In Journey to the West, Chenjiazhuang gives a pair of young boys and girls to the monster every year to eat in order to ensure good weather and good harvests; the movie Red River Valley begins with people pushing a young girl into the Yellow River as a sacrifice in order to pray for rain.
These millennia of ignorance are precisely because the fate of farmers is not in their own control. They cannot get a good harvest just by hard work and kindness, so breach of contract really has nothing to do with morality.
If there are floods or droughts, large-scale crop failure or poor harvest will inevitably lead to large-scale defaults, and no one will be able to protect themselves at this time.
How does the Qingmiao Law control risks?
Every county and prefecture household could borrow cash or grain from local officials before the summer and autumn harvests to subsidize farming. Borrowers were matched based on wealth, with ten people acting as guarantors. Loan amounts were divided into five tiers based on household assets: first-tier households could borrow 15 strings of cash (guan), while the lowest-tier households could borrow 1 string of cash (guan).
It can be seen that asset evaluation and mutual guarantee are the main risk control methods of the Qingmiao Law. In fact, one more thing should be added, that is, the government has the right to collect debts by force.
The system of one guarantor for every ten households can avoid government losses to a certain extent, but it only forcibly transfers the risk of government losses to the rich households. This is killing the rich to help the poor.
Zhao Huan suddenly felt that what Sima Guang and others said made sense. You are transferring the wealth of the people to the court.
If the landlord does not have surplus grain, even if the government uses violent collection methods, it will not be able to make up for the losses, and the business naturally cannot continue to operate.
Zhao Huan put down his pen. As long as the main interests were not affected, it would be a losing deal no matter how you looked at it. Because the risks could not be controlled, the probability of farmers defaulting was too high.
What is outrageous is that according to the records of the Ministry of Grain and Oil, the Qingmiao Law that year added three million taels of silver to the national treasury, which is outrageous.
No cost?
No bad debt losses?
These were bound to happen, so the truth of the matter could only be that the imperial court forced the wealthy families to pay the bill, and the interest rate on the loan was far higher than 20%.
In addition, there is a very serious problem: is there still food in the Taihu warehouse?
Zhao Huan pulled his hair in worry, but he didn't expect that he actually pulled out a few strands of hair. His mood instantly became bad.
Losing hair is unbearable. Being a wage earner is too stressful.
Could it be retribution for torturing the hen?
It is necessary to combine work and rest. Zhao Huan touched his chin and planned to go to Renming Hall to chat with Zhu Lian. After all, family is a warm harbor.
Renming Hall.
Zhu Lian and Zhao Fujin were drinking tea together.
Since the last outing, Zhao Fujin has come to the Bian Jing Palace to play much more frequently.
"Tea as a drink originated from Shennong."
It flourished in the Tang Dynasty and became even more popular in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the custom of tea-making competition was quite popular. No matter whether they were common people or high-ranking officials, as long as they had free time, they liked to make tea and compete with each other to see who was better at making tea.
When it comes to eating, drinking and having fun, Song Huizong is definitely a top-notch figure. Based on the work of his predecessors, he standardized the rules of tea fighting and recorded them in detail in "Daguan Cha Lun".
The main purpose of tea fighting is to "compete in color and foam", that is, the winner is determined by the color of the tea soup and the tea foam that comes out.
The most authentic tea color is "pure white, bluish white is second, grayish white is third, and yellowish white is third."
The best tea foam is the one that "bites the cup". The so-called "biting the cup" means that the surface of the tea soup "has milky mist surging, overflowing the cup, condensing around and not moving, which is called biting the cup".
Zhu Lian and Zhao Fujin also followed the same rules, chatting and ordering tea, with friendship first and competition second.
The two chose the "tea-making method" for the tea-drinking competition. First, they put the tea cake into the grinder and grind it into fine powder. Then they took out a small amount of fine tea powder and put it into the cup. Then they poured in a small amount of boiling water to make it into a tea paste.
Then pour in boiling water while whisking it with a bamboo tea whisk, stirring repeatedly until the water and tea are fully mixed, and foam floats to form a porridge-like surface on the surface of the tea soup.
The art of making tea has been refined to its limits, resulting in a unique art called "fencha." A skilled fencha master can create a variety of lifelike patterns in the tea bowl through the reaction of tea leaves and boiling water.
The Qingyi Lu records that "In recent times, some people have used teapots to manipulate tea leaves, applying a unique technique to make the veins in the tea water form images of animals, insects, fish, flowers, and plants, all delicate and picturesque. However, these images vanish in an instant. This transformation of tea was known as 'Tea Hundred Plays'."
Zhao Huan feels that the tea-making in the Song Dynasty is somewhat similar to modern fancy coffee, which uses different colors of coffee, milk, tea, and chocolate to create interesting patterns.
A true tea-making master has the saying of "seven tea soups", which means pouring water seven times and whisking it differently each time to make the tea soup present different patterns.
Zhu Lian and Zhao Fujin are both masters in this field.
You mix a flower or plant, I mix an insect or fish. You mix a kitten, I mix a puppy. It's unpredictable and magical. If you don't have some talent, you really can't do it.
Zhao Xi was standing under the grape trellis, holding an iron rod that was much taller than himself, and was swinging it with great vigor.
Brother Monkey, you are truly extraordinary. The Five Elements Mountain can’t hold you down, and now Sun Xingzhe has emerged.
…
As soon as Zhao Huan walked into the yard, he heard his good daughter singing in clear voice. It was the theme song of "Journey to the West". Zhao Xi had sung it quite well now, except that it was a little awkward.
"Xixi, come to Father!"
Zhao Huan sat down on the rocking chair in the yard and rocked leisurely.
"Father!"
Zhao Xi quickly ran over to Zhao Huan and greeted him sweetly. He casually dropped the iron rod he had been playing with onto the ground, making a dull thud.
Zhao Huan couldn't help but open his mouth in shock. He tried it with both hands and felt that it weighed 80 to 90 kilograms. He couldn't help but ask, "You can dance with such a heavy object? What's your current strength?"
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