Steward Wu was stunned for a moment, looked at Rong Yunhe's eyes lit up, and replied with a smile: "Although these people are tenant farmers, they are really free. The conditions given by the king of Yanbei to the tenant farmers in terms of rent and taxes were extremely favorable, so as long as it was not a year of great famine, a family of two strong laborers could rent a certain amount of land to ensure food and clothing for the family. Besides, after years of war, now the country is finally safe. People are sure that these people will not make trouble. However, what the girl was worried about was very reasonable, and she had to guard against it. The villain will mention it to the Hou Ye. ”

After speaking, he looked forward and said, "Two ladies, Miss Rong, the environment here is pickled, and it is not suitable to stay for a long time." Take your time, and the villain will ride to the front and tell the peasants to come and see you. ”

"Go ahead." Mrs. Su nodded.

Steward Wu gave the coachman a word, and then drove his horse and galloped in.

Although Mrs. Su's carriage was moving slowly, after a while, it still arrived in the village and stopped.

"Hey, who is here?" Probably there are often landowners and lords in this village, and when they saw Mrs. Su's gorgeous carriage, although peasant women and children stopped, they only passed by and whispered a few words, and then left.

"Steward Wu is here, let's get out of the car again." Mrs. Su is also a person who has gone through major events, and she is extremely stable in her work.

After a while, Steward Wu came over with seven or eight people. Of the seven or eight men, most of them were old men, and half of them were old men and women.

"The little people meet Mrs. Hou." When one of the old men approached, he shouted loudly and gave everyone a deep salute.

Mrs. Su held the girl's hand, slowly got out of the car, and turned her head to see that Mother Lu and Rong Yunhe also got out of the car, then turned around, glanced at Steward Wu, and said to those people: "You don't have to be polite. ”

Steward Wu smiled bitterly at her glance. Since Rong Yunhe wanted to come to see the tenant farmers, these people he informed were naturally tenant farmers of the Rong family, and he also explained the matter to these people just now. However, among the three women here, Mrs. Su has the highest status, and it is understandable for this old man to give her a gift.

But after meeting Mrs. Hou, there was no follow-up. But there are some problems. However, these things have to be communicated in private, after all, it was too hasty to take over yesterday, and many details were not sorted out.

Steward Wu thought of this and gave a salute to Rong Yunhe. Said: "Miss Rong, the men of all families have gone to work in the fields, these old men are also the masters at home, what the girl has to say, just give orders." ”

His salute and words. It is also to remind those old men that Miss Rong is the main master.

Rong Yunhe saw this qiē in his eyes, and when he saw Steward Wu saluting her, the old men looked at her with some distrust, smiled slightly, and said, "Everyone, of the two hundred hectares of land of Master Yang in Xintang, sixty hectares of which have been transferred to my Rong family. I'd like to ask you now if you want to continue renting your old fields next season. Or do you rent someone else's? If you plan to rent another house, you can go home and rest now; If you still want to continue renting the original land, you will stay and talk. I only have one sentence, what conditions did Master Yang give you originally, and the Rong family agreed that the conditions would not change. ”

The old men and the women, you look at me, I look at you, but they don't move, and no one makes a sound.

Seeing this, Steward Wu hurriedly explained the division of the two hundred hectares of land, and said, "The son and young lady of the Rong family." is Su Houye's nephew and niece, and it is really a family. Now it's divided into two, it's just to separate the family property and manage it better......"

Mrs. Su was on the side. waved his hand to Steward Wu, and then said, "I just want to say one sentence: Treat the Rong family slowly, that is, treat our Su Mansion slowly." My girl has made it clear just now, and if she has other plans, she can step back now. Since you don't speak or move, I'll count you as having decided to rent the original land. ”

"Listen to Mrs. Hou's orders." Hesitated. It's the same old man who speaks.

Rong Yunhe shook his head and chuckled. She did not look down on the tenant farmers, but wanted to get along with them well, and asked them for advice on farming in her spare time. When the rice seeds are cultivated in the space, she will also give these tenant farmers greater benefits. But I don't want these tenant farmers to be more snobbish than the people outside. It wasn't the people from the Hou Mansion who spoke, they didn't seem to see it.

In fact, it wasn't just her, even Steward Wu didn't understand what kind of situation was here.

This small village, which is said to be a village where tenant farmers are concentrated, is actually in its own army, and there is no village head—this is also a special thing for those officials and old men, in case these tenant farmers get together to negotiate terms with the landlords. The tenant farmers under each lord naturally formed a small group. Whoever is the official of the master of the small group has the right to speak in the village.

And Master Yang is sixty-seven years old this year, and he has been a member for many years, and no one under his knees has been an official. Therefore, the tenant farmers of 500 acres of land under his command have been oppressed in the village for a long time. When they heard that the Hou Mansion had bought 200 hectares of land, this part of the tenant farmers suddenly felt proud and felt that they had found a strong backer. The jealous and angry eyes of the remaining three hundred tenant farmers, and the somewhat fearful gazes of the other small groups of tenant farmers in the village, had only intoxicated them with this feeling in the morning.

But I didn't want Steward Wu to come at this time, announcing that sixty of them belonged to the Rong family, and then I heard that this Rong family was not even as good as the Yang family, no one was an official in the city, but it was just a broken settlement, and the feeling of loss in the hearts of these tenant farmers can be imagined. It's just that the pillars of the family have all gone to the field, and no one has discussed, and Mrs. Su and Steward Wu just now supported the Rong family, so no one was silent. But if you want them to be obedient to the Rong family, it is absolutely impossible.

Seeing this, Steward Wu nodded to Rong Yunhe secretly, turned to those tenant farmers and said, "That being the case, let's do it today." When you come back, tell them that you can farm with peace of mind, whether it is the Su Mansion or the Rong family, you will not treat everyone badly. ”

After speaking, he said to Mrs. Su and Mother Lu: "Madam, let's go back first." ”

Mrs. Su nodded, but she didn't move, and looked at the few people on the scene one by one with her eyes, until she looked at all the people and lowered her head, then turned around and said to Lu's mother: "Let's go, let's go back." ”

Seeing that Mrs. Su and Mother Lu both turned around and got into the car, Rong Yunhe grabbed the Yahuan Taohong brought by Mrs. Su and whispered, "You ask Steward Wu to ask, where is the old man who took the lead in speaking, and what is his name." ”

Peach nodded and walked towards Steward Wu.

After all the people got into the car, Steward Wu also got on the horse, and everyone went out of the village together. When he arrived outside the road, Steward Wu said, "Miss Rong, that old man, surnamed Qian." He had four sons, and the fields he rented were all sixty acres of your house, which was a large family. Moreover, his four sons are all powerful and arrogant, so everyone looks at his family's face and acts. ”

Rong Yunhe nodded. Secretly pondered. If the thief wants to capture the king, if the Qian family can be convinced, the other tenant farmers probably won't have any ideas.

"Miss Rong, I don't know how much you know about these tenant farmers?" Steward Wu looked at Rong Yunhe's expression and knew what she must have thought, and was worried that she would act recklessly. But he is a subordinate after all, and it is very inappropriate to teach Rong Yunhe. But if you don't say it, he admires Rong Yunhe very much. I feel that I don't implement it in my heart. After pondering for a while, he asked.

"Steward Wu has something to say, please say it directly. Rong Yunhe is young, he doesn't walk around much outside, he doesn't understand anything, and if there is anything Wu to do, just mention it, don't have any scruples. Rong Yunhe was grateful. Rong Yunhe said with a smile.

As soon as he heard Rong Yunhe's words, Steward Wu was greatly relieved, and spoke more conscientiously: "Due to years of war, I have not been in the dynasty for a long time, and there are barren fields everywhere; And in the midst of war. The population has plummeted, there are few people who farm the fields, and there are many barren fields. Coupled with the uniform land system promulgated by the king of Yanbei, there are twenty acres of land per ding. This is Yongye Field. Why, then, did these tenant farmers not cultivate their own fields and be willing to work as tenant farmers here? ”

"Yes, Rong Yunhe is having this confusion, and I hope that Steward Wu will teach you." Rong Yunhe wondered.

You must know that Dachen was established after the brutal rule of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and the large-scale peasant uprising at the end of the Sui Dynasty. During the uprising, the peasant army "killed the Sui officials and the children of the scholars". As a result, a large number of ownerless wasteland appeared in the early days of the founding of the country. After Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty's large-scale construction projects, the eastern and western wars, the conscription and military service were heavy, and a large number of people died and dispersed; The peasant uprisings that followed were long and widespread, and there were many people who died in battle or starved from lack of food to starvation.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the number of household registrations decreased sharply as a result. Henan Province, not far from Gyeonggi, now has a large area of wide countryside where "the fields are extremely wide and the people are too few". Therefore, the price of land is very cheap. Rong Yun and these three hundred taels of silver can buy sixty hectares of land, which is the truth. (Note: Dachen silver is worth two taels, and three hundred taels of silver is equivalent to one million and 4.4 million yuan of purchasing power.) Renote: In ancient times, one hectare = 50 acres. ）

Since there is a large amount of wasteland and permanent fields, why don't these people cultivate the permanent fields and reclaim the wasteland, but become tenant farmers and be exploited by the landlords?

"Some of these people were exiled slaves, and they were not free; There are also some displaced people in times of war, who come and go freely. And all these tenant farmers in our hands are free. However, they have no household registration, so naturally they cannot obtain Yongye land, and they cannot buy land with money in their hands, so they can only rely on renting other people's fields to survive. ”

After Steward Wu finished speaking, he said with a smile, "What the villain said is to remind the girl that she should neither be too soft nor too hard to treat them. But the girl can rest assured, as long as they are not forced too hard, they will not retreat. Not everyone has the courage to rob the tenants in the Hou Mansion. This is also the unspoken rule of Xintang Manor. The tenants have retired, and they have no way to live. ”

"Thank you Steward Wu for the suggestion." Rong Yunhe is sincerely grateful to Steward Wu. After hearing these words, she could also imagine that in order to tie these tenant farmers to this field, the officials and lords of Pingzhou City did not know how many means were used to prevent people from naturalizing and not allowing them to relocate. The Rong family has neither power nor power, and it is normal for the tenant farmers to be unconvinced.

"Nannan, it's better to let the tenant farmers take care of Steward Wu, why do you have to worry so much? Those people, they don't necessarily listen to you when you reason. What if you are a girl's house, what if you are hit by them? Mrs. Su persuaded.

"Yes, yes, Nannan, didn't you listen to Steward Wu, the four sons of the old man Qian are all arrogant people. Let's entrust the tenant farmer to Steward Wu. Lu's mother also said.

Rong Yunhe hesitated for a moment, nodded and responded, "Okay, then I'll bother Steward Wu." "Listen to people's advice and eat well. She wanted to get in touch with the tenant farmers more so that she could do a better job of space farming. But looking at today's situation, let's let go of the management matter.

Seeing Rong Yunhe obedient, Mrs. Su was extremely happy. He said: "It's the Dragon Boat Festival in two days, I don't know if Heng'er told you, the Dragon Boat Race, he and the brothers in the barracks formed a team and also participated in this competition." Mother Lu, Nannan, let's come and see together, and I'll send someone to pick you up. ”

"Oh, yes!" Before Rong Yunhe could speak, Lu's mother happily responded. In the past two years, the family has been poor and sick, and Lu's mother has not relaxed for a long time. Now that her family has bought a field and has a new property, she is relieved and interested in these recreational activities.

"Then it's settled." Mrs. Su saw that Rong Yunhe did not object, and she was secretly happy in her heart.

"Huh~~" The coachman suddenly shouted, and the carriage drove a certain distance before stopping.

"Old Lin Tou, what's going on?" Mrs. Su asked the coachman with a frown.

"Madam, the young master is here." The coachman replied.

Several women were stunned, lifted the curtain at the back of the car, and looked out. Isn't the tall figure striding outside Fu Heng?

"Heng'er, why are you here?" When Mrs. Su saw her son, she stood up with a smile on her face, as if she wanted to get out of the car. Lu's mother and Rong Yunhe had to stand up as well.

"I'm fine when I got out of the camp, and I wanted to go see you. I didn't expect to meet it halfway. Fu Heng said with a smile.

Mrs. Su looked at Rong Yunhe behind her and said with a smile: "It's just right, the front is the city gate." I'm tired, I'll go back in your car, and you will send them for me. ”

Rong Yunhe was very embarrassed by Mrs. Su's glance, and said, "Don't be so troublesome." The coachman just sent us back, so that Su Gongzi would not be bothered. ”

Fu Heng glanced at Rong Yunhe, but he didn't insist, and said with a slight smile: "It's okay." But are you satisfied with the fields you went to see today? ”

"Very good." Rong Yunhe replied in general terms, and then stopped talking. Mrs. Su and Steward Wu would naturally tell Fu Heng about the matter; Now it's parked on the road, it's not a place to talk, and she doesn't need to twist her tongue.

Seeing that Rong Yunhe didn't want to say more, Fu Heng stretched out his hand and said, "Mother, come down, let's take my car back." (To be continued.) )