My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 41 Target: Bison Mountain

This village chief, surnamed Zhou, is a remarkable person.

He even helped Li Xuanba appease the servants. They were all from the same place, and although they had just been attacked by these people, the village chief seemed to remember nothing. He chatted and laughed with them, and even made promises to them, saying that they would have no worries about food and clothing in the future.

In the previous conflict, several servants and officers died, and Li Xuanba ordered them to be buried. Several others were injured, and Li Xuanba ordered their bleeding to be stopped.

They set off again, and the original group of thirty-odd people had now grown into a large force of over a hundred.

The knights didn't need to keep an eye on the laborers; they had no desire to run because they could get food. Why would they run?

The number of corvée labor teams on the road has decreased significantly and is not as exaggerated as before.

It seems that the corvée labor in Hebei is progressing well, and the major projects may be coming to an end.

Their destination was their own large farm in the southern suburbs outside the city.

The knights moved slowly, and the village chief was now beside Li Xuanba, bowing and scraping as they walked and talked.

He didn't bother to ask about Li Xuanba's identity or destination; he simply kept flattering and praising the young man's benevolence.

"Are you the last batch?"

"Yes, we were in the last batch. The number of times people were conscripted varied from place to place. In our area, they were conscripted three times in total, and we were on the third batch."

"Then how do you know you didn't try again after you left?"

"We can't collect any more. The third time, they even took the women and livestock; there's nothing left to live on."

"It's just our bad luck. Damn it, they drew lots from three different townships, and we were the ones who got picked."

The village chief was about to give a harsher scolding, but then remembered the young man's age and stopped himself, only managing a bitter smile.

After walking for more than an hour, the group finally approached their destination.

The Sui Dynasty continued the land allocation system of the previous dynasty. This land allocation system distributed farmland to people according to the population of the country. Adult men were allocated 80 mu of land and 20 mu of permanent land. The open land belonged to the state and could not be bought or sold, while only the permanent land belonged to the individual and could be inherited and sold.

Women, on the other hand, could receive forty acres of open-field land.

Officials were also granted land. Permanent land was related to their rank. For example, Li Yuan was the Duke of Tang, a first-class noble. In addition to his rank, he was also granted land based on his official position. When Li Yuan served as the governor of Xingyang, Xingyang would allocate a piece of open land to him, with the size determined by his official rank.

This system was originally intended to restore production and curb land consolidation, but as it has developed, it has developed a huge drawback: the state-owned open fields that were granted land in name only are disappearing very quickly and without anyone noticing.

The imperial court would occasionally check these open fields. What if they suddenly disappeared? Naturally, they would find a place for the open fields and assign them to ordinary people. Even though they did not receive any land, they were listed as receiving it on the register. In order to make up for the even bigger gap, there were even cases of fictitious populations. Even if a family had died out, the household register would show that the family was prosperous and that the family had been granted hundreds of acres of land.
Although the arable land and able-bodied men were nominal, the taxes and corvée labor were not, and had to be carried out according to the household register. As a result, an old farmer with only one son who was granted 160 mu of land might have to bear the taxes of several hundred mu of land plus the corvée labor of four or five able-bodied men. The land grant system directly led to a major collapse.

It's not that no one has advised the sage. The current sage is kind-hearted. After learning that the land grants had caused the people unbearable suffering, he took pity on them and confiscated the land granted to women, decreeing that women could no longer be granted land. Well, the land grants were nominal, but the confiscation was real!
The farm that the Li family now owns outside the city is Li Yuan's allocated land, also called official land. There are two farms in total: one is Li Yuan's own allocated land, and the other is allocated land to the many county officials under his command. These are all entrusted to the prefect for management.

The land granted by the prefect was completely different from the small farms outside.

A special road leads here, which is flatter and neater than many of the main roads outside the city. In the distance, a fence has been erected around the farm, enclosing the entire farm. Before the group got too close, they encountered armed knights patrolling the farm.

"Sanlang-kun!"

One of them shouted loudly, jumped off his horse, and walked over to Li Xuanba with a smile.

"You've finally come!"

He shouted and reached out to take Li Xuanba from Liu Chounu's arms, placing him steadily on the ground. This man was about the same age as Li Laoda and looked somewhat like Li Yuanji. His name was Li Fengci, Li Xuanba's cousin. He had been raised by Li Yuan since childhood. He had previously committed a crime and was reprimanded by Li Yuan, who then sent him to this outskirts to reform.

Li Fengci patted Li Xuanba's head, "You really are different now. Big brother didn't lie to me, you've really gotten much stronger!"

"How is your second brother? How about the fourth brother?"

They are all well.

"Sigh, they won't let me into the city. Staying here is so boring. I really miss you guys."

As Li Fengci spoke, he looked at the crowd behind him. He didn't even ask them anything. He was a complete playboy and couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters. It was only after Li Jiancheng sent someone to inform him that he came out to greet them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to go out at all. He had also found two pretty women and spent his days playing around at home.

Li Xuanba waited until Li Fengci finished complaining before saying, "Brother, I think we should arrange for these people to stay at the farm for a while."

"No problem! Stay as long as you want! Anything is fine with me!"

"Let them handle it themselves, don't worry about it. I'll show you around!"

Li Fengci didn't give Li Xuanba a chance to refuse and left with him. Feng Li had no choice but to hand over the duties to the steward that Li Fengci had brought with him and temporarily arrange for these laborers and officials to stay here.

The manager also seemed completely bewildered and didn't know much about these matters.

Li Fengci led Li Xuanba around the farm a few times. Sure enough, Li Fengci's good reputation had spread throughout the entire farm. Everyone avoided him when they saw him. He was just a giant version of Li Yuanji. However, there was nothing fun to do on the farm. After leading him around, Li Fengci himself found it boring.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Xuanba suggested that his cousin go to rest while he went to see Feng Li and the others to discuss some serious matters. Li Fengci then let him go. He also said that no matter what happens at the farm, people can come to him and he will definitely be able to get it done!
When Li Xuanba returned, Feng Li had already handed those people over to the manager of the farm.

Li Xuanba and Feng Li, along with several others, entered the house and began discussing their next steps.

"Have Zhang Du go find the deceased nearby, bring them here, and hide them."

"I'll go to Wild Buffalo Mountain to check out the local conditions and find a place where I can set up camp."

"As for the young master, why don't he stay at the farm and wait for our news?"

Feng immediately proposed the division of labor, but Li Xuanba disagreed. "Brother, if I stay here, I'll have to send people to protect me, which would reduce our manpower. It would be better if I went with them. It's not safe outside."

Feng Li shook his head, "My lord, you are unaware of this."

"I was just speaking with the farm manager, and he said that a very fierce group of bandits has appeared outside the city. They are extremely large and may be entrenched near Buffalo Mountain. How can we let you, my lord, risk your life?"

"If Feng Jun is unwilling to take me along, then take all his men. My cousin is here; I'll stay behind myself."

Liu Chounu, Feng Li, and the others spoke in unison, "No way."

They all knew what kind of person their cousin was. If bandits or something really attacked, would he really fight back?
"Then let's go together."

"Don't send people to search for the dead yet. Let's find a place to settle the dead first. Let's head to Buffalo Mountain together."

Upon hearing Li Xuanba's words, Feng Li hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.

Even if they did encounter thieves, they couldn't be stopped if they wanted to leave. They were called thieves, but they were just a group of dead people who had no fighting ability at all.

They had a meal at the farm, and in the afternoon, they set off again, their destination being Bison Mountain.

(End of this chapter)