A few months after the locust plague, the shabby trees that had been gnawed finally cast a dense shade in the sun. In the shade of a tree outside the gate of the Kong family, a young man in his twenties greeted Uncle Lu at the door, and when he saw Uncle Lu appear, he hurriedly greeted him and shouted, "Uncle." ”

Looking at his nephew, the uncle of the Lu family saw the appearance of his sister from his appearance. Thinking of his sister who died the year before last, Uncle Lu couldn't help but have a slightly sour nose. stepped forward and patted his nephew on the shoulder, and the uncle of the Lu family sighed: "Lian Shun, you have grown taller again." ”

Nephew Kong Lianshun couldn't understand his uncle's mood, so he could only reluctantly say about this somewhat inexplicable sentence: "People say that twenty-three is running around, it seems that I don't even know how long I am." ”

If the nephew cares about his uncle's body or family at this time, the answer can probably be given 100 points, but Uncle Lu's mood at this time does not mean to care. So he asked his nephew to lead the way.

Walking into the Confucian family's compound, I saw far fewer people than before. Uncle Lu was faintly happy in his heart. In this day and age, men are the source of strength. Although there was no family planning in this era, it was not forbidden to have three wives and four concubines. But if you want to have three wives and four concubines, and if you want to support a lot of dolls, you have to have enough money. The children of poor families die one by one, and they do not have enough to eat, but the number is the same as that of rich families, and they are not opponents when they fight.

Uncle Lu's eldest sister married the Kong family of the Han army marquis, and with the policy of the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan to weaken the Han army and the princes, the Kong family's financial resources did not increase as quickly as before. All the Han princes who continued to follow the Mongols had people in their families who joined the Great Khan's army. The heavy losses suffered by the Mongol heavy cavalry and light cavalry in the Battle of the Yellow River as the Great Khan's pro-army caused these Han families to lose many men, and the Kong family was not particularly spared. Compared with the men, as well as the overall combat effectiveness, Uncle Lu believes that the total combat strength of the Lu family is not less than that of the Kong family.

The person who met Uncle Lu was the patriarch of the Kong family, Father Kong. According to the seniority, Uncle Lu has to call the old man uncle. Uncle Lu first gave a gift. In such a catastrophic year, the value of food skyrocketed, and the quantity was too small. So looking at the eggs that Uncle Lu brought were not common relatives and the like, Daddy Kong was not particularly surprised.

But the long linen burden still made Father Kong feel a little surprised, the quality of the linen looked very high, and it was obviously not the color of the goods in the hands of the peasants. Seeing his grandfather's gaze, Kong Lianshun hurriedly opened the linen strip package. It turned out to be a light gray cotton cloth. At this moment, all the people around who saw this gift were amazed.

In these years, the level of the loom was very average, and even the coarse fiber of linen could only weave a foot of linen (one foot before the establishment of New China in the Song Dynasty was one foot two inches and 40 centimeters in modern times). After the Zhao family developed the loom, the linen and cotton cloth sold by the Great Song Textile Bureau were two feet (80 cm) wide.

Because of the priority to take care of the people of the Great Song Dynasty, and the speed of technological innovation is not so fast, the 100 cm wide cotton cloth that the Great Song Dynasty is investing in can only be bought by the nobles of the capital through customization. The most you can see in the countryside is cotton cloth 80 centimeters wide.

The wider the format, the higher the utilization rate, and the better the clothes will look and be stronger. For example, a two-foot cloth can easily be used to make a blouse made of a single piece of cloth on the back. For a cloth that is only one foot in size, the back of the garment will probably have to be sewn together in two pieces. Not only does this sewing work require a lot of work, but the skill of the suturer also determines how strong the stitching area is.

The reason why the two-foot-wide cloth, slender and tough steel needles, and strong silk threads of the Great Song Dynasty can sell well in Dayuan is not because the people of Dayuan are keen to buy trendy things.

Looking at the Kong family's gaze, Uncle Lu felt a great feeling of raising his eyebrows in his heart. In the past, the Lu family did get a lot of benefits from the Kong family, and at that time, the Kong family was rich and powerful, which was also a natural thing, at least many Lu family members felt that this should be. But Uncle Lu felt that this should not be, especially every time he had to beg the Kong family to do something through his sister, Uncle Lu felt that this should not be.

Now that the Lu family finally has their own family in the south of the Yellow River, the uncle of the Lu family believes that his ideal has finally been realized. Although a piece of cloth is very valuable, it is still far inferior to the benefits obtained from the Lu family back then. At this time, with strong reinforcements from the south, Uncle Lu felt that it was even more necessary to strengthen the relationship with the Kong family. Reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationship.

"Da Lang, this cloth is not cheap." Father Kong asked people to put away the gifts, and said in a calm tone peculiar to the old fox. A piece of cloth is four feet, one foot is ten feet, and one foot of cloth is 40 centimeters. The total length is 16 meters long. It's really not a cheap gift.

"I found a way to buy this." Uncle Lu replied calmly. The things of the Great Song Dynasty have entered Dayuan bit by bit over the years, and Uncle Lu asked Director Lu about the price, and found that these things changed hands and made several times the profit.

"I see." Father Kong was not excited, but replied casually. "Da Lang, I asked you to come to tell you something, the imperial court has sent someone over to tell the families who have left the palace soldiers that they will never be allowed to go to the south of the Yellow River."

"Oh?" Uncle Lu didn't show much surprise after hearing this. The Lu family is not the only one who has come out of the palace. With the prosperity of the Lu family, and the patriarch of the Lu family making friends everywhere, more and more people are marrying the Lu family. From other sources, it is determined that the Mongol court meant to be serious.

Daddy Kong continued: "This time I asked you to come to tell you, don't run around. We are all relatives, so naturally we have to help each other. If something happens, it's hard to explain. ”

After hearing this, Uncle Lu asked, "Uncle Kong, what kind of charter is the imperial court?" We've been hit by a disaster now, and they're certainly not here for relief. That's for what. ”

When Uncle Lu's brother-in-law heard this question, he couldn't help but say angrily: "The imperial court doesn't know who is chewing on the root of the tongue, saying that it is the relatives south of the Yellow River who let the people on our side escape the famine, so that the people here can be the internal response to the south." If you want to escape the second famine, you have to give the south as an internal response, and you should underestimate us. But the court has to think like this, what can we do. ”

After listening to his son's indignant words, Father Kong took over the conversation, "Da Lang, I'm still the same, we are all relatives." If there's anything you can't get over, let's help you get through it. Now that the court is shocked, I'd better not let other family members have anything to say. ”

"It's the Zheng family. Isn't their family dead yet? Uncle Lu said with a smile. The Zheng family is the Han army marquis family that has always had conflicts with the Kong family. At that time, the Zheng family was powerful, and the Kong family had to marry other families. The Zheng family was the first to start because they followed the Mongols. It was also because of the close follow-up of the Mongols that they suffered heavy losses. The Kong family sent troops to kill eight men from their own family, and the Zheng family died twenty-two. Three of the Lu family's soldiers died. At that time, the scale of the Zheng family's funeral was so large, and the scene of everyone in the family crying made Uncle Lu feel relieved when he recalled it.

Father Kong said: "Don't underestimate the Zheng family. Their family is valued by the imperial court because there are many dead people. This time, it was the imperial court, not the local government. ”

"Yes." In this kind of major matter, Uncle Lu is willing to listen to Father Kong's opinion. It is true that the Kong family died so many people for Dayuan, so a family member went to the capital to become officials. The Kong family was also able to maintain the status of the soldiers because they died. It was the Lu family, although they wanted to go out of the government, but they were stuck by the local government.

Leaving Kong's house and returning home, Uncle Lu called the family. In the past, this was the busy farming season, but now that the locusts have passed through, the farming is naturally not busy. Originally, there were seven or eight people left in the house, and the leftover crops could be harvested. Now it's natural to rearrange it.

At this time, the families had already distributed the grain brought back from the south, and Uncle Lu told everyone, "Don't go out recently." Stay at home. This year, it's two porridges a day. ”

"Not going to the south anymore?" Immediately a young man asked.

"Now it is said that some people want to borrow people from the government to make trouble. We're not going. Speaking of this, Uncle Lu's heart moved, and he continued: "I heard that the government is preparing to come to us to collect grain. If you don't hide your food, what will you eat next year? ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. Someone immediately recalled the past that was beneficial to everyone, "The year before last, the locusts also passed, didn't the government exempt us from taxes." ”

However, someone then responded: "It is said that the field tax is exempted, and the tax collected for the payment of money is not less at all." ”

Da Yuan briefly issued copper coins for Zhongtong ingots, but due to the lack of copper and other metals, he soon switched to issuing banknotes handed over by Zhongtong ingots. And since then, the money supply of the Great Yuan has been completely paper money. At the same time, the tax has also kept pace with the times, jumping from the previous tax in kind and conscription to the advanced level of the monetary tax.

The people have to pay the Zhongtong ingots as taxes. In order to get the Zhongtong Yuanbao to pay the banknotes, the people under the rule of the Great Yuan had to go to the market to sell all kinds of things they had at home in exchange for this Zhongtong Yuanbao money. For the peasants, the huge price they paid in order to obtain the Zhongtong ingots was even more terrible than paying taxes in kind on grain.

So when they heard this, everyone's faces changed greatly. The next person said: "There are many people in the Zheng family who are working as errand boys. ”

"Hey, everyone is on a blind date, and the Zheng family doesn't dare to go too far." The people of the Lu family originally longed for the Zheng family to die, but now they suddenly began to count on the Zheng family's local feelings. I hope that the Zheng family, as a local sage, can serve as everyone's protector.

"Don't worry about that. Hurry up and collect that bit of food first. Uncle Lu ordered.