Luo Ming has been a lord for three years, and since he is not the second and third generations who are not diligent and industrious, and who are raised in the hands of women in the deep palace, he naturally has a lot of understanding of the situation at the grassroots level.

Serfs and slaves had a worse life, and this will not change in any era.

Luo Ming did not intend to carry out radical reforms at present, and to make his own people rebel in one go, but was only ready to gradually improve their treatment little by little, and finally free the slaves and increase the source of workers and soldiers.

However, serfs and slaves belonged to the private property of lords and squires, and unless they were very rich and did not feel sorry for any waste, they still had to be cherished, at least they would not be allowed to die of hunger and cold.

As for the peasants who had a certain amount of freedom, the lords were not so kind to take care of them - and even in some areas, the freedmen endured higher levels of exploitation and oppression, and were not as good as the serfs, and they had to sell themselves to the lords in exchange for peace, but this kind of thing was not common in Vana.

The freelance peasants basically had their own houses, most of which were civil structures, which differed in size and sturdiness, and a few were stone houses, which could be a little colder in winter, but also more sturdy.

Here, Luo Ming saw thatched huts.

A simple few pieces of wood were used to prop up the frame, and the walls were made with soil and some hay, and a row of thatch was laid on top of the roof.

Although some civil structure houses can be very strong, and some elaborate mud bricks are strong even if they are not fired, these are obviously different in front of Luo Ming.

Not to mention that it is solid, it always feels like it is about to fall down when it is touched, there are many cracks and peeling marks on the wall, and even holes appear in some walls, but they are just filled in so-so.

Just looking at it can make people feel a wave of sympathy.

Whether the rain can be completely covered by the rain, whether it can block all the wind when the wind is blowing, the warmth effect is even worse, and now in the cold winter, it is even worse.

These houses are made of very little material, and generally they are very light, and even if they collapse, they will not crush people. It's not wrong to say it's a good earthquake-resistant house, but that's definitely not the intention of building it, and Vanshee County is not an earthquake-prone area.

There is only one reason, and that is poverty.

Farmers usually build their houses from local materials, and there happen to be not many trees in the vicinity, so there is not enough timber, and there is no quarry nearby.

As for bricks, it takes extra labor to build a brick kiln, to burn bricks, or even to use the simplest mud bricks.

The land in this vicinity is very barren and there is relatively little water, so farmers often have to go far to fetch water, and it is easy to fight for water with several other villages in the distance.

Keeping the crops growing was almost exhausting, and they had little time and energy to build better houses, let alone hire someone to help or buy materials such as wood, stone, and bricks from the outside.

Luo Ming heard that when the previous lord ruled here, the tax level was only one-third of the average tax level of Van Xi County, and even then he had to temporarily exempt himself from taxes once in a while.

Therefore, it doesn't make much sense for Luo Ming to reduce taxes here, which is the norm. Only by relying on agricultural technological innovation and water conservancy repairs to increase their yield per mu can they truly feel the benefits of the new lord.

But that would have to work at least until the end of the summer, and Luo Ming planned to increase their favor with his new lord before then.