warring states careerist

Chapter 7 Reeds have roots, mulberries and berries
"We still have to go to the public land. What if we don't go? In addition to working on the public land, every [-] households have to send one horse and three oxen to serve as chariots and ox carts during wars. We also have to mow the grass and dry the fields. Raise these cattle and horses with grass. If the government office wants to repair the house and tamp the city wall, they will go there."

"When we are fighting, we just follow the chariots. When the farm is slack, we have to perform martial arts. We recognize our own chariots, so we just rush behind. If we fight, we have to carry food by ourselves. Those who win are nobles and sons, but Not ours."

"Those noble sons have their own fields and their own subordinates. Our land belongs to the king, and we only work on the king's public land."

He nodded calmly and asked a few more words.

I originally thought that these people were free feudal farmers, but now that I say this, they are obviously feudal serfs.

They are freer than slaves, but they are strictly bound to the land; unlike slaves who have nothing, they have their own families and tools to do side jobs, but they are forbidden to escape—the so-called death migration without going out of the country.

The era of ritual collapse and music destruction means that the serfdom of well fields began to disintegrate; the initial tax per mu means that land rent in kind began to replace labor rent.

Now, at the turn of the old and the new, the monarchs choose double exploitation.

Not only the labor rent of the serfs in the well fields, the lord's land and the conscripts, but also the collection of land rent in kind began.

If you don't do it yourself, but others do it, that's annihilation of the country.

Therefore, the benevolent government is something that the king knows is good, but no one uses it.

The kingdoms are divided and the times are chaotic, and the benevolent government is just a delusion.

In other words, no matter Zhou Li or Jing Tian, ​​these are the rules.

Observance of the rules does not rely on human self-cultivation, but on a force that can maintain the rules, a force that can punish those who do not obey the rules.

But in today's world, no one can do this.

The state of Qin, which has unified the rules in later generations, is still lying in the west, and it is still the object of sympathy of the Mohist—the weak chicken who has been insulted and damaged.

"How much money do you have left at home each year?"

Shi asked again.

Mentioning this, someone sighed and said, "Where is the rest?"

"A liter of salt costs three pennies, and a stone of corn is only twenty or so. The family has a local dog, and if it is sold in winter, it can be sold for a hundred pennies. For hemp skin, it costs one or two pennies a catty, and even more so. Not to mention the linen. Fortunately, the daughters-in-law are skillful, spin the linen and wear it by themselves. In their spare time, the family twists the linen together, and can change some money to buy salt. There is still some left over for when the times are bad, and the nobles lend money again. How dare you borrow, you can't even pay back the interest..."

Talking about these things, everyone also poured bitter water one after another.

Shi Ze, while responding, secretly calculated the price level at this time, and had a rough estimate.

For a family of nine, under the conditions of no military service and good weather conditions, the whole family can have [-] yuan left besides the grain, salt, and mu tax for their own food.

The standard money used in the Song Dynasty is square foot cloth, which looks like a shovel in a farm tool, which is often called cloth money.

Perhaps at the very beginning, it was really a kind of bronze farm tool.

Because bronze farm tools condense a lot of labor, the exchange value is very high, and they can even be used as general equivalents among farmers.Later, it was probably separated gradually, and minted coins became convenient for circulation, but still retained the appearance of the original farm tools.

The square foot cloth of the Song Dynasty is about twelve or three grams.

After a little calculation, taking copper as the general equivalent at this time, the approximate price level is five grams of copper for one catty of grain.

Today, the price of a standard piece of linen that is eight feet long and two and a half feet wide is about a dozen dollars.A bronze sword is calculated at [-] grams, and a family of nine needs to save up for at least five years in order to buy one with the whole family's resources.Small animals such as pigs and dogs are worth a hundred and ten dollars, while large animals such as cows and horses don’t know how much.

Although life is so difficult, everyone still sighed with emotion: "The life is very good now. When I was young, the nobles in the city fought so violently that the king fled. At that time, I had to serve to guard the city and had no time to farm. I haven't fought in the past few years. It's been a really good time. Hey... You said those princes and nobles are fighting all day long, what are they fighting? When will the world stop fighting?"

Shi smiled and pointed to the sackcloth on his body and said, "I have to ask those who wear silk, how can I know? The nobles are fighting, but we will suffer. What's the reason for that?"

A wave of dissatisfaction was quietly instigated, and I roughly understood the mentality of these farmers, so I couldn't help but sigh again.

"I once heard people say that when Zhongni passed Mount Tai, he saw an old woman crying, so he went up to ask about it."

It was not easy to listen to a story at this time, and everyone stretched their ears. They had heard of Zhongni’s reputation. After all, Zhongni’s ancestor was also the younger brother of Weizi, the founder of the Song Dynasty. In addition, many of Confucius’ disciples came from the Song Dynasty. Everyone has heard of it.

He paused for a moment, and when everyone calmed down, he said again: "Why is that woman crying? After Zhongni's disciple Zilu asked, he found out that the woman's father-in-law was killed by a tiger, and the woman's husband was also killed. Zhongni asked, since they were all killed, why didn’t they move away? The woman said, although there are tigers here, there is no tyranny.”

After hearing the story, everyone sighed and said, "Tigers cannibalize people. It's terrible, but at least you can kill tigers with a spear. What about this tyrannical government?"

Shi nodded, and said in a sad voice: "I heard people talking about "Poetry" back then, and there was a song called "Shu Shu". I can't sing it, so I read it to you. Girl, I am not willing to take care of you. The daughter who is about to pass away is suitable for the paradise. The paradise, the paradise, I have what I want..."

When the farmers sitting around heard that the dead will go to you and go to the paradise, they all started to chant.

I don't even know where the ancient state of Wei is in this spring and Autumn period, but I know that most of "Wei Feng" are poems that satirize reality and are full of resistance.

This is a standard serf escape oath. It is estimated that the leader who led the serfs to escape to the wild wilderness made it and sang it among the co-insurgents, vowing to flee to the paradise together.

This song was sung hundreds of years ago, and this ancient Wei may be thousands of miles away.

But the paradise in the song actually broke the shackles of time and space, which aroused the imagination of these Song country farmers.

Everyone has their own paradise in their dreams.

And when everyone's misfortune is approaching, the appearance of this dream is somewhat similar.

When Shi Shi asked everyone what the paradise they imagined would look like, everyone started to imagine simple but heart-rending imaginations.

"No war..."

"You don't need to work in the public land, even if there is a tithe."

"Fix the tithe, and don't collect Qiu Jia Fu."

"There are a hundred acres of land and a cow."

"Even if there is a war, give us some rewards like land after the war, don't give it all to those meat eaters..."

"I can eat corn and rice every day without eating wild vegetables."

"Put on new clothes."

All kinds of dreams, gathered together, finally made these people a little drunk.

I didn't drink alcohol, but the taste of Meng was stronger than the best wine in Taoyi.

Someone couldn't help asking: "Brother of the Mo family, where is such a paradise?"

But Shi put it off, shook his head and said: "This... I will talk about it later. It is getting late, and I have to go back. I will come back in a few days and teach reeds how to treat summer heat. Everyone will also prevent it. Tell me more about drinking salt water in the heat of the summer. If someone doesn’t believe it, just say it’s a method of the Mohists, and you can always convince some people.”

Everyone looked at the sky and knew that it was time to go back. They all got up and said goodbye, and said some words of thanks, and said that after returning, they would definitely inform the people in the village about the measures to prevent the heat.

There are also a few people who can't wait to ask when Shi can come again, even if they listen to him tell stories.

Shi said a few more words, carried the firewood on his back, faced the red sun, as if he was going to catch up with the sunset, shook his shoulders, kicked the straw sandals and left.

After walking a few steps, Lu Hua shouted from behind: "Little brother of the Mo family, wait a minute."

"what happened?"

"You want to go back from Ximen? Just passing by an old mulberry tree, the berries on it are big and sweet. I'll pick some and you can take it back and eat."

Thinking of sister-in-law's nagging before, Shi smiled, nodded and said, "Alright."

The two walked together one after another, and Lu Hua followed behind, holding the firewood hard, trying to reduce the weight a little.

With this support, the shoulders are much lighter, but the weight is placed on the waist, which is actually not comfortable.

Shi Shi knew that the other party had good intentions, but he didn't know how to thank himself, so he couldn't say anything, so he endured halfway.

When I got to the big mulberry tree, I put down the firewood, and Lu Hua said, "You wait below. I'll pick it. I can climb the tree very quickly. The ones on this tree are the sweet ones next to me."

After finishing speaking, he took off the straw sandals, and climbed up the old mulberry tree that was half as thick as a man's body.

Climbing mulberry trees can also be regarded as the housekeeping skill of the daughters of the Central Plains.

Sitting leaning on a tree branch, he picked some purple-red berries and threw them down.

Still on the tree, the mulberry leaves covered the figure in disorder, but still asked: "Try it, is it sweet?"

Shi Yiyan picked up a bunch and put it in his mouth, it really had some taste.

This can be regarded as one of the few fruits at this time. Seeing how proficient the little girl looks, she doesn't eat less on weekdays.

He picked up a few branches, put some good ones in the crock brought by Reed Flower, and waited quietly for her to climb down, holding a handful of purple and black ones in his hand, and handed them to Shi Shi.

This is a thank you, and probably the only gift that Lu Hua can give at this time.

"These are the sweetest, you eat."

Shi smiled and took it, chewed it in his mouth, praised: "It's really sweet."

Hearing what Shi said, Lu Hua's eyes bent into crescent moons.

"Are you going back now?"

"Yes, the house is waiting for me."

"Oh."

He answered in a daze, didn't know what to say, and said after a long time: "Then go back."

Shi nodded, picked up the firewood and walked away gradually.

Luhua stood under the tree, looking at the back of the far away, suddenly thought that he would really come to teach her those things?
Will he really come again?
What is his name?

He didn't know where his family lived, so how could he come to find him?
After a few days, Dad's illness will be cured. Should I wait for him by the field every day?
"He doesn't know where his home is, but he will never forget where Tian is..."

Thinking this way, he took another look at Shi who had been mixed with the people returning to the city, thanked him silently, picked up the fallen berries on the ground, turned around and went to the reed marsh to dig the roots.

The mulberries are on the tree and can be given away.

The root of the reed is in the ground, and it can heal my father's illness.

"very nice."

She held a mulberry and murmured something.

(End of this chapter)