Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

"So what do they do in the morning? Hoeing weeds too?"

Zhu Zhanji asked again following Zhang Xin's answer.

He gets up early to study and reads in the afternoon, so this short time before dinner is considered free time, but he has recently dedicated it to this piece of land in the harem.

He is very busy every day. Seeing that my mother and father are also busy, I can understand that others may also be busy.

"I don't know the details very well. After the seedlings grow out, we need to water, weed and thin out the seedlings every day. The grass in an acre of land grows every day. If the land is not dry for one day, the fertilizer and water will be eaten by the grass."

Zhang Xin had never done farm work before and only had a rough understanding of it.

If Xu hadn't opened up this land, she wouldn't have known that there was work to be done in the fields even in the winter.

The word "serve" means serving people from morning to night.

She heard that ordinary people in Beijing also liked to talk about tending the fields, and indeed, they did so all year round without stopping.

"We don't just work at noon, we work all day. The weeding effect is best at noon because the grass roots we turn over are sun-dried or die. The grass will grow slower and less later."

Xu did explain.

She had heard about it from the late queen before.

"It's too labor-intensive to work like this. Everyone in the palace has to take turns!"

Zhu Zhanji began to have a more real understanding of the word "not easy".

Zhu Zhanji has been working with Zhu Di these days. In October, nothing grows in the fields, so the work is simple, which is to fertilize the land.

Zhu Di told him that in Fengyang, in the spring, the grass grew wildly. The ground was hoeed cleanly the day before, but new weeds sprouted the next day. It was impossible to hoe it all away, and there was no stopping.

He heard from teachers that in an ordinary family of five or six people, at most two or three can work in the fields, and the rest are either young or old. Those who are neither young nor old have to do all the work at home.

That means there are five or six people busy every day.

In the end, they could only collect a few hundred kilograms of food to barely survive.

All the friends in the main hall found it incredible.

But Tang Sai'er and Lin San both said that having land was good enough.

For landless tenants, they can only keep 30% to 40% of the grain they grow.

In the north, where she came from, entire families would die of freezing or starvation if they could not store enough food and firewood for the winter.

Why did the Tang family and the Lin family move to the capital?

Even if you own land and pay taxes, all that's left is yours, but you still can't live that well.

During famine years, many farmers' lands in Putai County were bought by big landlords at low prices. This was normal. If they had nothing to eat or drink, it would be useless to have land. Selling the land could at least help them survive one season, and they could just rent the land from the landlords to grow crops in the next season.

However, as the land was being sold more and more, the land owned by the landlords soon became connected into one piece.

Those who did not sell their land were left alone, surrounded by the land of the big landlords.

For example, the Tang family and the Lin family only have about 40 to 50 acres of land in total. They were not purchased all at once and are not connected. Most of their land is wrapped up in the land of large landlords. They have no chance to water it during droughts and no chance to drain it during floods.

Even in good years, the land could not produce a good harvest.

The young men in the family are easily angry and easily get into arguments with others.

So the Tang family and the Lin family simply sold the land and left.

Although being a military household does not give you freedom, at least you can have enough food and warm clothes.

Zhu Zhanji sometimes felt that he, Tang Sai'er and Lin Sanxiang were from two different worlds.

Lin San told him that fighting over water in the fields would happen, and deaths were common, but such matters were resolved privately and would not be reported to the government.

"So, this is the direction you should work towards in the future. Let's make sure everyone doesn't have to work so hard and can have enough food and clothing. But for now, just go to class and have fun happily. When the spring plowing season comes next year, we'll go live on the imperial farm for a while, and then we'll be able to see everything."

Zhang Xin tapped Zhu Zhanji's forehead and smoothed the little guy's hair.

At this time in her life, Xu's health was not very good. She gritted her teeth and took over the affairs of the palace, and was busy and exhausted every day.

The entire palace was like a big colander; everything could be leaked out, and court officials would impeach the emperor at any time.

Zhu Gaochi was made the crown prince and she became the crown princess, which made her two brothers-in-law very unhappy.

My father-in-law has a very bad temper because my mother-in-law's health has not improved.

So she became more virtuous, following the rules and being cautious in everything.

Now she couldn't even remember what Zhu Zhanji was doing at that time. It must have been difficult for him to follow his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

"Well, well, can everyone from the main hall go? No one has ever been to the ground."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and requested again.

"Sure, if you're willing, just organize a small party and send out invitations to invite everyone to come along."

Xu thought this was a good thing.

As for classmates, just being classmates is not enough.

Working on the ground together and rolling into mud balls is much better than sitting there reading together.

"it is good."

Zhu Zhanji happily agreed.

"Would you like some water?"

Zhang Xin saw Wan Xiu coming over with water and asked again.

"Drink, with salt?"

"Yeah, I'm sweating."

"Can we add some honey next time? Sai'er likes to eat lactose candy. Tomorrow is a day off. Grandma, mother, can I take everyone to the Baotangfang for a look?"

"Okay. Bring all the people with you, that's fine."

While the two adults and one child were chattering, Zhu Di was also explaining things to Zhu Gaochi.

"I'll take your mother to Annan. You can handle these people."

The names of the group of people in the tavern and their words soon turned into a secret letter and was placed on Zhu Di's desk. He read it before setting out to the main hall to find his son and grandson.

Whoever's woman is the one to protect, he just wants to take his wife out to play.

In the bright and warm light before dusk, Zhu Di, who had sweated profusely and felt particularly refreshed, narrowed his eyes and handed the letter to Zhu Gaochi.

"Hmph. So, you're still using the same old tactics and starting with the women?"

Zhu Gaochi finished reading it quickly and sneered.

"How else to put it, a bunch of cowards."

Zhu Di really looked down upon most of the people in the court.

"Let's hold a special exam, Dad. Let's use the same north-south division as before."

Zhu Gaochi thought about it for a moment and made a suggestion.

"Give them a few more petty officials to order around?"

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows.

"No, if you pass the exam, you will be sent directly to the county or township. If you make achievements, you will be transferred back. My grandfather did this before, but they opposed it. Later, they were allowed to enter the Hanlin Academy."

Zhu Gaochi is different from Zhu Di.

He had no likes or dislikes towards all officials. He felt that everyone could be used, it just depended on how they were used.

Loyalty is something that you can never seek at any time.

Being an emperor, you can’t even meet the right person, how can you ask for help?

Now the top three candidates in the palace examination, the top scholar, the second place and the third place, all go directly to the Hanlin Academy. Those who pass the Jinshi examination have to take the exam again, and those who pass the Shujishi examination will study for another three years and then go to the Hanlin Academy again.

The others that failed to pass were the local governments and the six ministries.

The Hanlin Academy, huh, is controlled by these people now. If you are not one of them, there is no way you can come before the emperor. In the end, it has become an important place that scholars yearn for.

That does not work.

"Well, let me do it before I leave."

Zhu Di nodded.