I Don't Want What I Have Chapter 3

Chujiazhuang,

There are about a hundred households.

Zhuangzi is a relatively ordinary person, but he is the master of the house, that is to say, all these people are tenants of his family. Although their lives are hard, they can still survive.

After walking around, Jason Chu asked, "Uncle Leonard, where have all the people in this village gone?"

"My Lord, the Great Chen was newly established and there is a lot of work to be done. More than half of the men have been conscripted to build the palace, and the remaining old and weak women are all working in the fields."

Uncle Leonard explained.

"???, conscription in March?" Jason Chu was dumbfounded, speechless: "As expected of him, Yuan Gonglu, only this idiot can do such a stupid thing."

Uncle Leonard: ...

The corners of his mouth twitched, what a filial son!

Sir, why don't we go back and take medicine?

You can't mention your father in these three sentences. You are too filial. Sooner or later, the grass on your grave will be three feet tall!

"Come on, take me to the fields."

"Sir, you are of noble status. Going to the fields would be a disgrace to your status. The master of the house would definitely blame me if he knew about it." Uncle Leonard said with embarrassment.

"Lead the way!" Jason Chu glared.

Uncle Leonard didn't dare to disobey.

"Oh, by the way, how many acres of land do we have in this village?" Jason Chu raised his eyebrows and asked curiously.

"About 23,000 mu, including 7,000 mu of upper fields, 10,000 mu of middle fields, and 6,000 mu of lower fields. In a good year, the villagers can pay more than 7,000 hu of grain a year."

Little Acre

Uncle Leonard explained with great pride.

Jason Chu grinned, "Tsk tsk, this is definitely a small landlord, arrogant. But when he thought about such a good life being ruined by Malcolm Yuan, he got angry.

Jason Chu: "Malcolm Yuan deserves to die!"

Uncle Leonard: ...

---

After a while, among the farmlands.

At first glance, there were few strong men, almost all of them were the elderly, the weak, women and children who were farming.

I saw an old man turning the soil with a plow (ancient tool for turning the soil).

The woman was using a hoe to break up the soil at the back, while the little boy was starting to sow seeds.

This is the most important step before sowing. It can improve the soil, eliminate pests and diseases, and remove weeds. Simply put, it is to increase income as much as possible.

Jason Chu raised his eyebrows and immediately scolded: "Uncle Leonard, don't you have any oxen on the farm? How much fine land can a family cultivate with such a cultivation method? Don't you know this?"

"Sir, calm down. We had a few oxen in the farm, but they were all requisitioned. So the people can only use farm tools to till the fields. We have no choice."

Gregory Li felt miserable.

The key is that he was requisitioned by Malcolm Yuan. What can he say?

"It's that B@st@ard Malcolm Yuan again?" Jason Chu was speechless.

However, the people should not fight against the officials, so he will just hide for now.

Stepping forward and looking at those tenant farmers working hard in the fields, Jason Chu sighed in his heart that the people in troubled times suffered, and the people under Malcolm Yuan's rule suffered even more.

Just as I was about to speak, two choices appeared before me.

"1. Choose to exploit the people, increase the rent to 70%, and be rewarded with a set of instructions for making a curved plow."

"2. Choose to consider the people, reduce the rent to 30%, and reward 500 kilograms of high-quality potatoes."

Jason Chu's eyes lit up. Although the curved plow was good, its principle was simple. It used the inclined surface to reduce the force-bearing area, because the plow at this moment was pushed flat.

I should be able to research it later.

Potatoes, however, are a high-yield crop.

In later generations, the average yield per acre was 3,000 jin. If converted to today's large acres, theoretically it would not be difficult to reach 2,000 jin. However, considering a series of factors, the yield per acre would still be 1,500 jin.

That is 3,000 Han jin, with an output of 25 hu per mu?

Based on the current grain yield of 3 hu per acre, this means an eight-fold increase?

Moreover, this thing is drought-resistant. If you plant it now, you can harvest it in June. Then you can apply fertilizer and it can reproduce another crop. The key is that it can withstand the coming drought.

This is definitely the capital that made him rich.

Thinking of this, Jason Chu stepped forward and said, "Dear village elders, I am Jason Chu, the owner of Chu Family Manor. Malcolm Yuan's forced labor during the spring plowing season is against the will of heaven."

"I know that it is not easy for you, so this year, all tenant rents will be reduced to 30%. I will face the difficulties with you, and I hope you will work hard on farming."

When these words came out, the people in the fields were stunned.

Looking at each other, their cloudy pupils gradually became brighter and showed a hint of hope.

Thirty percent, what a luxury.

"Sir, the rent can't be so low!"

Uncle Leonard was anxious. He said that 30% of the rent was almost like giving it for free. This was simply being a kind person!

"Why not?" Jason Chu rebuked.

At this time, the old, weak, women and children came to their senses. An old man knelt on the ground in fear and shouted, "Quick, everyone, thank the master!"

For a moment, everyone knelt down and thanked him.

"You don't have to do this. From now on, if you have any difficulties, you can come to the village to find me at any time. I will do my best to help you."

Jason Chu stepped forward and helped the old man up, saying.

Uncle Leonard: ...

What a sin, what a sin!

The eldest son of the Yuan family actually hangs out with the common people? If Malcolm Yuan knew about this, he would be furious. Sir, why don't we have another fall?

After explaining all this, Jason Chu left quickly.

With thousands of years of experience in farming, he believed that he knew more than these ordinary people. At least he had enough knowledge and could improve some farm tools.

"Uncle Leonard, is there a blacksmith in the village? If not, go find me some."

Jason Chu said in a deep voice as he walked.

"I will arrange for someone to find a blacksmith right away."

...

In the mansion, in the study.

Jason Chu tried hard to recall, and used the pen in his hand to draw on the silk cloth. Although the shape was strange, it was easy to tell what it was.

For example, the copycat version of the curved plow and the improved coupled plow (a plow that requires two oxen and three people)

For example, the rake used to level the land are all simple things, but if you want to accomplish things now, you have to accumulate strength, especially food.

If he remembered correctly, there was a severe drought in the Jianghuai area this year, and the people were eating each other. It was a tragic scene.

Malcolm Yuan was first defeated by Lu Bu and then by Cao Cao. After experiencing this severe drought, the Zhong family's foundation was completely cut off, and he finally died of vomiting blood.

The best time for him to expand his power is during this year's severe drought. If he has food, he will have soldiers. Thinking of this, he took out the potatoes. He had to let them sprout first.

Then he wrote some historical events on silk, for fear that he would mix them up later.

PS: Daily historical knowledge, those who don’t like it can skip it.

"One man cultivates 100 mu (a small mu is equivalent to one-third of land in modern times), and 100 mu produces 150 dan of grain." ---Book of Han* Food and Goods.

"The fields are divided into three categories: upper, middle and lower fields. Upper-quality fields can be planted every year, middle-quality fields every other year, and lower-quality fields every other year." ---Han Shu*Shihuo Zhi.

"Tips: One jin in Han Dynasty is equivalent to half a jin in later times. When shi is used as a unit of weight, it is equivalent to 60 jin in later times. When it is used as a unit of container, it is equivalent to 20,000 milliliters in later times."

"Reference: There were no two seasons of crops in the Han Dynasty, unless there was a cheat. Some novels that write about two seasons are mostly subjective assumptions. The main factor limiting the two seasons is

First, time is tight. In ancient times, there were no harvesters, so people had to use sickles to cut crops. After cutting, the crops needed to be processed, dried, etc., which took a long time.

Secondly, the soil fertility cannot keep up, and the fertility of the land cannot be guaranteed. The land is good for one season a year, and the middle and lower fields even need to use green manure to cultivate the land. "