The Great Zhou Dynasty focused on agriculture, but it did not suppress business. Over the years, the country and the people were peaceful, the business roads were smooth, and the trade between the north and the south was very developed.

In order not to be too shocking and to avoid the eyes and ears of the Supervision Department among the major checkpoints, Zhong Li has never entered the big city since she missed Liangcheng. She only rushes on the country roads, or in the wilderness where no one has entered, she will replenish it in the nearby small villages, or buy some with tourists she occasionally encounters.

Along the way, the four "land buns" who had never left the town had opened their eyes in the gap between pulling the cart. They saw the magnificent river and the majestic mountains and rivers. Only then did they realize that the words depicting the world in the book are not exaggerated at all.

On the thirteenth day after leaving the town, the Xuefu and his group came outside a small village.

According to Zhong Li's calculation, this place still belongs to the jurisdiction of the four northwest provinces. Two hundred miles ahead of the Mengshan Mountain behind the village is the Huailu Plain, where the stars are flat and the wilderness is wide, which is another scenery.

The small village in front of Zhao Xifeng and others was not big, with about thirty or forty families, but it was very lively at this time. A large group of people gathered at the entrance of the village, forming a large circle on the inside and three floors inside and three floors inside and three floors outside. They stretched their necks and looked inside, and they also discussed something loudly from time to time.

Zhao Xifeng pulled an old man passing by and asked curiously: "This father-in-law, our group is a student who has traveled here. He originally wanted to buy some dry food and water in the town. Seeing the village is so lively, I would like to ask what happened."

Seeing that Zhao Xifeng was polite and looked very likable, and was a child who was studying abroad by no means so much that he chatted with him and replied: "It's better to catch up early than to catch up. The young gentlemen just happened to catch up with our village to discuss politics and punish corrupt officials."

Gu Qingyuan next to him asked, "Brother-in-law, I remember that the court has added a government office throughout the country, but at most it can only manage it to the county level. In our village, there should be no such yamen, right?"

"What's wrong? Just allow the people in your city to participate in politics?" The old man glared at Gu Qingyuan and said loudly, "Our fellow villagers have been working here for generations. The emperor's family can't control the affairs of his own village. What's wrong with the affairs of his own village?"

Zhao Xifeng glared at Gu Qingyuan, turned around and smiled at the old man and said, "Don't pay attention to her, I'm stupid in studying, you'd better tell me."

The old man narrowed his eyes and smiled, "It's still your child who is talking. This is the thing. Our village is planned to be in Shanshou County. Two years ago, a special official from the county came to the county to be responsible for the payment of land payment fees for six nearby villages. It has been fine in the past two years, and each household has three cents of silver. This year, it suddenly only has two cents of silver!"

"That's great," Zhao Xifeng said deliberately in an exaggerated tone, "A penny is not a trivial matter!"

"No!" the old man raised his voice and said, "What's even more annoying is that the village chief's brother-in-law came back from Xiama Village, more than ten miles away and learned that the land opening fee over there was still three cents! Isn't this clearly bullying our village!"

Zhong Li nodded and said, "The land in the northwest is poor, and the court has said that the land is paid for the land opening fee. However, even if there are any defects, you should report it to the local government. It is illegal to intercept the court officials in privately today."

The old man heard the girl talking, and looked contemptuous on his face. He didn't want to answer, but when he looked back, he found that the person who spoke was wearing expensive clothes. Although he was young, he always revealed the momentum and pressure of a superior. So he shrank his neck and continued: "We originally wanted to take this greedy person to the town to meet officials, but Li Dazhuang, the only child in Liangcheng, was going home to help farmers in the past two days. After knowing this, he told the village chief about the affairs of the political affairs department, saying that the court now encouraged the people to participate in politics, saying that we are the masters of the country, and we don't have to be polite to treat such evil officials. As long as the whole village is united and the momentum is enlarged, the court will naturally let him put the bed and go home, and maybe he will be punished, and the deficit of the land opening fee will be compensated for."

As he spoke, the old man reached out and pointed at the crowd. In which direction the people looked, they saw a young man wearing a scholar's robe waving his hands, shouting something with righteousness. Although the onlookers were confused and obviously not very understanding, they also had a little inexplicable excitement. That was the excitement of challenging the superiors, and also the desire for violence hidden in their hearts.

After Zhao Xifeng thanked the old man, the group approached the crowd. Dong Erpang made a way out, and then he pleased Zhong Li to welcome him.

In the center of the crowd, a young man in his twenties sat on the yellow ground with his legs in his arms, and did not care whether his gray uniform would be stained--in fact there was no need to take any clothes, and when the front, chest and back were printed with shoe prints, the dust on the ground was really not to be cared about.

The young clerk lowered his head, with a self-deprecating look on his face, and a little sad. He let the scholar named Li Dazhuang scold him so much that he neither refuted nor tried to leave.

When Li Dazhuang saw Zhong Li and a few people who were obviously not from the village walked into the crowd, he gave a slight speech, but when he saw that the few were children, he had no worries and continued to say loudly: "Blind dates, the court gave us the power to discuss politics for the people, to look at this kind of morally corrupt dog official without conscience for His Majesty! Do you know that this dog official's surname is Li, and his family is a well-known family in Liangcheng! He can't study, and he won't be able to pass the imperial examination. He became our local parents' official with his connections. The family is already full of gold and silver. As a result, he is even worthy of being an official in this village's ten taels of land.

After saying that, Li Dazhuang spitted a thick phlegm at the feet of the Sun official, and the onlookers shouted that they were not worthy. They were bolder and spit at the man on the ground. Among them, there was an old lady who had just passed away and her son was underage. The family was seriously insufficient labor. The annual fee for land opening was particularly important. He hated the corrupt official in front of him. After spitting, he had to go forward to fight.

Seeing this scene, everyone in Panlong Academy couldn't help but frown.

After Zhao Xifeng first truly picked up Longyabi, he supported the blessing of the dragon and the strange tiger for thousands of years. His eyes with Zhong Li would never cause the tiger's eyes to be furious again.

Yu Zhong Li gave Zhao Xifeng a look. Zhao Xifeng walked forward and said politely to the oldest and most stanced old man next to Li Dazhuang: "This old man, we are students who have been studying here since we went abroad. I want to ask you for convenience and buy some extra rice and flour from the village to make dry food. Do you think?"

The old man looked at Zhao Xifeng indifferently and said, "It was possible, but you have seen the doll too. There was a big incident in the town today, and it was really inconvenient to receive you. You guys continue to move forward. After ten miles, Xiama Village will be there. Please move."

"I'm going to have the meal here," Zhong Li's voice came from behind, "Old man, you should be the village chief here, tell me how much land you are missing, I'll make up for you."

The old man's eyes flashed, and he was not sure whether the little girl in front of him was true or not. He didn't know how to answer, but Li Dazhuang beside him couldn't help but panic when he saw the old man hesitating and scolded Zhong Li loudly: "Where did the little kids come from? I pretended to be a student. I have never seen you a few of you in Liangcheng!"

Dong Erpang laughed contemptuously and said, "Have you heard of Panlong Academy?"

Li Dazhuang stopped talking. After the battle of the Sea of ​​Clouds, the name of Panlong Academy is now at its peak. Not to mention the northwest, it is still famous even in the entire Zhongzhou continent.

When the village chief saw Li Dazhuang's expression, he knew that this matter should be true, so he smiled and said, "Several nobles, the land opening fee is deficient this year. If you can help the village overcome this difficulty, I will pay out of my own pocket to prepare dry food for you to go on a journey."

"No need," Zhong Li asked Dong Erpang to hand over a silver ingot to the old man and said, "There are twenty taels here. Including our dry food costs, the remaining money will belong to you, but this matter is settled here. It will be no good for you to privately intercept the people in the government and spread it."

"That's natural." The village chief nodded and took over the silver ingots and called on the juniors to prepare dry food and meat for several people.

Seeing that the land was paid for, and there was even a lot of surplus, the rest of the people were satisfied and dispersed. Only Li Dazhuang was unwilling to do so. He looked at Zhao Xifeng and others and left silently.

Sun Wenzhen walked up to help the official surnamed Li on the ground and said with a smile: "This guy, if I remember correctly, the court's land opening fee in the four northwest provinces is only two cents. Why do these villagers say it is three cents?"

The official took the shoe prints on his body, shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I thank you for today's work. I, Li Minghao, admired you, and I will also send the money I owe you to Panlong Academy as soon as possible."

After sighing, Li Minghao continued, "You don't know that I was a member of the Li family in Liangcheng. My tribe has been doing business for generations and have a little savings. But in my generation, I felt the kindness of raising the local people and wanted to do something practical for the local people. So I entrusted my relationship with me. I became such a small agricultural official. Under the pressure of my family, I worked for three years. At the beginning, I found that two cents of silver were really less than the people who were short of labor, so I entrusted the

I took out my own salary and collected three cents per household. Anyway, my family was still very wealthy, so I could give me a bite of food. However, this year, my father was seriously ill and hoped that I could go back and inherit the family's property. In order to force me to submit, I cut off my monthly money for this house. I wanted to finish the last term and borrow some money from my friend, but it was still not enough. So when I arrived in this last village, I really had no money and even the return trip was not enough."

Li Minghao said as he looked at the phlegm stains on the official robe. His eyes were sore, and finally he shed tears in his men.

Zhong Li nodded expressionlessly and said, "Then does Li Dazhuang have a grudge against you?"

"No," Li Minghao shook his head, "He was my classmate back then. He was ignorant in his daily life. He just wanted to rely on the political affairs officer to take advantage of the wind. But I don't blame him. Maybe I am not suitable for being an official. I only have an inappropriate ideal, so it's better to go back."

After saying that, Li Minghao bowed and said goodbye to everyone, led a thin horse from the village head, and left sadly.
Chapter completed!