In early winter, the weather gradually gets colder.

Occasionally, small snowflakes fall.

In the outdoor fields, agricultural production has largely stopped.

But for Xujiazhuang, the economic trading activities not only did not end, but became more active and lively.

……

this day.

On the cement path leading to Xujiazhuang.

Wang Laoshi, a villager from nearby Wangjia Village, is pushing a chicken cart loaded with several sacks of rice, the wooden wheel is turning with a gurgling wheel, and the two sons, Wang Da Niu and Wang Erniu, each pulling a rope, are pulling in front, and the family works together to transport the rice weighing about five stones to the rice mill in Xujiazhuang for processing, to get rice and rice bran, and then transport it home.

"Dad, when Xujiazhuang was first established a few years ago, why didn't our family join? I heard that the village workers have thick and warm clothes to wear, meat to eat almost every day, and wages and money to spend, and can earn dozens of silver dollars a year, although our family has more than 20 acres of land, but the taxes paid are too heavy, and they can't save money for a year. ”

The eldest son, Wang Daniu, complained.

"Yes, it would be great if our family joined Xujiazhuang, maybe my brother and I have books to read, and we don't have to work hard to get tired, Xujiazhuang's big artifact saves people a lot of effort, how hard we work facing the loess with our backs to the sky, Dad, you are so confused."

The second son, Wang Erniu, also complained.

"Hey, you don't understand, the field is the most important thing, it is the foundation of life, and it must not be lost!"

Wang honestly shook his head, although he has been honest on other issues all his life, and he doesn't know how many losses he has suffered, but in the matter of the field, this is a bottom line that cannot be compromised, no matter how difficult it is, he cannot sell the land.

Just the complaints of the two sons.

Stepping into Xujiazhuang many times, he has seen all kinds of new things with his own eyes, and has been greatly impacted again and again, and under the strong contrast, he has to admit that he is indeed shaken.

More than once wavered, the original belief is constantly weakening.

Because Xujiazhuang is indeed different.

For example, Da Dou lent Xiao Dou back, I don't know how many landlords he offended and how many poor people's lives he saved.

For example, the improved seeds of Xujiazhuang not only have strong drought resistance, but also increase the yield by at least 30%, and the price of seeds is not high, and it is even allowed to buy on credit first.

For example, a large number of temporary jobs have been provided, and at most a collective estate has recruited 10,000 workers, bringing additional income to countless families, and even allowing some poor families to have a living livelihood.

In addition, Xujiazhuang also took the initiative to repair the bridge and repair the road, around Xujiazhuang, built a lot of six-foot-wide (two meters) cement roads, built more than ten stone bridges and wooden bridges, and did not charge a penny for crossing the bridge, and I don't know how many people ridiculed and stupid behind it.

And the reason why Wang Laoshi pushed the rice today and went to Xujiazhuang to mill the rice, because there is no money for the rice here, and only 30% of the rice bran is harvested, which can be said to be very cost-effective compared to the rice through other channels.

And these examples of the above.

It is enough to prove that Xu Jiazhuang is good, and that the owner of Xu Zhuang is a living Bodhisattva-like existence.

But......

How long can this kind of goodness in Xujiazhuang last?

That Xu Zhuang owner Xu Bodhisattva, will one day in the future change and become no longer so benevolent and kind?

Even if the owner of Xu Zhuang can be benevolent and righteous for a lifetime, but when he is gone, what about his children and grandchildren, can they continue to be benevolent and righteous?

Up in the air.

There is no guarantee at all.

Therefore, Wang Laoshi's instinctive genes of the Chinese peasants in his body told him: It is better to keep the land in his own hands, even if it will be harder.

Soon.

In front of Xujiazhuang rice mill, there is a long queue, the surrounding villagers come to lick the rice a lot, most of them are similar to Wang Laoshi, more are pulled by flatbed cars, less are used chicken buses, there are also a few rich peasants, the tire type steel frame unicycle produced by Xujiazhuang is used, the load capacity is twice that of the chicken bus, and it is more labor-saving, but it costs 15 silver dollars a piece, if there is a wheelbarrow like this, I don't know how many people will envy it.

And those farmers who don't have any cars at home and can only pick 100 catties of rice over their shoulders don't need to wait in line, they can directly exchange 100 catties of rice for 70 catties of rice + 20 catties of rice bran at the ratio of 100 catties of rice + 20 catties of rice bran - Xujiazhuang hardly takes advantage of these poor people.

More than an hour later.

Finally, it was Wang Laoshi's turn, the staff first weighed his paddy, told him the specific number of catties, and then poured the rice into the machine feed hopper, buzzing loudly, the yellow-orange-orange rice was processed into white rice and crushed rice bran.

Five stones and 600 catties of rice, in the end, 410 catties of refined white rice and 200 catties of rice bran, of which 30% of the rice bran is counted as processing fees.

"We should take 60 catties of rice bran, I don't know if there is a problem?" The staff asked Wang Laoshi.

"No problem, no problem." Wang honestly shook his head, compared to the shortage of catties and short scales elsewhere, Xujiazhuang Rice Mill can only be described with conscience.

Reload the rice and rice bran into the cart and prepare to push the cart back.

At this time, the two sons ran back very excitedly and reported a good news:

"Dad, just now I saw the brick kiln factory recruiting temporary workers, I and my brother and I went to try, the steward said that I was sixteen years old, counted as an adult worker, my younger brother was thirteen years old, counted as half a worker, can work in the brick kiln factory for a period of time, the daily salary is a penny, including food and housing, and the brick kiln factory is very warm, not cold at all, my brother and I want to stay here to move bricks, this afternoon to start work, so I will not go back with you." Wang Da Niu said.

"Dad, the steward said that I am a child laborer, as long as I complete half of the workload of adult labor, and if I do more, I will be given a salary increase according to specific performance." Wang Erniu said.

"You two don't go back, how can I push back such heavy rice?"

Wang honestly said that he was happy that his two sons had found jobs, but what should he do? A person pushes 600 catties of things and walks more than ten miles, and his old bones must not be tired and half dead?

Fortunately, the staff of the rice mill, after learning about his difficulties, said that Xujiazhuang could lend him a rubber-tired unicycle, and the chicken car would be mortgaged here, and the wheelbarrow would come back the next day, after all, his two sons were working in the manor, and it was impossible not to return.

"Good, good."

Wang Laoshi's problem has been perfectly solved, the two sons are making money here, and they have also saved the family's food, and the extra balance this year, it is no problem to marry a daughter-in-law to the eldest son next year, hahaha, thinking of this, he smiled toothlessly.

……

Meanwhile.

In the nearby town of Dongzhuang, Chen Yanzhi, a landlord with more than 500 acres of fertile land, was in a very bad mood.

Originally, his family's fields also achieved a bumper harvest this year, harvesting more than 600,000 catties of rice, corn, potatoes and other grains, so much so that the warehouses were bursting, which was an unprecedented good situation.

However, he soon became unhappy again.

Because his family's food is difficult to handle.

If it is left in previous years, the extra grain at home can be lent to the poor, and if you can't pay it back, you can use the land to pay off the debt, so as to annex the land and achieve the purpose of increasing the number of acres.

But since the establishment of Xujiazhuang, this set of development models has been broken, a big bucket out of the small bucket, I don't know how many landlords' dreams of merger, hate Xujiazhuang to the bone.

Chen Yanzhi is a member of the Hate Xu Jiazhuang.

But this year, his family was able to achieve a bumper harvest, and he had to thank Xujiazhuang for his good seeds, so he hated it, but he still couldn't avoid trading and cooperating with Xujiazhuang.

And if the road of lending to the poor is cut off, the extra grain can only be sold to merchants, otherwise the grain will be piled up in the warehouse, and after a long time, it will either rot and deteriorate, or it will be fed to rats, insects and ants, and it will be stored for about three years at most.

It's just that recently, Chen Yanzhi, with the respect of a man, personally met with four or five groups of businessmen, but these despicable people actually bought his family's grain at an ultra-low price of 1 tael of silver, four to five stones, and even 1 tael of silver and six stones, and the price was outrageously low, and there was a trend of getting lower and lower, because there were many landlords selling grain in Xinghua County, and they were selling a large number of them.

The merchant's business rule is not to sell grain for a hundred miles, and if he wants to sell it, he will sell the grain far away and the most expensive place, so the transportation cost is very high, and they will naturally try their best to lower the price at the purchasing end.

"Master, or we should sell the grain to Xujiazhuang, Xujiazhuang's rice mill, non-staple food processing workshop, is buying unlimited grain, rice is a silver dollar two and a half stones, corn a silver dollar three stones, potatoes a silver dollar four stones, the price is much higher than those grain merchants, rather than so much grain smashed in the hands, it is better to sell to Xujiazhuang, I see a lot of farmers, have sold the surplus grain to Xujiazhuang, some of the family has a lot of food has no place to put it, simply stored in the Xujiazhuang granary, I think Xujiazhuang is credible, At least it's much better than those profiteers. ”

His wife, Shen, put forward her suggestion in Chen Yanzhi's ear.

"That's it, the profiteers are too hateful, so let's follow Madame's policy."

Chen Yanzhi shook his head, after all, he followed his wife's advice.

Soon.

Under the arrangement of his wife Shen, dozens of young men and ten carts were invited, and it took two full days to sell almost all the more than 600,000 catties of grain in the warehouse, leaving only more than 20,000 catties for his own use.

In the end, more than 5,000 stone of grain was exchanged for 1,678 silver dollars.

It's just that the silver dollar that finally fell into Chen Yanzhi's hands was only more than 500 yuan.

There is no way, sugar, canned meat, vermicelli, dried tofu, glass mirror, soap, shower gel, woolen tweed coat, lighter, honeycomb coal and coal stove and other commodities in Xujiazhuang, whether they are eaten or used, are just needed by the middle and upper classes of the Ming Dynasty, and luxury goods such as bicycles are treasures that only the top class can afford, Shen can only look at them with envy, and if she is not restrained in chopping her hands, otherwise a silver dollar will not be spent.

"You ruined mother-in-law, let you take care of the house, my Chen family's house will collapse sooner or later!"

Chen Yanzhi scolded, but the Xujiazhuang goods that Shen bought back, he quickly followed and enjoyed them, although he did not shout true incense, but the frequency and intensity of scolding Shen have decreased significantly.

……

And before the river freezes in winter.

Through the river transportation system of the Yangtze River, Huaishui and Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, sand boats loaded with goods enter the Dagou River and finally arrive at the wharf not far from Xujiazhuang.

These sand ships carry a lot of cargo.

There are timbers from Chongqing and Guizhou.

There are coal mines from Xuzhou.

There are also iron ore, lime, and stone from Ma'anshan, Taiping Prefecture, Nanzhili.

and cotton from Suzhou and Songjiang.

Although the current trading volume is not very large, these sand boats that come to Xujiazhuang are not very many, often loaded with ore, wood and other raw materials, and then pull Xujiazhuang's grain, non-staple food, modern industrial products and other goods back, constituting a larger economic trading circle.

But whether it is a small economic circle within a radius of more than ten miles from the Xujiazhuang collective estate.

Or through the river transport system formed a wide range of economic trading circle, in general, around Xinghua County Xujiazhuang, a manor economic circle, divided into two internal and external cycles, is constantly developing, forming, growing, in the foreseeable future, this manor economic circle will not only bring huge economic vitality, but also like an engine, to bring unimaginable changes to the Ming Dynasty.