The Red Mansions

Chapter 134

Mingming Jiazi rain, it is already the beginning of spring!
The eighteenth day of the first month of this year is the beginning of spring, the first solar term of the year.

"Li" means "beginning". When the sun rises and stings, everything is spring.

It is a brand new beginning for both people and things.

The spring outing on the day of Lichun is called "Tanchun".

People dressed up and took to the streets.

First, the primrose dressed as a rooster walked in the front.

After that, a group of people carried the image of a huge spring cow, and the people behind were dressed as shepherd boys leading the cows, big-headed dolls giving spring peaches, and swallows.

Spring outing is also a signal to start outing, and it is a good time to go out in spring until the Dragon Boat Festival.

The weather gets warmer in the beginning of spring, which is a good time to start spring plowing. Its quality affects the harvest of the year, so the beginning of spring is a very important solar term.

Agricultural production has always been the top priority of the country, and it has been regarded as the foundation of the country by various dynasties since ancient times.

An important task of the government is to "persuade farmers and mulberry" to develop agriculture. In order to encourage farmers to start spring plowing in a timely manner, a series of ceremonies will be held in Lichun.

Every year at the beginning of spring, the Son of Heaven will hold a grand celebration, offering sacrifices to Emperor Qing himself, and plowing the fields.

Afterwards, a spring decree will be issued to the onlookers, urging the farmers that the one-year spring plowing has begun.

On the day of Lichun, the government of all places will also cover the cattle with red and green, and the state and county officials will whip them with whips made of colorful cloth strips, praying for a year of good weather. This ceremony is called "beating spring".

Of course, the emperor plowed the fields, and the government started the spring, all to show that they valued agriculture.

But most of the time in ancient times, farmers could only struggle on the line of food and clothing.

Exorbitant taxes and land annexation caused farmers to either lose their personal freedom and become tenant farmers, or flee and become refugees.

In this context, no matter how strong the ritual sense of the emperor's farming, it can only be reduced to a show.

Outside Cixi City, in the fields, there are crowds of people.

In the bare rice field, Jia Yun was dressed in an official uniform with her sleeves rolled up and her trousers rolled up. She supported the plow with one hand and waved a whip with the other.

"Good!" The officials and the common people cheered and applauded excitedly.

It's a very good omen for Jia Yun's plowshare to drive out!
Especially the peasants, they are most happy to see such a young county magistrate as Jia Yun, but his crops are very upright.

This is nothing, but for them, the spring plowing ceremony, seeing the county magistrate working hard, gave them a sense of identity invisibly.

Seeing everyone applauding, Jia Yun also became interested. She laughed and waved the bullwhip. The buffalo pulled the plow into the air, and the soil flew up.

In his previous life, he was a rural child, and doing farm work was commonplace for him, and it even became a kind of instinct, which he would never forget in several lifetimes.

There was constant applause from all around, people were all smiles, and then dispersed one after another to join in the spring plowing ceremony, and the scene suddenly became hot.

Of course, today is just a ceremony, and the real spring plowing is still early.

Generally speaking, the temperature in the south rises quickly. Spring plowing begins in late February every year, and early rice is sown in March, and farmers are also working in the fields one after another.

The general time for spring plowing in the northern region should be in March and April, and the specific sowing time varies depending on the temperature, moisture and other factors in the region.

In terms of solar terms, most parts of the country really enter the busy season of spring plowing when the Jingzhe arrives.

Because Jia Yun took the lead in the county government officials, others also went to work in the fields.

Everyone who was usually pampered, was sweating profusely before walking a few steps, but had to grit his teeth and persist.

I was afraid of leaving a bad impression on this smiling Mr. Huzhi County.

On the contrary, the chief bookkeeper Jing Lushi and the county school teacher Qiu Nong, both of them did farm work well.

Although he is a little physically weak, but the airs are very upright, it can be seen that he has suffered a lot and has really done farm work.

Jia Yun saw that both of them were so old and couldn't hold on for long, so she stopped the farm work in her hand.

Lest they insist on working because of themselves, and die exhausted in the fields, that would be bad.

After the yamen servant took over the plowshare, Jia Yun came to the field ridge, and someone brought hot water and a towel for him to wash his face and wipe his sweat.

Just washing up, Jia Yun asked Jia Ming to call over Jing Lushi, Qiu Nong and others who were still working.

Jing Lushi, Qiu Nong and the others breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Jia Ming's call. They looked at each other and couldn't help shaking their heads and smiling wryly.

In the past, magistrates took the lead, and at most they could do it with a few whips.

This year they were very unlucky, they met a county magistrate who was good at doing farm work, and they just broke out in a sweat.

But Jia Yun didn't know the helplessness of the crowd. With his hands behind his back, he walked slowly to the country road and looked at the village in front of him.

When everyone came over after washing, Jia Yun pointed to the village and asked Jing Lushi, "Master Jing, do you know what the name of that village is?"

Jing Lushi cupped his hands and replied: "Master Hui County, the village in front is called Qianjia Village. The village is rich in honey and red bayberry, and it is famous far and wide."

"Qian Family Village..." Jia Yun murmured softly, and then asked, "This village is named after Qian, but what does it have to do with Qian Youzhi and Mr. Qian?"

"There is indeed some relationship. Most of the villagers in Qianjia Village are surnamed Qian, and they are offshoots of the Qian family. It's just that they have been separated from the main line of the Qian family for too long. Although they live together in the same county, they rarely communicate with each other." Jing Lushi pondered. replied.

Jia Yun nodded lightly, and suggested: "Would you like to go to Qianjia Village with me?"

Everyone replied in unison that they would, just kidding, the county magistrate was going to the village, who dared to say no?
Jia Yun nodded in satisfaction, and took the lead to walk to the village.

The path is winding, and the weeds in the field are showing tender teeth, indicating that spring is coming.

Qianjia Village is built on the hillside. There are many bayberry trees in the village. Forty or fifty households are scattered around a small lake. The lake is crystal clear and sparkling under the sunlight.

The villagers who were still participating in the spring plowing ceremony in the field found Jia Yun and the others, and immediately ran to Li Zheng and Village Zheng to report the news.

After pondering for a while, Li Zheng persuaded the villagers to continue the spring plowing ceremony, while he asked Chief Jia for instructions, gathered the elders and others in the village, and went to Qianjia Village together.

The imperial court has a long history of using old people to manage rural affairs.

Elders are well-known and virtuous old people in the local area (here refers to older men).

Using their prestige and experience in the countryside to assist the magistrate in governing the township is also a supplement to the power of the county magistrate representing the imperial power.

What I want to say here is that the old people appointed by the imperial court have the privilege of directly facing the saint given by the imperial power.

But in daily life, its main task is to assist the magistrate in handling local common affairs. It is best not to disturb the magistrate.

why?

Due to reasons such as transportation, communication, and the internal structure of government departments, although the magistrate represents the imperial power, his energy is limited, and he cannot do everything by himself.

Therefore, there are many civil disputes, such as: fields, real estate, marriage, fights, debts, theft, private slaughter of cattle, damage to farm tools and crops, etc.

In villages where clans are intertwined, these old people usually come forward to coordinate and solve the problem.

Of course, this does not mean that civil disputes cannot be filed in the county government lobby.

Unless there is a serious civil dispute, or people are killed, or there are signs of riots, or the parties are dissatisfied with the results of the "old man" and want to appeal.

Only then will the drum beating the hall, and the county magistrate will come forward to hear the decision.

Jia Yun saw that Li was waiting for someone to come over and asked them to come forward and talk.

Jia Yun first asked Cun Zhengdao: "I heard that Qianjia Village is rich in honey and red bayberry. How much is the annual output and how do you sell them?"

The villager clasped his hands and replied, "As adults, almost every household in our village raises bees and can produce ten thousand catties of honey every year."

"The output of bayberry is uncertain. When the year is good, you can harvest up to [-] to [-] jin. If you encounter severe weather such as heavy rain, hail, etc., the grains will not be harvested from time to time."

"As for how to sell it, honey is easy to sell. Every year, dealers come to buy it, and the supply exceeds demand."

"On the other hand, bayberry is not easy to preserve. After harvesting every year, except for some sold in the city, most of them are made into bayberry wine, preserved bayberry fruit, bayberry jam and honey bayberry."

When Jia Yun heard this, she secretly sighed.

If people who didn't know heard about Qianjia Village's harvest every year, they would definitely think that they would be richer.

But in fact, they can't earn too much money from it every year.

Because whether it is beekeeping or fruit tree planting, taxes are also required, and the taxes are extremely heavy. The sum of various items accounts for almost [-]% to [-]% of the total income, which is similar to that of tenants farming.

For example, honey, Qianjia Village produces [-] catties a year, and it is priced at one penny per catty, but it can only be sold at [-] yuan per catty when sold to traders.

Ten thousand catties of honey can be sold for more than 660 taels of silver, and after paying 200% of the tax, there will be only nearly [-] taels of silver left.

Of course, if you raise more, your income will be more, and if you raise more, your income will naturally be less, but the difference is not a few taels of silver. After all, villagers spend most of their time farming.

As for how much money Yangmei can sell every year, there is no need to ask, it must be less than honey.

It can be seen from this that even if these farmers try to increase their income, at most they can only hover on the line of food and clothing, and it is impossible to become rich and wealthy.

Therefore, it is not a joke to say that the tyranny is fiercer than the tiger. It is also true that the taxes in the Jiangnan area are high.

Of course, Jia Yun is powerless to change the government's tax policy, but can increase the purchase price of Cixi County's special products such as honey, tea, rice cakes, wine, bayberry wine, golden straw hats, and celadon.

However, this matter cannot be settled with a pat on the head. It needs to be considered in many aspects. It can not only increase the income of the people, but also allow the Xue family to earn money from the business.

The best way is to set up the brands of these special products, and only when they are competitive can they be sold at a high price.

Walking into Qianjia Village, Jia Yun casually walked to a few households to have a look. They were not bad, and every household had surplus food.

The people here are all built with mud tile houses, which are well repaired. From the beginning to the end of the village, Jia Yun didn't see a single dilapidated house.

There were a few. Jia Yun saw someone in the house, but didn't go in.

With sharp eyes, he saw through the cracks in the door and windows that most of the people in the room were naked and wrapped in sheets.

Jia Yun pondered for a while, and knew that the family was relatively poor, and the family couldn't even afford a set of clothes for each person.

It can be seen that in the same village, there are rich and poor.

Jia Yun asked the villager about the situation of the passing families.

The villager shook his head and said that either someone in the family was sick and emptied their savings, or the man in the family was incompetent and only wanted to make money instead of doing business, so he was poor...

In short, there are thousands of reasons why the family is poor. After Jia Yun heard this, she remained silent.

Although he is a parent officer, he can't really be their parent...

After returning to the county government from Qianjia Village, Jia Yun collected detailed information on various special products in Cixi for the past ten years.

After reading the materials for two or three days, he had a rough idea, and then mobilized the county government's elite forces to conduct on-the-spot investigations one by one.

At the same time, he also ordered Xue Pan to summon the managers, deacons, accountants, shopkeepers, etc. of the Zhejiang Trading Bureau of Xuejia Commercial Road, and all rushed to Cixi for a meeting before the end of the month.

Naturally, Jia Yun's actions were discovered by the wealthy gentry in Cixi, and they all personally or sent people to the county government office to inquire about the news.

Jia Yun didn't hide anything, and let people spread the news directly, saying that this year the county government will coordinate and support various industries in Cixi, improve the reputation of the industry, and strive to become bigger and stronger.

Especially the three items of celadon, woven handicrafts, and tea, which he plans to transport to all parts of the country for sale through Xue's business route.

To be honest, with the size of the Xue family business road, the little things produced in Cixi are really not enough to sell.

And because of this, it can be sold at a high price.

As for other agricultural products such as pears, bayberries, rice cakes, grapes, etc., they can only be sold within Zhejiang because they are not easy to preserve.

After hearing the news, the wealthy gentry wanted to find Jia Yun to learn more about the matter, but Jia Yun was not in a hurry to talk to them.

Because [-]% of the land in Cixi is in the hands of these landlords.

Jia Yun doesn't want to give them the impression that she can't do anything without them.

It should be said that if Jia Yun's plan is realized, it will be of great benefit to these landlords.

But people are cheap, and chasing people is not business.

For Jia Yun and Xuejiashanglu, Cixi's business can be done or not.

Therefore, Jia Yun must make these landlords jump anxiously and beg him to take him, so that she can really talk about this matter with them.

Early in the morning, Jia Yun and Xue Pan left the city with their personal guards and headed straight for Shanglin Lake.

Surrounded by mountains, Shanglin Lake has a variety of twists and turns, surrounded by steep mountains and abundant fruit trees.

Castanopsis Mountain in the south of Hunan, also known as Xianju Mountain, is said to have been inhabited by immortals.

The mountains are extremely quiet, with winding paths, gurgling streams and chirping birds.

In the season of high water, the waterfalls fly down, just like dancing in Bailian.

Celadon firing has a long history in the Shanglin Lake area, and it is the birthplace and one of the famous production areas of Yue Kiln Celadon.

Yue kiln celadon has a long history and far-reaching influence, and is highly appreciated and favored by people. It is one of the treasures of the traditional porcelain making process of the Han nationality.

Yue Porcelain is characterized by thin fetal bone, uniform glaze application, green glaze color and luster.

Especially the secret color kiln celadon, the glaze surface is blue and green, crystal clear and moist, like a tranquil lake, clear and green, beautiful glaze color, exquisite shape, bold and unrestrained line patterns, known as the fine products of celadon and cherished by the world.

Jia Yun and his party rushed to the bank of Shanglin Lake, at the entrance of a village called Zhoujia Village, and many people had already been waiting for a long time.

The people in Zhoujia Village are all surnamed Zhou, and they have no foreign surnames. They have been making porcelain for generations. It is said that it has been passed down for hundreds of years, and I don't know if it is true or not.

When Jia Yun's guard of honor came to the entrance of the village, nearly a hundred people knelt down to pay respects.

Jia Yun got off the official sedan chair, walked up to an old man kneeling at the front, helped him up, and said with a smile: "I've troubled Mr. Zhou by coming to the door."

Zhou Dengjia was nearly [-] years old, with gray hair, ravines all over his face, but his eyes were particularly bright.

Seeing Jia Yun's politeness, Zhou Dengjia heaved a sigh of relief, and leaning on his crutches, he said happily, "Your Majesty, you are being polite. It is a great honor for you to step on the humble land of this village!"

Seeing Jia Yun, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.

Yesterday, a yamen servant came to inform that the magistrate would visit Zhoujia Village, but he did not expect that the magistrate would be so young.

"Haha, you are really polite!" Jia Yun laughed loudly, and then waved to others: "Get up without courtesy!"

After everyone got up to get out of the way, Jia Yun and Zhou Dengjia walked into the village hand in hand.

Seeing that the old man was in good spirits, Jia Yun asked him how old he was, how many bowls of rice he could eat, how many children and grandchildren he had, and so on.

Not far away, Zhou Dengjia took Jia Yun to a house in the village.

"This is the ancestral home of the Zhou family. It is usually unoccupied. It stores the exquisite celadon products of Yue kiln made by our clan for nearly a hundred years." Zhou Dengjia explained.

Jia Yun nodded, he came here for Zhoujiacun today.

When the Yue Kiln was at its most prosperous, hundreds of kilns started firing porcelain here. The kilns were long and reclining, shaped like a crouching dragon, and were called "Dragon Kilns".

Since the Song Dynasty, Yue kiln celadon has declined.

There are many reasons, such as the competition of black-glazed porcelain, political turmoil, the gradual loss of Yue kiln secret color porcelain technology, and the decline in quality.

In particular, the rise of Jingdezhen, the capital of porcelain, left famous kilns all over the country with no living space, and even the whole world frantically sought after blue and white porcelain.

Due to various reasons, the decline of Yue kiln celadon is inevitable.

However, it is precisely the decline of Yue Kiln celadon. After the war, the celadon produced by Yue Kiln has very little stock in the market, so the price is expensive.

Because of its high price, collectors all want to get it, which gives Yue Kiln celadon hope to survive.

In the room, there are many wooden shelves with densely packed porcelain placed on them.

There are bowls, plates, saucers, cups, cups, bowls, holding pots, water bowls and other practical utensils.

There are also clocks, furnaces, goblets, long-necked vases, plum vases, flower vases, set vases, utensil bases, bird food jars, animal porcelain sculptures, etc., which are small, thin, exquisite, elegant and unique, full of wit and wit.

After Jia Yun selected several kinds and looked them over carefully, she turned to Zhou Dengjia and said, "Mr. Zhou, these porcelains are indeed high-quality goods, but can Zhoujia Village still produce such fine porcelains now?"

"Don't worry, my lord. Although we haven't made large quantities of porcelain these years, our cooking skills have not declined. Even the old kilns are often opened for maintenance and can be used at any time." Zhou Dengjia solemnly replied.

Jia Yun nodded and ordered: "Okay, you burn a batch as soon as possible to see if they can be as good as the porcelain in this room, I can guarantee that we will buy as much as you make! "

Zhou Dengjia burst into tears with excitement, and wanted to kowtow to Jia Yun again, but Jia Yun quickly supported him.

Just kidding, the old man is so old, he is blessed, and he can't be knocked away.

(End of this chapter)