The dog head and a few companions ran happily on the road, each holding a few pieces of paper in their hands, and playing with each other.

He Daocheng was grazing cattle on the side of the road, and when he saw the dog's head, he said: "Don't make such a fuss, be careful of encountering jackals, tigers and leopards again!" ”

The dog head laughed: "Daddy, don't scare us, the little tiger has gone to the zoo in Fancheng, and I went to see it during the New Year!" ”

He Daocheng smiled, called a few people over, took out a few pieces of candy in his pocket, and distributed them to a few people. He asked, "What do you do?" Recently, school is on vacation, why don't you help mom and dad go to the fields to do farm work? Now in the wheat harvest season, how much work to be busy! ”

The dog head ate the candy and said with a smile: "Daddy's family has a lot of children, so he has stopped doing work for a long time, right?" Our family joined the harvester club, and there were also wheat farms, and several families did it together, and the wheat was already harvested! Now Daddy is still in business, and Mom is in the village community. ”

He Daocheng nodded: "It turns out that your family has also entered, and I thought that your father cherished money and didn't join this society." ”

The dog head said: "Although Daddy loves money, the account can be calculated." How much does it cost to buy a harvester together? The time saved can be made a lot more by going out to do some business. Besides, now there are more harvesters, and many nearby villages have bought them. ”

With the arrival of field affairs, the society in Xiangzhou, Suizhou, and Dengzhou has developed by leaps and bounds, and new agricultural tools have been popularized faster than other places. The railway was opened, and the iron supervisor came here in a short time, and all kinds of iron agricultural tools were widely used. Since last year, harvesters have become popular, not only for harvesting wheat, but also for harvesting millet, and the upland crop has expanded significantly. At present, rice is only planted in places with particularly good water conservancy conditions, and then there are several well-known varieties, such as Guanghuajun Liuguquan and Zaoyang fragrant rice.

The purchase of large items such as harvesters and threshing machines is mostly based on the situation of the company, where several families buy one piece together and use it together during harvesting, and several families are together to complete the harvest in the shortest time. If you have spare time, you will rent it out and charge a variety of rents. There are also large families outside the camp, who independently purchase a complete set of farm tools, either plant a lot of land, or rent it out, or charge a fee to help people cut wheat and thresh the field.

He Daocheng is old, and he is not involved in the heavy work of the family, and even the village is not as well-informed as before. In normal times, he herds cattle and sheep for his son, and when there is a major event in the village, he participates in the discussion as a father and elder, and his life is leisurely.

Listening to the dog head talk about the recent events in the village, He Daocheng nodded again and again. I have been a fiber puller for a lifetime, and I have worked hard all my life, but I didn't expect to be able to enjoy happiness when I am old. This kind of life has passed a lot, and the personality has gradually become peaceful, and the person has become kind.

After listening to the dog's speech, He Daocheng asked: "How many of you are not going to school, what are you doing?" ”

The dog raised the paper in his hand and said: "The yamen and the people in the school instructed us students to go to several nearby villages to investigate the people's situation. Now the people in the village have to ask clearly how much land they plant, whether they are tired or not, how much food they produce, whether they have enough to eat, and what kind of money they can earn. If you ask well, you have to write it down on paper and send it for evaluation. If you do well, I heard that there are rewards, and there are also benefits to going to school in the future. ”

This is not only a social practice, but also an exercise for students, and it will be very helpful if the work is appropriate in the future. In the past, most of the people who read books were immersed in reading the books of sages and sages, and only a few people would take the initiative to contact the society, and a small number of people traveled to study in all directions. At present, the camp provides a certain amount of funds, and with the help of the students in the school, the social census is a good start.

This is an era of great changes in the style of study, and one of them is the style of attaching importance to social practice and stressing seeking truth from facts. Zhang Zai was still young, did not have a Zhongjin Shi, and certainly did not carry out his well field practice in Hengqu. Lantian Lu Dafang Huangyou was a scholar in the first year, and he had just entered the official career for a few years, and the brothers had not yet made a township contract. Ercheng and Zhou Dunyi have just emerged, Wang Anshi is still making a general judgment in Shuzhou, and Sima Guang is in Bingzhou to make a general judgment for Han Qi, who replaced Wang Yaochen as the coach of Hedong. Zheng Jian, who Du Zhongxiao was familiar with, died a few years ago in the office of Hedong Jinglu. Of course, there is also Xia Zhu, who also died last year, and Du Zhongxiao, as a foreign official, could not enter Beijing and did not see him for the last time.

Du Zhongxiao camped in western Beijing, and agriculture was divided into two modes of operation: field management and local ordinary mode. Later, a new commercial system was established in Changpingsi, which had two ways: large-scale government-run business and local commerce. What the future will be, Du Zhongxiao has neither the intention nor the ability to establish a set of theories for this era. That was the business of the literati in this era, and what Du Zhongxiao could do was to set down the system and record the changes in the official and non-governmental sectors. It's a treasure trove, and who will dig it out, God knows.

After chatting with the dog head for a while, He Daocheng asked: "By the way, you will study for three years next year, and I heard that you have always been good in the exam, and you will definitely come out of the current school." Where are you going in the future, have you decided on your parents? ”

The dog head said: "Mom said, I'm still young now, and I'm not in a hurry to come out and do things." Recently, Yingtianwu has built another school in the town, and he has learned more deeply, but he can only enter if he passes the exam. What they mean is for me to go there, to study for another two or three years, and when I'm older, then I'll decide what I'm going to study and what I'm going to do. I think it's actually not bad to go to the iron prison to do things in the future. ”

He Daocheng said: "Don't go, don't go." Some of us here who went there to study are not coming back. Since it is a new school, there will inevitably be a new place to go, and you will talk about it when you are older. In my opinion, in a few years, there will be fewer and fewer people working in several yamen, and I am afraid that most of them will have to take exams before they can enter, and they will be paid money and food. Isn't it better to work in the yamen than an iron prison? ”

Where does the dog head understand this, young people always want to go out and break through, there is no dream at this time, what is the meaning of a lifetime? In the past few years, it has been obvious that professionalism has increased, and the tacit invisible rules between some public officials in the past have been brought to the fore. Although the officials in the government also had to take the exam, most of them only tested literacy and calligraphy, but now there are more exams. Finances are abundant, the number of servants is decreasing, and the number of public servants who have money and food increases, and many things are indeed different from before. There is only one case, and the public officials who have done this kind of examination also have the requirement of avoidance, and they are generally required to go to the next county a hundred miles away to do things, which is somewhat inconvenient.

A few companions urged him to leave, and the dog head remembered something, and said to He Daocheng: "Daddy He, the gentleman in the school has chosen a name, called He Ji, which is an auspicious word. In the future, you will be called by name, but now that you are older, it is not good to call you a nickname anymore. ”

He Daocheng nodded again and again, and asked, "Now that you have a name, did Mr. give you a word?" ”

He Ji said: "No. Mr. said that he was still young, and he would not be able to pick up words until he was admitted to the school of the previous pole. ”

As he spoke, He Ji and a few of his companions ran towards the village. He Daocheng sat on the ground, looking at the backs of several people leaving, with a smile on his face. This is the quiet and peaceful rural life in my imagination, life is getting better day by day, and there is a hope.

In the Yamen of Yingtianwu, Du Zhongxiao sat with Zhang Yuzhi and Su Shunqin, looking at the account books and some summaries of the recent summer grain, and discussing the income of the Yamen this season. At present, the villages mainly collect grain from the fields, and the money has been exchanged for silk cloth and various special products, and no longer collects cash. The difference between the fifth-class households is in the form of daily labor, which pays less and pays more. All other exorbitant levies, miscellaneous taxes, and purchases and assessments have all been abolished. The source of state and county money is in industry and commerce, and in addition to tax money, there are also some government-run factories and cooperatives.

Putting down the account, Du Zhongxiao said: "Recently, I heard that in addition to paying taxes, rural households still have some surplus grain in their hands. In the past two years, the surrounding prefectures and counties have had good weather and water conservancy assistance, and the price of grain has been suppressed. Now the wheat on the market is less than 30 wen per bucket, and the japonica rice is only more than 50 wen, which is still the price of Chang Ping Si's money, which is much lower than in previous years. In the northern states, wheat costs sixty wen per bucket, and those who have a way to sell grain will make a lot of money there. If this does not work, as soon as the price of grain is low, there will be fewer people to grow grain next year. Changping Division stabilized prices, first of all in food prices. Now that the wheat has just been harvested, I have discussed it with the transshipment department, and decided to use 50 wen per bucket of wheat and 90 wen per bucket of japonica rice. Several large prefectures and counties have built grain storage silos in recent years, which are subordinate to Chang Ping. The grain that is harvested is stored in it first, and where there is a disaster, it is transported and sold. ”

Zhang Yu said: "This is the best. Gu Bei is not only injured energy, but also injured camp and field work. Up to now, there are still a lot of public fields in the camp and fields, and hundreds of thousands of wheat have been harvested. If you don't have a good price, how can that be good? With Changping Situo collecting grain, he is not afraid of hurting the peasants. ”

This is the minimum protective price of grain, which has existed in all dynasties and dynasties, and Changping is inherited from this system. Of course, it is not uncommon for poor management, insufficient funding, and systems that cannot be implemented. At present, Changping Division has a shopping mall, a savings bank, and also issues paper money, and the funds are sufficient, so it must do a good job in its own work of stabilizing grain prices. At the very least, it is necessary to ensure that the difference in grain prices in the prefectures and counties of the country is not too large, so that the sale of grain becomes a small profit.

The camp also has its own warehouse, which stores a part of the grain. According to the principle of leaving the old and bringing in the new, a part of it must be replaced every year, and the old grain is sold at a low price to make wine, and the new grain is put into the warehouse. However, most of the grain harvested, except for the transfer department, still has to be sold in the market. Recently, there have been bumper harvests for two consecutive years, and the Transshipment Department has not adjusted the grain, and the price of selling it is low, and it is also difficult to operate the fields.

Normally, Changping Division should collect grain for three years and store it for one year to stabilize grain prices. That is, the grain that has been stored for three years can be sold at a critical moment, so that the price of food in the market can be stabilized, and most people can afford to eat it without famine. This number is not large, just to stabilize food prices, and it is not necessary to feed everyone. After Du Zhongxiao was abundant, he was able to feed everyone under the management under the condition of a large-scale harvest after the accumulation of the usual liquidation, and the grain merchants in the society basically disappeared. Those who are still selling grain are either trafficking in local specialties or miscellaneous grain crops such as red beans and mung beans.

There are camps and fields, and the warehouses are already full, and they must be sold to other places if they are purchased at a protective price this year. Fortunately, with the money road, it is not too difficult to transport it to the north. In particular, Shaanxi Road and Jingdong Road have relatively high grain prices.

At this moment, the official came to report: "Promotion, the new magistrate of Changping has arrived." I heard that I came by train, and I didn't take the post road through Huxian County, so I didn't report along the road. ”