In the early morning of the first day of the ninth lunar month, on the road leading to Yunmengxiang Township, as far as the eye can see, there are farmers carrying flat poles and bamboo baskets, and in the baskets are newly harvested and dried yellow, orange and orange millet, which are heavy, as if they are about to crush the flat poles.

Compared with these warriors who had to work hard to pick the grain, the black man's ox cart stood out from the crowd, not to mention the fact that the black man rode his red horse majestically in front of him.

It turns out that after entering September, it is the day when the people of Qin pay rent, as the so-called "tax rent in September", the government will collect land rent in this month, so as to prepare for the work of October, and the amount of land rent is an important indicator of the quality of the plan.

As far as Heifu could see, unlike the happy faces at the time of harvest, most of the pedestrians on the road were worried. After all, all the food handed over was the grain that had been grown with hard work, and it was very tiring to carry it on the shoulders, and on the roadside ridges, there were people squatting everywhere, and they looked at the ox cart and horse ride of the Heifu brothers, and their eyes were full of envy.

Cattle and horses, only those who have a certain amount of financial resources in the family can afford to buy them, which is also the dream of many farmers who have worked hard for half their lives.

Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, although when I first went on the road, I also sighed that I don't have to pick up millet and walk more than ten miles this year. But the closer he got to his hometown, the more worried he became, and while leading the ox cart, he looked back at the more than 20 stone millets in the cart, and sighed: "It's not all a good thing that there is more land here, and I have to pull it ten more times before my family's rent can be paid." ”

It is not an exaggeration at all, because at the end of August, Tian Dian in the sunset dragged his sick body and read out the documents from the township to the people of Quanli, announcing this year's "rental".

This procedure is called "writing laws for rent", that is, before the government collects rent, it first issues the various laws and decrees related to rent collection in the current year, from the prefectural order to Tian Qiang, from Tian Qiang to the village Tabe Sa, and all the way to Satanaka Tanori.

Different from the percentage tax paid in later generations, the "rent" is a fixed rent, and each family must pay enough grain, and this year's rent is 6 buckets of grain per mu.

"6 buckets? So much. ”

Hefu was a little surprised, and said what about the tithes? It was only later that he realized that the original tax was levied on commodities, and it had nothing to do with the family as farmers, and they only needed to pay the land rent and the annual "mouth money", which was also a large amount.

He said that the government would calculate an average value based on the grain output in recent years and revise a "reasonable" value as the rent for the year.

The so-called reasonableness means that the peasants feel that the burden is a bit heavy, but it has not yet reached the point where they cannot survive. Generally speaking, depending on the disaster year and the harvest year, the rent is between five buckets and one stone, so I sincerely feel that this year's 6 buckets is already considered less.

"This is just ordinary tax land, if it is a land run by the government itself, I heard that 1.5 stone per mu will be collected, and the rest will be left for the cultivators and concubines who cultivate the land to eat for themselves......

"In that case, after paying the rent, there will basically be nothing left in the field!"

Heifu was slightly shocked when he heard this, so if he counted, farming on the fields run by the government can only ensure that he can barely satisfy himself, and it is basically impossible to have savings. It seems that later generations said that the tax revenue of the Qin State was "twenty times that of the ancient" and "half of the Tai endowment", which is really not black.

In addition, after the rent is fixed, the government has to collect taxes according to the amount of land owned by each family, regardless of whether you cultivate it or not. In this way, it can prevent some people from having land and not planting, and can also crack down on rent evaders. Taxes are collected according to the fields, and people can run, but the land can't.

Therefore, the family is divided into three households, with a total of more than 400 acres of land, and the rent to be paid by the three households is huge, as much as 240 stones......

In addition, there are 3 stones to be paid for each hectare of land, and 2 stones for manuscripts, which is enough to pull another cart.

In fact, excluding the fallow fields, only more than 300 acres were planted, and it was precisely because the tax was so heavy that if they wanted to have some savings, the farmers of the Qin State had to be diligent in farming, and through intensive cultivation, they could produce more grain in their fields.

Fortunately, after Heifu's family used the composting method, this year was a bumper harvest, about 500 stone millet, 250 stone rice, and after paying the rent, there was still a lot of savings. I only hope that this year's grain prices will not be too cheap, and if we sell the surplus grain and pay the arrears, we will still have a net income of several thousand yuan......

Thinking about it this way, the 4,000 dollars that Heifu was fined for letting the murderer go by mistake are quite acceptable.

Thinking of this, Heifu couldn't help but look sympathetically at the Qianshou who were picking up grain on foot along the way, his family's life was thriving, but most of the farmers along the way were struggling with food and clothing.

They also had to make many trips back and forth to finish the rent, and for the first half of September, they didn't have to do anything, and they were tired enough to pull grain back and forth. And the rest of the grain, excluding the part that is used as seeds, is eaten and chewed throughout the year, and it is almost spent. If there is another happy event, the family is sick, and the year is busy, but in the end it is beyond their means.

The two of them stopped talking, and the atmosphere fell silent for a while, and after a while, Heifu deliberately quipped: "Uncle, you have to think so, wait until next year, my family will have 500 acres of land, and the land rent to be paid at that time will be more." ”

"That's right, the middle brother is now a hairpin."

Looking at the simple wooden crown on the bun on the top of Heifu's head, and the horses with ribbons around their necks, he was very pleased.

Although Heifu missed the murderer, he was not removed from office, and because of his method of judging the murderer's height based on his footprints, he was considered very useful by the county, and the title was not lowered but increased, which made many people who secretly speculated that Heifu was going to be cold this time, and they were shocked to lose their big teeth.

Heifu's promotion document came down yesterday and caused a sensation in Quanli, because he was the second hairpin in the middle. And the Heifu family's land has once again increased by 100 acres, and it has changed from a small family to the largest landlord in the sunset......

I never thought that one day, I would be worried because the fields at home were increasing too quickly, but I couldn't tell my middle brother that we should slow down first and don't be promoted.

He thought to himself: "Next year, I'm afraid I'll have to buy more ploughing cattle and hire twice as many mecks......

……

When the Heifu brothers arrived in Yunmengxiang and left the town, it was already the time of the morning meal, and the "rented house" near the township warehouse became the most lively place in the township.

The small officials under Tian Buzuo held the power and buckets, and asked the farmers to come forward and weigh the grain and grass they wanted to hand in one by one, without worrying about the inaccuracy of the amount.

In addition, there were also supervisors sent by the county to supervise the quality and quantity of grain, and to prevent favoritism and irregularities in the collection of rents.

Heifu first accompanied him, paid the more than 20 stone of grain he was pulling, and then left the empty car outside and came to the rental house.

Tian Buzuo is an official at the township level of the Tianguan system, equivalent to the director of the township grain management office in later generations. When they came down and found the busy Tabe Sasa, they saw that he was holding the register of the places of origin of each ri, and according to the records sent in from outside, he loudly asked the little official to transcribe it.

"The most Lishi Wu Jia, pay 4 stones and 8 buckets of rent, it has been paid!"

"Chengli Gongshi B, pay 24 stones! There are 36 stones left! ”

In addition, from time to time, it is also found that the amount paid by some people does not match the number of acres of land they own, and those who conceal the number of acres to evade taxes are called the crime of "hiding the field", and once it is found, in addition to the land rent escaped, all the crops in the field you hide will also be confiscated!

There were only 10 officials, many of whom were borrowed from other government offices, but they had to record the land rent paid by nearly 1,000 households in the township, and they were so busy that they didn't even have time to drink water.

Finally caught the time of the morning food, Kuroo immediately stepped forward and called out to Tabe Sa.

Tabe Zuo was busy all morning, his throat was about to smoke, if an ordinary Qianshou came to find it, most of them would be dumped at this time, but as soon as he turned around, he saw that Heifu was a pavilion chief with a red curtain on his head, so he suppressed his anger.

After Kuroo reported his name, Tabe Zuo changed his color even more, and solemnly bowed his hand to Kuroo.

"It turned out to be the head of Huyang Pavilion in Zhuanshui Township, the name of the head of the Heifu Pavilion, which has long been known to the whole county, disrespectful, disrespectful."

Counting, today's Heifu is also a well-known figure in the county, but he has long been used to hearing similar words, and after a few polite words with Tabe Sa, he pulled over and explained his intention to Tabe Saku.

"What does the pavilion chief mean is that after using that method, your family's yield per mu this year will be nearly one stone more!?"

Tabe Sa's busy morning fatigue was shocked by what Kuroo said!

"There is no lie." Heifu took out a piece of wood and handed it to Tanbe Sa, but saw that what was recorded on it was the grain output of Heifu's family's three lands, and almost every acre of the 100 acres of compost was recorded separately.

"Could it be that the millet is not dried? Or is the 100 acres of land booming this year? ”

Although Tabe Zuo is a little moved, he still has some doubts, because of the increase in grain production at home every year, there are many old farmers who come to him to offer "farming methods". The Qin State established the country by ploughing and warfare, and rewarded the people who worked diligently and improved their farming techniques.

Heifu also knows that unlike the last time he offered a step, he could immediately experiment with different results, and farming has a strong randomness and timeliness, and he can't tolerate Tabe Sa's carelessness.

He smiled and said: "Tabe Zuo doesn't have to rush to report this law to the county, it is better to set aside dozens of acres of government-run fields in the township at the beginning of spring next year, and let my uncle come over to instruct, use the method of composting manure fields, and wait for the autumn harvest to compare the yield per mu with ordinary fields, and the authenticity will be known at a try!" ”

Heifu had a good idea, and Tabe felt that it was very safe, so he agreed.

If this matter can't be done, he will sell Heifu, the rising head of the Huyang Pavilion, a favor; If it can be done, Tabe Sakura will also be able to share some credit......

Who knows, Heifu also has his own little Jiujiu in his heart, in the past, he may go directly to the county seat to find the largest field official at the county level "Tian Qiangfu", but this time, he has to make a detour and let the township official Tian Buzuo handle it, what is the picture?

Because Heifu wants to obtain it from the heart, it is precisely the position with the lowest risk in the middle, but the actual profit is not bad: Tian Dian! And Tabe Sa's will is an important factor in determining the selection of Noriri Rytoda!

……

At the beginning of September, after agreeing with Tianbu Zuo of Yunmeng Township to formally test the composting method in Yutian in the township next year, Heifu returned to Huyang Pavilion to continue his post.

After the last time, his enthusiasm for looking around for cases has also faded a lot, and he is only satisfied with restraining the law and order in the jurisdiction. Fortunately, although he missed once, Yu Wei was still there, and no one in the jurisdiction of Huyang Pavilion dared to make a mistake.

After more than ten days of calm like this, by mid-September, news came, which made Heifu's future uncertain again.

His backer, the county lieutenant Du Xian's order, finally came down......