"Everyone, let go of your appetite, eat and drink! You're well prepared!" Wang Peng took a bite of the melon and shouted at the top of his voice: "You're welcome when you go. If you're full, we'll continue in the afternoon. Take advantage of this opportunity." When the weather is nice for a few days, cut all the wheat off the ground, dry it and store it in the warehouse. Don't get caught in the rain. If the wheat gets wet, half a year's hard work will be in vain!"
Perhaps because they were busy eating, the crowd's response was not enthusiastic. There were only a few sparse responses. However, Wang Peng didn't care. He just laughed twice and walked to a paved place under the locust tree. He sat down next to the futon and took the bowl and chopsticks from his wife. He paused with his chopsticks and prepared to eat.
"Master Wang!" A man in his early thirties asked: "How do you think this year's wheat income will be? How many percent of the grain can be harvested? (An ancient way of calculating the harvest, normal years are divided into ten percent, and then good years and disasters are divided into ten percent. Years are calculated based on normal year conditions!)”
"Thanks to Mr. Tang Ren, the rain and weather are suitable this year. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be 112%!"
"That's great. If that's true, everyone will be happy!"
"Those are the powerful spirits of the Tang Dynasty masters!" Wang Peng said quickly: "If it were changed, even if it is 130% or 140%, the wheat harvested will be shown to us, and after it is dried, it will be sent to Fuyu Masters The granary has gone!"
"Master Wang said yes!"
"It's a good thing that Mr. Wang made peace, otherwise we wouldn't be able to take advantage of this!"
"We can eat wheat, thanks to Mr. Tang Ren, and also to Mr. Wang!"
Listening to everyone's compliments, Wang Peng twirled the short beard on his chin contentedly. He was still not used to being called "Master". After all, a year ago he was a poor man starving in the mountains, counting three generations. They are all self-cultivated farmers, but his current wealth is enough to bear the title of "Master". The four brothers occupy a total of more than a thousand acres of cultivated land, as well as more than 200 acres of mulberry fields, and more than a thousand acres of wasteland, pastures, and woodlands. acres, accounting for almost one-third of the entire village. Of course, their family alone cannot cultivate these lands. There are more than 30 households of child Hakka slaves, nearly 200 people, who have joined his family. If the family population is not too small and the clan is not strong enough, I am afraid that the entire village will be destroyed. His family name is the only one left.
Of course, it is not that no one is competing with Wang Peng, but firstly, Wang Peng has the land deed issued by the Xiongjin Governor's Office of the Tang Dynasty. Secondly, there are few people in the field at that time. Although Wang Peng's family occupies a lot of land, the remaining land is enough. Others farmed. Later, after he sent his youngest brother to Dinglin Temple in Sixi City, no one dared to compete with him. The villagers said that Mr. Wang’s ancestors migrated from the Central Plains, and the Tang government valued him particularly. If Mr. Wang is offended, he can be sent to the government with just one word, and the whole family will be dragged off to do hard labor if he is labeled as a traitor.
Seeing that everyone had almost eaten, Wang Peng led everyone to continue to cut wheat in the fields. After the sun went down, they went home and watched the children and their families threshing grain on the drying ground and bagging it into warehouses. Wang Peng called his two brothers over and coughed twice: "Second brother, third child, I have something to tell you!"
The second child was impatient and said without looking back: "Brother, let's talk about it tomorrow! I have to keep a close eye on the wheat that has just been harvested. Don't let others pretend to take it away secretly!"
"Yeah, let's talk about it tomorrow if we have something to do!" The third child's attention was also on the show: "We are busy now!"
Seeing the appearance of the two brothers, Wang Peng was furious and shouted: "Mai Zi, Mai Zi, you two know Mai Zi, if you still have me as the eldest brother in your heart, come here!"
When the second and third children saw this, they knew that their eldest brother was really angry, so they had no choice but to come over. Wang Peng walked to the old jujube tree next to the drying area and sat down. The second and third sons also sat cross-legged on both sides. Wang Peng coughed: "I know you two are still thinking about wheat, but there are more important things than wheat right now, and I have to make it clear to you two!"
"Is there anything more important in the world than wheat?" The second child is a quick talker: "Brother, if you don't eat for one day, you will be hungry, and if you don't eat for ten days, you will die. This is what you have taught us since childhood!"
"Second brother, please stop talking about these things!" Wang Peng said angrily: "Of course there is something more important than wheat in the world! That is land. I am here today to talk to you about land!"
"Land?" The attention of the second and third sons were immediately attracted. The third child asked cautiously: "Brother, what happened to the land? Did the Tang Dynasty master disown the land deed they issued?"
"No!" Wang Peng waved his hand: "The land deed issued by the Governor's Office is a sure thing. How could the people of Tang Dynasty not recognize it?"
"What's that for? The Tang Dynasty wants to increase rents and taxes?" asked the second child.
"No!" Wang Peng shook his head: "The taxes in the Dudu Mansion are levied in accordance with the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Those are the rules set by the emperor. Is there any reason to change them?"
"Then what's there to say?" asked the second child: "With such a low tax, we can just send the wheat over as soon as it is dried, so there is no need for Mr. Tang to worry!"
"It's labor service!" Wang Peng said.
"Working?" The second child frowned: "Why haven't you heard of it before?"
"I've asked about this. There are actually three types of taxes in the Tang Dynasty: rent, Yong, and Tiao. Renting means paying land rent and paying grain; Tiao means paying cloth, those with mulberry trees pay silk, and those without mulberry trees You have to pay linen; you have to work for the government, which usually lasts about a month! Anyone who owns land must bear these three taxes!"
"Then, why was there no labor last year?" asked the third child.
"Last year, the Tang Dynasty master had no shortage of manpower, so he collected more cloth and silk, which was equal to the labor service!" Wang Peng said.
"So that's what happened!" The third child breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's do hard work. Anyway, we had to do hard labor in the past when King Baekje was here, and the taxes were much heavier than now!" The second child was more careful: "Brother , how many people are we going to send out, where will they go to work, what will they do, and what preparations do we need?"
"Well, you should be more careful!" Wang Peng nodded with satisfaction: "Master Yuan Fei said when he passed by our village a few days ago that our village will have at least 120 people. I made some calculations and planned to go out. There are one hundred and eighty people, and our family has eighty!"
"Brother, aren't you dizzy?" The third child became anxious upon hearing this: "Isn't one hundred and twenty people enough? Why pay one hundred and eighty? Our family still pays so many?"
"Third brother, shut up and listen to what the elder brother has to say!" The second brother calmed down at this time: "Brother, you are so active. Is this good for you?"
"Not bad!" A smile appeared on Wang Peng's sweat-stained face: "Second brother, you have been smart since you were a child. Okay, okay, as long as you are here, I can feel at ease when I go out and go home!"
