In the north of Qinghe County, Beizhou, west of Yongji Canal, outside a village, many villagers gathered under the big trees at the entrance of the village, men, women, young and old, witnessing the land lease contract between Sun Wanquan and Xinghe Trading Company.

Sun Wanquan and his wife have two sons, a high-garden mother, and a family of five. They rely on farming their own fields to support themselves. However, now the food prices have been falling year by year, and Sun Wanquan's family is as deeply affected as other farmers.

The main income of the family is the grain and hemp planted in the field. As a result, the price of grain and cloth prices plummeted. Sun Wanquan's family's income from farming gradually could not cope with daily expenses.

The two and a half-old boys were growing taller and their appetite increased greatly, and the food at home was tight, so Sun Wanquan, who was the pillar of the body, was in a dilemma.

Although he has been doing good luck and has been harvesting for many years, he can no longer hold on. So after weighing the pros and cons, he rented the land at home to Xinghe Trading Company like many people in the same village.

From then on, Xinghe Trading Company decided on what crops to plant in Sun Wan's family's land, and the trading company paid the land rent every year, part of which was grain, which was paid quarterly to ensure the basic rations of his family.

After renting the land to a trading company, Sun Wanquan did not need to bear his own rent and mediocre service. The government would not collect any labor and would not collect it from his family.

Sun Wanquan's family, who does not have to farm, would have a tight life if they only rented the land for rent, so he and his wife had to work, help the servants, and earn wages to support their family.

The employer of the couple is Xinghe Trading Company.

Xinghe Trading Company hired Sun Wanquan and his wife to farm. The land they planted was the land rented by the Trading Company in the village, including Sun Wanquan's family's land.

Renting the land by yourself and then hiring the other party to work for the other party and planting your own land. This kind of thing sounds ridiculous, but it actually happened.

Other villagers who rented the land to Xinghe Trading Company basically went to the docks by the canal to work. Sun Wanquan had a mother with mobility difficulties and a small boy under him, so he had to take care of his family. In order to rent the land in his hands as soon as possible, the trading company made such arrangements.

Although they are also farming, as employees of Xinghe Trading Company, the way Sun Wanquan and his wife farmed has changed, such as farming land, from ox plowing to horse plowing.

The plow of the plow of the plow of the plow of the plow with iron wheels. This kind of iron plow is dragged by four horses and plows up the ground quickly. In a day, skilled workers can plow three times more land than ploughed with cattle.

The premise is to plow dry fields, but this is not a problem, because all the fields acquired by Xinghe Trading Company in this area are dry fields, connected in pieces and flat. By relying on horse farming, only a small amount of manpower can be used to manage large areas of fields.

Sun Wanquan's family can rely on renting land and then working for Xinghe Trading Company to obtain enough income to maintain the daily expenses of the family.

After he rented out the land, he had a stable income regardless of the year, ensuring basic food rations. He was not afraid of the government's levy and servitude, and his family was destroyed by the clerks.

At the same time, as the "landlord" who rented a land in the trading company, Sun Wanquan bought various daily necessities from the trading company at a very cheap price, including needles, thread, cloth, salt and even iron pots.

Of course, in order to prevent "landlords" from using such preferential conditions to purchase daily necessities at a large amount and resell them to make a difference, the discounts given to Sun Wanquan's family are limited in quantity, which can ensure the daily needs of a family of five, but will not be significantly oversupply.

It is precisely because of such preferential conditions that Sun Wanquancai and other villagers in the village rented his land to Xinghe Trading Company.

According to regulations, the people and the trading company must sign such land lease contracts under the witness of the government, because after the trading company rents the land of the farmers, it must bear the rent, transfer and labor of the family. This agreement must be confirmed by the government in order to make a "handover".

At the same time, the government acts as notaries to ensure that farmers and trading companies will not be deceived because they are illiterate when signing contracts.

When making a contract, you need to write. The people are basically illiterate who don’t know a single word. They can’t understand what is written in the contract document. Therefore, the signing of the contract must be witnessed by a notary. The officials in the government are the first, and the local minister is the second.

In the new system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, hundreds of households are one li and five li is one village. The village chief has a village chief to assist the government in collecting taxes and collecting labor. Most of the village chiefs are respected and trusted by the people. Therefore, when farmers and trading companies sign contracts, the village chiefs must also be present as witness.

As for the other villagers, they were just watching because they couldn't read one of them in big words and could not understand the content of the contract, so they could only listen. Then, as a collective witness, proved that a certain household in the village and a trading company signed a land lease contract on a certain day of a certain year, month and a certain day of a certain year, month and day.

If there is any dispute in the future, everyone can also give it a try.

Sun Wanquan signed a land lease contract with Xinghe Trading Company today. Because there were a lot of precedents before, the contract was completed quickly. The contract was in triplicate, and Sun Wanquan and Xinghe Trading Company each held one, and another one was archived in the government.

After Sun Wanquan pressed his handprint on the contract, his heart suddenly became empty.

His land was rented out. From this year on, for ten consecutive years, what and how to plant it has nothing to do with him.

This feeling is like "marrying a wife", "marrying" (renting) your wife to others. During the lease period, the wife is sleeped by others and having children for others, it has nothing to do with you.

If there is a choice, Sun Wanquan would rather work harder to farm than rent out the land, but the food price is too low now, and he can't make a living by farming himself.

However, looking at the food transported by the trading company, various daily necessities, the smiling son and the relieved wife, Sun Wanquan was quite happy. If the trading company did fulfill the contract, his family would definitely have a better life than before.

Sun Wanquan, who had a tangled face, saw the merchants delivering food and daily necessities at home, but did not follow him. Seeing the contract in his hand for a long time, he sighed and carefully put it away.

The shoulder sank. Sun Wanquan turned his head and saw that the inner child patted his shoulder.

"Old Sun, what's wrong? Are you worried?"

The village chief acts fairly and responsible on weekdays. Sun Wanquan and other villagers trust the village chief. Now seeing the village chief ask, he reluctantly smiles: "I have signed all the signs, I don't want that much."

"Yes, I have signed all the signs. Don't think so much and live a good life."

Sun Wanquan nodded when he heard this, sighed again, and walked towards home.

Today is a good day, life is secure, and my wife, children and mother are smiling. He has a bitter face and thinks what he wants.

The inner chief watched Sun Wanquan leave, looked at the other person's back, thinking about something, and suddenly a voice came from his ear: "Dou Lichang?"

The village chief Dou Jiande turned around and looked at the person who was talking: "What do you think of Manager Ma?"

Ma Jing, the shopkeeper of Beizhou of Xinghe Trading Company, looked at the man with thick eyebrows and big eyes in front of him, and saw the person who refused to rent the land under his name and said with a smile: "Dou Lichang, I don't want to rent the land in the community. The conditions are favorable. Do you really don't consider it?"

Dou Jiande said this and made a tangled statement: "Please let Dou think about this matter again."

"Okay, Ma is waiting for Dou Li to have a good news."

Ma Jing said goodbye, Dou Jiande sent the other party away, returned to the empty tree, looked at the village where smoke had risen, turned to look at the fields outside the village, stood there for a long time, with a calm face, but a turbulent heart.

In the past few years, you have deliberately lowered the food prices, forcing the people who farmed have no choice but to take advantage of the situation to rent land, and have become great charity...

To put it nicely, what if the ten-year lease period arrives, it’s okay not to rent it... Haha, then, the people will still not rent it?

I am renting the land to you, I am afraid that it is a matter of being a scam with the wolf. I only have a land deed, but I can never get it back!

As he thought about it, Dou Jiande sighed and walked towards his home.

He could not explain this to the villagers because the benefits of renting land are real and everyone can see it. If you don’t rent land, you will not be able to live a life.

Dou Jiande has been a farmer for generations and is a hero. He does many good deeds on weekdays, so he respects the village and has to be the chief of the village. However, in the face of such a situation, even if he is willing to help, how can he save so many people?
Chapter completed!