Chapter 67 Sun Shan is a self-employed farmer

Chapter 67 Sun Shan is a self-employed farmer

Spring is the season for sowing, and Sun Boming and Su spend the whole day working in the fields.

The Sun family's cows were even busier, and villagers lined up to reserve the big cows to plow the fields.

After Sun Bomin finished working on his own land, he would rent out his cows for 20 cents a day, which was equivalent to a strong laborer's day's wages.

The big buffalo had been working for several days in a row. Sun Bomin felt very distressed about it, but he could not refuse the villagers' request to rent it.

In the end, the big buffalo compromised and only worked in the morning, rested in the afternoon, and wandered alone in the fields eating grass.

Lixia felt even more sorry for the big buffalo. After all, she was the one who released more of them, and she was facing it every day, so naturally she had a deep affection for it.

These days, after the big buffaloes came back from their hard work in the fields, Lixia mixed sweet potatoes and weeds together as a snack for them.

Sun Shan still went to school every day, and no matter how busy Sun Bomin was, he would still pick him up and drop him off on time.

I told him several times that he could go to school alone, and what’s more, he was not alone, as De Ge’er was with him.

Sun Bomin, Su, Huang and the sisters in the family all opposed it, thinking that Sun Shan was too small and weak to be picked up and dropped off.

Sun Shan sighed helplessly. If he raised his child like this, he would become a second-generation master sooner or later. Fortunately, he was born in the womb and brought with him the memories of an adult.

As soon as we entered the school, Yang Qingbei had already arrived. Everyone greeted him and waited for Master Zheng to arrive.

After a month of study, Sun Shan learned more and more smoothly, whether it was writing or reading, it became easier and easier to get started.

After Master Zheng taught it several times, Sun Shan was able to memorize it quickly, and the number of "borrowed sounds" marked in the book became fewer and fewer.

Master Zheng said happily: "Sun Shan, you are doing well. Yang Qingbei and Sun Dingde, if you have any questions, you can ask your classmates. Only by helping each other and learning from each other can we make faster progress."

Sun Shan, De Ge'er, and Yang Qingbei nodded to show that they understood.

After Mr. Zheng finished explaining the new knowledge, he went to the next class.

De Geer said enviously: "Shanzi, you are so smart. You remembered it right away. The teacher praised you."

Yang Qingbei also said enviously: "Ashan, how did you learn it? How did you remember it so quickly?"

Sun Shan really wanted to say, I am an adult, and I have learned this knowledge before, so I will definitely learn it better than you.

But what he said was: "Qingbei, Dege, practice and read every day, and you will make progress over time. I go home, finish the homework assigned by the teacher, and then start practicing calligraphy. Before going to bed at night, I read and recite it again. Over time, I have become more and more studious and remember more and more things."

Sun Shan said so much just to tell them that ordinary brains like ours can only make up for our shortcomings with hard work, there is no other shortcut.

De Geer exclaimed: "Shanzi, you are really hardworking, no wonder you are so good at learning."

Sun Shan rolled his eyes at him and said rudely, "We paid the tuition, how can we not work hard? We can't let our parents' hard-earned money go to waste."

De Ge'er had nothing to say. Shanzi was getting older and older, and his speech sounded like an old pedant. It was not fun at all.

Yang Qingbei agreed and said, "Ashan, you are right. I want to learn from you and I also want to make progress."

Sun Shan was delighted and said approvingly: "Tsinghua and Peking University, let's work hard together."

Hearing the bang-bang-bang sounds, the three of them packed up their things, walked out of the classroom, went to the kitchen, picked up their lunch boxes, and squatted on the stone steps to eat with their senior brothers.

Sun Shan enjoyed this time very much. Firstly, it was a rare time to relax after boring studies, and secondly, he could listen to the discussions of his senior brothers.

Today, a senior from Huangqianling Village said, "I went up the mountain a few days ago and brought back some plums. They were so sour that they made my teeth fall out."

When De Ge'er heard about plums, his eyes lit up and he whispered, "Shan Zi, let's go to the back mountain to pick plums too."

Sun Shan shook his head and said, "No, the plums are sour and taste bad."

Sunjia Village is located near a mountain and a stream. There are many wild plum trees in the mountains. The plums are ready to bear fruit in March and the villagers will pick them and make sour plums.

De Ge'er rolled his eyes at Sun Shan and snorted. Shan was so boring. He was either in school or at the old house all day long. He was as quiet as a girl and never went out.

He turned to Yang Qingbei and said, "Qingbei, let's go pick them. Come to the back hill of Sunjia Village and I'll take you there."

Yang Qingbei also shook his head and said, "No, I don't like eating plums either. They are sour and I can't eat them."

De Ge'er was sandwiched between Sun Shan and Yang Qingbei. He was like a deflated balloon, listless and felt that his classmates were so boring.

He tried to join his senior brothers, but unfortunately, they didn't want to play with him, so he sat back in shame.

Sun Shan thought it was funny. De Ge'er was a lively person who liked to wander around, climb mountains, catch birds, and fish in the water. There was nothing he didn't like.

The only thing that gave him a headache was reading. Although he managed to write the words in the nine-square grid, his handwriting was crooked. Master Zheng frowned at him.

After a short break, classes will continue in the afternoon.

Master Zheng first checked what Sun Shan and his two companions had learned in the morning, then waved his hand and asked them to go to the small pond to practice calligraphy.

Tell students very directly: At this stage, the main thing is to practice calligraphy. If you can write well, others will look at you differently when they see it.

Sun Shan and his two companions sat by the pond, picked up small slates, and practiced and read at the same time.

I read it in Beijing dialect. The more I practice, the more fluent I become.

De Geer asked curiously: "Qingbei, I heard that your father is the landlord Yang in Yangjia Village. Does your family own a lot of land?"

Sun Shan was embarrassed. De Ge'er's question was too direct. Is this okay?

Yang Qingbei didn't mind and answered honestly: "My family has a lot of land, but I don't know how much, but we rent it out to villagers to farm."

De Geer asked again: "Oh, I really envy you. Your family has so much land, you can collect a lot of rent, you don't have to work, and you can still have food to eat. Whenever I have a holiday, I am forced to work in the fields. It's so tiring."

He looked at Sun Shan again and said, "Shanzi doesn't have to work, that's great."

Sun Shan immediately retorted: "I did go to work, but you, as Uncle San said, were the ones who made trouble in the fields every day and were not working at all."

De Geer was not convinced and immediately said, "My father is talking nonsense. I can do farm work. If you don't believe me, ask my elder and second brothers."

Sun Shan didn't need to ask, he knew that De Ge'er was only enthusiastic about work for a short period of time, and then he would mess around in the fields. It was obvious that he was a restless person.

Yang Qingbei said, "I have to go to work too. My father said that even if I have to collect rent in the future, I have to know the harvest from the fields so that I won't be cheated by the tenants."

Sun Shan asked curiously, "Qingbei, how much rent do tenant farmers have to pay to farm your land?"

Yang Qingbei answered honestly: "It depends on whether it is paddy field, dry field or sandy land, but our family usually splits it 50-50. We still have to pay rent to the government."

When Sun Shan heard that it was a 50-50 split, he thought it seemed that Landlord Yang was a kind-hearted landlord.

In the history I learned in my previous life, the ratio was generally 30% to 70% or 40% to 60%. 30% to 40% went to the tenants, and 60% to 70% went to the landlords.

A fifty-fifty split can be considered a conscientious landlord, because the landlord still has to pay taxes to the government. In the end, he certainly does not get 50% of the grain.

Perhaps Landlord Yang was renting the land to the villagers of Yangjia Village and that was why he offered a 50-50 rent.

Sun Shan's family were self-employed farmers and paid taxes directly to the government. Generally, taxes were divided into summer taxes and autumn taxes, both of which were mainly paid in the form of grain. Depending on the grade of the land, they paid about 10% of the total output in grain tax.

In Sun Bomin's eyes, this 10% grain tax was very little, and the villagers of Sunjia Village repeatedly praised the emperor as a good emperor.

Sun Shan believed that the reason why there was so little tax was because the country had just been founded and emperors would generally adopt a policy of recuperation and rest, with light labor service and taxes, in order to allow the people to quickly return to daily production.

But in addition to grain taxes and unpaid corvee labor twice a year, there was also a poll tax.

The head tax here starts at the age of 15 and ends at the age of 60. Both men and women have to pay 100 coins every year.

Currently, Sun Shan's family, Sun Bomin, Su, Huang, and the eldest sister Guyu, who just turned 15, have to pay taxes. That means they have to pay 400 coins this year.

Sun Shan got a headache whenever he thought about paying taxes. He had to pay even if he didn't eat or drink. In addition, the grain yield per mu was low. No wonder so many people were not getting enough to eat.

Sometimes a minor illness would cause a farmer to go completely bankrupt, and he would either sell himself as a slave or become a tenant farmer for a landlord.

Thinking of this, Sun Shan became more determined to study hard and strive to pass the imperial examination.