Chapter 391

Yiling is located at the entrance of the Three Gorges and on the edge of Wushan mountain range. In addition to Yiling City, the terrain is open, and other areas are full of towering mountains and dense primitive jungles.

With a population of more than 200000, more than half of them live near Yiling city and on both sides of the Yangtze River.

More than a dozen townships and towns, and more than half of them are located in remote mountainous areas. Most of the mountain people live a life of hunting and live a life free from competition with the world. Although they are poor, they are undoubtedly much better than the people in the Central Plains who are in deep water. At least they have a small life.

The so-called villains come out of the mountains, coupled with the lack of farmland and poor land in the mountains, is that the landlords and gentry in the city and town don't look up to them, and generally rarely go to these villages. Over time, this unique environment has not only formed a set of their own rules, but also extremely exclusive.

Some villagers have never left the village since childhood. Only knowledgeable people in the village will go to the town or county every ten days and a half months, or even January, to exchange some necessities for life.

Baiyan town is located more than 60 miles northwest of Yiling. Although the road is rugged, there is still a path for people to pass through.

On that day, a group of people walked along the path with difficulty. A constable led the way in front of them, followed by two servant girls. A 30-year-old woman sat in a soft sedan chair and was carried by two big men. The female soldier with a sword fell last.

Naturally, this group of people started from Yiling city and went to the wife of the mayor of Baiyan town. They started in the morning and didn't reach the town until the sun went down.

During this period, I climbed over mountains one after another, and most of the roads were woods with rare human traces, which made the mayor's wife, a northerner, only hair in her heart.

The two servant girls each carried this burden, and they were almost exhausted. Their clothes and skirts had already been caught by the bushes and thorns on the road. At this time, their faces were a little pale, and they didn't know whether they were frightened or tired.

"Wang... Brother Wang, it's getting dark. Haven't you arrived yet?" A little servant girl bit her teeth to catch up and gasped for breath at the constable in front.

"Miss juan'er, it's fast. It's just over the top of the mountain."

"That's what you said half an hour ago. How long will it take?" The servant girl who called juan'er tooted her mouth.

"It's true this time. Don't worry. I'll be able to get to the town before dark. If Miss juan'er can't walk, my old Wang can carry you for a while." Constable Wang grinned.

"Stop lying. I can still walk. If you really want to help, just carry my burden on your back."

Juan'er was really excited when she heard that he was going to carry himself, but her daughter's reserve finally made her refuse and handed over the burden.

"All right!" Constable Wang took the burden and hung it on his shoulder. He turned and continued to walk forward. Soon another servant girl Xiaocui also came forward and gave the burden to Constable Wang.

"Madam, what can we do in the future?"

"Hey, I don't know how long I'll stay here."

After the two servant girls lost their baggage, they also relaxed a lot. They came to the soft sedan and began to sigh. Obviously, they didn't expect that the conditions here would be like this. It's very different from Nanyang.

"If you come, be at ease!" The lady also sighed. Although she was sitting in the soft sedan chair, she was bumped up and down the slope all day, and her expression was a little depressed.

I'm afraid that among the four women, the female soldiers behind them still seem to be able to handle things with ease, carrying bags, swords and short guns. From time to time, they are still in the mood to chop down the extended branches.

Constable Wang did not deceive people this time. After they crossed the mountain, a river appeared at the foot of the mountain. There were several houses in a relatively open place beside the river, dozens of small wooden houses next to it, and a large area of paddy field on the other side.

At dusk, dozens of cooking smoke floated out of the town. There were still villagers bathing in the river. A few dog barks came. The people waiting at the entrance of the town immediately looked at the path on the hillside.

"Coming!"

"Come on, go and tell everyone to meet the new mayor." An old man dressed in Chinese clothes quickly greeted him. Soon, the open space at the entrance of the town was surrounded by hundreds of people, both men and women, old and weak.

The other Constable who rushed to the town one step in advance was talking to the old man in Chinese clothes.

As a group of seven people approached, the villagers calmed down and looked at the outsiders curiously.

The children pointed and whispered in their parents' ears, while the young man looked at the two beautiful servant girls with some evasion in his eyes.

The lady's surname was Xu. At this time, she finally got out of the soft sedan and walked slowly. The old man in Chinese clothes immediately greeted him with two other middle-aged men dressed like foreign staff members.

"Old Huang GUI, welcome madam!"

"Welcome, madam."

The people bowed down and saluted one after another. Although they didn't understand why the imperial court would send a woman as mayor, master Huang said yes, it would be right. Besides, the two captains could still be distinguished.

"Old Huang, you're welcome."

"The villagers are welcome. My surname is Xu. I'm the mayor of Baiyan town just appointed by the governor of Yiling Prefecture. In the future, just call me mayor Xu."

Xu Shi also gave a gift. While introducing, he looked at the people around him. He saw that although they all had dishes on their faces, they were in good spirits. He nodded secretly, then took out the appointment document from the burden of the servant girl and handed it to Huang Lao.

After reading the document, old Huang had no doubt. Although he knew that Mrs. Xu had no good intention to come to the town, he was appointed by the new governor of the state, which was not easy to neglect. So he politely invited the party into the town.

As the largest landlord in the town, the Huang family's eldest son still has a great reputation. Even in this remote place, there are still four yards in the house, and it's no problem to vacate a yard for Xu and them.

When he first arrived, Xu didn't refuse. The welcome banquet in the evening only showed one side, so he went back to his room to have a rest.

Master Huang and the other two members continued to warmly greet the two constables and wanted to ask for some information from the two people.

"Master Huang, to tell you the truth, the sky outside has changed. Although Mrs. Xu is a woman, she came from Xiangyang with the new Zhizhou. More than ten women like them have come this time. The first lady's surname is Zhou. She seems to be a special envoy and doesn't know what she does. However, it seems that her status is no lower than that of Liu Zhizhou, By the way, there is another judge... "

When the two captains were drunk, they couldn't control their mouths. They said everything they knew and guessed.

Master Huang and the other two members listened to their chatter. Their faces were dignified. None of them were stupid. Naturally, they could hear that Mrs. Xu's identity was not simple, and I'm afraid the purpose of coming here was not simple.

They also heard a little about the situation in Xiangyang. The land of the landlords and gentry was distributed to mud legs, and these women were the ones who distributed the land to them.

After the two constables got drunk and were helped down, the three came to the Huang family study.

"Huang Lao, did Xu really come to divide our fields?"

"Hum, if that's true, the emperor is far away, I don't believe she can turn the sky as a woman."

"It's too early to draw a conclusion now. Make a decision when Juner comes back from the city!"

"Hey, the world is getting worse. I wonder if the imperial court can..."

Old Huang waved his hand, then sighed again and shook his head. They both sighed one after another when they remembered the ups and downs of the imperial court.

The next day, early in the morning, Xu left the yellow house and began to wander around the town with a female soldier and a servant girl.

While learning about Baiyan town from the people, I was looking for a place to live. Obviously, I wanted to finish the task assigned by the king as soon as possible, and then I could leave here.

However, there are so many houses in the town. Except for the three large families, the other people have a single house and no empty house, which makes Xu difficult for a time.

"Madam, why don't we hire people to build another one, so that we can not only get closer to them, but also learn more from them."

The servant girl named juan'er suggested that the female soldiers on one side also nodded. One morning, she also felt that the people in the town didn't dare to talk disorderly, so she knew very limited customs and people.

"Well, that's the only way. You can go to each village and village to count the population, understand the details and publicize the laws of the state of Qin while building houses."

Xu actually has this idea. After all, it's not a thing to always live in the yellow house. It's easy to cause misunderstanding among the people. This time, the king prepared 100 Liang silver for each of them, and it won't cost much to build a simple courtyard.

But what several people didn't expect was that no one was willing to work for them. They asked more than ten companies in a row, but no one was recruited. Xu also understood that if master Huang didn't nod, I'm afraid no one would dare to work for them.