The bandit leader Li Dingguo, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head and glanced at Xia Jing in surprise, as if he was surprised to say this.
This was the first time he saw a person in power who cared about the lives of his subordinates.
In fact, for ordinary people, it doesn't seem to matter who sits on the throne in the court.
Regardless of the change of dynasties, as long as the people at the bottom like them can live and work in peace and contentment and have enough to eat, they will be satisfied.
The common people at the bottom of society live just for three meals a day. They go out early and come back late, working hard just to get food.
If the imperial court cannot even meet the common people's requirements, causing smoke and fire everywhere, catastrophic disasters and corpses littering the fields, and reaching the point where children and daughters are sold without being able to wrap their bellies, what will happen if the common people in the world rebel?
For example, he couldn't live anymore and was forced to go to Liangshan.
Being caught by those in power now can be regarded as such an arrangement of fate.
Li Dingguo resigned himself to his fate and knelt on the ground silently, as if waiting for them to deal with him.
Xia Jing looked at him curiously, "Hey, this person's aura seems to be very peaceful. Can a bandit without a violent temper be the bandit leader?"
Wei Dong thought that Xia Jing suspected that they had arrested the wrong person, and quickly explained: "Princess, this person's name is Li Dingguo, from Annan. He has been wandering from Annan to Lingnan and committing crimes. Don't be deceived by his appearance. He is a real person."
I have been a bandit for more than ten years, and I am a hardcore bandit."
In order to prove that what Wei Dong said was correct, Ding Dazhuang and other captains nodded along, fearing that Xia Jing would not believe it.
"Oh, as expected, people should not be judged by their appearance." Xia Jing stared at Li Dingguo kneeling on the ground, "I wonder what you are thinking at this moment? Or what do you want to say?"
Li Dingguo raised his head and looked at Xia Jing and King Qian blatantly, as if he was mentally evaluating their abilities and values.
Xia Jing looked calm and composed as she let him look at her, but King Qian didn't have such a good nature. As a superior, he thought Li Dingguo was blaspheming them.
Just when King Qian was about to get angry, Li Dingguo spoke.
He asked: "Why do you want land reform? Breaking thousands of years of tradition and making enemies of the powerful gentry all over the world?"
King Qian's anger froze. He didn't seem to have thought that Li Dingguo would ask this question. He didn't know why for this question?
He has always listened to Xia Jing's arrangements, and when she proposed this decree, he could only obey her orders.
He turned to look at Xia Jing blankly.
Xia Jing raised her eyebrows, a little surprised that he asked this question.
She asked back: "What do you think I am for?"
Li Dingguo shook his head. In fact, he wanted to say that it was to collect more taxes, but he felt that his knowledge was too shallow and he could not understand the deeper meaning of what the superiors did.
Xia Jing chuckled: "Clean up the hidden houses, re-measure the land, and register the acres. This decree has a profound impact on Lingnan. If I have to give a reason, at first I just wanted to make Lingnan prosperous and prosperous. Do you believe it?"
This idea may be cliché, but it was my true original idea.”
By clearing hidden households and re-measurement of the land, the government's tax revenue was increased.
Government tax revenue increased, thus levying light taxes on the people.
Only when the burden on the people is lightened can their lives gradually improve.
Only when people's lives improve can the children born to them grow up better.
If the children grow better, Lingnan will be prosperous and the population will flourish.
Now that people’s lives have improved, who would want to go back to the dire straits of before?
If anyone wants to take action against Lingnan, first of all, the tens of thousands of people at the bottom will not agree.
All in all, it was to consolidate his position and rule over Lingnan.
But there was no need for her to explain this political purpose to Li Dingguo.
"You have disturbed the powerful family of squires. They hate you privately. How can they contribute to Lingnan? It would be great if they don't cause trouble for Lingnan's prosperity."
Li Dingguo still didn't understand. What he heard today was contrary to his previous understanding.
Aren’t rulers serving as powerful country squires?
When did any ruler think about the welfare of the common people?
Xia Jing looked at him with a smile, "The powerful squires are only a minority in this world, and the majority are still the common people. Will Prince Qian abandon the common people for the benefit of a few?"
The people's lives have improved, which represents the population.
Is this base population comparable to that of the country gentry?
In the cold weapon age, population means everything.
With population comes military power, taxes, citizens, and farmers.
In this feudal society, especially in the years of famine, human life is like a piece of grass and worthless at all.
But Xia Jing knows that population is very important. She wants the people under her rule to live a better life and not have to live so hard.
If you want to achieve this goal, reform is the only way to go.
Li Dingguo shook his head. If it were a show of hands in the village, the minority would obey the majority.
If we follow the rules of the village, there is nothing wrong with Princess Qian.
At the same time, the shock that Xia Jing's words brought to him was unparalleled.
When asked this time, Xia Jing suppressed the smile on her face and asked seriously: "Having said that, what do you think in your heart? Or how do you decide to spend the rest of your life?"
Ding Dazhuang, Wei Dong and others were stunned for a while, but at this time, they finally came to their senses.
The princess wanted to subdue Li Dingguo and let him be used by her.
However, Ding Dazhuang, Wei Dong and others took a serious look at Li Dingguo. He had been so dusty all the way here. Apart from his unshaven beard and listless spirit, there really was nothing special about him that made him worthy of being recruited by the princess?
Of course, when they first met him in Jigong Mountain, this man was still very elegant.
If he hadn't stood in front of the bandits with a big knife in his hand, they would have thought that Li Dingguo was a scholar who was kidnapped by the bandits.
Is it because of his elegant temperament that the princess decided to recruit him?
After hearing Xia Jing's words, Li Dingguo's eyes flashed brightly, knowing that he could survive, who would want to die?
Xia Jing noticed this and waved her hand to Ding Dazhuang to untie him.
"What do you think?"
Li Dingguo moved his arms. When the numbness in his arms passed, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Li Dingguo, a common man, kowtows to the princess. If the princess does not dislike it, the common people will be at your disposal from now on."
"Hahaha good!"
Xia Jing was really happy to recover a general.
To be able to occupy a territory and dominate ten cities in two provinces for more than ten years is definitely not a mediocre person.
If Li Dingguo refuses to surrender today, Xia Jing may feel regretful. After all, it would be a pity for a capable man to be killed.
Now this situation is the best, everyone gets what they need and everyone is happy.
"I recruit talents in an eclectic way. I believe in heroes regardless of their origins. As long as they have real ability and good character, I can give him a chance."
As she said that, Xia Jing stared into Li Dingguo's eyes and said sternly: "I hope you will not disappoint my expectations, and please cherish this opportunity to change your ways. You only have one chance."
"Thank you, Princess, for giving me the opportunity to start a new life. Whether you sincerely do so or not, time will tell."
Li Dingguo opened his mouth without promising anything. Time will tell whether he sincerely surrenders or not.
After Xia Jing heard what he said, she looked up to him. If he promised something, she might really doubt his sincerity.
"I'll escort the bandits back with you. You go and gather them. If you want to stay, you can stay. Then you can reorganize the team and become my personal guards. If you don't want to stay, you can go to the farm to farm. If you join the field
If they don’t want to farm, they will be taken directly to the mines to mine.”
Li Dingguo knelt down and kowtowed gratefully, "I would like to thank the princess for my brothers for not killing them. When I go back, I will persuade them to correct their evil ways and follow the princess to be good people in the future."
Xia Jing asked Ding Dazhuang about their outing this time, and asked them to take Li Dingguo back.
King Qian put down the tea cup and said, "Princess, you are really brave. You dare to use it on anyone. If you really follow your instructions to recruit talents in an eclectic way, aren't you afraid of suddenly betraying her in the future?"
"Don't be suspicious of those who are suspicious, but don't be suspicious of those who are employed. Your Majesty, it's time for your guard camp to be mobilized. Don't be reluctant to use it all day long, and then it will become a lazy soldier."
King Qian asked humbly: "Princess, do you want my king's guard battalion to also go to suppress the bandits?"
Xia Jing: "The banditry in Lingnan is rampant. My personal guard battalion alone will not be able to suppress it until the end of the Year of the Monkey. Besides, many bandit forces in Lingnan are very large in number. My personal guard battalion alone cannot eliminate them with a thousand people."
.”
In fact, the best way is for the guard battalion to serve as the vanguard, with more than 10,000 recruits behind, and all of them go out to exercise.
Let the bandits in Lingnan be the whetstone for these more than 10,000 recruits.
When the land reform in Lingnan was introduced to Jiankang City, the emperor and court officials did not take it seriously. However, in the early dynasty, King Shenqian acted willfully and disturbed peace in Lingnan.
Now the emperor may not be willing to grant Lingnan to King Qian, but if the new emperor wants to take back the rule of splitting Lingnan and enfeoffing it, he does not have the courage at this moment.
The new emperor's thoughts were more focused on the north.
The coalition forces of the four prefectures have been encircling and suppressing the rebels for two months, and so far no favorable news has been received.
This shows that the imperial court's control over local areas has gradually weakened.
However, the northern state capitals are like a pile of scattered sand. It has become an unattainable dream to gather people's hearts and minds.
Unless the imperial court had the ability and courage to take back the large area of land occupied by Beidi in the north, the imperial court would move back to the capital.
It's just that if we want to move the capital back to Gyeonggi, given the current situation, I'm afraid it won't be possible for several generations.
When an era reaches the end of a dynasty, no monarch is willing to admit that the dynasty is counting down.
When news about Lingnan reached the imperial court, news about the establishment of the Kangnan imperial court also reached Lingnan.
Prince Qian's Mansion At King Qian's strong request, they had chosen a nearby auspicious day to move into the former Lou family's ancestral home, which is now Prince Qian's Mansion.
The relocation of Prince Qian's Mansion was naturally a grand event in the whole of Lingnan. Forced by the power of the Prince's Mansion, all parties had no choice but to send out the directors of each family to attend the banquet.
I personally felt the miserable consequences of offending the prince. Not only did the whole family suffer, but even the ancestral home where they had lived for generations changed owners.
Who can accept this?
So during the whole banquet that followed, all the forces were very honest. They just wanted to finish the meal in peace and go back to be a good person without offending King Qian.
After sending all the guests away in the afternoon, Li Chengshang rubbed his sore back and returned to the backyard with the eldest lady.
The spacious yard makes people feel comfortable both physically and mentally.
The eldest lady admired the scenery in the courtyard for a while, and then helped Li Chengshang into the house, "Finally, the whole family no longer has to crowd into the same courtyard. Can we really establish a foothold in Lingnan?"
Li Chengshang sat down slowly and had to lean back on the chair to be more comfortable.
After listening to the words of the eldest lady, he smiled and said: "The current situation is the best for our Prince Qian's Palace. The residence is not crowded, which makes people really feel at ease. Our Palace legitimately owns the territory of Lingnan, and it can be said that we have a stable life."
capital."
The future is promising!
The husband agreed with her statement, and the eldest lady was very happy.
"Now each house has the opportunity to recruit five thousand soldiers. How is the training of the five thousand soldiers that my husband recruited?"
Speaking of the five thousand private soldiers, Li Chengshang was more worried than happy. Is there any reason why?
Of course, raising soldiers requires a lot of money and food, and as an unknown prince, how can he have the money and food to support these soldiers without dividing his family?
Now that I think about it, how childish and ridiculous it was for him to clamor for all brothers to be treated equally.
He frowned and said, "Now we have been persisting in our daily training. But if our big house doesn't have a property that brings in quick money, I think it won't be long before our big house will be overwhelmed by these five thousand soldiers."
"Husband, do you have any good ideas?" The eldest lady also became worried.
Li Chengshang shook his head.
The eldest lady frowned and thought hard, racking her brains to think of a solution. It was just that she had learned about middle-income families from her mother since she was a child, but she was good at managing accounts and settling accounts, so she was completely clueless when it came to actually doing business.
I can't think of a way to make money, but there are people in the government who do.
"The princess makes a lot of money selling ice cream every day. This is a way to make money, but she doesn't even bother to rent a shop and sells it directly in the salt shop. And my observation found that the princess has no idea of expanding the ice shop. You said that if we discuss it with her, we
I wonder if she would agree to open a branch in other towns?"
Li Chengshang might not have been interested in the ice shop business if he had followed his old-fashioned temperament before.
But the person he is today is no longer the person he was then.
Now the burden of five thousand soldiers made him realize the importance of firewood, rice, oil and salt.
It made him even more eager to have a hen that could lay golden eggs, so as soon as the eldest lady brought it up, Li Chengshang hesitated for a while, "Don't push this matter. I'll discuss it with my father first."
Xia Jing didn't know that someone was already thinking about her ice shop business.
At this moment, she was testing the training results of the guards in the guard camp.
Since the Guards Battalion arrived in Lingnan and settled down, they have insisted on practicing every day and have not dared to slack off.
All squadron leaders abide by their duties and vow to train a strong force to protect the princess at all times.
The newly joined Jigong Mountain bandits used to use wild martial arts to rob roads, but now they had the opportunity to systematically learn how to arrange their formations, and they were all extremely excited.
"The newly joined guards have good adaptability. As long as they systematically learn team fighting, I believe it won't be long before they will be as strong as the other guards."
Li Dingguo listened to Xia Jing's praise and felt happy. He was not modest, "Thank you for your trust, Princess. I also think they will become even better."
Xia Jing smiled and nodded, "We'll see!"
Thank you Ainianyu, Ye Xingchen 3399, A! Ziye, 45. Looking up, you were once simple, Minmin, ChaoQiong, ordinary, I like Jinlingdong very much, book friend 20220504092315377, book friend 160526143038001 for your recommendation and support~