A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 473

Tired birds return to the forest.

The heat is blown away by the evening wind.

Wu Huaiyu also only wore a pair of shorts with a small nose, and went down to the Qinghe River to swim and play with the villagers and children of Longqiaobao.

After a day of wheat harvesting and hard work, I can finally have some free time at this time. While there is still some light, the young and old jumped into the still warm river to play.

The clear river water washes away sweat and fatigue.

During the day, under the scorching sun, the children who helped cut wheat and glean ears in the fields were especially happy at this time. In the shallow water by the river, they were stripped naked like happy fish, splashing water on each other, and occasionally diving.

While soaking in the water, the adults stared at their wild little bastards and chatted with everyone.

The most talked about now is that this year’s wheat harvest is good, there is no emptiness, the wheat grains are full, and the ears of wheat are also heavy, especially the weather is beautiful. Although it is a bit sunny, it can ensure that the grains return to the warehouse. Everyone would rather have half a month of this weather.

People can't die in the sun, but if it rains suddenly for days, the wheat will germinate on the ears, and even if they are cut, they can't be harvested.

The only bad thing is that the food price is too low this year.

Wu Huaiyu didn't look like a prime minister of a country, and soaked in the water like Lao Wu and some of his followers. Even the little fat man's school specially had a busy farming holiday, and followed him back to harvest wheat.

Yu Wencheng handed a piece of pomegranate scented soap to Xiao Shitou and asked him to make soap for Huaiyu.

Little Stone looked at the dark red thing, but he didn't recognize it, but it exuded a very pleasant smell, which was actually the fragrance of pomegranate flowers.

"It's for decontamination and cleansing, you help my husband slap it on his body,"

Little Stone still doesn't understand.

Do you still use such a good-smelling thing in the shower? This thing looks so beautiful.

Yu Wencheng stepped forward to demonstrate with a smile. This unruly young man no longer looks like a barbarian.

"Wet some water first, and then just wipe it on the body, then wash the soap and put it in the soap box, and then use this loofah to rub it on the body, it will make a lot of bubbles, and the oil, sweat and stains can be removed."

Sure enough, many bubbles appeared on Huaiyu's body.

Shi Xiong was very curious.

"You are the husband's clothes-handler now, but you will have to learn how to wait in the future."

Wu Huaiyu was lying on a big rock, enjoying the scrubbing service of the small rocks. The kid was not very skilled, but he was quite strong.

The loofah rubbing is really suitable for bathing, but it hurts a bit if he rubs too hard.

A few old military officers over there came over to chat with Lao Wu.

"This year, the imperial court will formally expropriate the grain from the free warehouse, at two liters per mu. We also handed over the grain to the communal warehouse before. How do we pay the grain now?" Xu Zhongyi, Xu Erganzi's father, asked while rubbing Lao Wu's back.

Xu Zhongyi is also a military officer, and now his two sons are well-to-do with Wu Huaiyu. Both brothers have become seventh-rank military officers. Although they are not comparable to Huaiyu brothers, they are much better than himself. He will only be a team leader when he grows old.

The two brothers became officials after Huaiyu, and also invested some money. They have made good income in the past two years, and the family also bought land. Now Xu Zhongyi is the second-ranked landlord in Longqiaobao. He has more than 1000 mu of land in Qinghe Township, and there are also more than [-] mu of dry land on the three plateaus.

Many lands are for lease.

"One mu and two liters of free warehouse grain is actually the imperial government's land tax. Of course, this is indispensable, and it is not a voluntary donation of communal warehouse grain, or our own free warehouse in our castle." Lao Wu Dao, although he is a little bit sorry for this mu of two liters. The Wu family has 10,000+ mu of land, and they have to pay more than 2000 shi a year.

"Taxes must be paid," Xu Zhongyi is aware of this, and now he is talking about something else, "You said that the land we rented out originally did not have two liters of free warehouse grain, and we shared it with the tenants. Now that there are two liters of tax, should we pay the grain or the tenants?"

What Lao Xu said is actually not how treacherous and stingy he is, but that in addition to the official tax from the imperial court throughout the history, in fact, there will be many apportionments in the localities, sometimes according to households, sometimes according to Ding, and sometimes according to fields.

The landlords will often pass this burden on to the tenants. If they are kind, they may still share the burden according to the original tenancy agreement.

"Now I heard that many landlords say that they want to share the grain of this free warehouse with the tenants, and share as much as the share."

Landlords and tenants are basically divided according to the harvest, and there are few fixed rents. The division is not the same. It mainly depends on whether the landlord provides only land or additionally provides cattle, seeds and farm tools. The division is different in different situations.

The land rent is still relatively high, often [-]% of the summer grain. If the landlord also provides cattle, seeds, etc., it can often reach [-]% to [-]% of the summer grain.
However, at this time the field is not fertile enough, so it is often two years and three seasons, or the crops are rotated fallow. Therefore, the landlord's practice is not to share the autumn grain and collect rent.

Even in addition to food, straw and fodder have to be handed over, and even the landlord has to do a few days of work for free.

Anyway, it is very difficult to be a tenant if you only rent land. If you have some land yourself, you can rent some more.

Wu Huaiyu said from the side, "This grain warehouse is equivalent to land tax, and the landlord who owns the land should bear the grain."

The old Wu said, "Our Wu family's land, no matter whether it is self-cultivated or rented out, the two liters per mu should be paid by ourselves."

"Then our Xu family's land will also pay the two liters of grain by ourselves."

Each mu per liter is only the tax for standard land, and the land will actually be divided into upper, middle and lower classes, with a slight difference in tax rates in order to be relatively fair.

Old Martial Dao, "The land on both sides of our Qinghe River is the most fertile farmland. Back then, the Emperor Taishang sent us 3 yuan from the imperial army and placed us in the seven counties on both sides of the Baiqu River in the north of Weibei. They occupy good land. When the weather is good, the harvest per mu in summer alone is not less than two stones, and we can grow miscellaneous grains for a season in autumn.
Two liters per mu, in fact, less than one hundred taxes. "

Old Xu and others smiled and thanked the Supreme Emperor and the current emperor for allowing them to have such a good field.

Of course, everyone knows that the burden is not only the two liters of free warehouse grain. If it is not for exempted households and exempted households, that one household would also have to bear the rent of two stones of millet, two feet of silk, and three taels of cotton, as well as 20 days of labor.

In addition, although the fields on both sides of the Baiqu are irrigated with good water, the water is not free. There are special people in the local area who are responsible for managing the canals, and the canals also need to be maintained.

Even sometimes the village held a temple fair, set up a social fire, or prayed for rain, or built roads and bridges, all of which required the villagers to raise funds and pay for them.

For the imperial guards, they enjoyed great national benefits.

For example, before Lao Xu retired, he was not only an officer in the Imperial Army, but also an officer. After he retired, his eldest son replaced him in the Imperial Army, and he also did not take lessons.Now the second child has grown up, but he has also become a military officer, so naturally he doesn't teach.

Now that Lao Xu is retired, he doesn't take classes. The old Xu's family is completely exempt from classes, and he doesn't need to pay any money or food or serve in the military.

Now it is only necessary to hand over some grain for the charity warehouse. For this landlord with more than 2000 mu of land, it is only [-] shi grain, which is not worth mentioning. Even if you donate some more to the county community warehouse, the bunker righteous warehouse, and the society school, a total of [-] shi is enough.

Anyway, food is not worth much now, a stone millet is 120 yuan, and forty stones are only [-] yuan.

Huaiyu said from the side, "Actually, I think, not only can we not allow the tenants to share the grain, but we should take the initiative to reduce the rent."

Since the turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty, it has indeed been difficult for everyone, and the society has become more chaotic. There are no rules for many things, and everyone goes their own way.

As far as the rent is concerned, it is also very confusing. There are some who share [-]-[-]%, some [-]-[-]%, and some [-]-[-]%.

There is no unified standard, nor a relatively reasonable rent.

For the people who don’t own much land, the rent is too high. After a year of hard work, they all work for the landlord. Even after paying the rent here, they have to borrow more food from the landlord.

"Uncle Xu, you are also famous sages in Qinghe Township. We have to set a good example and be praised by the villagers instead of cursing and spurning them in private. Don't you think so?"

"Erlang is right. We will do whatever you say." Old Xu is very happy. People, when the conditions are improved, the ideological consciousness will often be improved, because the pursuit is different.

Ordinary people pursue food and clothing for their families, stability for their wives and children, and all their efforts are centered around this goal. Naturally, every penny must be fought for. However, for today's old men like Samurai Ke and Xu Zhongyi, they are getting older and living affluent lives, so they want a good reputation.

"Let me give a suggestion, if it is just renting land, and the tenants bring their own livestock, farm tools, seeds, and fertilizers, then it should only be divided [-]-[-], and only the summer harvest.

If the landlord provides seeds, fertilizers, farm animals, farm tools, etc., and even houses and accommodation, and the tenants only provide labor, then eight tenants and two tenants can be the owner.

If the landlord produces seeds and cattle, and the tenants bring their own farm tools and fertilizers, they can be divided into sevens and threes.

If the landlord's family has a wedding or funeral, the tenant should help the tenant, but the rest should not be used as a servant. "

"It is also inappropriate to collect rent for autumn grain and vegetables."

These suggestions made by Wu Huaiyu have already been implemented among the tenants of the Wu family. Compared with the past, the regulations are much more standardized, and the burden on the tenants is also greatly reduced. They have given them a lot of concessions, and even the Wu family has some other preferential conditions for the tenants.

The days of the tenants can barely eat and wear.

Generally, tenants are exempted from the stake money, or less. This stake money is actually a deposit for the tenant. Some landlords require more money, even at least one stone per mu. The stake money is not returned until the tenant is retired, and there is no interest.

Some tenants have no money, so they can only borrow money from the landlord, and the interest is very high. As a result, they have been working for the landlord for nothing.

In addition, if the landlord's family has something to do, it is also a big burden to ask the tenant to help for free.The Wu family does not require tenants to help for free, but when something happens, tenants can voluntarily choose whether to help or not, but those who come to help are paid or deducted from the rent.

Another example is that under the land rent, when the grain is about to be harvested every year, the owner and the middleman must be invited to attend the class, that is, to evaluate the output and set the rent.Or it requires tenants to buy a meal and watch wine, which is also an expense.

The samurai family also routinely attend classes now, but they will not ask for wine, and they will wait for the harvest to ask the tenants to report the actual output comparison. If the estimate is too high, it will be lowered.

During the holidays, it is customary for the tenants to send some New Year gifts to the landlord’s family, such as chickens, ducks, rice cakes, soybeans and other agricultural products.

The samurai family will even give priority to hiring girls and children from tenant households. They will be employed at home or herding cattle and pigs, etc. Even if they are young, they can earn a ration and even some wages to supplement the family. However, in ordinary landlord families, such little girls and children are at most earning a living.

The reason why the Wu family did this is not because of the madness of the Virgin Mary, but for the sake of healthy and long-term development, and to give appropriate profits to the tenants, so that the relationship between the owner and the tenant will be more stable, and the income from the Wu family's land will be more stable and sustainable.

If the tenants of their own family are in urgent need of money, they can borrow money or grain from the Wu family, and they can enjoy low interest, which is equivalent to the interest rate.

The advantage of doing this is that everyone is very grateful to the Wu family. The Wu family has a good reputation in the village. Usually, everyone will be more protective of the Wu family. Even if the Wu family wants to do something, they are never worried that no one can be found. If you say a word, many people will come.

For example, during the summer harvest, when the Wu family is opening sickles, and many tenant families are busy, they still have to send one or two people to help the Wu family harvest wheat first, and the Wu family will not take advantage of the villagers.

If the landlord wantonly exploits the tenants, causing the tenants to be unable to survive, they may flee and go to other places to be tenants, or go to the city, or become a refugee or something, which will also increase the occurrence of theft and robbery.

Although the phrase "poor life and treacherous schemes" is somewhat biased, it is not entirely wrong.

People have to survive, and when survival is faced with difficulties, they will break through the bottom line.

The practice of the Wu family, in fact, if you say it is ruthless, it means that you have to pay attention to cutting leeks. If you can’t come up, you have to cut off the household, and you have to cut and raise them to form a sustainable harvest.

Of course, putting on the veil of warmth is kindness.

Good House!

The [-]-[-] share for renting land is already very high, even if it is only for summer grain, it is not low.But compared to the current situation of disorder and chaos, it is good that the gentry and landlords can unify, draw up a village agreement and custom, and develop benign and orderly.

Anyway, since the samurai practiced these methods, the effect can be seen immediately, which is very good.

"We will all follow the Wu family in the future and learn from each other." Old Xu was the first to express his opinion positively. From a retired military officer with a hundred acres of land in his family to a small landlord with more than [-] acres of land in his family, Lao Xu knew that it was all because of following the Wu family closely.

What's more, the two sons are in Longyou Shuofang, and they still have two or three thousand mu of land. It's only been a few years, so it's right to follow the Wu family.

(End of this chapter)