2. One hundred taels of fragrance in the courtyard
Even though Hong Dashou was living so badly outside, he was really a wealthy family in this village.
Not to mention anything else, most houses are made of straw with mud walls. But the main house of Hong Dashou's house is a tile-roofed house, a bright and spacious house with three bays. According to the current housing agency, it is transparent from north to south, facing south on three sides, and the living room is square.
No corners.
Of course, the other houses in the courtyard are still very ordinary thatched houses. As for the courtyard walls, they are made of gravel and are only about one meter high. They can't even guard against a wild dog, let alone any defense.
What a thief.
There is no gate to the courtyard, only a gap is left, which can be regarded as an entrance and exit. There are two jujube trees in the courtyard, but other than that, it is bare and has no other decorations.
Before entering the courtyard, at the corner on the other side of the courtyard wall, a man came out carrying firewood. He could not tell his age, his face was wrinkled, his hands were dark and thin, and he had no energy.
The man saw Hong Dashou, took a look for confirmation, his expression finally changed, he opened his mouth, and finally spit out two words.
"master!"
Ouch! It was the first time Hong Dashou heard someone call him that, and he had an indescribable feeling. It was like he had been a humble younger brother outside for too long, and when he returned to his own home, he realized that he was also a humble younger brother.
figure!
"Yeah." He responded calmly and pretended to be casual. Hong Dashou felt that the sound of "Master" was really refreshing.
As they said that, the two people entered the courtyard one after another, only to find that there were four men standing in the courtyard, blocking Hong Dashou's view.
"Mrs. Hong, let me tell you, if your Cuoda family had been successful, the good news from Hanyang would have been delivered with gongs and drums. It will definitely be missed."
"That's right, Mr. Jin climbed up to the top of the Jin family in Gyeongju. He spent more than 2,000 silver coins to get on the gold medal list and get Jinshi. Your family has no chance to succeed!"
"And let me tell you, the troop transfer documents from Imperial Commissioner Min have arrived in the county. Tens of thousands of people in Ruixing County were in civil unrest, and countless people died. The Nanchuan Station (store) was also breached."
"The person named Hong may have filled the ditch!"
"Hahahahahaha..."
The four people burst into laughter, laughing so freely that there was no covering up at all.
"You all came to my place to express condolences to me, right?" Hong Dashou smiled brighter than them, and walked in with an air of one and a half points (out of ten).
The four people turned around when they heard the sound, two looked disdainful, one looked surprised, and the other also smiled.
"came back?"
"Come back, mother!"
"are you hungry?"
"A little."
The middle-aged woman with nimble hands and feet in front of her, who was brushing the sauce jar with loofah pulp, was Hong Dashou's mother. This body was natural and familiar, and she called her mother without any hesitation.
Mrs. Hong threw the loofah pulp into the vat, wiped her hands on her apron, and blew the heat into her still wet hands with her mouth. Then she went into the kitchen, completely ignoring the four men in the courtyard.
After looking at their faces, Hong Dashou knew that the two people he despised were Jin Jinshi's family members in the county. Although they were private slaves, they did some dirty work because they traveled around the county for him on a daily basis and collected land rent for him.
They are two good dogs who have done a lot of bad things.
Basically, there was nothing they couldn't do, including kicking out the widows' families and digging up the graves of their families. There were many cases of forcing (shielding) women from good families to sell them, and it was not uncommon for them to even rob people's homes at open fire.
The two of them also knew the details of the Hong Dashou family best. Apart from the courtyard, the one hundred knots of water used to irrigate the field were valuable. Jin Jinshi tried his best but still couldn't get it.
In the early years, these two losers tried to lure Hong DaShou to make money and go to the chicken farm, but they all failed. They had long thought that Hong DaShou was a bookworm who didn't know how to adapt and was extremely pedantic.
However, because of Hong Dashou's appearance, they could not put a sack into a sack and throw it into the Dading River. This made the two of them despise and disgusted with Hong Dashou.
The one with a surprised look on his face was the county government official. He was a middleman who handled the county's household registration and other documents. It was a profession that had been inherited from generation to generation. If he died, his son would take over the job.
He must have received what Min Tinghuo sent to the counties of Ping'an Road, asking each county to count their troops and be ready to gather troops at any time to go south to suppress the rebellion of Zheng Shenshi, which had been wiped out by Min Tinghui.
So he would be surprised to see Hong Dashou, who was going back to his hometown alone during the great civil unrest that swept through several counties, and actually came back without any trouble.
As for the last one looking at Hong Dashou with a smile, this person is the worst, with at least hundreds of lives on his hands.
This person's name is Jin Douji, and he manages all the famine relief rice of the Li Dynasty in Tieshan County. Just by hearing the last name, you know that he is related to the famous Jin Jinshi in the county. He is certainly Jin Jinshi's white glove
, the dirty things that can be done are even worse.
Five hundred years have passed since the Li Dynasty, and the famine-relief rice policy that maintained the operation of local governments, that is, the return of government, has long ago collapsed. The country only hates that the money and grain in its own treasury and official warehouses are not enough, so how can there be rice to lend to the poor?
Common people.
But the yamen must operate without funds, otherwise everything will be shut down.
What should we do? The yamen asked the local rural households to raise office funds, on the condition that the management rights of famine relief rice be delegated to the local rural squire liangban.
The rural workers dropped three or five coins from their fingers, just like throwing sour buns to beggars or rotten bones to vicious dogs. They gave some small coins to the Yamen and asked the Yamen to run for them.
(Return the squire's money in full, and divide the common people's money into thirty-seven pieces. Mr. Huang's seven pieces are tall and hard!)
The good government originally established by King Taejong Sejong in order to protect the good people class of farmers has been completely ruined since then.
Originally, Hong Dashou borrowed these fifty taels, and he would only pay back fifty-five to sixty taels when they were due in half a year. The interest rate was really very low in the feudal era, and it was really a good policy that saved the people from disaster.
But now Jin Douji lent fifty taels to Hong Dashou, with a face value of seventy taels and eighty-four taels to be repaid at maturity. What the heck, the interest reached 70% of the principal!
If Hong Dashou cannot pay it back, he will have to borrow new debts to repay the old debts, which will grow bigger and bigger like running water. The number of good people in Tieshan County who have been forced (shielded) to death by Jin Douji in recent years is countless, and they are full of evildoers.
"Brother Hong, ah! That's wrong! I don't know whether I should call him Hong Jinshi or Hong Translator. With Brother Hong's talent and learning, it will be easy to pass the examination. Hahahahaha..."
He knew that Hong Daesou didn't have a high school at all, but he deliberately pretended not to know and asked Hong Daesu. This Jin Douji is really annoying and makes people dislike him.
"Hong is very talented and has little knowledge. How can he compare with Brother Jin who is wise in making money and doing things quickly?"
When Jin Douji heard Hong Dashou's reply, he immediately felt that something was wrong. In the past, Hong Dashou was a nerd. He had some real talent and practical knowledge, but his behavior was nonsense. How could he speak back and ridicule him for plundering the people, in the land of fish and meat.
"Brother, I made a mistake. Brother Hong didn't pass the exam this time. He will definitely get the first grade in the next year. But I have to say it first. It's April soon, and the days go by so fast. The rice you borrowed from your family on the first day of May will be enough.
I want to pay it back, I don’t know what Brother Hong means.
"Haha!" Hong Dashou sneered in his heart, went to the cold table in the courtyard, and took off the baggage on his back.
The four people were preparing to see Hong DaShou in embarrassment because he had no money to repay the debt, but they never thought that Hong DaShou leisurely took off his shoes and crossed his legs. His smelly feet wearing white socks were full of foot sweat and wafted in the sun.
Smells white.
"The rice our family owes will be repaid on the first day of May, so you don't need to worry."
Mrs. Hong walked out of the cooking kitchen, picked up a few pieces of firewood, and fiercely criticized Jin Douji.
"Hehe, you don't dare to owe money to the yamen for famine relief! I advise you to make plans early."
"Who said I have to owe? What kind of nonsense comes out of a dog's mouth? It's only eighty-four taels. To me, it's just the price of a cup of tea and wine."
"You're a poor man, why do you think you're a master?" A scoundrel looked down on Hong Dashou's calm and calm demeanor.
Hong Dashou laughed sarcastically and took off his white socks.
Under the sunshine, there is a very refreshing smell, which spreads everywhere with the drifting white air.
And there is a thin strip of mulberry paper rolled up in the foot cavity, which is particularly conspicuous. After all, no matter what kind of money it is, people can always see it at a glance.
Chapter completed!