Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 253 Persimmons 1
At the foot of the mountainous region of Huanghuai Province, in the northern mountain valleys in late autumn, the persimmon trees on the loess slopes have shed all their leaves, leaving only millions of small red lantern-like fruits that stand out against the azure sky.

The village is built against the mountain, and the houses are typical northern-style rammed earth structures or single-story houses made of stone. The roofs are covered with wheat straw, and the roads are dirt roads, so you're covered in dust on sunny days and muddy on rainy days.

The courtyard was enclosed by a low earthen wall or fence, and there was a large water vat inside. The window frames were made of wood and covered with yellowish-gray window paper.

The main room had an earthen kang (heated brick bed), covered with reed mats and patched cotton quilts.

In winter, heating and cooking both rely on the earthen stove on the kang (heated brick bed), with the chimney extending from the roof; the smoke from the cooking fire is a signal of life.

An old villager named Zhangqiu was walking home from outside. The dirt road had a slope on one side and a ditch on the other.

The weeds, piles of wheat straw, rotting persimmons, wet grass trampled by cattle and sheep, their droppings, and the weeds still growing in late autumn gave the small village a sense of decay in autumn.

Zhang Qiu walked into the courtyard and saw his wife, Wang Xicong, eating.

The elderly woman, Wang Xinong, sat there looking over and called out, "Have you eaten yet? There are still steamed buns inside."

"I've already eaten." Zhang Qiu slowly walked into the yard with a newspaper in his hand, tucked the newspaper into his waistband, and closed the fence gate with both hands to prevent the chickens and ducks from getting lost.

"The newspaper said," Zhang Qiu said as he closed the door, "that they'll stop collecting a 'friends' tax' and let Jiangnan Province govern itself."

The old woman wasn't happy when she heard that. "Really?"

Holding the newspaper, Zhang Qiu said earnestly, "It's true, everyone in the village says so. This is a newspaper; who dares to say it's false?"

"I can't read." The old woman didn't know how to read and had no intention of learning.

Zhang Qiu continued, "This way we can save a lot of money in the future. The persimmons are growing well this year, but nobody wants them."

Zhang Qiu walked to the door and squatted down, then quickly sat down again to read the newspaper.

Although I can't read the newspaper, it's nice to talk while holding it.

It can also be used to plaster the walls when not in use, otherwise the walls will always be covered in dust, and relatives will feel embarrassed when they see it.

Saving face is very important, even more important than having enough to eat.

Now it's so easy to get a full meal. Zhang Qiu basked in the sun and started rambling on and on.

My wife was eating there, the sunlight was shining into the yard, and a few chickens were looking for food in the yard and in front of the door.

"Fifty acres of land is not enough to cultivate. This year, the four of us have only cultivated thirty acres. It will be better when the children are older."

"Without taxes, we don't have to work so hard anymore. This year, Old Yang from the village carried two baskets of good persimmons to the county to sell. He only sold a little over fifty persimmons in a whole day and earned ten coins."

"The newspaper said that persimmons in the capital cost two coins each, but here ten persimmons can't even sell for two coins. It's not even worth the hard work."

"I remember reading in the newspaper a few years ago that a young woman from Linyi in the south met King Wu, and King Wu made her grow lychees and bananas. Do you think if a girl from our village caught King Wu's eye, he would make our village grow persimmons for her?"

The wife replied, "I'm so obsessed with you, I'm practically in a daze."

****
Shan Nong Province, Shanzhou
The Huanghuai Province is very large. Originally, Chang'an was included in its area, but this year it was given to the Shannong Province.

The Qin and Jin regions are geographically integrated, with the fertile Guanzhong Plain providing easy access, while Luoyang is separated by mountains and rivers.

The re-division of areas is for the purpose of facilitating management and will not affect normal life and planning.

Luoyang is located in the central region and is also the core area of ​​the three northern provinces.

At Huangtu Village Farm, the sun shines brightly and dryly, casting a warm glow on the clean cement square.

The houses in the village are not the cave dwellings or mud houses that you would expect in a loess region, but rather rows of cement buildings.

The uniform three-story buildings all have flat roofs for drying things, and also have small courtyards of about 200 square meters.

The houses are arranged in a row, with each row separated by a road.
There is a threshing ground at the entrance of the village, where women and girls dressed in long pants and long sleeves are gathered together, sorting baskets of persimmons.

The men used horse-drawn carts to load the best-looking persimmons into baskets and transported them back, while the women and girls selected the best ones for processing.

"Has 9526 been in the palace for two years now? Is he coming back for the Chinese New Year this year?"

The village women's team leader asked a woman who was picking persimmons a question.

Aunt Gan said with a smile, "They're not coming back. They said that King Wu is going on vacation this year, and their group is on duty. They sent me and her father three round-trip train tickets so we can take the train to the capital to visit relatives."

The captain looked on with envy.

“9526 is good-looking. You can pick out one good-looking girl from your seven daughters. In my family, there are five boys and six girls, and not one of them is good-looking.”

The girls around him disliked what he said and were somewhat angry. But he didn't try to comfort them.

Even if someone is good at working, they won't be well-liked if they're not good-looking.

Aunt Gan chimed in, "Your daughter is capable and skillful."

The team leader sighed as he worked.

"Compared to 9526, they are far inferior. 9526 works in the palace and can get people from Luoyang to come here to ask for persimmons. How could our tens of thousands of households lack persimmons? It's only because your family has influence in Luoyang that you asked us for some persimmons."

“Persimmons that are useless and rot on the ground can be picked and sold to Luoyang. They can sell for seven or eight coins each. Our team’s income comes from this.”

The rest of the people were helping out with the work to earn some extra money.

Before this sales channel was available, most persimmons would be peeled, dried, and made into dried persimmons that could be preserved for a long time. They were a precious winter snack and a treat for guests.

The scene of drying persimmons was spectacular, with baskets full of persimmons filling the courtyard and rooftops.

Whole persimmons can be preserved in winter by placing them in wheat bran or rice husks in a cool, shady place. They become cool and sweet "frozen persimmons," a rare treat for children.

In the past, the production team used this system only for their own use; the public account basically had no external income other than wages.

In Luoyang, chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep are all managed by specialized production teams and are not purchased from individuals.

Only sales involve the cloud-based movement of funds; procurement generally does not.

Whether King Wu asked for lychees from Lingnan or watermelons and vegetables from the production team, he did not pay them.

Public households are equivalent to another form of military personnel.

However, the treatment was very good; the money given was enough for a family of twenty or thirty to eat and stay warm.

The various goods produced are usually exchanged and traded among internal entities. Although every household has money, it is mainly for consumption.

If you have land and a job at home, there's no need to go out and do business.

There are many places to spend money: matches, soap, new clothes, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, fruit, candy, and medicine when you are sick.

There is basically no gap between the rich and the poor, or there is not a significant gap.

The difference between earning three taels and five taels a month is very small, because each household has more than ten people. When averaged out, the difference is only a few coins, which is less than the difference of having one less child.

Everyone relies on their household registration for a living.

The only tax originally was the "friends tax".

Now that the "friends tax" has been abolished, families who didn't immediately kneel down and surrender have finally ended their atonement and found relief.

Is the "friends tax" always levied on the Han Chinese community, or on newcomers?

Every time there is a disaster in the south, the money is collected from the Han Chinese community who were not initially part of the mountain farmers' community.

Chang'an and Luoyang were both added later. The only people granted amnesty were the Han Chinese who had resisted the southerners. Those who came later, attracted by the better life, had to pay a "friends tax".

Although Shanzhou had joined the Shan Nong Kingdom long ago, that was after the war had ended.

They did not choose to go west, especially when the Wen Dynasty army entered Guanzhong and marched north to attack Wuzhou, they conscripted a lot of civilian laborers and volunteers along the way.

This kind of person can also be considered a Han Chinese.

I've been paying friends' taxes for almost ten years, which is also a way of atoning for the mistakes we made together back then.

They thought it would last for eternity, but King Wu mercifully abolished the friend tax.

Aside from the people of Jiangnan, people from the three northern provinces and various parts of Lingnan joyfully celebrated the autonomy of Jiangnan Province.

***
[Jiangnan Province is now autonomous! The era of Jiangnan people being masters of their own destiny has arrived!]

When Li Tangqing saw the newspaper, which was delayed for many days, she was stunned and horrified.

[The people of Jiangnan are allowed to develop and build their own infrastructure through discussion, and decide on their own taxes. All people in Jiangnan can take responsibility for their own lives. The Mountain Farm Kingdom will only provide military protection and will no longer appoint officials to govern Jiangnan Province. All taxes in Jiangnan Province will be decided by the people of Jiangnan themselves.]

[Anyone is allowed to form alliances, conduct disaster relief independently, elect their own leaders, develop land independently, and establish factories independently. The indiscriminate use of force is strictly prohibited; any violation will be met with suppression!]

[Unauthorized departure into other provinces is prohibited, as is going to sea.]

(End of this chapter)