"In public, there is no distinction between men and women. How can we hug each other openly?" When Huang Bingkun heard that the young man openly asked his master "what to do", he couldn't help but get angry, and immediately showed off his master's dignity. He reprimanded, "You are a good and responsible son of another family, and you must not imitate the actions of those frivolous and unscrupulous children!"
Huang Ping didn't dare to talk back, but his face was full of dissatisfaction. Huang Bingkun softened his tone again: "You are not young anymore. If that girl is a good-natured child, I will make a decision for you to propose a marriage, make an appointment, and get you married next year. .”
He would have thought that Huang Ping would shed tears of gratitude, but he didn't expect Huang Ping to show a shocked expression:
"Second Young Master, you must not..."
"Why not?"
"Students in school are not allowed to get engaged, let alone get married..."
"If it's not possible, then why do you act like this with others?" Huang Bingkun said seriously, "You are now a scholar, and scholars must have a good reputation. Girls also have reputations."
"Second Young Master, that girl and I just have a crush on each other... No, I didn't think about it..." Huang Ping said hesitantly.
"Then what do you want to do?!" Huang Bingkun began to be confused.
Huang Ping had a look on his face that said, "I can't explain it to you." He could only say reluctantly: "She and I are just friends. We both like each other..."
Huang Bingkun felt that the amount of information was a bit overwhelming, and he searched for a long time before he found an adjective: "A confidante?"
"That's probably what I mean." Huang Ping breathed a sigh of relief.
"What kind of family background is she?" Huang Bingkun is still chasing after her.
Huang Ping was helpless: "She is from a naturalized civilian family. Her hometown is Guangdong, and her parents are now working on the farm of the Agricultural Committee..."
Huang Bingkun heard that the other party's parents were not from humble backgrounds, but from farmers. Feeling a little relieved, he said seriously:
"Since you don't want to get engaged, you must never do this outrageous act in public again!" Huang Bingkun taught earnestly, ""
Huang Ping could only respond: "Yes, I understand."
Huang Bingkun returned to Huangjiazhai, only to find out that his father had just decided to lease about one thousand acres of land under the Huang family's name to the Tiandihui. The news took him by surprise, and it shocked him even more. My father actually dismissed Tuanyong from Huangjiazhai because of this.
In order to show their cooperation, the Huang family purchased the agricultural science and technology services of Tiandihui last year - although the original starting point was just to compromise and spend money to buy peace. Unexpectedly, last year's Tiandihui technological services more than doubled the Huang family's income. This made both the Huang family's master and eldest son, who were originally wary of Tiandihui's intentions and starting point, interested in Tiandihui. The two discussed that they had nearly a thousand acres of thin farmland under their own names, and they could hardly get any rent from farming it to tenants - if they insisted on collecting rent, they would probably starve to death. The tenants of Huangjiazhai are the main source of Xiangyong. The Huang family naturally does not want to offend the tenants too much.
Now the situation has become clear. With good public security, the Huang family no longer needs to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to continue "running a group" - it costs a lot to maintain a team of several hundred village warriors in Huangjiazhai, and everyone in Huangjiazhai has already It’s so miserable about this.
In the past, it was in order to "survive" in the chaotic social order. It had to be like this. Now that the bandits have been eliminated, and with such a powerful presence as the Fubo Army, the people do not dare to cause chaos and spend money to support this beast that is far larger than the size of a village. Tuan Yong is too uneconomical. Therefore, there have long been calls for the team to be completely disbanded.
This time. Mr. Huang directly abolished most of the regiments and retained only a few dozen people as bandits based on the village's population base, requiring that each village must have "villager soldiers".
This way. There is no need for the Huang family to continue doing such unprofitable things to support Xiang Yong. Huang Bingcheng, the eldest son of the Huang family, made a special trip to the Tiandihui to visit Ye Yuming and reached a business cooperation in which these lands and the tenants above were "all-inclusive" to the Tiandihui.
Huang Bingkun was shocked when he heard about Cai Yong's occupation of the field - he was cutting off his own claws! Huangjiazhai enjoys a lofty status in Lingao, which is directly related to the fact that several generations of his family have been the "pillars" of the township. Now that Tuan Yong has been laid off and the tenants of the opposite fields have been outsourced - doesn't his father know that the most important thing in Lingao is its population? These tenants are all "old households" who have been settled for many years. Many of them have fought with their grandfathers and fathers. Even if there is no war, this large population is a rare wealth. Why is dad so confused all of a sudden?
He hurriedly looked for his father and elder brother, but did not find them - the servant replied that both the master and the eldest young master were meeting Mr. Song in Chengmai in the flower hall.
This Master Song is a family friend of the Huang family - not only a family friend, but also the father-in-law of the eldest son of the Huang family. The affection is extraordinary. Huang Bingkun hurried to the flower hall.
In the flower hall, the master of Song Zongmao Song Village was talking loudly. He said he was visiting to see his daughter and grandson. But everyone knows that Master Song is here to seek advice.
The Song family is a wealthy family in Chengmai County. It turns out that Song Zonghui, the richest man in Chengmai, is the brother of Song Zongmao. Although Song Zongmao is not as rich as his brothers from this clan, he is still a moderate landowner, owning thousands of acres of land. Originally, all these lands were leased out. Ever since the Australians defeated the officers and soldiers and established the "Remediation Bureau" in Chengmai County, and then established the "Chengmai County Office" and the "Chengmai County Consultative Bureau", Chengmai has also gradually changed like Lin Gao.
Suppressing bandits, establishing land, and conducting population checks. Clarifying taxes and implementing a new tax system...we did it step by step. Although Song Zongmao criticized some of these policies, Chengmai had a completely new atmosphere, the ground was peaceful, and everyone, rich or poor, was living a much more stable life than in the past.
But the recent actions of the Australians really made him panic. The Agricultural Committee began to open up wasteland to establish farms in Chengmai and recruited farm workers. It is said that the treatment is generous. Not only did the long-term and short-term workers who had just come in to make ends meet "resign," but the tenants were also clamoring for a rent reduction - threatening to withdraw from the tenants if the rent was not reduced. In the words of the tenants: Now that Australians have come and worked as long-term workers for them, not only will they have good food, but they will also have a house to live in. It is much better than being a tenant who doesn't have enough to eat all year round.
With such a commotion, Master Song could no longer sit still. Since the land was cleared and the new tax system was implemented, his tax burden has become much heavier than in the past. In addition, a large number of Australian goods have poured into Chengmai, which has greatly increased consumer spending. Mr. Song originally wanted to increase the rent. , in this case, let alone increasing the rent, it is a question of whether anyone will farm for him this year.
In desperation, Mr. Song remembered that his in-laws were members of the Lingao Consultative Bureau. Since I am a committee member, I want to get close to the Australians, and Lingao is the hometown of the Australians, so I came here to discuss some ideas.
"...Hey, I didn't expect that the 50,000 imperial army would be defeated in a few days. When the imperial army came, my village also spent a lot of money and food, and almost emptied the storehouse - really It's really harmful to people!" Song Zongmao was talking loudly in the flower hall, "At the beginning, this hole had not been repaired. I originally hoped that the ground would be calm in the past few years and it would be repaired slowly. I didn't expect the Australians to do this again! This Are they giving us a way to survive? What a bastard! If we hadn't seen them as pitiful and gave them land, we would have starved to death. Now you actually say such fatherless words in front of me. It's really, really ..." Song Zongmao shook his head repeatedly as he spoke.
Under the rule of the Senate, the burden on tenant landowners was great. After the complete clearing of their land, they lost their hidden interests. After the implementation of the new tax system, not only the tax exemption benefits under the Ming Dynasty were revoked, but all the cheating and tax evasion methods used in the past in secret collusion with subordinate officials were invalidated. This has already caused the landlords to complain endlessly. And they must also pay progressive agricultural taxes at higher rates on a progressive basis. This caused many tenant landowners to go bankrupt and had no choice but to sell their land and move to the city to work in industry and commerce. The rest changed their ways and either subcontracted their land to Tiandihui or transformed themselves into land management.
Huang Shoutong consoled him: "This is also the general trend. Since there are so many troubles when it comes to tenant farming, why not just leave it to Tiandi? No matter how cunning the tenants are, there will naturally be Australians who will reason with them."
"It's worry-free to give it to the Tiandihui, but I've never dealt with them before, so I don't know if they are reliable," Mr. Song said. His worry was that Tiandihui would turn his back on him after engaging in "contribution" like some big investors did, and blackmail his land.
Huang Shoutong immediately said that the Heaven and Earth Alliance was reliable. The profits from the cooperation with the Australians are not bad, so this year we plan to lease out a large piece of land to the Tiandi Society for farming, together with the tenants on it.
"Australians still believe in loyalty. Mr. Song doesn't have to worry about this."
When Mr. Song was told this by Huang Shoutong, his thoughts came alive. Instead of going against the tenants like this and making everyone unhappy, simply outsourcing it to the Tiandihui would be a way out.
He then asked about the second thing.
"I heard that the Australians opened an 'Australian Academy' in Lingao?"
"Exactly, it's been going on for several years. It's called Fangcaodi."
"I heard that many children from wealthy Jinshen families in Lingao have gone to school?"
"There are quite a few."
Song Zongmao hesitated and said that it was because he heard that his brother Song Zong would send a son to Laigao to study. This gave Song Zongmao a sense of crisis. Song Zonghui was originally a member of the county advisory bureau and a popular figure in the eyes of Australians. He sent another son to study in Lingao. Needless to say, he was giving a "proton" to lose his sincerity. I have never been a committee member in the first place. If I fall behind in this aspect, will I still have a say in the county in the future? Although they are from the same clan, they are still distant relatives. (To be continued...)
