Chapter 97: A Loyal Man Dies for His Country

Chapter 97: A Loyal Man Dies for His Country

Gu Zilu was even more surprised.

He felt that he didn't quite understand. He had read so many books and was considered a sensible person, but why did he seem to know nothing about these brother and sister?

"You over there, stop being lazy and get to work!"

Hearing scolding from a distance, Tian Daniu immediately squatted down with Tian Erniu and pretended to pull weeds.

Gu Zilu also quickly squatted down, looking willing to learn.

Tian Erniu said, "In fact, this piece of land belonged to our family before. In addition to paying 20% ​​of the harvest, there are also various other taxes, such as koji money, salt money, farm tool money, and public utility money..."

Tian Erniu tilted her head. She couldn't remember what other money she had, so she continued, "In addition to these, there are also corvée labor. Daddy is the only able-bodied man in the family. After he left, only mom and my brother and I went to work in the fields. We couldn't finish the work. When Daddy came back, the land was barren. Moreover, the current employer is very good. Other farms charge 60% of the rent, but the lady only asks us for 50%..."

The only thing in Gu Zilu's mind was: the land is all barren, even if he only paid 20%, he still wouldn't have enough to eat, and he might even earn less than what he earned as a tenant.

Moreover, tenants do not have to perform corvée labor, nor do they have to pay various taxes or farm tool fees. Instead, they only pay 50% in rent, which is definitely much more than what they could earn by farming on their own.

Gu Zilu was smart and he analyzed everything thoroughly from Tian Erniu's words.

But the books he had read only talked about the different classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, and that all other things were inferior except for reading, and that life was romantic and graceful, and free and easy, but they never talked about what he was doing now.

Gu Zilu was silent.

At first he didn't understand why his mother wanted him to come to the farm to be a tenant.

But now, I seem to understand a little bit.

Generals are loyal to their king and soldiers die for their country; the people are the water and the king is the boat.

Something took root in Gu Zilu's head, and tiny green sprouts slowly emerged.

So he stopped talking and buried his head in his work.

Even though he had learned the six arts of a gentleman, he was, after all, a son of a marquisate who had lived a life of luxury since childhood. After working for only a short while, blisters formed on his hands, which soon festered and left his hands burning with pain.

He looked up and saw that Tian Daniu and Tian Erniu were still working quietly. He could only look down at his hands and continue working.

A loyal scholar will die for his country. What is the meaning of the existence of scholars?

After a tiring day, Gu Zilu can finally go back to his room to rest.

The so-called houses were just a few thatched houses.

The dinner was even more shabby and pitiful, a bowl of wild vegetable porridge with more vegetables and less rice. This was only because there were more wild vegetables in spring and we could eat more full.

Because he was the only one there, Tian Laosan let Gu Zilu sleep in his house. Five people squeezed on a kang, with men on one side and women on the other. Gu Zilu was squeezed in the middle, with Tian Laosan on one side and Tian Laosan's wife on the other side. The woman's thick breasts pressed against his arm, making Gu Zilu very embarrassed.

But no one cared whether he was embarrassed or not. Everyone fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed, and soon they were snoring loudly.

You have to sleep, because tomorrow there will be work and hardship tomorrow.

In the middle of the night, Tian Erniu got up and walked out in a daze.

It was dark outside and she couldn't see anything clearly. She vaguely felt as if someone was coming. She turned her head to look, but someone covered her mouth and dragged her towards the haystack.

Tian Erniu was startled and struggled and screamed desperately, but her mouth was covered so she could only make whimpering sounds. Her body was even held in the air. The man ran even faster, and his wheezing breathing made Tian Erniu even more terrified.

“Woo woo!”

She collapsed and twisted, but the man had already pressed her into the pile of firewood and was tearing her clothes off.

"!!!"

Help, someone save me, brother! !

While she was crying, someone hit the man hard with a club. The man staggered and tried to get up to take pictures. Tian Erniu didn't care about herself and got up and shouted, "Brother, brother!!"

Gu Zilu chased after them with a stick in his arms, and Tian Daniu also rushed out of the house. Tian Erniu covered her mouth and huddled on the ground crying. Tian Daniu hugged her tightly and asked anxiously, "Erniu, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

“Wow, woo, woo, there’s someone…”

Needless to say, Tian Daniu had already seen the torn clothes. He jumped up in anger and started chasing after him, only to see that Gu Zilu had already beaten the man to the ground.

Looking in the moonlight, the man was Zhou Fu, the village head's brother-in-law.

Tian Daniu was furious. He picked up a stick and beat the man up, shouting that he would hand him over to the village head.

But Gu Zilu was extremely calm. He knew that the village head would not do anything to his brother-in-law.

So he grabbed Zhou Fu's neck and said coldly: "Tell me, do you want to cripple one leg or both hands?"

Zhou Fu was not afraid at all, and even roared arrogantly: "I am the brother-in-law of the village head, who do you think you are? Oh, yes, I heard that you are the son of an official, but unfortunately, your family has committed a crime. Do you know what a young man who has committed a crime is called?"

Zhou Fu laughed: "Calling you a pariah, tsk tsk, you're not much better than me!"

"You bastard, I'm going to beat you to death!"

Tian Daniu's eyes turned red from the irritation, and he started beating him up without saying a word.

Gu Zilu stood aside and watched coldly until Zhou Fu was beaten and screamed: "I won't dare to do it again, I really won't dare to do it again!"

"I'm going to kill you!"

Tian Daniu was like a madman. Seeing that Zhou Fu was about to die, he was afraid that Daniu would be involved in a murder lawsuit, so Gu Zilu pulled him away and said, "He won't come again. Let's go see Erniu."

After all, he was the village head's brother-in-law. Although Tian Daniu was angry, he was also a little afraid. He could only stop and said viciously: "Tsk, get out!"

Zhou Fu jumped up, turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

Tian Daniu was shaking with anger, and turned to roar at Gu Zilu: "Why are you asking so many questions? Is he going to cripple his hands or feet? Does he have any choice? I'll kill him!"

Gu Zilu understood Tian Daniu's anger and could only pull him back: "After this time, he will definitely not dare to come again."

"Definitely? Do you know how many people he has killed?"

Tian Daniu's roar resounded through the night, and Gu Zilu was completely stunned.

When the two men returned to Erniu, Erniu was still shivering with tears on her face. Tian Daniu angrily took off his clothes and wrapped her up. The three of them agreed not to tell anyone and then went back.

Even though they were tenants, they were still women. The most important thing for women in this era was reputation. Even though the villain was Zhou Fu, they could only shut up and pretend nothing had happened.

Because no one wants Erniu's reputation to be humiliated by such a beast.

The next morning, everyone continued to work in the fields. Erniu's mother was mending Erniu's torn clothes. She threaded the needle expertly and said, "You can tear the clothes just by getting up late. Be careful. You still need to wear this dress for many years..."

Tian Erniu lowered her head and said nothing. She clenched her fists to cover the abrasions on the palms of her hands.

At the door, Tian Daniu frowned and was in a very bad mood. Gu Zilu also looked at Tian Erniu with a worried look.

The sun rises as usual and people work as usual.

The view of the village under the sun is so clear that no one can escape, but some evil people can still appear in the village with a swagger, standing in broad daylight, looking at us fiercely and arrogantly with their eyes.