Zhen Fei rises up in the Red Chamber

As a land of fish and rice, Suzhou naturally has a lot of land, but it is precisely because of the prosperity here that there are more rich households, which relatively makes it more difficult for poor households to buy land. A lot of land gives them the opportunity to buy, and secondly, the land price is too high. An acre of good land costs ten taels of silver, and a medium-sized field costs eight taels of silver. The cheapest sandy land and mountain land are actually as high as three taels of silver, and In remote places, the price of land in remote places is almost doubled.

In this way, if you want to survive in a rich place like Suzhou, then there are only a few ways for poor people to go. First, you have to go to work. Suzhou silk embroidery is first-class, so naturally these people will not At least, Suzhou's gardens are also famous all over the world, so there are many more masons and florists. That is to say, there are countless craftsmen in Suzhou, and even in the borders of the south of the Yangtze River.Secondly, it is to be a tenant and farm land for big families. Speaking of Jiangnan, one thing is good, that is, there are many literati, and literati cherish feathers most and want fame, so the land rent will not be too harsh. There is a [-]% What's the matter, the tenants work hard, and if they have some sideline jobs such as raising chickens, growing vegetables, or weaving, they can be regarded as able to support their families.The last one is for the current people of the big family. Don’t think that the current people are embarrassing. In these years, as long as they can survive, the common people don’t care about it, like those who never think about future generations. There is nothing wrong with sending one to a rich family for someone who is an official imperial examination. It not only reduces the burden on the family, but also sends some monthly money home from time to time to subsidize one or two.I just don't want to lose my status as a good citizen, even if I want to find a backer, so as not to be bullied, to help a big family with some peripheral work, there are long-term workers who don't need to sell themselves.

Tian Dazhuang of Tianjia Village in Southwest Suzhou has such an identity now. He is the owner of a leather goods shop in the city and the manager of Mr. Su’s village. He is in charge of the annual rent collection of 25 mu of land for four tenants in his village, including his own. Son.All year round, it's not bad, at least he can have a steward's salary of ten taels of silver. Although it's not much, it's the biggest benefit of his family. Because of this, it took him three years to build a new one for his family. Although the house is not a house of blue bricks and black tiles, it is still covered with thin bricks on the outside of the mud embryo, and only the main house uses tiles on the roof, but in the village, it is already a luxury house, only inferior to the village head and clan. My hometown is worse.

But this year it won’t be done. Tian Dazhuang has been grimacing for three whole months, and even the few tenants under his management are also in a bad mood. The reason is very simple. Master Su’s shop is going to be closed. I heard that Master Su caused trouble. It takes a lot of money to accompany him, so Master Su can only sell the properties. The first thing in this sale is the land property. After all, the Su family is a merchant, and the shop is the foundation.

Seeing that the ten taels of silver will fly away this year, even being a tenant, farming is a bit dangerous. After all, who knows if the new owner of other people's fields has any tenants he can use!He walked around the city frequently, not unheard of. In order to save money, some families directly bought people to plant the land. In this way, except for food and drink, the harvest would all belong to the owner.

Tian Dazhuang is in a hurry, his family of five, apart from him as a strong laborer, only his blind mother, daughter-in-law, and two children who are only about ten years old are left. Except for this kind of land, the money in charge, the family is really There is no other income, if there is no money to make a living, how can the family live?Is it possible to follow others and send children to be slaves?His two boys were raised like treasures, even if they followed him to farm and work, they never let them do more, for fear of damaging their immature bodies, how could he be willing to send them to be beaten and scolded.

For his consideration, the family has been saving money since the day they got the news, thinking about keeping more food and money just in case.The daughter-in-law also started fiddling with the loom, and started weaving again. Even the two boys came over and said that it would be fine to raise a few more chickens and pigs at home, and they could take care of them.This made Tian Dazhuang a little sad.He is a big man, can't he even support his family?

Tian Dazhuang was not reconciled, and couldn't help but go to the city again and again, thinking about asking about the buyer of this field, thinking that if he could show that he knew who it was, would he be able to ask them to continue renting and planting, as long as If they can farm the land, it is not considered that there is no way out.Even if it is really not possible, I can be considered to know the news in advance, and I have a preparation. Besides, the other families have been working together for several years. They also feel relieved as soon as possible.

Fortunately, it may be that there is no unparalleled road. A few days ago, Tian Dazhuang finally found out who the family bought the land of Master Su's house.It turned out to be the Zhen family, that was an official family, and I had never heard of their being stingy about buying people to plant land, not to mention that their family was kind and tolerant towards tenants, that was known to all around.This is great, Tian Dazhuang finally breathed a sigh of relief.At least this tenant can still be employed, and the matter of survival is settled.

The good news is not over yet, Tian Dazhuang got new news within a few days after knowing the news, which is still very good news. The steward of the Zhen family came to him and told him that the Zhen family bought a total of He has acquired 110 acres of middle field and 24 acres of sloping land, and the Wangjiazhuang next door has [-] acres of middle field and [-] acres of sloping land. He will be in charge of the rent of the entire [-] acres of land in the future. The most important thing is , The Zhen family gave a monthly salary, two taels a month and [-] taels a year.

Tian Dazhuang felt that he fell into a honeypot all of a sudden. This is a field of more than a hundred acres, and there are ten tenants. He has now become the head of ten tenants. The annual 24 taels of silver, which he only had two and a half years ago, if he continues to do this, and with the eight acres of land he planted, within three years, the family will definitely be able to live in a real green brick house.If he can also rebuild the other houses in his yard into the same brick and tile house, then his house can really be as rich as the village head's house.When my son gets married or something, I'm afraid he can find a better in-law.

The more Tian Dazhuang thinks about it, the more he feels that God has opened his eyes, and the Zhen family is even more kind to him!Listening to the steward of the Zhen family, he said that he, who was originally the head of the Su family village, could be chosen as the head of the fields in these two villages. The Su family has been in business for three or four years, and the renter has never made a mistake every year. Others in the village also say that he is fair and has never bullied others by virtue of his status as the head of the village. He has a good reputation and is a real person. Such a good prospect.

After hearing such words, Tian Dazhuang didn't say anything else, he patted his chest and promised that he had done his work properly, and he would not let the master's family worry about it, and he would never let the tenant be dissatisfied and tarnish the Zhen family This scholarly family has a reputation as an official family.

Can he guarantee that with such a good salary and such a good job, people from all over the world in the vicinity will probably be robbed if they are released, but they just visit the two villages every now and then, and when they get the harvest When I was a farmer, I was busy for a few days, watching that the tenants did not evade the rent, and sent the rent in full and regularly. This kind of work was really easy for farmers like them.He was used to doing it in the past, but it was just adding some medicine to take care of the place, and there was so much money, he couldn't bear to lose such a good job again.With this money, there will still be food and drink at home.

Not to mention Tian Dazhuang, even the people in Tian Dazhuang's family were all smiles when they heard the news. Tian Dazhuang's old mother immediately tossed and asked his daughter-in-law to prepare incense candles to worship Tian Dazhuang's father and told him that Good news for their family, it's going to be up.In addition to the income from the land they rented and planted, their family has nearly 30 taels a year. Excluding food and drink, it is still possible to save more than ten taels a year. It is good to save for a few years. There are more people who can earn money, and it is impossible to say that children can be sent to study and read, and they can have an identity in the future.If that's the case, they will really be able to get rid of the hard life of facing the loess and turning their backs to the sky for a lifetime.

In the past few days, there are still several people who have gone through the same experience as Tian Dazhuang, most of them are the heads of the village brought up by such ordinary farmers, and they are all honest people with reassuring conduct, and all of these people are new additions to the Zhen family. In other words, Mr. Zhen Fei proposed that the method of buying land loosely and managing the nearby villages in a centralized way has been accepted by Mr. Zhen and has been formally implemented.At the same time, the Zhen family's land was quietly expanding when others were not paying attention. Compared with before, it has increased by nearly [-]%.And this kind of expansion may maintain a certain speed in the next few years, and these villages and households who have benefited may feel the benefits and closeness of the Zhen family, and when there is any thing to sell their fields , Zhen's family will be their first choice, or this kind of business is too small for other people's meetings, it is just a few acres of inconspicuous land, but if it develops like this, one village, two villages, or Whether it's a replacement or an adjustment, it will gradually become one piece.This is the form the Zhen family wants in the end.

This method has been slowly developing for a few years. It is foreseeable that perhaps it will not be too far for the Zhen family to step from a middle-class family in Suzhou to an upper-middle class.The most wonderful thing is that they moved silently and did not touch the interests of any family. In this way, the Zhen family kept a low profile and goodwill in the various families in Suzhou. It is uncertain when in the future, This kind of goodwill is what Zhen Fei can use.