Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 355 Fragrance of Rice (5K chapters combined)

It's spring again.

From Licheng in Jinan all the way to Linzi in Qi County, there is almost no barren land to be seen within a range of hundreds of miles.

Old Chen, holding the curved plow, followed behind the yellow ox, watching the soil surge like black waves.

He took a deep breath; it was moist, carrying the scent of grass and life.

"Father, a field mouse!"

Fourteen-year-old son Adao shouted and chased after the field mice that darted out from under the plow, barefoot.

"Let it go, it has to live too."

Old Chen called out to his son, then calmly continued plowing the field.

It's not like two years ago anymore. Two years ago, their whole family was still fleeing from disaster. If they saw a field mouse, they definitely wouldn't let it go. If they caught one, they would eat it raw.

Why eat it raw?

Because if other refugees saw them, they would fight each other over the rat meat.

Many years ago, the Chen family lived in Pingyu, Runan. They were literate and considered a middle-class family.

In a way, our ancestors could be related to the Chen family of Yingchuan, but the Chen family of Yingchuan probably doesn't want to acknowledge this relationship...

Because the elders in Old Chen's family believed in the Way of Peace, Old Chen had also witnessed the Battle of Changshe.

Because he had elderly parents and young children to support at the time, Old Chen did not participate in the war... Fortunately, he did not fight.

After the Battle of Changshe, government troops killed countless people. Huangfu Song seemed to want to kill everyone related to the Taiping Dao, which went far beyond the scope of fighting and suppressing rebellion.

So, Old Chen and his family fled their hometown to avoid disaster.

They initially fled to Qiao County. When they left, their family had seventeen members, but by the time they reached Qiao County, only nine remained.

Old Chen's parents and wife all died of illness on the road, and his daughter was kidnapped by marauding soldiers, but there was no place for them to stay in Qiao County.

Because they were 'hooligans,' and hooligans associated with the Yellow Turbans.

Old Chen had no choice but to head east, fleeing all the way to Pengcheng in Xuzhou.

But not long after, countless 'Yellow Turbans' appeared in Xuzhou as well.

Old Chen was quite familiar with the Way of Peace; he knew that most of these Yellow Turbans were fakes.

These "Yellow Turbans" plundered, killed, and drove people away in Pengcheng... Countless commoners were driven into refugees, and powerful clans openly seized land and enslaved people. The Xuzhou government not only turned a blind eye but also used the pretext of "suppressing the Yellow Turbans" to forcibly conscript laborers and collect taxes.

It all looks like collusion.

Old Chen, an outsider and a rogue, was also abducted by the local powerful family and made a tenant farmer.

They were called tenant farmers, but in reality they were serfs.

Farming, pulling carts, mining, repairing graves—with knives against their backs and ropes tied to their legs, they had to do everything, even though they only had a bowl of bran and chaff every day.

The more beautiful a woman is, the more tragic her fate. If a man is strong and healthy, he has endless hard labor to do. If he gets injured or sick, he dies, and even his dead body is never found.

Old Chen couldn't let his son live like this. Taking advantage of a riot, he fled to the East China Sea with the refugees from Pengcheng, then to Langya, and then to the North Sea of ​​Qingzhou...

Unexpectedly, the same was true for Beihai in Qingzhou.

They fled from Runan all the way to Qingzhou, living on the run for several years without a single day of peace. Their entire family died on the road, leaving only Old Chen and his son, Adao.

Desperate and starving, with countless wounds all over his body, even Ah Dao, who had always been the best protected, fell ill.

At that time, Old Chen thought that his family line was probably going to die out.

He wants to go home.

Since there's no way to survive anywhere in the world, Old Chen felt that he should at least die in his hometown.

He and his son evaded all the officials, soldiers, and powerful clans, and avoided the flames of war everywhere—he saw troops in Qingzhou carrying the banner of "Prefect Tao of Xuzhou" quelling a rebellion.

But Old Chen no longer trusts any government officials, let alone the officials in Xuzhou.

He endured hunger and hardship, hiding everywhere, and traveled from Beihai to Jinan, attempting to return to his hometown of Pingyu by taking the imperial road.

But Ah Dao couldn't do it.

The sick Ah Dao, after days of hunger, became on the verge of death, so thin that he was nothing but skin and bones and could no longer walk.

Until they crossed an earthen wall and saw a charity house with a flag bearing the character "Liu" flying over it.

At that moment, a lean soldier brought two bowls of porridge and said, "Lord Liu has ordered that all who come are considered civilians and should be settled and given land according to their population."

Old Chen still remembers the temperature of that bowl of porridge.

That wasn't leftovers from charity; it was real millet.

That was a taste he hadn't had in years... or maybe more than years, he couldn't remember.

Seeing that A-Dao was on the verge of death, the soldiers even found a doctor.

Old Chen originally thought it would be like the Taiping Dao of yesteryear, where he would drink some hot water or boil medicinal soup with anti-epidemic herbs.

Unexpectedly, the doctor actually prescribed medicine and treated A-Dao's illness with acupuncture, leaving behind the medicinal materials, and did not charge any consultation fee.

The doctor said, "Lord Liu said that the clinic will not charge money for the next two years. If you want medicine, just go to the mountains to chop firewood and gather herbs and bring them to the clinic."

Old Chen knew that they had arrived at a place where they could survive.

The nickname "Adao" originally referred to the hope that his son would be born in the fields, but Old Chen officially gave him the formal name "Chen Dao".

……

Now, Old Chen has rented thirty mu of government-run farmland.

Although it's called a lease, there's no fixed term, but the land will be taken back if it's abandoned or the yield is extremely low.

Sixty percent of the harvest went to the owner, while the remaining fourty percent was sold to the government-run farms.

At first, Old Chen didn't believe it. He had farmed in his hometown for so many years. Whether it was commoners paying taxes or tenants paying rent, keeping 30% of the land was considered a favor. He had never seen a place that only collected 40% of the land rent.

But the local official in charge of land reclamation took out bamboo slips and calculated everything for him, item by item... There was no poll tax, no tax on land taxes, no corvée labor, only 40% of the land rent, and nothing else. If someone in the family went to school or had a newborn, a portion of the land rent could be refunded.

"What if there's a natural disaster and the harvest is bad?" Old Chen asked cautiously at the time.

The young garrison officer smiled and said, "Lord Xuande said that natural disasters are not the fault of anyone. If there is a natural disaster, not only will the land rent be waived, but Lord Xuande will also find food for everyone."

The land was allocated in the spring of the year before last, and two harvests have already been completed. In the past two years, Old Chen has not gone hungry again.

During this time, Lao Chen also voluntarily participated in Jia Zhizhong's major project to manage the Yellow River. This time, he really participated voluntarily, as farmers who have been farming for many years understand how important disaster prevention is.

Jia Zhizhong said, "Natural disasters are avoidable. Throughout history, China has always been able to overcome nature through human effort. The Yellow River is nothing more than that; as long as we are united, we can surely subdue it completely."

With over 100,000 people mobilized, the Yellow River indeed submitted, as did the Ji River. Old Chen's fields were now only two miles away from the newly opened Tongji Canal.

The following year, Jia Zhizhong was promoted and I heard that he became the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

He deserves his high position and power.

In the first year, Old Chen worked cautiously on those thirty acres of land, treating himself like an ox.

Because he sent his child to a primary school.

The official lent him a plow and taught him the method of dividing the land into ridges of varying widths. He planted millet in the wider ridges and beans in the narrower ones, which helped preserve the soil's fertility.

Old Chen, an experienced farmer, immediately understood that this person was knowledgeable about farming.

Once Chen Dao enters the elementary school, he can get an extra 10% of the land rent back. After paying the rent, Chen Dao can collect the refunded land rent each month by presenting his elementary school student status.

Alternatively, the land official could exchange the rent refund for household items needed for daily life, such as farm tools like hoes and plows, or even cloth and writing implements.

Cattle and horses from the official settlements can also be borrowed, on the condition that they be well fed, not overworked, and that any illness be reported immediately and returned immediately after use.

Of course, if you want to borrow it, you have to deliver some hay to the official cattle farm on weekdays, and you have to build a cowshed at home. The more hay you deliver, the more priority you will have to borrow it. Millet stalks or wheat straw are also acceptable.

When Old Chen first led that three-year-old cow back to his shed, his hands were trembling—his family used to have cows, but this cow was truly different.

After a year of favorable weather, at harvest time, Old Chen looked at the millet piled high in the yard... and indeed kept 70%.

After collecting the land rent, the official in charge of the land reclamation took out a money bag and said, "Old Chen, since you have few people in your family, you can sell some of your surplus grain to Lord Xuande at the market price."

Old Chen looked at those Wuzhu coins—they were genuine Wuzhu coins, not inferior ones; the exquisite copper coins gleamed with a clear yellow light in the sunlight.

This was the first time Old Chen had ever encountered an official who actually bought grain at market price.

That day, he took Chen Dao to the market and bought two bolts of linen, an iron pot, two catties of salt, a piece of fatty meat, and five catties of aged wine.

On his way home, he heard someone telling stories in the market, about how Lord Xuande judged himself in Pingyuan.

Old Chen carried a pot on his back, and Chen Dao carried a bottle of wine. They stood on the periphery of the crowd, listening. The setting sun shone on their faces, making their eyes itch.

The following year, Old Chen bought some furniture. Although it was still just a wooden shack, it already looked like a home.

That year, Xuande issued many decrees, such as repairing bridges and roads and widening river embankments, and carefully selecting grain seeds to buy back at high prices. There were more places to work during the off-season, and he earned a lot of wages.

There were more peddlers in the countryside, and scholars also frequently traveled there.

That autumn harvest was even better than the first year. Moreover, when paying the rent, the official in charge of the military farm gave Old Chen two paper books: a thin biography of a loyal minister and a thick agricultural policy.

Old Chen knew some characters, and Chen Dao was also in school. The land reclamation official asked him and his son to explain the characters to everyone.

Actually, the agricultural policy was full of pictures, which most people could understand... Old Chen only interpreted the names on it and the poem written by Mr. Cai, and also helped the neighbors recognize the characters.

For this reason, Old Chen also hooked up with a young widow from the next village.

Being literate makes it easier to find a wife. Old Chen is thirty-five, and the young widow is only twenty, but they are both quite satisfied.

That year, Guantun created many new agricultural tools, such as the curved plow and the winch. Old Chen also became one of the first people to use the new agricultural tools and even made a hand-cranked winch out of wood.

In winter, Guantun sees an increase in cattle and horses.

It is said that Lord Xuande brought all the cattle in the world to prevent them from being wasted or slaughtered in war-torn areas.

Lord Xuande also issued a decree to reclaim wasteland.

Old Chen also burned reeds on the north bank of the Ji River, clearing more than ten acres of new land.

Now these dozen or so acres of land belong to Lao Chen himself, but he has not given up the fields in Guantun.

As long as the government-run farms are not left idle and production capacity can keep up, that's fine.

When the land reclamation official came to register, he said that the newly reclaimed land belonged to private individuals, and no land rent was required. The first year was tax-free, and 20% of the grain tax would be collected from the second year onwards. Apart from that, there were no other miscellaneous taxes or levies.

They even specifically mentioned that no head tax is levied. The more children you have, the more leases you can get waived. Families with young children can get their leases waived annually by registering their children's household registration at the local household registration office.

The tax of 20% on private land was probably the highest tax rate since the Han Dynasty... but it was also the lowest tax rate in reality.

Because apart from those two percent, you don't have to pay anything else.

In fact, Guantun only pays 30% now... and the land in Guantun is more fertile and is a large contiguous area.

If you have two more children, after the lease is terminated in Guantun, you will only need to pay 20% of the rent...

So Old Chen and the young widow worked even harder on the couch than in the fields.

This is the third year of spring planting.

Old Chen has saved some money and wants to build two new houses after autumn, because his second wife is pregnant.

He held the curved plow, while Chen Dao carried the seed bag and teased the oxen in front.

"Ah Dao, don't touch me like that!"

When he saw his son touching the cow's nose, Old Chen quickly stopped him.

Old Niu gently licked Chen Dao's hand.

"I give it a taste of salt, and it will have strength."

Chen Dao smiled and let the cow lick the salt off its hands.

Being able to feed salt to cows... I never dared to be so extravagant before.

Several cavalrymen approached from afar. They were Xuande Gong's soldiers, or perhaps agricultural officials who patrolled the area and occasionally inquired about the harvest.

Old Chen knew that these soldiers would investigate corruption and harm to the people, but the official village where Old Chen lived had never really had any major problems.

The officials in charge of agricultural settlements were also soldiers under Xuande, and they could also receive a share of the rent from the public fields according to a certain ratio. The higher the yield, the more they would receive.

The officials in charge of land reclamation would also frequently patrol and inquire in other counties, saying that the productivity of each village was to be evaluated, and if the productivity was high and the harvest was good, everyone in that village would receive a reward from Lord Xuande.

If it is discovered that a corrupt official in charge of land reclamation has been found elsewhere, the embezzled funds will be used to compensate the tenants for their losses, and the benefits that should have been distributed to that corrupt official that year will be given to the person who uncovered the corruption as a reward.

"Old Chen!"

Just then, the official in charge of the agricultural settlement arrived with a young man. The young man dismounted on the main road, walked onto the ridge of the field, and waved to Old Chen.

The young man looked somewhat green and wore a crown, appearing to be a scholar.

"This is the new agricultural official. He's here to teach everyone a new method for composting to conserve soil. You should learn it first, and then teach everyone else."

The official in charge of land reclamation seemed to treat the young man very politely.

Chen Dao performed the student's salute and called out, "Senior Brother!"

Old Chen nodded hurriedly and was about to bow in respect when he saw the agricultural official roll up his sleeves and get down to the ground.

"No need for formalities, I am also a tenant farmer from the neighboring village... This land allocation is really good, even better than what is shown in the agricultural policy."

The young agricultural official looked at the furrows that Old Chen had plowed and gave a thumbs-up.

"I'm an old hand, that's all I'm good for."

Old Chen smiled憨厚ly. He would never look down on agricultural officials. Ah Dao had said that officials who graduated from agricultural colleges were all highly skilled, and the fields they managed could yield an extra shi of grain per mu.

Chen Dao did not enter the Agricultural College; he is currently a student of elementary education and wants to enter the Linzi Military Academy.

……

As the sun set, Chen Dao led the ox, while Old Chen carried a hoe, and they walked home together.

Smoke rose from each house, weaving a hazy net in the evening glow.

On the way, they met farmers returning home and greeted Old Chen, inviting him to listen to storytelling together in the dam area that evening.

Back in his two wooden houses, Old Chen carefully tied the cow into the shed, added hay, and touched the cow's forehead.

The cow gave a low moo.

Old Chen added another handful of beans to the cow.

After dinner, the faint sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance again. Those were the security patrolmen under General Zhang, who patrolled every night. It was said that any soldier who was lazy would be punished by Xuande by being made to dig latrines...

The stars were very bright that night.

Old Chen recalled what his elders had said: "There are many stars in the sky and many people on the earth. If everyone is in their proper place, there will be peace."

Yes, scholars should do what scholars should do, and farmers should do what farmers should do.

Old Chen didn't know how long this peace would last, but at least tonight, the cattle were resting peacefully in the shed, his son was fast asleep on the bed, his wife was tidying up in the kitchen, there was enough grain in the barn, and he had money in his pocket to buy wine tomorrow.

This is enough.

Old Chen sat in the courtyard, took out a flute, and began to play a folk song from his hometown, Pingyu.

The flute music was soft, but it drifted far, seemingly merging with the stars in the night sky.

His wife tiptoed over and sat down beside him.

"Dong dong dong..."

After the song ended, Old Chen turned around at the sound and saw a young man in a blue robe knocking on his courtyard gate.

The courtyard was enclosed by a fence, and the gate wasn't really a gate; it was only about half a person's height and could be opened directly. But the scholar was very polite and waited until Old Chen finished playing his tune before knocking on the door.

"I am a young man traveling here, but I have missed my lodging. It is a rare treat to hear the sounds of my hometown here. I wonder if you would allow me to rest here for a while?"

The young man was leading a horse and carrying a sword. Although he was not wearing a crown, he was clearly a scholar traveling for study, and he spoke standard Mandarin.

"A person from Yingchuan? Are you going to Linzi to study?"

Old Chen opened the courtyard gate.

Pingyu is very close to Yingchuan. Although they belong to different prefectures, they are still considered to be from the same hometown.

“Young Guo Jia, you’re not going to Linzi, you’re going to Jinan Academy of Arts.”

The young man smiled and pulled out a handful of copper coins from his pocket: "Young man, would you mind buying me a meal? The aroma of food from every house I've been cooking has really made me hungry..."

"Haha, since you are a fellow traveler from your hometown, then come and have a good meal. Things are different now than before, we can afford to treat you to a meal."

Old Chen pushed away Guo Jia's money, let Guo Jia in, led the horse into the cowshed, and gave the horse some hay.

The wife, whose pregnancy wasn't very obvious yet, brought over some still-warm millet rice, along with some bean porridge and pickles.

Guo Jia wiped his hands on his clothes, clasped his hands in thanks, took the rice bowl, sighed in surprise, and then began to wolf down his food.

They ate very quickly; before Old Chen had even finished playing his flute, Guo Jia was already burping.

"You don't look like a poor person, how come you're so hungry? Is it not enough to eat? Go cook some more..."

Old Chen asked his wife to cook some more, as it seemed they didn't have enough leftover rice.

"No, no... I am hungry, but I should eat in moderation. This is enough. Thank you for your kindness, elder."

Guo Jia repeatedly declined, saying, "When I entered Qingzhou, I saw vast stretches of neat farmland, countless oxen, and heard the sounds of countless looms... I was so moved that I forgot to eat all day..."

Old Chen laughed, then sighed: "You come from Yingchuan... What is Yingchuan like now?"

"...It's rather chaotic. Along the way, only Qingzhou has shown such a peaceful scene. I've only seen it when I was a child...no, even when I was a child, I've never seen it like this."

Guo Jia also sighed: "Everywhere plows break the soil, everywhere cattle and horses neigh, children laugh and play, looms never stop, every house has smoke rising from its chimneys, and every household has enough to eat... I am so captivated by this scene that I can't walk away."

(End of this chapter)