Chapter 24: After the Big Stick Comes the Sweet Date

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"Boring! Boring! Boring!"

Waves of crisp gong sounds echoed over the village communities across the plain.

The Liaodong cavalry galloped on the muddy ground and shouted loudly, "Tonight, His Highness is hosting a banquet in Gujiazhuang, and the heads and heads of each village will be there to drink!"

Wang Jiu, who was in his forties, was about to come out of his thatched hut to participate when he was stopped by the woman behind him.

"Master, you can't go. It's a beheading. You can't go if you can't."

"You can't go. Didn't you go to see me today? The Gu family's blood hasn't dried yet. If you don't go, our family will be next."

After being told by her husband, the woman's strength weakened. At this time, the baby in the room also started crying, so she let go of Wang Jiu's clothes and went to see the child.

"Stay well at home. If you hear bad news, run to the mountains." Wang Jiu told his wife before leaving.

Dozens of nearby village communities were in almost the same situation as Wang Jiu. His wife and children were crying and did not want them to go to some banquet hosted by His Highness, but what could they do? Everyone in the family knew the consequences of not going.

In the evening, dozens of pots and stoves were set up in front of a high platform built with 12 huge rosewood logs, and dozens of people were busy running around in front of the pots and stoves.

Dozens of children were drooling at the corners of their mouths, looking eagerly at the pork, fat chicken, and tender goose tumbling in the pot.

They were all boys from Gujiazhuang's tenant farmers. The food they raised at home was for the Gu family. I had never eaten it.

"Go away! Stop making noise here. Go home and call all the adults in your family. When the banquet begins, you will naturally have something to eat.

His Highness said today that anyone who comes will have something to eat! "Li Yi yelled at the children, but when he saw their eyes, he was very happy.

"Oh! Go home! And tell my dad to come quickly!"

The children left happily, winking at the taste in the corners of their mouths as they walked.

Li Yi, who was the promotion officer for today's banquet, knew that Qin Hao attached great importance to this banquet, so he naturally did not dare to be careless. He even went to Zhuge Xuan to apply for a few cooks who were cooking in Gujiazhuang, and tried to cook the food. It has to be delicious.

"You guys cook well for me. If I find someone doing something small, His Highness will kill you." Li Yi looked at the cooks in a threatening tone.

After checking along the way, there was nothing wrong. Wine, meat, meals, and even fruits were all ready.

Bananas, lychees, longans, citrus, mangos, papayas, mangosteens, etc., as far as the eye can see, Roushan wine and sea are similar. You can smell the aroma from miles away. No wonder those children don’t want to leave.

Li Yi had never seen such a scene. After all, he couldn't help but eat a few lychees. The fresh, juicy and sweet taste made Li Yi say it was delicious. He secretly stuffed a few more lychees into his pocket and prepared to take them with him. Go back and give Xiu Xiu a taste.

As night falls, the lights are lit.

Qin Hao looked at the crowd of people standing in the audience. Most of the people who came today were men, but there were a few women and children. He was afraid that they were frightened today.

Qin Hao ordered people to lead them to their seats and loudly announced the start of the banquet.

But no one in the audience dared to pick up chopsticks to eat, even though the chicken, duck and fish on the table were so fragrant and tempting.

Wang Jiu looked at Lin Ashu from the next village at the same table and saw confusion in his eyes as to what kind of medicine this highness was selling in the gourd.

This morning I had just unleashed a big stick in front of the village leaders, but tonight I had a banquet.

"It's worth dying after eating this meal."

I don’t know who said this, and the audience immediately became lively. The wine drinkers were eating wine, the meat eaters were sandwiching meat, and the fruit eaters were eating fruit. They all stuffed it into their mouths desperately.

They only dare to buy 2 taels of these fish meat during the Chinese New Year to taste it, but how can they bring it to the table in full platters like tonight?

Wang Jiu looked at the table next to him eating happily, and there was nothing wrong with him. His heart skipped a beat, he gritted his teeth and said, "Eat!"

Even if I can't go back today, I still have to eat enough from him!

Throughout the Gujiazhuang, hundreds of people were feasting, the sound of wine bowls hitting rice bowls was constant, adults and children were laughing, and they were all immersed in the atmosphere of wine and meat.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Qin Hao asked someone to speak.

"quiet!"

The loud voices of a dozen cavalry soldiers immediately silenced everyone at the banquet, and they all looked at each other on the high platform.

"I summoned you all here today for one purpose." Qin Hao stood up slowly and said with a magnetic voice.

"You are all severely oppressed by the Gu family, so today I am going to tell you some good news. I will distribute all the Gu family's fields to you, with 30 acres per son and 20 acres per woman."

What?

Everyone's eyes widened when they heard the news. They couldn't believe that they had just heard that His Highness, who had just arrived, was going to give them the Gu family's land. You must know that they were all good paddy fields, one acre of land. We can harvest 1,000 kilograms of grain in two seasons a year.

Seeing their stunned expressions, Qin Hao was secretly proud. When Gu Qing was killed, although the resistance factor was eliminated and the system rewarded him, he also lost the support of the people here to a certain extent.

What Qin Hao has to do today is to win people's hearts and minds. The most important thing is to reward favors and win people's hearts. At the same time, nearby villagers can also be arranged to settle here to eliminate the influence of local village communities.

Of course there are conditions for allocating land!

Just when everyone was still immersed in the good news that Qin Hao had just brought, and each of them was calculating how much grain they could harvest.

At Qin Hao's instruction, Zhuge Xuan took a prepared notice and read aloud on the stage: "Land Division Order and Contract with the People."

Article 1: All households must recognize Qin Hao's ruling status and consciously accept his rule, and must not rebel and flee.

Article 2: Qin Hao has the responsibility to protect the people under his rule and prevent them from being harmed or treated unfairly.

Article 3: The households shall formulate a baojia system, and all the people under Qin Hao shall be obliged to perform military service, labor service and other reasonable requirements.

Article 4: The households have the obligation to pay taxes, and Qin Hao has the right to levy reasonable taxes, but the maximum shall not exceed one-fifth of the harvest. And in special periods, Qin Hao has the right to let the people sell their excess grain to the government at normal market prices.

"Sir, this, this is not a joke to us poor people, right?! How can the conditions be so good? Do you really think we can get the land if we sign it?"

"It's true. As long as you sign it, we will choose a day to distribute the land in batches. If it's not enough, this prince will personally open up wasteland for you."

After hearing Qin Hao's words, the audience immediately became noisy. No one knew who took the lead, and they all wanted to sign.

"Sir, it's okay if you're not a Ming person."

Qin Hao looked down at the stage and saw a person whose clothes didn't look like those of the Han people. He knew that he was a mountain barbarian from the mountains, so he shouted to the sky: "As long as they are people under the rule, regardless of race, they will be treated equally."

Qin Hao's shout was reproduced by a painter many years later through the description of the people present at the time, and became the most famous and well-known masterpiece in the empire-"The Emperor's Scream"

The beautiful statement, reasonable composition, and perfect characters made this painting popular all over the world and eventually collected by the Imperial National Museum.

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