After picking up the daughter of the lucky star, the whole village prospered

After the inspection, Wu County Magistrate returned to the county government office.

In his carriage were not only two gourds, one big and one small, but also a basket of grapes and a basket of yellow pears.

Mr. Liao, who was squeezed out of the carriage, could only huddle in the donkey cart with two clerks, gnawing on a pear in one hand, thinking about it.

His hometown is a small village in Zhouhe County, which is about the same size as Chuanhe Town here, but the life of the people there is very difficult. Not only are they forced by life, but they are also oppressed by local gentry and small officials.

Originally, his family's life was relatively easy, but ever since the clan members offended their relatives in the village, his family has fallen into misery.

Li Zheng will find various reasons to raise taxes for the Liao family.His family bought a new sickle and raised a chicken, and the ranks of Lizheng Township would come to collect taxes.Even if a child wears a head flower during the Chinese New Year, he will be reported to pay taxes.

In the end, his parents had no choice but to sell the land and live with him in Qinchuan County, relying on his meager income to make ends meet.

Although his parents and him lived in poverty in Qinchuan County, there was no need to worry about it at all, but his elder brother and second brother were still struggling to survive in that small village.

It would be great if their family could live in Chuanhe Town. The people here are simple and honest, Lizheng Village is also upright and clean, and with their own care, they don't have to worry about life.

Alas, when I go back to the county government office, I will talk to the Ming government to see if I can allow members of the Liao clan to come and settle here.

If possible, he would let the clansmen take root in Chuanhe Town, even if they were allowed to open up barren hills, it would be better than struggling to survive in Zhouhe County.

Dongchen Village.

As soon as the officials of the Ming Dynasty left, someone found the East Village and asked to buy cotton seeds.

These people are dressed in rich clothes, and they look like the stewards of the rich and powerful.

People from the East Village have been told by Lizheng and Cunzheng that they are not allowed to sell cotton and cotton seeds to outsiders, so they ignore these outsiders who seem to be in charge.

Unexpectedly, these people did not give up and raised the price of cottonseed to one tael of silver per catty.

Now the villagers were in an uproar.

Someone couldn't resist the temptation and secretly sold fifty catties of cottonseed for 50 taels of silver.

After opening this hole, the manager came to him again and again, asking him to sell some more cottonseed.

So the man sold another hundred catties of cottonseed to the steward.

The paper couldn't wrap the fire, so this matter was finally discovered and told to the village official Chen Sanyou.

Chen Sanyou was so angry that he immediately went to his elder brother Chen Fu and asked him to give an explanation to the whole village.

That's right, the cottonseed seller is the second son of Patriarch Chen.

Patriarch Chen was also very angry, and immediately called his second son, Chen Jiazhen, and asked him why he sold the cottonseed without permission.

"It's just a hundred catties of cottonseed, what's the big deal." Chen Jiazhen said nonchalantly, "You can also sell it, one tael of silver per catty, it's more cost-effective than selling gold ears, who is not a fool, who can see if the money is worth it? "

Chen Fu angrily picked up the stick and chased him to beat him.

Chen Sanyou was also furious, pointing at his nephew and shouting: "Do you know that this is requested by the county magistrate, and you are short of that little money?"

Chen Jiazhen hid her old father's bamboo stick with her head in her arms, and she still didn't forget to reply: "Can the county magistrate give us a tael of silver a catty? I'm not mentally ill. Why do I have to sell it to the government at a low price if I don't make money?" ?”

Chen Sanyou was at a loss for words for a while, but he agreed with the county magistrate's words.

Once the cotton seeds are collected by the wealthy family, it will be difficult for other people in the village to grow cotton.

Chen Sanyou didn't bother with his second nephew, and directly said to his eldest brother Chen Fu: "How many cotton seeds are there in your family, take them all out. Jiang Sanlang gave the cotton seeds at the beginning, so I will return them all to Jiang's family. Don't grow cotton in your family, so as not to cause such a thing to happen again, it will embarrass the people of our village."

Turning around, the yamen servant came to collect the cottonseed, but he lost a catty, so where would he put his old face?
"Why?" Before Chen Fu could speak, his second daughter-in-law Han Miaoniang jumped up, "They all belong to our family, why should they be given to the Jiang family?"

Chen Fu slapped the table angrily, "Shut up!"

Pointing to the pile of cotton in the room: "These are my cotton, it's not up to you to decide!"

The family planted a total of six acres of cotton, harvested a total of more than 2000 catties of seed cotton, and it is estimated that one thousand catties of cotton seeds can be peeled.

Next year, he plans to plant another 300 mu. Based on ten catties of seeds per mu, he will get more than [-] catties of cottonseed.

The rest were originally sold to the county government at the request of the Ming government, but this happened.

His old face was almost completely lost by the unfilial son.

My family is still considered a first-class household, much better than those third-, fourth-, and fifth-class village households.But what the second son did was not even as good as a fifth-class household, it was too embarrassing, what face would I have to face others in the future?
When Chen Jiazhen and his wife saw that their father was really angry, they didn't dare to say anything, and squatted on the ground without saying a word.

Chen Fu said to his younger brother Chen Sanyou: "You call someone to take away all the cottonseed, and just leave three hundred catties for me. If you don't keep it all at home, what will happen?"

Chen Sanyou waited for the elder brother's words, and immediately called several people to transport all the cotton seeds from his family to Jiang Sanlang's house for weighing.

In the next few days, Chen Sanyou collected cottonseeds non-stop, and transported them to Jiang Sanlang's house for temporary storage.

Those in the village who have not planted cotton, if they plan to plant next year, Chen Sanyou asked them to come and register to reserve cotton seeds.

After the registration is over, hand over the remaining cottonseed to the people from the county government, and let them transport it away quickly. Let the county magistrate worry about who should be distributed.

As soon as the autumn harvest was over, Sun Lizheng came to urge Fu again.

However, people in the East Village don't need to be urged, they just take out money to pay the tax, which is not a lot.

Sun Lizheng said cheerfully: "It's better to come to your Dongchen Village to collect taxes and worry-free, and you don't need to urge a second time every time."

Li Dayong, Li Eryong and others also laughed: "Isn't it thanks to our third brother Jiang, we don't grow golden ears, where can we get the money to pay taxes?"

"That is."

Sun Lizheng asked with his hands behind his back: "I see that many people in your village are building houses on the southern slope. I'll come and have a look next year."

Assessed households wait once every three years, and next year will happen to be a three-year period. It is estimated that many families in Dongchen Village will have to re-evaluate their grades.

"Don't tell me, Uncle Lizheng, our family is just building a mushroom shed on the south slope, not a house for people to live in." One person argued.

Once it is rated as a middle-level household or an upper-class household, the annual tax will increase a lot, and the villagers are unwilling to be promoted to this household.

Moreover, in times of famine, when the imperial court provides disaster relief, the upper-class households and middle-class households cannot receive food, and only the lower-class households can receive relief food.

Sun Lizheng rolled his eyes at him, "The fungus shed is also your family's property, and it is also included in the tax payment items."

In fact, Lizheng is very greedy for the golden ears in Dongchen Village, but the people in this village are very cliques and they are not willing to sell the vaccines outside.

However, the cotton in their village is also good. I secretly got some cotton seeds from the yamen servants, and I can plant some next year.

When Sun Li was coming to Jiang Sanlang's house, he saw his little girl lying on the table under the fruit tree teaching the two girls to read.

Ying Bao raised her eyes and saw Li Zheng coming, she quickly stood up: "Grandpa Li Zheng, are you here to find my father?"

Sun Lizheng waved his hands, and asked with a smile, "Yingbao, where's your big gourd?"

He came here today because he wanted to get a signature gourd for his second son's shop.