When Li Xu, the head of the family, sat down at the table, the family prepared to use their chopsticks.
Li Xu personally distributed a few boiled eggs!
First, he gave one to his mother, which was an act of filial piety.
Then there are several children, one for each child. This is because the children need to grow and supplement their nutrition.
The last remaining one was given to his wife by Li Xu.
His wife has endured hardships with him for half her life. If there are good things, it is natural to give them to her.
"Let's all eat!"
Li Xu's mother looked at the egg placed in front of her, but did not move it. Instead, she pushed the egg back to her son.
"Xu'er, eat it!"
"My mother sits at home every day and doesn't have to work in the fields. Eating is a waste!"
"You either work in the fields or do odd jobs every day. You carry our family on your shoulders. You are the backbone of the family, so you must eat well!"
Li Xu didn't pick it up. Instead, he pushed the egg back to his mother and said.
"Mom, life in our family is getting better little by little!"
"My son is still young, and he will have many opportunities to be popular and drink spicy food in the future."
"And now that you are old, you should eat more good food!"
The two of them were pushing each other, and Li Xu's wife also stood up and said.
"Mom, just listen to Li Xu!"
"Just give him my egg!"
"..."
In the end, the couple shared an egg and ate it.
The Li family was very poor, so poor that they had to give each other an egg, and no one was willing to eat it.
But the Li family lived a very happy life!
There is no shortage of food and drink, family harmony, and a promising future life.
No one can say anything bad about a day like this.
The Li family finished dinner and went to bed.
At this moment, someone knocked on the courtyard door.
Li Xu got up from his wife's body, and the couple began to dress hurriedly.
Li Xu asked while putting on his coat.
"Who is it? Is there something wrong at night?"
The man outside the door responded.
"Brother Xu, it's me, Erbao!"
"I want to discuss something with you!"
Li Xu got dressed and closed the door of his bedroom.
Then he strode to the courtyard door, raised the bolt, and opened the courtyard door with a creak.
Looking at Erbao with a silly smile on his face outside the door, Li Xu asked.
"What's going on?"
Erbao still said with a naive smile.
"Brother Xu, there is something I want to discuss with you!"
Li Xu just nodded and said.
"If you have anything to say, just tell me!"
He and Erbao were from the same village and had known each other for many years. Naturally, they had no scruples when talking to each other.
Erbao scratched his head and said.
"I want to ask Brother Xu, the autumn harvest is coming soon in the fields. What will Brother Xu do after the grain is harvested?"
"The fields allocated to the families in our village are not very large, and the wives and children can farm them. It is really a waste for us grown men to stay at home and farm."
"We should go out and find a job to earn some money to support our family!"
Li Xu scratched his head in confusion and said.
"Don't I usually do odd jobs? The money I earn is not that little!"
Erbao shook his head when he heard this.
"Brother Xu, I'm not talking about doing odd jobs, but finding a long-term job!"
"Let the mother-in-law and the children cultivate the fields at home, and let us just go to work!"
Li Xu subconsciously resisted.
As a farmer, he has always regarded land as his lifeblood.
Now someone suddenly said to him, let’s stop farming and go work. Li Xu would definitely not agree to it out of hand.
Li Xu frowned and asked.
"Is this thing...reliable?"
"Although we have less farmland at home, if we rent some more land from Mr. Li at the east end of the village, we won't be able to have enough time for a year."
Li Xu is a typical Chinese farmer who can endure hardships, but does not like to go out for work because he is afraid of risks.
His wife and children are on the hot bed, there is some farmland in Nongfu Spring, and an ordinary life is what he yearns for most.
Without enough benefits, don't think about him going out to take risks.
Erbao said.
"Brother Xu, what is the future for farming at home? How much money can you save throughout the year?"
"Let's go out and find a job, and we'll have food and lodging included, and we'll pay at least one silver dollar a month."
"If you are a skilled worker, your salary will be even better!"
"Besides, it's not like the fields have been abandoned. Aren't there women and children at home cultivating them?"
"Let's go out to work and save some money for our family. If we save some money in two years, we may be able to send all the kids at home to school."
"What if there is a literary star in the family who can pass the imperial examination and pass the high school, we will be the father of the official!"
Erbao's thinking is very clear. Since he can't be an official, he should be his father!
The thinking of Chinese people is completely different from that of foreigners. Foreigners generally only care about themselves and do not care about future generations.
When Chinese people do things, they habitually pave the way for future generations.
For example, save money for your children to study!
Accumulate wealth for future generations!
Li Xu was completely moved by the sentence of asking the children to study. He nodded and said.
"Er Bao, tell me, where should we go to work?"
Erbao said.
"I also asked someone to contact me!"
"The imperial court is planning to build a road called a "railway" between Nanjing and Zhenjiang, which will require a lot of labor."
"The construction period is expected to last more than half a year. In terms of wages and salaries, since it is a project to be done by the imperial court, it is very good."
"But the person I asked for said that we need more people to apply for the job."
To put it bluntly, there is a shortage of people, so let them recruit people.
Li Xu nodded and said.
"Okay, let's go see it together later!"
…
The Ming Dynasty adopted a rent-to-buy policy, and the amount of land provided to local people was not sufficient.
After being divided, it will probably fall into the category where if you just farm the land honestly, you will barely survive starvation.
But don’t think about being too wealthy.
The reason for this is not that Zhu Hongyu did not have enough land on hand to rent instead of buy, but that he deliberately arranged it.
Zhu Hongyu has no shortage of land!
After the decisive battle in Jiangnan, Zhu Hongyu made a fortune just by searching the assets of former Ming nobles who surrendered to the Qing court.
In addition, the land annexed by the Qing dignitaries was confiscated!
It can even be said that nearly half of the land in Jiangnan is controlled by Zhu Hongyu.
He has no shortage of land!
The reason for this arrangement is that Zhu Hongyu is sure that if he allocates the land according to the maximum number of acres per capita that can be planted.
Then there would be no need to develop industry and commerce in the Ming Dynasty!
As long as the land is obtained, there is a high probability that everyone will start farming, establishing a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy.
But what you need to know is that the small-scale peasant economy cannot make the country strong!
If a country wants to be strong, it still depends on the development of industry and commerce.