Chapter 1675: Rent Collection Insights
The carriage moved slowly on the way up the mountain. The scenery of the autumn fields came into view through the car window. The indigo in the distant mountains was mixed with wisps of light yellow. The sky was as clear as a wash, and a few thin clouds hung on the horizon. It was quite beautiful. There is something about the vastness and comfort of crisp autumn air and clear sky and clear clouds.
Liu Ji was sitting in the carriage, frowning and curious.
On the road, a flat-bed oxcart loaded with grain was overtaken by a horse-drawn carriage. Liu Ji saw the oxcart moving forward with a "clang, clatter, clatter". The driver was a boy, seven or eight years old, sitting on the shaft of the cart carrying a bag in his hand. Holding a whip made of rattan, he swung it left and right, his legs hanging down. Under the carriage, two feet wearing straw sandals were swinging back and forth. What surprised Liu Jie the most was that in his free left hand, the child was actually holding a book. He was just reading the book and letting it go. The old scalper pulled the cart and moved forward slowly...
Could this child be the legendary child prodigy who came from a poor family but was determined to study?
The further you go, the more vehicles you see along the way. Almost every household that comes to pay rent has an ox cart or mule cart. It seems that every time it is time to pay rent, wheelbarrows and large carts pulled by people swarm everywhere in Guanzhong. The situation there was completely gone.
Are the people on Lishan Mountain so wealthy?
Could it be that in order to pay the rent, the Fang family hitched the mules, horses, oxen and donkeys into the cart and lent them to the rent-paying family?
But even if the Fang family is rich, is it necessary to keep so many vehicles?
What's even more strange is that Suwen Lishan Farm has been converting the rented grain according to the market price since the year before last, and only collects money when paying the rent. Why did it start collecting grain again this year?
Liu Jie became more and more frightened and confused...
When we arrived at the large courtyard in front of Fangjia Farm, the entire road was filled with densely packed vehicles, cow dung and horse urine were everywhere, and the air was filled with an unpleasant stench that made people sick to their stomachs.
Liu Ji ordered the carriage to stop far away, got out of the carriage and stood on the shaft of the carriage with his feet raised and looked forward. The vehicles on the road were blocked for half a mile, and the unpleasant smell was unavoidable. , to not much noise. The Fang family set up several tables in the large courtyard in front of the house and set up a huge umbrella to block the sun. The autumn sun was very scorching.
I couldn't see clearly what was going on under the umbrella, but I could vaguely see villagers and people driving vehicles loaded with grain to the front of the big umbrella. Some people were gesturing and rowing, and then the vehicles drove into Zhuangzi, probably heading to the granary to unload the grain. .
Liu Jie jumped down from the carriage and told the coachman to find a shady place to wait. He picked up his robe and strolled through the dense crowd of vehicles towards the large courtyard in front of Zhuangzi Gate.
As they walked and walked, Liu Ji felt that something was getting more and more wrong. Why did the villagers who came to pay the rent were either trembling octogenarians or small and weak children? It was very rare for them to be young and strong but very few. ?
Liu Ji was clasping his hands behind his back when he happened to meet a white-haired old man on a bullock cart taking out a sesame seed cake from his bag and handing it to his little grandson sitting next to him. His rough big hands were caressing the grandson's head lovingly. He said softly: "Are you hungry? Eat quickly. After paying the rent, Aye will go to the market to cut two pounds of pork and stew it for dinner at night."
The grandson, who was about seven or eight years old, took the biscuits but did not eat them. Instead, he broke the biscuits into two halves with his small white hands. He handed the big half to his grandfather and said with his little face raised: "Ah Are you hungry too? Let’s eat together.”
The old man laughed, his wrinkled eyes had deep grooves, and his cloudy old eyes seemed to light up. Every fold on his face seemed to be filled with a happy smile. He caressed his grandson's head lovingly and said warmly: " Aye is not hungry, you eat.”
"No!"
The little grandson stubbornly stuffed half a piece of sesame cake into his grandfather's hand, opened a pair of big bright eyes, and said seriously: "Xiang Jiu is able to warm the table. Be filial to your relatives and do what you should... My grandson is also nine years old this year. Now, if Huang Xiang can honor his father and give him a warm meal, his grandson should also honor Aye. If Aye doesn’t eat it, his grandson won’t dare to eat it!”
"Haha..."
The old man burst out laughing, smiling with tears streaming down his face. He took the piece of sesame seed cake handed over by his grandson, took a big bite, and while chewing, he muttered, "Eat, let's eat together!" ”
He cried happily, not because of his grandson's filial piety, but because his grandson was able to explain the principles of filial piety using allusions from ancient times.
People always hope that their children will succeed, and they are willing to leave the best things to their children, and never care about whether their children will repay them in return. Who is willing to raise their children to be adults because they covet their children's filial piety? And if a child can be successful, he will be happier than being filial to himself...
The lowly peasants who have been digging in the soil for generations have unexpectedly given birth to a child who can read and write. Isn't this the smoke coming from the ancestral graves?
Someone nearby reminded loudly: "You two, don't eat too much. You will have food after paying the rent later. The Fang family slaughtered more than 20 big fat pigs. The steward of the village notified them in the first half month. Let the big guys keep their stomachs full!”
The old man chuckled and took a bite of the sesame cake: "The Fang family is a kind family. We were homeless refugees. It was Erlang who took us in, gave us land to plant, and lent us money to build a greenhouse. Now we can eat it." After taking a bite of sesame seed cake, we have to cherish our blessings. How can we bother the Fang family again?”
As soon as he said it, there was a silence around him.
Who in this Zhuangzi doesn’t remember the heavy snowfall in the winter of the twelfth year of Zhenguan?
Houses collapsed, mountains were blocked by heavy snow... How many people died of starvation or freezing? These people have no homes to return to. They are tenants without even half an acre of thin farmland. They can only become refugees wandering around Guanzhong begging. If Fang Erlang hadn't asked the emperor to buy the land in Lishan to take in everyone, I'm afraid it wouldn't be the case now. Most of these people will die of cold and hunger, and the rest have already been sold into slavery, and their descendants have been reduced to low status...
"Okay, I'll leave after paying the rent later. I'd rather go home and eat big cakes and bran vegetables than let the Fang family spend a penny!"
"Come on, what nonsense are you talking about? Nowadays, in our Lishan Village, which family doesn't eat meat when they want, and drink when they want to drink?"
"That's right, you say it as if you are noble."
People around were chatting away, and the old man led his grandson to eat sesame seed cakes with a smile, watching with great interest...
Liu Ji raised his head and looked at Zhuangzi. He was silent for a while, then raised his feet and continued walking over.
There were a lot of people coming to pay the rent, and there were even more cars, but everyone was very orderly, and the cars tried to stand in a more orderly manner, leaving enough space for one person to walk between the cars, so Liu Jie didn't feel crowded as he walked along. After a while, they came to the edge of the courtyard in front of Zhuangzi.
Several cars were parked in the yard. The servants of the Youfang family climbed on the cars to check the grain. Then they measured the food up and down with the ruler, and then loudly said: "Two stones of Chen Liugen's premium rice!" The scribe wrote it down.
The servant of the Fang family waved his hand, and the car drove forward two feet and stopped. A skinny old man jumped out of the car and walked to a bullock cart behind. A seven or eight-year-old boy jumped out of the oxcart carrying grain. Liu Jie's sharp eyes saw that it was the child he saw on the road who was reading while driving the cart...
The house servant once again measured the grain in the car and said loudly: "Two stones and three buckets of high-quality corn from Chen Liugen's family!"
Liu Ji in the distance shook his head. He didn't even prepare a wooden dou. He just took a ruler and measured it. There must be a lot of errors. This method of the Fang family was a bit unethical. Your family can now be said to be the richest man in the Tang Dynasty, and you still embezzle a small amount of rent from the common people. It is really ugly...
The scribe there wrote it down, and the servant said to the old man: "Uncle Six, come here, press your fingerprints and make a pledge, then drive the car to the granary to unload it, and hurry to the yard to eat."
The lean old man straightened his chest and straightened his rickety back. He glared at the Fang family servant and cursed: "Mom, you idiot came into the Fang family's door to do the Fang family's work. Why don't you drop a little bit?" Instead of learning the generosity and generosity of the Fang family, they are so mean and annoying?”
The servant was a little confused and said with a smile: "Uncle Liu, what are you talking about? Why is my nephew so mean and mean?"
The old man pointed to the account book that was signed and stamped on the desk: "Everyone else signed it, why did you let me sign it? Are you bullying me for being illiterate?"
The servant called out to Tianqu: "Uncle Liu, you can't open your eyes and talk nonsense! If I dare to bully you, my father won't break my legs if I turn around? You are illiterate!"
"I can't read, and my grandson can't read? You damn girl just look down on me!"
"Uncle Six, my nephew really doesn't dare..."
The old man ignored him, patted the head of the doll next to him, and said: "Gou, go and sign!"
Liu Ji in the distance was startled. He looked at the child wearing straw sandals and an old cloth jacket with a runny nose. It was really surprising that such a humble peasant child could read and be literate. Already... (End of this chapter)