After Zhu Ping'an's "learning valley", Zhang Juren said goodbye and left Shanghe Village. He was accompanying his wife to her parents' home and could not stay for long. Zhu Ping'an and the village elders saw him off to the village entrance and watched him leave.
After seeing off Mr. Zhang, Zhu Ping'an was invited to the village chief's home by the village chief and the village elders, where he made plans for Xue Gu's affairs. The village elders cared more about Xue Gu's affairs than erecting a monument, and it was almost noon when Zhu Ping'an was able to get away.
Before I even got home, I heard a lot of noise in my yard, like people going to a market.
"Master Zhu is back"
Before Zhu Ping'an even entered the door, he heard an excited voice coming from the yard.
Mr. Zhu
When Zhu Ping'an heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. As soon as he stepped into the door, he was surrounded by the excited crowd in the yard.
"I'm a good farmer, so I beg you to take me in and work like a slave for me, Mr. Zhu." An old man wearing patched clothes came to Zhu Ping'an respectfully but excitedly, his tone a little incoherent.
"Master Zhu, our family is a juren family, so we can't live without a cook. I'm Erzhuzi from Bianjia Village, and I've been a big spoon in the town for more than ten years. Let me be the chef in our kitchen. I guarantee the food will be delicious."
A man with a big head, thick neck, greasy face and clothes patted his chest and made a guarantee.
"I am a rough man, but I have plenty of strength. Let me be a servant."
“I can also farm.”
"Mr. Zhu, please accept us." Others also gathered around, vying to recommend themselves.
"Master Zhu, my two daughters are both virgins. Leave them here to serve tea and water to Master Zhu. They are very good at work. If Master Zhu likes them, they can also warm the bed."
There was even an uncle who pushed his two neatly dressed daughters to Zhu Ping'an and recommended them to him. There are almost all the books you want to read. It is much more stable and updated faster than other websites. It is full text and has no ads.
Then Zhu Ping'an saw two little girls with pigtails under the uncle's command, staring at him with their big round eyes and looking innocently at him, one of them was even biting her fingers and drooling.
The older one is at most six years old, and the younger one is only about four or five years old.
It's not even as high as the table legs. At this age, he can warm the bed.
Zhu Pingan's face was dark
Looking at the people in the yard vying to offer themselves as slaves and servants, Zhu Ping'an's mouth twitched a little. This is the surrender of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Ping'an also knows something about the surrender. Most modern historical books are critical of this, and almost define it as an important reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, in Zhu Ping'an's eyes, donations should be discussed separately. For the country, donations are definitely harmful and have no benefits, but for the villagers, this is not the case.
As for voluntary donations like the one in front of them, they would definitely not do so if it was not beneficial to them.
How to say it.
This is like a means of tax avoidance, which was also developed by the wisdom of the ancient working people. The imperial court did not collect taxes or labor service from the families of officials and juren, so the working people thought that if I became the family of an official or juren, wouldn't I be exempt from taxes and labor service as well? How could it be possible? You could donate land to become a tenant, or you could donate yourself to become a domestic slave.
Although the imperial court in the Ming Dynasty clearly stipulated that the land tax was very low, not exceeding one tenth, it could not withstand the layers of records and escalation, and the usual practice of adding taxes and levies, which was a heavy burden for ordinary farmers. Another point is that the corvée labor in the Ming Dynasty was quite heavy, including building roads and bridges, escorting grain, and even delivering small things to the capital by trekking thousands of miles. It was time-consuming and expensive, and it was unbearable.
Therefore, some farmers "donated" their land to the officials' families. In fact, they still cultivated their own land, but the officials had the privilege of tax exemption and did not have to pay taxes, so the farmers saved tax expenses. Even if they had to pay rent to the wealthy, as long as it was less than the court taxes and the local officials' regular expenses, they would be happy. This is similar to when foreign companies in my country used to enjoy various preferential treatments, many people racked their brains to find a foreign or overseas shareholder and put up a foreign investment sign to avoid taxes. Land donation is similar to this.
However, no matter what, making contributions is of great benefit to officials and candidates, and this is also an advantage for those in power, that is, the so-called exploiting class.
Understanding is understanding, but
"Yaya can warm the bed"
The drooling little Lolita, about four or five years old, waved her chubby little paws and repeated the uncle's words in a baby voice, which made Zhu Pingan almost spit out blood.
"Zi'er is here, come in quickly."
At this moment, Chen, the mother, who heard the noise, waved excitedly at the door and called Zhu Pingan over.
With the rescue of his mother Chen, Zhu Ping'an was able to pass through the crowd, through the yard and into the house.
The villagers were still very respectful to Zhu Ping'an, the scholar. When they saw Chen calling Zhu Ping'an for something, they consciously made way for Zhu Ping'an.
"Come quickly, my son, look." Mother Chen excitedly pulled Zhu Ping'an into the inner room, pointing at the various gifts placed on the bed and piled under the bed, and asked Zhu Ping'an to look at them.
"What is this..." Zhu Ping'an looked at the various gifts placed chaotically in the room, feeling a little confused.
"Just now, when you were at Muramasa's house, many people came one after another to give you these things. They insisted on putting them down, and your mother couldn't stop them." Chen looked at the gifts filling the bedroom, her eyes shining.
It was you who didn't stop me, mom.
Looking at Chen's shining eyes, Zhu Ping'an silently complained in his heart.
However, it doesn’t matter. I’m not a conservative person. Welcoming and seeing off guests is part of the human nature.
What's more, my mother Chen is so excited, so it won't spoil the mood. But I can't accept gifts anymore.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There are also these land deeds. This one is for 15 acres of paddy fields, and this one is for 15 acres of paddy fields. Well, this one is for 50 acres of irrigated land. These fields are very close to our village. They were all donated by local rich people nearby. There is also a grocery store in the town. Who donated it? And these banknotes. Mother hasn't had time to count them yet."
As mother Chen was talking, she suddenly remembered the matter of the land deeds. She fished out a small stack of land deeds from Zhu's father's worn-out shoes under the bed. Then she dug out several silver bills from under a brick on the ground and explained them to Zhu Ping'an one by one while sitting on the bed.
"Mom" Zhu Ping'an just opened his mouth when he was interrupted by his mother Chen.
Mother Chen grabbed the deed tightly in her hand, like a miser, and said in the same tone as when she confiscated the New Year's money, "I'll keep these things for you."
In the morning, Zhu Ping'an gave fifty taels of silver to the village as a student allowance, which made Chen very distressed. Fortunately, as soon as she got home, these local rich men sent people to deliver gifts such as gifts and land deeds, which made Chen in a good mood. Therefore, Chen did not give Zhu Ping'an any chance at this time.
Seeing his mother Chen holding the land deed like a child, Zhu Ping'an was speechless. He then looked at the gifts piled on and under the bed.
"Don't think about those things. You don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are because you are the head of the household. I still have to give those things as gifts to others. I have already arranged them. Well, the gift from the Wang family will be returned to the Zhang family; the gift from the Zhang family will be returned to the Wang family."
Mother Chen pointed to the pile of gifts on and under the bed and told Zhu Ping'an their destinations one by one.
"Forget it this time, don't take my mother in next time." Zhu Ping'an could only smile bitterly. To be continued. xh211
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