Li Zhi looked at the lush seedlings in the paddy field and asked Zheng Hui: "How many people are there in Hsinchu now?"
Zheng Hui replied: "Grand Governor, there are now more than 15,000 people of all kinds in Hsinchu. Among them, there are 12,000 farmers, and 3,700 people have divided their fields and started farming. The remaining more than 8,000 farmers have no fields.
, these farmers are building irrigation canals with twenty taels of silver per month. There are also a thousand soldiers from the Zhenzhen Regiment, who are also helping the farmers build irrigation canals. There are 2,000 masons who are building houses for the farmers. Finally, there are some
A craftsman who burns lime and bricks.”
Li Zhi nodded and asked: "How many houses have been built now?"
"Today, more than 6,000 brick and tile houses have been built. Except for the two thousand newly arrived farmers who still live in tents, all other people have already lived in brick and tile houses."
Li Zhi nodded and continued riding forward.
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Zhao Laosan was one of the first people to sign up to reclaim wasteland in Xiaoliuqiu.
When he signed up, he didn't know where Xiaoliuqiu was. He only heard people say that it was a big island in the south with savages on it. The official from Fanjiazhuang who signed up said that the people who opened up the wasteland were tenant farmers of the governor, and each person was given twenty
acres of land.
Zhao Laosan knew how rich the governor's tenant farmers were. One of his cousins farmed the governor's private land in Jinghai County and was now extremely rich. The cousin was in his thirties and already had a son and a daughter.
, but they are still planning to have another son, saying they can afford to raise him.
Zhao Laosan wanted to be a tenant farmer of the Governor, but that required the old tenant farmer to act as a guarantor. Zhao Laosan's cousin had many relatives who wanted to be guarantors, and he didn't know that it would be the Year of the Monkey and the Horse that would take his turn to be the guarantor for Zhao Laosan.
Zhao Laosan lived a hard life. He rented 13 acres of dry land from the landlord Guo's family and lived with his wife in two mud houses. They lived a tight life and could not earn a new piece of clothing all year round.
They have to eat glutinous rice bran for a month or two. After three years of marriage, Zhao Laosan did not dare to share a room with his wife for fear of starving to death after giving birth.
He looked longingly at the wealth of his cousin's family and was very envious.
But this year the opportunity came. Zhao Laosan heard someone from the village who had studied that day say that the general was recruiting people to open up Xiaoliuqiu and did not need anyone to be a guarantee. Without thinking, he was the first to rush to the registration point and pressed his fingerprint. Zhao
The third child argued with the official from Fanjiazhuang who was in charge of registration, saying that if it started, he would be the first one to take it.
I don’t know whether it was Zhao Laosan’s enthusiasm that moved the official who signed up, or whether Zhao Laosan and his wife were young and strong enough to meet the standards of a governor. The governor was really the first to bring Zhao Laosan to Xiaoliuqiu.
The big island was called Taiwan by the governor.
The boat to Taiwan was very bumpy. Zhao Laosan vomited three or four times, and Zhao Laosan's wife also vomited several times. However, neither of them complained. Finally, they got the opportunity to work with the Governor. Zhao Laosan didn't
I will give up because of this little bump.
After arriving in Taiwan and getting off the ship, Zhao Laosan found that Taiwan Island is a very rich place.
There are tracts of woods, herds of wild deer, and a small river running through them. Standing on the hill where the camp is located and looking over, there are endless plains on both sides of the river. This is obviously a good place for farming. Once those woods are burned,
It is the best farmland, and the crops grown here will definitely yield good harvests. On the night of arriving in Taiwan, Zhao Laosan and his wife were jumping up and down in the tent.
The farmers who came together to open up wasteland were infected by Zhao Laosan, and they all jumped and made noise that night. Everyone gathered around the fire, looking forward to a good life in the future, and everyone was in high spirits.
Things went smoothly after that. The commander-in-chief, Master Zheng Hui, ordered everyone to burn wasteland, reclaim new fields, and build irrigation canals. During this period, he also repelled one Shengfan and another Hongmao. After all, the island of Taiwan is so rich, and there are still many people who are coveting it.
When the commander was fighting Shengfan and Hongmao, Zhao Laosan told the commander several times that he would give him a knife and fight with those soldiers. The commander ignored Zhao Laosan at that time and asked Zhao Laosan to stand aside.
He went there, but afterward he took a high look at Zhao Laosan. When the house was divided, the commander gave it to Zhao Laosan first.
Two months after Zhao Laosan arrived in Taiwan, he was assigned a two-room house made of bricks and tiles. This was a house that did not leak in rain or wind. Zhao Laosan had only ever entered a house like this at Mr. Guo's house in Jinshen every year when the rent was paid.
I slept in a brick house like this one night at my uncle's house in Jinghai County. Zhao Laosan never expected that he would live in such a good house so quickly.
There is also a toilet outside the house, which is very convenient.
On the night when the houses were divided, Zhao Laosan and his wife hugged each other and burst into tears. His wife had lived with him for more than three years of hard life, and now he was finally looking forward to a good life.
Zhao Laosan's daughter-in-law wiped her tears at that time and said that the good life was given by the Governor, and she wanted to provide him with an immortal tablet. Zhao Laosan went to find the masons who were good at carpentry and helped her make the Governor's tablet.
Immortality tablet.
When the masons heard that Zhao Laosan wanted to provide a longevity tablet to the governor, they confiscated Zhao Laosan's money and helped Zhao Laosan do it.
Not long after, in May, Zheng Hui listed Zhao Laosan as the first batch of farmers to allocate fields. Zhao Laosan now had paddy fields that could be cultivated.
A total of forty acres of fertile farmland with irrigation canals is not far from Zhao Laosan's village.
When Zhao Laosan saw the forty acres of paddy fields, he was speechless for a long time. He pressed his fingerprints on the clerk, ran back to his home in tears, and knelt thirty times on the Governor's longevity tablet.
Ring your head.
Zhao Laosan knew that his family would become rich soon. Even richer than his cousin's family.
On May 13th, something even more surprising happened. Zhao Laosan was weeding in his field and saw the Governor.
The Grand Governor was very young and looked about the same age as himself. But the Grand Governor was the Grand Governor, and he had a majestic and honorable look, which was completely different from that of a commoner like himself. Zhao Laosan was kneeling on the ground at that time, not daring to make a sound.
At that time, the Grand Governor actually walked up to him and asked him a question.
"what's your name?"
Zhao Laosan stammered and replied: "My name is Zhao Laosan."
"Zhao Laosan, have you learned how to grow rice?"
Zhao Laosan raised his head proudly and said: "Back to the governor, I learned it as a child. The rice farmers in Taiping County taught me step by step. I know how to sow seeds, how to transplant rice seedlings, and when to irrigate. Wait until this year for me.
When the rice is grown, as Commander Zheng said, one stone of grain will be given to the master in Taiping County for tuition."
The Grand Governor nodded, seeming to think that Zhao Laosan spoke quite clearly, so he asked Zhao Laosan a few more questions: "How much millet can you produce in late rice this season?"
Zhao Laosan replied: "I heard from the master in Taiping County that one acre of land can produce one stone and five buckets of rice."
After listening to Zhao Laosan's words, the Grand Governor pondered for a while, seeming to be calculating something.
After a long while, the governor said: "Okay, you will only collect 50% of the land rent for this season's late rice. Next year, you will plant two crops of rice and collect another 60% of the land rent."
Zhao Laosan was stunned for a moment. Unexpectedly, after a few words, the governor reduced his land rent by 10%.
Commander Zheng, who was next to the Grand Governor, did the math and said loudly to the farmers kneeling on the ground: "The Grand Governor charges 50% of the land rent. In the first year, each farmer can receive fifteen shi of grain for his home, which is equivalent to three
Ten taels of silver."
"This is just the income from more than half a year's hard work, which is equivalent to each man or strong woman earning three taels and seven cents and five cents of silver per month! The couple earns seven taels and five cents of silver per month."
When Zhao Laosan heard Commander Zheng's calculation, he was so excited that blood rushed to his face. Helping the governor as tenant farmers, the couple could earn seven taels and five cents a month?
I used to work as a tenant farmer in the Guo family, and I could not earn more than seven taels of silver even if I had to eat and drink all year round.
Zhao Laosan knelt on the ground, raised his head and looked at the Governor with a silly smile.
The good days have finally come. (To be continued.)
