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

After being praised by Qian Xun, the guard Zhaoying was very happy and proudly raised his chin to his companion Zhui Feng.

Zhui Feng's brain was not as good as taking pictures. He was very self-aware and did not feel ashamed. He simply asked Qian Xun without any inhibitions: "Master Qian, how far should we investigate before we are considered to be 'confident' and can we follow up?" How about contacting local officials?”

Zhaoying was amused by his innocent and straightforward question, but Qian Xun was good-tempered and answered patiently: "The main thing is to look at the growth of the crops in the farmland, the moisture content of the land, the height of the river bed, the degree of exposure, the water storage geometry, etc. , these are the criteria for judging whether the drought is serious or not."

"Of course, our trip is not just to see the drought situation, but also to see the management of the officials. So if there is a chance, it is best to find a local citizen to ask for details."

Zhui Feng nodded as if he understood, and searched around for a while. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he pointed not far away and said, "Hey, sir, there is a farmer who is planting rice. Why don't we go ask him?"

Qian Xun also had this intention, so he led a group of people towards the farmer.

"Brother, can I ask you a few questions?"

The farmer shrank and looked at these people in brocade clothes with extraordinary origins in awe, hesitating and not daring to answer.

Zhaoying was very eye-catching, took out half a piece of broken silver from his sleeve and handed it over, saying: "Don't be afraid, we have no ill intentions, we are just asking you a few questions. You don't need to know our identities, and we don't know who you are. Who, we’ll leave after asking, this lunch is your reward for answering our questions.”

As soon as he saw the silver, the farmer's cloudy and dull eyes lit up for a moment. He happily took the silver and nodded hurriedly: "You noble people, just ask, I will definitely tell you everything."

Qian Xun nodded and asked: "When I was out in the field, I heard that the drought in Shu was very serious. How is it specific? Has it eased now? Is the reduction in grain production serious?"

Speaking of the drought, the farmer couldn't help but sigh and said: "The drought is of course very serious. From the spring sowing to the middle of May, for three months, not even a drop of rain fell! Even though it has rained now, It has been alleviated, but the reduced food production will not come back.”

"For example, the yield per mu of our land was just over [-] kilograms per mu. However, when the drought hit this year, the yield per mu was less than [-] kilograms. After paying the grain tax, there was nothing left. We can only plant more crops intensively. Planting late-season rice will hurt fertility, and a family with multiple mouths always has to eat, what can be done?"

The farmer's words were similar to what Qian Xun had seen along the way. He had an idea in his mind and asked: "What about the tax situation of the imperial court? The imperial court has not said that the summer grain tax will be reduced or exempted. The pressure to pay taxes should be considerable. Has the government forced it? Tax?"

The farmer shook his head: "That's not true. It's still a [-]% grain tax. As long as you pay enough grain, the government will not impose additional taxes. But we are lucky. Although we don't have much land, we still have it. You don’t need to take care of your own land after paying the court taxes. But those tenants in Xuzhou Prefecture this year are so pitiful!"

Qian Xun's eyes narrowed: "Why do you say this?"

The farmer said: "They rented the Chen family's land, and it was fine in previous years. But this year, for some reason, the Chen family suddenly increased the rent midway, from [-]% to [-]%! Some tenants have seriously reduced their production, and the grain they harvested is even rented. The farmers didn’t even have enough money to pay, so the farmers violently collected the rent and forced their way into people’s homes to steal the food. The tenants were crying and robbing each other. It’s really pitiful to see them!”

Qian Xun said: "Chen family? Which Chen family?"

The farmer said: "The Chen family is the most powerful in Xuzhou Prefecture! There is a well-known Chen Xunzhou in the Chen family. With his influence, he does a lot of oppressing the people. Chen Xunzhou himself is also a black-hearted person. He used to I thought he was a good person, but this time I found out that it was his idea to increase the rent significantly!"

"I know Chen Xunzhou..." Qian Xun read it several times and silently recorded the name in his mind.The farmer was a good talker, and he couldn't stop talking once he started talking. He chattered a lot, and finally sighed: "To be honest, if every household hadn't grown potatoes, I don't know how many people would have died in Xuzhou Prefecture this year. "

"Potato...what is it again?"

Qian Xun originally only wanted to ask a few questions, but he didn't expect that a random farmer would know so much information. First he talked about high rents, then he got involved with his colleagues, and now he talked about potatoes. Qian Xun felt that My mind can't remember it anymore.

"Noble sir, you look like strangers from outside, haven't you heard of it? Let me tell you, potatoes are a good thing..."

When talking about potatoes, the farmer became obviously excited and talked a lot about them, from their origin and background to their growth habits, planting tips and precautions, as well as various ways to eat them...

Qian Xun listened in confusion for a long time, and finally understood that the potato is a high-yielding and adaptable food crop. Seeing that the farmers knew that the potato originated from America, he was surprised and said: "You also know that America Liga? From what you’re saying, you must have been growing potatoes for a long time?”

The farmer rubbed his head in embarrassment: "I am a man from a farmer's family. How can I know what America is like? I just listened to what Gu Tongsuan said. The more I hear it, the more I will memorize it."

"Also, we haven't been planting this potato for long. Gu Tongpuan only started to promote it in late autumn last year. At that time, many people didn't think so. As a result, we encountered a severe drought this spring and regretted it. It was Gu Tongpuan who worked tirelessly and once again After running around to keep an eye on the potato seeds, we really started to plant them on a large scale."

"Gu Tongpuan..." Qian Xun thought for a while, and suddenly his heart moved, "But Jingfeng's five-year concubine—Gu Yunji?"

The farmer was a little dissatisfied when he heard this. He looked him up and down and said in a stiff tone: "This noble man, you should be a businessman who came to Xuzhou Prefecture via the Yangtze River to do business, right? It doesn't matter if you don't know Gu Tongpan, but you and I As a commoner, shouldn't we avoid the taboo of the Lord and call him Gu Tongfan?"

Earlier, the farmer had cursed his colleague Chen Xunzhou, but now Qian Xun just called Tong Fan by his first name, which immediately aroused his dissatisfaction. His words were very protective, which showed that he had a good impression of Gu Yunji.

Qian Xun couldn't reveal his identity, so he had to accuse him repeatedly, saying that he just said it unintentionally and had no intention of offending.

After bidding farewell to the farmer, Zhaoying recalled the conversation just now and said, "I feel that General Judge Gu Yunji has a good reputation among the people. He should be a good official? But it's not easy to judge rashly. After all, he specializes in reputation management. There are also many officials.”

"Jingfeng's [-]th-year scout..." Zhui Feng thought for a moment, his eyes lit up, "Hey - Lord Qian, are Gu Yunji and you the same year? You must have met him, right? How is he?"

Qian Xun looked a little unnatural: "... I have met him, but it was just a casual encounter. I don't know much about him."

It's really just one side, but it's not an ordinary side, it's quite dramatic.

Later, when Qian Xun learned about it, every time he thought about it, he wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.