10. The county seat

Mei Xianzhuo was very efficient, it only took two days to dispose of the beads, and he also naturalized Liu Yao's family, which is equivalent to a household registration, and then purchased 60 acres of dry land and 40 acres of paddy fields under Liu Yao's name, including a mountain forest with no precise area around the dry land, only an approximate range, as a place to build a house in the future. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Liu Yao followed Mei Xianzhuo to the outside of the courtyard, saw that the other party pointed to the land he owned with his finger, and was surprised to see that this land was so big from this mountain beam to that mountain beam. This person, who has never lived in a villa in his life and has never really owned a piece of land, can't adapt to such a large area of land all at once.

Mei Xianzhuo also said that he did not borrow any money to buy these things, and that they were all in the silver obtained from selling beads, including the ten acres of paddy fields mentioned before, and also said that they had been deducted from the silver from selling beads. The only thing Liu Yao needs to do is to go to the county with him tomorrow, sign the land deed, and everything will be done.

Liu Yao was very grateful, knowing that this account was definitely not calculated like this, just because he didn't understand the current market, just like being cheated and couldn't tell clearly, he didn't know how much he had received from others, and now he had nothing in his hands, and he didn't know how to repay the Mei landlord who was thinking about himself, and he couldn't wait to pour a pot of lean porridge into Mei Jiaju's stomach, so that he could walk on the ground immediately. Mei Jiaju was also angry, not only did his spirit recover, but even his face became ruddy. It's just that he has to be fixed in a recliner every day makes him very depressed. Liu Yao couldn't see that the kid couldn't stay, and the splint on the horse was not very reliable, so he had to continue to tie him firmly. Fortunately, he finally figured out a way to make Mei Jiaju not have to urinate in the hall every day: carry the recliner to the toilet. Mei Jiaju is very satisfied with this. Thinking of Ningbo men's habit of peeing on the wall on the side of the road, Liu Yao and his wife thought it was very interesting.

To handle the title deed and the like, you must sign it in person, and Mei Xianzhuo could have acted as an agent for this matter, but out of respect for the seller and the government, it is not good to bring the title deed for Liu Yao to sign. Therefore, today's task is to go to the county seat and complete these legal procedures.

Liu Yao was a little apprehensive in his heart. Although he used to walk through the rainforest in a pristine state, after all, he was well received as soon as he walked into Mei's house, and everything was very secure, but now he has to go to the county seat forty miles away to face so many unknown things, especially the use of brushes.

Liu Yao's calligraphy is extremely bad, and he can't write well with a pen, let alone a brush. Last night, I borrowed pen and ink and practiced for a long time, and finally wrote my name clearly-I have to say that Liu Yao's three characters are indeed quite difficult to write in traditional Chinese.

There are forty miles of land in the county, and although most of it is flat, it is quite tiring to walk. Liu Yao didn't know how to ride a horse, so everyone had to leave early, get up before dawn, and set off in time for the first morning light.

The people who went with him were not only Mei, Liu, and the executives, but also Sun Zhenggang and five or six people who looked like high-rollers, and two horses carrying things. Everyone was about to pack up, tie their shoes, tie their dry food, and be busy. Liu Man has been clamoring to go together since yesterday, but now he is rubbing his eyes, not fully awake, drinking porridge slowly, and he doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Liu Yao watched Mei Xianzhuo pack up his equipment, and said to Liu Man that not only the people were ready, but even the horses were ready, so they had to hurry.

When he saw the two servants take out a bundle of sticks and a few short knives with sheaths, and each member of the team took a stick and a knife in his waist, Liu Man was completely sober, drank the remaining porridge in the bowl in one gulp, and puffed out his cheeks to look at his father.

"Will the road be smooth?" Liu Yao also asked suspiciously.

"If you don't prepare, you won't be at peace; I prepare for it basically. "The executives put on hats and covered their loose hair, giving them a bit of a majestic look.

Thinking that Mei Xianzhuo had run for an unknown number of forty miles in the first two days, and had brought a huge amount of money, Liu Yao was full of emotion. patted Liu Man and walked out of the courtyard gate.

"It's painful to walk without running shoes." Liu Man simply carried his shoes in his hands and walked barefoot, but after walking for a while, he still couldn't bear it, so he had to put them on again. It seems that designers have designed shoes with protection and durability in mind, but are not so suitable for long walks.

Mei Xianzhuo led his horse over and said to Liu Man: "This horse is a little swaying from side to side, if you follow it, it won't fall off." Then he stopped the horse and helped Liu Man climb up.

Liu Yao took the reins and walked side by side with Mei Xianzhuo.

"Why don't the people who sold us the land hire someone to farm it themselves?"

"It's all raw land that is sold. The people who sold the land were all big families in the county, the wardens, the bookkeepers, and the famous people. They would never sell cooked land, but raw land is different. As long as a little iron is put in to reclaim the raw land, it will be silver when it is sold. If you hire someone to plant it, it will take many years to plant the mature land, and there will be no harvest in between. Some of them are still unfamiliar. ”

Liu Yao knows that the so-called raw and cooked land is nothing more than soil fertility adjustment. Relying on the soil fertility data in the martial arts secrets and judging the condition of the plants, the fertility can be improved in a targeted manner, so that the raw land can quickly become mature land. It's just that this process requires the production of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers, as well as a lot of labor.

"Doesn't it take labor to open the ground? Doesn't it cost money to work too? ”

"Brother Xian doesn't know. The labor of opening up the land is all based on power, forcing the dilapidated small families to do it. Not only do they not need money, but the more ruthless ones don't even have to give rations. ”

"And such a thing?!" Liu Yao and Liu Man were both surprised. Although I generally knew that the ancient government would have harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, I didn't expect that large families could force others to work for free in this way.

"One reason is to take advantage of the emperor. Helping these people open up the wasteland is counted as the labor of the government. And the manpower actually needed for government labor is not enough anyway. In addition, you can't fight others, and there is no way to redress grievances, so what else can you do except be obedient? Mei Xianzhuo tightened his belt, touched the handle of the knife, and said: "If it weren't for a few people who could fight as one, we would also be bullied by them." The few attendants around him were speechless, but their expressions were quite smug and dignified.

Hearing this, Liu Yao not only sighed at his good luck. If you walk into the big families you just mentioned, I'm afraid you'll become a house slave right away, and you'll never have a chance to show it again.

As he spoke, the county seat was already in sight. The low walls are close to the ground from a distance, gray in color, and the lines are plain and unremarkable.

When I approached the city gate, I noticed that there were a bunch of ragged people sitting at the gate of the city, all with vegetable faces and blank eyes, and many people looked like families, old and young, sitting together.

"Isn't this year going well?" Liu Yao asked Mei Xianzhuo.

"It's not about the year. These are the people who have lost their fields, every year. It's less now, and more when the year is bad. Mei Xianzhuo frowned and said: "Either the man is sick and injured, or the loan shark borrowed when the year is bad cannot be paid, or even the powerful man takes a fancy to the field and looks for an opportunity to plunder it." ”

"Doesn't the government care?" Liu Yao hurriedly asked. Liu Man's eyes widened and he waited for an answer.

"The government can't manage the matter of money. It's only natural to repay debts. If Haoqiang did it, they and the officials would have been one, and naturally no one would have taken care of them. ”

"Then, is there no one to come to their aid? Or rather, where is their way out? Liu Yao asked again.

"Life and death are life and wealth, if there is no food for everyone in a famine year, sometimes there will be government or large families to help. In this ordinary year, dozens of people are either lucky enough to become long-term laborers in other people's families, or they die of hunger, cold, and disease. Mei Xianzhuo said lightly.

"People shouldn't live like this. They could have lived better. Liu Yao said softly. The group walked through the door hole and entered the county seat, but no one answered, but everyone looked at those people a few more times.

Liu Man lowered his head on the horse, pondered for a while, and then turned his head and asked the executive: "Uncle Gao, what are these people doing here?" ”

"They're waiting for someone to hire them to do something, to get a bite to eat." The executive replied. After Liu Man heard this, he turned back frequently, and stopped talking several times.

The scene in the county town was very surprising. The city wall is still a little bit like it, but the city is full of low huts, mostly earthen walls or wooden houses, which look very simple, and there are often vegetable patches or wasteland between the huts, and you can't see the expected commercial street. The road is narrow and uneven, that is, the dirt road is paved with stones, and it has fallen into disrepair for a long time. A few people walked by on the road, and they all looked dull and gloomy. People in this era are thin and small, and their basic height is less than 1.6 meters, and they all look like children who have not developed well from a distance. Liu Yao, who is still one centimeter short of 1.7 meters, and Liu Man, who is just over 1.6 meters, are conspicuous big men in this world, and now they are both riding on horses, attracting many onlookers along the way.

Liu Man muttered: "This is the countryside wrapped in the city wall", and looked at his father and was very disappointed.

After walking along the straight road from the city gate for less than ten minutes, you arrived at the county yamen. It is a house made of red bricks, not like a house with a steep ridge line, a bit like a decent antique building in the scenic area, which is very conspicuous among the surrounding low houses. It feels like not only the yamen should always be dignified, and the houses will be more fancy according to the owner's wishes, but also a bit of the yamen is the architectural paradigm of the Central Plains, and the houses are the taste of the local style. Liu Yao played with the difference and followed the group into the yamen.

A familiar errand led everyone to a side room. Both the houses and the patios are reminiscent of the old village buildings that were once visited. It must be because of the relationship that was arranged in advance, and there is a bucket of tea and a stack of tea bowls in the patio. The man washed each tea bowl with tea, poured four bowls of tea, and let Sun Zhenggang, the executive's family and the two grooms drink it first, while the others watched from the side and did not touch the tea.

"Why don't you drink? Along the way, you should be thirsty. Liu Yao saw that no one poured tea for him, so he took a bowl and cleaned it himself. Whoever eats and drinks that he does not make with his own hands does not eat and drink together. The executive replied softly. The county government should be fine, but the rules are like this. ”

It turned out that some people were made guinea pigs. Liu Yao put down the tea bowl, and suddenly felt that his body was no longer hot, and his mouth was no longer thirsty. Liu Man also hurriedly put down the tea bowl and stared at the executive's house. Liu Yao suddenly wanted the executives to make a "I'm hanging" expression to Liu Man. Of course, it's not a comedy now, and the executives just follow the gifts brought by the handover of the errand and whisper which ones are this and which ones.

After a while, Mei Xianzhuo, Liu Yao, and the executive's family were ushered into another room. The room was as low and dim as it was, and in the center was a large table, made of ruddy yellow pear. There were five or six people sitting or standing in the room, except for a big fat man who was taller than Liu Yao, and the others were also short and thin. Mei Xianzhuo greeted everyone one by one and guided Liu Yao to get to know everyone. Liu Yao also followed Mei Xianzhuo's example and gave up. Each of these people has a role, in addition to the landlord who sells, there are also witnesses, documents, and the like.

After signing and drawing according to the procedure, everyone celebrated. Liu Yao also got to know his trade partner: He Yuanke, a warden from the Yamen, was the chief of the public security bureau and the military commander, and he was the tallest fat man. The dry land comes from a businessman who runs a grain shop in the county town, his name is Zhou Wei, his family has been the county account office for generations, now his father, and in the future his brother. Both of them emphasized that they were Han Chinese who had lived in Hainan for generations, unlike officials who came and left, or natives who did not understand literature and science. Liu Yao thought while responding, can this fat man fight? This week, the grain merchant is considered the middle class in the county, right? They're the local elite, right?

After everyone congratulated each other, Mei Xianzhuo beckoned everyone to the restaurant. At the wine table, Liu Yao inevitably repeated the story of the merchants of Mingzhou Mansion who went out to do business, and the ship was in distress and his family property was lost and he could not return to his hometown, which caused a sigh. According to the practice of mixing in Chinese society, Liu Yao hinted that his elders went out to do business, which was related to the political struggle in the imperial court, and he was also from a family of eunuchs, but he was only temporarily defeated when he fought with people, so that these people knew that their emaciated camels were bigger than horses, and they were a little afraid even if they wanted to fight ghosts. As soon as I said this, I felt that the atmosphere at the banquet had changed a little, and I couldn't help but be toasted a few more glasses of wine. Mei Xianzhuo waited for Liu Yao to finish boasting, told him about his son, and blew Liu Yao to the sky, which caused everyone to be amazed and emotional. The banquet was about to end, Liu Yao suddenly thought that everyone didn't talk about the current county order, so he couldn't help but ask a few words, but everyone's faces suddenly changed, and the atmosphere suddenly cooled down. Mei Xianzhuo quietly explained that if foreign officials could not cooperate with the locals, not only would they not be able to command the officials of a county, but they would even be incompatible with each other. The current county magistrate, Wang Ruoxi, is a person from Jiangxi, and after he came, he couldn't get along with people from a county, so everyone didn't want to talk about him.

When he returned with a full stomach, Liu Man looked unhappy. She was placed with her followers, and she ate a bowl of rice, a few vegetables, and was not full at all. Liu Yao said solemnly, in fact, in the whole of ancient China, people's nutritional intake was insufficient. Then he joked that these are all green and high-quality foods, which caused a few rolls of eyes. Mei Xianzhuo told the executive's family to buy some food, but he didn't come back for a long time. Seeing that the sun was not early, Mei Xianzhuo told everyone to go outside the city, and the executive's family would come to meet at the city gate.

The procession home soon reached the gates of the city. In order to avoid being locked up in the city, the group went to wait for the executive's house outside the city gate, carefully distancing themselves from the crowd sitting at the door. Soon after, I saw the figure of the executive's family hurrying in. Liu Man hurriedly caught up.

The housekeeper took out a paper bag and sighed that it was a huge county town, and he couldn't find a place to buy food. Inside the paper packet are a few white steamed rice crackers. Liu Man was about to eat these cakes, but when he looked up and saw the hungry eyes around him, he couldn't eat them anymore. She walked into the crowd, gave each child half a cake, and walked back with her head hung down amid a thousand thanks.

Too far away to the west, gilding it all with a warm golden light. The group began to walk back, but their hearts were not warm at all. After walking a few steps, Liu Yao stopped and asked Mei Xianzhuo: "Can these people be used for farming?" ”

Mei Xianzhuo said calmly: "The best people who cultivate land are those who have their own small land and still have the spare energy to grow a few acres of land. They eat their own food and help you plant the land, and they produce grain to reap the harvest. Like these people, if you want to feed them with food, the burden will be heavier" Mei Xianzhuo looked back at the people who were leaning weakly on the edge of the city wall, said no more, and hurried away.

Liu Yao didn't follow, pondering. Then he stomped his foot, grabbed Mei Xianzhuo and asked, "How many people do I need in those fields?" ”

"There are more than ten ordinary men. We'll help you when you're busy. ”

"Is it ripe for a season in April?"

"It's halfway through April, close to May."

"How much does a man consume in a month?"

"The daily consumption is one and a half catties, and the labor can only be guaranteed."

"However, ten people consume 450 catties of grain in a month."

"In May, it is two thousand two hundred and fifty catties." Mei Xianzhuo exhaled lightly, looked back at the people at the gate of the city who were slowly getting up and going home, and said slowly: "Brother Xian, your family is counted as three, and the grain consumption in May will be more than 600 catties, and the foolish brother has prepared 1,000 catties of grain. As for the fields, we will help you plough them. If there are more, there is nothing the foolish brother can do. ”

"Mr. Liu, in order to buy this land, my family has already sold the surplus grain at home, and I am really powerless to help." The executive blurted out in frustration.

Mei Xianzhuo stretched out his hand to stop the executive's family from continuing. looked up at Liu Yao and said sincerely: "One is to thank you for saving the child, and the other is to believe that you have a method of doubling production, I gambled again and bet on you." But if you want to raise again, the foolish brother can't get a penny. Looking at Liu Yao, who had mixed feelings, walking towards his home, Mei Xianzhuo continued: "Those who do great things should not have children in their hearts. Those people, I want to help too. But to save the drowning, you must first avoid drowning, and wait for this season's harvest, and then talk about anything else. ”

Liu Yao stretched out his hand to Liu Man. Liu Manyi grabbed his father's hand and held it tightly. Liu Yao could feel the tight pressure on Liu Man's body, looked at her moist eyes, sighed, and walked towards home.

At this time, I could only hear a creaking sound behind me, and when I looked back, the city gate was slowly closing, and there was no one under the city wall.