"Childe, I only found two stools here, you can sit!" Wang Chengen moved two stools from nowhere, and smiled gently at the old farmer, "Old man, you can also sit and have a good chat with my son-in-law!" ”

"Your honor, this is unacceptable! How can I sit! The old farmer hurriedly refused.

"Out of the way, come, sit down!" Yang Su took the lead in sitting down and ordered the old farmer to sit down.

Another brocade guard brought firewood and lit a fire in the house, which was finally a little warmer.

"How old is the old man? How old is your grandson? Yang Su asked.

"I'm forty-eight and my grandson is ten years old!"

In ancient times, due to the lack of medical conditions, the average life expectancy was only 40, so marriage and childbirth were very early, and it is not an exaggeration to have a 10-year-old grandson at the age of 48.

It's just that this old farmer is only forty-eight years old, but he is already dying, and from Yang Su's eyes, he is afraid that he has run out of oil and the lamp will not be able to survive this winter, and his grandson is so thin that he is ten years old, and their life can be imagined.

"Old man, are there only two of you and grandchildren at home?"

"Yes, nobleman. It's just me and San'er! The old farmer curled up and kept warm from the fire.

"They are?" Yang Su asked.

"They are all dead, a few years ago, when Jiannu entered the customs, I hit us here, I ran up the mountain with San'er and the second sister on my back, my son carried his mother and his daughter-in-law and didn't run away, and was chased and killed by Jiannu, San'er and his mother were captured by Jiannu, and later, later the second sister was sold by me, and there were only me and San'er left in this house!" When the old farmer mentioned the tragic situation of his family, tears were left in his sunken eyes.

"Sold!" Yang Su was silent, wanting to ask them how they were doing, but she felt that there was no need to ask more, and it was already clear at a glance.

The family must have just had this patched cloth coat, a thin quilt, and not even much firewood outside the house to burn for warmth, otherwise they wouldn't have hid in the bed to survive.

Looking at their appearance, you know that you must not have eaten enough on weekdays, and what else does he have to ask!

"Hey, what are you doing? I'm the head of the village, don't get me wrong! Shouts outside the house interrupted Yang Su's musings.

"Childe, there were a few people outside who sneakily inquired here, and the subordinates arrested them all, and the first one said that he was the head of the village!" Wang Chengen whispered in Yang Su's ear.

"Bring him in!" Yang Su's tone was indifferent.

Wang Chengen heard the emperor's anger from it, and hurriedly asked someone to throw the head of the village in.

Two lieutenants in brocade clothes carried Zhuang Tou and walked into the house, "Kneel!" With that, he kicked Zhuang Tou on the knee.

"Ahh Folded! Folded! Zhuang Tou fell to his knees and screamed, but was caught by the captain and couldn't move.

"Shut up, if you dare to howl in front of Childe, I will cut your tongue!" The captain standing next to him shouted, pressing the knife with one hand, and the fierce light in his eyes was revealed.

Zhuang Tou was frightened by this gaze, and suddenly did not dare to scream, and his whole body convulsed in pain.

He is really afraid, this group of murderers is very big, although he is only a village head, he also has some vision, there are hundreds of guards outside the village, and all of them are extremely strong with knives, they are undoubtedly superb martial artists, and they are all dressed in brocade clothes and leather jackets on their shoulders.

Even the ordinary nobles in the capital can't afford to raise such a subordinate, then the origin of the adult in front of him must not be small, he can't afford to offend, today's beating must be in vain, Zhuang Tou thought about it again, and looked at Old Man Chen with resentment, causing Old Man Chen to shrink.

"Don't worry, old man, I won't give you trouble!" Yang Su saw that Old Man Chen was frightened, and hurriedly comforted.

"You are the head of the village?" Yang Su glanced at Zhuang Tou again and asked.

"Yes, yes, the villain is the head of the Huangzhuang! This old man Chen can testify to me! Zhuang nodded hurriedly, secretly pointing out that this was the imperial village.

"Old man, I have something else I want to ask you? How many acres of land do you plant? Yang Su didn't care about this Zhuang Tou and continued to ask Old Man Chen.

"Nobleman, the old man's family originally planted ten acres of land, but after the three sons and his father and mother were gone, the father-in-law in charge of the village only planted three acres for the old man, and he was not allowed to plant too much!" Old man Chen replied truthfully.

"Why don't you let a plurality? I see that there is a lot of land outside that is barren, why not let it be planted? Yang Su was afraid of scaring Old Man Chen, and talked to him calmly, but his heart was angry.

He can tolerate corruption, after all, the water is clear and there are no fish, let alone a eunuch in power, but he definitely can't tolerate greedy and talentless people!

"My lord, isn't it our father-in-law considering that this old man Chen is too old to plant so much land! Old man Chen, do you say? Zhuang Tou said and glanced at Old Man Chen hatefully.

"Yes, yes," Old Man Chen nodded reluctantly.

"How much tax does the old man have to pay for three acres of land?" Yang Suyi frowned and didn't bother to pay attention to Zhuangtou's approach, he knew that if he was tired, someone would definitely help him find out, and asked the key points he was most concerned about.

"My lord, my lord I know!" Zhuang Tou hurriedly replied.

"Shut up! Has my son-in-law allowed you to speak? The captain of Jinyi slapped Zhuang Tou in the face, pumping him to the point that his mouth was bleeding, and a mouthful of blood spurted out and took out a few teeth.

"What are these evils left for!" Yang Su commanded.

"My lord, spare my life, my lord!" Seeing that begging for mercy was fruitless, Zhuang Tou threatened, "I am the head of the Imperial Village, we are doing things for the emperor, even if you are big, you can't kill the royal people!" ”

"What are you doing in a daze, drag it out!" Wang Chengen's rare face turned dark, obviously angry.

The captain of Jinyi held his fists and took orders, grabbed Zhuang Tou's neck with one hand, so that he couldn't even scream, dragged him out of the door, and tore off his neck with a slight twist, and he was still outside the house.

Zhuang Tou's tragic death undoubtedly shocked Old Man Chen, and when he thought of the consequences, he couldn't help but feel that he was afraid that he would be killed.

"Old man, don't panic, I'll make sure you're okay, just answer me with confidence, no one dares to trouble you!" Yang Su comforted Old Man Chen.

"Yes, yes, the old man will answer truthfully, I am not sorry to die, old man, I just hope that the noble man will pity the poor old man's grandson, my Chen family will have this only seedling left, if something happens to him, what face do I have to see my Chen family ancestor underground!" Old man Chen has a Chinese peasant-like cunning!

"You old man is talking about the conditions, don't worry, my son-in-law should ensure the stability of your whole family, then no one will want to touch a single hair of you!" Wang Chengen said with a smile on the side.

"Don't dare, don't dare, nobleman, we have to pay one stone of grain per mu!" Old man Chen stretched out a finger and gestured.

"One stone!" Yang Su was taken aback and glanced at Wang Chengen, and saw that Wang Chengen also had a surprised expression, so he suppressed the anger in his heart, "How much grain can the old man's acre of land produce?" ”

"Good land, when the year is good, one acre of summer wheat and autumn millet can have two to three stones combined! If it were like last year, I only received more than one stone, less than two stones! ”

Two stones is 140 kilograms, which is still raw grain, and it will be less after hulling, and Huangzhuang still has to pay a stone rent, no wonder they have a hard life. You must know that in addition to eating the rest of the grain yourself, you must also change the salt and keep the seeds for the following year.

Looking at the days of the grandfather and grandson, you know that this is not enough at all! After a year of hard work, the food grown is not even enough to eat by themselves, and the life of the people of Huangzhuang can be imagined.

"And the nobles, in addition to rent, the villains also need to pay taxes to the government to send food, the old man is old and decrepit and can't serve servitude, the three sons are young, and they have to use food to pay, in recent years, I have heard the government say that they still need to pay Liao, I support this Jiannu, but this Liaoyu is also consumed, and those adults have to drench their kicks, every time they kick it, they are gone, this is calculated, and in the end, the grain planted in the field is only less than 20%, and now the salt is so expensive, and you have to leave next year's seeds, alas, this day can't go on at all!" Old man Chen couldn't cry when he spoke.