big song poppi

Chapter 23 0022 【Care】

The sunset is westward.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the clouds red.

After a whole day, Han Zhen finally completed the field survey and household registration check of Xiaowang Village.

Next, just organize the information and register it.

Han Zhen invited: "Li Chief, Zhu Dalang, you've worked hard today, come have dinner with me."

The head of the village waved his hand: "No, there is still something to do at the old man's house."

Han Zhen knew that he was in a hurry to go to the mountains to attract fleeing households to make money, so he didn't expose it. He nodded and said, "Since the chief's family has something to do, let's go back first."

Zhu Zhengze, on the other hand, followed him silently with a stack of papers in his arms.

Back in the mansion, as soon as he entered the door, Fang Sansan greeted him: "Ah Lang is back."

"Ok!"

Han Zhen nodded.

Fang Sansan followed him, chirping, "Ah Lang, some young gentlemen have hunted a deer."

deer?
Han Zhen frowned, and just happened to see the monkey coming out of the inverted room, so he called out, "Didn't I tell you to wait to explore the terrain in the mountains, why did you go hunting deer?"

Seeing that Han Zhen looked unhappy, the monkey hurriedly explained: "Second Brother Han, deer are not hunters. The deer ran into us in the mountains and was startled. When it ran away, it hit a tree and passed out."

Does this work too?
Han Zhen didn't know what to say for a while, he could only feel that their luck was really good.

After entering the Chuihua Gate, I saw the monkey and Xiaochong's parents sitting in the yard, restrained and dazed in their eyes.

Han Zhen stepped forward and said in a slightly apologetic tone, "It's all my fault, and I've hurt a few uncles and aunts."

Several people stood up quickly, Father Yang waved his hands and said: "Erlang, don't do this, if it wasn't for you, I'm afraid they are still in prison now."

Han Zhen said: "Since you're here, uncle and aunt can stay here with peace of mind."

Father Yang nodded, looking hesitant to speak.

Seeing this scene, Han Zhen immediately understood what they were thinking, and said with a smile: "If uncles and aunts feel too free, they can choose a few acres of barren land to plant."

Hearing this, Father Yang and the others were immediately overjoyed.

As a farmer, if they don't have a few acres of land in their hands, they really don't feel at ease.

With the field, the heart will be settled.

In their cognition, no matter where they are, as long as they are not lazy, as long as they work hard to farm, they can always have something to eat.

At this moment, Chef Shen stood in front of the kitchen door and asked, "Ah Lang, can I have dinner?"

"Let's have dinner."

Thanks to the self-killing deer, dinner tonight was big.

Chef Shen really showed her skills. The tenderloin of the deer was stir-fried with green onions, and the pork ribs were made into simmered dumplings. The remaining bones, internal organs and offal were washed and boiled into a large pot of soup.

The staple food is wheat rice, but compared with ordinary farmers, the wild vegetables in wheat rice are much less.

This is normal, even if it is a wealthy landlord, he is not willing to eat refined grains every day.

Refined grains such as rice and wheat are kept to make money in disaster years.

Eat more, earn less money.

Seeing Zhu Zhengze showing signs of running away after picking up the bowl, Han Zhen raised his eyebrows: "Sit down and eat, and take another back after eating."

"Thank you, village chief."

Zhu Zhengze was not slow this time, and immediately thanked him.

……

When everyone was eating halfway, the tenants came with their families.

Without waiting for Han Zhen's orders, Chef Shen greeted them for dinner.

"Everyone is lined up, don't squeeze, everyone has it."

Under Chef Shen's call, the tenants lined up and came forward to receive the meal in an orderly manner.

Cook Shen filled a bowl of barley and handed it over. A boy about eight or nine years old wiped his hands on his clothes, and then carefully held the bowl.

Seeing the boy turn around and leave, Mrs. Shen called out, "Don't go, there is still broth."

As he spoke, he took a large spoonful of broth from the pot with a wooden spoon and poured it into the bowl.

The rich aroma of the broth, accompanied by a hint of heat, passed into the noses of the tenants, causing everyone's throats to throb.

"Father, there is meat!"

Seeing a few pieces of internal organs in the bowl, the boy suddenly exclaimed.

meat!
For a moment, the eyes of the tenants behind were all lit up.

Soon, more than 20 people were all sitting in the yard with bowls.

Tan Qiang squatted next to his son, looked up and looked around, and found that the tenants had meat in their bowls, either a few small pieces of viscera dropped into the water, or bones with some shredded meat attached.

There was no way, this deer was not big at all, less than [-] catties of meat after skinning and deboning, the venison was not enough for Han Zhen and the others.

But the tenants don't care. It is a great happiness to have a bite of meat.

Putting all the viscera into his son's bowl, Tan Qiang held the bowl and started to devour the broth.

After eating three full bowls in a row, Tan Qiang put down the bowl and let out a long sigh of relief.

After living for so many years, he feels that today he is truly a proper person.

After coming to the well to wash the bowl and putting it back in the kitchen, Tan Qiang led his son and mother-in-law to the hall and bowed deeply before turning and leaving.

The little dog turned around and glanced at the house, and said, "Father, the new owner's house is really nice, and I give meat back."

"Yes!"

Tan Qiang raised a smile at the corner of his mouth.

He hasn't smiled for a long time, the last time he was so happy was when the puppy was born.

Now not only can I have enough to eat, but I also get paid every month.

In just one day, he no longer doubted Han Zhen's words.

Since Mr. Xiaolang said he would pay him, he would definitely give it.

Three hundred texts.

I can pull half a bolt of linen, and I will make new clothes for the mother-in-law and the son.

After careful calculation, the family has not changed clothes for many years.

The little dog seemed to have remembered something, and said indignantly: "Father, Wang Laizi is speaking ill of Mr. Xiao Lang today."

Hearing this, Tan Qiang warned: "That fellow is not a good person, don't play tricks with him in the future."

"Ok!"

The puppy nodded solemnly.

……

……

in the study.

Han Zhen is sorting out the household registration information checked today.

It is no exaggeration to say that the information about Xiaowang Village in his hands is more accurate and detailed than that in the county government.

Because when facing the government, whether it is a villager or a king, they will choose to conceal the report to a certain extent.

There are five people in the family, but he just gritted his teeth and said there were only three.

The other two are dead!

The farmland also has to be reduced. The villagers are afraid of having too much land and being apportioned to the yamen, and the landlord is afraid of being taxed more.

It's all caused by exorbitant taxes and corvee, and the common people are scared of being tossed.

This is why Wang Xiao and his wife acted as if they were facing an enemy when they heard that they were going to measure the fields.

At this moment, Han Zhen held a stack of papers and carefully checked each household.

It was not until late at night that he checked and counted all the information.

Currently, there are 127 households in Xiaowang Village with a total of 396 people.

To Han Zhen's surprise, there are more young and middle-aged people than he thought, and men aged 16-40 accounted for 31%.

Among them are three carpenters, one apprentice blacksmith, and one who can read and write.

Including barren fields, there are a total of 1584 mu of land, of which only 46 mu of paddy fields are in his hands, and the rest are dry fields.

There are few paddy fields. There is no way to do it. The dry climate in the north means that there will not be many paddy fields.

There are 391 mu of barren land that no one cultivates. If the 231 mu of land in his hands is removed, the average farmland in Xiaowang Village is only a little over 7 mu.

Seven mu of land is not much at the moment, and there is no chemical fertilizer and pesticide. The yield per mu of ordinary dry land is very low, less than one stone per mu.

Even though the crop rotation method of wheat, soybeans and sorghum was popularized in the north during the Northern Song Dynasty, every two years and three crops, each household could only harvest less than ten shi of grain from the field a year.

Ten shi of grain is barely enough to feed and drink a family of five for a year.

If there were more people in the family, they would have to starve.

Note that the above mentioned is the ideal situation with good weather and no pests. Under normal circumstances, it is very good to have seven or eight stones of grain throughout the year.

If there is a disaster year, I am afraid that there will not even be three stones.

That is to say, every household in Xiaowang Village worked hard for a whole year and could barely eat.

You know, it's not taxed yet.

The Northern Song Dynasty implemented the two-tax law, and each tax was collected once in summer and autumn, which was equal to two out of ten.

That is, eight shi of grain has to pay a tax of six shi for one stone.

Coupled with all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, it is considered benevolent by the officials if the villagers get two shi of grain.

How can two stones of grain be enough to feed a family for a year?
From the data of Xiaowang Village alone, it can be seen that the farmers during the Xuanhe period were actually on the verge of collapse.

Even if there were no Jin soldiers going south, the Northern Song Dynasty would fall apart in the ensuing peasant uprisings.

Boom boom boom!
Just as he was meditating, there was a hasty knock on the door.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Sansan was heard shouting anxiously: "Ah Lang, it's not good!"

(End of this chapter)