There is a flat field in the middle of the village, and a large courtyard with blue bricks and large tiles is located here, which looks out of place among the dilapidated houses. This is where the stewards of Xishan Manor live, which is equivalent to the courtyard in the manor.
The place to take care of things.
Sun Defa, the steward of the manor, had obviously made full preparations. Cleaned fruits and melons had been placed on the table in the main room, and tea had been brewed. Sun Decai respectfully and enthusiastically invited Zhang Yanling and others to take a seat. After riding for a long time, the weather was hot.
Everyone was indeed a little tired, so they sat down to drink tea.
Zhang Yanling saw Tan Ruqing standing aside, so he moved a stool and asked her to sit next to him. Tan Ruqing refused, and only asked a few words if there was anything strange about Zhang Yanling's body, then sat alone in a corner.
Zhang Yanling did not force anything. After taking two sips of tea to calm down, she said to Sun Defa: "Manager Sun, you must know the purpose of my coming to the manor this time. Please tell me what's going on."
Sun Defa hurriedly bowed and cupped his hands and said: "The villain is not doing his job well, so I asked Mr. Hou to come here in person. Such a hot day really makes the villain feel very frightened. The villain heard from Butler Ma that he is here to call for payment.
The villain actually thought of a lot of ways to pay for the rent owed by the tenants last year, but these people are really living in poverty and have nothing, and nothing can be done by forcing them. This is indeed the villain's dereliction of duty. The Marquis personally came here this time
Come on, I will of course obey the orders of the Marquis. We will do whatever you say. After all, we must collect the rent we owe."
Ma Quan frowned at the side and said: "Manager Sun, from what you said, you seem to be speaking for these mud-legged people. They have cultivated the land of the Marquis' family, so isn't it a right thing to do to pay the rent? What do you mean by not being able to force something out? You
How do you get this job as a steward? If you can't handle things, why does the Marquis support you?"
Sun Defa kept saying yes but did not dare to say more.
Zhang Yanling waved her hand and said: "Manager Sun, what is the reason why the rent cannot be collected? I have asked, our rent is not heavier than other people's. It stands to reason that they can afford the rent, but why?
Can’t collect it?”
Sun Defa sighed and said: "Master Hou, the situation in the past two years has been really bad. Last spring there was a severe flood. The wheat grown in the dry land was about to be harvested, but a lot of it was lost. I thought that rice could make up for it, but then
There was a severe drought and an insect infestation, and the commotion continued. The rice harvest was reduced by half. These tenants were already earning a living, but now they had no hope. If the rent was paid in full, the family would be hungry.
The person is dead. I have urged him many times, beaten and scolded him, but I can’t just tear the person’s bones apart. He doesn’t have it, so what can I do?”
Huang Si couldn't listen anymore and shouted: "Sun Defa, you are holding the Marquis's bowl and not doing anything for the Marquis. Why do you have the same tone as those common people who are deadbeats? This is what you did the last two times when you came to press for rent.
You pretended to be sick and didn't come out to do things. Now that the Marquis is here in person, you still say that? I think you don't want to be in charge of this job anymore."
Sun Decai smacked his lips and sighed: "Master Hou, I really don't have the ability to do this well. Otherwise...you should resign this villain. I feel very ashamed myself."
"Hey, Lord Marquis, please listen, what is this? Is this a challenge? Lord Marquis, how can a person like this do good things as a manor manager?" Huang Si jumped up.
Zhang Yanling waved her hands and said: "Don't talk about this for now. It seems that I can only make a decision by going to see the real situation in person. Let's not be busy for now. Manager Sun, have you prepared the food? Let's talk about it after lunch."
Sun Decai said hurriedly: "The food has been prepared. The Marquis will wait and the food will be served shortly. I went to the kitchen and told them to start cooking."
Sun Decai left quickly, and Zhang Yanling sat there with a frown on his face, deep in thought. The cicadas were chirping outside, the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was so hot that it was suffocating. Going to the fields to do farm work in this kind of weather was simply a hardship. Zhang Yanling knew that tenant farmers
We have worked hard, but the hard work has yielded no results. This is the problem that needs to be solved. It is impossible for me to be a good person and give all the fields to them with great mercy. If I don’t charge them rent, I am afraid I will also drink the northwest wind. The key question
We still need to solve the problem of insufficient harvest. In the afternoon, we have to go to the fields to have a look and get a deeper understanding of how the people here farm. There are always problems in some aspects.
Just as I was thinking about these things, there was a sound of scolding at the door. A servant was loudly scolding seven or eight dirty children who had gathered at the door. They looked at the fruits and other things on the table in the room eagerly, with eyes filled with tears.
It's desire.
"Hey, why are you scaring them? They are just children. Don't push that little sister. She is so pitiful, don't you have any compassion?" Tan Ruqing walked to the door and walked toward the man who was holding the title.
shouted the servant who was pushing the arm of a little girl of five or six years old.
The servant let go of the little girl's arm and frowned: "Master Marquis is here, how can they behave around here? These children don't know the rules."
Tan Ruqing frowned and said, "They are just children, what rules do you want them to know?"
The servant was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a while.
Tan Ruqing turned around and walked to Zhang Yanling's side and said in a deep voice: "Master Zhang, can you share some of the fruits on this table with the children outside the door?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Is Miss Tan going to show her kindness?"
Tan Ruqing frowned and said: "These are the children of the tenant families in your village. You are their boss. How can you feel okay looking at these poor children?"
Zhang Yanling laughed and said, "If Miss Tan wants to be a good person, just give these things to them to eat. Why do you need to vent your anger on me again?"
Tan Ruqing also realized that she seemed to have gone too far, so she sighed and thanked her, then reached out to pick up two pots of fruits and snacks and carried them out. The eyes of the children were shining, but they were like frightened birds and did not dare to
near.
Tan Ruqing called out softly: "Little brothers and sisters, come and eat. My sister gave you food specially."
A girl couldn't resist the temptation and came forward. Tan Ruqing took a large piece of pastry and handed it to her. The girl immediately stuffed it into her mouth and started chewing it. Seeing this, the other children started to scramble.
Later, two large plates of snacks and fruits were quickly snatched up. Tan Ruqing was about to go back to the house to get more, but she found that Xing'er, the maid of the Marquis Mansion, was also standing next to her with two large plates of fruits and snacks.
"Miss Tan, my Marquis asked me to give it to you. Everything on the table is here." Xing'er said.
Tan Ruqing turned around and saw Zhang Yanling standing at the door with a smile. Tan Ruqing cast a grateful look and turned around to invite the children to come and eat. A group of children devoured the food like a gust of wind, and several large plates of melon and fruit snacks were quickly introduced to them.
Seeing that the wooden tray was empty in his belly, all the children dispersed in a hurry.
Tan Ruqing was always willing to help others, and she felt very happy when she walked back with the empty plate.
"Miss Tan, this is generosity to others." Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
Tan Ruqing said in a deep voice: "I will give you as much money as I bought it."
Zhang Yanling rubbed her nose and said: "This is a child from my tenant family. Do you want you to spend money on relief? It's not appropriate. It makes me lose face, as if I, Zhang Yanling, are rich and unkind."
Tan Ruqing's good impression of Zhang Yanling quickly disappeared and she sneered, "Aren't you?"
Zhang Yanling laughed loudly and said in a deep voice: "After they have eaten this meal, is it possible that they can guarantee that they will never go hungry? Moreover, you only see these few children starving. How many children are starving in the world?"
, how much can you control?"
Tan Ruqing said coldly: "It's better to be able to care about how many people there are than to be indifferent."
Zhang Yanling nodded without saying anything, turned around and entered the room. A table of wine and food had already been placed in the room.
…
After lunch, Zhang Yanling decided to go to the village. Most of the people in Chenguang were probably at home. The weather was too hot and they probably couldn't work outside. Zhang Yanling asked Sun Decai to accompany him to chat with someone. After all, he was very interested in Zhaojiazhuang.
The people are still very familiar with him. As for Ma Quan, they don't need to follow him. A cross nose and vertical eyes will scare the people.
After going out, Zhang Yanling found that Tan Ruqing was also following her out carrying a medicine box, so she said: "Miss Tan, there is no need to follow. The weather is very hot. Just stay in the house and rest."
Tan Ruqing said calmly: "I'm following you to prevent you from having an accident. You shouldn't go out in such a hot weather. But I can't make you give up your mind, so I can only follow you. Unless you go back to the capital."
"
These words sounded a bit ambiguous, and seemed to be quite sentimental, which could be misunderstood. But Zhang Yanling would not be sentimental, because he knew that what Tan Ruqing cared about was not her illness, but because if she relapsed, not only would it be her first time
Practicing medicine to save people ended in failure, and she was also worried about causing trouble for the Tan family. To a certain extent, she was forced to care about herself. This matter was really inexplicable.
"Then you follow." Zhang Yanling nodded.
Tan Ruqing also nodded and walked aside.
After walking around the village, to my surprise, there was no head of household in the tenant households. Only the elderly and children were at home. They were deaf and blind and could not communicate. It felt as if the villagers had all made an appointment. After learning that their boss was coming,
After hearing the news, everyone chose to avoid it. I don’t know where they were hiding now. When I turned to the entrance of the village, I saw seven or eight people sitting under the big locust tree from a distance, enjoying the shade and talking, but in the blink of an eye they ran away.
without a trace.
"Master Marquis, I'm really sorry. The common people don't know the rules and have no etiquette. They can't see anyone like this. Maybe we can find them at night, so they won't go home and sleep at night." Sun Decai was helpless.
The way.
Zhang Yanling was also helpless. He knew that these tenants must be afraid that he was here to collect rent, so they chose to avoid him. Originally, he had expected to come here to mingle with the people, but now he understood that in the minds of the tenants, he was a group of people.
People were like ghosts urging people to kill them. When I entered the village, they were all scared away. This of course also meant that they were unable to pay the rent they owed.
Zhang Yanling had no choice but to go back to the manor and rest for a while. When the sun was not so powerful at the end of the day, he took Ma Quan and others out. This time he planned to go to the fields outside to see if he could find anything.
People working in the fields.
After leaving the village, although the sun was shining fiercely, the wind was very strong in the wilderness, so it was not too hot. In addition, the fields were green and full of life, which made me feel much more comfortable.
It was mid-to-late June, and the rice seedlings were already very dense. The rice seedlings were as thick as a green carpet. They rustled and rolled when the wind blew, which was very pleasing to the eye.
The hard work paid off. In a rice field far away from the village, Zhang Yanling and others finally saw the figures of two people working in the rice field. So they hurried along the field ridge. Sun Decai also recognized that it was Blacksmith Zhao.
The father and daughter are weeding the rice.
"Zhao Laoji, come up quickly. Our boss, the Marquis Zhang of Jianchang in the capital, is here." Sun Decai greeted loudly.