“Here it comes!”
The tenants saw Awang driving the ox cart from afar and immediately returned home to prepare.
Liu Ji had previously rented out all of the 100 acres of land on the farm, with the land rent being 30% and the field rent being 40%.
Now it was harvest time and the rent for last year was due.
This was Liu Ji's first time collecting rent, and it was also the first time that the three brothers and sisters of Dalang looked at the issue of harvest from the perspective of rent collectors.
Liu Ji took all the tenants' information and contracts with him and put them in a small wooden box. It was clearly written in black and white which family rented which piece of land and how much the rent was.
Unlike ordinary landlords, the grain tax of Qin Yao's family is paid half by the owner and the tenant respectively.
Other families usually transfer the grain tax to the tenants.
There are very few landlords who are responsible for all grain taxes themselves.
Therefore, a landlord with a good reputation can get more rent than other families because his land can be exempted from taxes.
For the landlord, it is not as simple as renting out the land and waiting to collect the rent.
A qualified landlord must know in advance what his tenants have planted on the land and how the harvest is when it is time to collect rent, so as to avoid being deceived by cunning tenants in this important link of collecting rent.
However, there are generally precedents for farmland output. If there are no natural disasters or man-made disasters, the output of the previous year can be used as a reference.
If the tenant reports an extremely low yield per mu when collecting rent, the landlord will have to verify whether this is true and what the reason is.
Low yields on good farmland run the risk of having the land grade downgraded, making it difficult to rent the next year.
Liu Ji had already gone to Liu Dafu's house in advance to seek advice on these matters and made sufficient preparations.
This was the first good and lucrative job Qin Yao had given him, so he had to do it well to impress her and make a great comeback.
When they arrived at the village, the carriage stopped. Liu Ji asked Awang to go to Dingjiazhuang to inform them first so that it would be convenient for the next step.
He led the curious Dalang brothers and sisters into a small courtyard used to store farm tools and rent out items.
It happened that the school was on vacation and the students who rented the house went home, leaving the yard empty, which was a good opportunity to temporarily store the rent collected.
The tenant who looked after the farm tools and helped collect rent was the same person, named Ding Liu, who was about forty years old. Liu Ji gave him a nickname, calling him Lao Liu.
Facing the landlord, tenant Ding Liuye couldn't say anything. Every time he saw Liu Ji and heard him call out rudely, "Old Liu, come here for a moment," he would bow his waist and respond with a smile.
The voice just now was called by Ding Liu.
Seeing Awang driving into Dingjiazhuang, Ding Liu stepped forward and asked, "Master, since you and Awang are here, I have to go back and prepare the rent. Do you want to take the key to this yard?"
Liu Ji nodded and took the key, then took a look around the rented dormitory. The furniture in the room was very simple, almost shabby.
But the bed was cheap and the tenants never said anything.
Seeing that two beds were empty, Liu Ji asked, "Old Six, why are these two beds empty?"
Last month he asked Awang to come and inspect, and it was still fully rented.
Ding Liu explained with a wry smile, "The school was on holiday earlier, so the students all left to save some money. We rented it out again when school started, and it's not even fully rented yet."
Liu Ji was not satisfied with this answer. He was very arrogant and asked unhappily, "Then when you saw the vacant bed, didn't you go to the school gate to spread the word?"
"One bed costs fifteen cents a month, two beds costs thirty cents, this is all my money!"
There are a total of twenty-five stalls in his group, and he earns 375 coins every month.
The house was vacant for two months, last December and this year's January, which has already deducted two months' monthly rent.
I had thought that I could get back the 375 coins from February when I collected the rent this time, but now, I’m thirty coins short!
Liu Ji had an unpleasant look on his face and acted in a pretentious manner, which made Dalang and his four siblings very uncomfortable.
Looking at Ding Liu humbled himself and apologized, the four brothers and sisters were overwhelmed with guilt.
Si Niang took a step forward and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Er Lang.
Si Niang glared at her second brother in confusion. Didn’t she see that father was bullying an honest person?
Jilang just shook his head, signaling her not to speak nonsense.
They are now on the side of their father and cannot disobey him in front of outsiders and let others know that they have a disagreement as father and son.
Si Niang frowned, seeing Ding Liu's head almost buried in his chest, she remembered that when she was younger she also followed her elder brother to go to other people's homes to beg for help. She felt the same way and felt very uncomfortable.
Liu Ji noticed his daughter's mood and turned around to see that the little girl thought he was a bully and was glaring at him angrily!
Liu Ji sighed helplessly in his heart, and the displeasure on his face disappeared at all. His true intentions were exposed, and he deliberately waved his hand and said to Ding Liu:
"Forget it, it's not a big deal. The difference in rent will be deducted from your salary for guarding the farm. This won't happen again. That's it for now. Go back and get ready. I'll go to your house to collect the rent later."
Seeing that Ding Liu was deducted thirty cents but still had to be grateful to his father, Si Niang's eyes almost popped out.
After watching Ding Liu leave, Liu Ji turned around, spread his arms, laughed, and proudly arranged for the four good boys:
"Thirty cents, Awang doesn't know! We will divide it among the five of us, you each get two cents, and the rest will be mine!"
Four siblings: "."
"Are you dumbfounded already? There's more to come. Come on, take your stuff and let's go find Awang. Dad will help you earn some pocket money!"
Liu Ji patted the four little heads one by one, waved the room key, locked the door, motioned for the four brothers and sisters to get on the carriage, and drove towards Dingjiazhuang.
Si Niang grumbled indignantly, "I'm going to tell A Niang."
She would never be bribed by her father for just two cents!
Erlang said with a smile: "Don't be silly, without mother's tacit consent, do you think father dares to be so rampant?"
In my mother's eyes, as long as the amount my father handed in at the end matched, the mission was completed.
As for the extra ones, it depends on each person's ability.
Si Niang was given another lesson in real life. She lowered her head helplessly and sighed: "The world of adults is so complicated."
Sanlang counted with his fingers: "The biggest candied haws cost five cents a string, and I need more than two cents to buy it. Dad, if you give me another one and a half cents, I can buy the biggest string of candied haws!"
Dalang looked at his silly little brother, shook his head and laughed helplessly, he was at an age where he was easily satisfied.
Liu Ji heard every word of the mumbling in the carriage and smiled with satisfaction.
These four kids have the same brains as him, they are smart and flexible, and they are all good seedlings.
The carriage stopped in front of Ding Liu's house, and Awang had arrived first.
He had just notified all the tenants in Dingjiazhuang, and Liu Ji and his four sons would go there one by one to collect the rent.
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