The night was getting dark.
During the day, seven or eight scholars helped, and there was not much rice to thresh. At night, the family was slowly busy.
Due to drought and locust plague this year, the harvest in the fields is not very good. In previous years, more than 300 kilograms of grain could be harvested from one mu of land, but this year the yield per mu is only about 200 kilograms.
The tax is 1/15, and the total output of five acres of land is 1,000 kilograms, and more than 60 kilograms have to be handed over to the government.
After the autumn harvest is over, the county government will send people to one village after another to collect grain and inspect it in person, without any false pretense.
The only good thing is that the bag of rice handed in is less exposed to the sun and retains moisture so that it can be weighed on the scale, which saves more or less a pound or two.
Cheng Wanwan packed the threshed rice into sacks and asked Zhao Sanniu to carry it into the main room and stack it neatly, and then take it out to dry in the sun tomorrow morning.
Cheng Zhao picked up the threshed rice straw with a fork and put it aside. Zhao Dashan bundled the dry straw and stacked it into straw piles. This pile of straw was kept until winter and was of great use. It could not only start a fire, but also be spread on the bed. , it can also be stuffed into a quilt cover and used as a quilt cover. After stacking the straw piles, cover the top with reeds to avoid being soaked by rain.
Ah Fu boiled water to wash himself at night.
Shen Zheng had nothing to do and wandered around.
He sat next to Cheng Zhao with his legs crossed and said, "My father told me to learn more from you. I will do whatever you do. You have been doing farm work every day. When will you start studying?"
Cheng Zhao said without raising his head: "Farm work is also a skill. You can do it with me."
Shen Zheng sneered coldly: "With this free time, I might as well read a book. Later, my father came and asked me what I had read these days. I couldn't answer a word."
Cheng Wanwan straightened up and sat down on the chair, squeezing her waist. She asked, "Since Master Shen has nothing to do, let me ask you a question."
Shen Zheng didn't care: "Just ask."
"I heard that people's livelihood is tested in the imperial examination every year, so let me ask you a question in this regard." Cheng Wanwan said while rubbing his waist, "This year there is drought in the north, floods in the south, and locust plagues in both the south and the north. Disasters are frequent in various places. Fa, if people don't have food, they will become refugees. Throughout the ages, refugees have been the most troublesome problem for the imperial court. If you are officials in the imperial court, how will you solve this problem?"
Shen Zheng had read history books and naturally knew the dangers of refugees. The previous dynasty fell because of the refugees gathering to revolt.
He didn't expect that a peasant woman could know this.
It seems that he underestimated the peasant woman.
He considered it carefully and said: "The imperial court's approach has always been to suppress and appease at the same time. To suppress is to send troops, and to appease is to open warehouses to provide relief and distribute food, and to set up porridge shacks widely. When the disaster is over, these refugees will be sent back to their places of origin, leaving them without a home. Those who returned were sent to open up wasteland and settle in unowned land.”
Cheng Wanwan looked at Cheng Zhao: "What do you think?"
The measures Shen Zheng mentioned are top-down suppression and appeasement by the superiors, which is the thinking of the ruling class.
As for Cheng Zhao, who grew up in the countryside, his thoughts should be more based on the common people, but he is old-fashioned and needs stimulation to be more open-minded.
Cheng Wanwan continued, "Suppression and appeasement can only solve the temporary refugee problem. Have you ever thought about the root cause?"
Shen Zheng twitched his lips and said, "Didn't you just say that there are refugees because of frequent disasters?"
"No." Cheng Zhao said slowly, "The frequent occurrence of disasters is just the beginning. In fact, there have been clues for a long time. I heard that in the rich lands of the south, some county governments collect one-third of the tax, and farmers work hard all year to harvest. Afterwards, people in the family will still starve to death, and even if there is no disaster, these people will become refugees. Excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, ruthless officials rampant in the countryside, and rich gentry annexing land are all the reasons for the emergence of refugees."
Zhao Dashan interjected: "It's better for County Magistrate Shen. We only need to hand over one of the fifteen."
Shen Zheng said proudly: "Of course my father is the best!"
Zhao Ergou said: "The tax in Baiyun Town is very heavy. I heard that you have to pay six-tenths, and you can only leave forty kilograms of one hundred kilograms of grain."
"If people can starve to death during the autumn harvest, then why should we plant the land?" Zhao Sanniu spat, "It's better to work as a coolie in the town. At least you can get some copper coins in your hands."
Cheng Zhao raised his eyes and said: "It is difficult to implement suppression and relief to the refugees. Suppression can easily force the refugees to rebel, but for relief, the grain and silver are allocated layer by layer, and one hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver reaches the hands of the last layer of officials. There may only be one hundred taels left, and there have been too many changes. In addition to these two methods, I think we can arrange work-for-relief projects on the spot, such as building city walls..."
"And dig ditches!" Zhao Sidan answered, "If every village builds ditches in advance, there will be no need to worry about droughts in the future. If there is a sudden rainfall and floods, the ditches can also lead the water out of the fields, mother, I say Right?"
Cheng Wanwan touched his head: "We Sidan are so smart."
Shen Zheng said not to be outdone: "The imperial court can also take advantage of this time to recruit troops. After the refugees join the army, they will not join the rebel army again, which can stabilize the government and the frontline war situation..."
People in a room express their opinions.
Even Zhao Dashan, who talks little, will put forward some opinions of his own.
It was getting later and later, Cheng Wanwan announced that that was the end of the day, and everyone would wash up and go to bed.
When he went to bed at night, Shen Zheng dreamed that he had become a refugee. He actually got into a fight over a black-faced steamed bun. Fortunately, his fighting ability was good, and the black-faced steamed bun was successfully snatched. He lowered his head to eat the steamed bun, but The buns felt a little smelly, as if they were rancid... Then, he heard a scream.
"Master, why are you biting my foot?"
Ah Fu spoke very aggrievedly, but did not dare to take his feet out.
Shen Zheng opened his eyes and saw that he was holding Ah Fu's legs in his arms, holding Ah Fu's feet in his hands and stuffing them into his mouth.
"Bah, bah, bah!"
He got angry and got up from the ground.
"Go and sleep outside tonight!"
Ah Fu didn't care. Anyway, whether he slept in the house or outside, he always made a bunk on the ground, so there wasn't much difference.
The smell of rice soup came from the yard. Ah Fu smelled the smell and walked to the kitchen: "Auntie, let me help you look after the stove."
Cheng Wanwan is cooking rice porridge. Now that there is new rice at home, there is no need to eat corn and buckwheat noodles in a bitter way. White rice is so delicious. When cooked into porridge, paired with pickles, you can have a delicious meal.
The pickles were sent by the old lady Zhao. Originally, the old lady kept the pickles to prepare for the famine years. Now that the field has a small harvest, the old lady sent half of these pickles. Cheng Wanwan likes to eat them very much. All stayed.
As soon as the family sat down at the dining table, the sound of wheels came from the door of the yard.
Shen Zheng was the first to rush out. He saw the Qian family's carriage. There was a groom and two boys in the carriage. The three of them worked together to push down a round gray-white stone roller, and a big hole was immediately made in the soil. .
