Wanli Xinming

Chapter 108
At the end of the second year of Wanli, the bottom peasants of the Ming Empire finally felt some changes that were different from the past.

Beginning in the second half of the year, in the countryside of Dengzhoufu, Shandong, many things that Huo Laoshuan had never seen before began to appear in the seven-day market.

Thick and heavy glass candlesticks, iron oil lamps, etc., no one would buy things with spare money. Huo Laoshuan once saw several hawkers shouting hard, and he picked them away in his sneer. .

But some must-buy items, such as salt, have been slashed in price.It used to cost [-] cents a pound of coarse salt, but starting from the second half of this year, it is only [-] cents a pound, and the sand inside is more than half less, which is very gratifying.

My own head has been ground down by less than a finger. When someone digs the ground, I have to dig twice, so I have to buy this thing.

To Huo Laoshuan's surprise, the new head wasn't the half-baked shit that was sold in the past.

Huo Laoshuan squatted on the ground, lowered his head and touched the new head, feeling a little puzzled.He pushed the black felt hat above his head with his hand, wiped his face full of ravines from his forehead, and asked the hawker, "Is this steel?"

The peddler who came to the market was carrying two baskets of agricultural tools, which added up to 150 kilograms. At this time, he was sitting on a pole and panting, his head was steaming in the winter.Hearing Huo Shuan's question, don't answer.He took a big gourd from his back, opened the red cloth-wrapped wood stopper, and drank water.

When he was out of breath, the dealer smiled and said, "Huo Laoshuan, I'm an old man in this episode. To be honest with you, I really don't know if this is steel. But well—"

The peddler first took out a finger-thick piece from the thick rattan tied to the edge of the basket and placed it on a flat stone on the ground.Immediately take out a head, hold the iron ring at the top with your hand, and plan it hard on it.

"Look, two paragraphs at once!"

Huo Laoshuan gasped as if he had a toothache, then snatched his head from the dealer's hand and said distressedly, "Don't break your teeth!" Touching his rough hands, it was as if he was touching his own when he was young. General mother-in-law.

The peddler smiled and said, "You touched it before you bought it?" Seeing Huo Laoshuan examining the sun, he said, "If it collapses a little, I'll give it to you!"

Huo Laoshuan checked it several times, turned his thoughts in his stomach, and asked aloud, how much is this head?
The dealer smiled and said, "It's not much more expensive than before. Forty fen, even if you don't have any copper coins, you can give rice, wheat, or beans."

When Huo Laoshuan heard this, the meat sliver on his cheek popped out, and he gritted his teeth.He scolded: "You donkey, how much more expensive than last year?"

The peddler picked up the cane that had been broken in two pieces and said to Huo Laoshuan, "Can the head of the past be cut off? How much can you save by hitting two or three pieces like this!"

Huo Laoshuan was at a loss for words, and pointed to the shovel in the basket and said, "How much is this?" The peddler replied, "This one uses the same material as the head, 38 cents."

Huo Laoshuan heard fire from his eyes, as if he wanted to kill him.The peddler saw this and said frightenedly: "Old Uncle Shuan, you come and go with me often, and you can pay 75 cash for these two things, and I won't make money from you."

After some intense haggling, and after finding two people from the same village, Huo Laoshuan finally bought these two farm implements from the peddler for [-] cents.

Then he wandered around the market, and spent another sixty cents to buy a bristle board hat for his youngest son.

Due to the increase in the price of pig bristles on the market, this hat is also a penny more expensive than before. Huo Laoshuan almost got into a fight with the hat seller, and was scolded by Huo, an old man in the same village: "When you sell pig skins and pig bristles this spring, sell more Why don't you talk about the money? What are you still talking about now?" Huo Laoshuan then stopped.

Several people's faces were flushed by the cold wind on their way home.Huo Da said gossip: "Listen to Master Ji, the imperial court has conquered the northeast, the land is the boss, and the land is dark and oily, but no one is planting it."

Huo Laoshuan listened and sneered: "There are still good fields that are not planted? I don't know where to make up nonsense. I don't believe it."

A descendant from the same village was named Huo Lin, who came back from a day labor job in Dengzhou.Hearing Huo Laoshuan saying he didn't believe it, he continued, "Brother, this is true. There is a lot of commotion in the city. I heard that the emperor has made a decree. As long as this cheap and happy household is willing to go to farm, he will give the land for nothing. Not to mention, they will all be transferred to peasant households. No matter who they are, they don’t need to pay one cent of imperial grain for the first five years.”

Huo Da and Huo Laoshuan listened, and the jealous flame would burn their hearts to ashes.They scolded: "There is still such a truth in the world?! This cheap and happy family, the next generation can't study, the court gives the land for nothing? Still not paying the emperor's food?"

Huo Lin was startled when he saw some old men smoking from their noses, as if they were going to hit him.He stammered, "Xu Xu is my servant."

All of them breathed a sigh of relief.First he laughed at him, and then scolded him a few times, and then dispersed at the entrance of the village.

However, beyond Huo Laoshuan's expectations, what Huo Lin heard was actually true.As the New Year's Day approached, the county officers brought news when they went to the countryside to urge classes, which confirmed this.

The villagers of Huojia Village lived a year of neither fat nor thin in the turmoil. They ate fine grains that they were reluctant to eat for a few days, and their stomachs also gained some oil and water.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Mrs. Huo called the village surnamed Huo to gather at the ancestral hall, and called Wang Peng, the only literate foreigner in the village.

Wang Peng first read the notice copied from the county government office. One of them in the ancestral hall was counted as one, but no one could understand it.This Wang Peng translated it again in dialect, explaining the imperial court's policy of developing the Northeast clearly.

Everyone heard that the family from the court above Xu Baiding had at least [-] mu of land, and the breath was heavy.There was a lot of talk in the ancestral hall, and it was soon impossible to hear what everyone was shouting.

The 70-year-old old man paused the handle of the shovel in his hand. Seeing that it had no effect, he yelled twice at the top of his voice, but it still didn't work.Huo Lin, who was standing next to Mrs. Huo, saw this and yelled, "Shut up and don't talk, listen to the old man!"

After a roar, the ancestral hall fell silent.But then the soles of his father's shoes reached the top of his head, and Huo Lin had to kneel down and apologize to the elders. One of the uncles who was held in the arms of his cousin also fell to the ground and was greeted by Huo Lin.

Mrs. Huo has a strong body. In addition to losing a few teeth, she can also work in the ground, and most of the labor is on the top.Seeing that everyone was quiet, the old lady pointed to the genealogy on the wall of the ancestral hall and the hundreds of tablets at the bottom and said, "Our family surnamed Huo originally had roots in Shaanxi. Later, our ancestors couldn't survive. Come to Shandong with a bowl of begging."

With a mouthful of spittle, Mrs. Huo said again: "Listen to my dead father, our family has been in Huojia Village for 70 years, and there were only five brothers when we came here." Pointing to the plaque He said: "Look, the genealogy is memorized. The ancestors on this tablet are all buried here. How many mouths do we have now?"

He said to Huo Laoshuan: "You donkey married a mother-in-law who can give birth, and now you have seven children! It's sloppy, one girl is alive! It's sloppy. It's a pity that there are no scholars in our Huo family. One, fighting, studying is like a dead mother! In this world, if the clan cannot come out to study people, there will be no land!"

Looking around the room full of people surnamed Huo, the old lady said: "We have one now, who owns the land? They all farm the land for Mr. Wang's family and carry the work! Now the court has granted it—" Wang Peng saw that he was stuck , took the words and said, "The charter."

The old lady nodded approvingly, and then said: "The court has agreed to the regulations, and I will give the land in the northeast. I think it's good, the emperor's grace is mighty! I discussed it with the old man in the clan, and let's move our family there! Give [-] mu of land—for grass, [-] mu, how big is that land?”

"It's not better for us to grow our own land than to pay rent? I called you here today to discuss this matter, and all said- um, come one by one, don't call me blindly."

Wang Peng listened to it, his heart was beating wildly, and his heart was crying.The Huo family has moved, and their distant support, Master Wang's family, is in trouble!
　Today, Lao Mo finished writing at around 11 o'clock, and scrolled through the comments - there were also personal attacks.Seriously, this is something Lao Mo has emphasized too many times.If you come to attack Lao Mo, Lao Mo doesn't care.Your personal attacks on other book friends actually reveal your own qualities.Lao Mo once again emphasized that discussions are infinitely welcome, and no personal attacks are allowed!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)