After Zhu Pingan's move to "learn from the valley", Zhang Juren said goodbye and left Shanghe Village. He came to his parents' home with his wife and could not stay long. Zhu Pingan, the village elder and others sent him to the entrance of the village to watch him leave.
After sending Zhang Juren away, Zhu Ping'an was invited to Cun Zheng's home by the village leader and the village elders to make plans for the school valley. The village elder was more concerned about the school valley than erecting a monument. It was almost noon. , Zhu Pingan was able to escape.
Before I even got home, I heard a lot of people in my yard, as if going to a market.
"Master Zhu is back!"
Before Zhu Pingan could enter the door, he heard an excited voice coming from the yard.
Master Zhu?
When Zhu Ping'an heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and then he walked in and was surrounded by the excited crowd in the yard.
"The little old man is a good farmer. I beg Mr. Zhu to take him in and make him a cow and a horse..." A patched old man came to Zhu Ping'an very respectfully but also very excitedly. , the tone is a bit confusing.
"Mr. Zhu, our family is a family, and we can't do it without a cook. I am the second pillar of Bianjia Village. I have been working as a ladle in the town for more than ten years. Please let me be our cook. The cooking will be delicious. "
A man with a big head, a thick neck, a greasy face and clothes, patted his chest in assurance.
"I am a rough man, but I have plenty of strength. Let me be a servant."
"I can also farm."
"Master Zhu, please accept us." Others gathered around, vying to recommend themselves.
"Mr. Zhu, my two daughters are both yellow-flowered girls. Leave them here to bring tea and water to Mr. Zhu. They will be able to work more efficiently. If...if Mr. Zhu likes it, It also works as a bed warmer.”
There was even an uncle who single-handedly pushed his two well-groomed daughters to Zhu Ping'an and recommended them to Mrs. Wang.
Then Zhu Pingan saw the uncle's two little girls with pigtails looking at him with big round eyes and innocent faces. One of them was biting his finger and drooling.
The older one is at most six years old, and the younger one is only four or five years old!
It's not as high as the legs of a table. You know how to warm a bed at this age, right? !
Zhu Pingan had a dark look on his face...
Looking at the people in the yard rushing to recommend themselves as slaves, the corners of Zhu Ping'an's mouth twitched. This must be the dedication of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Ping'an also knew something about contributions. Most modern history book reviews are critical of this, almost defining it as an important reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, in Zhu Pingan's eyes, contributions must be considered separately for the country. Donation is definitely harmful but useless, but for the villagers, this is not the case.
For a voluntary contribution like this, if it was not good for them, they would definitely not do it.
how to say.
This is like a tax avoidance method, which was also studied by the wisdom of the ancient working people. The imperial court did not collect taxes or collect corvee from officials or the families of the people who were elected. So the working people thought that if I became an official or the family of the people who were elected, what would happen if I became an official or a member of the family? Wouldn't it be the same as tax exemption and corvee exemption? How could it be done? It was OK to donate land to become a tenant, and it was also OK to donate oneself to become a domestic slave.
In the Ming Dynasty, although the court clearly stipulated that land tax was very low. No more than one-tenth, but the burden is heavy for ordinary farmers because they cannot withstand the layer upon layer of recording, the routine of soaking, burning, and burning trees. Another point is that the corvee labor in the Ming Dynasty was quite heavy, including building roads, building bridges, escorting grain, and even transporting three melons and two dates to the capital and traveling thousands of miles to the capital. It was time-consuming and expensive, and it was miserable.
Therefore, some farmers "donated" their fields to the families of officials. In fact, they still farm by themselves, but the dignitaries have the privilege of tax exemption and do not have to pay taxes. Farmers save tax expenses. Even if he had to pay land rent to wealthy families, he would be happy as long as it was less than the court taxes and the regular expenses of local officials. This is just like when foreign companies in my country enjoyed various preferential treatment in the past, many people went out of their way to find foreign or overseas shareholders and put up a foreign investment brand to avoid taxes. Land donation is similar to this.
but. In any case, making contributions is of great benefit to officials and officials. This is also the advantage of those in power, um, the so-called exploiting class.
Understanding is understanding, but...
"Yaya can warm the bed..."
The drooling little lolita of four or five years old waved her chubby little paws and repeated the uncle's words in a milky voice, which made Zhu Pingan almost spit out a mouthful of old blood...
"The pig is here, come in quickly."
At this moment, Mrs. Chen, the mother who heard the commotion, excitedly waved her hand at the door of the house and called Zhu Pingan over.
With the rescue of his mother, Mrs. Chen, Zhu Ping'an was able to walk through the yard through the crowd and come to the house.
The villagers were still very respectful to Zhu Pingan, the master of civil affairs. When they saw that Chen asked Zhu Pingan for something, they all consciously made way for Zhu Pingan.
"Hurry up, look." Mother Chen excitedly pulled Zhu Pingan to the back room and pointed at the various gifts placed on and under the bed for Zhu Pingan to see.
"This is this?" Zhu Ping'an looked at the various gifts arranged randomly in the room, feeling a little confused.
"Just when you were at Muramasa's house, many people came one after another to bring these things. You have to put them down no matter what, and my mother can't stop you." Mrs. Chen looked at the gifts all over the bedroom, her eyes filled with tears. Shining light.
You didn't stop me, mom.
Looking at Mr. Chen, whose eyes were shining brightly, Zhu Pingan silently cursed in his heart.
However, that’s okay. I’m not a pedantic person. It’s just human nature to welcome and send someone away.
What's more, mother Chen is still so excited, so she won't ruin the scenery. But I can no longer accept gifts from now on.
"Oh, I almost forgot, there are also these land deeds, this is fifteen acres of paddy field, this is also fifteen acres of paddy field, well, this is more, this is fifty acres of irrigated land, and... These fields are quite close to our village, and they were given by wealthy locals nearby. There is also a grocery store in the town, who gave it to me... and these banknotes, my mother has not yet Too late to count..."
As her mother, Mrs. Chen, suddenly remembered the land deeds, she took out a small pile of land deeds from Father Zhu's worn shoes under the bed, then took out several banknotes from under a certain brick on the ground, and sat on the bed and handed them to her one by one. Zhu Pingan said.
"Mother..." Zhu Pingan started to speak, but was interrupted by his mother, Mrs. Chen.
Mother Chen held the land deed firmly in her hand and said, like a miser, in the same tone as when she confiscated new year's money, "Mom, keep these things for you."
In the morning, Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and gave fifty taels of silver to Murakami as a school boy. When he came back, Mrs. Chen was very distressed. Thanks to these rich people who had just arrived home, they sent people to send these gifts, land deeds and other congratulatory gifts. Chen's mood Only then did things get better, so Chen didn't give Zhu Ping'an a chance at this time.
Seeing his mother, Mrs. Chen, covering the land deed as if she was protecting a calf, Zhu Ping'an was speechless, and then looked at the gifts piled under the bed.
"Don't even think about those things. If you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are, you still have to give those things as gifts. Mother has put them away. Well, the Wang family's gift will be given to the Zhang family in return; the Zhang family A gift to the Wang family in return..."
Mother Chen pointed to the pile of gifts under the bed and told Zhu Pingan their destination one by one.
"Forget it this time, don't take your mother in again." Zhu Pingan could only smile bitterly. (To be continued.)
