The village Gu Qinghan mentioned is actually not big. There is a low mountain beside the village, with dense camphor trees and oak trees growing on the mountain. These are indispensable materials for burning charcoal. In fact, within a radius of hundreds of miles, camphor trees are the most common trees. The camphor charcoal produced here has always been very famous. Every winter, a batch of camphor charcoal will be transported from Jiangling to the capital.

At the foot of the mountain are dozens of families built along the mountain, with stars and large areas of arable land in the distance. At dusk, Yang Ning still saw farmers plowing the fields, and the food in the fields was obviously packed up, bare. Under the sunset, it was boundless.

"Sanniang, it's already late autumn, and the food is packed. Why are there still people farming in the fields?" Yang Ning rode beside Gu Qinghan and couldn't help asking.

Gu Qinghan smiled and said, "You have never been to the fields, so naturally I don't know. After the grain is collected, the farmers will loosen the soil and wait until the next year, it will be easier to plant grain."

"I see."

After the two of them got off the horse, they walked along the ridge of the fields. There were not many farmers in the fields, but when they saw two strangers walking by the field, they couldn't help but look at this side.

"Sanniang, where is your hometown in Jiangling?" Yang Ning saw Gu Qinghan looking around with a peaceful expression, and asked, "Isn't it far away from here?"

"Not far away." Gu Qinghan seemed in a good mood. "Like the Qi family, the Gu family, is also a wealthy family in Jiangling. The two families have always had a very good relationship in Jiangling. Even now, their prestige in Jiangling is only second to the Qi family."

Yang Ning immediately understood that when the Third Master Qi married Gu Qinghan, it was probably because the two families were family friends, and even more so in order to consolidate their foundation in Jiangling. Gu Qinghan spoke easily, but Yang Ning knew that the prestige of the Gu family was only second only to the Qi family, so the Gu family's power in Jiangling must be extremely strong.

The Qi family's prestige in Jiangling is unparalleled, which is understandable. After all, the two generations of Jinyi Hou were pillars of the Great Chu State. Not to mention the small Jiangling, even the entire Great Chu, there will not be many portals that can be compared with the Qi family.

Aside from the Qi family, the Gu family is obviously the most powerful home in Jiangling.

"The Qi family's land and property business is mainly located in the northern part of Jiangling, which is Jingzhou City." Gu Qinghan explained: "The Gu family is located south of Jiangling, and goes south from Jingzhou City. There will be a river dozens of miles, called Jingyue River. Many years ago, as long as you cross the river, the Gu family had the final say."

Imperial power does not fall into the county.

Yang Ning had naturally heard this sentence that has existed since ancient times and understood the meaning. In ancient times, the influence of local gentry was actually more effective than the emperor's imperial edict. The various systems issued by the court, specifically local officials, need to cooperate with local gentry. Without the support of local gentry, officials would almost be unable to move in the local area.

There is no doubt that both the Qi family and the Gu family, local gentry who belonged to Jiangling in their early years had great voice in the local area.

According to Gu Qinghan's meaning, before the Qi family became prosperous, the Qi family and the Gu family should be on par with each other in Jiangling. The Qi family had a very high influence in the north of Jiangling, while the Gu family was located south of Jiangling. However, the Qi family later became the marquis of the Great Chu, so the Gu family naturally could not compare with it, but it was still deeply rooted in Jiangling.

Yang Ning thought that Gu Qinghan had such a family background, no wonder she was married to the Marquis's Mansion, and was deeply in charge of the family affairs of the Grandma.

Seeing an old man sitting on the ridge of the field in front of him, Yang Ning went forward and smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, have the work been confiscated yet?"

The old man had actually noticed Yang Ning and the other two long ago. It was okay for Yang Ning, but Gu Qinghan was extremely handsome and had fair and delicate skin. The old man knew that the origin of these two people was not simple at first sight. He replied with a smile: "Where are you going? Are you lost?"

He just wanted to do this way that the two of them would not return to the fields, and they should have been lost.

"Yes, we traveled to Jiangling and went the wrong way." Yang Ning said smoothly, while Gu Qinghan gave Yang Ning a blank look, thinking that this child not only had a bright mind, but also had a much smoother temperament. This nonsense was just a nonsense, and it was very natural.

"Where are you going? I can recognize you here and help you point me." The old man was also enthusiastic.

Yang Ning thought Gu Qinghan was not wrong. The people here are simple and the old man is kind and kind, but he went up to squat down beside the old man, glanced into the field, and asked, "Brother-in-law, is the harvest good this year? Is the food in the field collected?"

"It's still done." The old man smiled and said, "The grain has been collected, and the land has doubled, so it's good to grow grain in the next year."

"After collecting grain, you can have a good year of food and clothing next year, right?" Yang Ning smiled and said, "I heard that you are the fief of Marquis Jinyi, and the taxes are much less than other places."

On the way, Yang Ning had already learned from Gu Qinghan that all taxes of the three thousand households of the Marquis of Jinyi were controlled by the Marquis of Jinyi, and in terms of taxation, they were not governed by the government at all.

The Emperor of Great Chu was quite kind to the people. In the early years, he collected taxes at a ratio of 30%. However, in recent years, wars have been frequent and taxes have increased to 40%. The 3,000 households belonging to the Marquis of Jinyi have always been collected at 20%, and they cannot be stopped. Among the ministers of the empire who had fiefs, the taxes on the fiefs belonging to Jinyi are absolutely the lowest.

For the Marquis of Jinyi, the Marquis of Jinyi was never a luxurious place, and the fief was in his hometown. The land was cultivated by local villagers. Therefore, the Marquis of Jinyi used the convenience of fiefdom to be considered a good thing for the local villagers.

The old man just smiled and said, "Can you make do with it."

Gu Qinghan was also standing by the side at this time. She was smart and observant of her words and expressions. When she heard what the old man said, she felt something was strange. She asked softly: "How many people are there in my father-in-law's house?"

"There are nine people in two sons." The old man smiled.

"How many acres of land are there in the family?" Gu Qinghan was a woman after all, and she could not squat as openly as Yang Ning, so she could only stand beside the old man and ask.

The old man raised his hand and pointed forward, "My fields are all here, and there is an eight acres of thin fields."

Gu Qinghan nodded slightly. She was naturally quite familiar with the situation here. The fiefs given by the late emperor at that time all selected relatively good fields. The fiefs of 3,000 households were not only one acre of land for each household. Jingnan belongs to a grain-producing area. There are many fields here. Most of the people here can have ten acres of land, and at least four or five acres of land.

This old man's family has eight acres of land, which is also a relatively wealthy farmer.

"How much food can this acre of land be harvested in a year?" Gu Qinghan asked carefully.

The old man naturally would not suspect that Gu Qinghan had other intentions, but thought that these two outsiders suddenly became interested and explained: "The weather has been good in the past two years and the harvest is not bad. I can have about two or three stones of grain per mu of land."

Yang Ning naturally knew that one stone of grain was equivalent to about 60 kilograms of later generations, that is, more than 100 kilograms of grain. This old man could produce more than 300 kilograms of grain per mu. Compared with the grain yield per mu in later generations, a mere 300 kilograms of grain was naturally extremely low. However, in this era, due to the limitations of agricultural technology, a mu of field could have more than 300 kilograms of grain, which was already an extremely high output.

"In this way, these eight acres of land can have more than 20 stones of grain in a year?" Gu Qinghan said: "I heard that the Marquis of Jinyi collected 20% of the taxes. You can still have a lot of left in your family. The whole family should be able to eat enough."

Yang Ning also felt that as normal, this old man paid taxes a year and still had 2,000 kilograms of grain. Although the family of nine people is quite large, it is enough to make his family full.

The old man sighed and said, "If it was really like that, he wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing."

"Brother-in-law, what does this mean?" Yang Ning and Gu Qinghan looked at each other and immediately asked, "Is it not like this?"

The old man just shook his head, then smiled and said, "If you don't say anything, it's useless to say more. Where are you going?"

Gu Qinghan found that there was a problem, so of course she would not leave easily. Wen Yan said: "Brother-in-law, look at you, can't you keep so much food in a year?"

Seeing her beautiful eyebrows and gentle voice, the old man smiled bitterly: "There are twenty stones of food a year, which is certainly enough for the whole family to eat, save some food and be rich, but...oh, after a year, the real thing is only about ten stones. There are many people in the family, and eating less food, and eating more porridge can be overwhelmed."

"It's impossible." Gu Qinghan frowned, "Why can only ten stones of food be left behind?"

Before the old man could speak, he heard the sound of gongs coming from afar. Yang Ning and Gu Qinghan's attention was instantly attracted. He saw a middle-aged villager yelling loudly while beating a gong: "The person with the surname Luo is here, everyone is coming soon, the person with the surname Luo is here..." The voice was loud and spread from afar.

The old man who was originally sitting on the ground immediately got up, grabbed the hoe at his hand, and said to Yang Ning and the others: "You leave the village first, there are not many people here." Without saying much, he ran to the person who beat the gong with the hoe. Not only him, Yang Ning and Gu Qinghan saw that the villagers who were farming in the fields were holding the farm tools in their hands and gathering the gongs.

"Sanniang, it seems something happened in the village." Yang Ning frowned, "Let's go over and take a look."

Gu Qinghan's beautiful face was full of doubt at this moment. When he heard Yang Ning say this, he immediately nodded and said, "Let's go and see who is the person named Luo? They all ran back because of the Luo."

I saw a group of farmers gathered together, and at this time they all ran towards the village at the foot of the mountain. Both young and old seemed to be on fire at home.

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Chapter completed!