Chapter 485 Buried Eagle
In the following days, the Boling County Temple took no action. Only Hu Puguang accepted the lawsuit and continued to sit in the County Temple to resolve disputes in the county.
At the same time, the land allocation movement was in full swing in several counties near Boling, and some stubborn local tyrants were constantly being punished in public trials. Moreover, because only the land of local tyrants and local people was divided, this land allocation movement was criticized. Supported by a large number of homesteaders.
The isolated powerful people generally did not dare to resist, because the five field armies of the Taishan Army were stationed nearby, and resistance was a dead end.
As a result, powerful people continued to offer their land and accepted their fate.
But there are always some people who can't give up this kind of privileged life and status, so a quarrel broke out in the Bolingcui family's manor.
……
In the southeast of Rushui, there is a manor covering an extremely large area.
This is the largest manor of the Boling Cui family, Dunbenbi, and it is also the main line of the entire Cui family.
As a Confucian classics family that has lasted for four hundred years, the Cui family has a great cause, and its branches are constantly spreading. It has people and properties in Anguo and Liwu.
Now there are more than 60 people in Guangwubi, with a thousand slaves and 3,000 tenant households. The number of registered households in Boling County is only 10,000, and this family accounts for one-third.
However, Tu Li and tenants are still different.
Tuli is almost a slave, completely sold to the Cui family, and all the fruits of labor belong to the Cui family. But the tenants are different. They just rent the land from the Cui family. After paying the land to the owner, the rest is theirs.
Then why didn't the Cui family accept all these three thousand households as disciples?
The first one is that you can't.
Because the Cui family does not have enough tribesmen to manage such a huge manpower, and the tenants have their own surplus after all, their enthusiasm for production is much higher than that of Tu Li.
Therefore, generally speaking, the Cui family will not manage all the captured land under their own manor, but directly transfer it to others. They only need to collect the rent on time.
Mr. Cui exploited his tenants very harshly. At first, he wanted to take away seventy-eight percent of the tenants' annual harvest.
But the yield per acre in this world is already low, and no one is exploiting it, so we can barely survive, not to mention that Cui will take away 70% to 80% of it, so naturally we can’t survive.
Ms. Cui also knew that renting rice at this level was simply unaffordable to those tenants, so they would reduce the amount at this time.
This is what Cui is thinking about.
They have a good idea of what the people below are thinking. If the tax rate is set at a very low level from the beginning and then raised, public dissatisfaction will boil over. But once the situation is reversed, first setting a limit that is completely unbearable for the people below, and then continuously lowering it, this time you can gain the gratitude of others.
This is human nature.
After several generations of games like this, Cui has worked out a set of standards that will not arouse public resentment and maximize the amount of rice he can rent.
Moreover, in order to make the people below confused about the standards for collecting rented rice, Cui also set up various names.
Nominally, Ms. Cui and her tenants only received one cent of land rent. This was the virtue that Ms. Cui flaunted. Don't talk about thirty-one tax, that's a thing of the past.
But in fact, the Cui family has names such as "white land" and "grain cultivation".
This white land means that if you want to rent a tenant, you must first give Cui's field 20 acres of white land. In other words, twenty acres is the price per person.
Then even if you have land, it’s not enough. You also need seeds. Mr. Cui also lent you the seeds, but after harvesting, you have to pay back twice as much. In other words, if you borrow one bushel of seeds, you will have to pay back two bushels of grain later.
This may not sound like much, after all, there is a saying:
"Sow a grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand grains in autumn."
This is just double, not much.
But literati poetry cannot be taken seriously. In fact, in this era, even in the canal fields of Hebei, if you plant a bushel of rice, you will only receive three bushels of rice.
And those who went to the fields, even sowing a bucket of grain, received only twice as much.
The normal yield per mu is about one stone, and even if one person does not work hard, he will eat twelve stones of millet that year. And millet is harvested once a year, although some large estates with advanced agricultural technology can rotate wheat and millet to achieve two crops a year.
But this technology has not been widely promoted.
So for a farmer, just to feed himself, he needs twelve acres of land, and if he wants to keep one third of it as food for the coming year, he needs sixteen acres of land.
This is still just one person, and once there is an additional mouth in the family, the required rations must be prepared. Agriculture also emphasizes three years of harvest and one year of drought. Therefore, a certain amount of reserves are needed every year to cope with lean years.
In short, if Cui's grain-growing project requires twice as much grain as the following, the tenants can work in vain for a year.
So every autumn, after grain is harvested from the fields, Cui's field head will lead his servants to the field with buckets and dendrobium to collect grain.
They first deducted the planting grain, and then collected the rent rice, and deducted two and one deduction. The tenants were either empty-handed or had very little left.
What should you do if you don’t have enough to eat at this time? What should you do if you encounter a calamity year?
Don't worry, don't be in a hurry to rebel yet, Mr. Cui is kind-hearted and will lend it to you.
And this is Cui's other big business, lending. In short, Ms. Cui has clearly arranged every aspect for you.
It will keep you from starving to death, won't let you rise up to resist, and won't give you any possibility of turning over. In short, your children and grandchildren will all pay Cui's debts and farm the land.
Of course, the premise is that you can still marry a wife in this situation, otherwise there will be no children and grandchildren.
Therefore, outside Cui's manor, the fields were full of slaves and tenants, all bent over and working in the fields. It was their bent waists that carried the pure face of the Bolingcui family.
In this deep dock wall, Cui Si, the head of the Cui family, was angrily yelling at his nephew Cui You below:
"Naughty, I have told you several times to read the Bible behind closed doors and not to hang out with those powerful people. Why don't you listen?"
Seeing the indifferent expression on his nephew Cui You's face below, Cui Si felt regretful.
He really had a terrible headache for this brother's youngest son. Just because he has no father or mother, and the lack of dedicated teaching within the clan, he has developed such a domineering temperament.
Just when Cui Si was about to use force to ban Cui You, he heard Cui You speak:
"Uncle, aren't those powerful people all friends of my Cui family?"
Cui Si was furious and opened his mouth:
"You..."
But he couldn't go on.
Because his nephew was right, the nearby rangers and bandits were indeed Cui's friends. Local bandits cannot become big without the support of local wealthy families.
The Cui family is no exception, because they also need some people to do things they don't want to do.
A great family will not always live in the sun. How big its body is, how big its dark side is.
But can such a thing be said?
Because in the final analysis, those who associate with bandits and knights are all partial branches. What does it have to do with the main lineage of my Bolingcui family? The children of my family should study the Bible to maintain the family reputation, rather than surrendering to self-destruction.
But Cui Si also knows that it is useless to tell Cui You this truth.
So he could only say warmly:
"It's very chaotic outside now, and the Taishan Army has begun to divide the fields in various places. Although we in Qinghe don't know why, we haven't divided the fields yet. But we can't escape the division of fields. I have discussed it with several clan elders at home. I will also take the initiative to ask each house to hand over the land and accept the distribution, so don’t cause trouble for the family during this period, do you understand?" This was meant to be a comforting word, but our Cui You exploded after hearing it. Here:
"What? Hand over the fields? No! Not at all. If we hand over the fields, what will we eat? What a stupid idea."
Cui Si didn't come to hear what Cui You meant. He said rather forcefully:
"Otherwise, what are you going to do? Do you still want to resist? So what if you pull out thousands of troops? Can you compare to Lu Shuai's tiger soldiers? Don't interfere, you don't understand the affairs at home."
After Cui You heard this, he didn't want to say more, but he just felt angry:
"Huh, I don't understand? Just look at how difficult this is."
After Cui You left the hospital angrily, he heard bad news.
His companion suddenly told him that his falcon had been killed by a tenant in the village.
But Cui You was brave and fierce and liked hunting, so he raised a bunch of big dogs and falcons for hunting.
On this day, a falcon flew out because it was not fed.
When Cui You's companions followed him all the way to find it, they saw that the falcon had died in the hands of a tenant.
Cui Youben was very angry, and he asked viciously:
"What's the tenant's name?"
The companion was originally worried that this matter would affect him, so he hurriedly said:
"It's Wei Lezi."
Cui You didn't know this person, so he asked Bandang to take him there.
At this time, Wei Leizi, who killed the eagle, was tied and kneeling in a thatched hut. Judging from the scars on his face, it was obvious that he had just been beaten.
When he saw Cui You coming, Wei Laizi, who had been groaning just now, stood up and wailed:
"Lang Jun, really, I really didn't mean it. If I knew it was your eagle, I, Wei Scorpion, would not dare to touch a hair even if I took the courage of a leopard. Please, spare me this time, I am willing Compensate. I still have an old mother, please.”
Wei Lezi felt that he was too unjust.
Just in the morning, he was chopping firewood at home. Suddenly he saw an eagle flying towards him to catch his chickens and eat them.
This chicken was Wei Laizi's favorite. How could he let this evil eagle succeed? Soon enough, he would hit the eagle's head with an axe.
Wei Laizi, who thought he could add more meat to his meal, suddenly saw a domino hanging from the eagle's neck. He was frightened at that time.
Because he knew that this must be the Cui family's eagle.
Just when Wei Leizi was about to hide the matter secretly, Cui You's companions broke in from outside.
The companions were also frightened and took Wei Laizi back to the manor without any explanation.
But it was useless to accuse him unjustly. Wei Laizi, who had long known Cui You's ruthlessness, knew that if he didn't bleed this time, he might die this time.
But fortunately, Wei Lezi has a somewhat bad reputation in this area. He used to be an old soldier in Liyang Camp, but he was kicked out of the military camp after having his ears pierced for violating military laws.
After that, Wei Lezi returned to his hometown, where he took care of his orphaned mother and taught some villagers childlike skills.
Several of Cui You's companions had learned a bit of cockroach under Wei Lezi, so they couldn't help but come up to persuade him to make peace. They whispered to the sinister Cui You:
"Since Wei Lezi wants to accompany you, then let him accompany you. This man has some savings, so he is just right."
Who knew Cui You scolded back:
"Have I failed his family? Well, doesn't he want to compensate? Then this is the compensation. Although my Cui family's dog is a beast, the lives of you and other tenants are valuable. Now that my dog is dead, This person will pay for my dog’s life.”
Just when Cui You took the knife and wanted to give Wei Lezi a result in person, one of his companions knew that something was wrong and hurriedly said with a smile:
"Mr. Lang, I have a way. It will be more uncomfortable for Wei Scorpion to live than to die."
Then, this person came up with a solution.
He asked Wei Laizi to build a coffin, and then buried two chickens and ten rabbits with it. He also found eight trumpeters who played innocent things to bury Cui You's eagle.
When the time comes, let Wei Leizi hold the sign of the eagle and let him mourn for the eagle like his deceased father. Every time you take a step, you have to call out "Eagle Father".
Just to let everyone in Wubi see that the eagle of our Cui family is the father of you people, let alone our Cui family.
Cui You praised this method and accepted it happily.
On the same day, Wei Lezi sold his family's land, and then found a few former apprentices to be trumpeters. He held the falcon's rank humiliatingly and shouted "Eagle Father."
Originally, the family was ruined and the reputation was ruined. No matter how sad and angry Wei Laizi felt, he still felt that he was unlucky.
But who knew that in the end, Cui You led people to dig his father's grave and put the eagle coffin inside.
Pointing to Wei Lezi's head, Cui You said this:
"Since he is your father, how can he not be buried with your biological father?"
Looking at the bones that were dug out, Wei Laizi vomited a mouthful of blood and fainted to the ground.
Before he fainted, he heard his mother's cries of grief and anger;
"I will fight with you."
……
This incident caused a big fuss. Afterwards, Cui You was slapped by the clan leader Cui Sizhong, taken away and grounded.
When Wei Laizi woke up, he saw that his mother had been placed on the mat. He did not ask the villagers present who killed him.
Wei Leizi just cried silently.
The villagers present didn't say much. After all, it concerned the Cui family, and they didn't dare to have anything to do with it. So after comforting Wei Lezi for a few words, these people also found an excuse to leave.
In the end, only one vendor who often went to the county town to sell goods was left. He looked at the empty-eyed Wei Laizi, thinking about the kindness he had received from him in the past, and gritted his teeth and said:
"Old Wei, if you can't do it, go to the county temple and find the county prince. I saw that the county prince tried the case in public before, and he killed a lot of foxes and rats in the county. I heard others say, Today’s county temples are different from those in the past. The Taishan Army makes the decisions, and the Taishan Army only makes decisions for us poor people.”
Seeing that Wei Laizi still didn't respond, the dealer didn't know what to say. When he left, he silently left a bunch of copper coins and then left.
But Wei Laizi still had empty eyes and no reaction.
It wasn't until he lay on the ground for two days and his mother's body began to stink that Wei Lezi disappeared in the night.
When he appeared, he had already knocked on the door of Boling County, and he wanted to sue Cui for indulging in human life.
At this time, Wei Lezi was desperate and could only place all his hopes on the Taishan Army.
I just hope that they really make decisions for the poor, as others say.
This case is adapted from real events.
(End of chapter)