Chapter 326 Yuan Family
When Xia Zihan had just dismissed the farmers, Capt. Li led a group of officials on flying horses under the leadership of the escort.
Butler Cui came forward, explained the original situation, and handed over the eighteen people including Mr. Zhu to Capt. Li.
Seeing that all 18 of Boss Zhu's people had been injured and turned into disabled persons, Capt. Li's eyes flashed with shock, and he glanced at Butler Cui in surprise.
As if the second steward Cui didn't notice his gaze, he calmly ordered the guards to prepare two carriages, and threw all the dozen or so people including Mr. Zhu into the carriage like torn sacks.
After all, Capt. Li is a well-informed person who has seen strong winds and waves. After the shock, his face returned to its previous expressionless expression, and he said, "Steward Cui, the Yamen wants to record the case file, so I have to ask you to come with me. .”
"Of course, I'm here to help Li catch the head." Cui Erguan said.
"It is my duty to feed the people and relieve their worries."
Capt. Li said a polite word, got on his horse, took Butler Cui and a group of officials and servants back to the Yamen, pulling two carriages of useless people.
Here, after Xia Zihan dismissed all the farmers, the head of the farm went back to the hot spring village and transferred four farmers to take care of the farmland here. There were more than 20 people in these four farmers, and all of them were A master at tending the farmland, even a ten-year-old child is very handy at doing farm work.
After handing over the village here to them, Xia Zihan and the gang from the farm head went to the second village.
Zhuangzi's original master was also a criminal minister, and he was copied when the emperor's house was confiscated.
Zhuangzi is not big, with only 500 acres of land. In addition to 300 acres of paddy fields, it also grows 200 acres of sorghum, corn, buckwheat and other coarse grains.
Zhuangtou, whose surname is Yuan, is only in his twenties, but he has grown up in this village since he was a child. He is very familiar with every plant and tree here, and his familiarity and insights into farming are no less than those of Tianzhuangtou.
What surprised Xia Zihan the most was that all the people in Zhuangzi had the surname Yuan. It could be said that they were all members of the Yuan Zhuangtou family.
Three generations, no, five generations of the Yuan family have lived in this village and relied on this village to make a living.
According to Yuan Zhuangtou's father, Old Yuan Tou, his grandfather was the son of a wealthy family when he was young. After his grandfather was betrothed to a little maid by his employer, the couple was transferred to this village by the owner. Later, when the family's financial situation declined, they had no choice but to sell the village.
However, the old lady of the house is a good person. Before selling Zhuangzi, she returned the deed of sale to Grandpa Yuan and his family, saving their family from the fate of being a slave for hundreds of years.
From then on, the Yuan family became farmers here.
Old Yuan Tou was born here. After he could walk, he would go to the fields to help his grandfather with farm work. His grandfather was a simple and honest man and was practical in his work. Within a few years, he was appointed as the head of the village by the new owner.
His grandfather's generation gave birth to three sons. Old Yuan Tou's father was the eldest, and he also had two uncles.
Later, after his grandfather died, the owner passed the position of Zhuangtou to his father.
At that time, his father had already got married and had two sons. Old Yuan Tou was already sixteen years old. His two uncles were also married. One gave birth to three sons and the other gave birth to two sons. The Yuan family gradually became prosperous. , the Yuan family became the largest family in Zhuangzi.
But after Old Yuan Tou's generation grew up, got married and had children, a small village could no longer support so many people. The other farmers could not compete with the Yuan family, and gradually they all looked for other ways to make a living.
Now, Old Yuan Tou's father and second uncle have passed away, and his third uncle is over sixty years old. His health and bones have not been good in recent years, and he is always sick. He is afraid that he will not live for a few more years.
Originally, after Old Yuan Tou's father passed away, Old Yuan Tou should have taken over the position of Zhuang Tou, but after thinking twice, he gave the position of Zhuang Tou to the only literate son of the Yuan family.
Although Yuan Zhuangtou is young, he has been crawling in the fields since he was a child. He is very proficient in farming. He is also diligent and has a flexible mind. In the past few years, he also studied with the manager of his employer for three years. Old Yuan Tou originally planned to send him to work as a steward for his employer, but he didn't expect that his employer would commit a crime and his house would be confiscated and exiled by the emperor.
This plan was ruined.
Fortunately, the Yuan family did not have children from the master's family, so they did not go into exile with them. The father-in-law in the palace was kind enough to stay and take care of this village.
Because the Yuan family is practical and good at farming, the grain they grow every year is 10% more than other farms of the same size. Therefore, the father-in-law in the palace did not think of changing people, so he sent Yuan The family remains to this day.
But in recent years, as the Yuan family has grown day by day, the number of people has almost reached hundreds. Apart from the income that the small Zhuangzi has to hand over in a year, the rest cannot support so many people.
There are more than 20 people in Lao Yuantou's family.
Old Yuan Tou gave birth to five sons and three daughters, all of whom were married and gave birth to grandchildren. Although Old Yuan Tou was very happy that his children were prosperous, as the population increased, life became increasingly difficult. The family began to worry.
But the Yuan family has long been accustomed to living in this village, and has never thought about finding another way to make a living outside. Especially after the refugee incident in the capital last year, they heard that many people died in the city, and the Yuan family was even more reluctant to leave this small village. .
Recently, Lao Yuan's frown has never relaxed.
Yesterday, Yuan Zhuangtou received a decree from the palace, saying that Zhuangzi had rewarded County Master Chu Yu. This made the Yuan family even more worried.
This Zhuangzi is different in the hands of the emperor than in the hands of a private owner.
In the hands of the emperor, they met a kind-hearted father-in-law. As long as Zhuangzi handed over a certain amount of grain every year, the rest would become the rations of the Yuan family. In addition, they raise a large group of chickens, ducks and geese in the yard to lay eggs for sale, and also raise more than a dozen pigs. The total income this year is just enough to support the family.
But in private hands, no matter how much profit they make from the village, they have to hand over all, including the eggs laid by a group of chickens, ducks and geese and the profits from their pig raising, all they have to hand over, and all the employer gives them is wages.
A Zhuangzi with 500 acres of land can be cultivated by at most ten prime-age laborers. The wages of these ten people a year are not much, and they cannot support the hundreds of people in the Yuan family, old and young.
This time, I was worried about the Yuan family.
Last night, several people in charge of the Yuan family didn't sleep well. They got up early this morning to discuss the future of the Yuan family.
But the discussions come and go, no one is willing to leave here.
The final discussion was just to beg Xia Zihan to take pity on them and keep them.
Therefore, after Xia Zihan and his party arrived, the Yuan family treated them very warmly, which was completely different from the treatment they received at the previous Zhuangzi.
Old Yuan Tou’s wife, Aunt Yuan, specially cooked a large pot of sugar-watered eggs for everyone to eat.
You know, sugar is very expensive, and ordinary people are reluctant to eat it at home.
Aunt Yuan had prepared extra sugar during the Chinese New Year. She was worried that some of her grandchildren might steal it, so she hid it secretly and planned to save it for the next Chinese New Year, thus saving money on buying it.
Today, she was determined to please the distinguished guest, so she was willing to take out the sugar she had hidden for half a year.
If you can't let go of your children, you can't trap the wolf.
"County Lord, I'm so sorry. There's nothing good to entertain you here. It's just a bowl of sugar-watered eggs. Don't dislike it."
Aunt Yuan carefully placed the bowl on the high table on Xia Zihan's left hand side, and said with a flattering smile, "County Master, please try it. The sweetened eggs I cook are top-notch, guaranteed to be delicious."
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A bowl of sugar-coated eggs is a very common food in the eyes of Xia Zihan and his group. It can even be said that Xia Zihan doesn't look down on it.
However, Xia Zihan noticed that when Aunt Yuan led a group of wives in bringing in sweetened eggs, there were also a group of children following behind her.
The children's eyes were fixed on those bowls, salivating and salivating, as if what the bowls contained were not ordinary sugar-watered eggs, but some kind of miraculous elixir, fairy pills.
In the end, she couldn't bear to brush off Aunt Yuan's kindness, ate an egg and put down the bowl.
The boiled eggs are very fragrant, but it's a pity that the white sugar is used, which is too sweet and not as delicious as the honey.
When Nuanyu and the others saw that their master had eaten, they were reluctant to eat, so they all were delivered to hand. Besides, it was already noon, so they were indeed a little hungry.
After finishing eating, Aunt Yuan led a group of wives to take away the empty bowls, and also took away a large group of children surrounding the door of the house.
In the room, only a few heads of the Yuan family and Xia Zihan were left.
Lao Yuantou reported everything in Zhuangzi to Xia Zihan in detail, and together with several members of the Yuan family, he led Xia Zihan, Tianzhuangtou and others around Zhuangzi.
When he walked to the kitchen door, Xia Zihan saw Aunt Yuan and a group of wives killing chickens and geese, busy cooking.
Old Yuantou smiled enthusiastically, "I originally wanted to kill a pig and make a meal of pig meat for the county boss, but it was almost noon. It took too long to cook the pig meat. The old woman was worried that the county boss would be hungry. , I plan to wait until the next time the county lord comes.”
Killer vegetables?
What dish is it?
Xia Zihan glanced at the pig and chicken pens less than a hundred meters away from the big kitchen, as well as a large group of ducks and geese walking leisurely outside. From time to time, she could hear the sounds of livestock in her ears.
Xia Zihan's mind was full of dark thoughts and he shook his head decisively, "There's no need to kill the pig and cook it. I planned to go back for dinner today, but I wasted some time on the last village. Now, Aunt Yuan is busy."
"The county master is an honored guest, the boss of my Yuan family. When the boss comes, we must entertain him well."
There is strength in numbers, and lunch is quickly prepared.
Stewed chicken with dried mountain mushrooms, radish and duck soup, braised goose, spicy stir-fried chicken offal, a large plate of poached eggs, a large plate of salted duck eggs, fried eggs with leeks, spicy and sour potato shreds, braised cabbage, and finally a large bowl of eggs and green onions. Oil cake.
(End of chapter)