"As for the suffering of starving to death, there is no such thing." Chen Lin said, "But the people's lives are not as good as before."
As long as the people in Nansha Village have the surname Chen, their life is pretty good. No matter how poor they are, they can still have enough food and clothing for the whole family. When they are sick, the clan will take care of medicine, and when they die, the clan will give them a coffin. When they worship their ancestors, they celebrate the New Year.
, and you can also share a few pieces of Taigong meat.
Tenants, machinists, and long-term workers who are not named Chen naturally don't have such a good life, but they can survive at least.
But this time he came back, even though it was only a few days, the people in Nansha were living very hard lives.
The looting by soldiers and bandits was indeed the main reason, but his second uncle could also be said to have added fuel to the flames.
But he didn't dare to say this to the female veteran. One thing that was obvious was that Li Yaoer trusted his second uncle very much, and this trust was not "blinded trust". The second uncle was serving as the local card player.
It is obviously very popular with Australians.
In the past few days since Chen Xuan came back, he has learned a lot about the situation from his sister and the Chen Qing family where he stayed.
Since Nansha officially came under the jurisdiction of the Australians in April 1635, Chen Xuan relied on the chance encounters during his escape and years of "mixed society" to develop a set of ingratiating skills to discern the appearance of the Australians he encountered.
The chief coaxed him to "Dragon's Heart is overjoyed". It didn't take long for him to become the "liaison officer" in Nansha, and then he was appointed as the "Paijia" of Nansha, that is, the village chief.
Originally, he was not very popular when he came to power. Both tribesmen and villagers sneered at this former "prodigal son and stickman". Many elders even said that Chen Xuan's position as Card A was a "big joke". If he was just for
The village can deal with the Australians, and the tribe in the village is tolerant of them. If they really want to get involved in the affairs of the tribe, they will open an ancestral hall and expel them from the tribe, not to mention not allowing them to live in Nansha.
Unexpectedly, Chen Xuan was also a ruthless character with many tricks. Not long after he took office in Nansha, he organized the long-term and short-term workers from other places who were originally at the bottom of the village, and hired them to form a militia, and specially selected them.
Four strong men with big shoulders and round waists, who had only been in Nansha for a short time and had no connections, served as bodyguards for him. Each of them had a simple sword. They usually stood guard at the village office and followed him when going out to do errands. Anyone who dared to contradict Chen Xuan would be killed.
Go up with the stick. No matter which clan you belong to or which generation you belong to, you will be beaten to death.
Since then, no one in the clan or village dared to offend Chen Xuan's "official authority". Let alone expelling him from the clan, they were forced to make him the head of the ancestral hall and manage all the property affairs of the clan.
. Even the ancestral hall was grandly occupied by him and used as a village official.
Chen Xuan is well aware that all his power in Nansha depends on the Australians. Since he became the leader, he has been "enthusiastic" about various affairs arranged by the Australians. Whether it is the collection of "reasonable burdens", payment of errands, "public security rectification..."
All the tasks assigned by the Xiangshan County Government were done with utmost dedication. Within a few months, Nansha Village in Xiangshan County became a "model village" that even Mr. Wen knew.
Being a model village naturally comes with a price. Especially when the Senate began to fall into a public security war in Guangdong, a large number of national troops were formed in Guangzhou, and in addition to being transported from Lingao, many of their food and salaries came from the counties under the former Guangzhou Prefecture.
.
In addition to grain requisition, logistical supply transfers also involve a large number of manpower and ships, which are also distributed to counties and villages through "transportation".
The land tax burden in Guangdong was very light under the Ming Dynasty, accounting for only 2.01% of the national land tax burden. Although there have been three salary increases, plus various local floating taxes, the Chen family's control of the grassroots still has considerable influence on the county.
For the local powerful clan, it is not a big burden.
But for the Senate, Guangdong's taxes are too light. According to the opinions of Wang Ju and others, Guangdong's current land taxes have "very great potential" and are worthy of "deep exploration". This "reasonable burden" amount is in Nansha
For the people of the Chen clan, it is not so "reasonable" and seems a bit overbearing.
This cannot be said to mean that the Chen family is deliberately crying for poverty. After all, the soldiers and bandits have caused great harm to Nansha, and the Chen family has suffered heavy losses both public and private for years of accumulation. Now they are faced with reasonable burdens and expenses, and they are in embarrassment.
In the past, many of the burdens of the official family, especially those related to branch expenses, were mostly passed on to people with foreign surnames in the village. However, now that foreign surnames are in power and advocate "equal expenses", the Chen family has the most male members, so naturally there are more branches.
Whether it is "reasonable burden" or frequent "payments", it will naturally affect Nansha's agricultural production. In addition, there are widespread rumors that the Australians will implement "375 rent reduction" and "progressive taxation", and the Chen family is frightened.
I am willing to work hard to manage the fields; tenants with a foreign surname certainly have hope, but operating land often requires borrowing. In the past, lending to tenants was a good business with a guaranteed profit, and tenants who asked for loans could be said to be granted whatever they asked for. Nowadays, most landlords of the Chen family use the excuse of being gangsters.
They suffered heavy losses during the looting and refused to lend money. Firstly, the financial losses were real. Secondly, the "burden" and the rumors of "rent reduction" made them lose interest in operating the fields. Many middle- and upper-class people with commercial properties in the county or other places
They simply ran away and left all their land to the clan. In fact, many of the fields in Nansha were abandoned.
Nansha spent a whole year in this atmosphere of doubt and uneasiness. Farmers could not get loans, and their rental of cattle and purchase of fertilizers were affected. Coupled with heavy expenditures, although the weather was acceptable, the harvest throughout the year was mediocre.
The promised rent reduction and progressive taxation did not come, but the number of reasonable burdens increased a lot. Although Chen Xuan is good at running errands for Australians, he has no ability to grow this business and relies entirely on "strict urging"
, the reasonable burdens for this year were collected. After collecting reasonable burdens twice a year, the financial resources of each Chen family were almost empty.
But he didn't dare to say these words to Li Yao'er. To be honest, Li Yao'er also shared in the embarrassment of the villagers' lives today: in order to restore fertility and resume production, the villagers were required to pay for the food rations out of their own pockets.
Being sent to bake bricks and transport wood... caused many people to complain.
He thought for a moment and then said euphemistically: "The villagers were revolted by the war last spring, and all their houses were empty. The spring silkworms were also destroyed. Every household's vitality was severely damaged..."
"Are you saying that the burden on the people of Nansha is too great now?" Li Yaoer said with a smile.
Chen Lin's face turned red. He was somewhat embarrassed that his little thoughts had been discovered. What's more, he was also afraid of offending his second uncle. He hurriedly said: "After the chaos, the people are hungry and tired. If you can be a little more considerate, you can help the country and the people."
All good things.”
Li Yaoer tilted her head and looked at him with interest, which made Chen Lin's scalp tingle for a while. Fortunately, the gaze did not last long, and she only heard her say: "How many days have you been back to Nansha?"
"Two...two days..."
"Then how do you know that the burden on the people of Nansha is too heavy and their families are completely depleted?"
Chen Lin was sweating on his head. He was afraid that the elders who wrote to him, Chen Qing's family, and his sister would be implicated, so he said in a panic: "The villain is also just talking about hearsay, hearsay..."
"Don't be afraid," Li Yao'er said, "Although you are just hearing this, you are not making it up. The people of Nansha have indeed been burdened a lot in the past year. Some people's wealth is indeed empty... some people"
She said the word quite playfully. Chen Lin broke into a cold sweat again.
"...However, there should be no one in the local area who is so poor that they can't afford to eat."
"This...it's true..." Chen Lin nodded quickly.
"It should be said that in Nansha now, some people's lives are not as good as in the past." Li Yao'er said, "But for some people, life is probably better now than in the past."
Chen Lin hurriedly said: "Yes, yes..."
Li Yao'er changed the subject: "However, the Senate came to Nansha not to ask everyone to have food together and then be done with it. But to want everyone to live a better life than before. The silk factory in front of them is counting on - Fengsheng and
If our business succeeds, the people will have more than just food and clothing."
"Yes, I know." Chen Lin secretly smiled bitterly, thinking that you are just making cakes to satisfy your hunger! It is true that the people in Nansha now have food to eat, but they are just the same as in the past. If the second uncle is allowed to continue doing this, what will happen this year?
We can’t even raise silkworms! How can we talk about reeling and weaving silk?
He was originally just dealing with Li Yao'er's questions, and he was more or less cautious. At this moment, the young blood in his heart was aroused, and he said: "What the chief said makes sense. It's just that it's New Year's Day now. After the beginning of spring, the people need seeds for spring farming. There is no
Those who have oxen need to have oxen, and those who raise silkworms also need capital... After the war, all industries will be in ruins, and I am afraid they will have to find ways to raise funds. Please pay attention to the chief..."
Li Yao'er was stunned. When she came to Nansha, the news she got was that "it's a prosperous village." So she didn't pay much attention to the situation in the village. She, the guards, and the students' activities in the village were superficial, and she probably knew that although the village was suffering
There were bandits and chaos, but it was not a problem for the people to have enough food and clothing.
Since food and clothing are not a problem, agricultural production in 1635 has also been operating normally. Nansha Village has been cultivating for more than half a year, so agricultural production this year should not be a problem. It is natural for them to promote new silkworm seeds and plant mulberry trees. The young man in front of him said
"Need to raise funds"?!
She hesitated and asked: "How was last year's autumn harvest? When I came to Nansha, they said there were no disasters and the harvest was acceptable."
"Chief, I don't know what the harvest is like in the whole village of Nansha. Not to mention the fields under my family's name, last year's harvest was only 60% of the year before. Although other villains don't know, it's probably the same."
Li Yao'er's expression changed. She often went to rural areas to promote silkworm cultivation and mulberry trees, and she also understood the key points of agricultural production. If Chen Lin had not been alarmist, after the spring of this year, it would be difficult for Nansha without a loan from the Senate.
The production and operation activities for the new year have begun.