Chapter 89 Chapter 89: Unconscionable and Deceiving
After dinner, it was already dark outside. It was extremely quiet, with only the occasional sound of children setting off firecrackers.
It was so peaceful to sleep in this old house that the couple took turns yawning after dinner. Baozhu held her eyes open to read the deeds to the three farms.
"It's been a drought this year, but we're doing relatively well right now, and we're not in a rush to spend money. Farmers have a hard time making a living, so how about we collect 30% rent next year?"
Generally, the farms of wealthy families are mostly cultivated by hired workers. A few, like the Pei family, rent out the land. It is not easy to buy land, and even if they want to rent the land for cultivation, no one is willing to rent it out.
Even if they rent it out, most people only charge 60% of the rent. If they only charge 50% of the rent, they are considered honest people.
Pei Yanqing draped a piece of clothing over her. "My mother bought these farms because she saw that the farmers were struggling, so she took them over. As far as I can remember, they've collected 40% rent. If the harvest is bad, they'll also give some grain to the tenants at the end of the year."
"The head of Zhouzhuang only paid a small amount of tax and grain this year. I imagine the tenants' harvests were even less."
"When my mother was still alive, these farms were managed by the village headman Zhou. He's an honest and hardworking man. If the harvest is poor this year, I think the village headman will give some rice to the tenants at the end of the year to get by."
Baozhu thought about the last time when Zhou Zhuangtou sent the produce from the field. He did not look honest and obedient. She thought that because she had just married Pei Yanqing and was not from a high-class family, she began to look down on her.
I had a dreamless night and rushed to the farm after breakfast the next morning. The three farms of the Pei family had poor harvests this year. Two of them were closer and not far from Qingshan Village, and there was another farm in Xiatang Village in the south of Pingyang County.
Zhouzhuangtou is located in a village not far from Qingshan Village. He is in charge of the three villages and also manages the tenants in the village.
When Baozhu and Pei Yanqing arrived, they only saw a circle of people gathered outside the manor. The weather in the Hedong area was colder than in Bianjing, and it had just snowed. These people were only wearing thin, tattered coats and straw sandals. Their toes were blackened by the cold. They huddled together in groups of three or five to keep warm. They all looked pale and thin, and their steps were unsteady.
There were a few droopy-headed farmers sitting on the stone steps at the door. The door was closed tightly. This group of people went to knock carefully every once in a while, but when no one answered, there was a dead silence in everyone's eyes.
This year's drought has reduced the harvest by half, leaving the family without food before spring even begins. It's simply impossible to pay the rent for next year. Even at the end of the year, the village head still refuses to relent. If the rent isn't paid, there won't be any land to rent next year.
As soon as Pei Yanqing and Baozhu got off the carriage, they were immediately surrounded. Seeing that they were well-dressed and had come to this farm, they thought they were familiar with the head of Zhou Village. Although they surrounded them, they were still timid and did not dare to move. First, one person knelt down and kowtowed to the ground, and then everyone knelt down.
"I beg you to ask the village head to open the door so that Mr. Zhou can see us. The fields were dry last year and the harvest was really bad. We have already paid the rent, but we can't make up the rent for next year. If Mr. Zhou takes back all the fields next year, we will have no way to survive. I beg you to talk to the village head and give us some time. We can pay the rent next year after the harvest..."
Seeing that no one responded after Pei Yanqing knocked on the door for a long time, Baozhu frowned, and Pei Yanqing asked the farmers,
"The harvest was bad last year? Didn't the village give you some grain at the end of the year?"
A group of people didn't even know what he was talking about. They just shook their heads numbly. Finally, an elderly uncle looked at Pei Yanqing, narrowed his eyes, and asked him,
"Is he the eldest lady's brother?"
Pei Yanqing had not been to the village many times. When he was a child, he went to school every day. When he grew up, he went to the provincial academy. Even when he came, Zhou Zhuangtou pretended to be honest.
Seeing Pei Yanqing nod, the uncle sighed and wiped his eyes. "Since the death of the eldest lady, there has been no grain distribution at the end of the year. If we can't rent a piece of land to farm, the whole family will starve to death. Who would be willing to rent someone else's land?"
Except for this uncle, the rest were younger and didn't know the past of this farm. Not all tenants were here today. Baozhu looked at the group of people shivering from the cold and said to these farmers,
"You only left two people here. The rest of you can go back for now. I will definitely give you a result today."
Pei Yanqing didn't know what he was thinking about, but Baozhu knew from his expression that he felt guilty.
The group still refused to leave, so Baozhu simply said, "Don't worry. If the inspection proves to be unresolved, you can still farm these fields next year."
Knowing that it was pointless to wait here any longer, it was better to listen to Baozhu and leave the two of them behind.
The two men weren't just waiting for the results. Baozhu and her group only had three people, and if anything really happened, they were afraid they wouldn't have enough manpower. So they said to the two tenant farmers who stayed behind, "Today you just work behind me. I'll pay you a day's wages like a laborer in the city. If you two do a good job, I'll rent the land to you again next year."
Pei Yanqing watched the group's weak steps, and his heart became increasingly sad. "If I had noticed and come back more often to check, it wouldn't have been like this..."
Baozhu shook her head. "Let's not talk about this for now. Let's go in and see how the head of Zhouzhuang usually does things."
Pei Yanqing on the other side also calmed down, found a shorter wall, climbed over it in three or two steps, and opened the door from the inside.
There was no one in the front yard, but the backyard was noisy with laughter. Pei Yanqing's face darkened when he heard the noise. A'man followed Baozhu, and at the end were the two tenants who were left behind. Although they were thin, they looked quite strong.
In previous Chinese New Years, Zhou Zhuangtou would send land, interest, money, and other things to Pei Yanqing, and at least give him a few envelopes of money to distribute to his subordinates. This year, he sent nothing. Zhou Zhuangtou was already resentful, and since returning from Bian Jing, he has been cursing all the time.
The people below naturally knew that it was the new wife who was stingy. The gambling in the room was in full swing. It was the end of the year. Although Zhou Zhuangtou often deducted money in previous years, he would still give out some money at the end of the year. This year, he didn't give out a penny. Those who had just lost all their money immediately started complaining.
"The new grandmother is such a bad person. We work hard all year round and get nothing. In previous years, you were very considerate and brought back not only money but also a lot of gifts."
The man spat on the ground, which immediately caused a chorus of agreement.
Zhou Zhuangtou also sneered, "Brother, it's still fresh for now. We'll see after a while."
There was a lot of teasing inside. Aman took a step forward and pushed the door open. At first glance, he saw the charcoal brazier in the room. What was burning in the brazier was actually silver-thread charcoal. Even people who lived a better life in Bianjing were reluctant to burn this silver-thread charcoal in winter.
The doors and windows were all tightly closed. Once opened, the only smell was the foul smell of smoke. The table with the incense table was piled high with fruit cores and melon seed shells, while another square table was filled with meat dishes like oil-marinated meat and roast chicken. One table was a mess of food and wine and no one had cleaned it up. On the other side, two tables were already set up with dice and mahjong.
A group of people gathered around the two tables to gamble, shouting one after another, and Zhou Zhuangtou was among them.
As the door opened, cold wind rushed in, and someone started cursing.
"Damn it, close it quickly! No wonder I lost money and my fortune ran away."
It was the man who had just lost all his money.
This village is remote and usually no one comes here. People from the three villages had nothing to do that year, so Zhou Zhuangtou organized this kind of game. Not only did he play himself, he also took a cut from the money.
Someone turned around and seemed to recognize Pei Yanqing, and was trembling with fear. More and more people saw someone coming to the door, and the room was silent for a while.
Someone winked at Zhou Zhuangtou, who then slowly drank a sip of tea and turned around. When he saw Baozhu, he was so scared that he almost fell off the stool.
Pei Yanqing hadn't been to the village for a long time, so some people didn't recognize him. However, when they saw Zhou Zhuangtou's appearance, they all fell silent.
"The people in Zhouzhuang live a richer life than us. Ordinary people would never be willing to use this silver charcoal." Aman brought in a clean stool from outside, and Baozhu dusted it off twice before sitting down.
Aman covered his nose and opened the windows wide.
Zhou Zhuangtou was sweating profusely, "This... this..."
He couldn't say anything else. After seeing the manager Wu in the shop clearly, Pei Yanqing no longer cared about the old relationship between these people when he looked at Zhou Zhuangtou.
This time, the village head Zhou couldn't walk, so the two tenants left by Baozhu carried him up on the left and right.
"Go and get me the rent books from the manor over the years so I can have a look."
Zhou Zhuangtou felt his legs were weak and he couldn't even walk. Baozhu didn't wait for him and started asking the two tenants.
"How do you pay your rent every year now?"
The head of Zhouzhuang gave the two tenants a threatening look, as if he knew the person who would be in charge today had arrived. The two tenants steeled themselves and closed their eyes, saying, "I'll collect 60% of the rent every year."
Hearing about the 60% rent, Pei Yanqing's eyelids twitched, "When my parents were alive, they only collected 40% rent a year. You actually cheated your superiors and lied to your subordinates—"
"They... they're talking nonsense! Brother—don't listen to these cunning people!" Zhou Zhuangtou rolled and crawled to Pei Yanqing's feet, "Brother, believe me—"
Baozhu was already impatient, and the gamblers were also trembling with fear. Baozhu asked the tenant again, "How much grain did this acre of land produce this year?"
The tenant answered all the questions one by one. Baozhu was even more shocked after calculating. Even though the fields were dry this year, Zhou Zhuangtou had at least embezzled 70 to 80 kilograms of grain from every acre of land. He really had a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
Pei Yanqing also felt guilty because he did not care about this matter, which led to the tenants living like this. Manager Wu was only in charge of the shop and embezzled some money, but Village Head Zhou did something that was against the will of heaven. If it was a natural disaster, wouldn't these tenants lose their lives?
Seeing that Zhou Zhuangtou was about to get into trouble, the others were afraid that they would be implicated, so they began to expose the evil deeds Zhou Zhuangtou had done one after another.
As if they knew there was something exciting to watch, several people who didn't gamble came out. Knowing that the master had arrived, they rushed to complain about the village head Zhou.
The head of Zhouzhuang not only withheld money from the tenants, but also lent money at high interest.
Baozhu asked people to go to his room to find all the account books of the farm. The people who were called didn't dare to breathe, but just followed the order to get the account books.
There is a whole box of account books, all piled together in a mess. This year's account books have not been made yet. Only one rent collection book was found, and the rent paid by each household can be checked.
Zhou Zhuangtou originally wanted to quibble, but when he saw that Baozhu had accurately turned out this year's rent collection account book, he couldn't say a word. Then he saw that Pei Yanqing had asked someone to get a rope to tie him up. Manager Zhou collapsed on the table, knowing that he could not escape, so he was tied up tightly like a dead pig.
Those who were on good terms with him rolled their eyes and trembled, wishing they could faint immediately. Not only Manager Zhou, but also the few people who had been cursing and swearing were tied up as well.
"Last time, when Zhou Zhuangtou sent his farm to Bianjing, he thought that the drought this year was making life difficult for the farmers, so he came this time to ask for a rent reduction." Baozhu sneered, "But I didn't expect to see you living like gods."
The chicken, duck, fish, and meat on the table must have been leftovers from last night's meal. The cold weather had congealed the broth, and only a few bites of the food had been taken. The monthly stipend from the Pei family was enough for Zhou Zhuangtou to live comfortably, yet he hadn't expected to exploit these tenants to satisfy his selfish desires.
Pei Yanqing knew that the officialdom was corrupt, but he didn't expect that his subordinates were just as corrupt. After looking at the accounts, a rough calculation was very shocking.
Baozhu sat there with a sullen face, flipping through the account book several times. In the end, she didn't even want to say anything. She just told Pei Yanqing to lock the man up first and "feed him a meal of porridge a day to keep him alive. Send him directly to the government office after the New Year."
The two tenants who were left behind looked at each other as if they had seen a life-saving straw.
Baozhu arrived early in the morning and counted the accounts. All the extra rent paid by the tenants in previous years had to be paid back. Zhou Zhuangtou was afraid of death, so he told Pei Yanqing where he hid his money. Even if he didn't tell her, Pei Yanqing could find out where he hid the money.
By nightfall, the accounts of each household had not been settled yet. Tomorrow was New Year's Eve, and she did not have the extra time to waste here. The fields needed to be cultivated after the spring, and she could not delay. The two tenants were still waiting for her approval, so Baozhu put away the account she was writing.
After counting the money for most of the day, they still couldn't find the right answer. Baozhu calculated the rent and interest collected every year, while Pei Yanqing calculated the money to be returned to others.
There was really no time to delay, so she had to calculate the land that these tenants would have to rent next year. In addition, the money and grain that Zhou Zhuangtou had withheld every year had to be returned to these tenants. The accounts of previous years were difficult to settle, so Baozhu could only calculate the rent from last year, the year before, and this year, so that she could refund part of it to the tenants first.
"Go back and explain clearly to everyone that in future years, if the harvest is good, the rent will remain at 40%. Since there's been a drought this year, the rent will be reduced by 10% next year." Baozhu glanced at the remaining people in the room and continued, "Next year, several farms will have new owners. The Pei family has always only collected 40% rent. In previous years, the owner of the farm had overpaid us this week. We'll refund some of it to you in the next few days, and return it all to you once everything is settled."
The two tenants took note of Baozhu's words and, knowing that they would only receive 30% of the rent next year, looked at each other in disbelief. They calculated the money and grain that Zhou Zhuangtou had withheld, and when the money and grain were returned, there would still be more than enough for next year's rent.
The two men seemed to feel that a huge pie had fallen from the sky, and they were dizzy from the shock. They went out and had a fight with each other before they realized that they were not dreaming. They happily told the news from house to house. After hearing the news, no one could sleep that night, and they just hoped that the day would come so that they could find out whether it was true or whether the two men were haunted by something on the road and just talked in their dreams.
The accounts haven't been settled today, so I have to come back tomorrow. I only had breakfast in the old house this morning, and it was already dark and I hadn't eaten a single bite of food. Baozhu only felt hungry on the way back. Pei Yanqing started to speak less since he saw the tenants. Baozhu knew that he was feeling very guilty, so she said,
"Anyway, we're here to do business. We won't celebrate the New Year this year. We should settle the accounts and distribute them to the tenant farmers in the next few days so that they can have a good New Year."
Pei Yanqing responded in a muffled voice from the bicycle frame, reached into the car with one hand, felt the warmth in his hand, and softly thanked her.
When the second day arrived, all the tenants from yesterday were waiting at the door, but they were not as sad as yesterday. Each of them was holding some bacon and sausages that they usually couldn't afford to eat. Baozhu couldn't accept them all, so she just asked them to go back first and told them that she would have a new head of the village after the New Year.
Pei Yanqing did not sleep all night, calculating the money that should have been returned to others over the past two years, and today he returned it all to the tenants.
The person in charge of the village must be replaced, and this job needs to be done by an experienced person, otherwise there will be chaos.
Zhou Zhuangtou was tied up, and the rest of the people would naturally not be exposed so easily. Those who were on good terms with Zhou Zhuangtou and helped him do evil things were tied up together. As a result, there were only seven people left in the village. One of them had always been at odds with Zhou Zhuangtou. It was he who reported all the things Zhou Zhuangtou did privately last time. He wanted to exaggerate the evil deeds Zhou Zhuangtou had done and write them into a book so that Baozhu could judge them fairly.
He thought that since he had informed on the village chief Zhou, he would be promoted to the manager. He had already set up several tables of wine with his acquaintances and was eager to celebrate immediately. However, Baozhu knew what was going on. Not to mention that he had not said a word about it in all these years, he had even heard the tenants knocking on the door last time with his people in the backyard, but he ignored them at all. If he gained power one day, he would be no different from the village chief Zhou.
After much thought, Baozhu finally found a suitable candidate.
Jiang Shishi was already capable of handling matters in Xuzhou, but if he were to come to Pingyang County, he might not be able to manage such a large business. Landlord Shi, on the other hand, had traveled extensively in his early years and was more experienced. He had previously managed his land in perfect order, and most importantly, he was a man who cared deeply for it. This time, she planned to ask Landlord Shi to take over, signing a three- to five-year contract. If he was willing, a longer contract would be fine, with a higher salary, but she didn't know if he would be willing to come.
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