In February of the Shengwu year, everything revived, and from south to north, it entered the busy season of spring farming; Henan County was no exception. People had already gone to the fields to carry out annual spring farming, and rice was rare in Henan County. This does not mean that the people in Henan County do not have rice seeds, but that the people are very good at calculating.

Since Henan County is slightly north, if rice is planted, there is only one harvest a year. If wheat and corn are planted, it will be two harvests a year. They often plant wheat in the spring, and then a quarter of corn and soybeans will be planted in summer. The yield of the two seasons is superimposed, which is higher than that of the rice in the first season.

The river breeze blowing outside the city is still blowing from the north, but there is a hint of warmth in the ice and cold, which can make people feel the breath of spring; the willow trees on the roadside have sprinkled branches and sprinkled with stagnation for a winter, and the earth is covered with a layer of spring color, full of vitality.

Early this morning, Yang Tong and his family, under the escort of more than a thousand Xuanjia troops, left the southern gate of Luoyang in a low-key manner. Outside the gate was an endless green wheat field. From a distance, they were like waves, and groups of people loosened the soil and weeded in the wheat field.

In a few days, Yang Tong will put on armor and fight on the battlefield. I don’t know how long this battle will last or how long it will be separated from his wife and children. Seeing that the sun is shining these days, he took his wife and children out for a spring outing.

Because Changsun Wugui, Li Xiuning, Lu Qinghua and Xiao Yuexian were all pregnant, the team did not walk fast. After leaving the city, the convoy turned west and marched along the Luoshui River.

The older Yang Xifang, Yang Hui and Yang Zheng each rode a horse. The three siblings were good at riding skills. They could master the horses and walk slowly by their father's side. However, Yang Tong's Lixing arrow was too tall. The three little ones sitting on the horse reached their father's legs, which was full of incongruity.

"Father, Xiaolu is taller than her sister and brother." Yang Lu is like her nickname, and she has an active temperament. This girl is rare to come out once. She doesn't want to ride a carriage with her mother, so she is held by Yang Tong on the horse. Looking at her sister and brother who is much shorter than her, the girl is extremely proud.

Yang Xifang, Yang Hui, and Yang Zheng carefully controlled the horse and had no time to pay attention to her, which made the little girl feel bored. Instead, she asked her father: "Father, why is the sun red and the moon white?"

"Well..." Yang Tong was stopped.

"Because there is only ice and snow above the moon, it looks white; above the sun, there are fires, so it is red." Yang Xifang, the oldest and best riding skills, couldn't wait to show her knowledge.

Xiao Yanglu opened her eyes wide and looked up at her father who was rubbing her chin: "Father, isn't it?"

“Just, that’s right!”

Yang Xifang was recognized by his father and was overjoyed: "What I said was right."

Yang Tong: “…”

Xiao Yanglu thought seriously: "Father, sister, I don't like the sun, I still like the moon."

"Why?"

"The sun is hot. Just look at it and your eyes will cry. The moon is better, and it can turn into a crescent moon. It is as beautiful as the eyes of the mother's queen." Wei Fengwu in the carriage heard Yang Lu's tender voice, and his eyes turned into a crescent moon.

"Well, so when the deer sees the fire, she cannot touch it with her hands, otherwise it will burn her hands to burn."

"Is it as black as the lamb legs of a mother's roast?" The tender voice was filled with disgust.

"..." Li Xiuning in the car turned black.

Yang Tong said: "Like black charcoal."

Yang Lu shrank his hand and hid it in his arms. He looked at his father with his little face raised: "The deer is the most obedient and never touches the fire."

Yang Lu was born in the first year of Daye. He was just over two years old and was at the time when he had to ask why.

Yang Tong praised: "Xiao Lu is the most obedient and the smartest child."

Yang Lu happily twisted his little body in his father's arms, squinted his beautiful big eyes and giggled happily.

"Father, why can't my sister and brothers go to school? Why can't I?"

"Because my sister and brothers grew up, they had to study and practice martial arts, so they had to go to Hongwenguan, go to the military camp, and learn from the gentlemen and generals. You have to eat more and eat more food to be as tall as your sisters and brothers, and you can study and practice martial arts." Yang Tong felt like he had children and everything was enough.

Yang Lu touched his belly, his little face wrinkled, and said in great difficulty: "But Xiaolu's belly is so small that she can't eat so much. Her sister and brother's belly are tall and big, so she can eat so much."

Yang Tong smiled and said, "The little deer first starts by washing the handkerchiefs and dresses. The sister and brother both wash their handkerchiefs, wash their faces and dresses themselves."

Yang Lu's little body turned around, letting his father's body, turned his head to the carriage behind him, and said, "Mother, Xiao Lu will dress herself and wash her face tomorrow, and you are not allowed to help me."

Li Xiuning chuckled softly and said, "Okay, tomorrow my mother will teach Xiaolu to dress and wash her face. Xiaolu is so smart that she will learn it soon."

Yang Lu cheered: "I'll dress myself and wash my face tomorrow."

At this time, Yang Tong saw a large group of people watching something by the wheat field in the distance. The person in charge seemed to be Jingzhao Yin Guyan.

"Let's go over and take a look." After Yang Tong said that, he turned his horse's head and ran towards the crowd. Everyone guarded Yang Tong's family and followed him to the edge of the field.

Gu Yan was the son of Gu Yi, the former Jingzhao County Magistrate. His father and Wei Xuan and Yin Shishi died in battle outside Daxing City. He and Yin Mingyue and Yin Hongzhi escaped the disaster because of Wei Xuan's words. After arriving in Yecheng, they started step by step with the county magistrate. They served as county magistrates many times and were able to manage the local area in an orderly manner. He was proficient in the law, was strong in nature, was inspiring to be in a regular manner, and was independent, and had the spirit of being a father. He was now promoted to Jingzhao Yin, and his position was equivalent to that of the mayor of the capital in later generations, and was directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor.

The Sui Dynasty had always had the rule that "no way to enter the palace without going through the prefectures and counties". He came up step by step from the place and slowly approached the center. Yin Hongzhi, who was still worried about his lifelong affairs, was several steps slower than his loyal brother.

Since ancient times, there has been the concept of "food is the most important thing for people", so agriculture has always been the top priority for officials at all levels. Only when agriculture is stable and harvested, local grain prices can be stable and the tax revenue can be ensured. Only by winning the hearts of the people and paying taxes in a timely manner can it be favored by the court and gained opportunities for promotion. Therefore, local officials attach great importance to agriculture and can see them in the fields every spring and autumn harvest. Gu Yan is no exception, especially at the feet of the emperor. It is difficult to be recognized for doing something well. Once a bad thing is done, the emperor can know in the blink of an eye that after taking office, Gu Yan worked diligently and did not dare to have any deviation.

He was sitting on the field trunk and chatting about agriculture with more than a hundred farmers. At this time, a follower hurriedly said: "Empress, the Lord is here."

Gu Yan turned his head and saw a team of cavalry coming from the ridge of the field. The leader was Emperor Shengwu, and he was holding a little girl as exquisite as a ceramic doll in his arms. He was so scared that he quickly stood up to greet him.

"I'm going to see the Lord!"

Yang Tong turned over and dismounted and asked, "Are Gu Qing persuaded farmers?"

Gu Yan shook his head and said, "It snowed heavily for nearly a month last winter. As soon as the spring began, the people worked hard to plow the fields. Everyone said that this year would be a good year, so there was no need for the persuasion of the ministers."

When Yang Tong saw a border sign beside the field, he asked again: "Whose land belongs to this piece of land?"

"Return to the emperor, this land belongs to the little old man."

An old man with white hair came forward tremblingly and saluted: "Caomin, pay homage to the emperor."

More than a hundred farmers around also saluted one after another. Looking at the frightened people, Yang Tong said gently: "Don't be nervous. I passed by here and saw a lot of people, so I came over and took a look."

At this time, Yang Xifang, Yang Hui and Yang Zheng also rode over on the horse. Yang Tong carried them one by one. Gu Yan quickly said loudly: "This is the Prince of the Great Sui Dynasty and His Highness, and everyone should also pay tribute."

More than a hundred farmers were in a stir and saluted one after another.

"No need to be polite!"

After everyone calmed down, Yang Tong asked the landlord, "How much land is there in the father-in-law's house?"

"Caomin's family has 80 mu of permanent land, 80 mu of dew fields, and 20 mu of public rental land."

Yongye fields refer to land passed on to descendants, and the land is returned to the government after people die; public land is rented to the government for farming. Since the people died in the war, as a severely affected area, the Central Plains were almost nine out of ten households. It was a pity that the remaining fertile land was abandoned. So they rented it to labor-powered and capable families in the name of the government, and collected the same taxes as other lands. When the population surged, they used the recovered land and the land to be distributed to the new population. It was already surprisingly high that the old man was able to allocate 160 acres of land in the imperial capital.

Deng Hao next to him explained with a smile: "He has forty acres of military fields here, and Mr. Ma's two sons are in the army."

Yang Tong then suddenly realized and asked Yang Zheng: "When he said this, what did Zheng'er think of?"

Yang Zheng said: "The old man's two sons are in the army. Who will farm for him? Can the old man be busy?"

Yang Zheng's words attracted a kind laugh.

Gu Yan gave a thumbs up and praised: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is really smart, and he immediately asked the key points. In order to solve the worries of the soldiers, the court specifically stipulated that the military households without labor at home should be solved by local governments. For example, Ma's two sons were in the army. The local governments would organize local people to help him farm the fields, so that our soldiers of the Sui Dynasty would fight for the country without any worries. This is called supporting the army and Dai family, and it was created by the emperor when he entered Jizhou."

"The father is the most powerful." Yang Lu raised his beautiful and cute little face, looking at his father in admiration, and said in a slight voice: "Grandpa, uncle, do you think so?"

"yes!"

"Haha, the little princess is so cute."

Yang Lu became even more proud and leaned over his mouth and kissed his father on the cheek.

The laughter in the crowd became even bigger, and everyone liked this lively and cute little princess of the Tian family.

Yang Tong chatted with everyone for a while and listened to everyone's opinions. After all, everyone was concerned about taxation.

"From ancient times, from the present, every time the war ends, we usually have light taxes and levies and rest with the people. Our Sui Dynasty is no exception. When the world is reunified, at least half of the troops will be discharged from the army and land. Once there is no military expenditure, the court's expenses are only officials, the salary of the regular army, and the stockpiling of a certain amount of reserved grain and money, so as to avoid the sudden outbreak of the war, the treasury will not be able to provide the money and food for the army to fight. Everyone is experiencing war and should know the importance of the army to a country. Therefore, we must retain a certain number of troops."

"The emperor said it!" Mr. Ma said respectfully: "The people from Caomin are from Mayi. They understand the importance of the army very well. You don't know how cruel the Turks are. If our Great Sui army had not been strong, they would have fought to Taiyuan long ago. My son said that without a strong army, the country will not be in power."

"Brother Ma taught two powerful soldiers for my Great Sui Dynasty, you really can't stand it." Yang Tong pointed and praised him.

"I dare not, I dare not, this is the enlightenment that the people of the Sui Dynasty should have." Mr. Ma's face was blushed, and his floating and proud look aroused the envy of the farmers.

Yang Tong couldn't help laughing, "My father-in-law has a good sense of enlightenment. In the future, he will promote patriotic ideas more in the village, so that he will have a sincere heart to serve the country from a young age."

"Returning to the emperor, this is how Caomin usually teaches him."

"I know a lot of words from your tone."

"I will not hide it from the emperor, Caomin is an enlightenment teacher in the village."

Yang Tong asked with a smile: "What have you taught?"

"Teaching children to write the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classics, but children prefer the Three Character Classics."

"So why?"

"It's simple and easy to learn, and there are many stories that teach people to be kind, and children like it."

"I like it too." Yang Lu expressed his loyalty to his father.

The people who were gradually restrained laughed again.

After joking, Yang Tong got back to the point and said, "Everyone, it is certain to encourage fertility and taxes until the world is unified, and it is necessary to encourage fertility. It is difficult to say how much taxes are reduced and when will it be reduced, but the general direction is certain. In short, it is not much less than now."

Everyone was overjoyed and thanked them one after another: "The Lord is kind."

After saying another word of encouragement, Yang Tong took the family back.

…………

Yang Tong did not go too far. He arranged the outing place outside Huitongyuan west of Luoyang. There were large forests, sparsely populated and numerous birds and beasts. At this time, it was already bright, and the morning glow shone on the mountains and jungles in the distance, as if dyed with a magnificent color. The valley river several miles away sparkled, like a jade belt surrounding the forest.

Between the forest and the river is a flat grassland, which is very suitable for flying kites.

Yang Tong thought that there was only his family, but there were still people who were earlier than them. However, these people were not ordinary people. Most of the people Yang Tong saw were rich people who were dressed in bright clothes and gorgeous clothes.

But thinking about it, it is the time of busy farming, so how can the people have such leisure? But for wealthy families, this kind of spring weather is a good day for art, exchange of literature, and drinking and having fun.

At first glance, I saw dozens of groups of scholars and tourists from all over the river gathered on the shores several miles along the river.

At this time, Li Zhi, who was responsible for finding a place, came and saluted from afar: "I will meet the Lord."
To be continued...