At dusk, Yunling Village.

Zhao Yan and Heiwa rented a small courtyard in the village.

This small courtyard is the house of an old couple. Three large tiled houses are clean and no one has lived in them.

As for bedding and some daily necessities, you still need to go to the county town to buy them.

This small courtyard was originally the house prepared by the old couple for their son's marriage, but his son bought a house in Xingyuan County and settled in it. The old couple was unwilling to leave the nursing home, so there was only the courtyard left.

When Zhao Yan and Heiwa said they wanted to rent and could pay the rent for three months immediately, the old couple immediately agreed.

After renting the house, Zhao Yan and Heiwa walked around Yunling Village.

It is not the busy farming season yet, so there is no farming work to be busy. However, except for children running in Yunling Village, there are almost no adults.

Because as long as the village can still move, they basically go to the same place to work.

That is the Cuijia papermaking workshop, three miles south of the village.

The Cui family owns many book shops, so naturally they need paper workshops.

In Dazhou, book shops are a huge profit-making business, and without an identity background, they cannot be opened at all.

As night fell, the people of Yunling Village returned, and smoke from cooking fires rose one by one.

Just as Zhao Yan was about to show off his skills and cook a pot of porridge, the old couple came over.

I also held a small basket woven by bamboo in my hand. The basket was covered with a white cage, and there was obviously some food inside.

"Young Master, this is the cake that my old woman just made. It's still hot. You just came here and didn't make a fire. Let's try our cake first!"

After saying that, the old man lifted the cage cloth and exposed several steaming pancakes.

"Uncle Liu, Aunt Liu, you are so polite!" Zhao Yan hurriedly asked Heiwa to take the food and thanked the two of them.

"Young Master gave us so much money, it's nothing we can do to get a few cakes!" Uncle Liu said with a smile.

He had never seen a young man with a temperament like Zhao Yan, and he firmly believed that Zhao Yan's status must be very high, so he should be here to experience rural life.

After a few greetings with him, Zhao Yan asked, "Brother Liu, it seems that the people in this village are working in the Cui family's papermaking workshop. Is this much better than farming?"

Uncle Liu smiled and said, "No, no, go to Cuijia papermaking workshop and just have lunch, and don't pay for it!"

"Ah? If you don't pay, why are there anyone going to do it?" Zhao Yan asked in confusion.

"It's already good to have lunch. Who dares to ask for money? The land we planted is all from the Cui family. If it weren't for the Cui family, we would have starved to death. Most of us who still live in the village are incompetent and are old. It's worth working for a day and changing a meal. If your aunt and I were not too old, we would have to go and have a big meal at noon and don't have to eat at night, so we can have a lot of food left!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yan couldn't help but feel a little sad. Under the long-term oppression of these people, their pursuit of life has stopped at the demand for food.

"Then do you think that with the Cui family in Xingyuan County, everyone's lives have improved?"

Liu Bo thought for a while and said, "My grandfather, my father, and I are all long-term workers in the Cui family. Only my son wanted to do business, so he ran to the county town, but he was still working for the Cui family in business. Our family's life has always been like this. It's not particularly good, but he can live. Without the Cui family, I might not be able to raise my son!"

...

After Zhao Yan and Liu Bo talked a few words, the old couple slowly left.

Heiwa, who was standing beside him, held the cake basket and licked his lips and said, "Young master, this cake is quite fragrant. It may not be delicious if it is cold!"

Zhao Yan gave him a blank look and said, "Eat!"

Heiwa was immediately overjoyed, took out one for Zhao Yan first, and then started swallowing himself.

Zhao Yan looked at the silver moonlight in the yard, took a bite of the cake, and couldn't help but say: It smells so good!

After eating a pancake, Zhao Yan lost his appetite.

He was thinking about a question: How can people live more dignified?

Taking Yunling Village as an example, in the eyes of the villagers, the Cui family is their backer and benefactor. Without the Cui family, they seem to have no idea how to live.

These villagers did not trust the court at all because in their eyes, the court did not bring any benefits to them except for constantly collecting taxes and conscription of troops.

Now, the purpose of Zhao Yan's new policy is to let more fields return to the hands of the people, so that they can truly feel the joy of not finishing their food.

But the people do not believe in the court at all at present.

Is the Cui family good to the people?

Not good.

If you do a day of work, you can only exchange for a meal. No matter where you are, this is a behavior of a promiscuous businessman.

But the people think that the Cui family is doing good deeds because the court did too badly, and the people do not believe it. The purpose of the court's new policy is to make them eat and wear good clothes, so that every family can have surplus food, so that they no longer live under the driving force of others every day.

The goodness of the Cui family and the goodness of the Cui family were completely highlighted by the Great Zhou court.

The more Zhao Yan thought about it, the more he felt that the emperor was not doing well enough. He looked at the night sky until late at night before he went back to bed.

Early the next morning, Zhao Yan heard the chaos outside.

"Heiwa, what happened outside?"

Heiwa ran over and said, "Young master, the villagers are all preparing to go to the county town. They said they were sitting in the county government office for a day. The Cui family was willing to give each person a hundred cigars. Even Uncle and Aunt Liu were just using crutches and taking a donkey cart to the county town!"

Sitting in the county government office? One hundred citrus a day?

Zhao Yan couldn't help but wonder. According to his understanding of the Cui family, the Cui family was not generous to the people.

A young and strong laborer can only earn dozens of money by working hard labor for a day.

One person has 100 articles a day, obviously there are other articles.

Zhao Yan said to Heiwa: "Let's go, let's go to the county government and bring those two cloaks to let the Cui family recognize it. Cui Yanyan should be chasing him again!"

...

At this moment, next to Xingyuan County Government, there was a lot of liveliness.

The people, especially some old men and aunts, were carrying small stools one by one, and some even sat naked in front of the county government, surrounding the county government gate.

The first few people also pulled out a white cloth, which said: "Doing the people and harming the country, abolish the new policy!"

Not far away, several scholars stood on the platform, telling the many disadvantages of the new policy, and some people have begun to write poems to ridicule.

In front of a teahouse next to the county government, Cui Yixiong, the third master of the Cui family, said with a smile: "This is the effect I want. It is best to have the reputation of Xingyuan County spread to Changdan City!"

"Dad, will we risk going to prison if we do this?" a young man next to him asked with some fear.
Chapter completed!