Bai Mei pushed open the fence door and shouted "Uncle Chen" inside, and the sound of dishes and chopsticks smashing on the ground was instantly heard inside, and Lin Qingwan also heard a few small exclamations.

She stopped, and also stopped Bai Mei from moving forward, but stood in the courtyard and asked, "Is Uncle Chen at home?" ”

There was a faint commotion from inside, and only after half a sound did a timid female voice say, "My grandfather has gone to the field." ”

Lin Qingwan asked in a soft voice, "What about your third aunt?" ”

"I went to the field, too."

Lin Qingwan was silent, not sure what the situation was in the house, but the people inside didn't invite her in, and she couldn't get in.

Lin Qingwan waved her hand and motioned for Bai Mei and the others to leave, and Bai Mei rushed inside: "Then when your grandfather comes back and tells him, just say that our aunt and grandmother want to talk to him." ”

The three children in the house looked at each other, and they were all a little panicked, did they kick the owner out?

Lin Qingwan had already led Lin Yubin out of the door, planning to go to the next house, but after only two steps, she saw Uncle Chen trotting over with a hoe.

Lin Qingwan stopped, a smile on her face, "Uncle Chen is back?" ”

Uncle Chen was sweaty, and his heart trembled and said, "Why is the owner here, please come inside." ”

After that, he turned sideways and let the person in, "The little one went to the field to put water, and by the way, let's see when the beans can be harvested...... Before the owner comes, he should send someone to talk to the little one, and the little one can wait at home. ”

Lin Qingwan comforted him and said: "I just walked around, because I heard that Uncle Chen is very good at farming, and he is the most capable crop in the village, so I came to take a look." I don't know if it bothers you. ”

"The proprietor is too polite, if you want to see the little one, just call someone to give an order," Uncle Chen pushed open the door, and was about to lead people in, when he suddenly saw the three children sitting on the wooden bed, his body suddenly stiffened, and he turned around to cover the door.

But Lin Qingwan had already seen the three children on the bed, and couldn't help but be surprised to see that they were still covered with quilts in the hot summer.

Uncle Chen rubbed his hands in embarrassment, blushed and closed the door again, and said stumblingly: "East, east, the house is dirty, it's better to sit in the yard." ”

Bai Mei and the others followed behind Lin Qingwan, they didn't see the scene in the house, and couldn't help frowning, who entertained guests and didn't even let them into the hall?

Lin Qingwan nodded unchanged, "It's okay, Steward Lin said that the best rice this year is the acres you planted, I want to ask you about the situation." ”

Uncle Chen breathed a sigh of relief and went to move a few stools, he didn't know anything else, but he was a good farmer, and there was nothing he couldn't say, so he said everything that Lin Qingwan asked.

Lin Qingwan listened while looking at the Chen family without a trace, and found that the house on the west side had collapsed in half, and only the hall house and the east house were still intact among the three mud rooms.

“…… This year can barely be regarded as a bumper harvest, although there is a lot of rain, but only a little bit of flooding of the field, if you are diligent, more drainage and drainage can also be saved, the most important thing is that there are fewer insects this year, so although the harvest is late, but it can be regarded as a bumper harvest. Uncle Chen wiped the sweat on his forehead and said: "This kind of land has to be diligent, remove the grass, catch insects diligently, and fertilize more. ”

Lin Qingwan bowed, "We have a lot of rain in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is no shortage of water, unlike the north, where drought and flood alternate, when water is needed, and when it is harvested, it is waterlogged. ”

"Who said it wasn't," Uncle Chen sighed, "So it's our blessing to be able to settle in Jiangnan, and it's hard to go up Cangzhou, God doesn't appreciate face, and man-made disasters are continuous." ”

"Uncle Chen is from Cangzhou?"

Uncle Chen nodded, they want to rent the Lin family's land, the three generations of this ancestor must be made clear, it is not a secret that he is from Cangzhou, "The little one moved here eight years ago, although there is no land here, but life is better than that of Cangzhou." ”

As she spoke, Uncle Chen's third daughter-in-law came back, and when she saw so many people in the family, she was so frightened that she had nowhere to put the sickle in her hand.

Uncle Chen ordered in a low voice: "The third family, go and make a pot of tea for the owner." ”

Chen Sanjia let out a "hey", dropped the sickle and ran to the kitchen.

Lin Qingwan saw that her hands and feet were nimble, so she praised: "Uncle Chen is so blessed, he has a capable daughter-in-law." ”

The wrinkles on Uncle Chen's face stretched out, and he said with a smile: "It's all family work, and anyone can do it, that is, be more diligent than others." ”

When Chen Sanjia, who was boiling water in the kitchen, heard this, his face, which was already red from the sun, turned even redder.

Lin Qingwan nodded in her heart when she saw it, Uncle Chen is indeed powerful, she still has the ability to say good things quietly.

Chen Sanjia quickly brought the teapot up to pour tea, the farmer did not have good tea, they were all picked and dried by their own young leaves, which was different from the fried tea, not only bitter, but also had a green smell.

Lin Yubin took a sip and his face was bitter, and he quietly put down the tea bowl, not daring to drink it anymore.

Lin Qingwan also took a sip, nodded and said, "It's a good thing to clear heat and detoxify, this is the leaf of andrographis?" ”

"Yes, on the hill behind the courtyard of the East Family, there is a wild andrographis, and the people in our village love to pick some of them and dry them, and take them out to soak in water and drink them in the summer, even if they bask in the sun for a day, they are not afraid."

Lin Qingwan nodded, and quietly licked the roof of her mouth with the tip of her tongue, but it was too bitter, andrographis~~

Lin Qingwan asked for some more knowledge about farming, and just as she wanted to get up and leave, she saw a crack in the door of the hall, and a small head stretched out, and she met her gaze at once.

The child was startled, and fell to the ground with an unsteady "snap", and the door was knocked open.

Lin Yubin looked at it, couldn't help but let out an "ah", stretched out his hand to cover his eyes, Bai Mei and the others were better, but they just turned their heads, but they still blushed.

Lin Qingwan was speechless when she saw it, isn't it just a bare ass, the boy is only four or five years old, what is there to be ashamed of?

Uncle Chen had already jumped up, rushed up with three steps and two steps to hold his grandson in his arms, and pleaded guilty to Lin Qingwan while stuffing the child into the house.

Lin Qingwan looked amused, shook her hand and said, "It's just a child, what are you afraid of?" Uncle Chen, don't scare the child. ”

Uncle Chen saw that she was smiling on her face, and he was not surprised at all, so he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, stuffed the child into the house, closed the door, and then walked back and sat down, "The child is not sensible, and when he saw that there were guests at home, he came to join in the fun curiously." ”

Thinking of the three girls sitting on the bed in the room, Lin Qingwan's heart moved, and her original suspicion was determined by eight points.

When doing historical research, the standard of living of the people is an important criterion for measuring the level of economic development at that time, but there are very few historical records about this.

The standard of living of the dignitaries can be speculated and studied through various historical materials and antiquities, but there are few records of ordinary people, or even the poorer.

But rarely, it doesn't mean that there are none, and there are only a few words in historical documents that will describe this kind of situation.

More recently, it comes from my grandfather's personal experience, before the founding of the People's Republic of China, some families were so poor that they needed to share a pair of pants, and one went out while the other stayed at home.

Obviously, the situation of the Chen family may be even more serious.

If it was someone else, maybe you wouldn't know about this matter when you saw it, so as not to embarrass the host, Lin Qingwan hesitated, but still asked.

She is their owner, and if she doesn't understand the problem, how can she solve it?

Others can avoid it, but she can't.

So she asked, "You have three granddaughters, why don't they come out?" ”

Uncle Chen's face turned red, but he still confessed: "Please forgive the owner, they don't have pants, so it's not good to come out to give the owner a gift." ”

Lin Yubin's mouth opened wide in surprise, staring and thinking, how could he have no pants?

Bai Mei and Bai Feng and the others also widened their eyes, obviously not expecting this reason.

"Are there a lot of people in the village like this?"

Seeing that Lin Qingwan's face was not different, the heat on Uncle Chen's face disappeared, and he bowed his head and said: "Every family has it, but my family is more difficult, the three girls don't have a pair of pants, and the other families can share one." ”

Lin Qingwan frowned, "Is it the same in other villages, or is it just our Changfu Village?" ”

Jiangnan is already considered rich, if even Jiangnan is like this, what about other places?

Uncle Chen sighed and said: "In the south of the Yangtze River, there are not many such people, and the area in the north is poor." We in Changfu Village are exceptional. ”

The villagers of Changfu Village are all tenants of the original government, what kind of people will rent official land?

Even if they can't rent the landlord's land, and the family has no land, they will come to rent the official land, and the rent of the official land will not only not reduce the tax, but the first thing that comes to mind when the yamen sends out the conscription every year is their group of people, and sometimes they will be extra-recruited to work for the yamen, free of charge, the kind that brings their own rations.

Therefore, renting official land is equivalent to being targeted by the government, but they have no choice, except for official land, they can't rent other fields.

Like Uncle Chen's family, his family can only rent official fields because his family does not have strong labor, he has three sons, the first son was killed when he was in Cangzhou because the Liao people went south to fight the grass valley.

That's why he sold his family property and moved his family south. The second son arrived here and was conscripted into the military and died on the battlefield.

Four years ago, the imperial court conscripted military service again, and the Chen family had two chengding, so they were also conscripted, Uncle Chen wanted to go by himself, but Chen Jisheng felt that his father would definitely not be able to come back, and he could still fight if he went, so he carried the burden to become a soldier.

The eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law all remarried, leaving three children for him, plus Chen Jisheng's son, he and the third daughter-in-law want four children, and the landlord will not rent the land to such a person.

Do you think tenants just need to plant their own rented land?

Most of the landlords called the tenants as their own long-term workers, not only when the farm was busy, they would let them harvest their own grain first, but also in the autumn harvest would also collect additional twine and silk, the Chen family had little labor, so it was not cost-effective for the landlords to rent land to them.

There are many families in the same situation as the Chen family, and in short, there are various reasons for being rejected by the landlords, but in the final analysis, there is only one, they cannot bring enough benefits to the landlords.

Uncle Chen said: "In the first two years, when the third child was still at home, life was okay, but as soon as he left, the family began to fail. The taxes in the summer and autumn every year, and the military tax was increased last year, and the family fund has long been emptied. ”

Uncle Chen said this, looked at Lin Qingwan gratefully and said: "Thanks to the owner's grain relief last year, our family also received sixty catties of grain, which only survived May, otherwise our family would have to sell two children." ”

Lin Yubin asked weakly, "Don't you grow mulberry and silkworms and hemp, why don't you spin and weave cloth yourself?" ”

Before Uncle Chen could speak, Lin Qingwan nodded her forehead and said, "What a stupid child, the cloth and raw silk are all in the levy, and the labor is insufficient, but I am afraid that the annual cloth and raw silk are not enough, right?" ”

Uncle Chen nodded, "But isn't it, my family still owes several feet of cloth, Lord Zhou is not bad, we can't pay it, so we owe it, so we didn't force us to sell our children." ”