Zhang Heng got up relatively late, and it was already past nine in the morning when he opened his eyes.
Seeing that the master was awake, Grandma Sun called people to wait on her and stood aside and asked: "Master, what do you want to eat in the morning?"
"Don't eat. It's already past nine o'clock. Let's talk about it at noon."
Zhang Heng slapped Haqie in his mouth, thought for a moment and then warned: "Tell Grandma Fan that we will make beggar's chicken for lunch, and for the other things, just make six or seven dishes at will."
Six or seven dishes were served, not because Zhang Heng was extravagant, but because there were so many people in the courtyard.
If he doesn't eat, the little ones don't have to eat either. Usually Zhang Heng finishes the meal and the four little maids eat.
After the four little maids finished eating, the leftovers could be used as extras for the rough ladies in the backyard.
Don't think it's leftovers. Zhang Heng doesn't have a big appetite. He can fill up after just one or two bites of each of the six or seven dishes.
The little girls didn't eat much either, so most of the food was left over. All of them were top-quality dishes, much better than the food served by the servants.
In the Zhang Family Courtyard, the hierarchy is very clear.
The leader is Zhang Heng, he is the god of everyone.
Further down, the old housekeeper is the chief steward, and Grandma Sun is the head maid, in charge of the rough ladies in the courtyard.
The two of them are special servants and stewards.
Then came the four little girls who served Zhang Heng. They were first-class servants, and all their food, clothing, and expenses went to the mansion.
Then there are the rice cooks, vegetable cooks, seamstresses, coachmen, porters, watchmen, gardeners, concierges, guards, and the menial women.
Zhang Heng didn't do any detailed calculations.
But there are all kinds of things, and there must be thirty or forty people who have real clothes to stretch out their hands and food to open their mouths.
"Go to the militia camp in the north of the town."
After leaving the middle courtyard, we came to the front yard.
Only this time, Zhang Heng did not ride in a carriage, but sat on a bamboo sedan.
Bamboo sedan chairs are the kind of chairs that are carried on two poles with an awning on top. They are found in some tourist attractions in famous mountains.
Unlike traditional sedans, bamboo sedans are light and ventilated.
The climate in the south of the Yangtze River is humid, so riding this kind of sedan is more comfortable.
"Get up the sedan!"
A shout.
The concierge opened the middle door, and four porters carried Zhang Heng, with Big and Little Kui guarding him on both sides. Behind him was a team of foreign riflemen, a group of more than a dozen people, heading toward the militia camp.
I didn't come back until noon.
It was just different from when he left. When he came back, looking from a distance, Zhang Heng found a group of people in ragged clothes standing in front of his door.
"Go, go, where is this beggar from? Do you know where this is? Zhang Family Courtyard, get out of here."
The concierge came up to chase people away.
"Clan Chief Zhang, we are not beggars."
Thirty or forty people blocked the intersection, and an old man in the lead blocked the way: "We are your tenant farmers!"
"Tenant, the farmer who rents my land?"
Zhang Heng waved his hand, indicating to the porters to put him down, and asked: "Old man, what do you want from me?"
"We are villagers from Xiao'an Village, and we came here specially to deliver fruits to you."
The leader, the old man, took off two rag bags from the little donkey on the roadside and asked with an attentive look: "This morning, the village head said that you would reduce our rent. We are here to express our gratitude to you."
After saying that, he opened two rag bags and revealed things like wild walnuts, longan, and wild dates inside.
Zhang Heng was half moved and half sad: "I know Xiao'an Village. It is a mountainous village. Nearly half of my more than 1,000 acres of land are on your side."
There was a slight pause in his tone: "But I remember that Xiao'an Village is about thirty miles away from Dagou Town. How did so many of you come here?"
The old man replied: "We are country people and we have quick feet."
At a glance, everyone's faces were filled with frost.
They only had a small donkey, which was used to carry bags and dry food. It would take three or four hours to walk more than thirty miles.
He told the old housekeeper about the rent reduction yesterday, and these tenant farmers found out about it in the morning.
It was only noon now, that is, after they found out in the morning, they filled the village with wild fruits, collected two bags and brought them to thank him.
"They are all loyal people!"
Zhang Heng sighed with a look on his face.
If you want to thank him, just choose one or two representatives and come riding a donkey.
But thirty or forty people came, which meant that almost all the farmers who rented their land in Xiaoan Village came.
Zhang Heng is also a scene person.
Thinking that life was not easy for farmers in this era, he ordered: "Tell the chef to kill a sheep and stew it. I want to treat everyone to a famous dish from Gansu and Shaanxi, mutton steamed buns."
"I can't do it, I can't do it."
The old man was so frightened that he said, "We people have no chance of eating mutton sheep."
After saying that, he thought that it would not be good to refuse directly, so he added: "We are all country people. If we have a bowl of rice to eat, it is the good deeds of our ancestors."
"Old man, don't refuse. You are just guests from afar."
Zhang Heng invited everyone into the courtyard and ordered the sheep to be killed and stewed while chatting with the old man.
After talking and talking, I found that although the old man was smiling, there was always a hint of sadness in his smile.
"Old man, I think you have something on your mind?"
Zhang Heng put down his tea cup and asked, "But you are worried about your family?"
The old man shook his head.
Zhang Heng asked again: "But there is a famine at home?"
The old man still shook his head.
Zhang Heng was a little puzzled. This is not the case, and that is not the case either. There must be a reason.
"Master."
The old man saw Zhang Heng's confusion and sighed: "You have reduced the rent for us, we should be happy, but some people in the village are still worried that with such a low rent, the land will be taken back after the autumn harvest.
Are you, the Zhang family, allowed to farm instead?"
As the old man spoke, he carefully looked at Zhang Heng's face.
Zhang Heng laughed when he heard this.
What did he think? It turned out that he was afraid that he would take back the land and stop it from being planted by everyone.
It’s normal to have this kind of worry.
A land rent of 40% is probably not much in the world.
This is a good thing, and of course it suits my own clan. Compared with the Zhang clan, the people in their Xiaoan Village are all people with foreign surnames, so how can they not be worried.
"Old man, if you have ideas, you should base them on reality."
"Xiao'an Village is more than thirty miles away from Dagou Town. If the land is not given to you, who will do it? Is it possible that we still need to send people there?"
Zhang Heng smiled bitterly. In order to prevent everyone from worrying about gains and losses, he immediately expressed his position: "Your worries are unnecessary. Come back, I will ask the housekeeper to take someone there. The previous lease was for one year, but I will change it to three for you."
The year will be fixed, so you won’t have to worry, right?”
"Sir, you are truly a living Bodhisattva and a great good man!"
The old man led everyone to kowtow to Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng hurriedly stopped: "Now that the Republic of China is over, the emperor is gone, and the old rules of kowtowing have to be changed. If you really remember me well, bring the young people from the village to me to see you later. This is a lot of walking.
, it’s still a kiss even if you don’t kiss.”
"It should, it should."
Everyone responded: "If anyone dares to disobey your instructions, we will break his legs."
"No, not really."
Zhang Heng waved his hands repeatedly.
noon.
Everyone had a meal of mutton steamed buns.
In the afternoon, the old man took the villagers of Xiaoan Village back.
Before leaving, he also promised that he would bring young people from the village to see Zhang Heng when he came back.
Zhang Heng was also unambiguous.
I packed ten kilograms of white flour for each person and went back.
Don't be too little, there are not many people who can eat white flour these days, even if you don't eat it yourself, it is still hard currency in your hands.
If you have relatives at home, make a meal of white flour steamed buns, and both you and your relatives will feel honored.
"They are all loyal people!"
Watching the crowd of old and young people leaving, Zhang Heng told the old housekeeper: "Didn't I get some grain seeds back? I'll send them to Xiao'an Village tomorrow. When this season's grain harvest is harvested, let them plant it."