I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 196 Impact
Zhu Houxuan thought about it, and finally agreed to pay in this way reluctantly.

Zhu Houzhao laughed happily.

"It's better here! After chatting with you for a while, I feel a lot more relaxed." Zhu Houzhao stopped laughing, leaned back in the chair in an extremely relaxed posture, and said in a casual tone.

"Then come and sit here if you have nothing to do. It's not far away anyway," Zhu Houxuan said casually.

The confrontation between the two of them just seemed fierce, but in fact they were just bickering and joking with each other. It was a way for them to get closer and relax. In fact, no one would take the 10,000 taels of silver to heart.
"I will definitely come here often. You have so many good things!" Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, pointing at the pile of trial-made medals of honor on the table.

"Hahaha——" Zhu Houxuan was amused.

Zhu Houzhao also laughed.
After the two stopped laughing, Zhu Houxuan reminded them solemnly: "The plan for the salt industry is only known to the two of us now, brother, you must keep it a secret. It takes time for Nanbao Salt Field to produce sea salt. We will proceed to the next plan after we have produced enough sea salt."

"Don't worry about this. I will definitely not let the news leak out." Zhu Houzhao patted his chest and guaranteed.

Zhu Houxuan nodded and continued, "I'm sure you'll be relieved. Okay, now that we've finished talking about everything, let's go find a place to have a drink. It's been more than three months since we last saw each other."

"Haha, I've been waiting for you to say this."

Suzhou Prefecture, Changshu County, Xiejia Village.

Xie Zhongyi squatted at the door of a house in the village with an uneasy look on his face, holding a piece of wild grass in his hand. The root of the wild grass had been crushed to pieces by his fingers at some point.

There were several other farmers dressed similarly to him, squatting around the house, some with sad faces, some sighing.
After a while, a man dressed as a farmer came out of the house holding a piece of paper with wet ink on it, his brows furrowed tightly.
When Xie Zhongyi saw the man, his eyes lit up and he quickly went up to him and whispered, "Brother, how are you?"

The man whom Xie Zhongyi called "big brother" was called Xie Bozhong, and they were brothers.

When Xie Bozhong saw Xie Zhongyi, a trace of sadness appeared on his dark face. He shook his head and said, "There is no room for negotiation. It's time for you to go in. You will know when you go in."

As soon as Xie Bozhong finished speaking, he sighed and left.
Xie Zhongyi looked at his elder brother's departing figure, and suddenly felt that his elder brother's figure had become much more hunched.
"Is Xie Zhongyi here?" A well-dressed middle-aged man appeared at the door.

"Uncle Xie, my nephew is here!" Xie Zhongyi immediately nodded and bowed.

"Call Butler Xie." The middle-aged man said with a stern face.

"Okay, Butler Xie." Xie Zhongyi's smile froze for a second, but soon returned to normal. "Come in!" Butler Xie said.

As soon as Xie Zhongyi entered the room, Butler Xie pointed to a piece of paper on the table and said, "Go and put your fingerprints on it. Don't waste time. There are many people waiting behind you."

Xie Zhongyi carefully looked at the piece of paper on the table, looking very hesitant, but still asked: "Butler Xie, it's fine. We just finished the autumn harvest. Why do you want us to revise the tenancy book again?"

Butler Xie glanced at Xie Zhongyi impatiently, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of tea, then said: "Don't play dumb, you must have heard the rumor that the master wants to increase the rent, so the tenancy agreement has been changed a little, from 55% to 60%."

"Has it really been raised to 60%? Wasn't it raised from 50% to 55% last year? Why did the rent suddenly increase by another 50% this year?" Even though Xie Zhongyi was mentally prepared before coming in, he was still shocked by the number.

"Don't you see the situation this year? How many iron smelting shops in our Suzhou Prefecture have closed down? All of a sudden so many people have lost their livelihoods and want to rent land to grow crops. Won't the market price go up?" Butler Xie rolled his eyes and said.

"But this 60% rent is too much." Xie Zhongyi still wanted to fight for it.

"Bang!" Butler Xie slammed the table, glared at Xie Zhongyi and said, "I'm wasting my breath talking to you because you have the same surname as Xie. We are relatives beyond the fifth degree of mourning. Don't be so arrogant. There are so many people who want to rent this land now. If you don't rent it, there will be plenty of people who will!"

"Thank you, Uncle, calm down, calm down," Xie Zhongyi said with a smile, and then put a small bag of copper coins on the table, "Please give me some pointers."

Butler Xie's eyes fell on the bag of copper coins, and he quickly put it in his arms. The impatient expression on his face disappeared instantly. "After all, we are relatives and have the same ancestors. I will tell you a few truths. Unless the master asks, no one can reduce the rent. 60% is not bad this year, but if it remains the same next year, it will probably increase."

Xie Zhongyi's face turned pale
Butler Xie reached out and patted Xie Zhongyi on the shoulder and said, "Press your fingerprints. You still owe the master money. If you rent the master's land, the master will not demand the debt. Don't rent it. You are a smart man. I advise you to learn your lesson."

Xie Zhongyi returned home in a state of despair. His wife was weaving cloth, and the three children were helping to spin the thread.
Mrs. Xie looked at Xie Zhongyi with a tired face and asked, "Dad, how much is the rent for this land?"

Xie Zhongyi recounted what happened today in detail, and the couple fell into a deathly silence.
Xie Zhongyi is 28 years old this year. He is young and strong. He lived a prosperous life a few years ago. He rented 20 mu of paddy field from Mr. Xie, a fellow clan member. During the slack season, he worked as a helper in a nearby iron smelting shop to earn money to supplement the family income. His wife is also very virtuous and capable. She weaves a lot of cloth every year and sells it for a lot of money.
Adding these together, the Xie family's income is not low, and they live a very comfortable life.

Just when Xie Zhongyi was planning to save money to buy land, his life became worse and worse in the past few years.
First, the price of cloth on the market was getting lower and lower, resulting in the fact that the wife of the Xie family could only earn a meager amount of money from the cloth she had worked so hard to weave. The wife of the Xie family could only work harder to weave cloth in order to make up for the reduced income, but it was unknown how long this situation would last.
Then, many iron smelting shops in Suzhou Prefecture closed down one after another, and even the world-famous Su Steel was not selling well. It was said that a better and cheaper Qizhou Steel appeared.
As a result, Xie Zhongyi could no longer find work as a helper, and the family's income dropped again.
Then the rent keeps rising year after year.
Over the past few years, Xie Zhongyi had spent all the money he had saved to buy the land, and he also owed Mr. Xie a sum of money.
Now the rent has increased so much, and the money owed to Mr. Xie is increasing. Xie Zhongyi feels that his future is bleak. He, his children, and his children's children cannot escape the control of Mr. Xie.
At night, when Xie Zhongyi was tossing and turning and couldn't sleep.

Someone quietly knocked on the door of the Xie family. Xie Zhongyi looked and saw that it was his third brother Wen, with whom he had a very good relationship.

The purpose of Third Brother Wen's visit was very simple, which was to invite Xie Zhongyi and his family to go to sea together.
(End of this chapter)