Chapter 58: The Sentiment of the People

"Go, go, go play elsewhere."

As Zhao Xu walked toward the mischievous children in the village, a group of villagers approached.

Leading them was an elder who shooed the children away and hurried over.

"Village Head Feng Zheng pays his respects to His Highness, Yan Wang." Upon reaching Zhao Xu, the old man bowed.

"Please rise, elder." Zhao Xu looked at Feng Zheng.

The Village Head is basically the smallest administrative unit in the Great Song, equivalent to a contemporary village chief.

Yesterday, Liu Fu had already informed Feng Zheng that Yan Wang would be coming today.

At this moment, he explained, "Your Highness, Feng Zheng was elected by the village folk themselves; he is the most virtuous and respected, and usually handles any minor disputes in the village."

Zhao Xu nodded.

Since ancient times, there has been the saying that imperial power does not reach the countryside.

It means that officials basically cannot manage rural areas.

Rural affairs are mostly handled by people like the local gentry.

The government only deals with the local elite, having them collect grain.

And this leads to the fundamental problem of ancient society.

The so-called local gentry firmly control the countryside.

These local gentry then collude with Rich Clans and the gentry class, keeping the commoners firmly under their control to fish for profit at will.

He had naturally considered this problem.

Therefore, he rebuilt the organizational structure of the Yan Commandery countryside.

Since the commoners are tilling the Prince's estate's fields.

The Prince's estate can naturally lead the commoners.

He does not need local gentry to urge the commoners to pay grain for him, so the value of the local gentry is gone.

Therefore, it is now very easy for the Prince's estate to take over the jurisdiction of these commoners.

The former local gentry have been abolished.

The current Village Heads are all directly elected by the commoners in the village, rather than being lackeys picked out by the village through collusion between Rich Clans and the gentry.

Moreover, he also incorporated these Village Heads into the Prince's estate's administrative system.

Every month, the Village Heads can receive a salary from the Prince's estate.

But in return, the government will conduct an administrative audit of these Village Heads every year.

Besides the Village Head, each village also has five Village Security Chiefs.

These Village Security Chiefs are responsible for daily production matters and each leads a team of Village Soldiers.

In wartime, they are responsible for resisting the enemy; in peacetime, they are responsible for local security.

"Your Highness, these are the five Village Security Chiefs." Liu Fu continued the introduction.

"We pay our respects to Your Highness." The five men bowed to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction; these five Village Security Chiefs were all young and strong.

"How is the digging of the tunnels in the village coming along?"

After meeting with everyone, he asked Feng Zheng.

Feng Zheng made a gesture of invitation, leading Zhao Xu toward the village.

"The rice seedlings have already been planted, and now the people in the village are all idle. These past two days, the Prince's Tutor gave orders to dig tunnels to resist the Northern Di people, and the people in the village have been very proactive; now every household is digging," Feng Zheng said cautiously.

He was of advanced age and had spent half his life in poverty.

Suddenly being elected as Village Head and able to receive a salary from the Prince's estate, becoming half an official, he naturally cherished it deeply.

He dared not be careless about anything on any given day, and handled everything personally.

Zhao Xu stopped in front of a fenced courtyard.

Looking at the thatched hut inside, he suddenly saw a woman close the door.

Then a man walked out from inside, appearing somewhat reserved.

Feng Zheng glanced at them, worried that Zhao Xu would blame the villagers for being rude, and explained, "Your Highness, please do not take offense. The villagers are poor; in some families with several people, there is only one pair of pants to wear. Often, whoever goes out wears them..."

Having said this, Feng Zheng stopped, and the meaning below was clearly self-evident.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu felt both embarrassed and saddened.

He knew Yan Commandery was poor, but he did not expect it to be poor to such a degree, with a whole family sharing one pair of pants.

And this was the seat of Yan Commandery, Yan County, where Yancheng is located.

If it is like this here, there is no need to even think about other places.

"I never imagined the commoners of my Yan Commandery were in such dire straits." Turning around,

he let out a long sigh.

Liu Fu grew up in the countryside and had long been accustomed to this.

He said, "Your Highness grew up in the Imperial Palace since childhood, eating fine food and wearing silk and satin; it is normal not to have seen such scenes. However, Your Highness need not be saddened. Once this year's rice is harvested, the lives of the Yan Commandery commoners will be better."

Mentioning this, Feng Zheng and the five Village Security Chiefs all smiled, their faces full of longing.

"The Prince's estate's fields only take a ten percent rent. Once the harvest comes in, the villagers will have more than enough to eat. When the time comes, we can take it to sell and earn a few taels of Silver, and then we will be able to add new clothes," Feng Zheng said, becoming happier as he spoke.

The Village Security Chiefs all nodded, and one Village Security Chief said, "Now there is no villager in Yan Commandery who does not feel grateful to Your Highness. It is Your Highness who gave everyone something to look forward to; otherwise, this life would be meaningless."

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's mood improved quite a bit.

He thought to himself that it was worth it to do this business even at a loss.

In his contemporary life, he was also just an ordinary commoner.

And isn't what the commoners want just something to look forward to?

Whoever provides this hope, thousands upon thousands of commoners will be willing to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for them.

It was impossible to enter the current room.

Under the guidance of Feng Zheng, Zhao Xu went to the next thatched cottage.

A father and son lived in this thatched cottage, and Zhao Xu walked inside.

"Your Highness, the Tunnel is right beneath this fake stove; as long as the stove is moved away, one can crawl inside," Feng Zheng explained from the side, "However, the time has been too short, and it has not been dug very deep yet."

The thatched cottage was very cool, and the dirt floor was already very solid due to long-term trampling.

The layout of the room was also very simple.

There were three rooms: a bedroom, a main hall, and a room for cooking, with some crude tables and chairs placed inside.

The owners of the thatched cottage, the father and son, looked terrified at this moment.

Hearing Feng Zheng finish speaking, the father among them explained: "Your Highness, this commoner has been digging day and night, not daring to slack off."

Zhao Xu heard this and laughed out loud, "Do not be afraid, I am not blaming you; do not be anxious, just dig slowly."

The father and son finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They had previously both worked on the Du Family's farmstead.

If a single task was not done well, it would invite beatings and scolding.

Yan Wang's approachable demeanor actually left them pleasantly surprised.

Peering into the pit leading downward from the stove, Zhao Xu and the others left and went on to visit quite a few other households one after another.

Overall, the matter of the Tunnel had only just begun, and one could only see the initial shape.

However, he was not in a hurry; if they kept digging like this, it would be about finished within a month.

After lingering in Fushi Village for a while, he and Liu Fu's party set off again and went to other villages.

Just like in Fushi Village, the village organizations in these villages had all been established, and both production and the digging of the Tunnel were being carried out with great vigor.

"Liu Fu, you have done well," at dusk.

Zhao Xu had basically toured all the villages around Yancheng and was very satisfied with the current situation in the countryside of Yan Commandery.

After all, in the agricultural era, the vast majority of the population was in the countryside.

To control the countryside is to control the world.

Liu Fu sighed with emotion: "This subordinate is merely executing Your Highness's administrative orders; if not for Your Highness using the Merchant Association's profits to redeem these lands, this subordinate would not be able to make the countryside of Yan Commandery so vibrant, even if I vomited three liters of blood."

"At least you have self-awareness," Xu Lie teased Liu Fu; the two were used to bickering and felt uncomfortable if they didn't trade a few barbs.

Zhao Xu smiled, feeling an unprecedented sense of stability in his heart.

His fief had finally shown signs of improvement, and in the future, he would make Yan Commandery even better.

"Your Highness, look!" Xu Lie suddenly called out at this moment, his expression changing drastically.

Zhao Xu looked in the direction of his hand and saw dust billowing on the official road, as if an army of thousands was approaching.