It was a cool night in the mountains, and the menstrual period was not yet over. Minglan curled up in a ball and fell asleep. Gu Tingye hugged her body like a mountain, covering her cold hands and feet all night long. Her cold body was pressed against the man who was like a small stove.
My body suddenly felt much better.
That night, the man slept very comfortably. Thinking of how Ming Lan was interrogated by him before going to bed, his face turned red like a fat cooked octopus roll, and he bit his little white teeth to death. In the end, he couldn't hold on anymore and almost
In embarrassment, he wanted to climb out of the window and escape. The man couldn't help laughing even in his sleep, and Minglan would beat his chest in anger.
Before dawn the next day, Gu Tingye led Xie Ang and other personal guards on Pegasus to the camp in the western suburbs.
"If you are busy, don't rush back at night." Minglan muttered sleepily, "There are so many nursing homes here, so you can rest assured."
"I know, if you have anything to do, you can make up your own mind." Gu Tingye kissed her warm cheek before leaving the village.
Minglan expected exactly what he expected. There was Tulong's ferocious face, and two rows of burly and tough guards standing beside him. All the managers of Black Mountain Villa were very honest, and Minglan sat far away.
Behind the screen, he directly gave instructions.
A big manager like Balaofu, who is in charge of the village, knows what to say and what to do when his master comes to inquire. He brought a group of branch managers and village leaders to greet Minglan early in the morning, with a smile on his face, and prepared
There was a lot of information to be told to Minglan, but Minglan didn't ask a single question and only chatted with Balaofu without a word.
Balaofu and others were confused and could only reply one by one.
"Madam, they are all here." At this time, Quan Zhu's wife came in with a low eyebrow and reported back.
Across the screen, Ming Lan's clear voice was very kind: "Follow the order in the book and ask them to come in."
Dan Ju took the roster that Balao Fu had just handed over from the desk and read it slowly. The stewards still didn't understand what was going on, but they saw Gongsun Meng commanding several servants to carry a large package that was half a person tall.
The basket comes in.
There was a clang, the sound of copper and iron, and it was placed heavily on the hall. Everyone turned to look at it, and almost jumped with fright - it was actually a basket full of copper coins; reflecting the light of the morning sun, the piles were full of copper coins.
The copper coins strung on a thick red rope were gleaming with an exciting bright blue-gray color, and everyone was suddenly dazzled.
Minglan said lightly: "They have worked hard this year, and now that the village has taken care of them, I will give you a small reward when I come back for the first time to make everyone happy."
"Madam, this..." Balaofu felt something was wrong.
Before the stewards could react, Quan Zhu's daughter-in-law had already chanted her name loudly. When a tenant came in, she gave him a large sum of money, and then asked if there were any elderly people in their sixties in the family. If there was one, he would give an extra three hundred yuan.
After finishing, Danju checked out a sum of money and a name; the tenant farmer left the hall with unsteady steps, holding the heavy string of money, still in the mist.
When the first few farmers came in, they were still weak or trembling. After five or six payments, the tenants waiting at the back heard the news and learned that today there was a good thing that the boss rewarded them with free money. This was like salt poured into the house.
The frying pan was being heated, and there was a lot of noise in the front yard. Their faces were glowing when they came in, and they were beaming with joy when they left, and they were full of good words of auspiciousness and thanks.
The village leaders looked at each other in confusion, wondering what Minglan meant. Some had angry expressions on their faces, and some turned to flatter Minglan loudly for her kind deeds. However, Balaofu gradually started to see sweat on his forehead. There were so many village leaders with their eyes wide open.
Watching from the sidelines, Minglan was not afraid that these tenant farmers would lie to the elderly at home.
There are a total of sixty-two hectares of farmland registered in Heishan Villa, and there are thirty-three households of registered tenant farmers. Including the elderly of each family, Minglan distributed a total of six to seven thousand yuan in the morning, almost an empty basket.
There was an episode in the middle. Because they heard that there was money to be made, several households of tenant farmers came. They claimed to be tenant farmers of Black Mountain Villa, but their names were not in the register. Balaofu immediately shed big beads of sweat.
Minglan was not angry at all, she just smiled and gave money to these tenant farmers. Before Balaofu could come up with an explanation, Minglan had already ordered Cui Ping and Cui An to bring a few village heads and a team.
The guard servant went out to survey the land.
Only then did Ba Laofu understand Minglan's intention, and his face turned pale with fear. When he was about to defend himself, Minglan waved his hand lazily, telling everyone to leave and go to rest.
As soon as she returned to the back room, Xia Zhu couldn't help but said: "The day before yesterday, my wife asked the accountant to prepare a lot of loose money. It turns out that this is how it is used." She did not dare to say anything, but there was an obvious look of regret and distress on her face, and she looked at Minglan with her eyes.
Tell me how you feel.
Xiao Tao had a calm face. She always felt that whatever Minglan did was right. Danju made tea for Minglan and undressed her, and said softly: "Madam, why don't you ask about the affairs of the village? You haven't asked any of the stewards for the past few days."
Where are we."
Minglan said sadly: "What they want to tell me may not be what I want to know; what I want to know, they may not be willing to tell the truth."
"They dare to lie to Madam!" Danju frowned, his chest heaved angrily, and then he whispered, "What do you want to know? Let's find out for ourselves later."
Minglan took a sip of warm tea and carefully admired the pastel bowl made from the official kiln in her hand: "It's nothing, but I want to know how many fields this village has and how many tenants it has."
Except for these two things, the rest, such as concealing accounts and swallowing up rent money, etc., can be taken care of slowly behind closed doors. From the steward to the head of the village, everything is in Minglan's hands, and there is no accumulation.
You can do whatever you want with your seniority.
Minglan's money has no gray hair.
When the Cui brothers went to measure the fields, the tenants, who were originally a little wary of the village head's stewardship, were very enthusiastic and quick-sighted. They got some clues and gave guidance on what should be said and what should not be said.
Everyone was shaken out, and several stewards and village leaders were running around anxiously, but they stopped under the fierce looks of the Tu family brothers.
However, in just two days, Cui Ping and Cui An were able to clearly measure the huge field and record the thickness of the farmland in detail. Gongsun Meng dragged a steward who could write to record the tenants who were not registered one by one.
Visited everywhere.
The faces of the village head stewards became increasingly ugly.
Gu Tingye has only been back for two nights these days. It seems that the school review has become increasingly busy. Many military camps are running out of money, and the inspection of the Hyogo Department is not very good. Whenever he returns to the village, he always asks Minglan if he is in trouble.
Minglan didn't bother him and said it was nothing. Gu Tingye was so exhausted from running around day and night that he basically fell asleep.
On the third day, after the enumeration was completed, the Cui brothers and Ah Meng handed in the documents. The situation was clear at a glance: Heishan Villa had gained another 690 acres of fertile land, plus four or five households of tenant farmers, and was sued by 'certain enthusiasts'
According to the secret, several stewards, including Balaofu, had purchased their own properties outside, but they were in the names of relatives.
Balaofu and the other stewards knelt in front of Minglan's door dripping with sweat, not daring to wipe it off.
Minglan sat inside, slowly flipping through the volume, and said lightly: "You are slaves of the guilty minister's family. When the Duke's mansion was confiscated, everyone like you was called a traitor. You are the ones who followed."
Now that the Duke's mansion has been confiscated of all the gifts given by the village, you still hid these many belongings. You must be a good slave."
The tone was very light, but the meaning was extremely powerful. Everyone kowtowed and begged again and again. Balaofu's forehead was bruised and swollen, so he raised his head and said: "It's all the young people who have been deceived by lard. You know you are wrong.
We just hope Madam will show mercy, and we will immediately sell the farm outside and hand over the money to the public..."
"Nonsense! Is Madam just after your money?!" Danju scolded loudly.
Several stewards continued to kowtow. Minglan looked at them for a while and softened her tone: "That's all, you are old people in the Duke's mansion. You have worked hard for many years, and the savings you have accumulated are nothing -"
The next few people couldn't help but relax slightly when they heard Minglan's softened tone. Unexpectedly, Minglan changed the subject and continued: "But you are violating the family rules by hiding the farmland on the farm and privately owning tenants. If you do this,
Forget it, everyone will be like this in the future, the Gu family will be in chaos, this will be really difficult to handle..."
The village chiefs and stewards were worried, waiting for Minglan to give up. Minglan saw that their faces turned green and white, and felt that it was almost done. She said gently: "Let's leave it at that. Let's talk about it after the master is finished with his official duties."
After saying this, Minglan left Black Mountain Villa with all the account books and name rolls, leaving two stewards brought from the mansion to check the accounts and a few guards to guard them. The couple met at Guyan Villa that night.
Seeing that Gu Tingye still had some energy, Minglan explained the matter briefly.
"Should the extra fields be exchanged for the emperor?" Minglan's expression was very upright. When she was a child, she always handed over the money she picked up to the public. (·~)
The man's originally tightened brows couldn't help but relax, and he smiled and said, "Did the emperor say how many fields there were when he gave the village?"
Minglan shook her head.
"We ourselves found out the slaves who deceived the superiors and concealed the truth from the inferiors. It's not like they were occupying people's fields. What are you afraid of?"
Minglan thought so, so she concentrated on wiping Gu Tingye's wet hair. Gu Tingye saw that she looked relaxed and at ease, with a slightly strange look on her face: "You're not angry with them for being so deceitful?"
"...I'm really not very angry." Minglan raised her head and thought for a moment, "Although they were greedy for some money and land, they were still measured and did not force the tenant farmers to death."
After checking around in the past few days, Minglan found that most of the tenants in the village were living a pretty good life; they did not sell their children or daughters, and no one starved to death. The impression given to Minglan by these guys in Black Mountain Villa was that they were not very brave.
, a collective love for petty theft.
However, because of this, the slaves of this village were not well-known, so they were not sold, but were directly transferred to meritorious officials.
Of course, in essence, it is because Minglan does not agree with the slave efficiency in ancient times.
Those slaves who are indentured to the master's family are fine if they do service work in the mansion and receive a fixed monthly salary. If they are appreciated by the master, they will receive additional rewards. However, if these slaves are asked to manage the farm, the problem becomes complicated.
The failure of the big pot system proves one thing. Human beings are profit-oriented animals. To achieve long-term and stable benefits, it is impossible without motivating rewards and punishments.
Those stewards who handle large amounts of land and money have made the farm prosperous through hard work, but as slaves without personal freedom, they cannot have their own property. This is absolutely against the laws of economics and the principles of human nature.
The key point is how much Balaofu and the others swallowed. If it is within a certain range, it is not unforgivable. After all, it seems that Black Mountain Villa has been managed well these days. Besides...
Minglan sighed: "There are fewer trustworthy people around us. You might as well think about whether there are any loyal family members in the Hou Mansion. If they are reliable, don't be careful..." She didn't believe that the concubine could catch them all.
As for those servants who have been in the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion for generations, Gu Tingye is also the headmaster.
Gu Tingye was silent for a long time, then nodded slightly, and then changed the topic and said: "The reputation of Black Mountain Villa is still good. If there is anything bad, you have to decide how to deal with it. Just ask Hao Dacheng to deal with it when you return home." After a pause.
After that, he pointed to the ground and said, "This village is different. I will leave a team of soldiers for you tomorrow."
Minglan stopped moving her hands for a moment, tilted her head and said with a smile: "No, I have enough manpower."
She is currently very satisfied with the deterrent power of the Tu brothers.
Gu Tingye raised his handsome eyebrows and smiled without answering: She has a clear mind and sees things clearly, but she still lacks a bit of experience.
He pulled Minglan over with his backhand, turned over and pressed on the bed, and kissed her bright red mouth hard. The fat under her thin clothes was greasy. He couldn't help but feel something in his heart, and said in a low voice: "How are you feeling?" As he spoke,
, while reaching into the lapel of his clothes.
Minglan's body was softened by his rubbing, and her face was flushed: "... Still, still... Still..."
The big hand on her body became more dishonest as she touched it. She panicked and said hurriedly: "You, you, you... do you want to change three horses a day? You will be busy tomorrow, so don't... well, just have a good rest."
"
"Little stammer, why are you panicking!" Gu Tingye couldn't help but smile, turning over and lying on the bed, holding Minglan in his arms, smiling, "I'm just asking, are you thinking wrong?" His dark and teasing eyes
Pretending to be upright.
Minglan:……
——She really wanted to scratch him to death!
The author has something to say:
I'm sorry this time. The whole family is exhausted. We had a funeral last Saturday, counted the money, sent it off to relatives, and then rested for a day. I really don't have the energy to update the article.
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Recently, I have been looking up information about ancient wealthy farms, and I will explain it here.
First of all, ancient times was an agricultural society (this is not nonsense). In ancient times, working people worked as a family unit and obtained the means of living. Therefore, in the tenant record book, the names of all the people will not be recorded, but only the family will be recorded.
The names of the most important men, the rest of the elderly, women, and children all belong to this family.
As a family develops upward, it becomes a clan, so in ancient times we often saw Wangjia Village and Lijia Village, which means that the entire village is basically composed of people from the same clan. In ancient times, there was a saying of "no intermarriage in the same village" or "foreign daughter-in-law and son-in-law". Initially,
The reason is to prevent the blood relationship from getting too close.
How were ancient villages formed? (You can ask Du Niang, it’s nonsense)
I summarized it: Generally speaking, in ancient times, manpower was weak, and it was difficult for a family to resist the power of nature, such as digging wells, clearing wasteland, hunting, guarding thieves, etc.
So a group of people gathered together to live together and gradually formed a village. Because they needed to trust and rely on each other, the closer the people were, the better. Therefore, ancient villages were mostly based on close relatives.
In ancient times, 70-80% of the land in Japan was in villages, which were managed through village chiefs, Bao chiefs, or other village systems. Normally, the county master stayed in the city, and the yamen and county magistrates helped with city affairs.
If you have any other matters, please inform the elders or village chiefs and Bao chiefs and pass them down to the common people.
Therefore, the power of the Jin gentry in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was very strong. At the bottom, they owned land and the tenant farmers on the land. At the top, their family members often had younger brothers who became officials and had the power to speak in the court.
This semi-autonomous village model has been praised by many ancient scholars as a beautiful talk.
Then things are not so wonderful. Land annexation has happened to almost all dynasties in our country for thousands of years. It seems inevitable no matter what. When a dynasty lasts for two or three hundred years, land annexation reaches a critical point, and then there is an uprising.
, rebellion, success or failure, and then a change of dynasty.
This topic is too big. If I really want to talk about it, I can write a paper, "On the evolution of land annexation in ancient times and the gradual progression of peasant uprisings and their various impacts on the rise and fall of dynasties."
Back to the topic, let’s talk about the wealthy manors.
Those big families in ancient times, such as those with titles (Marquis Ningyuan), such as those who have been officials for generations (Haijia)... These families have vast fields and industries, so how do they manage it?
Especially for wealthy families in the capital, their farms are often far away from their own homes and they cannot check them every day. At this time, they need helpers, who play a role similar to that of a general manager, to manage the farms on behalf of their owners.
The fact is that most of the ancient slaves served their masters in the mansion, but some of them were deeply trusted by their masters. They managed the tenants on the farm (farmers who did not have their own land), and managed the harvesting of crops and fields.
Rent it, then tidy it up and hand it over to the owner.
[See the scene in Dream of Red Mansions where the ‘old beheaded man’ pays the annual gift to Jia Zhen for details.]
There are usually two ways to manage a farm. One is that the stewards of the farm are very capable and loyal. They are diligent in managing the crops. They buy their own seeds, purchase their own farm tools and cattle, decide what varieties they want to plant, and then only hire helpers to work in the fields;
One method is to divide the fields into pieces and rent them to tenant farmers respectively, and then collect the rent when the time comes and ignore the rest.
The former is just to pay the helper, and all the harvest can be collected; the latter is the relationship between Huang Shiren and Xi'er's father. The latter is more common, and the former is used as a supplement.
binglingtian2 is right, the tenants only rent the land for farming and are not slaves of that family, so there is no need to kneel down to Minglan, but this is just an ideal idea.
For example, due to natural causes or family illness, the tenant farmers suddenly cannot pay the rent this year, or are in arrears with rent. At this time, the village head will ask them to write IOUs. When accumulated, do you think these tenant farmers will be afraid?
Zhuangtou.
Especially since these farms were owned by wealthy families, the tenants did not dare to resist. Over time, although the tenants were free, they were actually half-servants. There were even many tenants who could not survive and were very willing to be taken over by their masters.
Because once you become a slave in your master's house, at the very least, you will have a mouthful of food to eat and will not starve or freeze.
There are good and bad masters, and there are good and bad stewards. Here we talk about the latter.
When the head of the house neglects management for many years (the family is a dandy, unwilling to study, and ignores common affairs), then these village heads will do small things, such as hiding some fields and hiding some tenants.
In this way, those fields that clearly bear the name of the XX family are actually cultivated by the village heads themselves, and those tenants have become private tenants of the village heads.
Of course, after many years of service, old slaves of big families have accumulated some savings and will secretly go out to buy property. According to ancient etiquette, this is absolutely not allowed and can be confiscated once discovered (a very good deal).
Therefore, there are not many slaves who really want to buy property outside. Unless they have very reliable relatives outside, they would rather hide their money.
As long as these slaves in the management of the manor can get into the position of stewards, they will actually be very comfortable in life. Although the exquisite aspects of daily life are not as good as the enjoyment in the house, they can be valued by their masters, and they are far away from the emperor.
In the manor, you can live very freely.
But if, as a slave, you are not in charge but only help on the farm (chopping firewood, cooking, fetching water, and occasionally farming), then it will be very miserable and your life will be very difficult.
Some maids who committed crimes in the inner courtyard were punished to the village. If they were not protected by their parents, brothers and sisters, they were forced to undergo labor reform. From heaven to earth, from the enjoyment of the deputy young lady to the farm girl, this is very sad.
punish.
If you are unlucky and meet bad parents, you will still think of mismatching your daughter to gain benefits (unlucky Qingwen).
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All in all, the life of a sharecropper was not pleasant. A historian once said that thousands of years of peasant uprisings were just for a piece of land!
The biggest wish of ancient farmers was to have their own land, the more the better (everyone thought so, how could there not be land annexation).
Okay, that’s enough about the farm. Now let me list the copper coin purchases set in this article.
One tael of gold = ten taels of silver
One tael of silver = one thousand copper coins (one tael, one tael)
A bunch of money = ten cents
One stone of rice = ten buckets of rice
One bucket = one dendrobium
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the price of rice was between 300 and 600 wen per stone. In the middle period (the reign of Renzong), it was between 600 and 700 wen. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, the price of rice was around 2 guan.
According to calculations, one stone of rice in ancient times weighed about 59,200 grams, or 59.2 kilograms.
If this is not clear to you, let me explain it simply.
Grandma Liu said that a crab feast in Grand View Garden was enough for her family to eat for a year.
A crab feast cost twenty taels of silver. Grandma Liu's family was considered a middle-class family in the village. They also had their own fields, so there were fewer poor farmers and even fewer tenant farmers.
The copper coins awarded by Minglan were roughly estimated to be half or one-third of a tenant farmer's family's annual income.
Don't tell me, that money can't buy much rice.
Do you think that ancient farmers could eat rice every day and everyone could eat white flour?! Stop dreaming!
It is eaten during the Chinese New Year, and is usually mixed with whole grains. When it comes to poor people who are not mature enough, it is common to dig wild vegetables and peel tree bark!
Peasants in ancient times were very miserable. They could only live a good life in a short period of peace and prosperity. At the end of the dynasty, there was war and chaos, and the most unlucky ones were the small farmers!
[As a digression here, when I was looking up information, I read the Ming Dynasty storybook "Three Words and Two Fears". Compared with the lives of ordinary people in the Qing Dynasty, I really want to say that it seems that the ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty lived a more comfortable life. Forget it, I still have it.