Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty

In the first half of the seventh year of Xuanwu, from the first month to May, the weather was smooth.

Even in the arid northwest, it rained several times in spring and summer this year, and the crops in the northwest were able to thrive.

Seeing the crops continue to grow and ripen, tens of millions of people in the world are very excited, and they look forward to the early arrival of the harvest season.

By the end of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the wheat has matured in the Henan area, and hundreds of thousands of rebels who have taken off their military uniforms and returned to their hometowns to work in agriculture

The boys have already started harvesting the crops! Qin Hui has urgently sent the good news of Henan's bumper harvest to Yanjing!

In Yanjing, because of its proximity to the Northland, the wheat here is still immature, but the wheat has also turned yellow.

On May 29th, Zhao Chen left Yanjing City with more than a hundred guards to inspect the farmland around Yanjing.

They kept observing and inquiring all the way west, and in the afternoon of this day, they came to the village they had been to last winter.

There is an endless wheat field in front of you. The sun shines on the wheat field, and pieces of golden light radiate out!

The weather was hot and the soldiers were sweating, but they were all excited.

There was a wide canal beside the road, almost a small river. The clear river flows inside, and there are small ditches beside the river.

The water is diverted to the fields.

Zhao Chen squatted down, scooped up water with his hands, and then washed the dust off his face.

The river water was cool, and Zhao Chen felt refreshed.

The soldiers also squatted down one after another, some of them filled their skins with water, and after resting here for a while, they left here.

After walking for a while, several old farmers were working in the farmland ahead.

The weather was hot, and the two old farmers were wearing bamboo hats.

Soon, they heard footsteps in the distance, and immediately looked forward.

After seeing Zhao Chen, one of the old farmers had a surprised expression on his face, and after a while he said in surprise: "Look, is that man His Majesty?"

Down? "

Another old farmer next to him carefully identified, nodded sharply, and said, "That's right! It's His Majesty! We met His Majesty last winter, and it was him! That's right.

! "

The two old farmers were overjoyed, they immediately left the farmland and headed towards the road!

Not long after, they came before Zhao Chen and the others!

"Your Majesty! It's you? It's really you!" The two old farmers fell to their knees in ecstasy.

"You are Qian Shirong?" Zhao Chen helped the two old farmers up, looked at one of them, and said with a smile.

"It's grass people!" The old farmer laughed.

It turned out that he was the village chief Qian Shirong whom Zhao Chen had met last year!

"Your Majesty, you really kept your promise and came here again!" Qian Shirong said excitedly.

"The wheat harvest season is coming soon, let me see how the wheat is growing in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun!" Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, the wheat is growing very well! This year, we can have a bumper harvest!" Qian Shirong said.

"Oh? How much wheat can one mu of land produce?" Zhao Chen said.

"One mu of land can have at least two hundred catties of wheat!" Qian Shirong said.

"Two hundred catties? Very good!" Zhao Chen nodded.

For the modern society of later generations, two hundred catties is regarded as extremely poor growth! In the north of later generations, it is normal to produce a thousand catties of wheat per mu, but in this

In this era, agricultural technology is backward, and two hundred catties is already considered a bumper harvest year! Of course, two hundred catties is not enough to feed the family, but the population of this era is far from

For example, in the later generations, the per capita land area is more than ten times that of the later generations, so although the average yield is low, the amount of land is large enough to feed the world.

!

"Your Majesty, we have been doing farm work with the landlord for decades, but we have never seen such a bumper harvest! In the past, an acre of land could only produce more than a hundred catties at most.

quantity! This year it's almost twice as much as ever! The crops belonged to others before, but now the crops belong to us! Since last winter, we have often stayed at

In the field, before spring begins, we start hoeing! After the wheat is planted, we are afraid that we will not be able to take good care of the crops. Some people even sleep in the fields at night,

Get up in the middle of the night and keep working! Now there are no cattle in the village, no cow dung, so we go to pick up bird droppings! Sometimes in order to compete for bird droppings, several people are still there

fight! The children in our family were all driven to the mountains to collect bird droppings! When working for the landlord in the past, who could be so attentive?

It is precisely because of this that we can have a bumper harvest this year! "Qian Shirong said with a smile all over his face.

Zhao Chen nodded.

Now the land is owned by the farmers themselves, and the enthusiasm of the farmers for farming is several times that of before. It is normal for the crops to be harvested more than before.

"Thanks to His Majesty's grace, my family has allocated more than 20 acres of land. If calculated, our family will be able to harvest four thousand catties of wheat this year.

Moreover, after harvesting the wheat, we can also plant sorghum, beans, and harvest something! This year, don't worry about not being able to eat anymore! His Majesty,

Last year, the imperial court gave us a lot of food for disaster relief. The people in our village have already discussed it. The imperial court treats us so favorably, and we cannot take the imperial court for nothing.

Ting's things, we have to return this food! "Qian Shirong said, laughing all the time.

"The imperial court serves the people. If the common people can't afford food, the imperial court should provide disaster relief! This year, the imperial court has no agricultural tax, but starting next year,

Many places may have to collect agricultural taxes again! " Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, do you know how much agricultural tax there is?" Qian Shirong asked hastily.

"It won't exceed 10%!" Zhao Chen said.

"It's so little, we can afford it." Qian Shirong laughed again.

"Do you know why the court collects taxes?" Zhao Chen said.

"This... grassroots are stupid, they don't know." Qian Shirong said.

"The imperial court has millions of troops, guarding the north. It is precisely because of the presence of such a large army that the Jurchens cannot invade, and we Han people can live in Yanyun and the Central Plains.

If we are happy, we can own our own land and have enough food. However, this million-strong army is fighting with the enemy, and they also need rations. Soldiers

If you die in battle, you also need a pension. These military rations and pensions all come from the taxation of the world. In addition, the governments of various places need to build water conservancy and roads, which also require

Silver is spent, which also comes from taxes. In addition, the imperial court built roads, and some places were affected by disasters. The imperial court wanted to provide disaster relief, and all kinds of places needed money.

money. The country is also forced to collect taxes, I hope you can understand! " Zhao Chen said.

"So that's it! After the tax goes up, it's also for ourselves, so of course we have to pay for it!" Qian Shirong said.

"It is impossible for any dynasty not to collect taxes! However, we are different from previous dynasties. Our taxes will not be used for the pleasure of officials.

On, but on the common people! In the future, we will allow the common people to monitor the use of tax revenue. " Zhao Chen said.

"Let the common people supervise?" Qian Shirong was taken aback, not understanding what it meant.

"In the future, we will select highly respected people from the common people to supervise the state affairs and the use of the country's tax revenue, and report every transaction to these people!

" Zhao Chen said.

"This..." Qian Shirong found it unbelievable, asking the common people to supervise the government, this has never happened, he has never heard of it!

He is just an ordinary farmer in this era, with limited knowledge, he just finds it incredible, and he doesn't know whether it is good or bad, he even thinks it is a kind of

Regarding the blasphemy of the imperial power and the imperial court, I didn't dare to say more at the moment, so I hurriedly lowered my head.

Zhao Chen just mentioned it casually, without saying much, and continued to walk forward.

"When will the wheat be harvested?" Zhao Chen asked.

"We have to wait half a month." Qian Shirong said.

"Is your granary ready?" Zhao Chen asked.

"Everything is ready! Every household has prepared a large granary!" Qian Shirong grinned.

"When harvesting wheat, I am most afraid of rain. When the time comes, I will come here again, and I will help the villagers harvest wheat together!" Zhao Chen said.

"Ah!" An ecstatic expression appeared on Qian Shirong's face! For the ancient people, the arrival of the emperor is a great joy! Qian Shirong never

I didn't expect that my village could be favored by the emperor so much!

"By the way, those Khitan people in the village, how is their farmland doing?" Zhao Chen asked.

"They also plant a lot of farmland! We are all poor people, and now we all have land, and our minds are all on the land, and they are no exception! But

, Your Majesty, we have been monitoring the Khitan people and will never let them rebel! "Qian Shirong patted his chest and said.

"You don't need to supervise them! When the country has money, it will set up schools in various places, and the children of the villagers can go to school, even the children of the Khitan people.

Women can also enter! They all learn our Han culture and wear our Han clothes. After a long time, there is not much difference between them and our Han people.

do not! It's best to think of a way to let all the Khitan people change their surnames to Han, and let the Khitans intermarry with us Han people! " Zhao Chen said.

Qian Shirong nodded half-understood.

They kept walking forward, and for a full hour, the number of villagers beside Zhao Chen became more and more, and almost all the villagers had faces.

With a bright smile that can only be seen in the harvest season.

"Your Majesty, you can stay in our village tonight, and we will prepare a feast for you!" Qian Shirong said.

"Okay, I'll rest here with you today! But don't prepare a feast, I just want to eat the farm food here!" Zhao Chen said.

"Okay!" Qian Shirong laughed.

That night, Zhao Chen stopped in this village.

In fact, the wheat is not mature now, and the people in the village are living in a very bitter cold. It is impossible for them to prepare a "feast".

meals! Zhao Chen and the guards all carried dry food with them, and they even had to take out their own dry food to let the villagers cook.

Early the next morning, Zhao Chen left here and continued on.

For the current Yanjing court, the most important thing is to harvest wheat. Officials in the court, big and small, have gone to various places in Yanyun from Zhao Chen down.

Inspect the situation, ask the people if they have any difficulties, and help the people to prepare for the harvest! If it rains when the wheat is harvested, it will be bad.

The garrison is even ready to go into place to help with the wheat harvest!

It was not until the fifth day of June that Zhao Chen returned to the palace.

He first went to the Tai Chi Palace to greet Zhao Ji, and then came to the small courtyard where Zhe Yueru was.

The summer is scorching, there are many trees in the courtyard, it is still cool, Zhe Yueru is embroidering in the shade under the tree at this moment.

Zhao Chen didn't disturb her, came behind her and found that she was embroidering a pair of mandarin ducks.