Chapter 86 When will we be able to rely on others?
(Thanks to Ruowubancunlingluojin for casting a monthly vote.)
Led by the two constables who had brought the people from Lijia Village to Liujiatun, Tian Cao and two minor officials drove over in a donkey cart.
As they entered the path leading directly to Liujiatun, Li Shiyue, who was gathering firewood halfway up the mountain with stones, spotted them immediately.
Li Shiyue ran into the mountains, found a windy spot, and blew a specially made whistle. After she stopped blowing, a few breaths later, the same whistle sounded down from upwind.
This was a communication method for people in the mountains that Li Shiyue and the leaders of the exploration team, Ma Zi and Wei Zi, came up with together.
The Black Mountain is so vast, a continuous stretch of mountains. If anything happens, even if you just want to come back early to report, it will take quite a while.
So they came up with a plan together and made whistles, with different whistles for calm and emergency situations to convey information.
A calm whistle indicates that everything is safe, and it can also be interpreted as either alert or safe. The length and speed of the whistle can convey different messages.
The emergency is that the barbarians are coming. Prepare for battle! The elderly, weak, and children should go into the cellar, and the other combat personnel should prepare their weapons and be ready to fight at any time!
The whistle that Li Shiyue just blew was to let everyone know that everything was alright.
Sure enough, when she came down the mountain carrying firewood and stones, she saw Li Youfu and the others already entertaining the constables and Tian Cao at the village entrance.
Since most of the original inhabitants of Liujiatun had died, the land was taken back by the county government and redistributed by the county government's land administration department to the people of Lijiacun and Wangjiacun who had moved there.
Tian Cao didn't seem like an easy person to talk to. He had a mustache and wore a hat, standing there with a stern face that made people feel a little scared.
However, Tian Cao was very efficient. He allocated land to everyone according to the number of people and the household registration, just as originally agreed: thirty mu for each man and twenty mu for each woman.
The busy work lasted until mid-afternoon. Lunch was eaten in the courtyard where Li Youfu lived. It wasn't anything special; the only meat dish was a few chickens brought by Granny Liu.
"It gets cold early here. In another month, it might snow. You can't plant anything here in winter."
I've already divided it up for you, so you have a general idea of what to expect.
Furthermore, each family saves up some wood ash to fertilize their fields next year.
When spring comes next year, Dr. Tian will arrange for everyone to cultivate the land.
"Don't worry, His Highness is considerate of you since you've just settled here. You can have these seeds on credit for now, and they can be removed from the harvest later."
After saying this, Tian Cao shut up and sat down to the side.
Then a constable chimed in, saying, "Everyone heard what Sun Tiancao said."
Our prince said that for the first three years, all those who settle in Andong will only pay half of their taxes!
If you have the capacity to clear wasteland next year, you won't have to pay taxes on the wasteland for the first three years!
Just think about it, with this big black mountain nearby, we're bound to have enough to eat!
The constable's words were nice, but everyone already knew from Old Man Liu how Liu Family Village had become so deserted. Although they were happy to settle down and settle down, they were more worried and afraid about the future.
At this moment, Li Youfu stepped forward and gave the constable a proper salute. The constable understood from this gesture that Li Youfu had something serious to say, so he quickly returned the salute.
“What you say is true, sir, but I still have some questions I would like to ask.”
The constable gave him a "go ahead and ask" look, and Li Youfu asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.
"Sir, I've heard that behind this Black Mountain lies the grassland where the barbarians live. They've even come into the village to rob grain and kill people."
We've come, and we're willing to honestly farm and pay taxes.
But they are barbarians after all. With a knife hanging over our heads, how can we feel at ease planting this land?
"If the barbarians come, even if we get this land, nobody will farm it!"
I thought the constable would brush off Li Youfu's question, or he would pretend to be angry and scold Li Youfu, but to my surprise, he just laughed happily.
"Chief Li, you've asked the right question!"
Our young master is back!
Upon hearing that the eldest son had returned, the prince made arrangements to send troops to fight the barbarians in a couple of days!
Not only in your Liujiatun village, but also in other villages near Daheishan Mountain, like Sunjiayao and Zhaoyoujia next to Sunjiayao, they will send troops.
Don't worry, the soldiers will arrive in a couple of days, and they'll definitely be able to protect you!
"Just take good care of yourselves this winter, work hard next year, and better days are just around the corner!"
The constable's words made people happy. What ordinary people think about is having enough to eat and clothes to wear, their children being able to get married, and having the next generation, right?
But in Li Shiyue's view, isn't this just an empty promise?
Where are the soldiers?
How many days have passed?
They arrived to set up camp, to garrison troops on the spot, and to build military camps here from then on?
Is it possible to stay at the foot of Daheishan Mountain and directly designate Liujiatun as a military settlement?
Or is it just that it's there for a short period of time, and then it's gone?
In the past few days, Li Shiyue and his mother also went to Qingsong Town. While listening to people gossip in front of the town's wine shops, they learned that there were ten military camps behind Qingsong Town, and that the area was close to Sanshan County.
Therefore, if the barbarians wanted to rob, they could only come to Liujiatun and Sunjiayao. However, Sunjiayao was closer to Qingsong Town, while Liujiatun was farther away. Moreover, for the barbarians on the grassland, Liujiatun was the closest, as they could get there by simply crossing a mountain.
Therefore, while the others smiled and felt relieved after being told what to do by the constables, Li Shiyue still stood to the side with a frown and pursed lips.
Finally, Li Youfu stepped in and gave each of the constables and Tian Cao a purse, then gently saw them off.
Normally, for something like this, one should treat the person to a nice meal and then give them two thank-you gifts.
Given the current situation, there really isn't the means to send a purse, which made the constable and Tian Cao quite happy.
When Li Youfu and Li Shiyang returned with the Wang family patriarch, Li Shiyue went over to Li Youfu and called out, "Grandpa Fu." Li Youfu knew she had something to say as soon as he saw her like this.
When they returned to the place where everyone from Lijia Village lived, Li Shiyue immediately said the same old thing: "They said soldiers would come, but they didn't say when they would come."
How many can come? Are they going to set up camp and garrison troops here? Or will they just stay for a few days until the snow falls and then leave?
What if the barbarians come first instead of them?
We can't just rely on others to protect us. Along this journey, when have we ever been able to depend on anyone else?
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