It was still dark and Li Guolou was already walking in the yard to stretch his muscles. He nodded to Huang Kaohao and the two long-term workers who had also gotten up to work and said hello to each other.
I thought to myself: The landowner Lao Cai Huang was really diligent and frugal when he passed the exam. He hired two long-term workers and treated them like cattle and horses, and did not let them sleep in during the winter. It is unreasonable for such a person not to get rich.
If Huang Kaohao arranged for two long-term workers to work, he would go to the village office with Li Guolou. Because Li Guolou was in a hurry, he had to get the household registration information of the villagers before he would eat breakfast.
Huang Yishi also got up and went to the kitchen to light the fire to make breakfast, but before she saw Huang Yuezhi leave the room, Li Guolou nodded and said hello to Huang Yishi without asking Jin Erzi to get up. He left the mansion and headed east to the village office.
OK, chickens are crowing and dogs are barking in the village, and people are already walking on the road. Rural people are used to getting up early. When the villagers saw Huang doing well in the exam, they hurriedly bent down and bowed, showing respect.
There is no shortage of firewood for rural people. As long as they go to the forest to cut firewood, they can carry back a large load, so every house has a firewood room in the yard. Most of these ordinary people's rooms are bungalows, and some have thatched roofs with tiles.
There are no pieces at all. The courtyard walls are also made of stones, and some are surrounded by wooden fences. People passing by can see everything in the courtyard clearly.
Li Guolou had to poke his head into every villager's yard, wasting a lot of time, which made Huang Kaohao very dissatisfied.
Huang Kaohao stopped again, impatiently, and said: "Sir Li, please go faster. You have to ask the villagers about the situation. Let Huang Bing accompany you later. I still have to work."
Li Guolou hurriedly walked to Huang Kaohao with a playful smile and said: "Huang Cunzheng, I am just interested in rural life. People here raise chickens and ducks, and the living conditions are pretty good."
Huang Kaohao glanced at Li Guolou, snorted in his nose, and said: "What the hell, Chief Li, you don't even understand this. Most of the chickens and ducks raised by the villagers have to be eaten. Usually no one is willing to kill them to eat.
Eggs and duck eggs also need to be handed over."
Li Guolou didn't understand and asked, "How can we do this?"
Huang Kaohao pointed his finger and said: "Mr. Li, there are still servants in the village. They will buy these things and convert them into copper coins. Every family has taxes that should be paid, and there is a book to record the figures. They cannot default before the end of the year.
Otherwise, you will be punished. Only the remaining things belong to the villagers, otherwise the guards will come to collect debts."
Li Guolou said: "Oh! Huang Cunzheng, you must be a loan shark."
Huang Kaohao laughed and said: "Mr. Li, it's ugly to talk about loan sharking. This is asking the villagers to help. I don't want to be a big landowner. Why do I need so much land? It's very hard to raise long-term workers. If you don't keep an eye on them,
They will be lazy, and I can’t handle it alone. I want my wife to take care of others, but I am afraid that they will steal my husband, so I can just maintain the status quo.”
Li Guolou was snickering in his stomach. He did not expose Huang Kaohao's disguise. People are greedy. People like Huang Kaohao just want more and more land, and their lifelong dreams are also in the land. In the village
There are more than 600 acres of land owned by Huang Kaohao's family, and they all hire villagers to farm the land for their family. Huang Kaohao is the village leader, so he must conceal the number of acres of his own land. This trick is the same everywhere, and it harms the public and private interests.
Things get done easily.
According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, landowners must also pay taxes. There is no such thing as sex. The official landowning class can only benefit by hiding the land. Officials who measure the land are fat, and they can eat and drink wherever they go, and get rich easily.
, it’s just that the country has regulations. Generally, the land is surveyed nationwide within five years. This is a rule established by Emperor Yongzheng. It is precisely because Emperor Yongzheng implemented the method of apportionment of land into acres that China’s population exploded (in ancient times, the poor could not afford to feed too many people).
Most of the children killed the newborns. Another job of the midwives was to kill the children. This is a cruel reality and is never mentioned in the books.) In the past, the country paid taxes based on the head, and the system was divided
After entering the motherland, as long as the people could afford to raise children, they gave birth to a lot of children. At first, the Chinese people were very wealthy and happy. However, in the later years of Kangxi's reign, the shortcomings became apparent. China's population suddenly tripled (more than 200 million people
), in a farming society, it becomes difficult to bear the pressure of such a large population. The average land per person is getting less and less, and the lives of ordinary people are getting poorer and poorer. This is why there will be the White Lotus Rebellion and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising. One word is higher than the other.
The peasant uprising caused the Qing Empire to experience internal and external difficulties.
None of the Li Guolou family are big landowners. They are no longer interested in land, so Li Guolou also looks down on the village leader Huang Kaohao. Such country people talk about the gains and losses of land even when drinking. How much is an acre of land here worth?
It's worth forty to fifty taels of silver, usually between twenty and thirty taels of silver. In a disaster year, you can buy good land for just a dozen or so taels of silver. If Li Guolou had bought land and become a big landowner, he would have become the overlord long ago.
Along the way, Huang Kaohao told him which piece of land belonged to his family and which family relied on his kindness to survive until now without being ruined. That's why the villagers loved him so much when they saw him. Li Guolou listened and said frequently
He nodded and praised Huang Kao for being so good, he is a good person in Huangcun.
Speaking of the topic that Huang Kao was so interested in, he no longer urged Li Guolou to walk faster, but stood on the ridge with Li Guolou to enjoy the scenery of the fields.
There has been no war in the capital for nearly two hundred years. The earthen fence of the village in the past has become dilapidated. Many farmhouses have been located on the outskirts of the village. The scattered layout makes the overall appearance of Huangcun not very good.
Li Guolou sighed, "Huang Cunzheng, the security protection here is so poor. No wonder two little girls were abducted. You should manage the roads into the village well so that this kind of tragedy will not happen again."
matter."
Huang Kaohao broke out in a cold sweat when he mentioned this. His position as village chief was in jeopardy and the public security situation was not good. As the head of a village, he was the first to eat noodles. On such a cold winter morning, Huang Kaohao took out his sleeves
Wipe the sweat with the handkerchief inside.
Huang Kaohao argued: "Mr. Li, I have no choice, I have no money! The earthen fence is full of loopholes, and you can get in and out anywhere. In addition, some villagers want to go in and out of their own homes more easily, and they even dig up the earthen fence."
As holes came out one after another, I knew that I had not done my job well. Now we have set up a security team here, and people patrol it every day. I have promised the chief that by the spring, I will repair the earthen fence. I will pay for it myself.
, the earthen fence must be repaired so that it is watertight."
Li Guolou warned: "Huang Cunzheng, do you know what kind of earth buildings were built in Shandong to deal with the Nian Army? The Nian Army passed by like locusts and would leave nothing behind for you. With your body and bones,
, as long as you meet the Nian Army, you have to be cannon fodder. Don't just think about buying land, you have to learn to survive. One day there will be a war here. You have to convert your big house into an earthen building and buy a gun.
Forming your own militia, red-tasseled guns, and big swords have long been outdated. In this way, everything you have is your own, otherwise one day it will be robbed, and you will be worse off than the Tian family."
Huang Kaohao was dissatisfied and said: "Sir Li, don't scare me. Isn't the Nian Army going to be finished? Why should I spend so much money?"
Li Guolou pointed to the sky and said: "Huang Cunzheng, there are unpredictable events in the sky, and people have misfortunes and misfortunes. If you don't want everything you own to become empty, you have to become strong. Just having money hidden in the cellar is useless."
Metal."
Huang Kaohao nodded and said: "Mr. Li, others have said this to me, but not as well as you. What you said makes sense. Then I will rebuild my big house during the spring construction period."
Now, let a few trustworthy farmhands come to live in my house. Just guns. Chief Li wants to help find some good guns."
Li Guolou patted Huang Kaohao on the shoulder and said: "Don't worry Huang Cunzheng, I won't fool you with a matchlock gun. I will get you the latest flintlock gun. It is a good gun that is not afraid of wind and rain. No one will dare to do it in the future."
You are the powerful person in this area who wants to take advantage of Huangcun."
As if he saw a bright future, Huang Kaohao no longer wanted to be bound by a small land. It turned out that his hometown could still be built so beautifully. He was so moved by Li Guolou's words that he was about to bleed a lot and spend money on construction.
Li Guolou is the best at inspiring people. His nonsense can make Huang Kao fuss around, and success or failure can be achieved in just a thought. As for how effective Li Guolou's nonsense is, it is not clear at all now.
Li Guolou just wanted Huang to do well in the exam and carry out extensive construction in his hometown so that the people of Huangcun could have a safe place to live. He did not expect that there would be blessings and misfortunes. The "blessing" was of course the local people who had the opportunity to earn money to support their families, and the "disaster"
It just increases the labor burden of the people in Huangcun. How can a stingy person like Huang Kaohao let the people of Huangcun take advantage? In addition to the cost of labor and materials, Huang Kaohao can save on labor costs. They are all "relatives and friends"
Spending less money is a no-brainer.
After picking up Huangcun's household registration information at the village office, Li Guolou and Huang Kaohao went back to have breakfast together. It only took ten minutes to go back and forth, and the two of them walked for three quarters of an hour. They had a great time talking and giving advice along the way.
I express my feelings with the winter scenery of Huangcun. No matter how beautiful it is, my hometown is still beautiful. The fragrant mountains in the distance add to its beauty.
After talking for a while, Li Guolou finally changed the subject and asked: "Huang Cunzheng, how many households are there in your village? How many people are there in total? Are there many outsiders?"
Huang Kao didn't even have to think about it. He memorized this kind of question very well and blurted out: "There are 231 households in our Huang Village. Counting the two missing girls, the population is 893.
There are 490 men and 403 women, of which 355 are strong laborers. If women who can work are included, 307 will be added.
people."
Huang Kaohao also said that the conflicts between the aboriginal people and the immigrants in the village depended on his comfort to make the whole village live a happy life. Therefore, Huang Village is indispensable for him to be at the helm, and he is the only villager in the village.
Only then will you be convinced.
Li Guolou took the household registration book and flipped it through at will. There were these numbers on it that Huang Kaohao said. As for whether there was a hidden household? It was hard to say. Huang Kaohao would not tell him unless he got the evidence.
The so-called hidden households are farm laborers who work for large families. They have no land, and do not need labor or military service, but they cannot move around without household registration. They are blind people who have no social status. Rich and powerful people are full of people.
Many of the servants in the family are also recluses. The country cannot control such people. To the country, such people are useless. They do not contribute to the country and only serve the master. Some of them are nicknamed desperadoes.
Li Guolou will not offend local gangsters, otherwise he will be unable to move here. Dozens of vigilante groups in the village can keep a close eye on him, and no one will talk to him. Unless another brigade of government officials is sent to enforce the law, Li Guolou arrives
He hasn't taken out the cards yet. He no longer wants to use the cards in his pocket. He wants to give Huang Kao a favor as a favor so that Huang Muramasa will not be embarrassed if he does well in the exam. The government will write the name of the defendant or suspect on the cards.
For people of high status, it is very embarrassing and a major stain in life.
Some yamen servants in the government would ask for bribes after receiving the tickets and would not escort the suspects or defendants to the yamen. Li Guolou could not do this kind of thing, and he no longer regarded Huang Kaohao as a suspect.