Chapter 149 Little Landlord

The two groups passed by, Wang Xiaochuan sighed and continued, "Actually, the Qingmiao Law has been almost abolished in recent years. I heard that officials in the south and officials in the Qinfeng area in the northwest, both new and old parties have fought desperately, so the government has not suppressed the officials for many years. Dalang, the scene I see is pretty good now. The years when the "supportive husband" was in power was so miserable. Now many years have passed, and farmers in the world have mentioned that they are not gritting their teeth."

Zhou Yi hunched: "The past two years were good, but now the magistrate is leaving office, so this year the implementation of the Qingmiao Law suddenly became stricter... Under the cool law, the countryside is deeply resentful this year, and the village households are in a rush. You yamen runners, about fifteen miles away from the city, dare not go deeper."

Shi Chuan heard a little meaning and pointed at Zhou Yi and asked, "So, will there be some resistance when we come out to arrest this time?"

Zhou Yi lowered his head, stared at his toes, and said as he walked: "Now, when the yamen runners come in, they think they are coming to urge the green seedlings. Those who are weaker in nature know to hide, so that you can't find anyone; those who are stronger in nature directly pick up a hoe and argue with the yamen runners. Zeng Laizi killed someone but did not run away. This is probably the reason - I heard that his aunt has taken all the green seedlings in the farm in the past few years, so the farmer is very grateful for this.

Humph, if it weren't for her aunt, we wouldn't have disturbed the county government... My brothers, carrying a hoe, digging a hole, and buried Zeng Laizi, without any accounts."

Sure enough, the further away from the city, the more you can feel the hostility towards the yamen runners in the countryside. When the old farmers who were farming in the fields saw these three officials walking by, they straightened their backs and looked at the group vigilantly with hoes. The big-fighted children quickly moved in the fields, probably because they were instructed by their parents to return to the village to report the news...

Shi Chuanzai shook his head and sighed, "It is said that reform is good. The Qingmiao Law was established to help the people, but the new law has been implemented for decades. People on this land, as long as they can take a breath, they will use this breath to hate the government. "Fengheng and Yu Da". Under this superficial prosperous scenery, there is a wave of hatred. When will this wave surge... It makes people tremble all over when they think about it."

The same is true for Cuizhuang. Shi Chuan approached Cuizhuang along the main road. If it weren't for the black servant of Prince Hai and the Indian housekeeper at the entrance of Zhuang, the villagers would probably swing hoes to prevent the three officials from entering the village.

Nash, the butler who arrived in advance yesterday, squatted down and took off the horse when he used his back to make a chair and stool as India was used to carry it. When he stood up, he reported attentively: "Master, the valuables on the boat have been stored in the warehouse. The neighbor, Miss Cui, had heard that Mr. Hai had transferred the house to Dalang. She was very happy and thought that the owner had obtained this house because of her luck. She also said that if the owner came over, he would definitely invite you to visit."

Shi Chuan looked up at the sky and greeted the two entourage members: "Okay, we'll take a break here tonight."

Wang Xiaochuan looked at Shi Chuan and hesitated: "Dalang, you told the County Magistrate Meng that it would take only a few days to arrest the criminals. Now, it is getting late. We will rest again. I am afraid that we will be on the night road when we return to the city."

Shi Chuan jumped off the war horse and replied with a smile: "I didn't say that to County Magistrate Meng, but to Miss Huang'e. If I say it for two or three days, I'm afraid Miss Huang'e will refuse... Now that I have come out, we will be at the time of going back.

Go in, this is my new home, I have obtained this property, I have not been here yet, you can sit with me, have a meal before leaving."

Shi Chuan's yard is adjacent to Cui Xiaoqing's castle-style villa. Standing at the door of the house, you can still see the huge rockery rock that is still erected in front of Cui Xiaoqing's yard... The butler Nash saw Shi Chuan's looking at the rockery rock and hurried over to explain: "Master, I asked, since Miss Cui lived here, some of the original farmhouse households bullied her as female households, and bullied her from Taohua Temple. She was a little dissatisfied, so when the ruins came to harass her in the city, the farmhouse households were all standing by and watching.

But since the rockery stone was added in front of the door, the situation immediately changed. The ruined people in the city, the rogues, and the scoundrels dared to come to the door again, and the farmers were much more respectful, so Miss Cui decided not to move the rockery stone... Now that the owner has also bought the property here, Miss Cui is even happier... Master, we also have some of our own farmers. Do you want to meet them?"

The reason why this farm is called Cuizhuang is that 70% of the farmlands nearby belong to Cui Xiaoqing. In addition, most of the farmers living in the village are Cui Xiaoqing's tenants, and Mr. Hai also owns 80 acres of land nearby: 30 acres of dry land and 50 acres of slope land. These fields are packed together with the yards in the village and given to Shi Chuan. However, the amount of land owned by Mr. Hai is not a large household in the village, and not even a middle-aged household. It is just an ordinary small landlord. At this moment, there are more than a dozen families in the village than Shi Chuan. Cui Xiaoqing welcomes Shi Chuan's arrival, probably because Shi Chuan's terrifying force value can give her support.

This small courtyard of Mr. Hai is used to hide, so it looks inconspicuous. Standing outside, looking at the exterior wall, although it is tall, it seems very thin. However, Mr. Hai has not been underestimated for ten years of operation. When you enter the courtyard, you will find the thickness of the wall - oh, but thin stones are specially selected at the top of the wall, so from the outside, the wall seems to be very thin, but from the inside, each stone has a thickness of one foot, which is simply the standard for the fortress.

The layout of this yard is also very special. Once something happens in the countryside, the yard will immediately form a complex defense group together with several nearby yards and large courtyards around Cui Xiaoqing's manor... Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that Cui Xiaoqing's father acquiesced to Mr. Hai to leave this courtyard.

The butler Nash introduced that this courtyard is a bit similar to the courtyard. Each house with three entry points, separated by thick stone walls, leaving a narrow stone gate as a passage for entry and exit; next to each stone gate, some hidden places for ambush and conspiracy are arranged insidiously. If the entire house is closed with a heavy courtyard gate, every step forward will make the bandits pay a heavy price. And this price is not something that a small group of bandits can afford.

Shiteng bounced a thick wooden door in the courtyard with his fingers. The wooden door was made of rosewood, which was really luxurious. The housekeeper Nash bowed and explained: "The houses in the countryside are not as good as those in the city. The city is protected by solid walls, so the courtyard walls of the city are thin. In the countryside, the people's houses are protected by thieves are the last foundation, so the exterior walls are built with strong walls, and the inner walls are as small as possible to make it difficult to enter and exit.

This house was designed by the young master, but it was a three-entry courtyard. It was a bit too small and there was no way to live in the countryside. It was the first priority to not be too eye-catching, right?”

Wang Xiaochuan and Zhou Yi next to him did not feel the difference in the materials of the wooden doors. They were just attracted by the architectural layout in the courtyard. Most of the farmhouses are made of mud these days, while rich people directly use wood, like Mr. Hai, who built houses purely with huge stones, and their architectural style was full of the taste of Hu people, which shocked the two young people from poor backgrounds to speechless.

Shi Chuan took back his finger: "I'm very satisfied, let the tenant farmers come up."

At that time, I wore eighty acres of land under my name, and only four tenants rented them, three of whom rented them to grow thirty acres of dry land, and one of them managed the 50 acres of slope land. These four families were filled with men and women. Judging from their clothes, they seemed to be doing well. Several people had very new cloth shoes on their feet, and no patches were found in their clothes.

The four tenant farmers met the new owner, and the butler Nash introduced on the side: "Master, although our family has little land, Mr. Hai has made great efforts before. The thirty acres of land have built crypts, dug wells, and set up reservoirs. Even if there is a drought, a water truck will be placed by the pond, and thirty acres of land will be good for the harvest.

As for the fifty acres of slopes, the young master of Hai spent twenty acres to make an orchard. This place is close to the city. Four kinds of fruits are planted in the orchard. The endless fruits can also be made into fruit wine. Because there is the income from fruit wine, although we have few land, our tenant farmers live better than wealthy families.”

After pausing for a while, the housekeeper Nash added: "Fang Dahu's house is on the south side of Cuiyuan. His house was also designed by the young master himself. In addition to Miss Cui's land, the entire Cuizhuang belongs to Fang Dahu's land."

In addition, there is a weaving workshop and a porcelain kiln in the village. The big families in the village have participated, so although there is little land, everyone is still able to live a good life, especially two production workshops, one cotton cloth and one silk. The nearby daughters-in-law are willing to work in the production workshop. The men in our village never worry about getting married. Many families have one wife and one concubine. The village households don’t pay much attention to it, and most of the concubines go to the production workshop to make money. Mr. Hai once joked that the two production workshops in Cuizhuang are concubine processing factories, and all the people working in the concubines are concubines."

It seems that although the superiors have poor policies, the people of the Song Dynasty are still very rich. This small village is not prominent among the counties and towns around Haizhou City, but it has no worries about food and clothing, presenting a pleasant atmosphere - but such wealth still cannot stand the exploitation from the above. How cruel should the plundering methods be?

Shi Chuan raised his hands and looked like a landlord and master. He chatted with his tenant for a few words and waved his hand to let them go. The tenant's wife brought a few plates of dried fruit. This was produced by Shi Chuan's own orchard. The old housekeeper brought a few bottles of fruit wine and brought the account book to Shi Chuan to review: "Dalang, the fruit wine brewed by Mr. Hai has not been sold to the public. The orchard only sells dried fruit and fresh fruits in the orchard. In recent years, more and more fruit wine has been accumulated. Now that Mr. Hai has left, has the Shi family sent a batch of fruit wine for socializing as usual?"

Shi Chuan asked: "How did these fruit wines make the bill in previous years?"

Chapter 149 Little Landlord,
Chapter completed!