Chapter 692 One waxes and wanes
The severe cold of winter gradually goes away.
Under the big trees that were gradually filled with green, people gathered one after another.
There is an earthen temple next to the tree. The temple is full of people and they are distributing grain and wine.
Neighbors formed a community to worship the gods together. After the sacrifices, food, meat, and wine were distributed.
There weren’t many things, so everyone saved what they had through their teeth. Those with money chip in more, those without money chip in less, and in the end, each person gets a few liters of rice and a few bottles of wine, which is a comfort in a hard life.
Associations vary in size.
The Si Neighbor Association is the smallest. Most of them consist of dozens of households - almost a village - forming one association. There are even several villages that build a temple together and hundreds of households form an association to worship together.
Even bigger than them is the Wubao Association.
For example, in Shao Xun's Yunzhongwu, up to two thousand families formed a society together to worship the gods of society, which can be described as a huge scale.
Feng Bachi, who returned to Pingqiu from Bianliang, stood on the ridge of the field, looked at the scene of rural associations from a distance, and smiled.
I miss you so much!
When I was a child, my father was still there. There were many villages in Hebei at that time. On social day, the old elm tree at the head of the village had always been the favorite place for children like them to play, because they could beg for food from time to time.
Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer villages.
There were children chasing and fighting over, most of them children from Honbofu Bing's family.
"Official." An old man came over panting and said: "It's done, it's all done!"
"Oh? Li Hu actually let go?" Feng Bachi was a little a little bit confused. Can't believe it.
After taking a deep breath, the old man said: "Official, you need to change your mind."
Feng Bachi was in a daze.
The old man felt a little contempt in his heart, but said: "No one in Li Hu's family has been an official for three generations, so what do you think? You are a Sima of another department, a serious official, and there are three hundred robes scattered around. . In fact, Li Hu is more afraid of you.”
The old man's surname was Han, and he was from Anping. He was a distant branch of the Han family in Anping and worked as a steward in the master's manor.
After Han got married, a group of clan members followed her to help Mrs. Han take care of the family business.
Now Mrs. Han is still Mrs. Han, she just has a different husband.
The most amazing thing is that the ex-husband is a horse thief and has no background, and the new husband is a refugee and has no background and needs them both.
"Why are you afraid of me?" Feng Bachi asked stupidly.
"Have the officials heard about the incident at Lijiawu in Bianliang?" The old man said: "Just because he was fighting for water with the soldiers, he was reported to the police. The prefect dispatched people and surrounded him completely. Li Hu is also afraid of offending you."
Feng Bachi suddenly realized, and then asked: "Then why is he glaring at me?"
The old man explained patiently: "Li Hu is afraid. You asked for too much, so you responded with force, but he was still afraid after all. In the fifteen counties of Liang State, the land purge was in full swing, and one day the purge would come to Li Hu. Not even an inch of the land occupied after the Yongjia Year could be saved. If you sell it to an official, you can get some money.”
“But I don’t have much money.” Feng Bachi wondered.
The money and silk rewards distributed were mostly distributed to family members of the township party who died together in the battle. In addition, some greeting gifts were given to several Han clan members who came with them. They also bought wine and meat, and treated the brothers from the defense government to a meal.
People are very generous and forthright, but they just can’t save money.
"The official gave a few bolts of silk as a deposit, and made an appointment with Li Hu. After the autumn harvest this year, just one or two hundred dendrobiums of corn will be returned." The old man gave an idea.
“Isn’t this too little?” Feng Bachi shook his head repeatedly.
"You are an official, and he is a citizen." The old man hates that iron cannot become steel.
People like Feng Bachi may be able to fight, but they have not yet learned how to bully others.
This new martial artist doesn’t even know what to say! People are so stupid that they only know how to fight and kill, but they don't know how to run a family business.
The first thing Feng Bachi did after receiving the reward from Liang Gong was to go to Xingyang to help the villagers.
The other thing is to eat and drink with the killers in this defense and call them brothers.
With so many rewards, only a few gold, silverware, and celadon that are not easily cashable are still left at home. Madam is probably very distressed. But then again, after returning from Bianliang, Madam's attitude towards Feng Bachi changed drastically and became extremely good.
Feng Bachi was ecstatic and now he obeyed his wife's advice.
Hey, a new rich man with mud legs, if a woman from a high-ranking noble family is a little nicer to him, she will be submissive to him immediately.
"It's still not good." Feng Bachi shook his head: "After the first month, all offices opened. How much salary do I have? Is it time to pay it down?"
When the old man heard this, He then patiently explained to Feng Bachi: "The official is a Sima of the ninth rank department. He has ten hus of rice and dendrobium per month. This comes from Lutian. He has to go to Pingqiu to collect it. I have arranged the manpower and will go there in a few days." "
"What is Lutian?" Feng Bachi asked.
“The public land farmed by official slaves, Chenliulu Field, is scattered in the five counties of Junyi, Kaifeng, Suanzao, Jiyang, and Xiaohuang. It was taken out from the hands of the wealthy during the previous land clearing, and it covers more than 3,000 hectares. , I heard that it is Tianshi Taoist disciples who are farming." The old man said.
"Oh..." Feng Bachi said, as if he understood. "There are also twenty pieces of silk and ten pounds of cotton, collected in August, also in Pingqiu." The old man continued: "This is also produced by the Lutian mulberry forest."
" Officials also have two hectares of farmland. After the autumn harvest, they can go to Xiaohuang County to receive grain and rice. It’s hard to say how much it will be. It depends on the harvest. "
"Is the farmland also farmed by official slaves?" Feng Bachi asked curiously. .
"Not necessarily." The old man said: "In the past, Liang Gong established Lutian, Shitian, military field, and career field in Guangchengze, just to distribute salary. The career field was only used when he was an official. Yes, grain is generally grown. If an official wants to grow vegetables or mulberries, he can go to Longxiang Mansion to find someone, and maybe he can change the cultivation. Anyway, the laborers in these two hectares of land are under the command of the officials, and most of them don't know where to start. Where were the prisoners captured?”
"Hey!" Feng Bachi grinned: "Last year we captured many prisoners for Mr. Liang."
The corners of the old man's mouth twitched, even if he looked down on Feng Bachi in his heart and felt sorry for his wife, I have to admit that these new warriors are really fierce. Otherwise, how could the scholars give in? As long as they can be unreasonable, they will not be willing to reason with you because you don't deserve it.
“Besides Lu Tian and Zhi Tian, there are also kitchen waste.” The old man added: “I went to Longxiang Mansion on behalf of the officials to inquire about this matter. There should be a lot. It is usually distributed before the Chinese New Year. . ”
Food waste also comes from government land income, that is, a part of the land is allocated as the food, accommodation and office expenses of a certain yamen. If there is any surplus, it is paid to the officials as a "bonus" at the end of the year, which is called " Kitchen waste”.
Some yamen with bright minds will lend out their kitchen scraps, and the income will belong to the yamen.
In the era of low productivity, everything was linked to land and population.
The government needs to have a large number of official fields and slaves to support the expenditure of the bureaucratic system. The hardship of Luoyang court officials is related to the complete collapse of income sources.
Pingqiu Longxiang Prefecture has a total of eight officials including a governor of the department, a general of the department, a deputy general, a chief of the department, and four Sima of another department. The food waste is handled by seven of them. Divide a certain proportion.
After listening to this, Feng Bachi was stunned for a long time.
A small ninth-grade official has so much miscellaneous income, the amount is really astonishing.
In addition, his family is exempt from taxes and levies - the right to protect relatives has been cancelled. In addition, he can protect one additional family from taxes and levies, and protect one diner from taxes and levies.
"Gong Liang treated me with kindness." Feng Bachi was also an honest man. He knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of Bianliang.
The corners of the old man's eyes twitched. These upstart warriors were really devoted to Duke Liang.
After kowtowing, Feng Bachi stood up and said: "Have some people in the family teased Mr. Liang in private? If I hear it from now on, I will hang him up and beat him!"
" Yes." The old man was shocked.
The first thing Feng Bachi learned to bully others was to beat up those who slandered Liang Gong...
The sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance. It's local tycoon Li Hu.
He was riding on a horse, followed by about a dozen nephews and nephews, all holding spears and bows, and wearing leather armor, looking here from a distance.
After a while, Li Hu dismounted, took out a piece of hard yellow paper from his arms, and threw it over.
Feng Bachi reached out to catch it and handed it to the old man.
After reading it, the old man said: "This is the land deed. There are eight acres of pond, four hundred and thirty-six acres of fields, thirteen households of farmers, thirty couplets of houses, and nineteen cattle. The price will be determined together——"
"Can both dealers and dealers sell it?" Feng Bachi asked in surprise.
After hearing this, more than ten people from Li Hu's side all laughed. What happened to the dealers? No one cares about killing him!
"Feng Sima." Li Hu walked forward, saluted, and said: "You can give me the money as you see it, it doesn't matter how much. Fellow villagers should help each other. The land sold to you will still be paid. There is a steward living in the house, my father is old and he is good at farming. I thought you were new here and lacked people, so I asked this family to stay and help you take care of your family business. , Forget it. If you can use this family, I will take them away."
After saying that, I felt both humiliated and envious.
His family fortune is not small, but he really can't get a woman from the Han family in Anping to be his wife. She is not qualified.
Aristocratic women are good, they are well-educated, and they can support their husbands and raise their children.
The family also has tribesmen, servants, and guests who are good at various things. Feng Bachi originally wanted nothing. Even if he was given land, he couldn't run it. But it was different after marrying a daughter of the Han family. , everything is ready-made.
I heard that when Liang Gong gathered the refugees in Sanyuan of Luoyang and built Wubao in Yiyang, he also relied on the help of Donghai Princess Pei. Otherwise, his eyes would be black and he would not even be a useful person in charge. No.
Thinking of this, I feel sour in my heart.
If I had an official position, why would I be so passive and give away the acres, ponds, houses, farm cattle, and villagers that I acquired after the Yongjia New Year at almost free prices?
It seems that next time I will join the army with my own troops, fight for Liang Gong, and try to get an official status, otherwise it will be too difficult and it will become even more difficult to get along.
Feng Bachi took over the land deed from the old man again.
Although he was illiterate, he looked at this object with great piety.
When I was young, I heard an old man say that in troubled times, a hero will appear with a three-foot sword and bring peace to the world. At this time, if you can risk your life and assume the identity of a minister of Conglong, you may not be able to reach the sky in one step and shine on your family name.
"Go and see the land, and hurry up for spring plowing." Feng Bachi put the land deed away, took a deep breath, and said.
The old man responded yes.
He saw Li Hu's attitude just now.
In the countryside, power waxes and wanes, and profound changes seem to be slowly taking place.
(Updated in advance as soon as I finished coding. Three updates today. The second update will be done when I wake up and code. Please give me your monthly ticket.)
(End of this chapter)