How to survive in poverty: I use a simulator to farm

Chapter 7 A man’s inner calculation

As soon as she heard his movements, Chen Feiyan quickly put down her work and walked over.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry again?"

The man lying on the bed shook his head and said with difficulty: "I, I want to go to the toilet."

After saying that, he was still a little embarrassed.

Seeing him like this, Chen Feiyan thought, it's a bit funny that she and this man have already given birth to six children, and that an old married woman can be so shy.

Knowing that some educated men in ancient times were thin-skinned, Chen Feiyan didn't want to offend him for such a trivial matter. After thinking about it, she looked at him and said: "Then I'll call Xiao Yi, Xiao Xiao, Xiao San and these kids to help you up." , do you think so?"

Chen Yixuan nodded.

Chen Feiyan quickly waved to Chen Xiaoyi.

These children were not blind. When they saw their mother calling them over, they quickly put down what they were doing and walked over.

After understanding what Chen Feiyan meant, they all helped their father up from the bed.

Because of his pride, Chen Yixuan felt that his legs were weak and he couldn't use any strength.He still gritted his teeth and persisted.

Chen Yixuan peed and defecated in the bucket, drank warm tea and ate meat, and then went back to rest.

Chen Xiaoyi was particularly diligent. He picked up the urine bucket and went out.

……

People at the bottom of ancient society lived a miserable life.They are running around to fill their bellies all year round.

When the weather is bad, the tree bark has to be chewed and the Guanyin soil has to be eaten.They had dug up all the wild vegetables growing on the ridges of the fields by the roadside.

It's only late March now, and the spring breeze is blowing.The average temperature is actually below ten degrees.

If we were in modern society, everyone would wear cotton-padded down jackets.But many children in every household in Chenjiazhuang have no clothes to wear.Even a pair of trousers that have been passed down from generation to generation for 50 years cannot fall on them.

As the saying goes, if the snow is not freezing, the spring will be cold; if the snow is not cold, the next year will be drought.

There is no doubt that there will be a cold spring this year.

Chen Feiyan's current family relies on the wheat from their two acres of land to survive.

In places with low temperatures and little rain in the north, wheat is harvested only once a year.Chen Feiyan did a simple calculation. If he didn't put more thought into his two acres of land, cultivate it intensively, and apply more fertilizers, based on the low level of productivity in ancient times, one acre of land would actually produce about as much wheat as Just like 300 pounds.

Two acres of land is 600 pounds.

Can 600 pounds of grain feed a family of 8?
What's more, her family has to pay land tax every summer and autumn.There is also a poll tax paid in the spring every year.Every year after the busy farming season, a man has to be sent out to do labor service.

If the imperial court goes to war, at least one person from each family will go out to serve in the military.

If you don't become a householder, you don't know that firewood, rice, oil and salt are expensive.If you don’t travel through time, you won’t know how difficult it is for the people at the bottom to live.

When Chen Feiyan thought about how many mountains were pressing down on her in this home, her scalp became numb.

……

Since ancient times, the children of the poor have become the masters of the family.Although Chen Xiaoyi is only 11 years old this year, he already realized that it was not easy at home when he was six or seven years old.

Parents live too hard.

As the man of the family, he should help more and contribute more.

There is no room for delay in matters in the fields.He had to take his brothers to water and topdress the crops, and he had to squat the seedlings appropriately to prevent them from falling over.When they saw insects in the field, they had to find some way to kill them all.

In a while, the wheat will be heading.He and his brothers also had to squat in the fields for long periods of time.Because there are always people in the village who can't stand them and want to cause trouble in his family's field, deliberately putting their own cattle into his family's field and eating his wheat seedlings.

Chen Xiaoyi is a man of success.

Today, he took his two younger brothers and went to the river first to continue cutting reeds.Later, he personally demonstrated how to use that grass cage to fish.He also taught them step by step how to hide all the food they got and send it home.

Although Chen Xiaoer is mute.But his eyesight is excellent.He looked at Chen Xiaoyi seriously and quickly learned all the skills taught by his elder brother.

Chen Xiaosan, on the other hand, has been dumber and dumber since he was a child.He was led by Chen Xiaoyi and studied for three days in a row before he slowly learned how to do these farm chores.

With the help of these three brothers at home, the family soon made a lot of straw cages, straw curtains, and straw sandals.

Chen Xiaoer is extremely talented in this area, and he also knows how to use his brain to make other things, so Chen Feiyan saw it. In just a few days, the three brothers brought back more and more fish.

I don’t know where I got three hares weighing two pounds each from last night.

Chen Feiyan knew that everyone in the family was lacking nutrition, and she also knew that these hares could not be kept or bred.She killed all the hares that night.

There is no fat on the hare, it is all lean meat.After it was stewed in a pot, it still had an unspeakable aura.

But Chen Xiaoyi and these half-year-old boys ate delicious food.

The patient lying on the kang saw that these boys seemed to have grown taller and had more energy than before. He unconsciously pursed his lips and showed a sincere smile that he had not seen for a long time.

"Daughter-in-law, it seems that the children are all enlightened. They are really capable!"

Speaking of this, Chen Yixuan looked at her again and said tentatively: "But, are the lives we are living now too luxurious? If these big rabbits are sold to the county or town, they can still be Sell ​​it for twenty cents!"

Chen Feiyan looked at him speechlessly, "What are you selling for? Twenty cents is nice to say, but if I want to hire a doctor for you, people are not happy because they think the money is too little."

"Your body is due to constant losses and not eating enough. Eat more meat to replenish it!"

Seeing that Chen Yixuan didn't speak, Chen Feiyan thought for a while and persuaded him from another angle.

"As the old saying goes, a half-grown boy will eat me to death. These children in our family are already so old and are about to become adults. We need to make them eat more meat so that they can grow taller and stronger. We went out , our family will not be bullied!"

Hearing this, Chen Yixuan, who had been listening to her quietly, finally nodded.

He wasn't actually thinking about selling the rabbit just now, saving money, and hiring a doctor for himself.He was just thinking that in a few months, summer and autumn would be here.

The family has to pay food tax twice a year.

A long time ago, the government only collected money in collecting grain taxes.

They, Chenjiazhuang, were all from the village. They collected copper plates from each household and handed them over to the county government together.

The county government also had to exchange the copper plates and broken silver collected by the head of each district into sufficient official silver one by one.Then, add it layer by layer.

The exchange rate between the copper coins handed over by the farmers to the government and the silver fluctuated every year.However, it is basically the government that has the final say.The official said that the fire cost was as much as he said, and he said that the amount should be paid for any place.

There is no need to talk about it.

If you don't pay all the money, you are resisting the tax.When the time comes, he will be imprisoned and put in jail.

Another thing, if we don't save some copper coins now, when the autumn harvest comes, everyone will take their family's grain to the county town to sell it.

Low grain prices hurt farmers.There is too much food, but it cannot be sold for money.At that time, we will still suffer the loss.

Chen Yixuan originally wanted to explain this matter clearly to his wife and several sons.However, seeing the small and thin children at home, huddled by the stove and eating hard, he hesitated for a moment and thought, let's just let it go!I won’t say that today!

(End of this chapter)