go to the plateau with a few followers to buy some village houses. Necessities, be prepared.

Their group of 100 people marched in the countryside in a mighty manner, attracting the attention of the surrounding villagers working in the fields. A few young and bold villagers followed the team with wooden sticks in hand, looking around to find out their movements.

After another half an hour, Li Tai and his party arrived at their destination, a piece of land between two slopes. Zheng Man dismounted and looked for boundary stones nearby, while Li Tai rode forward and looked at the field.

This piece of land is newly reclaimed public land by the county. The land deed states that it was reclaimed in the seventh year of Datong, which was the year before last. It was not planted this year due to rotational farming.

The reason why the land was cultivated by rotation was not because of the loss of soil fertility. Zheng Man explained that it was because of the defeat in Mangshan and the lack of labor force in the county. Newly reclaimed land usually had to be cultivated for three consecutive years to nourish the land. If there were sufficient manpower, even with rotational cultivation, such large areas would not be left fallow. , but cultivate small pieces in turns.

If there are conditions for intensive farming, it will be farming ridge by ridge.

Because there has been no plowing this year, many weeds have grown on the ground. In the distance, there were some villagers driving pigs and sheep to graze. Seeing Li Tai and other people pouring into the fields, they drove the livestock farther away. There were also people carrying baskets behind them, carefully picking up the pigs and sheep. stool.

"The boundary stone is here!"

Zheng Man stood next to a ditch, wiping the sweat from his forehead and pointing to the stones at his feet.

Li Tai walked over quickly, looked at it briefly and then frowned: "Has this boundary stone been moved?"

The land deed states that the western boundary of this farmland is located on the east edge of the ditch, but now the boundary stone is a mile away from the ditch, leaving more than ten acres of land, and the land is already covered with green seedlings of crops.

Not far away, several farmers were holding hoes and standing by the ditch, looking here. Others were running quickly towards the village and kept shouting into the fields, obviously trying to shake people off.

As Li Tai frowned, Li Zhusheng and others had already put their hands on the sabers.

When Zheng Man saw this scene, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He pulled Li Tai and whispered: "Country people work hard and cherish the land. It is inevitable to feel heartbroken when they see fertile land abandoned. Since the deed defines seventeen hectares, there is no reduction in it. I sincerely ask you, sir, to allow me to make further measurements in a short time and create a new field register..."

Li Tai had no intention of playing tricks on the villagers. He didn't even think that the villagers' occupation of land was an abominable and unruly practice.

Ancient society had distinct classes. Compared with the aristocratic families who were polite on the surface but actually ate people without spitting out their bones, the lower class villagers used cunning tricks to make a living, which was really not morally corrupt.

If the villagers who occupied the land were willing to explain to him in a nice and friendly manner, he would never care. However, seeing that more and more villagers gathered in the ditch, and they seemed to have no intention of talking to him, he would inevitably feel a little angry.

"You guys stay here first. If anyone dares to cross the line, they will be kicked out!"

Li Tai gave instructions to Li Zhusheng and others, and then motioned to Zheng Man to start measuring the fields.

Zheng Man brought a thick and long measuring rope, tied one end to the boundary stone, held the other end and pulled it out on horseback, which was a bit like a horse race to enclose the land. After measuring horizontally and vertically, he found that the flat land and exposed fields were twelve hectares.

The measurement of hilly and mountainous areas is a little more troublesome. A mountain top is more than 200 meters high, and the part that can be used for farming only reaches the mountainside.

Li Tai followed Zheng Man over the mountain and saw a gentle valley with many bamboos and wild fruit trees growing in the valley. There was also a gurgling stream. The scenery was very beautiful. The eastern boundary stone was at the foot of the mountain. .

Li Tai waded directly across the valley and stood on the opposite hillside to look at it again. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

When he was about to turn back, he saw the Hu man named Poyantou Paulu who was following him directing two people to carry the boundary stone.

"Master Lang, our exposed fields have been invaded. Zheng Zheng originally said that we should add more boundary stones elsewhere. The boundary stone can be moved a thousand steps eastward. The servant's legs are long, where should we place the boundary stone?"

Hearing what this guy said, Li Tai's mood improved. He pointed to the hillside to the east and said with a smile: "If you can cross the mountain ridge with these thousand steps, I will give you half a fat sheep tonight!"

When Poyantou Paul heard this, he was so happy that his molars were exposed, and he ran up the hillside with rapid strides, still counting the steps: "Four hundred and thirty-five, two hundred and fifty-seven... "

Zheng Man simply sat in front of the bamboo forest in the mountain stream and did not follow the inspection at all. Li Tai was very happy when he saw this. He raised his hand to summon Li Yantou and ordered him to bring two lambs bought on the plateau to Zheng Man later.

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