Xiaocao asked curiously, "What about the father and mother of these little hedgehogs?" ”

Seeing that the well-dressed adults and the maid behind him didn't scold him, the boy relaxed a little, "I don't know." ”

"What do you feed them, turnips?" Children are always very curious about small animals.

"They don't have to feed anything, they find their own food." The little boy also relaxed.

This is really a litter of little hedgehogs that are pure free-range, and Xiao Nuan asked gently, "Are you a child in this village, and what about the adults in the family?" ”

"They're all out to work." The little boy kicked the weeds under his feet, and most of the crops in the village were collected by the yamen, and the food left over from their family was not enough to eat for a winter.

The Qin family understood such an embarrassment, she couldn't bear it, and looked at the eldest girl. Xiao Nuan shook his head, "Is Steward Wu in this village here?" ”

The steward of Wujiazhuang is naturally a slave of the Wu family. After the Wu family was convicted, the steward and others were counted as part of the Zhuangzi and packaged and resold to the next family, so they are now the descendants of the Xiao Nuan family.

Jia Mintian, the steward of Jiangjiazhuang in Chengbei bought by the Qin family, took his family to the first village to meet the Qin family as soon as he knew who his new master was, but Wu Yechang, the steward of the Wu family's Zhuangzi, never showed up. However, a few days after they bought these two Zhuangzi, they sealed the first Zhuang made cotton clothes, and Xiao Nuan Bao was not sure whether Wu Yechang had gone to the first village to wander around.

According to the news inquired by Huang Zihou, this Wu Yechang steward has some prestige in Zhuangzi and has a good reputation. So Xiao Nuan plans to give him a chance to see how this person is doing before what to do next.

Hearing someone ask the housekeeper's grandfather, the boy who was squatting on the grass nest with Xiaocao to study the little hedgehog raised his head, "Grandpa Wu took a large group of people into the mountains to catch rabbits." ”

Rabbit again? Xiao Nuan raised her eyebrows, if the master was here, he would definitely say that this year was the year of the rabbit, "The rabbits in the mountains are very valuable?" ”

"Not only rabbits, but pheasants, deer, and wild boars are valuable, and there is a place in the city to collect them." The boy looked unhappy, because he was young, and the housekeeper's grandfather did not take him into the mountain, so that his family had one less income.

No matter how prestigious this Wu Yechang is, just because he takes people to catch rabbits and let Zhuangzi's fields grow messy and grassy, he is not a qualified grange steward - he doesn't care about the fields!

Xiao Nuan directly took the position of his steward, and instructed Niu Dashui, the steward of the first village she brought over, "Uncle Niu will take someone to touch the situation in Zhuangzi, and tomorrow call the people in Zhuangzi to make it clear, and let them start tidying up the fields, plowing the soil or planting rapeseed." ”

"Yes!" Niu Dashui took people to work. The little boy stood up in surprise and looked at Xiao Nuan, "Are you the new master of Wujiazhuang?" ”

Xiao Nuan nodded, "The name of this place has been changed, and it will be called the second village in the future, and my mother will be the owner of the second village." ”

The little boy immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Qin family, "Li Maisui, kowtow to the lady of the East Family." ”

Xiaocao, who was watching the little hedgehog, stood up and corrected Li Maisui, "Brother Maisui, my mother is not the lady of the owner, my mother is the owner of the family, and she is the master of this Zhuangzi, but my father is not." ”

The little boy was stunned, and the Qin clan didn't embarrass him, "Get up quickly." ”

"Does the owner still rent the land to the father and mother of the ears of wheat to plant, and how much rent does it collect in a year?" This is what the tenants in Zhuangzi are most concerned about, and they are afraid that the new owner of Zhuangzi will drive them all away, or collect rent more ruthlessly than the Wu family.

Xiao Nuan had already discussed this matter with her mother, and Qin nodded and said, "As long as your father and mother want to rent and are willing to work, you can plant, and the rent will not be more than before." ”

Thirty percent of the grain produced in the fields of the Great Zhou Dynasty paid rent to the imperial court, and the rest belonged to the owner of the field. If you rent someone else's land, you have to pay rent to the landlord, and the amount of rent is not clearly stipulated, and it is generally negotiated between the two parties according to the situation of the field, and the minimum is 20% or more than 40%. The Wu family's Zhuangzi is fertile land, and the tenants are rented forty percent. In other words, only 30% of the grain harvested by these tenants for a year is their own.

It must be no more than before, the little boy's eyes lit up, and he kowtowed to the Qin family on the spot, waving his little hand and running towards Zhuangzi, cheering and reporting the news as he ran.

Qin didn't want to face the next scene, so he discussed with Xiao Nuan, "Leave Niu Dashui, let's go first, shall we?" ”

Xiao Nuan nodded, helped her mother into the carriage, and rushed to the third village in the north of the city. Xiaocao saw that her mother was uncomfortable, so she hugged her mother and said, "Brother Mai Sui runs fast, and there is a father, a mother, a family, and a little hedgehog, which is very good, isn't it, mother?" ”

Qin Shi thought about it, and his brows loosened, "It's good." ”

The tenants' families are either disaster victims from other places, or poor and poor people who have lost their fields and have no food or clothing due to something big in their families. But it will not be poor all the time, as long as you will live a good life and meet a good year, you can save some belongings to buy one or two acres of land after working hard for a few years, and life will slowly get better.

As long as the family is neat, there is hope.

"They will follow their mother to plant cotton next year, as long as they are not lazy, they will work for a year and work for ten years, and life will be better." Xiao Nuan also comforted that the reason why they bought the field was to grow cotton.

The cotton of the second and third farms can no longer go to the first village with the steward with the long-term workers to do the work in a unified mode, because this model requires too high the ability of the steward, so Xiao Nuan discussed with his mother, and planned to use the retail planting method. That is, the cotton seeds harvested from the first village were distributed to the stewards and tenants of the second and third villages, and the cotton was planted by the small warm family to recover seventy percent, and the remaining thirty percent was counted as their own.

This ratio sounds inappropriate, but as long as you calculate how much money these 30% cotton can sell, you will know whether it is suitable or not.

Xiao Nuan and the three of them took a carriage to the third village in the north of the city.

The third village was originally owned by the Jiang family, and the Jiang family was confiscated after being convicted, and the original steward Jia Mintian took people to the first village to visit the Qin family and Xiao Nuan, and sent local products to show loyalty. Xiao Nuan saw that he was still good, so he asked him to continue to be the chief steward of the third village, and gave him 20% of the monthly money, and asked him to take the people in the village to plough the fields and plant rape.

The reason for planting rape is because it will be harvested next spring, and it is not too late to plant cotton.

When Xiao Nuan Niang arrived at the third village, the scene she saw was completely different from the second village: there were many people working in the fields, and there were children and dogs running in the fields, and there were constant laughter and laughter.

Qin nodded, "Compared to Wu Yechang, Steward Jia is much more reliable." ”

Xiao Nuan swept around the field and found Jia Mintian, who was plowing the land with a plough stick. Seventy percent of the 200 acres of land in the third village were rented to tenants, and thirty percent were cultivated by Jia Mintian with long-term laborers, and the vegetables and fruits planted were only for the Jiang family to eat. This Sannarita Xiaonuan plans to let him continue to take the farming, and the thing he grows is, of course, cotton.