Chapter 1632 Show off (Thanks to the book friend "Xiao Qing Xiao Qing" for the reward)
The five people moved carefully on the tree, continuously throwing down the green dates. Zhou Liru, Zhou Ligu and Bai Shuping picked up two winnowing baskets. Daji and two guards who were waiting on the side also bent down to help pick up the dates. Soon the winnowing baskets were full of them.
Just then, a servant came running over to call them, "Masters and Ladies, it's time to go back for lunch."
Manbao and the others finally came down from the tree with a look of disappointment on their faces, and sat down on the grass to put on their shoes. "We only picked the dates. Let's come back and look at the pears after dinner."
Bai Shan readily agreed, "Okay."
Several people took the green dates back to the farm, soaked some of them in well water, washed them and put them in a basket, planning to eat them as fruit after lunch.
It’s a pity that the few people who planned to continue going out to play after lunch were unable to do so, because they felt a little sleepy right after eating. After all, they had been running for half a day and were still a little tired, and they got up early this morning.
Seeing them yawning and looking outside, Old Lady Liu said, "The sun is scorching hot now. Go take a nap first and we'll talk after you wake up."
A few people thought that there was still a lot of time left and this was a good idea, so they yawned and went to sleep.
But when they woke up, Old Zhou again forbade them to go out and play. He said, "I've already asked around, and the place where Zhitian is located isn't far from here. A carriage ride will take about three-quarters of an hour, so let's go check it out."
Manbao was still thinking about the pears in the orchard and said, "Dad, there's no rush. We still have four days of vacation."
"Why not?" Old Zhou said, almost getting angry. "Don't you see that people in the village are already planting winter wheat?"
"The capital is too far north, and Yongzhou is even further north than the capital. We can only grow wheat once a season. If we can't get the wheat to sprout before the snow falls, we'll have to wait another year before we can plant wheat. What a pity."
Manbao said, "You can plant beans."
"It's a waste to grow beans on such good land," said Old Zhou. "Hurry up and stop being lazy. How can you be even lazier than Dad?"
Zhou Dalang laughed and said, "Dad, she's not lazy, she just wants to play."
Xiao Qian said to Manbao, "You said you wanted to go to Yongzhou to see the lanterns. If you don't go today, how are you going to see the lanterns tomorrow?"
Manbao was startled and immediately said to her father, "Dad, let's go now. It's only three quarters of an hour. We can go there quickly. We can ride horses even faster and arrive in two quarters of an hour."
Bai Shan also cleverly pulled out their horses, asked Lao Zhou for directions, and then got on the horse and ran away.
Old Zhou opened his mouth wide and turned to ask Zhou Dalang, "No one showed them the way. Why are they running? What if they get lost?"
Qian had already packed up and heard this, saying, "There are people on the road. They know the place name and will stop people to ask. With a mouth right under your nose, are you still afraid of not being able to find the way?"
Old Zhou thought so too.
Old Lady Liu asked the village head to go with them, as he knew the way and was familiar with the area.
From the capital to Yongzhou, there are only a few low mountains along the way, and a lot of land has been opened up to become large farms.
The village head sat on the cart shaft and chatted with Old Zhou. He said, "Around here, the villagers only have a few fields. Most of the land is owned by officials or by the elders. So the people in the villages here are basically tenant farmers. Some families only have a few acres of land, and the rest are rented from others. Or some don't have any land at all and rely entirely on renting."
Old Zhou asked, "It's only been a few years since the Great Jin Dynasty came to power, and they've already squandered all their land?"
The village head gave a wry smile, glanced at Old Zhou's hand, then glanced behind the car. He lowered his voice and said, "I see you're a farmer like me. I won't hide it from you, it's not like they squandered all their land. Of course, there are some who squandered it all themselves, but more of them were bought back by the court and used as official farmland."
"I don't know why, but the court recruits so many officials, and every year the official land is not enough. What should we do if it's not enough?"
Old Zhou: "What should we do?"
"The only way is to take it from us ordinary people. The government will just take a little money and take our cultivated land to make it official land, and give us some virgin land. But look at that virgin land, there are so many plants and trees that we may not be able to cultivate two acres a year. And if we do, we can only plant beans first. People are starving to death. Who would cultivate that little land? It's better to be a tenant farmer."
Old Zhou was stunned. So this is how Manbao got his official land?
The village head didn't know Old Zhou's identity yet, so he just smiled and asked, "Where are you going, old man? Did the boss buy land there?"
Old Zhou came back to his senses and shook his head, saying, "No, it was my daughter who got a share of the official land."
"Your daughter?" The village head was puzzled. "Your daughter is the empress in the palace? That's not right. I've seen many village heads around here who manage official fields, but I've never heard of an empress having official fields."
Old Zhou then became proud, puffing out his chest and saying, "It's not the Empress, it's the officials. My daughter is an imperial physician, and also an editor, a book editor of the fifth rank. She holds two official positions, so she was allocated a thousand acres of official land. This time we are going to see that official land."
The village head opened his mouth in surprise, and it took a while for him to close it. "This, this is the official. Oh, you are so lucky to have a daughter."
Old Zhou narrowed his eyes and smiled. He had finally found someone to talk to. He and Zhuangtou nodded and said, "That's right. Among my sons, no one can compare to my little girl. She has been filial since she was young. When she was little, she drank egg water and even thought of secretly saving it for me to drink."
The village head thought carefully about Zhou Man and said after a while, "She's so young, and she's already an official? That's not right. I remember the old lady said she was our future mistress."
"Yes, our two families are engaged. My daughter is engaged to your young master, and they are now serving together in the palace. My daughter is an official, and your young master is also very capable. He is accompanying the crown prince to study." Old Zhou had another point to show off. He lowered his voice and said, "Do you know the crown prince? He is the future emperor."
And his son-in-law is now studying with the future emperor. To round it off, his son-in-law and the emperor are classmates. Just thinking about it makes Old Zhou feel suffocated.
Zhuangtou also felt a little breathless.
Old Lady Liu bought this farm in the capital, no, in Yongzhou, to use it as a place to stay and to provide some fresh fruits and vegetables and food for her family in the capital, so she did not specially select the person to manage it.
In order to integrate into the capital and Yongzhou and avoid trouble, the village head and tenants were selected from the local area. However, she also sent servants from her family to the village to manage affairs or work. In the end, those were her confidants.
Because it wasn't selling one's body, but rather an employment relationship, the village head and tenants didn't know much about the owner's affairs. The owner's young master was actually accompanying the prince to study...
The village head was in a daze for a while before he realized that his boss was also so powerful. He had never known this.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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