Lao Zhu glared at him: "You have never farmed before, why are you running down there? When you get sick, your mother will nag us again."
Zhu Bai stiffened his neck and said: "No, if the father goes down, the son will go down. Why should the father just do something fun?"
Then the two father and son stared at each other and stood in a stalemate.
Lao Zhu said: "There are leeches in the mud. They stare at people's legs and suck blood. Even if they are pulled out, the blood from the wound will flow all over the ground. Aren't you afraid?"
Zhu Bai: "My father is not afraid, and my sons and ministers are not afraid either."
Then he said to himself: "Ah, speaking of which, the fields on my farm have been planted. If I want to plant the rice, I have to find another place. Where can I go?"
Lao Zhu snorted: "Forget it. You've made me lose interest."
Zhu Bai said: "Where can I ask a farmer to come up and chat with my father?"
Lao Zhu: "Okay."
Then Zhu Bai called for Lao Wang, the leader of the farmer.
Farmer Wang is in his early fifties, he is honest and honest, dark and skinny, with gray hair on his temples, and wrinkles appear on his face when he smiles.
He was a little nervous when he saw Lao Zhu, but he had dealt with Zhu Bai more often, so he was much better off than ordinary farmers.
Lao Zhu's mood immediately improved and he asked, "How was the harvest last year?"
Farmer Wang: "Thanks to the Emperor, although the early rice harvest was hit by floods last year, the harvest was reduced by half, but because the King of Hunan asked us to plant it for three seasons, we planted wheat first, then early rice and late rice. Therefore, we can harvest four stones per mu of field. A stone of rice and a half of wheat.”
The most grain-producing areas in the south of the Yangtze River are summer wheat and autumn millet. Both lakes grow two-crop rice, while Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian grow three-crop rice.
In the Ming Dynasty, one stone was equal to about 150 kilograms, and four stones was equal to more than 600 kilograms.
The Ministry of Household Affairs divides the fields into upper-mature fields, medium-mature fields and lower-mature fields. The rice yield per mu is two and a half shi, two shi and one and a half shi.
Lao Zhu sighed: "This is because you have done a good job in planting. When we were young, the most we could produce per mu in one season was two stones."
Farmer Wang: "The King of Xiang taught us to use fertilizer, so the grains of the millet are plump and there are fewer shriveled shells."
Lao Zhu glanced at Zhu Bai.
Zhu Bai chuckled: "My fifth brother taught me how to use vegetation, gray duck dung, and pig dung."
Zhu Biao said: "This can also be called promotion by the Ministry of Household Affairs. If there is a flood or drought, we are not afraid."
Lao Zhu nodded slightly: "So it's not that the ground can't grow food, it's that people are lazy."
Last year, everyone in Yingtianwei's fields said that they suffered from disasters and could not provide military rations.
Lao Zhu established the military system of ten thousand households to "garrison fields and raise soldiers" since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty was founded, the system was explicitly stipulated that each garrison soldier should receive fifty acres of land, and pay five "gran field grains" to the court every year. Stone, that is, "half the mu tax" is equivalent to one dou of grain per mu.
Now, if you ask me, even if I plant one crop per acre, I can get one or two stones of rice.
Anyone who says he can't pay a pound of tax is absolutely talking nonsense.
Li Wenzhong and the others smelled something unusual, and finally realized that Lao Zhu was not here to reminisce today.
Lao Zhu encouraged Farmer Wang for a few words, then stood up and said, "We haven't been out for a long time. Let's walk around more and see how the people live."
Then he walked southwest along Zhu Bai's field.
Li Wenzhong and the others saw that Lao Zhu was heading towards the farmland where the left guard was staying. They felt a little panicked, but did not dare to say anything.
Lao Zhu stood on the field ridge and waved to an old farmer in the field: "Old man, excuse me, I have something to ask you."
The old farmer saw that Lao Zhu didn't look like an ordinary person, so he wiped his hands on his clothes and bowed: "What do you want to ask me?"
Lao Zhu pointed to this field: "Whose land is this? We want to buy it."
The old farmer waved his hand: "I can't buy it. This is Ying Tianwei's farmland."
Lao Zhu pretended to be surprised and looked him up and down: "Hey, that old man doesn't look like a soldier."
The clothes worn by military households are completely different from those of peasant households, which can be seen at a glance.
The old farmer smiled, didn't answer, handed over to Lao Zhu, and then went to work.
Li Wenzhong's and others' faces turned red and white.
Isn't this clear? The commander of the guard station rented out the farmland to tenant farmers.
Lao Zhu ordered the soldiers of the border city garrison to "defend the city with three points and farm the crops with seven points", and the soldiers in the inland garrison to "defend the city with two points and farm the crops with eight points".
If they don't plant it themselves, they are already violating the order.
Everyone knows that farming is hard work. It is better to rent out the land to tenant farmers, even if you only harvest half of the grain, than to face the loess and turn your back to the sky.
Moreover, another advantage of renting out the fields is that the officials can collect rent directly from the tenant farmers.
All soldiers must receive their rations from him.
Soldiers can only receive as much as the officials give.
Regardless of good years or bad years, the extra money will be used by officials to line their own pockets.
Soldiers had to find other ways to make money.
If the soldiers grow their own crops, they must first keep enough for themselves and then turn them over.
Officials don't have so much money to mop up.
Lao Zhu's face didn't look strange at all, and he walked around the large area.
Everywhere I went there were tenant farmers farming.
The three adults didn't know whether they were angry or frightened, but their expressions were all bad.
Zhu Biao also frowned secretly.
Lao Zhu walked back slowly.
Instead of going back through Jubao Gate, he went around to Zhengyang Gate.
Several carriages carrying silver charcoal were waiting in a hidden area outside Zhengyang Gate.
Zhu Bai rubbed his hands secretly: the show has finally reached its climax. It’s not in vain that I spent the whole day beating gongs and carrying sedan chairs for Lao Zhu.
Erhu walked over, picked up the bamboo hat hanging on the carriage, put it on, and drove the carriage slowly into the city. Then he was stopped by the Zhengyang Gate guards.
The soldier said, "There is something wrong with your goods. We need to confiscate them and search them."
Erhu replied in a loud voice: "If you have any questions, Master Bing will tell you right here."
The soldier was unaware of the danger approaching and was a little impatient: "There are prohibited items. We have to transport them to the government office and check them one by one. Open them all here and check them to prevent everyone from entering and exiting."
Erhu: "Please give me a receipt from the official to charge me ten carts of silver charcoal. How many kilograms in total? I will have a fixed amount when I come to receive the goods."
Xiaobing: "I can't stand. I can't read."
Erhu: "Then I'll go with the soldiers."
The soldier glared: "Is it true that ordinary people like you can just enter the guard office?"
Erhu sneered: "The universe is bright and clear, at the feet of the Emperor. If you investigate it openly, why can't I go in and take a look."
The soldier was already a little guilty, but now he became more and more anxious when he saw the two tigers not cooperating. He drew his sword and said, "Oh, you rebelled against me."
Erhu: "If the silver charcoal runs low, who should I look for?"
More and more people are watching.
The soldier became more and more anxious: "I can't find it. If you have any prohibited items with you, we will definitely confiscate them."
Erhu: "Call your commander out."
Soldier: "Is our commander the one you can imagine meeting?"
Erhu said: "Then how can we see him?"
Xiaobing rolled his eyes: "I can't see you."
Erhu was so angry that he clenched and unclenched his fists, and then clenched them again, so he didn't start punching him directly.
