"The Farmer's Fat Wife": Fat Men Are All Potential Stocks (Part 5)...

Such a big matter was something the Li family could not agree to, but Hua Xigu had a very strong personality, and Old Man Li was a mute who did nothing but farm and herd cattle every day.

Hua Xigu took care of everything at home, big and small. Brother Li thought his mother would handle everything, so he just watched from the sidelines. Unexpectedly, before he knew it, his mother had agreed!

According to the norms of this era, Old Man Li is old, and the rest of the family consists entirely of women. Brother Li should now be the actual head of the household.

However, the oppression of women in feudal society was systemic and institutional; when it came to the individual, it was not so straightforward.

In the Hua family, Hua Xigu was absolutely in charge. Old Man Li had long been subdued by her, and the rest were all her children, who had no say in front of her.

Regardless of what others laughed at her for, Li Sanyue's imposing figure made people hesitant to engage in any conversation with her beyond words.

Li Laoda could only persuade his wife and another younger sister to talk to Hua Xigu privately, hoping to change her mind.

Hua Xigu was so annoyed that she shooed away the flies buzzing around her ear: "What's the rush? Let your sister work for a year first. This is still far from settled!"

"Go back to your job and do what you're good for. What do you know about family matters?"

Li Dalang: ...

Once the situation was resolved at home, those who went back to think about it quickly, especially the tenant farmers who made a living by renting land, who were the most proactive.

Is it true or false that they'll cooperate to grow wheat and then buy land?

Everyone was skeptical, but with the joint wheat harvest just around the corner, fewer people questioned it.

Ye Xiqing immediately arranged for everyone to harvest wheat in shifts, not according to whose field it was, but according to the quality of the field.

Don't be so rigid in your thinking, insisting on harvesting all the wheat before even considering planting beans. Just harvest the wheat in front and plant the beans behind.

Previously, each family operated independently, harvesting and planting in a step-by-step manner. Now that households are united, the role of uniting households should be brought into play, and both tasks are being carried out simultaneously.

Ye Xiqing broke down each step and assigned specific people to be in charge.

The sickle team swung their sickles to cut the wheat at the front, while the transport team harnessed oxcarts to collect it from behind.

Some people stayed in the village to stack and dry the wheat, while the children who could run around picked up the leftover wheat from the harvested ground. Then another group of people started planting beans.

The Hua family has an ox that can be used for transportation. Ye Xiqing asked someone to rent another ox to grow beans. The cost of renting the ox was recorded in the public account and shared equally by everyone.

The harvesting team, with its clear division of labor and efficient operation, much like an army, quickly showed everyone what collective efficiency truly means.

The wheat harvest had just finished when the soybean planting army caught up.

Despite the imperial court withdrawing so many people, it didn't affect the efficiency of wheat harvesting and bean planting at all. Everyone was happy to see seeds planted in all the fields.

There's a way out!

Having passed the critical stage, the subsequent work was no longer so urgent, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Xiqing's large physique undoubtedly belonged to the sickle team; after one wheat harvest season, the fair-skinned fat man turned into a dark-skinned fat man.

Find a river, take a good bath, change into a dry linen shirt and short sleeves. Great, this era isn't so feudal that even a pedantic scholar would scream if a woman showed a patch of skin.

She didn't care about what happened next; she stood aside and acted as the commander, her diligence followed by even better opportunities to slack off.

After the planting was done together, the harvest was also done together; all the wheat was piled together, with no distinction between them.

At first, everyone was terrified and had many thoughts on how the wheat would be distributed. But soon they no longer had to worry, as the imperial court came to collect taxes.

Different crops are harvested at different times. The imperial court collects summer and autumn taxes according to the ripening time of different crops. When the wheat is harvested, the summer tax is collected.

Taxes were already increasing every year, and now with the war, additional military taxes were levied. In the end, the total tax was five dou (a unit of dry measure) per mu (a unit of land area).

In ancient times, farming techniques were backward, and the yield per mu was about 1-2 shi. One shi is equal to 10 dou. If you take five dou, it is equivalent to taking half of the yield.

That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that some tenants also charge rent, and some ruthless landlords even charge half of the rent.

You give me half, I give you half, everyone is happy, and then the farmer finds that all that hard work and enthusiasm he put in for a year seems like a complete waste.

Upon hearing the news, everyone gathered at Hua Xigu's house, silently watching Hua Xigu and Ye Xiqing. What were they going to do now...?

Hua Xigu had some skills from all walks of life, but even she couldn't do anything about this. She looked at Ye Xiqing.

Ye Xiqing made a quick decision: "I said before that the court will only levy more taxes, not less. If we don't make preparations, we will be drained dry."

"We cannot disobey the imperial court's orders. We must pay the taxes. We hope everyone will work together to help pay the rent. Please do not borrow money from loan sharks."

"If we save all the grain, it should be enough for us to eat sparingly next year. We're not thinking about making money now. All we can do now is ensure that we don't starve, don't sell our land, and don't sell ourselves."

"These days won't last forever. As long as things don't go downhill, there will always be a time when we can catch our breath."

"As long as we fall slower than others, we have a better chance of getting out."

The people who had initially held onto a sliver of hope now, under pressure from the imperial court, had thrown all hope to the back of their minds.

Seeing this as their only lifeline, they gritted their teeth and said, "Alright! Young lady, we'll do whatever you say!"

The people divided the grain into portions for tax purposes and portions for the landlords. Those who were to pay taxes did so, and those who were to return their tenancies returned theirs.

Tenant land must definitely be returned; otherwise, if landlords and the imperial court jointly own 100%, what kind of sentimentality is that?

The landlord didn't expect them to actually stop farming, so he softened his stance and agreed to reduce the rent by a certain percentage.

The person pleading for leniency tearfully explained that the imperial court wanted to levy a 50% tax, and the men in their families had been conscripted, making it impossible to afford the rent.

Upon hearing this, the landlord didn't pursue the matter further. It was a good thing that the tenant farmers couldn't afford to rent the land; the next step would be to sell themselves into slavery, and even cheaper slaves were coming soon.

They can also take this opportunity to buy some more land, which would be quite nice.

After the tenants finished paying their rent, the tax collectors returned. Hua Xigu went to pay the taxes herself; someone quick-witted was needed to bribe the grain collection officer.

Otherwise, if the officials cheated in the grain collection process, they would have to hand over countless more grains.

This also highlights the benefits of collective action: by bribing officials once, taxes can be paid to countless people, which actually saves some costs.

Originally, storing such a large amount of grain was a major undertaking. Kind-hearted officials and landlords, seeing how exhausted the farmers were, helped them lighten their burden by transporting away a large portion of the grain, which made things much easier for them.

The remaining dried wheat grains were put into large vats to prevent rodents and mold. Ye Xiqing had several rooms vacated specifically for storing rice.

To prevent anyone from being uneasy, everyone takes turns guarding the premises and monitoring for any theft.

Not only were the resources in the fields consolidated, but Ye Xiqing also had everyone's living quarters consolidated. Some families were left with only orphans and widows, so Ye Xiqing had them live together in one house, and the empty houses were used for other purposes, such as storing grain.

The idea of ​​communal meals hasn't been put on the agenda, mainly because the current situation is different from when Zhao Zhenniang built the workshop.

Zhao Zhenniang truly had a centralized industry for everyone to work in, while Ye Xiqing did not, except when she was farming.

Therefore, they only cooked together during the rush to plant and harvest crops; at other times, Ye Xiqing would ask everyone to plan the remaining food supplies.

Make a plan, distribute food rations according to the number of people, ensuring that no one receives too much and no one receives too little, and then something incredible happens.

With the labor force withdrawn, there are fewer people to work and fewer people to eat.

An adult man needs to eat at least three bushels of grain a year. In the past, when the man was at home, the women would make sure the man ate first, while they themselves ate bran and wild vegetables to get by.

Now the imperial court has added two dou of summer tax, so the burden has definitely become heavier. But there is an unprecedented variable that has been added to the calculation: every household consumes three shi of rice less.

With fewer people and less consumption, the output was not affected. Ye Xiqing did not distribute grain according to men and women, but allocated a fixed amount of grain per person every month, so that the women who stayed at home ate pure grain cakes for the first time.

Even though it's made from whole grains, this still doesn't seem right!

The women who stayed at home were overjoyed to receive the grain, their hearts filled with gratitude. Only Hua Xigu's face darkened. Wasn't that a mistake? The grain had been taken from their own land!

Those who grow wheat don't necessarily get to eat it. Refined white flour was expensive in every dynasty. Ordinary farmers grew wheat to sell, not to eat.

But the Hua family is different. The Hua family is rich. Originally, after the wheat harvest, they could still eat noodles and steamed buns for a while. Now, everything has been ruined by this group!

Brother Li hurriedly returned to the city, and Li Qiyue went back to her husband's family home, leaving only Aunt Hua Xi, Old Man Li, and Ye Xiqing at home eating mixed grain pancakes.

Old Man Li can eat anything. Kang Kang ate without saying a word. Hua Xi Gu is so fat, she must love to eat too. He immediately regretted it.

Everyone else in the village is eating multigrain pancakes, but she's out of white flour steamed buns. What's the point?

Ye Xiqing looked at the multigrain pancakes in silence, but it was alright; this was just a necessary sacrifice for starting a business.

The imperial court levied additional taxes, and coupled with the previous large-scale conscription, many people were indeed overwhelmed and began to sell their land, causing the land price to drop to two taels of silver per mu.

Wealthy merchants and powerful figures swarmed forward like sharks smelling blood, eager to grab a share of the freshly cut chunks of fish food. Ye Xiqing also joined the fray.

But while other wealthy businessmen can buy a thousand acres of land with ease, she would go bankrupt if she tried to buy a hundred acres.

In such situations, one's own flesh cannot be exchanged for silver, so Ye Xiqing went from house to house with only a few acres of land that they were about to sell, asking, "Can I buy your land for free?"

The person who was already very sad: Hmm?

To avoid being attacked, Ye Xiqing quickly explained the business model of her village to them and invited them to bring their land to join their village and expand this business model.

She doesn't want her land, and she doesn't want her money. These people are just a temporary farming alliance to deal with special circumstances.

All those who live hand to mouth gather their land together, gather their people together, farm together, eat together, and ensure they don't starve to death. Not selling their land is a victory.

You should think carefully about whether to entrust the land to her for safekeeping, or to live beyond your means and ultimately face utter ruin.

The person selling the land: ...

Ye Xiqing's ideas were too advanced for people of this era and difficult to understand, so Ye Xiqing took them to the village for a visit. The villagers didn't know what Ye Xiqing wanted to do, but when interviewed, they naturally told them everything.

Regardless of what it is, having a physical entity makes people more trustworthy. The person selling the land looked at the village's operations and it seemed quite legitimate.

With gritted teeth, since I was about to reach a dead end anyway, I decided to take a gamble!

However, joining a new village without a reason was quite difficult in ancient times, as household registration was strictly controlled and immigrants were not allowed to move easily.

Ye Xiqing also had a solution to this: in ancient times, immigration was difficult, but selling oneself into servitude was easy.

She would have the recruits sell their land and bodies to her first, then she would resell the land and use the proceeds to buy land near Xiawa Village. Once she had the land and body deeds, she would return them to the people who sold them.

In this way, although they still had to pay some transaction taxes to the government (there were transaction taxes in ancient times), they legally transferred the land and people to Xiawa Village through legitimate means.

Once the newcomers arrived in the village, Ye Xiqing had someone arrange accommodations for them. Then, he mobilized the villagers to build more houses while the beans were planted, the taxes were paid, and people were idle. There would be many more people like this in the future.

The newcomer was shocked. "You actually actually gave me food and housing as usual?"

The villagers were dumbfounded. "You mean buying land? Is this how you buy it?"

Ye Xiqing looked at everyone and said, "So what? Just see if you bought it or not."

After settling the newcomers in, we'll call both the new and old members together for a unity meeting.

The more people there are, the more land can be cultivated, and the more land there is, the more risks can be mitigated.

They haven't even overcome the survival hurdle yet, which is why they're cutting back on food and clothing and trying every possible way to secure a basic living. It's also difficult for them to acquire land in one go.

But the land's yield will always exceed what each of them can eat. As long as they don't sell the land, but instead keep buying new land and bringing in new people, they can always make a fortune, like landlords.

People are worried because of the limited land and food resources, but we have potential!

If you can endure the initial stages of starting a business by cutting back on expenses, smooth sailing will soon follow!

So everyone must not give up on themselves. Following her example, go out and develop some new partners. There is strength in numbers!

When conditions improve and the collective has money, we will definitely buy thirty acres of land for each of you!

system:……

No, you're running a pyramid scheme!

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Author's note: Qingqing: What are you talking about? I have a physical form here.