Landlord of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 15 Let's talk about renting a son

At about four o'clock in the later generations, the two maidservants brought dinner, a pot of millet porridge, a few pancakes, a plate of boiled old vegetables, and a bowl of boiled radishes.It's not that Xu Qi looked disgusted when she saw it, and Xu Qing was even more disgusted. The two of them didn't have a hard life on the road, and they didn't have to worry about fish and meat every day.Seeing that the faces of the masters were not right, the two maidservants quickly apologized, why the time was too hasty, and the family did not have much money or something.

Xu Qing didn't care about it, and reluctantly tried the taste, and it was not bad, so Xu Qi also tried it.She was originally a child from a poor family, and she was pampered after being with Xu Qing for a few days, and now she still has an appetite for Xiaojia's food. After eating two big bowls of porridge and two biscuits, she had a hard time with Xu Qing. Comparable.Xu Qing didn't ask the family servants to sit and eat with him as soon as they met as in the novel.It's not that he has forgotten the modern moral values ​​of later generations, but that in this hierarchical feudal society, his rash behavior makes people uncomfortable and even frightened.

In the east wing, Xiaoru held the piece of silk cloth like a treasure, while Xiaoyue looked indifferently, with her hands resting on the table, looking out of the window.

Xiaoru: "Sister Yue, the new master seems to be quite kind?"

Xiaoyue: "Well..."
Xiao Ru: "I don't know if it's just pretending, that lady is not bad..."

Xiaoyue: "Hmm..."

Xiaoru: "Sister, do you think Master likes us?"

Satsuki: "Huh?"

Xiao Ru: "No, no, I'm not talking about liking..."

Xiaoyue smiled softly: "Silly sister, if you come here, you can rest easy, don't think so much, our life is in his hands." Xiaoyue said calmly, as if she had experienced something very unusual.

Xiaoru let out an "oh" in a daze, then held the silk cloth and made gestures on her body.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Miss Xiaoyue, Miss Xiaoyue..." A vicissitudes of life shouted outside the door.

"Sister, old man Zheng is here, are they here to see the master..." Usually the two sisters are closed and only go out to sell vegetables and collect firewood. This old man Zheng is a kind person from the village.

"I'll go and inform the master first, you tell Uncle Zheng behind the door to let him wait..." Xiaoyue ordered.

Xiaoyue is slightly older than Xiaoru, and her abilities and knowledge are also greater than Xiaoru, so Xiaoru usually listens to Xiaoyue.

Xu Qing listened to Xiaoyue's words, tidied up her clothes, let Xu Qi play alone, and followed her out.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw seven people in ragged clothes and disheveled hair. They were obviously tired from a day's work, but there should be no work in the field now, so I don't know what they are busy with.

Among the seven Zhuang Han men, one with slightly gray hair was Old Uncle Zheng. As soon as he saw Xu Qing coming out, he hurriedly knelt down under his leadership, and bowed to them. Three in a row, Xu Qing had no time to help them.

But Xu Qing still walked over quickly and gave him a little support.Kneeling worship still exists in modern times, but it is not easy to see, unless you are desperate to ask for help, and thank you for your kindness.In some places in the countryside, when mourning, there will be relatives of the deceased kneeling and thanking them one by one, and the recipients will support them from a distance as a return gift.

The seven Zhuang Han got up and bowed their hands again, Xu Qing hurriedly said not to be too polite.Old man Zheng coughed, looked back at his partner, and said to Xu Qing after being encouraged by his eyes:
"Master, old man, my name is Zheng Shitou. We are all farmers in the village, and the family lives on those few acres of Susukida..." The old man paused, glanced at Xu Qing, and Xu Qing signaled him to continue. Say
"The imperial court gave you our land, and we can only rely on renting the master's land for food in the future."

"Today, the men from several of our households came to inquire about the lease law of these lands. Look..." The old man looked at Xu Qing eagerly.

Xu Qing had already thought about it along the way. The imperial court stipulated that one person (at the age of 21) should pay two stones of grain, about 120 catties, and one household

About two dings to three dings, [-] acres of cultivated land, good fields and good years, the yield per mu is about [-] catties.

But in places like Xuzhuang, it's about two hundred catties.So in total, it's about one out of ten taxes.However, two zhangs of silk and three liangs of cotton have to be paid for every dime, plus all kinds of regular service, miscellaneous labor, miscellaneous taxes and exploitation by subordinate officials, and the burden on farmers is relatively high.Most of the income of farmers comes from the fields, and the tax conversion is about one-fifth or even one-fourth. A year of hard work is equivalent to food and clothing, but this is still in the Qingming era.

Xu Qing made a careful plan. For the seven families in Xuzhuang, every two stones of grain, he had fifteen to eighteen stones, which was barely enough for several members of his family.But there is not much surplus grain, how can the landlord's family have no surplus grain?Humph……

"The imperial court pays two ounces of grain, two zhangs of silk, and three liangs of cotton..." Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they heard him say that the imperial court collected taxes. He lifted his heart up again.

"However, my difference is that two stones per ounce will not change. I don't want silk and cotton, but each household must follow my method and help me raise two pigs..."

"What? Two pigs..." The Zhuang Han were about to intercede, when they heard your rent method, they immediately began to calculate in their hearts.Without silk and cotton, it is worth more than 600 catties of good grain, but how much grain will it cost to feed two pigs, five hundred catties?And the pigs eat bran at most, wild vegetables and so on. The good food saved can be eaten by the family. The children are growing up.

"Okay, two pigs are two pigs..." Everyone nodded firmly.

"Hey, since everyone has no objections, I will go to the city in a few days and buy a cow to do coolies for everyone. As long as it is full, it will be free..." Xu Qing nodded. Pork can be exchanged for money. The landlord is not short of food, but he is short of money. And through the improvement of pig raising methods in later generations, the quality of pork is better, and there is a big market for cheap pork.

"Huh?! Don't want money to borrow a cow?" Old man Zheng spat excitedly.

"That's great, the farm work can be done on time..."

"Okay, no need for the whole family to pull the plow anymore..."

"The new master is a great benevolent person... He bought the cow even after the rent was lowered!"

"Ah, and, half of the rent can be replaced with money, miscellaneous grains and other things." Xu Qing said solemnly. "Everyone, don't call me Master from now on. My name is Xu Qing, and my nickname is Chu Liu...so call me Young Master..."

"Hello, young master..." Under the leadership of old man Zheng, everyone shouted with interest, and then they bowed and said goodbye together.

When Xiaoyue was so young, she was full of doubts:
"Old...young master, you don't need to tune (cotton and silk). This servant knows that you are kind, but...but why do you want pigs? It's cheap meat, and no one with any status in Chang'an city will eat it... "Xiao Ru said.

"Bad meat, that's because they don't know how to raise or cook it. If I'm allowed to do it, pork won't be worse than mutton..." Xu Qing explained confidently.

In ancient times, the value of pigs was not discovered for a long time. Pigs are easy to grow, cheap and easy to get, and can be used all over the body. They are very good meat for ordinary people.

But when Xu Qing came to Datang, he had never eaten pork once, because he knew that the current pigs grew up eating shi, yes, they ate shi.The pigs are kept next to the toilets, and the people pull them down to be disposed of by the pigs. Of course, the pigs will also eat other things.

A pig costs more than one tael or eight dollars, while two hundred catties of bran costs only four dollars, and Xu Qing doesn't even need the bran. The profit is quite large, which not only reduces taxes for the people in the village, but also makes money. The most important thing is that the knowledge from later generations made Xu Qing unable to be a bully and landlord, most likely corrupt, Xu Qing thought.

(End of this chapter)