Tianwangzhuang is closer to the Dan River than Lihezhuang, but unlike the other villages on both sides of the downstream river, it is not affected by the impact of the water flow.
Even though the climate is changeable this year and grain production is slightly affected, it will not have a fundamental impact.
At first glance, hundreds of acres of open and neatly arranged fields are connected together, which makes people feel gratified.
In the carriage, Wei Mingxuan pointed outside along the opened curtain and said excitedly: "Look, sister, from the position of the three trees on the east side to the stream on the west side, all the land in between belongs to Tianwangzhuang."
"It's six or seven hectares!"
Such a large and spacious manor could not be found near the capital. For example, the several manors of the Wei family in the past, as well as Wei Yunlan's own several dowry manors, each of which was only half the size of Tianwang Manor at most.
It is now after the autumn harvest, and new crops have not yet been planted in the fields, so they look a bit bare.
But looking at these bare lands, it is not difficult to imagine the prosperous scene when they are full of crops in a few months.
Seeing the light in Wei Yunlan's eyes, Wei Mingxuan said cheerfully: "Mom said, Big Sister, you will definitely like this farm."
Of course I like it.
Fertile land means more food produced next year.
In a year of great disaster, who wouldn’t like food or complain about having too much food on hand?
Wei Yunlan brought Wei Mingxuan here this time. In addition to the handover, the most important thing was to take away the grain that the host should collect this year.
Because there were other arrangements later, in addition to Wei Mingxuan who volunteered to go, they also brought Jiang Wu, Liu Qingxue, and several Tianshu Pavilion guards including Yu Qi whose arm had recovered.
As soon as the carriage arrived at the entrance of the village, the village head and several people came to greet us enthusiastically, "Is the boss here?"
Wei Mingxuan lifted the curtain and he and Wei Yunlan got off the carriage one after another.
After seeing him, the smile on the village head's face widened again, "Master Yue, do you still remember me? We met once when the Japanese brought you and your wife to the village the other day!"
The Wei family still used their previous surname Hua in Huangzhou.
Wei Mingxuan nodded, his eyes fell on the plump face, "The head of the farm?"
"Yes, my last name is Tian."
On the round face of the farm owner, his eyes were squeezed into slits with laughter, "It's amazing that you still remember me."
"Who is this?"
"This is my eldest sister. She is the one who makes the decisions on all matters in my family." Wei Mingxuan said naturally.
The head of the farm was surprised for a moment but showed no sign of abnormality. He politely called "Miss Yue" and invited the person in.
Similar to Lihezhuang, Tianwangzhuang also has an empty yard belonging to the owner.
However, this yard is a little smaller and it looks like no one has lived here for some years.
Even though the head of the farm had sent people to clean the house and remove the dust in advance, it still looked a bit old and dilapidated.
The head of the farm explained, "This was where the stewards stayed when the master sent them here every year to check the accounts and collect grain. Later, the stewards found it troublesome and just stayed at my house temporarily."
At this point, the farm owner politely invited, "There is also an empty small courtyard at my home, which has been tidied up. If Mr. Yue and Miss Yue don't mind, why don't you stay there today?"
"It's better not to bother the farm owner." Wei Yunlan glanced at the sky. "It's still early now. Let's do the handover first and talk about other things later."
"Okay, I'll get the account book to you right away."
The head of the farm responded and turned to walk out of the yard.
Only his own people were left in the courtyard. Wei Mingxuan lowered his voice, his tone was questioning but his eyes were certain, "Sister, do you dislike this farm owner?"
"It's not that I dislike him." I just think that this man is a little too slick, and doesn't seem like an honest and loyal person.
However, as the saying goes, you can judge a person by his appearance but not by his heart. Wei Yunlan did not want to judge a person based on his first impression.
What kind of person this village head is and whether he needs to be removed and replaced by someone else depends on his actual performance in the future.
After a while, the head of the farm came back with a stack of booklets.
Wei Yunlan glanced through it briefly, frowning slightly, "What about this year's?"
Manager Tian lowered his head slightly. "The grain rent was collected a little late this year. It was just collected two days ago, and I haven't had time to sort out the account books yet..."
"The account books haven't been sorted out yet, but the necessary records are there. Manager Tian has been the head of this farm for six or seven years. He naturally knows the rules and regulations and doesn't need us to teach him."
Wei Yunlan's tone was a bit harsh, but he did not directly ask for the rough account as the farm owner guessed. Instead, he said, "How about this, divide this year's grain rent into three parts."
"30% will be shipped directly to Lihe Village, 20% will be left in Tianwang Village, and I will send someone to pick up the remaining 50% within ten days."
As Wei Yunlan spoke, he casually reported the amount of each item that needed to be transported.
The head of the farm broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this. The slight contempt he had for her because she was young and a woman completely disappeared without a trace.
This Miss Yue is really amazing. She actually figured out the background of Tianwangzhuang very early on!
Fortunately, he hadn't had time to tamper with this year's account books, nor had he had time to transport the grain rent away...
The specific amount of these grain rents was not Wei Yunlan's credit, but was roughly estimated by Gao and several girls over the past two days based on the grain production situation in Lihe Village in the past two years.
Wei Yunlan stared at the expression of the head of the field, with a clear understanding in his eyes, but he did not say anything.
He just said, "The head of the farm, go find someone to count the grain. Before dark today, people from Lihe Village will come and take away their 30% of the grain."
"Yes, yes, I'll go find someone to help count it..."
Tian Zhuangtou came and went in a hurry, and left the small courtyard like a gust of wind.
After he left, Wei Mingxuan asked, "Sister, since you found that he had problems, why didn't you just remove him?"
"There's no need for that." Wei Yunlan shook his head slightly.
"Tianwang Village is mostly made up of farmers with the surnames Tian and Wang. The village head Tian has been here for a long time, and a single move can affect the entire village."
"We don't have that many available people to assign here now. As long as we make them understand that we are not easy to fool, and pay them the food rent they should pay, we can turn a blind eye to other things."
This was the truth she learned when she was floating over the marquis's mansion in her previous life and was accustomed to the filth and tricks among the servants.
There are no fish in clear water.
It is impossible for a person to be completely free of greed. As the head of the family, she only needs to control this greed within a controllable range and then make use of it.
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