In Chapter 263, the boss!
Both tenants looked guilty and embarrassed.
Jiang Lianzhu smiled faintly and said, "It's okay. Tell me about the situation. Why is the harvest so bad? What was the harvest in previous years? How much is the harvest this year?"
Cheng Dianhu took out a small booklet and said, "I'm not very smart and my memory is not good, so I can't explain it clearly. I wrote all this down in a notebook. Boss, please take a look. It's written simply. You are a smart person and you will understand it at a glance."
Jiang Lianzhu took it and looked at it, and found it was indeed simple.
It means what crops were planted in which fields each year, when they were planted, when they were harvested, how much they cost, and how many kilograms of grain they earned...
There is nothing fancy about it, and the words written are just a few, and they are crooked.
Jiang Lianzhu said, "This year's grain harvest is nearly half less than last year's. Not only the rice, but also the winter wheat. You handed the winter wheat over to the previous owner, so now you're handing over the rice to me, right?"
"Yes, boss. Our fields are all excellent farmland. We grow rice and winter wheat, which are also the two most expensive crops. We, the Cheng family, are the best at growing these two and have experience. If it is a season of good weather, our Cheng family can grow two stone of rice from one acre of farmland. This year is really not so good, and there are many refugees and displaced persons, and some of them steal grain, so this is all we can get..." said the tenant Cheng, lowering his head.
Jiang Lianzhu calculated that one stone is equivalent to more than 100 kilograms, and two stones is more than 200 kilograms.
Grain production in ancient times was really low.
Only a good farmer like this can grow two shi of grain if the weather is good.
Based on the yield of one dan this year, she has twenty mu of land, and this year's output is only more than twenty dan, which is a total of more than two thousand kilograms of rice. Some of it was stolen by refugees, leaving only more than one thousand kilograms. Some was left for seeds next year, and there is not much left.
Jiang Lianzhu asked, "Well, how did your previous employer calculate the rent?"
Cheng the tenant replied, "In the past, if the weather was good and the yield per mu was two dan, we would split the profits in half, with us keeping half and the landlord keeping half. If the harvest was bad, the landlord would keep a minimum of 1,000 jin of grain..."
The more he spoke, the lower his voice became.
Jiang Lianzhu looked at the ox cart outside. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be carrying a thousand kilograms of grain.
I’m afraid that the Cheng tenant family has planted a lonely crop this year!
No wonder tenants often starve to death in bad years. If the harvest is even worse, not only will the tenants work for a year in vain, but they will also have to pay food subsidies to their employers.
Jiang Lianzhu said, "Let's rent it in half. Just give me a few hundred kilograms. You and your family have to make a living, and it's not easy. So you should plant well next year. Only when you have enough food can you have the strength to plant well. Work harder next year."
Cheng Dianhu couldn't believe it. He had already prepared himself for a year of starvation and was even prepared to be fired by Jiang Lianzhu...
"Boss, are you... serious?"
"Well, if you feel that it's not enough, you can bring it up and we can discuss it."
Cheng Dianhu's eyes were moist.
"Master, you are truly our family's benefactor. We, the Cheng family, will remember your kindness and will definitely plant well! This is enough for us to eat, but we are disappointed. You handed over 20 acres of fertile land to us, but we didn't give you a good harvest..."
"It's okay. There are always accidents. The harvest is not good this year, but it's okay as long as no one starves to death." Jiang Lianzhu comforted him.
After listening to their conversation, Deng Dianhu, who was standing by, felt more confident.
It's up to him to say it.
"Boss, we are tenants who rent the two hills. We can only grow some dry food, cotton, soybeans and so on. The weather is very dry. There is no water in the paddy fields below the mountain, let alone on the mountain. So, Boss, the harvest is not ideal. We harvested some cotton and some soybeans, but nothing else... I am ashamed of your high expectations."
The harvest from the hilltops is definitely not comparable to that from fertile fields.
Deng the tenant not only managed Jiang Lianzhu's hill, his family also had a few hills of their own. If they relied on renting hills to make a living, they would not be able to support the whole family.
He didn't have a booklet and he couldn't read much, so Jiang Lianzhu asked him to tell her exactly how much cotton and soybeans he had harvested.
I also went out to check the quality of the cotton.
It was a small amount, but the cotton was snow-white, sun-dried, very soft, and had a pleasant smell of the sun.
There were several bulging bags of cotton and cotton seeds, weighing probably about two or three hundred kilograms.
As for soybeans, the colors are more diverse. There are green beans, yellow beans, black beans, large beans, and adzuki beans. The total amount is less than 100 kilograms, which can't even fill a sack.
The last time Jiang Lianzhu used a drone to observe, it indeed looked like the growth was bleak.
Jiang Lianzhu didn't say anything. Deng the tenant felt bad and said that he didn't need the boss to give them any commission.
"I'll pay you the commission we agreed on this year. However, next year, I'm planning to stop growing these crops and plant pear trees. I'm going to cut down all the other trees on the mountain and plant them entirely with pear trees. Can you help me with the replanting and care for them? If that's possible, I'll renew my contract with the Deng family next year. If not, I'll hire someone else."
Deng the tenant said, "Of course! Boss! We have a hilltop at home where we plant fruit trees. We plant peach trees. If you want to plant pear trees next year, we can do that too. We are good at managing fruit trees. The only problem is that it takes a lot of manpower and effort to plant them. If we rely on our family alone, we might miss the best planting period and then we'll probably have to hire someone..."
Jiang Lianzhu's eyes lit up. These two tenants were exactly the right match for her profession, saving her the trouble of looking for people everywhere.
"You can hire them if necessary. I'll pay for the labor and costs. You guys will mainly take care of the pear orchard after it's planted."
Deng Dianhu smiled confidently, "That's right, Boss!"
When it comes to fruit trees and pear orchards, Deng the tenant is familiar with the size of the two hills belonging to Jiang Lianzhu's family, the soil environment, the estimated number of trees that can be planted, how many years it will take for them to bear fruit, and where to buy the best pear tree seedlings. He knows everything like the back of his hand and explains everything in detail.
Jiang Lianzhu confirmed with him repeatedly and thought about it a lot.
"Mom, please help me cook. I'll keep the two uncles at home for lunch."
Jiang Cheng happily agreed and left.
After Jiang Lianzhu finished talking about planting pear trees, she asked the two tenants what farm tools they used.
When she traveled through time, her family had no land and she had never done farm work in the fields, so she was quite curious.
The two tenants mentioned some daily farm tools, and Jiang Lianzhu took note of them one by one. She would go to the site one day to see if the farm tools could be improved to make them more modern, more handy, and more efficient.
Jiang Lianzhu doesn't know much about farming, and the all-round agent doesn't include farming skills. Now that she is a village woman, she has to specialize and learn as much as possible.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com