The two farms Zhulan bought were adjacent to each other. The journey between the two farms took half an hour, so all the farm affairs could be handled in one day.
Zhulan didn't want the original owner of the farm to tell the tenants that the farm had been sold. When Zhulan arrived, the adults in the farm were working in the fields.
Zhulan brought a lot of candies and cakes. She avoided the woman and found the playing children. Five children aged five or six were playing under the tree.
Zhulan signaled to Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er not to follow, as there were too many men and the children would be scared. Zhulan only took Liu Ya and the candy with her and walked over.
The five children were very reserved. At the age of five or six, they understood everything and had an impression of Zhulan.
Five children were pushing and shoving each other. The tallest little boy stepped forward timidly and asked, "What's the matter?"
Zhulan smiled and said, "I like this manor very much, so I want to buy it."
The five children were terrified and wanted to run home to tell their families. Zhulan comforted them, "Don't worry, I will still rent it out even if I buy the manor, but you need to answer a few questions for me."
The five children looked at each other. The older boy clenched his fists as if to encourage himself. "You say."
Zhulan found a rock to sit on, and asked Liuya to distribute candy and cakes to the children. She waved to the children to sit down. After the children sat down, Zhulan asked, "The village has a tenant leader. Is the tenant leader of your village good to you?"
Several children were stunned for a moment, and some younger ones seemed to want to say something but stopped themselves.
Zhulan smiled, "You said it's okay."
The older boy pursed his lips in silence for a while before he spoke: "If he was not good, would you change him?"
“It’s natural.”
The boy made up his mind and said, "The Li family is not good. Every time the Li family helps the owner collect rent, they will collect extra grain. The extra grain is kept by our family. Moreover, we have to please them on weekdays. If we don't please them, they will say bad things to the steward. The owner of the manor rarely comes, and it is the steward who is in charge. The steward accepted the benefits from the Li family, and my parents dare not say anything and can only endure it."
Dad said that even if we told the owner of the farm it would be useless because there were many tenants and they didn’t have to farm. The owner of the farm had no shortage of tenants to rent his land.
Zhulan looked at the little boy. In ancient times, children aged five or six were indeed more mature, but this child was very well educated. From the child's observation of the adults, the education of the adults was also good. "Who are the people in your family?"
The boy was a little wary. "Why are you asking this?"
Zhulan smiled and didn't need to ask any more questions. Several women from a distance ran over. They should be the mothers of these children.
Zhulan stood up and the five children hid behind the women. Zhulan looked at the mother of the boy who was talking. Although her clothes were old, they were very clean. Among the five children, the boy was the cleanest.
Zhulan said, "I have bought this manor. Go home and call the heads of each household. By the way, the land will still be rented to you. You don't have to be nervous or afraid."
The women breathed a sigh of relief and just had to continue renting out the land.
Zhulan returned to the yard of the farm. She had looked around hastily last time, but this time she looked carefully. When she walked around and returned to the front yard, all the tenants of the farm had arrived.
There are a total of twenty tenant households on the 200-mu farm. The amount of land rented by each household varies, with the largest being 20 mu and the smallest being 5 mu.
There were twenty men who were the heads of tenant households. The oldest ones were in their fifties or sixties, while the youngest ones were in their thirties.
Most people in their thirties have separated from their families and rented land to make a living.
Zhulan's Arrival has made us understand a lot more about tenants in ancient times. Some tenants have been there for generations, some rented land and became tenants because the family was so poor, and some were refugees.
Zhulan saw that the person standing in the front was the leader of the tenants. When she was touring the house just now, she asked Zhou Laoer and Steward Ding to ask the nearby farmers. She did not believe everything the children said, but now she had found out the truth.
Zhulan motioned Zhou Laoer to come forward and handed the matter over to Zhou Laoer to handle. From then on, it was Zhou Laoer who dealt with the tenants.
Zhou Laoer suppressed his excitement and imitated his father, "This farm has changed its name, and the land will still be rented to you, but the person in charge will change. In the future, the Wang family will be responsible for collecting the rent, and the Li family, who was in charge before, can still rent the land. As for why the Li family was replaced, I won't explain."
Zhulan looked at Zhou Laoer. She put the task in charge of Zhou Laoer but did not tell him how to deal with the Li family. Zhou Laoer was indeed the most malicious person in the family. The entire village was dissatisfied with the Li family. The Li family would not have an easy life even if they rented the land. Without their fear-inducing status, they would definitely return the anger they had suffered in the past to the Li family.
To put it bluntly, Zhou Laoer forced the Li family to leave on their own, and he even gained a reputation for being righteous.
When Li the tenant came, he knew that the new owner had inquired about him, so he knew that his job was over. He also knew that the farm was going to be sold, so he was ready. He stepped forward and said, "I have saved some money. I will buy some land to farm in the future and will not rent it."
Zhou Laoer smiled and said, "Okay."
Zhou Laoer paused and continued, "Then let's talk about the new rent of 40% to 60%. "
Tenant Li was stunned, while the other tenants cheered happily.
Zhulan watched Zhou Laoer re-sign the contract, deal with everything in the farm, and visit every household. Zhulan was quite satisfied with Zhou Laoer's ability to do things.
We went to another farm in the afternoon, but Zhulan didn't care because the tenant of the other farm had not been changed.
The farm and the shop were arranged. Zhulan asked Zhou Laoer to buy a lot of vegetables, mainly peppers, pumpkins, winter melons and some other vegetables that could be stored. She also bought some fruits, such as longan and oranges.
There are seafood in Jinzhou, but they are all dried seafood. Zhulan also bought a lot.
There were four more carriages ready for departure, and most of the carriages were filled with food.
Zhulan only had four hundred taels of silver left.
The boat back to the city was not going with the wind, so it was going slowly. It also stopped from time to time. Zhulan was a little anxious. She wanted to go home early. She missed Zhou Shuren and didn't know how Zhou Shuren was doing at home.
Along the way, she could write letters back, but she couldn't receive any letters from Zhou Shuren. Who made her rush on the road
At noon, the ship docked again. Zhou Laoer couldn't stay on the ship anymore, so he asked and got off after two hours of docking.
Zhulan did not get off the boat but stood on the deck looking at the bustling port. Because it was almost the New Year, the port was bustling with people coming and going.
Zhulan suddenly narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, scaring Boss Zhou.
Boss Zhou hurriedly stopped her and said, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"
Zhulan just wanted to see the person clearly, but Boss Zhou blocked her view. When she pushed Boss Zhou away, he had disappeared.