Du Qi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't be leaving for the time being. Even if I were to leave, I will help you solve the carriage issue before leaving. So tonight, I can only stay at your house. I reckon that Zhang Feng will definitely bring his men here tonight. "
Zhang Feng, Du Qi already knew.
So he addressed him by name.
Wang Gan let out a sigh of relief and said, "I will never forget the county magistrate's life-saving grace. If it wasn't for your grace, the Wang family would have been taken down. I am more than happy to have you stay here. "
Du Qi said, "Within the Xia 'Xia, the universe is peaceful and Zhang Feng won't be able to control everything. Although Zhang Feng is a parasite in Gaochang, but in general, Gaochang is still a good place. You don't have to worry. "
Wang Gan nodded and said, "After Emperor Xia came to the Western Region, he exempted the agricultural tax and the corvee labor. Our lives are indeed better than before. Emperor Xia is benevolent and righteous, but Emperor Xia is high above. He can't take care of so many people! Sigh, the officials below are too abominable. "
Du Qi smiled but did not reply.
Wang Gan changed the topic and asked, "Magistrate Du, have you eaten?"
"Not yet!"
Du Qi said, "We have been on the road and stopped occasionally to understand the situation. So we have been delayed for some time and have not eaten yet."
Wang Gan immediately said, "Our family hasn't eaten either. Why don't you come with us? We only have some simple tea and plain food. Please make do with it. "
Du Qi smiled and said, "Deference is no substitute for obedience. Thank you, sir."
Wang Gan immediately arranged for the wives of his eldest, second, and third sons to bring in their meals.
There was meat.
And it was all big pieces of meat.
Wang Gan's family was rich. After all, the carriage earned money every day. So, the meals were excellent. Wang Gan was not a money-grubber. He was very generous when it came to food. Wang Gan invited Du Qi and the rest to eat while the women went to the backyard to eat. After the meal, Wang Gan asked the servants to prepare tea.
He rinsed his mouth and digested the food.
Du Qi looked at Wang Gan and said, "Elder, apart from the trouble brought by Zhang Feng, what other problems are there with the operation of the carriage? Feel free to tell me, and I'll take care of them one by one. Now that I've come down to patrol, I want to understand the situation here and see what's going on. "
Wang Gan thought for a moment and said, "County Magistrate, the current policies are quite good. Furthermore, the government has repaired the roads, so it's easy to do things. There's no problem with the general direction, but there's a small problem. "
Du Qi asked, "What is it?"
Wang Gan said seriously, "The question at hand is whether this road is good or not. It connects to many places. But at the same time, there were also some problems. When a road passed by a village, the villagers would block the road and ask for money. If they didn't pay, they wouldn't be allowed to pass. Because of this, we had conflicts with many people. In the end, we had to pay a certain amount of money every month to reach an agreement to ensure that the other party wouldn't block our way. "
Du Qi said in surprise, "Isn't such a person a road hog? But I haven't heard any news about it. The government doesn't know about it at all! Many merchants come and go from Gaochang, but they haven't encountered any problems. "
Wang Gan smiled helplessly and said, "County Magistrate, there's something you don't know. The road hooligans in the various villages are all habitual offenders, and they're also extremely shrewd. The people they pick on aren't big merchants who come and go from Gaochang. They won't even touch ordinary merchants. Their targets are the peddlers and the local citizens. "
After a pause, Wang Gan continued, "Moreover, the money they collect isn't much. Who would complain about such a small matter? If I were to file a complaint and implicate myself in it, things would be bad if I were to be retaliated against afterwards. "
Wang Yi echoed, "County Magistrate, you don't know this, but these road hooligans are picky. They won't provoke those who are strong. They only dare to bully some peddlers who are alone. "
Du Qi said, "Then how many of these road hooligans are there in Gaochang?"
Wang Gan said, "County Magistrate, that's difficult to calculate. At least for now, it's impossible to calculate because they're everywhere. The roads today are well-connected, and there are only two road hooligans involved in our carriage. One of them is in Pockmarked Village, which is about six miles east of the mountain village. There's a group of road hooligans there. Another group of road hooligans is in Xitu Bay, which is about ten miles away. "
"There are dozens of road hooligans in each of these two places. They have sabers and are very powerful. If you pay, they won't do anything. After all, they follow the rules. If you don't pay, you'll be in trouble. "
Wang Gan said, "Of course, they're just threatening. They won't kill. At most, they'll injure you. That's why there's some leeway in this aspect. "
Du Qi nodded.
He raised his head and looked at Shangguan Yi with a solemn expression.
He wouldn't know if he didn't come out, but now that he came out, he knew the local situation. If he didn't come down to understand the local situation, he wouldn't have known that there were road hooligans on the road.
That's because the road hooligans wouldn't come out if you led a large group of people there.
Du Qi said solemnly, "Don't worry, Elder. I'll deal with these matters one by one. Within the borders of Gaochang County, the universe is clear and bright. There is no place for people to commit crimes, much less for people to rob. "
Wang Gan was delighted when he heard Du Qi's words. He said, "County Magistrate, you still have to be careful. They say that a cornered dog will jump over a wall. If you push them too far, they'll easily hurt you. "
Du Qi nodded, but changed the topic. They talked about the harvest and family life.
Finally, they brought up the issue of having children.
Du Qi said, "Elder, the government is implementing a new policy to encourage more children. There are all kinds of rewards for having more children. What do you think? "
Wang Gan was a little surprised when he heard that. He said, "County Magistrate, the higher-ups are indeed promoting the idea of having more children. That's why two of our three daughters-in-law are pregnant again, and they're both having their third child. It's just that they just got pregnant, so we can't tell if it's a boy or a girl. But what rewards are there? I haven't heard of any rewards! "
Du Qi raised his eyebrows. He was a little surprised.
The rewards were gone.
Du Qi clearly remembered that there were rewards. In the end, the policy was that once the third child was born, the government would reward them with a lamb. To the commoners, this was a pretty good reward.
If the fourth child was born, the government would reward them with a cow, which was a great reward. When the fifth child was born, there were not only lambs and piglets, but also monetary rewards. In short, it was very rich.
In order to increase the population, Du Qi had paid a huge price. It was precisely because of this that Du Qi had specially arranged for Du Gou to be in charge of this matter to ensure that the matter progressed smoothly. He didn't expect that the rewards would be gone.
Du Qi said, "Elder, is there really no reward?"
"There really isn't!"
Wang Gan shook his head and said, "This old man has to travel around and know the news of the surrounding areas. In the surrounding villages, I haven't heard that the government would reward those who have more children. "
Du Qi said, "I know about this matter. Elder, let me tell you, the government did reward them with specific terms. Now that it hasn't been announced, I'll take care of it. Don't worry, after your daughters-in-law give birth, the government will definitely reward them. No matter if it's a boy or a girl, there will be rewards. "
Wang Gan was excited when he heard that.
This was a pleasant surprise.
He didn't expect that there would be such a reward.
Du Qi and Wang Gan continued to chat. Time passed without them noticing. In the blink of an eye, the oil lamp was lit in the room, and the moon was high in the sky outside.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!! "
Suddenly, there was a hurried knock on the door.
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