"Ah Chen, Ah Chen?"

In a trance, Shen Chen seemed to hear someone calling him.

raised his head and saw his father Shen Zhen.

"Father."

Shen Chen answered.

Shen Zhen said softly: "The clan elder is calling you." ”

Shen Chen looked over and saw that Deng Hong was waving to him.

"Ah Chen, what do you think of the matter discussed by the clan?"

After coming to the hall and bowing to the elders, Deng Hong asked him.

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "I was thinking about yesterday's events just now, and I was a little distracted, and I didn't hear the discussion of my uncles. ”

"Uh......"

Deng Hong looked left and right, Deng Mao, Deng Zhao and several clan elders of the Shen clan also had unhappy expressions.

It was very impolite for the elders to talk to the younger ones at that time.

However, Shen Chen has made a great contribution to the clan, and everyone is not easy to say.

Deng Zhao said: "Just now, we discussed the route to the south, and we are going to go down to Runan through Peiguo, and enter the territory of Nanyang from Runan. ”

Shen Chen pondered: "No, Xiapi Peiguo Runan and other places have been repeatedly war-torn over the years, especially in Xiapi, Cao Cao has just been slaughtered not long ago, and the plague is rampant, I am afraid that on the way to the south, the plague will be encountered, which is a disaster for the whole clan, and a safe route must be taken." ”

"Oh?"

Deng Mao asked, "Where can it be safe?" There has never been a plague in Guangling, but there have been two Taishou who have died at his hands in this troubled place, and we are afraid of being harmed by it when we pass by Guangling. ”

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "It's still uncertain, let me think about it for two days." Now the clan needs to be trained, the clan property needs to be sold, and there is still time. ”

Deng Mao said bitterly: "That Cao thief is too urgent, everyone discussed just now, it is best to leave before the end of this month." ”

"Leave before the end of the month?"

Shen Chen was very surprised, because today was May 15th, and moving his family was not a trivial matter. Even if an ordinary farmer wants to leave his hometown and go to other places, he has to dispose of all his assets, let alone ten days and a half months.

And Huangmen Pavilion has more than 300 households, more than 1,000 Dingkou, plus there are still a lot of property and fields to deal with, and there is still a lot of clan guards to be trained, so there is no two months, let alone enough.

Deng Mao sighed: "The villagers are also afraid, this Xuzhou is already a place of right and wrong, so many people died yesterday, I'm afraid it will be ...... to stay any longer."

"I see."

Shen Chen nodded silently, he was well aware of this situation. In the face of the butcher's knife, the disaster of extermination, it is understandable that you want to escape as soon as possible.

"The clan's field?"

Shen Chen asked again.

"Prepare to sell it cheaply, or simply don't want it."

Deng Mao replied: "People are more important than the land. ”

Shen Chen praised: "Uncle Ancestor is indeed sensible, but he can't really abandon it. ”

"Do you have a way?"

"I heard that the Mi family is a huge wealth in Xuzhou, and the family has countless assets, and I saw Mi in Tao Zhijun a few days ago, and I am happy to be able to sell the land to him, and with money and grain, the clansmen can live after going to Jingzhou."

"Really?"

Deng Mao was overjoyed and said: "Then this matter and the issue of the route of the southward migration will be handed over to Ah Chen." ”

"Chen understands that he will live up to his uncle's trust."

Shen Chen responded.

Strictly speaking, he is not familiar with Mi Zhu, but this is business, and there is no reason for businessmen to refuse.

In the next few days, the Deng and Shen clans of Huangmenting were all in a busy moving situation.

Soon, on May 21, Shen Chen went to the mansion of Beijia in Yan County to ask to meet Mi Zhu.

At this time, Mi Zhu was feasting Liu Bei and Kong Rong in the mansion.

Because Kong Rong was about to leave for Beihai tomorrow, Tao Qian had recently been seriously ill and could not see him off, so he ordered Mi Zhu to do it for him.

Since Mi Zhu went to Beihai to ask Kong Rong to come over to help, the three of them were very familiar with each other, and when they pushed the cup and changed the lamp, they heard that Shen Chen was visiting, so they hurriedly invited in.

"Zizhong Gong, Wen Ju Gong, Xuande Gong!"

After entering the door, seeing that Liu Bei and Kong Rong were also there, Shen Chen bowed one by one in order.

Mi Zhu is the master, to be the first to see the ceremony, Kong Rong is the oldest and most respected, so it is the second, Liu Bei can only be the third, the Han Dynasty etiquette has a very standard procedure, and it will make people feel rude if they are wrong.

The three of them nodded in response, and Mi Zhu said, "Child, please take a seat." ”

Shen Chen sat down.

Liu Bei said with a smile: "Mr. Xiao came at the right time, tomorrow Wen Jugong will return to Beihai, and we are preparing to see him off." ”

Shen Chen arched his hand and said, "That's really a coincidence, the kid wishes Wen Jugong all the best." ”

Kong Rong sighed: "You are smart and clever, and you have the demeanor of my childhood, which is lovely." It's a pity that I didn't bring any books with me this time, otherwise I would have given you some, which would have been beneficial to people's minds. ”

"Wen Jugong's kind-hearted boy understands, but this time the clan wants to move his family to Jingzhou, and if it still has the opportunity to meet with the public in the future, it will have a long talk with the public."

Shen Chen responded politely, in the late Han Dynasty, when books and materials were as precious as gold, someone wanted to donate books, which was a great kindness.

Although it is only Kong Rong's words, Kong Rong is not a person who speaks his word, which shows that he does have this idea, so he must also be grateful, which is called understanding etiquette.

Kong Rong admires him most about this, he is only eight years old, and his behavior is no different from that of an adult, and he even pays more attention to details and etiquette than ordinary scholars, and if he gets along with this kind of person, he will feel comfortable, which is like a spring breeze.

Mi Zhu asked, "Do you still want to leave Xuzhou?" Could it be that he is worried about Cao Cao's return? This can be assured, I learned the news that Cao Cao was attacked by Lu Bu, and now I am afraid that it will be difficult to protect himself. ”

Shen Chen nodded and said, "Cao Cao is indeed difficult to protect himself, but his clan has been attacked and has suffered many casualties. In the past few days, I have been frightened, so I plan to go back to Nanyang ancestral land to live. ”

"Is Mr. Little going to go? It's a pity, now that Tao Gong is seriously ill, Xuzhou City is worried about internal and external troubles, and talents like Mr. Xiao are needed to help. ”

Liu Bei sighed, he felt that Shen Chen was a very smart person, the situation in Xuzhou was very bad now, Shen Chen was able to analyze the situation in an orderly manner, and he was very much in need of his help.

However, Shen Chen had his own considerations, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Xuande Gong, I'm still young now, and I haven't figured out a lot of things, when I study for a few more years and grow some years, we will see each other again one day, and it's not too late for me to come back to help." ”

"I hope so."

Liu Bei replied noncommittally, in such a troubled world, I don't know when and what month we will see each other.

Mi Zhu said: "I don't know what happened to the child's visit? ”

Shen Chen replied: "The clan property wants to be sold, I learned that Mi is a huge rich man in Xuzhou, I don't know if I am interested in the 10,000 acres of land in Huangmen Pavilion?" ”

"Oh?"

Mi Zhu really became interested and asked, "How many of these fields are Xiatian, Nakata, and Ueda?" ”

Shen Chen said: "Nine thousand three hundred and twenty-six acres in Xiatian, six thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine acres in Zhongtian, and three thousand four hundred and seventy-seven acres in Shangtian, these fields and clans have all been counted, a total of 18,762 acres. ”

The area of fields in the Han Dynasty was actually much smaller than the area of one mu of fields in later generations, about one-third less, and one mu was equivalent to 0.69 mu in modern times.

Moreover, the yield of corn wheat was not high at that time, and the Henan and Hebei regions of the Yellow River Basin were all planted with two seasons of grain in summer and winter, and corn was planted in spring and summer in one mu of field, and wheat was planted in autumn and winter, and the yield per mu was two to three stones, and the two crops in a year were almost four to six stones.

An adult consumes about two to three stone of grain per month, and a family of five, even if calculated according to the minimum ration of two stones, consumes ten stone a month, and one hundred and twenty stone a year.

Then the minimum standard of food and clothing is that this family of five needs to cultivate more than 20 acres of land and collect 120 stone of grain every year to ensure food.

But that is only the most ideal state, taxes, natural disasters, production reductions, wars, living expenses, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, etc., will all increase the burden on food and clothing and the economy. Therefore, in fact, a family of five has to cultivate far more fields than expected, and each person usually has to cultivate about 10 acres to barely survive.

Shen Chen's family is a rich peasant family, his parents, his eldest brother and sister-in-law and his own family of just five people, with more than 300 acres of land under their names, this is a rich peasant. Ordinary people, on the other hand, have only about fifty or sixty acres of land, and when they encounter natural and man-made disasters, they can only sell their property and sell themselves into slavery.

Huangmenting Deng Shen Er is the leader, with a total of more than 500 Dingkou, and more than 600 people with other surnames. Half of them were not homesteaders, but field slaves who rented the fields of Deng Shen Er's family, and they were attached to them to make it difficult to survive.

Therefore, according to the standard, Huangmen Pavilion has a population of more than 1,100 people, and the field should be more than 11,000 acres. It's just that the Deng Shen clan is annexing the land, and the land is increasing.

Although Shen Chen knew that the annexation of land was the cause of the dynasty's demise, he had no way to stop it.

His clan is the small landlord class, a person with vested interests, and it is impossible for him to shout slogans to defeat the landlords and divide the poor farmland, in which case he will not only have no friends, but also no family.

However, on the whole, the land resources of Huangmenting still tend to be benign. The field slaves and apprentices only accounted for a minority, most of them were self-cultivated farmers, and the small landlord class who did not have to work in the fields was only counted as the clan elders of the Deng Shen Second Clan, and the distribution of land and property was quite even.

Hearing that the fields they owned were close to 20,000 acres, Mi Zhu's eyes suddenly showed the light of a philistine.

The reason why the landlord class is the landlord class is that it has unimaginable greed and persistence for the fields.

The most important thing is that Huangmenting is not far from Yan County, only more than 40 miles of land, if it is taken by Mi Zhu, these lands are within his control, as for the serfs who plough, there is no need to worry, these years, there are many displaced people.

It's just that Mi Zhu is a businessman, and it is his nature to buy low and sell high, so he didn't rush to make a statement, but pretended to be embarrassed and said hesitantly: "This ...... This ......"

"Is there a problem in the main matter?"

Of course, Shen Chen could see that he wanted to lower the price, but he had to admit that Mi Zhu did pick a good time, so he could only pinch his nose and wait for a counteroffer.

Mi Zhu said: "Now Xuzhou is dilapidated, there are ownerless fields everywhere, and I don't need so many fields." ”

Shen Chen said: "The ownerless field is mostly in Pengcheng and Xiapi after being slaughtered by Cao Cao, and there is no better land like Huangmen Pavilion around Yancheng, and the main thing still has to be considered." ”

"That's just as well."

Mi Zhu touched his chin goat's whiskers and said: "But today I am having a banquet for Duke Wenju and Duke Xuande, it is not appropriate to talk about commercial affairs, and in a few days, I will personally go to Huangmen Pavilion to see the soil, and then how about discussing?" ”

"Naturally."

Shen Chen nodded in understanding. First, people do have something to do today, and second, they have to look at the goods after buying and selling goods, and finally they can negotiate the price.

So today I'm just talking about this matter, and when it's time to buy and sell, I'll have to wait a few more days before it's normal.