strictlysupreme Chapter 1833 Understanding the Village
Chapter 1833 Understanding the Village
The farm that the queen rewarded to Li Shen seemed to be better than ordinary farms.
After all, it is the imperial estate, and it is also the private estate of the Empress Dowager. Empress Changsun is kind and benevolent.
It is also better for the farm, and the taxation will naturally be more relaxed.
The old man who came to greet Li Shen was named Li, with a single given name, Wang. He was the village chief of this village.
Responsible for conveying the Queen's orders, collecting taxes, supervising farming, security and other matters.
Li Shen asked and found out that Li Wang was already over sixty years old and was highly respected in the village.
But he has no children, and only has a nephew to serve him.
Li Shen and Li Wang came to the entrance of the village. There were only a few people there.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness Prince Ji and His Royal Highness the Princess." Several people saluted in unison.
“Your Highness Prince Ji, they usually help me manage the manor, including household registration, manor security, and farming matters.
The other villagers did not let them out, fearing that they would offend His Royal Highness Prince Ji."
Afraid that Li Shen would blame him for the small number of people welcoming him, Li Wang explained that after all, there were too many people in the village, several thousand people.
Considering the safety of Prince Ji, when he received the news, he told all the people to stay at home and not go out.
Li Shen naturally knew this truth. This was also a little troublesome for being a noble.
It's nothing like what was shown in the TV dramas in my previous life, where I could wander around and act cool and get slapped in the face.
Not many people in Chang'an City have seen him, but everyone knows the carriage of Prince Ji's Mansion, so they have to avoid it no matter where they go.
No one will slap you in the face.
Those who can be seen wagging their tails in the streets, strolling with their vicious dogs, following the dogs when they walk, and trembling when the dogs stop, are all low-level nobles or ruffians.
How could a top noble like him go shopping casually?
Whenever Li Tai wanted to have fun, he would call scholars and other people to Furong Garden, where they would drink and recite poems.
Alas, how sad. Li Shen would sometimes sigh.
“It’s okay, I’m just here to take a look today.
I am usually quite busy, so I may not be able to come here often in the future.
If you have any problems in the future, just send someone to Prince Ji’s Mansion to find Fugui, the chief steward of Prince Ji’s Mansion.
Also, the prince will come here on behalf of the king to offer sacrifices and confer rewards in the future."
Li Shen said this and pointed at Li Wei in his arms.
Several people saluted quickly:
"See Crown Prince."
They all knew that this was the future master of the Ji Palace. Looking at this little master who was only one or two years old, several people bowed respectfully.
"Okay, Awang, please introduce Zhuangzi to me."
Li Shen waved his hand.
"Then Your Highness, please condescend to come to my humble home. My humble home is not far from here, and I cannot let Your Highness be exposed to the wind and sun here."
Li Wang saluted and said, Standing at the entrance of Zhuangzi, he was a little bit neglectful to King Ji.
Li Shen shook his head:
"No need. I have already ordered the tent to be set up. Let's talk inside the tent."
As he was speaking, Li Shen's personal guards had already set up a simple tent on the flat ground not far away.
Li Shen brought Lu Dingniang to the general's tent, and Li Wang and several others followed behind.
Once they entered, they were a little overwhelmed. They saw a carpet on the ground with exquisite patterns that looked extremely precious.
They were considering whether to take off their shoes. It would be a waste of resources to let them step on such a precious carpet.
"Come in and sit down." Li Shen saw several people standing there in a daze and gave them instructions.
"Yes." Li Wang and others hurried forward. At this moment, tables and chairs had been placed in the big tent. After Li Shen sat down, he saw that several people were still standing and knew that they were a little nervous.
Then he smiled and said:
“Don’t be so reserved, I’m not that difficult to get along with.
Sit down and answer the question."
After hearing Li Shen's words, several people sat down stiffly under the leadership of Li Wang.
"Awang, tell me about Zhuangzi." Li Shen stopped forcing him and asked Li Wang.
"Looking back, there are now 873 households in Zhuangzi, cultivating more than 300,000 mu of land, and the taxes collected every year..."
"Not to mention the taxes, over 300,000 mu? That means more than 3,000 people own land. How many people are there in the village?"
Li Shen interrupted Li Wang's report. He was not interested in the amount of tax, but the population.
A large population can create more wealth and have more talents.
The land they cultivated belonged to the court, and two-thirds of the income belonged to themselves, but the land would always belong to the country.
The 50,000 acres of fertile land that he was rewarded with was his private property, and the proceeds belonged to him.
Otherwise, with so many people, Li Shen wouldn’t have enough land to go around.
"Your Highness, I haven't carefully counted the exact number of people, but if we count the elderly and children, there should be nearly 5,000 people."
When Li Wang heard Li Shen asking about the population, he shook his head. The court asked them to count the households, but did not ask them to count the number of people.
“Then I will give you my first order. Starting tomorrow, we will establish a household registration system exclusively for Prince Ji’s Mansion.
How many people are there in Zhuangzi, how many men, how many women, how many young and strong people, how many children, and how many old people.
Also, how many people can read and write? I want to know exactly how many people can read and write. I want to know exactly how many people can read and write.
If there are any omissions, I will punish you, do you understand?"
Li Shen had known this would be the result, because it was the same when he first took over Dahuangzhuang and Xiaohuangzhuang.
"Yes, we understand. We will complete the registration as soon as possible." Li Wang bowed and accepted the order.
Although the workload was a bit heavy, they had also heard about King Ji. They all said that King Ji was domineering, evil, and evil.
If Prince Ji kills them all, nothing will happen.
"Well, there's no need to be too anxious. A month is enough time. What I want is precision, and there can be no mistakes."
"Yes." Several people agreed.
Li Shen thought for a while and said:
“You are quite far away from my royal estate, so many things need to be replanned.
If there are elderly people in the village who are helpless, please report to Prince Ji’s Mansion. We have a special Beitianyuan to provide for them.
As for the children's education, this needs to wait until you complete the household registration. I will see how many children you have before making a decision."
This place is in the west of the city. The manor where Li Shen lived before is in the south of the city. It’s dozens of miles away and not close at all.
If there are many children, Li Shen will have to build another college.
After hearing this, Li Wang and others were very happy. They thought that if they studied hard, they would have a chance to make a name for themselves.
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji, for your grace." Several people bowed and thanked him quickly.
They had long heard that the fiefdom under the name of Prince Ji had very good benefits, that children could go to school and the elderly could provide for their retirement.
"By the way, Awang, tell the people that due to the severe drought this year, Prince Ji's palace will waive rent and taxes, so the villagers don't have to worry.
We will wait until next year when the weather is good and the harvest is ready. "