Chapter 1167: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (Fifty-Seven) Qiaojia Village

Qiaojia Village is about a hundred miles away from Daba Mountain. There are about a hundred households in the whole village, and they cultivate more than a thousand acres of land. However, these lands used to belong to the big landowner Qiao Tang. These hundreds of households are all A tenant of the Qiao family. The Qiao family did not live in the village, but in Qiao County, less than ten miles away from Qiaojia Village. In the first half of this year, because of Qu Wan's disastrous defeat in Linyi, the Han army came in hot pursuit and kept Qu Wan at bay. After Qu Wan arrived at Daba Mountain, the officials and gentry of Qiao County were horrified and fled with Qu Wan. The Han Dynasty controlled thousands of miles of land in Fang Yuan on the other side of Daba Mountain.

The arrival of the Han army had frightened the people here, but they could not escape with their children like their boss Qiao Tang did. They could only stay at home and wait for the unpredictable future.

But what happened next surprised and delighted all the people in Qiao County, including Qiaojia Village. They had never seen such strict discipline before. Qiao Wan, a private member of the army in Qiaojia Village, always remembers the scene at that time.

A young officer knocked on his closed door. When the door opened and saw the heavily armed troops outside, Qiao Wan had already prepared for the worst.

"Are you Mr. Qiao Wanqiao?" the young officer asked.

"Yes, I wonder what the chief wants to do with the common people?" Qiao Wan replied in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.

"Oh, it's like this. We are the troops of the Second Division of the First Army of the Southern Group Army of the Han Kingdom. I am the division commander Ye Feng. We have posted notices to calm the people in the village, but the people in the village are basically illiterate. Let's explain it ourselves. And Afraid that they wouldn't believe it, after asking around, I found out that the gentleman is a scholar, so I came to ask him to help us interpret it," the visitor said with a smile.

Qiao Wan didn't know how big an official the division commander was, but judging from his demeanor and the soldiers behind him, he must be a big official, and his demands were not excessive. So he nodded in agreement.

When he reached the entrance of the village, he was surprised to find that several miles of barracks had been set up outside the village. These troops did not enter the village, and not many people even walked out of the military camp. This was very different from what he had known and heard before. You must know that when Dachu mobilized troops to Linyi, their village was also asked to donate military rations!

"Sir. There is no autumn harvest in the village yet, and there is not much food. Sir, please don't embarrass the people in the village." Seeing that the young officer named Ye Feng was very kind, Qiao Wan said boldly.

The young officer was slightly surprised at first, then smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Qiao, our Han army has its own logistics supply system and never extorts military rations from the people. You will see it in the future, our army of the Han Kingdom. Yes. The most disciplined army.”

Having said that, Qiao Wan didn't take it too seriously at the time.

What happened next,

One by one, Qiao Wan finally understood. Why did the officer named Ye Feng say that the Han army was the most disciplined army in the world?

This army seems to have plans to station here for a long time, but their soldiers have never entered the village in large numbers. The most frequent ones are the cooks driving carriages. Buying vegetables from local villagers is a purchase, not a requisition. The price is quite reasonable.

As time goes by, the villagers gradually get used to the existence of this army. They are all ordinary people and they have to survive. They have to do whatever they have to do. Although the land is not their own, they still have to plant the land and provide food. You have to accept it, otherwise what will you eat next?

Of course, there are also villagers who are smarter. Seeing the benevolence and righteousness of these Han soldiers, they push wheelbarrows and go around the countryside to collect vegetables, bacon, and eggs, and then push them to the Han army camp to sell them, so that everyone has nothing to do. What I thought was that these few guys who were eating crabs became prosperous because of it. The Han army's logistics officer actually signed a contract with them. No matter how much they took, the Han army would accept it all.

This is a large military camp with thousands of people. How much is consumed every day!

If this was just a small section, Qiao Wan was shocked by what happened next with the arrival of the Han civil servants. They began to divide the fields. The entire village's land belonged to Qiao Tang, but the Han government's After the officials arrived, they first measured the land in the village, and then began to hold a meeting with all the villagers. They actually wanted to distribute the land to all the people for free.

The whole Qiaojia Village was boiling.

Allocating fields and selecting village chiefs depends on the wishes of the Han Dynasty officials. They will not send people to the villages. Everything is autonomous by the villages. And the tax standards they announced are so low that no one can believe it. , you know, in the past, they not only had to pay rent to Qiao Tang, but also had to pay taxes to the country. It would be good if one-third of their annual income could fall into their own hands. But now, out of ten percent of the harvest, I only pay 30%, and the rest is my own.

They built water canals in the village, renovated houses and roads for the people, and sent several soldiers to each household to help during the autumn harvest. All of this completely overturned the people in Qiao's village's understanding of the army. , also subverted their understanding of the invaders. In just one month, this foreign army completely won the hearts of everyone in Qiaojia Village, and everyone was eager for them to stay here forever.

With the arrival of the Han army, the people in Qiaojia Village also had a better understanding of the outside world. From the descriptions of these soldiers, the people in Qiaojia Village finally had a vague understanding of the Han Kingdom. For them, Han seemed to be a beautiful paradise.

The people in Qiao's village all felt that they had hope, but Qiao Wan felt that while there was hope, she also had some worries that others did not have. The officials sent to Qiao County by the Han Dynasty required that every village should have a school, and children from every household must be enrolled in school. The county was responsible for all the school fees. As Mr. Qiao, who had been unemployed for a long time, At the end of the day, not only does he have a fixed salary to earn, but more importantly, he can resume teaching and educating people. How could he not like it?

However, the troublesome thing is that the young teacher Ye Feng started to run to his home whenever he had something to do. He came with various excuses, but the one he used most often was to help him teach his children how to read. He had to admit that this young officer was indeed very knowledgeable. He was very different from the soldier he had imagined with well-developed limbs and a simple mind.

But his real purpose. It should be his daughter Rong Niang.

This troubled Qiao Wan, although now he knew that the division commander was already a very high official in the army of the Han Kingdom. This team of thousands of people, no, should not know thousands of people, in the city, they There are also troops stationed there, at least more than ten thousand people. It is hard to believe that such a huge army is actually led by such a young man.

This officer fell in love with his daughter, and his daughter also had feelings for this young officer. No wonder Rong Niang likes this young man. Not only is he not as rude as a warrior, but he is gentle and elegant, and he looks heroic. He is really Young and promising. But Qiao Wan had her own considerations. To become such a big official at such a young age, I am afraid that Ye Feng's family background is very unusual, and he must be from a wealthy family in Han Dynasty. As for his family, they are ordinary ordinary people. He is very worried that if his daughter really follows such a person, her life will be difficult in the future. What's more, the young man had never officially proposed marriage, if he just wanted to make his daughter a concubine. That Qiao Wan absolutely refused to do so. Although her daughter was from a small family, she could never be violated.

Qiao Wan sighed, his thoughts interrupted by a roar. He raised his head and looked at Qiao Tang's disgusting face on the high platform in front of him.

"I, Mr. Qiao, are back again!" Qiao Tang glared at the people in Qiaojia Village below with complicated expressions, "You idiots dare to divide my family's land, but did you ever think that I, Mr. Qiao, would come back one day? The rent will be doubled this year. Pay it to me honestly. I will not forgive your sins, otherwise, you will end up like them."

Following Qiao Tang's fingers, everyone saw the villagers who had made a fortune from doing business with the Han army. They were tied up and knelt down on the ground. Behind them, there was a row of swordsmen and axemen. Cries came from behind them, and they were the families of these people.

"Cut it down!" Qiao Tang waved his hand, and the swordsmen in the hands of the swordsmen raised their swords high. Qiao Wan closed her eyes for a moment. Following the bursts of exclamations around her, Qiao Wan knew that those few people were already dead. A different place.

"Don't think that this day has changed. This day will not change. How powerful our Chu army is. The Han army didn't care about life and death. They forgot about it after winning a small battle. Now aren't they being beaten back by our Chu army? You guys Life is good. The big boss above was originally going to punish you for collaborating with the enemy. It's because I, Qiao, have a good heart and only caught the culprits without asking for coercion. I have saved your lives. From now on, I will do my duty for Qiao. Master, I farm the land and pay the rent on time every year, Master, I will keep you safe!"

Qiao Wan lowered his head. A beautiful life is short-lived. Ever since he heard the news of the Han army's defeat in Pengcheng from Ye Feng two months ago, his heart has been filled with a haze. Sure enough, more than a month ago, Ye Feng He told him with anger on his face that they were going to retreat, not only the army, but also the officials, and everything here would be handed over to the Chu people.

Ye Feng asked Qiao Wan and his family to go with him, but Qiao Wan refused. If he followed Ye Feng and were in a foreign land, then he would have to do whatever he wanted. This was still his hometown.

Everything has returned to the past. These beautiful days for more than half a year are just a beautiful dream. The school seems to be falling apart again. How can the children come to school again?

"Qiao Wan!" A cold voice suddenly came from in front of him. Qiao Wan raised her head in shock and immediately saw Qiao Tang's sinister gaze.

"Master Qiao!" Qiao Wan lowered her head and shouted.

"Do you know why I didn't arrest you? Didn't I chop your head off like those people?" Qiao Tang laughed.

"The villain has always followed the rules and has never done anything illegal. A few days ago, the Han people divided the land, but the villain did not claim even one and a half acres." Qiao Wan said in a low voice.

"It's not that you don't want it, but even if you want it, no one will plant it!" Qiao Tang said with a smile: "Can you plant it? Or that girl of yours can plant it. I won't arrest you because you are a scholar. A scholar? Always It makes sense, don’t you think? Compared with those people who were beheaded, you are more guilty. Don’t think that I don’t know that when the Han army was stationed here, a general of the Han army committed suicide almost every day. Run to you. Your friendship with him is extremely unusual. Qiao Wan, let me tell you, there are people from above. They are living in the city now. Do you know who is leading the team? He is Mr. Qiao, my son. They were originally They wanted to arrest you, but I blocked them."

Qiao Wan's heart skipped a beat.

"But sir, I don't do my good deeds in vain." Qiao Tang said with a cruel smile: "Your girl is getting older and more graceful. Qiao Wan, sir, I have fallen in love with her and plan to marry her as my tenth concubine. I have already Ask someone to check the date, it will be an auspicious day in ten days, sir, I will come to marry you in a red sedan chair, hahaha!"

Amid Qiao Wan's thunderous shock, Qiao Tang walked away with a wild smile. (To be continued...)