Li Dongfei said: "The harvest at home is fine. ”

Sister-in-law Jianhua said while chopping pigweed: "The harvest is good, there has been a bumper harvest for three consecutive years, but unfortunately the price of grain is falling down." ”

"The grain hurts the peasants."

Chang Xian said.

"Yes, that's what it means, it's better than you readers."

Sister-in-law Jianhua smiled helplessly.

Chang Xian asked, "Then how are you living now?" ”

"It's definitely much better than when I was in a collective, so I don't have to worry about eating and drinking."

Jianhua's sister-in-law said: "But there is a fart for grain, and it can't be sold at a price, so it's all white to sell to the grain station." The money for chemical fertilizers and pesticides is rising every year, and with the addition of public grain, farming is actually a loss. ”

"And farming?"

Li Dongfei asked.

"What do you eat if you don't farm?"

Sister-in-law Jianhua stood up and poured the pigweed into a large cauldron, stirred it vigorously, and then said, "Our current situation is that there is so much grain that the warehouse is full, and there is still a lot of Chen Gu left from three years ago. But there is no money, when the eldest and the daughter are studying, they have to wait to sell the pig money to pay the tuition, and just like that, they still can't afford two. ”

Her eyes suddenly turned red, and she said: "Actually, the boss's grades are okay, but I feel that I can't compare to my sister, so I go out to make money to help my sister study." Alas! ”

This is a very embarrassing thing, because the peasants cannot eat all the grain at home, and they cannot afford to sell it at a price, and they cannot exchange it for money.

There is enough food, but money is scarce.

To put it more bluntly, the peasants here are so poor that they only have a room left for food.

They are very rich, and even if they don't do anything all day, the family has enough food to eat for a year or two.

They are very poor, they need money for oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, money for clothes and quilts, money for medical treatment and schooling, and these money can only be exchanged for selling agricultural and sideline products.

Even electric lights are reluctant to use too bright, only dare to use 15-watt, 25-watt incandescent lamps, 40 watts are too much electricity.

Seeing that Jianhua's sister-in-law is like a perpetual motion machine, working non-stop, it is not good for the two of them to watch with their hands crossed on the side.

I couldn't help it, so I went out and sat outside.

"I really didn't know that rural people would be so miserable."

Li Dongfei's face was not very good-looking, he crossed his waist and smoked a cigarette and said: "I suddenly remembered a sentence......

Chang Xian looked at him, not knowing what celebrity golden sentences he remembered.

"Who doesn't eat dumplings during the New Year!"

Li Dongfei sighed.

This is a common saying, but it makes Chang Xian's heart miserable.

The young friends don't know how scarce the supplies were back then, and it's hard to imagine the poverty behind this sentence.

To what extent is it lacking?

In economic terms, it is called "almost on the verge of collapse", which is easy to say, and the common people are usually whose family makes dumplings, which is an earth-shattering event for this family.

That's it, some people say it's good.

Why?

Fair! I'm poor and you're poor, don't laugh at the second one.

In fact, this is the biggest unfairness hidden under the façade of fairness.

People with skills, people who are hardworking and willing to work, and people who have no skills, people who cheat and cheat, have the same standard of living.

Let's just put it this way, the scientists who worked on two bombs and one satellite back then had a similar standard of living as those workers who grinded foreign workers, is this called fairness?

Such pseudo-fairness will inevitably lead to a huge waste of social productive forces.

Chang Xian suddenly sneered twice and asked, "Brother Li, guess which of the Chinese people under the rule of Kang Qiansheng lived a better life than the black slaves of the ugly country in the same period?" ”

"That must be Kangqian......"

Li Dongfei replied subconsciously, and as soon as the words came out, he shrank back again, and said with some suspicion: "I know that there is water in the prosperous era of Kangqian, but it is not inferior to the slavery of the ugly country, right?" ”

"Moisture? That's water, and it's black water, okay. ”

Chang Xian sneered: "The so-called prosperous era of Kangqian is all blown out. The so-called never increase is just not increasing, but it is not reducing the amount every year. And taxes are two different things, there is no tax reduction, the Ming Dynasty's Liao salary training is not less, at this time there is no enemy outside the Guan, who will fight the Liao salary? ”

According to the recorded data, even in the most powerful Qianlong years, its financial revenue was only 40% of that in the most declining Chongzhen years. And the population of Qianlong was still twice that of the Chongzhen period, and the taxes were the same as those in the Chongzhen period, so what was their living standard? ”

He sneered incessantly, which made people's hearts chill.

"If it weren't for the fact that there would be no Xiaoice River when entering the customs, and sweet potato corn would have been popularized when entering the customs, the common people would have relied on sweet potatoes and corn to have the "sick man of East Asia", otherwise, even the "sick man" would not have to be done, and the whole would be the "dead man of East Asia"!

Li Dongfei said a little unconvinced: "Anyway, it's better than black slaves, right?" ”

"This is very wrong, compared to the black buddies, not to mention the prosperous era of Kangqian, even if you count the rule of Zhenguan, it is far worse!"

Chang said quietly, but Li Dongfei stood up awkwardly.

Chang Xian's tone is a bit appalling.

For a hundred years, the black slavery system in the ugly country has been criticized to the fullest, and now this master actually has another explanation?

As we all know, due to the slave trade, countless blacks were sold to the ugly country and became slaves to work on the plantations in the South.

This period is roughly equivalent to the Kangqian prosperous era that is most praised by some people in China.

So, at the same time, who of these two groups who are also at the bottom of society live happily?

Let's start with longevity.

According to Robert Fogel, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics.

In 1850, the average life expectancy of black slaves in the south was 51.96 years for men and 53.06 years for women.

During the same period, the average life expectancy of Chinese people was 36.5 years for men and 36.2 years for women.

The people take food as the sky, and then look at the food.

At that time, the main food of black slaves in the ugly country was corn, pork, various vegetables, beef, mutton and poultry, wheat and cereals, game, milk and dairy products, potatoes, beans, molasses, fish, coffee and tea, fruits, and whiskey.

Among them, corn, pork, various vegetables, beef and mutton account for the largest proportion, accounting for about three-quarters of the total food.

A black slave eats an average of more than 140 pounds of various meats every year.

In the prosperous era of the Manchu Qing Dynasty at the same time, the richest Jiangnan region, the average meat consumed per person, even if the fish produced in Jiangnan was added, was not 10 catties.

If you don't believe it, you can ask the elderly at home, or read the two books "The Consumption of Farmers in Jiangnan in the Qing Dynasty" and "The Book of Supplementing Agriculture".

Even the landlord class in Jiangnan can never consume more than 100 catties of meat per capita.

This is especially true in the affluent Jiangnan, and even more so in other places.

If you want to eat a meal of white rice or a piece of white flour bun, you have to wait until the Chinese New Year to have a chance of it.

Meat? Egg?

Is that what farts are supposed to eat?