"I'm just thinking about this possible surname now, and I haven't thought about it yet."

"If that's the case, that's great. You've saved their lives! I think if they had found out about it, they would have rushed to it! ”

"Hehe, then I don't have that much food. I can lend up with twenty or thirty buckets of grain to people who are willing to help me farm the land. As long as the capital can be preserved, the tax will not be discounted. Let me ask you the question, how many acres of land can you cultivate at the same time? ”

"Me?" Miao Peilan smiled, "Seven or eight acres is no problem, if there are ploughing cattle, you can plant more." ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "You are more powerful than others, you plant seven or eight acres, others estimate that it will be halved, and you can only have three or four acres of land at most." Right? ”

Miao Peilan smiled a little embarrassed.

"What if there were ploughing oxen?" Zuo Shaoyang asked.

Miao Peilan thought for a while: "If there are ploughing cattle, I can only plant ten acres at most, and I can't take care of any more." It's nothing else, it's mainly spring plowing and autumn harvesting, and there are too many fields for one person to be busy. ”

"Then others can only plant five acres at most, but now it is too expensive to plow cattle. How about ploughing the fields by men? ”

Miao Peilan said: "I just plow by myself, my mother and eldest son will help me with the plow rake in the back." ”

"You have so much strength, others are just afraid that you can't do it, right?"

"Well, the people in the village don't plough cattle, they generally help each other, five or six people pull together, and they can also plant, but they are a little tired."

"How many people are in Li Dazhuang's family?"

"Four brothers, plus an old lady."

"Are you all married?"

"Except for Brother Li, who is married, the other three brothers haven't yet." Miao Peilan smiled: "The family is poor, how can you have the money to marry a daughter-in-law." ”

"I have calculated, now the field in my hand must have more than 50 acres of land to be planted, and the rent collected can be enough to pay the tax of the imperial court, that is to say, to protect the capital. According to the calculation you just made, a person can only plant five acres of land at most, and then it will take ten strong laborers. Sign a pact with me to be considered a servant of our family, so that they can leave rations for them to survive this disaster. Perran, can you help me find ten strong laborers? ”

"If you are willing to lend money, you can find more." Miao Peilan said softly: "I naturally hope that Brother Zuo can help them, but Brother Zuo is now lending them so much food, I'm just afraid..., it's not a cost-effective ......." ”

Zuo Shaoyang was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood that his idea was too naïve. This big battle will not be completed in three or five months, and the spring plowing has been delayed at that time. Don't expect a harvest this year. Only tomorrow spring can I grow grain, do I want to continue to raise these ten people for a year? They signed up to be their own serfs, then they had to be guaranteed to survive this catastrophe, otherwise there was no point.

If you pinch your fingers, you know that if you want to live for four months, you must have at least three buckets of food. Discount of 45 times. And one acre of land harvests two loads of rice and beats it into twelve buckets of rice. The tenant rent is halved, and he gets six buckets. One person planting four acres is twenty-four buckets. A strong laborer's monthly ration is at least two buckets of rice, which is twenty-four buckets a year, just enough to eat, and it is not enough to eat himself in a disaster year, how to repay the debt? Even if you only eat half of the grain in the wild vegetables, you can pay back twelve buckets a year, and after the rebels are defeated, when you farm the land and harvest grain, the price of grain must have dropped, even if it drops to the previous 360 wen per bucket, it can be sold for 4,320 wen, it will take a full ten years to pay off. It's really too impractical and not cost-effective.

Zuo Shaoyang smiled bitterly: "The calculation found that this idea does not work, and it is indeed not cost-effective to use grain to feed serfs now." ”

Zuo Gui said: "Yes, it's better to sell this more than 100 acres of land as soon as possible, and make a little profit." Otherwise, there will be no harvest today, and almost 30 acres of harvest will have to be handed over, which is really a big loss. ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "I can't grow crops, I can grow medicinal herbs." Medicinal materials are not restricted by the season, and there is no rush for spring plowing and autumn harvest, so it is still possible to pay taxes and guarantee the principal. It's really not good, you can still grow edible wild vegetables to sell, you can't grow crops today, you can't escape in a famine year, and wild vegetables can be sold. ”

Miao Peilan nodded, "That's a good idea." If I planted these, to be honest, even if it was 150 acres, I could do it alone. ”

Zuo Shaoyang was surprised: "Really? ”

"Well, planting wild vegetables and herbs doesn't need to be ploughed, and there is no need to rush to harvest, as long as you have enough time, it's no problem. When you really want to grab the harvest, you can just hire two short-term workers to help. ”

"When you say that, I'm much more relieved. Anyway, this year is not able to grow crops, so there is no need to worry about the tenants. Let's take it one step at a time. I hope that the imperial court can be considerate of the people and reduce today's taxes. ”

"Yes," Miao Peilan said, "If that's the case, that's fine." Brother Zuo, you are kind and willing to help others, and many tenants will definitely be willing to rent your land for farming. ”

"I hope so." Zuo Shaoyang smiled, "You guys go back first, go around the streets." ”

Of course, Zuo Shaoyang was not in the mood to go shopping at this time, he wanted to see if there was a suitable buyer.

He turned to the yamen, which was still heavily guarded, but the officers and soldiers on guard looked hungry and lazy, obviously not full of food and no energy.

Along the way, almost all the restaurants and restaurants related to food were closed, none of the roadside food stalls were gone, and a sign was hung at the door of the inn: "Only for accommodation, no catering." ”

Passing by the "Jinyu Restaurant" where Zhu's shopkeeper passed, the gate was also closed, and there were many people lying at the door, including beggars with blank eyes, and victims who fled into the city, all of whom were hungry, lying horizontally and vertically, helplessly looking at the pedestrians on the street, with empty rice bowls in front of them.

Zuo Shaoyang was about to walk forward, when he saw the door of Jinyu Restaurant open, the short and fat shopkeeper Zhu walked out slowly with a frown, looked left and right, and walked towards the fragrant tea shop with his hands behind his back.

Zuo Shaoyang is a little strange, he, the shopkeeper of the dignified Jinyu Restaurant, doesn't take a car or a sedan chair when he goes out, why does he walk up by himself? I don't really understand if I don't want to take care of my health.

Just when he was puzzled, a group of beggars squatting in the corner of the restaurant surrounded him, the old and the young laughed, the bowl was held, and the dirty hands were stretched out, and they shouted: "Master, be pitiful, give me something to eat!" ”

"Get out of here!" Zhu shopkeeper shouted loudly, and with a hard push, a large group of beggars fell to the ground, and immediately got up again and begged, but they didn't dare to get any closer.

Shopkeeper Zhu walked forward, walked a few steps and suddenly stood again, staring at a little girl in the beggar crowd, looking up and down, left and right, thinking in his heart, although this little girl has lost a little weight, she looks quite smart, anyway, I don't know if I can get over it, it is better to sleep with a few more women now, and it will not be in vain. At the moment, this little woman is not bad, thinking about the evil fire in her body, she rushed to her crotch. Gu Dong swallowed his saliva, leaned over and smiled, "Little sister, what do you want to eat?" ”

In the distance, Zuo Shaoyang had already recognized that this little girl was the grass he had given half a bun in the alley before.

Cao'er looked at the silver evil eyes of the shopkeeper Zhu, and hurriedly shrank back to hide.

Cao'er's dodging aroused the interest of the shopkeeper Zhu even more, he liked the woman who resisted the most, and felt that the woman after the conquest was more tasteful, so he brought a fat face closer, and asked with red eyes: "Little sister, do you want buns?" ”

Cao'er nodded timidly.

"Then you come with me, I'll give you buns! Is one enough? ”

Cao'er nodded again: "Thank you, uncle." ”

"No thanks! Come on! The shopkeeper Zhu led Cao'er to the door of the restaurant, patted the door of the store, the door opened, and a guy came out, saw that it was him, nodded and said, "Shopkeeper!" ”

"Well, go get a white-flour bun! Fast! ”

The man hurriedly agreed, turned around and went in, and soon came back again, handing a white-flour steamed bun to the shopkeeper Zhu.

As soon as he saw the white-faced steamed buns, the beggars lying and sitting outside the store all got up, and looked at the steamed buns in his hands with eager eyes.

Cao'er also looked at the bun with his eyes. Shopkeeper Zhu handed the bun to Cao'er: "Oh, take it!" Eat! ”

Cao'er took the bun, clenched it tightly and bowed: "Thank you, uncle......"

With a cold bang, the other hand was already held by the shopkeeper Zhu, and when he looked up, his eyes were full of the silver smile of this short and fat man, listening to his quick gasp and smug smile because of excitement: "Let's go, follow me in, accompany Ye Shuangshuang, and when you are done, you will give you a bun, go!" "Dragged the grass to the restaurant.

"Uncle spare me, I don't want the bun!!"

"You've taken it all, why not? Let's go! Ye helps you break your body, it's very cool! Hahaha......"

Zuo Shaoyang was furious, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop it, but he heard the shopkeeper Zhu's scream, let go of his hand and picked it up, it was already drenched in blood, but the hand that grabbed the grass was bitten by the grass fiercely.

Shopkeeper Zhu let go of his hand and glanced at it, laughing: "Okay!" Wild and smelly! I like it! He opened his big hand and grabbed at the grass.

Cao'er was already hungry and weak, and at the moment, she didn't know where the strength came from, so she turned around and ran, rushing straight into the alley.

The shopkeeper Zhu rushed to chase after him, and the beggars around him hated him and wanted to abuse the little girl, so he secretly stretched out the bamboo pole and mixed it, and the shopkeeper Zhu fell and fell into the mud. His nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and he got up to find the people who were messing with him, and the beggars had already dispersed. The little girl had already run into the alley and disappeared, screamed, and ran into the alley.

When the grass ran into the alley, she couldn't run, and gasped, and when she saw a house by the side of the road covered with thorny weeds half a man high, she lowered her head and burrowed into it, and curled up in it without daring to move, despite the blood everywhere from the thorns on her body.

Shopkeeper Zhu chased into the alley, and when there was no trace of grass, he stood and cursed a few words, and then turned around and left with his bleeding hands.

Cao'er still didn't dare to move, and after a while, I saw the shopkeeper Zhu looking out from the alley, but he was hiding aside and waiting for Cao'er to come out, but he found that there was still no trace, and he was impatient, so he scolded a few words loudly, and then he really left.

(To be continued)