Chapter 1604 Curious
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were holding cakes and eating while watching the interaction between the father and daughter. It took Old Zhou a long time to recover. Fortunately, he had been taking medicine for the past two days, so he did not faint this time.
Even though he didn't feel dizzy, his head felt a bit dizzy. It took him a long time to recover. He swallowed his saliva and asked Manbao again, "How much?"
Manbao said, "It's a total of 23 stone of rice and 1,000 mu of official farmland."
After a moment of hesitation, Old Zhou asked quietly, "Then they won't just randomly point to all the mountains and sandy land and give it to you, right?"
"No," Manbao said, "Although official fields are divided into good and bad, they are all cultivated. Even if there are mountains, they are definitely planted with beans or fruits. However, such cases are rare. I heard that most official fields are cultivated land."
Cultivated land refers to fields where wheat or rice can be grown. Some good wasteland will take three to five years to become cultivated land.
If the conditions are not good, the land will remain barren even after more than ten years of planting, and no crops will survive except beans and some fruits and vegetables.
One thousand acres? This was obviously beyond Old Zhou's cognition. He leaned against the car wall and thought for a long time but couldn't come up with anything. He just said, "No wonder so many people want to be officials. One thousand acres, how many children do I have to have to share it?"
Manbao and the other two: ...
Old Zhou wiped his face, still unable to come back to his senses. "Where will all this land be distributed? Can it be distributed to our Qili Village? Then your father can keep an eye on you. No, there is not that much land left in Qili Village..."
Manbao said, "Dad, I can't get a place that far away. The Ministry of Revenue gave me some land in Yongzhou."
"Where is Yongzhou?"
"It's not far. The carriage will arrive in more than half a day," Manbao said. "It's just northeast of the capital. Because it's the secondary capital, many officials' official lands are allocated there."
"Then you'll have to hire a farmhand or a tenant farmer, otherwise you won't be able to cultivate so much land."
"Dad, these official fields are managed by dedicated people. I just wait for the summer and autumn harvests every year."
"How can that be?" Old Zhou, who was confused about other things but never confused about farm work, said, "How can you leave the farm work to others? It's exhausting work. If they don't do their best, won't you be at a huge loss?"
Old Zhoutou said directly: "Put it back, and I'll watch it for you later."
Manbao: "...Dad, this is official land. If I don't become an official, it won't be mine."
"Aren't you in office now? Officials usually move up the ladder. You're still young, so you can easily hold the position for fifty or sixty years..."
Manbao and the other two: ...
Bai Shan subconsciously took a bite of the biscuit and looked at Manbao tremblingly.
Manbao has little way to deal with her stubborn father, so she can only leave this matter to her mother.
But her mother was not at home at the moment, so she could only sigh and agree. She wondered if her father would forget about it the next time she had a day off.
It would be great if I could just collect the rent. The tenants are already under the care of the tenants, so why should I bother to find work for myself?
Bai Shan finished the cake in his hand and suddenly said, "It's here."
Only then did Manbao realize that the carriage had slowed down and then gradually stopped.
The sun has already risen, but there are not many officials coming to work. Most of them are still working in the imperial city and do not go into the palace, so the palace gate is particularly deserted.
Manbao was about to say hello to her father and get out of the car when she saw her father carefully hiding behind the car window and looking outside quietly.
Manbao: "Dad, you can watch it openly."
Old Zhoutou has already felt the solemn atmosphere here, and he feels a little regretful. Why did he suddenly ask to see the palace?
There is no one outside except the officers and soldiers holding swords and knives. It's scary to look at.
Bai Shan asked him, "Uncle Zhou, do you want to get off the car and walk around?"
Old Zhou glanced at the officers and soldiers outside quietly and shook his head repeatedly. He decided to give up and just watch from the car.
But when he peeped like this, the guards guarding the palace gate were not fools. They noticed a hidden gaze and looked over at him with lightning-like eyes. Old Zhou was so scared that he lowered the curtain and refused to look out the window even if he died.
Manbao couldn't quite understand her father's timidity. She scratched her head and said, "Dad, you and Daji should go back. We'll go to the palace first."
Old Zhou nodded, thought for a moment, and then warned, "Eat well even when you are in the palace, listen to the emperor and the prince, and don't get into trouble."
Although what her father said was not quite right, Manbao still nodded.
She jumped off the carriage, but before she could stand firmly, several carriages and horses came running from behind like a gust of wind, and their classmates also jumped off the horses or carriages in a hurry.
Seeing that Bai Shan and the others did not enter the palace, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, fortunately, they were not too late.
Feng Zongping asked Bai Shan, "Why are you late?"
Bai Shan said calmly, "I got up late."
Everyone was relieved after hearing this. Liu Huan even said directly, "I told you, it's a rare opportunity to rest for two days. Why don't you stay in bed?"
Zhao Liulang had already picked up his belongings and handed them to the guards for inspection, preparing to enter the palace. Seeing that they were still hesitating, he said, "Hurry up. We saw the carriages of Lord Wei and Kong Jijiu on our way here. They should have entered the imperial city by now."
Everyone immediately lined up to go in. The guards were used to it and let them in after a routine check.
As Manbao stuffed the things into Bai Shan's pocket and went to line up, he said to Old Zhou, who was peeking out the window, "Father, I'm going to the palace."
Old Zhou nodded through the crack in the window.
Feng Zongping and the others turned around curiously after hearing Manbao's words and asked, "Who are you talking to?"
Manbao went to queue up and replied casually: "My dad!"
"Your father is here?" Feng Zongping and his companions were hesitating whether to pay their respects when they saw Kong Jijiu's carriage approaching from afar. They immediately put the matter behind them and rushed forward to urge the guards, "Hurry, hurry, hurry..."
The guards guarding the palace gate were used to it, but they still checked everyone one by one before letting them go.
This time, Manbao took advantage of his position and checked ahead of them. As soon as he passed, he picked up his basket, pulled his horse and ran away.
However, Lord Wei, who was following behind Kong Jijiu, still saw it.
He twitched his lips and said to Kong Jijiu, "Kong Jijiu's disciples are a little lax."
Kong Jijiu, who always protected his own shortcomings, said, "Zhou Man is still an official in the court. Isn't it still too late?"
Everyone knows that Wei Zhi and Zhou Man have a good relationship. You said I am your disciple, so I will just say you are my friend.
Bai Shan and the others ran away in a flash. In an instant, only a few carriages and horses were left at the palace gate. The servants of each family began to gather together to leave the imperial city.
See you at 4 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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