Handan.

It was the season of spring ploughing, and on this day, an inconspicuous carriage slowly drove out of an inconspicuous side gate of Zhaoguo's palace city under the escort of several guards.

It was none other than Zhao Dan and Zhao Heng father and son who were sitting in the carriage.

Outside the city of Handan is an endless plain, and the return of spring has made green the theme song of this land, and busy pedestrians can be seen everywhere on the road.

After the carriage drove for about a few miles, the fields on both sides of the road gradually increased, and many peasants worked in the fields, and many young children ran around on the ridges, pushing and fighting.

Occasionally, someone is accidentally pushed down the field by his companion and splashes his clothes in muddy water, which must be followed by crying and scolding from adults.

What a lively scene of spring!

Zhao Dan looked at all this, couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, signaled the carriage to stop, took Zhao Heng off the carriage, and walked towards a farmland not far away.

Although Zhao Dan and his party were dressed in civilian clothes, the clothes on their bodies were still very conspicuous, which instantly attracted the attention of many nearby farmers.

Zhao Dan walked to the side of a certain field and greeted an old man who was plowing the land with a plow: "Uncle, there are some things you want to ask, I don't know if it's okay?" ”

The old man paused for a moment, glanced at Zhao Dan and the others, and then walked over to Zhao Dan and said respectfully: "I don't know what this gentleman wants to ask?" ”

The hierarchy between people in these years is very strict, which can be withdrawn from clothing, so just by looking at it, the old man knows that Zhao Dan belongs to a member of the aristocratic class, and his attitude is naturally very respectful.

Zhao Dan made a gesture at the old man, and said with a smile: "I am a Wei person, my ancestors came from Zhao State, and now I have heard that King Zhao is recruiting talents, so I want to return to Zhao State with my son, or I can enter the history of the sect as an official." I saw my husband farming here, and I wanted to know what my husband was planting? ”

The old man suddenly smiled and said: "It turns out that the talented man has returned, and he will not hide it from Mr. Naiji. ”

Ji, a type of grain in the Warring States Period, is known as the chief of a hundred grains, is the embodiment of the god of grains, and is widely cultivated in the land of the Central Plains today.

Zhao Dan smiled: "Dare to ask how the old man is harvesting?" ”

As soon as the old man heard this, he immediately raised his head, and said to Zhao Dan with some pride: "Two stones per year." ”

"What?" Zhao Dan was obviously taken aback, and said, "Could it be that this field is Shangtian?" ”

Ueda is the best field.

The old man smiled and said, "Exactly!" ”

Zhao Dan arched his hand and said, "Since this is the case, then my father-in-law's life is quite good." ”

Seeing that Zhao Dan asked carefully, the old man simply stopped plowing the land, and walked up to the ridge to settle an account with Zhao Dan.

According to the principle before the Zhao Kingdom, there were only 100 mu in the upper field, 200 mu in the middle field, and 300 mu in the lower field.

Zhao Dan asked again: "In this way, is the old man a cultivator?" ”

Zhao Heng on the side couldn't help but ask, "Father...... Weng, what is a cultivator? ”

The old man glanced at Zhao Heng and said with a smile: "It seems that this son doesn't know much about this. The so-called cultivator is a person who cultivates all year round. ”

"What?" Zhao Heng was surprised: "Could it be that there are people in this world who are not years old?" ”

Zhao Dan and the old man glanced at each other and laughed at the same time.

Zhao Dan touched his eldest son's head and said, "Heng'er, this land is fertile, if the fertility is insufficient, it needs to be fallow to cultivate the field." Therefore, only the upper field like Lao Zhang's is cultivated all year round, and both the middle field and the lower field need to be fallow regularly to maintain the fertility of the land. ”

Zhao Heng's face was flushed, but he still asked: "But if it is fallow, how can the peasants have food to eat?" ”

Zhao Dan smiled: "You can rotate crops, and if you rotate crops, you can restore the fertility of the land......

Zhao Dan said, suddenly closing his mouth, thoughtful.

The others couldn't help but feel a little strange when they saw this.

After a while, Zhao Dan came back to his senses and said with a smile: "I just suddenly thought of something, and I was a little distracted, please forgive me." By the way, I haven't asked my father-in-law how much income and how much does it cost? ”

The old man smiled and said: "Please don't be surprised, sir, how can a small people know these methods of counting?" This total income can be seen, but the specific expenses are a little difficult to calculate. ”

Zhao Dan couldn't help but be dumbfounded when he heard this, but quickly smiled: "It's okay, widow...... I can do the math for my father-in-law. ”

Then Zhao Dan began to calculate.

One hundred acres of land yields two stones per mu, then a year's harvest into chestnut rice is two hundred stone of grain, and after removing one-tenth of the tax of twenty stones, then there will be one hundred and eighty stone of grain left.

Since Zhao stipulated that adult men must stand on their own, the number of people in a family would normally not exceed five.

If you count five people, the monthly ration for one person is one and a half stones, and the annual ration for five people is ninety stones, so there is still ninety stone of grain left.

Counting this, Zhao Dan couldn't help but say to the old man with some surprise: "Uncle, in this way, your life seems to be quite rich." ”

The old man was stunned for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "Sir, I misunderstood, these ninety stones are just the leftover after deducting the rations." A certain also has to sell the grain to replace the farm tools, and also has to buy clothes for the family during the New Year's holidays, plus they also need to pay taxes and the state, and funerals and happy events also need money. At the end of the year, there can be 10 stone and 20 stone of grain surplus is a good year, if there is a natural or man-made disaster, hunger is also common. ”

Zhao Dan's face gradually became serious.

Whether it is judging from the complexion or the children running on the farmland, or even the fairly brand-new farm tools in the hands of this old man, this old man is actually already one of those farmers who have a relatively good life, and he may be regarded as a rich peasant in the 40s and 50s of the later generations.

But it is such a rich peasant family, and life is not easy, so how miserable are the middle peasants and lower peasants and even poor peasants in the Zhao Kingdom?

Zhao Dan suddenly felt that his monarch seemed to be a little unqualified.

Since the crossing, Zhao Dan's eyes have always been on the struggle for hegemony with the Qin State, and various reform measures have mainly revolved around army building, but he has inadvertently ignored the peasants, the most important group in feudal society.

The old farmer looked at Zhao Dan's expression, seemed to guess Zhao Dan's thoughts, and said with a smile: "Sir, do you think that a certain family is sad about life?" ”

Zhao Heng couldn't help but interject: "Does my husband think this life is okay?" ”

"Of course!" The old farmer said with a smile: "Since the old man was born, Zhao has been fighting a small battle every year, a big battle every three years, if it wins, it's okay, when it is beaten in by the Wei people and the Qin people, there will not be even a little harvest, and it is impossible to say that there will be a dead person!" Now our Zhao State has won successive victories in foreign wars, and the two sons of the old man have also made meritorious contributions in the army, and a while ago I wrote that I had divided the fields in Hedong County and brought my family to Hedong. The strength of this Zhao country is the blessing of our farmers! ”

As he spoke, the old man pointed to his grandsons who were playing beside the farmland, and said with a smile: "These boys, when they grow up, they will also go to the army to fight, and they can't even divide the fields in Guanzhong!" ”

There were also several farmers resting around, and one of the middle-aged men smiled and said, "What Elder Ji said is extremely true, our Zhao Kingdom is strong now, so life is good." Otherwise, if you lose the war in previous years, who will not starve to death a few people? ”

The crowd chimed in.

In later generations, many people may think that the so-called ancient prosperity is that everyone is well fed and clothed, and they may still have some spare money in their hands.

Actually, this does not exist.

In fact, as long as there is no large-scale famine, the vast majority of the people can be guaranteed to starve to death, which is enough to call the word "prosperous".

Zhao Dan seemed to be a little distracted, chatted with his father-in-law and the peasants for a few words, and gave his grandson who was playing on the side a few Zhao Guo knife coins, and left the farmland after receiving some thanks.

When sitting in the carriage, Zhao Dan, who had been thoughtful, seemed to suddenly understand something, slapped his thigh hard, and said to the emperor in front of him: "Go back to the palace quickly!" ”