As Anthony flipped through the ledger, Roland told him about the unusual economic phenomena he had observed during the agrarian reforms.

"Looking at the 200 agricultural reform pilots in the Far East, there is such a common phenomenon: the vast majority of members belong to the cooperatives with fields and hold farm shares; At the same time, they also work in the fields, and every grain embodies their sweat and labor, and they are both shareholders of the farm and workers employed by the farm. ”

If this complex dual identity were to be described succinctly, Roland could only think of one word – petty-bourgeois.

"Precisely because members have the dual status of investors and employees at the same time, the remuneration they receive from agricultural production activities should also be divided into two categories."

"One is the 'wages' paid by the commune management committee according to the number of hours of labor and the efficiency of farming, usually paid monthly, similar to those in the city who are paid monthly, and the income is mainly used to support the daily expenses of the family."

"The second is that when it comes to the harvest season, after deducting the public expenditures such as loans, agricultural taxes, provident funds, and public welfare funds that should be repaid, the remaining grain is the net profit of the farm, and dividends will be distributed according to the proportion of equity held by the members."

The nature of these two types of income is different, the former is the labor income of agricultural workers and is tax-free by the government, and the latter is investment income and is subject to an additional dividend tax.

Roland also noticed that there is a relatively rare phenomenon on the farm, but it cannot be ignored:

"A small number of enlightened landlords also took action to support the government's agricultural reform plan, and took the initiative to hand over large tracts of fertile land owned by themselves and their families to the local communes to manage, so that the large landlords occupied a much higher stake in the farms than ordinary members, and most of them lived in the cities, and it was rare for them to go to the countryside to see their fields, let alone go to the fields to cultivate themselves."

The Minister of Agriculture, Jodel Stolypin, was an example of such an enlightened landowner, who could not have done the work himself. The role of these major shareholders in agricultural production activities is that of a mere investor, or more appropriately "agricultural investors".

"When it comes to harvest season, agricultural investors share hundreds of tons of grain, and they usually sell most or all of their grain directly to the state in exchange for cash, and they can still get a good return on their agricultural investment after paying the dividend tax."

"As for those communes that do not have the participation of large landlords, such as Hongshiqiao Farm, there is not much difference in the cultivated land area of each family, and the shares of the farms held are about the same...... The state-stipulated price for the unified purchase of grain is really on the low side, which is only half or even lower than the price of the unified sale of commercial grain in the cities, and the peasants will inevitably feel that they are suffering a loss, so they are reluctant to sell grain. Roland described the peasants' resistance to selling grain in an objective and calm tone.

"If the peasants are unwilling to sell grain, I am afraid that relying on the grain collected without compensation will not be enough to feed the citizen class, let alone vainly hope that exporting grain will increase fiscal revenue, how do you plan to solve this problem?" Anthony realized the seriousness of the problem and lost a smile on his face.

Roland smiled but did not answer, returned the thick ledger to the village priest, and turned to walk towards the village office opposite the granary.

Anthony scratched his head and followed with a confused mind.

The Hongshiqiao Commune retains the architectural layout of the original natural village era, and in front of the village office is a small square paved with stone slabs. The square is surrounded by a circle of old trees, the shade of which provides a good place for the villagers to cool off after dinner, and the square itself is an important stage for the social life of the village, with multiple public service functions.

First of all, it was the venue for the commune meeting, and whenever there was a major event, the commune officials would gather the villagers to give a speech. Even when there is no big event, people like to gather in the square to chat and relieve their boredom. Since the establishment of a nationwide newspaper distribution network, the villagers have been able to obtain newspapers and periodicals published in the capital more easily, and every time after dinner, when the sun has not yet set, those in the village who are slightly literate and ink will take a recently published newspaper to the square and read it aloud to the illiterate villagers.

In addition, the square is also a common drying ground in the village. Especially in the harvest season, the rice must be dried before being sent to the mill to be processed into rice, and every sunny day, the square will be filled with golden rice, and then put it away at dusk, which does not delay the villagers to come over with benches after dinner to enjoy the shade, chat, and listen to people read the newspaper.

Eventually, on market days, the square is occupied by hawkers from the town and transformed into a makeshift open-air market. This is what Roland and Anthony see at the moment—an army of hawkers who follow the tax police to the farm, and they take the center stage of country life and sell their own goods with all their might.

The material life of the rural people is simpler and simpler than that of the urban residents, and they are easily attracted by the novelty goods displayed in front of the vendors, and they gather around to watch the excitement. At first, he was able to uphold the cautious and conservative tradition of the countrymen, thinking "I don't buy it, just take a look", but soon he was so fascinated by the dazzling array of goods that he forgot his original intention, and couldn't hold back the surging consumption impulse in his heart.

"Brother, what are you selling, it's a little scary!" A man with an honest face stared at the mysterious liquid in a glass bottle, revealing a curious look.

"Fellow, this is wine made from grapes." The peddler replied cheerfully.

"What are grapes?"

"It's a fruit, tsk...... That's a long story, do you want to try this kind of wine, if you like it, the aftertaste is endless! ”

"Huh? How much does a bite cost? The honest man inquired cautiously.

"There is no charge, if you like it after tasting it, you can buy two bottles and enjoy it slowly." The vendor is proficient in the art of wanting to indulge, and pours a small glass of wine and warmly invites the other party to taste it.

The honest man sniffed the crimson syrup that exuded the fragrance of fruit, and took a sip carefully, and the wonderful taste immediately conquered his taste buds, and he was in a trance for a while.

"Hey! That's a good one! It tastes great! ”

"Would you like to buy some?" The hawker took the opportunity to peddle, "It's not expensive, only 5 silver thalers are sold for a bottle." ”

"What?! 5 silver thalers a bottle, is this still called expensive? The honest man was shocked.

The peddler laughed, "Brother, I won't hide it from you, this is the price in the city!" ”