The tabby dog and the chow chow, one on the left and one on the right, loyally guarded the door of Huaiyu's cave dwelling, fearing that he would suddenly disappear again.
Huaiyi gave his cave dwelling to Huaiyu and his wife, and he and Ma Zhou went to squeeze in with Er Lengzi. Runniang had grown up, and it was actually her first time to live in a cave dwelling. She didn't dislike it but found it quite novel.
The dilapidated kiln that Lao Wu renovated for him has just begun construction, and it is estimated that it will take another two or three months to complete. Huaiyu's focus is now on Chang'an, and for a while, he doesn't care much about the dilapidated cave dwelling.
There is a courtyard in Chang'an and a kiln in Sanyuan. It is convenient to live there when you come back. You can't stay at Er Leng's house every time.
"After two years, we built a courtyard. I designed it myself and built a courtyard with three entrances from the front to the back. The main room, the wing room, the wing room, the side room, the back room, the corridor, the street door, the screen wall, the hanging flower door, the courtyard, and the two acres of land.
The layout is very good.”
"Then I want to live in the west wing." Run Niang snuggled into his arms and said with a smile.
The couch was covered with a gauze tent, and there was a gauze curtain on the door. There was smoke outside, and mosquito coils made by Huaiyu were burned in the room. There were no disturbing mosquitoes, only the intoxicating evening breeze.
It's cool in the cave, and it's not too hot on this summer night.
In short, although it seems that the three hundred acres of land are not harvested, the expenses are also huge. The court goes to war every year, officials often have to donate salaries and suspensions, and local states and counties also impose additional taxes and assessments from time to time.
Three hundred and sixty shi of grain, this is all the income in good times.
"Farming work has slowed down. Our family brewed float wine, and we went to invite the people who share our land to come over and have a drink."
"you are so Beautiful!"
"And we still have to pay money and food to the canal."
"Aye, after collecting the rent for this summer harvest, we don't have to sell any grain. I still have some money here, and I can go to the countryside to buy some and save it."
There is also a kind of partnership farming. The landlord provides seeds and even cattle from the land, while the tenants are responsible for farming and management, and finally divide into shares. Hou Sanjia was actually this kind of partnership before, the seeds of the Wu family, the seeds of the Wu family, and the cattle of the Wu family. This kind of general
The land is divided in half, or the land is divided into six tenants and four tenants. Some landowners work together to farm the land.
A strong man can actually eat twelve shi of millet and 7 shi of rice in a year. If a family of five really wants to eat freely, it will cost more than 30 shi.
Due to the current shortage of people, there is currently no place to recruit workers.
"Just sit there and don't move."
"We pay two liters of grain per mu in the free warehouse, and our family will get six stones of grain from the 300 acres of land."
If you boil the radish and make it with steamed glutinous rice, the effect will be better.
Huaiyu discovered that the biggest difference between this kind of relationship and the kind of employment in later generations is mobility. In later generations, companies and factories were opened to recruit workers, and the turnover was very high. The boss picked people, and the employees also picked the boss. If they were not happy with the work, they would leave.
Or they open it because they think the work is not good. But here, when the land is tenanted, it is basically rare to get it back, unless the tenant's family has no successors.
"There is still household money."
He had often used this trick to chase girls before, and few girls were not surprised, and some were even shocked.
"Where's brother?"
In short, if the old Wu family didn't have an official salary plus a land rental subsidy, it wouldn't be as good as it is now. With just three hundred acres of land, it wouldn't be good weather every year, whether it was a war or an expedition, or a drought or early frost.
Floods will affect the harvest.
There are nine members of the old Wu family, five adults and four children, and they only have more than thirty kilograms of food a year. It can be seen that they are usually very frugal.
After having a bowl of millet porridge in the morning, the two men put on clean and tidy robes and began to visit their tenants from house to house to entertain guests. They agreed to drink float wine tomorrow and then presented them with a pot of newly brewed float wine.
The two parties were very polite. Mr. Wu and Mr. Wu brought a pot of float wine and agreed to drink together tomorrow. The tenants also gave some fruits, vegetables, and other vegetables as gifts.
The relationship between the Wu family and the tenants is actually relatively equal. They need each other. The old Wu family can't farm so much land, so it has to rent it out. The villagers have to rent more land if they don't have enough land to farm. The two parties are in a cooperative relationship, and in addition, they still have to rent some land.
We have a good relationship with our neighbors in the same village.
The last one is to recruit laborers. The landlord will provide seeds and cattle, and recruit long-term workers to farm the land. During busy farming times, short-term workers will also be hired. They not only provide seeds and cattle, but also farm tools, and even rations, and lend them accommodation to produce grain.
Finally, if the seeds are removed, the land will be divided into six tenants and four tenants. If the seeds are not removed, the land will be divided into two tenants and one tenant. If the landlord also participates in equal labor, the land will be divided into eight tenants and two tenants.
Lao Wu looked solemn, "The Turkic wolves are really going to invade Weibei. Even if we stock up on food, we won't be able to hold it back."
This year's summer harvest is still possible, the harvest is good, not to say a bumper harvest, but it is not a failure either.
This is just like those poets who wrote about war in a very romantic way. They were far away from the battlefield and did not experience life and death personally, so they sang about blood and fire, swords and expeditions.
For one acre of good land, five liters of seeds are needed. For the 170 acres of land planted by the Wu family themselves and with companions, the seeds cost eight dan and five liters.
Even most of the villagers who share the land do not share the land with several households. The land they share is fixed with each family. These households all share the land of your home, and those of the other households share the land of another family.
"It's very possible that it's safer to store food early. In fact, it's best to let the younger sister go to Chang'an with us. After Sanlang, the eldest sister, and the two nieces all go to Chang'an, the younger sister will be alone at home without a companion, in case the Turks really attack.
, Chang'an is also safer, and it will be easier for the whole family to move to Chang'an."
Calculated this way, it would be good to have about a hundred kilograms of grain left over a year, but it is not really possible to save this grain. Although the countryside is self-sufficient, sewing, thread, pots, bowls, and agricultural tools are all free of charge. All grains are sold for money.
It has become a tradition to collect rent by inviting people to drink float wine. After inviting people to drink float wine, they have to start paying rent. This happens every year and it becomes a tradition.
The other 100 acres of land are rented by more than 20 households of villagers, ranging from a few acres to more than ten or twenty acres. They only rent the land and do not provide anything else. The land is divided into 30% and 70%, and the rent of cattle is counted as 10%.
The Wu family still has nine members, not including Huaiyu.
This relationship is quite good.
Every family was visited and invited, and finally Liu Cunzheng and several retired and serving military attachés of the village were invited.
It is much better than storing it directly in a granary, or digging an underground kiln to store grain. It takes up so much space and it is not easy to bury it at home without being discovered.
Chen Runniang in Huaiyu's works not only resembles her, but also clearly looks like she has been filtered. She has a particularly beautiful artistic conception. What girl wouldn't want to be the protagonist with all the stars admiring her.
After walking carefully around, Huaiyu can feel this simple nostalgia.
The cattle and mules raised at home are not all grass-eating. Especially during the busy farming season, they also need to eat refined grains.
When he stopped writing, Runniang couldn't wait to come over and take a look. When she saw the portrait, her expression did not surprise Huaiyu at all.
"Our family cultivates 120 acres of land, 30 acres of mulberry fields, and rents out the other 150 acres." Lao Wu explained to his son that the 150 acres of land rented out by the Wu family are also divided into three types.
One situation is to rent land directly, which is the case for most tenants. They only rent the land, and they plant other cattle, seeds, etc. on their own. It is agreed that the land will be divided into 30% and 70%, and the landlord will take 30%. No matter how much is harvested from the land,
The landowners will take 30% of the income, including the summer and autumn grains.
The family circumstances of the Longqiao Wu family and the Yongkang Li family are very different. The Li family has been a family that has been aloof for generations, but Lao Wu still has to work in the fields, and the Liu family and others also have to weave and raise silkworms every day.
Shoushanliang is actually a method of storing grain to prevent hunger and bandits. The grain is steamed and pounded into paste, then painted on the wall or made into bricks. After it dries naturally, the longer it gets, the harder it becomes and will not rot or decay.
.If there is a famine or a military disaster, you can cut off a piece and cook it into a large pot of paste, or you can eat it dry or soak it in water. It is very resistant to hunger.
"Now?"
The landlord invited the tenants to drink. Huaiyu heard it right. This was still a tradition.
The cattle and mules you raise not only help you grow your own land, but you can also rent it out to earn some money.
"I went to race horses and practice archery."
Shortly after the summer harvest every year, some float wine will be brewed with new wheat. After the wine is ready, the landlord will personally visit the farmers who share their land to invite them to drink. This is not only a celebration and relaxation after the harvest, but it also has another meaning, that is,
Let me tell you, it's time to pay summer rent.
Huaiyu looked at the beauty under the dim light, with a peach blossom face and a smile on his lips, and wanted to record this moment.
The clear river flows quietly outside, with the sound of frogs and the occasional barking of cattle, sheep and dogs. The night outside is as dark as pitch black, and the moonlight is bright in the sky.
The landlord's family didn't have much food left.
"Are the Turks really going to invade?" Lao Wu asked sensitively.
The Wu family's land is fertile land watered by Baiqu, and the yield per mu can reach more than two dan. When the weather is good, the 120 acres of land cultivated by the family can yield about 250 dan, while the rented one can produce about 150 dan.
If you rent ten acres of land and farm a hundred acres, you will receive a rent of about six dou per mu, which is only sixty shi a year. If you work on 50 acres of land, you will receive a rent of one dan per mu, which is only fifty shi a year.
·······
In the early morning, Huaiyu woke up a little later than usual.
The old Wu family originally had 300 acres of land. They planted part of it themselves and gave some to Hou Sansan. The rest was rented to other villagers in the village. Some were rented ten or twenty acres, and some were only rented.
Five acres and ten acres.
"Our family's ration last year, not counting Hou San's family, was eight shi of wheat, seven shi of millet, seven shi of beans, three shi of green wheat, three kilos of millet, and seven kilo of flax," Lao Wu added after that, "
The food needed to raise horses and feed cattle is not included.”
"Xie Erlang."
"How about I draw a portrait for you?"
"How much rent can our family collect this year?"
Although all the tenants of the old Wu family are in this village, there are also about twenty households who own twenty or thirty acres of land and rent some additional land from the Wu family and other imperial guards.
Lao Wu was practicing the Vajra Kung Fu he taught in the courtyard, and reminded him, "Young people should be restrained and not be greedy for pleasure."
······
Runniang lay on Huaiyu's broad chest with a happy face, and said in a lazy voice: "The nights in the countryside are so peaceful, I like them so much."
Huaiyu jumped out of bed and found paper, pen, ink and inkstone. Runniang also heard that Huaiyu's portraits of Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong were very popular even with the prince, and he even specially gave them a silver tassel.
Although he practiced calligraphy and painting, he eventually learned management, but I have to say that a boy who can draw is just like a girl who can dance, which is actually a plus.
"Take Wu Cheng and his family to Chang'an. You should have a few trustworthy people around you." Wu Cheng is now a slave of the Wu family who has signed a slave contract. He lives and dies in the Wu family, so he is naturally worthy of trust.
Run Niang polishes ink.
Lao Wu was very polite to every family. He was not overbearing like a landlord, nor was he aggressive in urging rent. He didn't even mention paying rent at all.
On such a night, it is indeed very pleasant to have a beautiful woman in my arms.
"Um."
When a wealthy family of aristocratic families vacations and relaxes in a country manor, naturally they only see pastoral landscapes and tranquility, because they don't need to get up early to fetch water to light a fire, or work in the fields in the dew before dawn.
There is no need to wear the stars and the moon, and there is no need to weave until midnight.
Even if the old Wu family is renovating the cave dwellings, although the tenants take the initiative to help, the old Wu family will also provide meals, and after the repairs are completed, they will also send some gifts to thank them. Later, when their family has to repair the kiln, in fact, everyone is the same.
Help each other.
"You can follow me to treat me later."
Huaiyu watched for a while and then wrote.
"Actually, it's not that nice after you have just come back. There are constant trivial matters, conflicts and quarrels between the parents of the east and the west, and even cows and sheep dung all over the ground, as well as endless farm work in the fields.
, the housework that can never be finished..."
But even if there are five liters of grain a day, it is at least one stone and five stones a month, and eighteen stones a year.
There are more than 100 households in Longqiao Fort, and 50 of them have Imperial Guards, and more than half do not. The Imperial Guards are granted at least 100 acres of land, which is the welfare package they received from the Imperial Guards, but few other villagers can actually do so.
Most of those who were granted a hundred acres of land were only granted thirty or forty acres. In recent years, even the young men and young men who entered middle school were not allotted land.
Lao Wu counted on Huaiyu's fingers. Last year, his family had two horses, one mule and three cows. Not counting sheep and pigs, the six horses, mules and cows consumed a lot of money in a year. Fortunately, he still had six horses, mules and cows last year.
In the Forbidden Army, he was a brigade commander, and he was given a subsidy for horse materials and a salary.
It costs more than sixty stones to eat, but raising horses consumes more food. The Wu family is a forbidden army and has war horses. These things are not all grass-eating. A war horse eats wheat, oats, black beans and other grains, which is more than five men.
"Yeah, I have a way to stock up on food. I can turn it into mountain guard food."
The most important thing is that this kind of mountain food is easy to hide, not easy to be discovered and robbed by hungry people or bandits, and easy to store.
Fortunately, we still have forty acres of mulberry fields and some jujube trees at home. Raising silk and weaving silk can not only basically cover the household needs, but we can also sell some surplus to subsidize the family.
Half of the land owned by the Wu family was cultivated by the family themselves, and fifty acres were cultivated for the three families of Buqu Hou. The Wu family provided these fifty acres with seeds, farming tools, and cattle, and even participated in the labor during busy farming periods, so they divided the land half and half.
"What's the guest?"
A few years ago, I married three daughters, and the dowries were quite large. In recent years, I have been saving gifts for my sons and dowries for my younger daughters.
Especially this kind of drawing in person, and the drawing is particularly beautiful.
Fortunately, Lao Wu of the Wu family was a military officer, Cheng Ding Wu Huaiyi was a serving military attache, and Huaiyu was temporarily white but not yet a man, so he did not have to pay rent for the time being, so he had no other official burdens.
Therefore, after one year, there are actually about 340 grains left, which are raw grains that have not been shelled.
However, the food rations for Hou San's family of five are also borne by the Wu family. A male male has two liters per day, a female female has one and a half liters, a middle-aged male has one liter, and the youngest and oldest are even smaller. The two young and three young people in Hou San's family have five liters per day.
, after shelling the millet, there are actually only a little more than three liters of millet. Two meals a day must be paired with some vegetables. To really eat enough, you actually need five liters of rice a day.
"When the grain is harvested, part of it will be made into grain bricks and built into walls and hidden in cave dwellings. Most of the grain can be transported directly to Chang'an City for storage. Chang'an City is strong and the Turks will definitely not be able to invade it even if they come."
Lao Wu thought for a moment and said, "I'll listen to you."
"How about grandpa and mother-in-law come with us to live in Chang'an temporarily, and let Hou Sanwucheng and his two families take care of the crops here. You can ask the village tenants to help take care of the crops, and then we can share some grain with them after harvesting."
Lao Wu was reluctant to leave home, "The Turkic wolf cubs may not be able to break into Guanzhong. If they do come, it won't be too late for us to come to Chang'an for temporary refuge!"
