The five people moved carefully on the tree and kept throwing the green dates down. Zhou Liru and Zhou Ligu and Bai Shuping picked up two dustpans. Daji and the two guards who were waiting aside also bent down to help pick up the dustpans.
I can't fit it in.
It happened that a servant came to them and called them, "Young masters and ladies, we have to go back for lunch."
Manbao and the others then came down from the tree with disappointed expressions on their faces, then sat down on the grass to put on their shoes, "We only picked dates. Let's look at pears after dinner."
Bai Shan responded, "Okay."
Several people took the red dates back to Zhuangzi, soaked some of them in well water, washed them and put them in a basket, intending to eat them as after-dinner fruits for lunch.
It's a pity that the few people who planned to continue going out after lunch couldn't make it because they were a little sleepy after just eating. After all, they were still a little tired after running for a long time and got up early this morning.
Seeing them yawning and looking outside, Mrs. Liu said, "The sun is shining brightly now. You should go take a nap first and wait until you wake up."
Several people felt that the day was still long and this idea was not bad, so they yawned and went to sleep.
But when they woke up, Old Zhou didn't allow them to play again. He said, "I have already asked people. The place where Zhitian is is not very far from here. The carriage will arrive in about three quarters of an hour, so we are here."
Just go and have a look.”
Manbao was still thinking about the pears in the orchard, and said, "Dad, this is not urgent. We still have four days of vacation."
"Why aren't you in a hurry?" Lao Zhou asked, almost getting angry. "Didn't you see that there are people in Zhuangzi who are already planting winter wheat?"
"The capital is too far north. Yongzhou is further north than the capital. We can only grow wheat for one season. If we can't get the wheat to turn green before it snows, we'll have to wait another year before we can plant wheat. Thank you."
Man Bao said, "You can plant beans."
"It's even more of a loss to grow beans in such a good land," Lao Zhoutou said. "Hurry up, stop being lazy. Why are you lazier than dad?"
Zhou Dalang smiled and said, "Dad, she's not lazy, she just wants to have fun."
Xiao Qian said to Man Bao, "You also said you were going to Yongzhou to see the lanterns. If you don't go today, how will you go to see the lanterns tomorrow?"
Man Bao was agitated and immediately said to her father, "Dad, let's leave now, it's only three-quarters of an hour. It'll be quick. We may be faster on horseback. We'll be there in two-quarters of an hour."
Bai Shanye cleverly pulled out their horses, asked Lao Zhoutou for directions, then got on their horses and ran away.
Old Zhou opened his mouth wide and turned to ask Zhou Dalang, "No one is showing them the way. Why are they running? What if they run the wrong way?"
Qian had already packed up. Hearing this, he said, "There are people on the road. They know the names of places. They will stop people and ask. With a mouth under your nose, are you afraid that you can't find the road?"
Lao Zhou thought so at first glance.
Mrs. Liu asked Zhuangtou to go with them. He knew the way and was familiar with the area.
From Beijing to Yongzhou, there are only a few low mountains along the way, and a lot of land has been cleared and turned into large farms.
Zhuangtou sat on the shaft of the carriage and chatted with Lao Zhoutou, saying, "Around here, the villagers' fields are only a few, and most of them are occupation fields and land owned by the elders, so basically the people in the villages in this area are
Tenant farmers only have a few acres of land at home, and the rest is rented from other people's land, or they don't have even an acre of land and rely on renting and farming."
Old Zhou asked, "How old is the Jin Dynasty, and they have already lost all the land?"
Zhuangtou then gave a wry smile, glanced at Lao Zhoutou's hand, then glanced behind the car, and then lowered his voice and said, "I think you are a farmer like me. I won't hide it from you. How can this be?"
Of course, some of them lost their land themselves, but most of them were redeemed by the imperial court and used as land for employment."
"I don't know why, but the imperial court has recruited so many officials, and every year there are not enough jobs. What should I do if there is not enough?"
Lao Zhoutou: "What should I do?"
"Then it can only be taken from us ordinary people. With a little money, the yamen will expropriate the cultivated land we have cultivated and use it as employment land, and then allocate some raw land again. But look at the raw land, there are so many grasses and trees. In a year,
You may not be able to cultivate two acres, and you can only plant beans first. People are going to starve to death, so who will cultivate that little land? It is better to be a sharecropper."
Old Zhou was dumbfounded, so this is how Man Bao's career came to be?
Zhuangtou didn't know Lao Zhoutou's identity yet, so he just smiled and asked, "Where are you going? Did your boss buy the land there?"
Lao Zhou came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "No, it was my daughter who was assigned a job."
"Your daughter?" Zhuangtou was puzzled, "Is your daughter the empress of the palace? No, I don't see many Zhuangtou in charge of the fields around here. I have never heard of the empress having a job."
Only then did Lao Zhoutou become proud. He puffed up his chest and said, "She's not an empress, she's an official. My daughter is an imperial physician or some kind of editor, or a book editor. As for the fifth rank, she has been an official for two times, so we are divided."
There are one thousand acres of vocational farmland, and we are here to see that vocational farmland this time."
Zhuangtou opened his mouth in surprise, and then closed it after a while, "This, this is the official, oh my, you are enjoying the blessing of a daughter."
Old Zhoutou then smiled and narrowed his eyes. He finally found someone to talk to. He and Zhuangtou nodded and said, "Isn't that right? Among my sons, no one can compare to my little girl. She has been around since she was a child."
Filial piety, she drank egg water when she was a child, and she even wanted to secretly leave it for me to drink."
Zhuang Tou recalled Zhou Man carefully, and after a while he said, "You are so young, and now you are an official? Isn't that right? I remember the old lady seemed to have said that she is the future young lady of our family."
"Yes, our two families are engaged, and the one who is engaged to your young master is my little daughter. They are working together in the palace now. My daughter is an official, and your young master is also very powerful. He is studying with the prince.
"Lao Zhoutou had another point to show off. He lowered his voice and said, "You know the prince? He is the future emperor."
And his son-in-law is currently studying with the future emperor. To round things off, his son-in-law and the emperor are classmates. Thinking about it makes Lao Zhou feel breathless.
Zhuangtou also felt a little out of breath.
Capital, no, Mrs. Liu of Zhuangzi in Yongzhou bought it to stay and provide some fresh fruits, vegetables and food to her family in Capital, so there was no special selection of people to manage it.
In order to integrate into the capital and Yongzhou and avoid trouble, the village heads and tenants were selected from the local area. However, she also sent servants from her family to manage or work in the village. After all, those were her confidants.
Because it was not a matter of selling one's body, but just an employment relationship, the village head and the tenants did not know much about the owner's affairs. The young master of the owner was actually studying with the prince...
Zhuangtou was in a daze for a while before he realized that his boss was also so powerful? He never knew.