Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 21
"Ah Chen, Ah Chen?"

Suddenly, Shen Chen seemed to hear someone calling him.

He raised his head and saw his father Shen Zhen.

"Father."

Shen Chen responded.

Shen Zhen said softly: "The clan elder is calling you."

Shen Chen looked over and saw Deng Hong waving to him to go over.

"Ah Chen, what do you think of the clan discussion?"

When he came to the hall and bowed his hands to salute the clan elders, Deng Hong asked him.

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "Just now I was thinking about what happened yesterday, I was a little lost in thought, and I didn't hear the discussions of my uncles."

"Uh"

Deng Hong looked around, and Deng Mao, Deng Zhao, and the elders of the Shen clan also had displeased expressions on their faces.

It was very impolite at the time for the elders to ignore the younger generation's words.

However, Shen Chen has made great contributions to the clan, so it is difficult for everyone to say anything.

Deng Zhao then said: "Just now I was discussing the route to the south, and I am going to go down to Runan via Peiguo, and enter Nanyang from Runan."

Shen Chen pondered and said: "No, Xiapi, Peiguo, Runan and other places have suffered from wars over the years, especially Xiapi, Cao Cao has just massacred, and the plague is rampant. I am afraid that if the tribe encounters the plague on the way to the south, it will be a disaster for the whole family. There has to be a safe route."

"Oh?"

Deng Mao asked: "Where can I be safe? There has never been a plague in Guangling, but Ruo Rong is a disaster place, and two eunuchs have already died at his hands. I am afraid that I will be harmed by him when I pass by Guangling."

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "It's still uncertain, let me think about it for a couple of days. Now the clan members need to be trained, and the clan property needs to be sold. There is still time."

Deng Mao said bitterly: "The thief Cao is in too much of a hurry. Just now everyone discussed that it is best to leave before the end of this month."

"Leave before the end of the month?"

Shen Chen was very surprised, because today is May [-]th, and moving the whole family is not a trivial matter.Even if ordinary farmers want to leave their hometowns and go to other places, they have to deal with all their assets, at least ten and a half months.

However, Huangmenting has more than 300 households and more than 1000 Dingkou. In addition, there are still a large amount of property and fields to be disposed of, and the clan guards need to be trained, let alone two months.

Deng Mao sighed and said: "The folks are also afraid. This Xuzhou is already a place of right and wrong. So many people died yesterday. I'm afraid if we stay any longer."

"I understand."

Shen Chen nodded silently, he was well aware of the situation.In front of the butcher's knife, it is understandable to want to escape as soon as possible due to the catastrophe of extermination.

"The clan's field?"

Shen Chen asked again.

"Get ready to sell it cheaply, or don't want it at all."

Deng Mao replied: "People are more important than land."

Shen Chen praised: "Uncle is indeed sensible, but he can't really just throw it away."

"Do you have a solution?"

"I heard that the Mi family is very rich in Xuzhou, with countless assets. I met Master Mi at Tao Shijun's place a few days ago. Maybe I can sell the land to him. With money and food, the clan can live after going to Jingzhou."

"really?"

Deng Mao was overjoyed and said, "Then I'll leave this matter and the route to the south to Ah Chen."

"Chen understands that he will live up to his uncle's entrustment."

Shen Chen agreed.

Strictly speaking, he was not familiar with Mi Zhu, but this was business, and the businessman had no reason to refuse.

In the next few days, the two clans of Huangmenting, Deng and Shen were busy moving.

Soon, on May 21st, Shen Chen went to Biejia's mansion in Shan County to ask to meet Mi Zhu.

At this time, Mi Zhu was entertaining Liu Bei and Kong Rong in the mansion.

Because Kong Rong was leaving for Beihai tomorrow, and Tao Qian was seriously ill recently and couldn't see him off, so he ordered Mi Zhu to do it for him.

Since it was Mi Zhu who went to Beihai to ask Kong Rong to come and help him, the three of them were very familiar with each other. When they exchanged cups and cups, they heard that Shen Chen was visiting, so they hurriedly invited them in.

"Zi Zhong Gong, Wen Ju Gong, Xuan De Gong!"

After entering the door, seeing Liu Bei and Kong Rong were also there, Shen Chen bowed one by one in order.

Mi Zhu was the master, and he wanted to be the first to meet the ceremony. Kong Rong was the oldest and most respected, so he was the second, and Liu Bei could only be the third. The etiquette of the Han Dynasty had very standard procedures, and it would be rude to make a mistake.

The three nodded in response, and Mi Zhu said, "Sit down, please."

Shen Chen sat down.

Liu Bei smiled and said: "Mr. Xiao came at the right time. Mr. Wen Ju will return to Beihai tomorrow. I am waiting to see him off."

Shen Chen cupped his hands and said, "That's a coincidence, I wish Mr. Wen Ju all the best."

Kong Rong sighed and said: "You are a smart child, with the demeanor of my childhood, which is very cute. It's a pity that I didn't bring any books this time, otherwise I will give you some, which is also good for people's mind."

"The kindness of Mr. Wen Ju is appreciated, but this time the clan will move the whole family to Jingzhou. If there is a chance to meet you someday, you will definitely have a long talk with him."

Shen Chen responded politely, in the late Han Dynasty when books and materials were as precious as gold, if someone wanted to donate books, it was a great kindness.

Although it was just Kong Rong's verbal words, Kong Rong was not a casual person, which showed that he did have this idea, so he must also thank him, which is called etiquette.

This is what Kong Rong admired most about him. He behaved just like an adult at the age of eight, and even paid more attention to details and etiquette than ordinary gentry. Getting along with such a person would make him feel comfortable and refreshing.

Mi Zhu asked: "Is the child still going to leave Xuzhou? Is it because he is worried about Cao Cao's return? You can rest assured about this. I heard the news that Cao Cao was attacked by Lu Bu. I am afraid that he will not be able to protect himself now."

Shen Chen nodded and said: "Cao Cao is indeed in danger of protecting himself, but his clan was attacked and many people were killed or injured. These days, he has been terrified, so he plans to return to the ancestral land of Nanyang to inhabit."

"Does Mr. Xiao want to leave? It's a pity, Mr. Tao is seriously ill now, Xuzhou city is troubled by internal and external troubles, and people like Mr. Xiao are needed to help."

Liu Bei sighed. He felt that Shen Chen was a very smart person. The situation in Xuzhou was very bad now. Shen Chen could analyze the situation in an orderly manner, and he needed his help.

However, Shen Chen had his own considerations, and said with a smile: "Mr. Xuande, don't worry. I am still young, and I haven't figured out many things. When I study for a few more years and grow older, we will meet again in the future." There will be a day when we will meet again, and it will not be too late for me to come to help."

"hope so."

Liu Bei replied noncommittally, in such a chaotic world, I don't know when we will meet again.

Mi Zhu said, "I don't know what is the purpose of Zhizi's visit this time?"

Shen Chen replied: "The clan's land property wants to be sold. I know that the owner of Mi is a wealthy man in Xuzhou. I wonder if he is interested in the ten thousand mu of land in Huangmenting?"

"Oh?"

Sure enough, Mi Zhu became interested and asked, "How many of these fields are in the lower fields, middle fields, and upper fields?"

Shen Chen said: "The lower field is 320 mu, the middle field is 950 mu, and the upper field is 470 mu. The clans have already counted these fields, and the total is 760 mu."

The field area of ​​the Han Dynasty was actually much smaller than the area of ​​one mu of land in later generations, about one-third less, and one mu was equivalent to 0.69 mu in modern times.

Moreover, the yield of millet and wheat was not high at that time. In the Henan and Hebei regions of the Yellow River Basin, summer millet and winter wheat were planted in two seasons. Corn was planted in spring and summer, and wheat in autumn and winter. The yield per mu was two to three stones per year. Two ripe is almost four to six stone.

An adult consumes about two to three shi of grain per month, and a family of five, even if calculated based on the minimum ration of two shi, consumes ten shi a month and 120 shi a year.

So the minimum standard for food and clothing is that this family of five needs to cultivate more than 20 mu of land and collect 120 shi of grain every year to ensure food.

But that is only the most ideal state. Taxes, natural disasters, production cuts, wars, living expenses, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, etc. will all increase the burden on food and clothing and the economy.Therefore, in fact, a family of five has to cultivate far more fields than imagined. Generally, each person has to cultivate about ten acres to make ends meet.

Shen Chen's family is considered a rich peasant family. His parents, elder brother, sister-in-law and himself are a family of five, with more than 300 mu of land under their name. This is a rich peasant.Ordinary families only have fifty or sixty acres of land, and in the event of natural or man-made disasters, they can only sell their property and sell themselves as slaves.

Huangmenting, Deng and Shen are the two surnames, with a total of more than 500 people, and there are more than 600 people with other surnames.Half of them are not self-cultivating farmers, but land slaves and apprentices renting the land of Deng Shen's second family, struggling to survive.

Therefore, if calculated according to the standard, Huangmenting has a population of more than 100, and the land should be more than 1000 mu.It's just that Deng and Chen's two clans are annexing land, and the fields have increased.

Although Shen Chen knew that the land annexation was the cause of the dynasty's demise, he had no way to stop it.

His own clan is the class of small landlords, with vested interests. It is impossible for him to shout slogans to overthrow the landlords and divide the poor farmland. In that case, he will not only have no friends, but also no family.

But generally speaking, the land resources of Huangmenting are still tending to benign.The land slaves accounted for only a small number, most of them were self-cultivating farmers, and only the clan elders of the Deng and Shen Er clans were the small landlords who did not have to work in the fields, and the distribution of land property was fairly even.

Hearing that the land they owned was close to [-] mu, Mi Zhu's eyes suddenly showed a philistine light.

The reason why the landlord class is the landlord class is that they have unimaginable greed and attachment to the land. Although the Mi family is very rich in Xuzhou, who would dislike their own wealth?

The most important thing is that Huangmen Pavilion is not far from Shan County, only more than 40 miles away. If it is taken by Mi Zhu, these lands will be within his control. As for the farming serfs, there is no need to worry. These days, there are many Is a displaced person.

It's just that Mi Zhu is a businessman, and it is his nature to buy low and sell high, so he didn't rush to express his position, but pretended to be embarrassed, and said hesitantly: "This, this."

"Could it be that the master is in trouble?"

Of course Shen Chen could see that he wanted to lower the price, but he had to admit that Mi Zhu had indeed picked a good time, so he could only hold his nose and wait for a counter-offer.

Mi Zhu said: "Nowadays Xuzhou is dilapidated, and there are no lands everywhere. I don't need so many fields."

Shen Chen said: "The land of no owner is mostly located in Pengcheng and Xiapi after being slaughtered by Cao Cao. There is no such good place around Yancheng as Huangmenting. The master still has to think about it."

"That's true."

Mi Zhu stroked the goat's whiskers and said, "But today I'm entertaining Duke Wenju and Duke Xuande, so it's not appropriate to discuss business matters. In a few days, I'll go to the Huangmen Pavilion to see the land in person, and then discuss it?"

"Naturally."

Shen Chen nodded to express his understanding.Firstly, they really have something to do today, and secondly, when buying and selling goods, you have to look at the goods before you can talk about the price.

So today I'm just talking about this matter. When it comes to buying and selling, we have to wait a few more days to get back to normal.

(End of this chapter)