When they were chatting, the porter had already loaded all the goods onto the carriage, and Zhou Zhihui came over and said to Yunxi: "Sun Daguan, the goods have been loaded. ”

"Then go back." Yun Xi gave an order, and the group returned to the city.

When they returned to the city, because the carriage was already full of goods, Yun Xi and Zhu Youstew had no place to sit, so they followed behind the carriage, side by side with Zhou Zhihui, and returned to the city while chatting casually.

After walking for a while, Zhou Zhihui couldn't help but secretly admire Yun Xi: "Although this person is a young master of a rich family who is ignorant of the world, he is not a very delicate person. Today is November 21, although it is not yet the 39th, it is not the coldest time of the year, but it is already very cold, this young master named Sun Yijun is talking and laughing as usual; And he looks quite strong, his steps are steady, and he should be a martial arts practitioner. The young master of a rich and noble family can still practice martial arts, which is not easy. ’

His eyes looked at Zhu Youstew again: "This is far away, there are some floats under my feet, I am still fat and afraid of the cold, I am really a pampered young master." ’

Glancing around, he noticed two more strange things: "This young master named Sun Yiming is still a little strange. Although his accent is a Beijing accent, some words speak with a Henan flavor, as if he has been in Henan, which is really strange. ’

And what did the guard say all the time by the side of the laborer? Not only did he talk to Ligong when he returned to the city, but he also talked to Ligong when he came, and he still spoke Henan dialect, could it be that his hometown is from Henan? But how can you be a guard next to someone from the capital? ’

He was silently strange in his heart, and suddenly heard Yun Xi ask: "Shopkeeper Zhou, Shicai is in that Taoist temple, I think there are a lot of people in it, and now there are many people like them in Kaifeng City?" ”

"Quite a few, thousands of people." Zhou Zhihui retracted his mind and said.

"With so many strong men, why don't they go home and farm, but stay in the city as laborers? Now there are not many people in Daming except for Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so there is no field in the countryside. ”

"Sun Daguan is right, there are indeed a lot of fields in the countryside, there are no empty fields in the upper fields, but there are barren ones in the middle fields, and no one will plant them unless the lower fields are in an excellent location. A family, with a wife and half-grown children to help them, can plant 30 acres of land even if they have no livestock, and they always have something to eat. ”

"Then why don't they go home and farm? Thirty acres of land is much more than the land of the common people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. ”

"Big officials, of course, because they make more money in the city!" Zhou Zhihui said with a smile: "Thirty acres of land, even if it is your own no need to pay rent, but the average family can't occupy the upper field, it is all middle field, one acre of land will produce more than one stone of grain, thirty acres of land is forty or fifty stone of grain, the tax of one acre of land is three liters of three in five spoons, and thirty acres of land is about one stone tax." ”

"Yes, there's only one stone of tax, and that's all left. I have heard that ordinary people have enough money for four or five yuan a year, and the rest of the grain is worth seven or eight yuan to say the least. ”

"Great official, where is it so simple! In addition to the taxes of the imperial court, there is also the additional fire consumption. The people of the government said that the grain was sent from the township to the official treasury, and the people who transported it had to eat the grain, and add 20% to the fire consumption. In addition, when they harvest grain, they also have the method of fighting big and small, and the people always have to pay more. ”

"In addition, the forty or fifty stones just mentioned are the best case scenario, and the wind and rain are smooth. However, there is an abnormal wind and rain on the ground in Henan every three years, although there are few disasters, but the grain production will be less, and one acre is one stone. Thirty acres is thirty stones. ”

"The peasant households themselves have to eat grain, a family is counted as a family of five, if a strong man wants to eat enough, he has to get two liters of grain a day, which is seven stones a year, a woman eats less, and he has to have four or five stones, and if the child has less, he has to eat two or three stones, and if half of the children eat a lot more than the strong man, the whole family has to eat twenty stones of grain."

"In addition, we have to keep the next year's crops, so that there is not much left. If a member of the family gets sick, they can use up all the money and food they have left. In addition, I have to save money for my children to study for two years, and I can't read it and then come back to farm; I have to save money for my son to marry a daughter-in-law, build a house, change farm tools, and buy cattle. Even if many farmers do not have rent now, the taxes of the imperial court are not high, but they are reluctant to eat enough in order to save money and when they are slept. ”

"Working as a laborer in the city is different. What is collected is money, not food that will definitely suffer when you change it. When he is busy, a strong man is diligent and fast, and it is no problem to earn fifty yuan a day, and it is consistent and half a month; When I am free, such as now, I can have more than ten wen a day on average, and more than a month and a half. In this way, there can be more than ten times a year. The wife of the family can grow some grain, cotton and vegetables casually, and weave cloth in her spare time, so she can also have some money and food. That's more than double the amount of money the whole family earns from farming in the countryside. So why don't they work in the city? ”

"By the way, the big officials, I have also been to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the fields there are all paddy fields, although it is difficult to plant, but the harvest is also more, Henan is all dry fields, it is slightly easier to plant but the harvest is less. Therefore, the average farmer does not have as much land as we have, but life is better than ours. Zhou Zhihui finally said.

"Just because you're making a lot of money?" Yun Xi asked again.

"Oh, my big officials, we ordinary people are just thinking about making a living, and we will go wherever we make more money. However," Zhou Zhihui thought for a while and said: "It is true that some people are willing to stay in the city not only because of the money they make in the city. ”

"There are parents in the countryside, and there is no clan without parents, and everything cannot go against the will of the clan, some young people feel uncomfortable, feel that no one is in charge of the city, even if the food in the city is not as good as in the countryside, but they are willing to stay in the city."

"There are also some young men who come to the city to work as laborers to make money before they are twenty years old, and when they see that there are many pastimes in the city, they can play in different ways; It's not like the countryside, just a few pastimes, and you get tired of it in a few days. Because there are people who covet the things in the city and don't want to return to their hometowns. Such a person is not good, the original purpose of coming to the city is to make more money, but the money earned by greedy pastimes is also spent, and there is nothing to save. ”

"There are also such things," Yun Xi muttered, and then asked, "Nothing else?" ”

"It's gone." Zhou Zhihui thought about it again, but he couldn't think of a reason, and shook his head.

Speaking of which, they had already entered the city, and Yun Xi saw that he couldn't say anything else, so he talked about other things. After walking for a while, they came to the place where Yun Xi pretended to put the goods, and Yun Xi asked the laborers to unload the goods from the carriage and send them in, and asked the guards to give them money. These laborers weighed the yellow and clear copper coins in their hands, smiled on their faces, and said in a very accented official dialect, "Thank you, Young Master!" He bowed again and turned to leave.

Yun Xi also said to Zhou Zhihui: "Shopkeeper Zhou, there is nothing to do today, so be it." It's really troublesome for the shopkeeper Zhou, this little meaning is for you. As he spoke, he took out ten bills from his waist and handed them to Zhou Zhihui.

Zhou Zhihui took the money, and the smile on his face was even bigger: "How can this be embarrassing?" ”

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, shopkeeper Zhou told me so many things just now, and also helped us hire laborers, which is what Shopkeeper Zhou deserves." Yun Xi smiled.

Zhou Zhihui gave a few more words, and when he saw that Yunxi insisted on giving him money, he put the treasure money in his pocket, and said: "Sun Daguan, if there is anyone who can use the villain, send someone to the 'Shuanglin' timber shop in the west of the city to find the villain." ”

"I see, you can go back." Yun Xi said a few more words to him, and Zhou Zhihui left.

As soon as Zhou Zhihui left, one of Yun Xi's guards came over and said, "Young master, just now I was talking to the laborers, and they said ......" The guards told the reason why they worked as laborers in the city that they asked from the laborers. Although he is Yunxi's guard, his hometown is from Henan, and he can communicate with the workers.

Yun Xi praised him a few words after hearing this, asked him to step back, and then told Zhu Youwei the reason why he had inquired from Zhou Zhihui. Finally, he said: "Sixth brother, do you know now why these people are reluctant to go home to farm, but stay in the city as laborers, right? ”

"Fifth brother, the reason why you tossed such a circle turned out to be like this." Zhu Youstew suddenly realized: "Talk more to the shopkeeper who is familiar with the relationship, let him let down his guard, and then ask things that are not directly related to him, and you can get the answer to the question." At the same time, arrange for local guards to talk to the laborers. Our group of people all have a Beijing accent, and when a worker suddenly hears a Henan accent, he will feel more cordial, and he will speak casually, and he can ask some truths. ”

In fact, it is best to be able to blend in with the laborers, talk directly to the laborers, and get the most truthful answers. But it takes a few days for the newcomers to blend in with them, and I don't have so much free time; Second, no matter how much we pretend to be, we can't look like laborers, not to mention that it is difficult to guarantee safety among them, so we can only do this. Yun Xi said.

"High, really high." Zhu Youstew and praised.

"It's nothing. If it weren't for the help of the sixth brother, it wouldn't have been possible. Yun Xi smiled and said a few words, and said: "I thought of the first two points because they were willing to stay in the city, the city made a lot of money and there was no clan to manage it, and the third point I didn't expect, greedy for the prosperity of the city, I should have thought of it." "Aren't these people who stay in the city the same as the later generations of the North Drift, the Shang Drift, the Guang Drift or any other drift, so the reasons why the later generations of drifters are willing to stay in the big city should not be much different from them.

Yun Xi thought for a while, and then said to Zhu Youzhu: "Now that I know the reason, sixth brother, how do you think this matter should be handled?" ”

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Chapter 1172: The Drift (Page 1/1)

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