Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Shangbai Village has no knowledge of the movements in Heifeng Village.

Even the bandit gangsters don't know. Every time they go down the mountain to rob, they only tell a few leaders in advance to prevent the news from leaking out.

Zhu Guoxiang's village school has not yet opened because the busy farming season has arrived.

At this moment, Ju Ming was holding a sickle and was bending to cut wheat.

The wheat he cut was tied up with hemp rope by Mrs. Yan.

Bai Qi, the kid, was not idle either. He followed Ju Ming, carrying a bamboo basket to pick up the lost ears of wheat.

After Yan Dapo finished tying the wheat, she turned around and went to harvest it.

Not long after, Zhu Guoxiang came over with a hammer and took away the wheat tied by Mrs. Yan. The pole is an extended version of the shoulder pole, with iron tips on both ends, which can be lifted up by inserting it into the bundled wheat pile.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law cultivated only this acre of wheat land themselves, and rented the rest to the villagers.

After picking up the wheat and spreading it in the yard, Zhu Guoxiang picked up the flail and began to beat the wheat that had been dried in the past two days.

Shen Yourong was also working. She swept the wheat she had threshed earlier into baskets and packed it. At this moment, he was using the wind to separate the debris from the wheat grains. His forehead was so tired that he was covered in fine sweat, and the skin on his face was also tanned a lot.

The two of them chatted while working.

Shen Yourong asked: "The corn my husband planted grew taller and taller, and he must be able to harvest a lot of grain. Can wheat be interplanted with corn?"

Zhu Guoxiang replied: "Yes. Leave empty rows for wheat, and plant crops in the empty rows. It is best to plant garlic. Firstly, the month is just right, and secondly, garlic can repel insects. Wait a month or two before the wheat is harvested. Replace the garlic with corn and plant it. After the wheat is harvested, the wheat rows are replaced with beans and sweet potatoes. Five crops can be grown on the same piece of land, and the growth and harvest periods are completely staggered, so they will not be idle all year round. But not in the mountains. , the fertility can’t keep up, my wife’s wheat field is just right.”

"That's great, growing five crops on one piece of land." Shen Yourong smiled happily and began to dream about next year's bumper harvest.

Zhu Guoxiang lamented: "It's a pity that no matter how much food we grow, it's not enough for the government to expropriate it."

The smile on Shen Yourong's face suddenly disappeared: "A lot of our land is tenanted by the village owners. They will also have to pay more taxes this year, and I'm afraid they won't be able to collect the rent. Yesterday, Brother Ang came to see me and said that he He no longer wants to be the head householder and has sold all the few acres of land at home. He wants to sell all the land to our family and become our customer. He asked my husband if he would take him in."

"Take it." Of course Zhu Guoxiang is willing to accept it. This is the first step towards becoming a big landlord.

Shen Yourong said: "If we accept customers, we will no longer be able to be a fifth-class household. Our family will have to pay more taxes next year."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "If you pay more taxes, you have to accept them."

Once a customer is accepted, the account book must be modified and the customer information must be added to it.

There was only one thing that was very strange. Normally, even if the villagers wanted to vote for the landlords, they should vote for Lao Bai, a member of the Communist Party of China. However, Wu Er actually came to vote for the Zhu family and his son.

It seems that the old white member has really damaged his reputation!

Tax reminders are normal and happen every year.

But this year there has been too much pressure, which has exceeded the capacity of farmers. The five Baiford brothers who were pushed out to be villains ran away again. The old Baiford had no choice but to kill himself, and also used the armor protection method to create a lot of enemies.

Of course the villagers were resentful, because Wu Er could chat with Ju Ming and even gave Ju Ming a bamboo tube of loose tea. This time he planned not to be the main customer. Wu Er would rather take advantage of Ju Ming than take advantage of the old Bai Yuanwai.

In the long run, the more customers who seek refuge with the Zhu family and his sons, the greater the conflict between them and Lao Bai.

The father and son must develop their strength as soon as possible, otherwise, at a certain level, the old white member may fall out.

The so-called development of strength is not to occupy more land, but to accumulate prestige and improve social status.

For example, making friends with Li Hanzhang and Zheng Hong expanded their network of contacts and made Lao Bai feel apprehensive. Another example is that he has a close relationship with Zhang Guangdao, and having a bandit nearby is also a kind of reliance.

After winnowing half a basket of wheat, Shen Yourong turned off the wind and went to Zhu Guoxiang's side to help. He lowered his head and said, "When the wheat is harvested, my husband will go visit my parents."

"It's my wife's arrangement," Zhu Guoxiang said.

Shen Yourong couldn't help but laugh, feeling sweet in his heart: "But bring Da Lang with you. He is knowledgeable and my father will definitely like him."

"Yes, he is good at this kind of thing." Zhu Guoxiang said.

The farm work here can be left to Shen Yourong. Zhu Guoxiang put down the flail, picked up the pole again, and went to the fields to pick the harvested wheat.

Ju Ming was sitting in the wheat field and resting. When he saw his father coming, he wiped his sweat and complained: "This wheat harvesting work is really not done by humans. My waist is almost broken from exhaustion."

"It just tempers your temperament." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Ju Ming said angrily: "You literally can't stand and talk without backache. Come and try bending down to cut the wheat."

"Can't you bear this difficulty?" Zhu Guoxiang said, "I can cut it, and you can pick the wheat. But a reminder, if you don't cut the wheat, you have given up and have not withstood the test."

"Grass!"

Ju Ming picked up the sickle again, stood up and said, "I can hold on!"

Grandma Yan was used to father and son bickering, and just laughed and watched the fun. She is becoming more and more satisfied with her current life. There are two men in the family, and they can do farm work much faster, and the speed of harvesting wheat has doubled.

While cutting, Zhu Ming thought of something and stood up straight: "Dean Zhu, stop picking the wheat, just let the cornucopia carry it back!"

"Yes!" Zhu Guoxiang slapped his forehead.

Both father and son regarded the cornucopia as a war horse and never thought of letting the horse do farm work. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law thought about it, but they were too embarrassed to say it, so the horse kept enjoying the blessing.

It has been almost three months since I picked up the horse, and my strength has long been restored. It is time to put this beast to work.

Poor Ju Ming's big sword was used as a hatchet to cut through thorns. Now there is a cornucopia of good war horses being captured and used by young men to do farm work.

In the evening, the family finished work and went back. Shen Yourong also cooked rice and was sweeping the wheat grains to dry in the yard.

Today's food standard has been improved, with rice, meat and vegetables, and vegetable soup made with lard.

Even the cornucopia, which had only worked for half a day, was given two more handfuls of beans.

When Zhu Guoxiang told his son that there were clients seeking refuge, Zhu Ming said: "This is a good thing. Apart from Lao Bai, are there many people in the village who seek refuge with other companies?"

Grandma Yan said: "Eighty percent of them are defecting to members of the Lao Bai family, and the rest are also seeking refuge with third- and fourth-class households. I have never seen anyone who has taken refuge in our fifth-class households."

"If you have customers in your name, you will definitely be upgraded when you change your household registration." Shen Yourong said.

"It's okay." Zhu Ming said.

After eating and drinking, Ju Ming stood outside the courtyard blowing the evening breeze. His waist was exhausted and he just wanted to stand for a while longer.

I saw a few strong men walking over, all holding dicks in their hands. They greeted Ju Ming as they passed by, and then continued walking forward.

When they walked away, Ju Ming couldn't help but ask: "What do these people do? I saw them yesterday too."

Shen Yourong said: "They are the tea farmers on the mountain, and they are the same ones who make tea. In their spare time, they also practice spears and sticks."

Mrs. Yan's tone was a little dissatisfied: "The old white member showed off his authority and shouted ten or twenty people to come down the mountain, and then walked around the village. The neighbors were too scared to talk nonsense."

Ju Ming understood clearly that this was the private armed force of the old Bai Yuanwai.

When I usually work in a tea garden, I probably have to participate in picking tea, making tea and taking care of the tea trees. They also rely on these people to escort tea. They conduct military training in their spare time and use them to frighten the villagers when collecting taxes.

Of course, they are generally not taken out to avoid causing resentment among the villagers.

This time the government collected too many taxes, and Lao Bai was afraid of causing trouble, so he could only show his fangs.

The sky is getting darker and darker, and as night falls, the village becomes extremely silent.

From time to time, a few dogs barked, breaking the silence, but it seemed even quieter everywhere.

Ju Ming looked up at the night sky: "The moon is so big tonight, how about I sing a song for everyone."

"Stop it!"

Zhu Guoxiang stopped him quickly, not wanting to hear his son's crazy screams.

Ju Ming said: "Forget it if you don't listen. I used to do live broadcasts to sing and I always had to receive gifts. But it's strange. When I told stories, there were a lot of people, but when I sang, they all left. Only a few irons were left." Fans, they posted comments saying 'singing very well' to comfort me. Alas, life is as lonely as snow, and not many people can appreciate my singing voice."

Zhu Guoxiang couldn't help but want to roll his eyes. He knew that his son was exhausted today and was talking nonsense to relieve his emotions.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law didn't understand it at all and thought it was some custom on Guangnan Road.

Zhu Ming suddenly shouted: "Brother Qi, come here quickly!"

Bai Qi was very obedient and ran to him quickly.

Ju Ming said: "Today I won't teach you singing, but I will teach you the originator of limericks."

"What is the originator?" Bai Qi asked.

Ju Ming said: "That's the ancestor."

Bai Qi asked again: "What is a limerick?"

Ju Ming said nonchalantly: "You just go to get gas. If you can recite limericks, you don't have to pay for gas."

"Then I want to learn." Bai Qi was quite positive.

Ju Ming said: "Listen carefully. There is a blur on the river, and there are black holes on the well. The yellow dog is white on the body, and the white dog is swollen on the body. Do you know what this poem is about?"

"I don't know." Bai Qi shook his head.

Under the moonlight, Ju Ming began to explain limericks to the children.

In the Han River, bandits were paddling small boats and quickly approaching Shangbai Village.

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