Hearing the question, the old farmer who was hoeing raised his head and replied with fear: "I don't dare to deceive the nobles, there are still a few months before the harvest!"
Zhu Jinghong smiled and asked again: "I know, I was asking how the harvest was...how much grain can be harvested from one acre of land?"
This group of people all carry swords and are so majestic and imposing that ordinary farmers would not be afraid of them.
Seeing Zhu Jinghong's warm expression, the old farmer's son had the courage to reply: "Sir, the situation this year is not bad, and one acre of land should have 500 to 600 kilograms!"
"It's so good that one acre of land is only five or six hundred pounds?" Zhu Jinghong couldn't believe it. This output was far worse than that of later generations.
"How many people are in your family? How many acres of land do you have now?"
The man replied: "There are seven people in the family, and they rented six acres of land from Yuan Lu's wife's family!"
It was actually a rented land, which also surprised Zhu Jinghong.
"What is the annual land rent?"
"I don't know how many percent it is, but the Lu family harvests three hundred kilograms of grain per acre of land!"
If one acre of land yields a harvest of 500 to 600 jins, each acre will have to be paid 300 jins, so the entire year will not be occupied by others.
For example, one mu of land yields 600 kilograms of grain, and after paying 300, only 300 is left. Six acres of land equals 1,800 kilograms, and the average family of seven only gets more than half a kilogram of grain.
This standard of living is probably just enough to make ends meet, and without minor disasters or illnesses, the possibility of starting a business is slim.
It is said that in modern times, people are treated like cows and horses, but in ancient times, people are really treated like cows and horses... Zhu Jinghong sighed secretly.
The Zhu family where he lives is the largest landowner in the world. From a world perspective, the "Lu Yuanwai" in the farmer's household registration is also a tenant.
While Zhu Jinghong was deep in thought, he saw a child not far away walking towards him with a basket.
Seeing Zhu Jinghong and his entourage, the child was obviously frightened and did not dare to approach after being separated by more than ten meters.
"Child, come here..." Zhu Jinghong waved to the child and showed what he thought was a friendly smile.
But these people were so powerful that the little boy didn't dare to come over at this moment, the atmosphere was so awkward.
This frightened the three people working in the fields. They were deeply afraid that their children would anger the nobleman and eventually cause disaster to our family.
Although they are farmers in the countryside, this family can also see that Zhu Jinghong and his party are more powerful than the Lu family.
"Er baby, if the young master asks you to come over, just come over..." The old man in the field was full of anxiety.
"grandfather……"
The child was really frightened. At this moment, he cried "Wow", which made several people in the field panic.
Zhu Jinghong was a little embarrassed, so he took the initiative to walk towards the child, waved to Lu Yuxin, and shouted: "Bring some food!"
They came out with them, bringing everything to eat and drink, and even medicine.
I saw Lu Yuxin touch the package in front of the saddle, take out a small cloth bag from inside, open it and take out a small oil paper bag.
"Master Thirteen..."
"What are you doing for me? Give it to someone else!" Zhu Jinghong pointed to the crying child.
Lu Yuxin took a look and saw that the child was wearing a shabby short shirt, the clothes were stained with mud, and there were oil stains and snot marks on his face.
"Here you go, Thirteenth Master rewarded you, why don't you thank me!" Lu Yuxin handed over the oil paper bag.
Wrapped in oil paper, it is the meat jerky that the royal chef of the palace has worked hard to make. Even though it is tightly wrapped, it still exudes an attractive fragrance.
The child was only seven or eight years old, but he was conquered by the fragrance now, so he took it from Lu Yu's novice hand, and he stopped crying now.
"Er baby, quickly kowtow to the noble man!"
The child's father came out of the field and came directly to the direction of the child, fearing that the child would offend the noble man.
But his reckless move immediately triggered a reaction from the guards. Two people immediately stopped him and then kicked him to the ground.
Seeing his father being beaten, the "second baby" who had just been coaxed burst into tears again.
What happened before and after happened in just a few seconds, and Zhu Jinghong had no time to react.
At this moment, after kicking the child's father down, one of them had drawn out his saber and walked directly towards the man, obviously treating him as an assassin.
"stop!"
Zhu Jinghong scolded the two people in front of him to stop, and they all turned around with puzzled expressions.
Zhu Jinghong was originally very angry, but when he saw the innocent faces of these two people, he swallowed back his curse words.
The guard is also performing his duties, so why should he scold others?
"You're good, why are you beating someone? Put the knife away!" Zhu Jinghong said in a deep voice.
After looking at the frightened peasant man, the two guards felt that this man was not a big threat, so they put away their knives at the order.
"Hel the person up!" Zhu Jinghong spoke again.
"I don't dare bother the noble man. The villain can get up on his own. If he can get up..."
The peasant man got up quickly. He had been really scared just now. The look in the guard's eyes when he drew the sword really made him shudder.
Old Liu Tou'er, the pig butcher at the entrance of the village, has the same look in his eyes every time he kills a pig.
"Don't cry. We are not bad people. There is delicious food in the oil paper. Try it quickly..."
"Second son, quickly kowtow to the noble man!" The peasant man shouted anxiously regardless of his pain.
Looking at the man, Zhu Jinghong said calmly: "No need!"
From the beginning to the end, Zhu Jinghong behaved warmly. He comforted the "second baby" and stopped crying. He dropped the oil paper bag and ran to his father.
Seeing this scene, his father was so frightened that he froze on the spot.
Sure enough, the next moment, Wang Jie from a hundred households was heard scolding: "Bold..."
The peasant man quickly knelt on the ground, pressed his son down and kowtowed: "Noble man, please calm down! Noble man, please calm down!"
The other people also knelt down and kept kowtowing to beg for mercy, which made Zhu Jinghong feel a little uncomfortable.
There was a time when he was so humble in front of his boss!
The situation here attracted the attention of the people working around, but in the end no one dared to come and interfere.
Picking up the oil paper bag from the ground, Zhu Jinghong slowly walked towards his kneeling father and son. When he got closer, he squatted down and said, "Here, have a piece. Doesn't it smell good?"
Perhaps feeling a sense of security around his father, the child reached out and took the meat, then put it in his mouth and chewed it.
"Is it tasty?"
"tasty!"
"Take it if it's delicious!" Zhu Jinghong handed over the oil paper bag again.
"Thank you for the reward, thank you for the reward!" This time, the farmer thanked him on his son's behalf.
"Everyone get up, everyone get up!"
After his order, the father and son stood up. The child was satisfied with the delicious food, but the adult's face was full of fear.
"What's in the basket?"
"My dear, it's for lunch!"
"Oh? What do you eat for lunch?"
The peasant man replied: "Rice balls and pickles!"
"Can you eat enough every day?"
“The women and children at home eat less, but they still have enough to eat!”
Zhu Jinghong asked again: "How long has your family been a tenant farmer before your ancestors passed down the land?"
"The land of our ancestors has been gone since the time of my uncle, sixty or seventy years ago!"
"How many tenants are there in this area?"
“More than half of them are tenant farmers, and some whose families have little land will rent fields from larger families to farm!”
Next, Zhu Jinghong asked about other things, which he summed up in one word: "bitter".
The lives of the people today are really too hard. Their only pursuit is to have enough to eat, and they never think about anything else.
After deeply understanding the current situation of the world, Zhu Jinghong's mentality was also changed.
Before, he wanted to be the emperor for power and status, but now he changed his mind and just wanted to do his best to change the world.
If he could make this world a little better, if he could benefit all people in the world, then his life would not be in vain.
"It seems that I can't sit in the old emperor's seat!" Zhu Jinghong murmured in a low voice.
