Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

The experience of Old Man Geng and his family is not just an isolated case. All tenants in Xuzhou Prefecture who have rented the Chen family's land have experienced temporary rent increases to varying degrees.

It may be [-]%, or [-]%. Some of them are particularly vicious. They don't even say how much rent they charge. They just break into the tenants' homes and rob them on the spot when they see how much food they have.The tenants cried and cried, but in the end they were no match for the rough thugs. They could only watch helplessly as they snatched away the food, and all their hard work throughout the year was in vain.

This year, central Sichuan suffered from a severe drought. The tenants did not have much food to begin with, and after paying high rents, there was even less food.If it were an ordinary farmer, the direct consequence of this would be to sell the land for grain and become a tenant who rents the land of the squires.

But these people were originally tenants. They had no land to sell and no assets in their homes. If this happened in previous years, they would have no choice but to become refugees and move to other places, or stay in their place of origin and starve to death.

Fortunately, this year is different. After a severe drought, while the grain production in Xuzhou Prefecture has been reduced across the board, potatoes have also been promoted on a large scale. Almost every family has planted dozens of kilograms of potato seeds.

A few dozen kilograms of potatoes can be grown to produce a few hundred kilograms, and then mixed with some wild vegetables, bran, and even leaves and roots from the fields. Finally, there is something to satisfy the hunger, which will not completely deprive people of food, and can prevent a large number of people from starving to death.

So many people can see that after the early rice harvest, the tenants in Xuzhou Prefecture are busy again.

The wharf is overcrowded, and there are farm men everywhere waiting to do odd jobs; in the rice fields that have been harvested, there are still women and children picking up the leftover rice grains; even the grain shops in the city are crowded, and a large number of tenants are about to harvest. The white rice and polished rice are exchanged for brown rice, in exchange for more satiating food.

Midsummer at the end of June is the hottest season, and chili sauce can no longer be sold, ushering in the off-season.However, there were more people in front of the Spicy Fairy Shop than during the peak season. After asking, I found out that most of them came to sell chili peppers in exchange for money.

In the back hall of Spicy Fairy, Zhang Cuiying said to Gu Yunji: "When we distributed seeds and planting techniques, we wanted to have another channel for purchasing peppers, but I didn't expect that there would be so many people selling peppers. And They are all scattered, not in large quantities, and in varying quality.”

Listening to the noise coming from the shop in front, Gu Yunji sighed and said: "The pepper seeds have just been scattered, and everyone doesn't plant much. They basically keep them for themselves. Those who can take them and sell them are basically He is a tenant, and he is also a tenant of the land under the name of Chen Xunzhou."

"The rent collected by his family this year was particularly high. After paying the rent, the people had no food to eat. Naturally, they tried every means to exchange money to buy food. It is pitiful to say the least."

What Chen Xunzhou collected was high rents, not high grain taxes. To put it bluntly, they were not taxes from the imperial court. Even if he forced taxes violently, Gu Yunji would not be able to control them.

Moreover, ordinary squires have a very close relationship with their old tenants for many years. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are half members of the same family. Today, the landlord charges high taxes and the tenants cry to the sky. Tomorrow, when the tenant is in trouble, the landlord may help him. It is difficult to distinguish between grudges and grudges.

When Gu Yunji was in Huating County, he followed his father Gu Kaizhen to collect rent. If the tenants had conflicts, they would first go to the head of the village. If the head of the village couldn't solve the problem, he would go to the landlord who rented the land for comment. It was rare for the tenants to go to the government.

To the tenants and the owner, even if Gu Yunji was an official, he was still an outsider. Not only could he not get involved, but he was also self-defeating and made him a stranger inside and out.Today you stand up for the tenants, and the next day they become like the same family as Squire and He Lele, that would be a real slap in the face.There are tenants who have a good relationship with their bosses, and there are also tenants who have been bullied and suppressed for a long time. Gu Yunji can't tell the difference, so he can only help what he can and do his best.

Thinking of this, Gu Yunji told Zhang Cuiying: "During this period, the purchase price can be raised a little for the tenants who come to sell peppers. As long as the quality of the peppers is not so bad that they cannot be used, try not to refuse, and treat it as a benefit." There are so many things about the common people that I can’t do anything about them.”

Zhang Cuiying rarely heard Gu Yunji say such words, and said in surprise: "Even Mr. Gu, you think you can't do anything? These people outside are all tenants of Mr. Chen's family. You and Mr. Chen are colleagues. Remind him to restrain himself and reduce the rent appropriately. Isn’t it okay?”

Gu Yunji sneered: "Because I was supervising, Chen Xunzhou did not dare to force ordinary farmers, so he transferred the pressure of paying taxes to his own tenants. He wanted to collect more to make up for the imperial tax, but he didn't want to If you dig into your own pocket, you can only increase rents and force taxes significantly."

"As far as I know, the rent of most tenants has been increased to [-]%, and for some who rent fertile silt fields on river banks, the rent has been increased to about [-]%. Of course I went to see Chen Xunzhou, and he did Tai Chi with me. I won’t answer directly. However, this is a share of rent and not a food tax from the court. I really can’t punish him with this.”

Zhangjia Village is full of farmers who own their own fields. Zhang Cuiying doesn’t know much about tenants, and was stunned by the high rent for a while:
"Fifty...five or six percent?! With such a high rent, do the tenants have any food left in their hands? Not to mention that Chen Tongzhi is also really ruthless. The key point is that if he collects rent like this, isn't he afraid that the tenants will unite against him? ?”

Chen Peishi smiled bitterly at the side and said: "Don't talk about Mr. Chen, let's just say that many people in our Chen family do not agree to increase the tenant rent so much. On the one hand, if the tenant rent is increased too much, it will easily push the tenants into panic. When the time comes, we will initiate The riots are serious."

"On the other hand, the fields under Mr. Chen's name are basically managed by the clan. In previous years, we paid [-]% of the rent, keeping [-]% ​​for ourselves and paying him [-]%. This year, he requested that the rent be increased to at least [-]%. Give him [-]%, and we will keep at most [-]% for ourselves.”

"We are doing the work, and we are collecting the rent. Now the food in our pockets has not increased, but the risks have increased. If the tenants get into trouble in the future, we will be the first to bear the brunt, while he will sit back and enjoy it. Leisure."

Speaking of this, Chen Peishi spoke with anger, revealing his faint dissatisfaction with Chen Xunzhou: "Not to mention the severe drought this year, the food harvest is not much, and we all agree to increase the rent. But Chen Xunzhou insists on going his own way, suppressing those of us who oppose him overtly and covertly The clan members forced the people below to increase the rent according to his demands."

Gu Yunji knew that Chen Peishi had been scolded by Chen Xunzhou for following him in growing potatoes, so he patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "You are in trouble too, I have worked hard for you during this time."

Chen Peishi held his breath in his chest and said: "It's hard work for adults, but I don't have any hard work. Even Chen Xunzhou, I really can't see him as a heartless person. When he donated the quota for supervising students, he spent a lot of money from the clan, and now he is The same people as above found out, and actually turned around and suppressed our tribesmen."

"He did this to satisfy his own selfish desires, but it will affect all of us in the Chen family in the future. I don't know what is going on in his mind."