The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 132: Dividing the Land
Li Ru came out of the Weiyang Palace, regardless of the pain on his body, and packed his luggage directly, taking the small path all the way towards Guandong.

Working day and night, day and night.

It felt like there was a ferocious beast chasing after him, and he dared not stop for even a moment.

But how could Li Ru's already scarred body withstand such bumps?

When he reached Xinfeng County, Li Ru was walking along the side road. Unexpectedly, his eyes suddenly went dark. Then he felt that his ankles had lost strength and hit them hard on the stone next to him.

When Li Ru woke up again, he was already inside a farmer's house.

Li Ru subconsciously touched his arms.

There, there was a short blade hidden by Li Ru.

Still.

After confirming that he had the ability to fight back, Li Ru began to look around.

The bedding on the bed was already covered with a layer of khaki putty.

There were several pieces of pottery on the table in the room.

Then there was a middle-aged couple, who were sitting on stools, also looking at Li Ru with curiosity.

Li Ru wanted to move his body, only to find that he felt a sharp pain in his ankle.

But fortunately, it had been tied up with cloth strips, and it was obvious that it had been processed.

"Thank you both for your rescue."

Li Ru struggled to stand up and wanted to salute the two of them.

When the woman saw Li Ru wake up, she didn't want to stay any longer. She smiled shyly at her husband a few times and left the house.

"Is this noble man injured?"

Hearing the farmer's question, Li Ru nodded slightly.

However, Li Ru looked down at himself and asked the farmer, "I am thin, as skinny as an octogenarian. I am wearing cheap clothes, so how can you tell that I am a nobleman?"

The farmer was a little embarrassed: "It was all because of my wife, who was afraid that she had saved some criminals from the court, and insisted on seeing the nobleman's bag. I couldn't persuade my wife, so I opened it and found the official seal of the court inside. Then I realized that the nobleman was an official of the court."

Upon hearing this, Li Ru went to check his bag and found that the way the bag was tied was different from before, which showed that it had been opened by someone.

The farmer rubbed his hands together and said, "May I ask where you are going to take up your post? Why don't you bring any guards with you?"

"It is not easy to show off when following the order of the Son of Heaven."

Li Ru knows how to deal with these low-level people.

Since they think they are officials, they must be officials.

When the other party heard that Li Ru was following the orders of the emperor, he could not help but be solemn.

"I never thought you were such a great benefactor! Wife! Serve the food!"

The woman who had just gone out also came in at this time, holding a tray in her hand.

Inside were a few earthy brown Hu pancakes.

There was also a small bowl containing some hot soup made from wild vegetables.

When Li Ru saw this scene, he more or less guessed what the other party was thinking.

It's nothing more than waiting to verify your true identity.

If you are an official, you will naturally have meals.

But if not, then it’s really hard to say…

The farmer also realized that he was a little too snobbish just now, and he rubbed his legs embarrassedly: "I heard that you also have a Guanzhong accent, so you should know that we Guanzhong people are very generous! Unlike those stingy Guandong people! It's just that the harvest is really bad this year, so we can only live like this."

Li Ru certainly knew the current situation in Guanzhong.

He took the earth-brown Hu pancake and gently broke it open.

A bit hard.

It was also very loose, and the place where it was broken apart seemed to have broken apart, with a lot of fine crumbs falling out.

"Is this the Shu millet that the imperial court is rushing to plant this year?"

"Exactly."

The farmer sighed: "This thing doesn't taste good, it's hard to make, and the yield is not high. It's really annoying!"

Li Ru lightly crushed a little bit of the crumbs and put them into his mouth. As expected, he found the crumbs tasted sour and astringent. He had to chew them in his mouth for a long time before he could swallow them.

"It's definitely not as good as wheat cakes or millet rice."

Li Ru frowned and said, "If this is the case, I'm afraid you won't have a good time this year."

The farmer said sadly: "It's naturally not easy!"

But in a flash, he smiled again: "It's not so bad! During the spring ploughing this year, some wealthy farmers in several counties went crazy and insisted on pulling out the millet and beans that had already been planted and replanting the wheat and millet that they had planted before."

"But with the floods before the New Year, how can those things survive if they are planted in the fields? We only have less food this year, but those rich families may have no food to eat!"

Although they themselves do not live well, farmers are happy when they see that those landlords in the past lived even worse!
After the farmer finished his music, he was still a little scared: "In fact, our county also wanted to plant wheat and millet again. After all, they are what our ancestors left us. They have probably been planted in Guanzhong for hundreds of years. How can we easily replace them?"

"It was the newly appointed county magistrate, Zhang Ji, County Magistrate Zhang. He refused to allow people to change their crops and even had servants watch over the fields every day. At the time, everyone cursed County Magistrate Zhang for being a bad guy, but now everyone praises him!"

Li Ru listened silently without saying a word.

"If you ask me, even though we have suffered a disaster this year, the imperial court is still capable!"

The farmer smacked his lips and said, "I heard from the old people in the village that there are either no disasters in Guanzhong, but when there are disasters, they are big disasters! Everyone has to flee!"

"Although the disaster this year is also serious, at least we don't have to flee!" "If someone flees and loses his ancestral property, can he still be called a human being? Your Excellency, what do you think?"

Li Ru nodded reluctantly.

Seeing that they were recognized by noble people, the farmers became more motivated!

"So as long as we can still live this life, we should just grit our teeth and get through it!"

"Besides, my eldest son is strong! I have also sent him to join the army. Maybe he can get some land next year! Hehe!"

Although the farmers are simple, they obviously have some plans of their own.

Li Ru was puzzled: "Now is the time of war. How can a parent let his son go out to join the army?"

However, the farmers did not agree with Li Ru's words.

“It’s different now than it was before!”

"In the past, if children died in battle, they were dead, and they didn't get anything. Even if there was some compensation, it was not enough to raise the children."

"But now, as long as you serve as a soldier, you will become a government soldier! You will be assigned to the military office! You can get the land of the court!"

The farmer rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "This is a good thing! What a benevolent policy! When was the last time land was distributed in Guanzhong? Even the oldest man in the village can't remember it! Now you can get land when you join the army. Where can you find such a good thing?"

Moreover, the farmers said mysteriously: "Besides, there are favorable conditions this year!"

"My wife is pregnant again! Didn't the court say that families with children this year will be exempted from taxes?"

"Anyway, we have nothing to do now, so we are all at home doing our best to take care of our wives, hoping that their bellies will get bigger soon!"

Li Ru had a somewhat negative opinion on this matter.

Listening to the other party's words, Li Ru quickly ate a Hu Bing.

When Li Ru was about to eat the second one, he suddenly noticed that the woman's eyes seemed to be somewhat resentful. She was staring at the few remaining Hu pancakes on the plate, which made Li Ru feel a little embarrassed. He just picked up the bowl of hot soup made from wild vegetables and drank it all.

"Why are you only eating one cake? Come and continue eating!"

"No, I'm full."

"How much can a Hu Bing contain? Eat more without worry, my dear!"

“I’m really full…”

Li Ru declined the offer from the farmer for a few words, then asked seriously, "Now that food is in short supply, it's not appropriate to raise a child, right?"

The farmer wondered, “What’s wrong with that?”

"Although there is a shortage of food, I am not even qualified to have children, right?"

"Besides, although there is only a food shortage this year, judging from the imperial court's decrees, things will get better in the future, right?"

"For example, my family doesn't have to pay taxes this year, and next year we'll get the dozens of acres of land that the eldest brother got... There's always something to look forward to, right?"

"Not only will I have a baby this year, but if the court still has this policy next year, I will have one next year too! If the court continues to distribute land to soldiers, I will send my children to join the army!"

The farmers were filled with pride when they said this!

"Life will always get better! Your Excellency says yes and no!"

Will things get better?

Li Ru stared at the farmer in a daze, and after a moment he smiled with relief.

"It's true that things will get better."

"By the way, you just said that your son has gone to join the army?"

"Exactly!"

Li Ru gave a suggestion: "Your Majesty is benevolent and has sent teachers to the army to teach the soldiers to read."

"Most of the first batch of teachers are descendants of wealthy families in Guanzhong. Among them, there may be people from the Hongnong Yang family and the Jingzhao Wei family."

"You can talk to my nephew and ask him to learn to read well, and take this opportunity to leave an impression on those scholars. If there is an opportunity in the future, maybe your son will have a chance to become an official."

"If there are more opportunities, I might even be able to soar to the sky and become a high-ranking official in the imperial court."

The farmer's eyes lit up when he heard this: "There is such news? To become an important official in the court? Oh my God! I never thought that my son would be able to wear gold and silver, haha!"

Li Ru silently corrected himself in his heart, that is not called wearing gold and silver, that is called being covered with bruises.

Wearing gold and silver will lead to imprisonment...

But Li Ru was not really deceiving the farmer.

Today is the biggest change that the Han Dynasty has not seen in two hundred years!
If this first batch of literate soldiers could seize the opportunity, they might be able to soar to the top and become key officials in the future.

By informing the farmers of this news, Li Ru was repaying them for saving him.

Li Ru's ankle was just sprained. He had breakfast at the farmer's house the next day, then said goodbye and left, setting off again.

The farmer's wife was obviously unhappy after Li Ru left. She whispered behind his back, "What kind of noble man? He ate two meals from us for free! He didn't even leave any money when he left. He's really poor!"

The farmers were not happy.

"What do you mean poor? He must be a high-ranking official if he knows about military affairs!"

"Compared with the future of my child, what are two meals?"

The wife snorted and accused her husband: "Who knows whether the news is true or false? But those two meals are real! Day by day, you don't know how to be frugal! If we hadn't planted millet this year, I'm afraid you would starve to death today..."

"Alright, alright! I'm so fed up!!"

……

(End of this chapter)