Chapter 37

five months later
Hanzhong Yuan four years

New Year
Royal Chamber

"The master is here!"

"I have seen the master!"

"Second uncle, third uncle and fourth aunt, cousins ​​and sisters, Mrs. Song, Mrs. Zhang, sister-in-law and cousin-in-law, please sit down." Wang Tairan was the last one to come to the meeting hall amidst the shouts of the servants, and took off his seat. Taking off the cloth shoes under his feet, stepping on a pair of cloth socks, he entered the meeting hall, walked to the seat belonging to the head of the family, waved his hand to signal everyone in the hall to sit down, and then saluted the old grandmother on the bed beside him before sitting down: "See old grandmother."

"Well, sit down." The old grandmother nodded slightly, and said to the people below: "Then, let's start this year's discussion."

"Yes." The crowd responded.

squeak-

Although it was broad daylight, the servants still lit the oil lamps, retreated outside the door, and closed the door, not daring to disturb the masters' discussion.

After the gate was closed, the inside of the hall became slightly dark, only the ceiling was illuminated by sunlight, and the oil lamp in the hall was illuminated.

Looking at the people below, Wang Tairan was sitting upright, and said to Song Qianru who was also qualified to participate in the discussion: "Miss Song, it's up to you to mention the restructuring of our Wang family over the years, so that everyone can have an impression before discussing the matter."

"Yes."

At this time, Song Qianru is no longer the canary girl who was imprisoned in a cage to relieve her sorrows. She is now 26 years old and one of the stewards of the Wang family.

Both she and her husband Zhang Long were endowed with equal rights to the children of the Wang family because of their erudition, so she already regarded herself as a part of the Wang family, stood up respectfully, first bowed to the old grandmother, and then to Wang Tairan. Saluting, and finally saluting to all the children of the Wang family, this process sat down and began to talk about the various reforms of the Patriarch over the years.

"Five years ago, the first monarch was killed in the Nuolan River Valley, and all the luggage he brought was lost. Just in the spring of the second year, our royal family's grain harvest dropped sharply, so many farmers fled famine, and even died of starvation and freezing. Under such circumstances , the head of the family will reform."

"First, suspend grain exports, reduce grain wine making, and set aside more grain to support the people."

"Secondly, the serf system was improved, and all serfs were promoted to tenant farmers. A total of 20 acres of land in Luoyueyuan were distributed to 430 serfs, among which the elderly were allocated five acres, children were allocated ten acres, and women Fifteen mu for teenagers, twenty mu for young adults."

"Reserve [-] mu of land to be cultivated exclusively for criminals, slaves, and people who have been relegated to serfdom under special circumstances. The income from this item is [-]%. The manor collects all the harvest, and the cultivators only keep basic rations."

"Then, the tenant farmers' share was increased from [-] to [-], and today's tenant farmers can keep [-]% of their harvest in the field."

"Reduce the treatment of soldiers, from one hundred dollars per day to fifty dollars per day."

"Reduce the size of the serf army, keep only three teams, and change their name to the security team, respectively guarding the Chenyue Salt Field, Yinyue Port, and Luoyueyuan."

"Reduce the monthly money of the children of the Wang family from a thousand dollars a day to two hundred dollars a day."

"It is stipulated that the children of the Wang family are not allowed to use silk as carpets when traveling in the future, and extravagance and waste are prohibited."

"Reduce the number of maids, servants, dancers, and musicians in the manor, and place them in Silver Moon Port as free citizens."

"The maintenance of equipped weapons and harnesses has been reduced from once a month to once every six months, and the creation of new armor has been suspended."

"It is no longer necessary to update the furniture for the guards every month, and it is forbidden to reward women as items."

"Reduce torture, reduce whipping..."

Song Qianru finished talking about Wang Tairan's benevolent government reform in the past few years, her face turned red, she took a deep breath and respectfully said to everyone: "Qianru has finished reporting the reform measures."

"Thanks for your hard work Miss Song, please sit down." Wang Tairan nodded with a smile, very satisfied, waved his hand to signal the other party to sit down, and then said to his second uncle Wang Chong: "Second uncle, please report the financial situation before the restructuring .”

"Yes."

After Song Qianru sat down, Wang Chong of the second room stood up, bowed to everyone in order of respect, and then moistened his throat and began to report.

"Before the restructuring, the manor earned [-] gold a year, spent [-] gold, and lost [-] gold a year."

"As for its income, Luoyueyuan earns 650 gold from agriculture, 350 gold from sea trade and commerce, and the leaders of the Jianren tribe, Wang Anke and Wang Luoxi, pay [-] gold worth of souvenirs every year."

"In terms of expenditure, the children of the manor spend 450 gold per year extravagantly, the training of personal soldiers costs [-] gold per year, the feeding of horses costs [-] gold per year, the maintenance of weapons, equipment and ships costs [-] gold per year, and the servants, maidservants, and serfs spend [-] gold per year. gold, and other expenses, such as musicians, dancers, festival celebrations, entertaining other gentry, bribing officials, etc., consume one hundred gold per year."

"The details of its income are... Yuheng Agricultural Reclamation Area... winemaking workshop... Xuxiang County trade... Tashi County trade..."

"The details of its expenditure are...every day for the servant girl...every day for the servant...every day for the dancer..."

The second uncle Wang Chong reported much more things, and the financial aspect was also the main content of the discussion.

After such a long report, half an hour has passed.

After the report, the second room Wang Chong took out several bamboo slips, handed them to Wang Tai and added: "The relevant data are all recorded here, please check it out."

"En." Wang Tairan nodded, and slowly checked the bamboo slips.

Due to the advocacy of frugality after the restructuring, bamboo slips were also used for this kind of account book records, instead of the extravagant use of wadding made of silk as before.

When Wang Tairan was checking the ledger records on the bamboo slips, Wang Ruojiao asked him, "The soldiers, equipment, and horses consume too much supplies. Can't we reduce the number of soldiers?"

The others also looked at Wang Tairan when they heard this.

Under the gaze of everyone, Wang Tairan put away the bamboo slips, thought for a while, and then slowly expressed his thoughts.

"The personal soldier system was created by our ancestor Kang. It is the foundation of my royal family's foothold in Liaodong. If there were no personal soldiers, my royal family would have been wiped out by the natives here, or swallowed by the anger of tens of thousands of serfs in Luoyueyuan."

"It's just that during Taihao's period, too many soldiers were recruited, and the treatment of the soldiers was greatly improved. The living standard of each soldier was not inferior to that of the small landlords in the Central Plains, so there was such a terrifying consumption today. .”

"Ancestor Kang and Taihao both promised the soldiers that the royal family will support them for a lifetime. If the number of soldiers is reduced and some people are abolished, what will they think of our royal family? Will they rebel or even join the rebel army formed by farmers? "

"In any case, we can not add new soldiers for the time being, but those who have already become soldiers must not be eliminated, or they will not be recruited, and once recruited, they cannot be eliminated. This is the integrity of our royal family!"

After such an explanation, everyone no longer said much. Everyone knows the importance of personal soldiers to the Wang family. It's just that the consumption of these years is too terrifying. It takes a year to eat the equivalent of a low-ranking soldier in the Central Plains. All of Hao Qiang's property.

"Second uncle, continue to report the financial situation of the manor this year." After the explanation, Wang Tairan continued to read the bamboo slips just now, and at the same time asked the second room Wang Chong to continue to report the financial situation to everyone.

"Ah."

babble~
Erfang Wang Chong took a sip of tea, and immediately continued to report.

"This year... generally speaking, income and expenditure are basically balanced, and the restructuring of the head of the family is very successful."

After another lengthy discussion, everyone began to discuss.

"Some soldiers have already complained that the furniture in their yard has not been updated for many years." Zhang Long frowned and told the truth.

"Since silk books were replaced by bamboo slips, it has become a lot more troublesome for everyone to read. Bamboo slips are too heavy." Song Qianru shook her head and added.

"My parent, Zhizhi, has not replaced a new horse for riding and archery for many days. He practiced with the same horse every day, and the effect was not very good." Wang Lan'er, who was originally a maidservant of the Xu family, also made an exception to enter the meeting hall to discuss matters due to the birth of Wang Changzhi. .

"Is it just for balance? I thought I would have some savings to buy me some silk. I haven't used silk as a carpet for a long time. Every time I go out, my shoes have to step on the dirty ground. It's annoying. ..." The fourth aunt Wang Yue said this, she has always been a beauty-loving woman, even at the age of 35.

"Hehe... Sigu will be patient for a few more years. When our Wang family develops, we will naturally return to the standard of living of the former monarch." Wang Tairan chuckled, although he is the head of the family, he can give reprimands to anyone present Order, but doing so hurts feelings after all, we are all a family, so there is no need to do so.

"Since you promoted all the serfs to sharecroppers, and only received [-]% of the income and left [-]% to them, those serfs are grateful to you, and some say that you are the reincarnation of Confucius and Mencius." Zhang Xiuwan, the manager of the Wang Family Brewing Workshop, photographed Follow Wang Tairan's flattery.

"Sister-in-law is joking." Wang Tairan smiled indifferently, but he accepted the praise of the reincarnated Confucius and Mencius in his heart. After all, compared with ancestor Kang's [-] points and ancestor Taihao's [-] points, his own [-] points are indeed benevolent. .

"Master! Taiyang Shaojun and Miss Roujing have returned from overseas and have arrived in Silver Moon Harbor!"

Just when everyone was complaining about the difficulties they were facing or flattering the owner Wang Tairan, the voice of a servant came from outside the door.

(End of this chapter)

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