Crossing the Qinghe Landlord gl

On the vast field, there are ravines.A few figures of a dozen or so people were scattered all over the place, with their hoes up and down, faintly visible.

The warm spring breeze was mixed with a bit of cold wind, and the leaves of the two-foot-high young seedlings in a field swayed.

In the ridge next to this field, a tall, rather thin young cattle herder was walking.Behind him is an old cow who is reluctant to part with the tender grass as he walks, and occasionally turns around to nibble a few mouthfuls.

"Go faster." The boy herding the cow turned around and urged the old cow.

The boy was about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was ordinary but handsome. There was a hint of tenderness in his hoarse voice, and he couldn't tell the difference between male and female.

The old cow replied with a "moo--", and no longer missed the tender grass, flicked its tail and walked on the road.

At this time, there was a beautiful shadow on the road from far to near.A dusty-looking woman came to the young man and asked, "Excuse me, is Li Cui's family here?"

A woman's hair is tied with an old hairpin, so it is known that it has been worn out for many years.It's just that although she has a slender figure, her skin is as white and tender as a girl's.Wearing plain clothes and carrying a bamboo basket containing clothes and dry food, she couldn't hide her appearance even though she was dusty.

The young man was taken aback for a moment, and then asked, "Li Cui's family? There are several families with the surname Li in the village, but I don't know what their maiden's surname is."

The woman thought for a while, and said: "Perhaps the village calls her 'Aunt Li'."

The young man suddenly realized, pointed to a house behind the bamboo forest, and said: "Go north along the road, after passing a bamboo forest, there is it."

"Thank you, little lady." The woman thanked the young man, and then went in the direction the young man pointed.

The boy looked at the woman's back strangely, and muttered, "How did she know my identity?"

When the woman arrived at Aunt Li's house, she called out, "Auntie."

Aunt Li came out of the house when she heard the sound and saw the woman standing at the door. She was startled for a moment, and then said happily, "This is Ji Niang? Why are you here!"

Xia Jiniang entered the house, put down the bamboo basket again, and said: "My parents said that it's almost time for spring plowing, and my aunt must be busy all by herself, so let me come over to help." But she kept some words silent.

When her aunt asked her to help her aunt, the second uncle and third uncle often accused her and aunt of turning their elbows outwards, helping her natal family instead of helping the family.

"They are interested, but don't your family need to be busy?" Aunt Li took out a large kettle and poured her a bowl of water to quench her thirst.

"With the help of Su Niang and Brother Sheng, they are still busy."

Aunt Li then said: "That's good, that's good." Suddenly she remembered something, frowned and asked, "Brother Jin is still going to be a Jinshi?"

When Xia Jiniang heard this, she frowned slightly, then nodded, and said, "Brother said that he had waited for three years, and if he gave up, all his previous efforts would have been wasted. He wants to be a Jinshi, and he also wants to make a name for himself."

Aunt Li scolded in a low voice: "He has been taking the exam for more than ten years! All these years, he has only immersed himself in his studies, and he doesn't care about the life and death of his family! If your family's situation is better, it doesn't matter if he took the exam for decades, but your family still doesn't care. Undivided family, 70 people, how to live on the [-]-odd acres of land? I heard people say that if you fail in Jinshi, you can go to other subjects, and other subjects are easy. Why is he so obsessed with Jinshi?"

"Brother said that although Jinshi is a bit difficult, he will be promoted quickly in the future when he becomes an official."

"Such a dream! If he was willing to take other exams, he might have already passed the exam. It would be good to be a petty official, so he can support you. You have not passed any exams in the past ten years. Your second uncle and third Uncle's gossips about your family, right?" Aunt Li scolded her nephew angrily.

Aunt Li is the elder, she scolded Xia Jiniang's elder brother, Xia Jiniang couldn't stop her, but after all, she never agreed with her elder brother.After a while, Xia Jiniang saw that Aunt Li was getting more and more dissatisfied with her brother, so she hurriedly mediated and changed the subject: "This place has changed a lot. I haven't been here for three years. I almost don't know the way!"

How could Mrs. Li not know what she was thinking, so she stopped the topic and replied following her words: "Isn't it? Many households have been moved away. Now there are only eight households left in the village you passed by when you came here." .Some really can't live on anymore, selling fields or going to the city to make a living, and some have gone to be tenants for others."

Xia Jiniang secretly sighed, this kind of thing happens from time to time, even in their place.Her grandfather was also fortunate that the family had not been separated at the beginning, and the more than 70 mu of land would not be too difficult for a family of more than a dozen people to take care of.This is also due to the absence of the "Ding Tax" now, otherwise the fifteen members of the family would have paid fifteen more taxes.

At this time, there are few people but it is very difficult to take care of more than ten acres or even tens of acres of fields.If it weren't for the fact that Aunt Li's family was in this situation, Xia Jiniang wouldn't have come over either.

Aunt Li and Xia Cui, Xia Jiniang's aunt, are sisters. After she became a widow a few years ago, her two sons also went to the city to make a living, and her daughter married soon after Jiji, and she was the only one to take care of the house. With the 30 acres of fields.Naturally, she couldn't do it alone, especially when it was spring plowing time, so Xia Cui asked Xia Jiniang to come over to help.

Although Xia Jiniang looked fair and tender, it was hard to tell that she was a good worker.But Mrs. Li knew that in the Xia family, she was the most diligent in her hands and feet.

The ancestors of Xia's family used to be a wealthy family, but in her great-grandfather's generation, they also fell into poverty. The family property was sold out, leaving only more than 70 mu of land to Xia Jiniang's grandfather, Xia Laoweng.And Xia Jiniang's father, Xia Da, was the eldest son in the family, and he had two younger brothers.

Xia Er and Xia San, Xia Da's two younger brothers, Xia Er is only interested in profit and loves to take advantage of small things. He always wants Xia Da to help him, so he often distributes a lot of good things from Xia Da.

Xia San is also very domineering because of the love of Old Man Xia and the dead Mrs. Xia.Since he was a child, he was not willing to work, so Xia Da used to help him. When he grew up, he saw that Xia Er often got benefits from Xia Da, so he also learned that bad habit.

Xia Da, who was born on the other side, is a coward. He often doesn't take it seriously when he is taken advantage of. He often says to his wife and children: "We are all a family, so there is no need to worry so much."

Wouldn't it be hard for Xia Cui and their children? !

Xia Da has three children. The eldest son, Xia Luojin, thinks about imperial examinations and ignores family affairs.But the imperial examination is only taken once every three years, and there are only a hundred people who pass the exam. How can it be so easy? !

Although the second son, Xia Luosi, had no intention of taking the imperial examination, he also had ambitions and wanted to open a medicine shop in the city to make a living.So he worked as an apprentice in a medicine shop in the city when he was very young, and he only came back once or twice a year.

The eldest son and the second son are not involved in farming, so the only one who can help with the work is Xia Jiniang.Fortunately, Xia Jiniang has been able to endure hardships and stand hard work since she was a child, and she never complains. Her diligent hands and feet are impeccable.

It's just that such a good woman has been unable to find a good family under the "profit-heavy" atmosphere of this dynasty-if a woman wants to marry well, she must prepare a generous dowry!Some people marry their daughters and almost ruin their entire family. In addition to their capital and money, they still have hundreds of acres of land.

After Xia Jiniang got married to Ji, the Xia family was also planning to marry her, but the Xia family couldn't afford that much dowry.Xia Er and Xia San always took advantage of Xia Da, so they encouraged Old Man Xia not to suffer for her dowry.What's more, if Xia Jiniang, who is diligent in hands and feet, is gone, wouldn't their children have to do more work?

So, for the past three years, Xia Jiniang's father asked her to help with the work at home in order to save more money.Although it won't save much, it's better than only widowers in the village or men who want to find a continuation are willing to marry her.

"But have you saved enough money?" Aunt Li asked.

Xia Jiniang was taken aback for a moment, then immediately lowered her head, then shook her head again.

Aunt Li's eyes widened: "It's been three years, and you still haven't saved enough? In another year, you'll be twenty!"

"A few days ago, I saved enough, but when Ah Weng fell ill, my father took the money to treat him. My father said, let me wait another year, and he will come up with a solution."

Aunt Li was so angry: "Your grandfather is sick, and the money for the treatment must have been taken from your eldest family again? Your second uncle and third uncle didn't come out?"

"Father is the eldest son..."

"Then the law of the imperial court says that the division of the family should be divided equally. Did your grandfather treat your father and them fairly?!"

Xia Jiniang didn't want to talk about these family issues, so she asked Aunt Li when she would plow the field.Aunt Li was angry and felt sorry for her. Seeing that she was unwilling to continue, she followed her way and said, "It will take two more days until Brother Donkey finishes plowing the field before you can lend me the ox and the plow."

"Brother Donkey?" Xia Jiniang felt that this name was a little strange, and she had never heard of it three years ago.

Aunt Li smiled and said, "Oh, it's the one separated by a bamboo forest from mine. His name is Zhang He, and his nickname is Donkey."

Speaking of Zhang He, Aunt Li's brows and eyes became tender, and she said: "Speaking of which, brother donkey is also a hard-fated man. Although his ancestors were officials and his family was rich and farmed, he was a concubine. His father died. Later, his elder brother bullied him, and only gave him a hundred acres of wasteland, a dilapidated house, and an old cow. There was no servant, so he brought his younger brother here, and came here to beg for a living. Fortunately, he can endure hardship. It survived this year."

"It's the house with walls seven or eight feet high when I came here? No wonder I looked a little strange, it was still very dilapidated three years ago." Xia Jiniang said.

"That's right! Everyone always thinks that there is no one living there, and Zhang Bing's family also relied on being Brother Lu's cousin, and regarded it as a pile of debris. It took Brother Lu more than half a year to get there. Repaired."

Aunt Li talked further and further away, Xia Jiniang didn't recognize those people, so she didn't pay much attention.Aunt Li glanced at the shadow of the pole outside, and the shadow had already tilted a little.She patted her thigh and said, "Oh, it's about this time, I have to pull out the remaining weeds."

Xia Jiniang followed her to get up and said, "I'll help my aunt."

Aunt Li hurriedly held her down: "Okay, I came here from your Liujiaqiao village for more than 30 miles. You have been on the road for a long time, you have to rest well, and I will go to the field with me tomorrow."

Xia Jiniang smiled and said, "Uncle Zhao from the village stopped by and drove me a dozen miles in a bullock cart, so I'm not tired."

When she smiled, her eyebrows and eyes were curved so that it was impossible to refuse.Aunt Li said: "How about this, you go to the Qinghe River behind the house to catch two fish, and we will eat fish later. If I haven't come back, how about you help me cook with firewood first?"

These two things were not difficult for Xia Jiniang, so she agreed.

The author has something to say: Open a new article?? (°▽°)ノ?

Both protagonists have perspectives, so they attack each other~

In view of the fact that some readers always question the problem that tens of acres of land will be poor, instant noodles came back to popularize science.

1. First of all, one mu of land in the Tang and Song Dynasties was approximately equal to 0.87 mu of modern land.

2. Productivity was low in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The average grain output per mu was 2 shi (118 kg), and in some places it was only 1 shi (59 kg). There were also 3 shi, but only a few places in the south of the Yangtze River.

3. In the Tang Dynasty, Ding divided [-] mu of land and [-] mu of Yongye land. The Song Dynasty did not suppress mergers, so the development of the employment system should not be forgotten as long as the history of junior and senior high schools is carefully studied.

4. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were only about 10,000 to [-] households in one state in the southern region, with [-]+ people (the mouth refers to males). Therefore, it is not surprising that a household owns tens of acres of land because the land is vast and sparsely populated.

5. Household division in the Song Dynasty, five households in the countryside, ten households in the city, etc., divided by economic conditions, in terms of land, 50-70 mu of land can only be regarded as self-cultivation farmers; 20-50 mu of land is semi-owner farmers, They belong to the fourth-class households; those with less than 20 mu belong to the fifth-class households, and they can only be reduced to tenants in order to make a living;

6. In that era, there were many miscellaneous taxes, including one kind of regular tax and more than a dozen kinds of miscellaneous taxes. In order to avoid taxation, more and more tenants attached to official households were also made.

7. In the Song Dynasty, the style of generous marriage was prevalent. The dowry of daughters of rich and noble families was at least several hundred guan, and there were also real estate and land properties that accompanied the marriage.

8. The above knowledge of popular science is not fabricated, and there are data to prove it.

For related information, please refer to "General History of Chinese Customs", Song Dynasty Marriage Chapter, "Song Dynasty Employment Issues", "Song Dynasty Peasant Burden Issues", "Song Dynasty Land System Thoughts", "Song Dynasty Situational Household Issues", "Song Dynasty Feudal Tenancy System Development"