Chapter 255: Food or Money?

When Xiaobao was brought here, he still remembered his grandfather who took him to ride a big horse, and happily stretched out his hand to him: "Let's ride a horse."

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Ma Mingwen was amused and said: "There is no horse running in this mountain. Next time, take Xiaobao outside to ride." "

The group entered the village and walked around.

On the hillside, looking at the terraced fields below, Ma Mingwen and Pei Nian stared at it closely, and did not move their feet.

Su Qing'an thought they would say something, but they did not.

During lunch, the village chief Zhong and his two assistants ran over in fear and trepidation and accompanied them to eat.

Ma Mingwen talked about some things about the village's defense, saying that the gate of Baijia Village was well built and the trenches were well dug, but there were still some shortcomings.

Su Qing'an and the village chief Zhong immediately took out their small notebooks and wrote them down immediately.

Sure enough, professionals are still needed to do professional things.

Professionals can tell where there are loopholes at a glance.

The village chief Zhong nodded while writing.

Su Qing'an glanced at his notebook. Hmm... there were circles, crosses and dots, and I didn't know what he wrote.

It's been so long, Xiu'er has learned a lot of words, but he is still the same.

The village chief Zhong knew what Su Qing'an meant at a glance, and glared at her. He is so old, and he is not as good as the young people. What is there to say?

Besides, it is enough for him to remember and understand.

He closed the small notebook with a snap.

After the meal, the group did not stay for long and went to the market town.

Along the way, they saw that many mountain villages had built terraces, and the terraces were crowded with people. Everyone was busy with spring plowing. Pei Nian and Ma Mingwen felt their hearts surging.

When they arrived at the market town, when they looked down from the mountainside, Su Qing'an and Zhongzhaizhu were overwhelmed, but Pei Ma and Li Guanshi did not react much.

Yes, they came from the capital, and the market town in the mountains was just a child's play in their eyes.

When they looked at the market town, two rows of two-story buildings were lined up, with wide and straight streets in front of the gates, inns, restaurants, and other houses whose uses were unknown. There was everything.

There was also the gate of the market town, where there were places for defense. This planning and design was like a small town.

"You did a good job. "Pei Nian praised her approvingly.

Manager Li also looked at her and praised her secretly.

Ask her: "You are all from different villages who come here to trade. You can go home after selling. Why is the inn so big?"

"You can see along the way that it is not close. It is relatively close to Baijia Village. If you come from other villages, you will have to go back in the dark at night. There are many wild animals in this mountain. Isn't it good to sleep for one night and go back the next day? Anyway, I don't plan to charge too much. "

Pei Nian nodded: "That's good. It is convenient for the villagers to travel and rest. "

"Then what are the houses next to your inn used for?" Manager Li asked again.

"It's a bathhouse." I don't think you will understand if I say sauna room.

"Bathhouse?" The group of people all looked at her.

Build a bathhouse in the market town? I haven't heard of it.

"Yes. Think about it, you climbed several mountains to get here, sweating profusely, smelling sour, and no one is buying the things you sell, right? "

"If there is a place where you can take a hot bath, and someone rubs your back and washes your hair, you don't have to do anything, just lie down and be served, and it doesn't cost more than two or three copper coins, would you be willing to go in? "

"Of course I'm willing!" Xiaodouzi jumped up immediately.

Pei Nian, Ma Mingwen and others nodded after hearing this. This bathhouse is very thoughtful.

"Sister-in-law, you make me itchy all over now. Why is there no one serving now? "

Su Qingmei smiled and said: "It's not open yet. It will open after the spring plowing. And I have to discuss the store with my godfather and Lord Pei. "

"Then you discuss it, I will go around by myself. "

Manager Li was very tactful. He went around looking around under the guidance of Village Chief Zhong.

Pei Nian and Ma Mingwen followed Su Qingmei to the shop she had reserved for them. There were no stools, so everyone sat on the floor.

"I just want to discuss with godfather and Lord Pei how this shop charges money. I reserved a shop for a village. Should I charge them transaction fees in the future, or how should it be calculated? "

There are warlords everywhere in the Shuo Dynasty. Whoever conquers the land will own it.

The central government has basically lost its ability to control the local areas.

These 28 villages were taken back from the bandits by Ma Mingwen after he helped to drive away the bandits. The 28 villages also signed a petition to him, which means that this piece of mountain is his territory.

But as a person in charge, this territory falls under Pei Nian's jurisdiction.

The two men in front of her are big men. She is very satisfied to make some money with the big men.

We have to listen to their ideas about this matter.

Before coming, Pei Nian and Ma Mingwen did think about how to get some money from the mountains.

But when they entered the village, saw the terraced fields, saw everyone busy with spring plowing, and imagined the scene of full warehouses of grain in autumn harvest, they were full of excitement.

Some ideas changed.

Money and other things are not as attractive as grain.

"Qing'an, have you estimated how much grain a village can harvest this year? "

Su Qingmei shook her head: "It's hard to estimate. The terraced fields have just been opened, and we don't know how fertile they are, and their yield per mu is far from comparable to that of the fields."

"Besides, it is a mountainous area after all. Will it be harmed by wild animals? Will it bring other disasters due to water and soil problems? For example, if we plant this year, can we continue to plant next year? Should we cultivate the land? We still don't know these things."

Seeing the two of them pondering, he said, "But I asked Manager Li to find some grain varieties suitable for mountain planting. If we work more carefully, we should be able to harvest some grain."

After listening, Pei Nian nodded: "According to what I learned before, the yield of my farm is more than 400 kg per mu of top-grade land, and about 200 to 300 kg per mu of low-grade land. I'm afraid that this mountainous area will be very good if it can produce half of the low-grade land."

Is it so little?

How can a farm with intensive cultivation produce so little grain?

Su Qing'an said, "It turns out that the grain they planted on the gentle slopes in the village can produce about 100 to 200 kg per mu."

"Well, that's very good."

Finally, the two discussed it.

Ma Mingwen wanted 10% of the grain in the 28 villages as military rations, and would leave a team to assist Su Qing'an in maintaining public order.

Pei Nian also wants 10% of the grain as land tax.

The Shuo Dynasty has never collected taxes from the mountain people, not even the Ding tax. Because they have no land, and it is difficult to count the population, even the Ding tax has never been collected.

Now Pei Nian wants to collect land tax, will the mountain people rebel?

Before, everyone hid in the mountains, relied on the mountains for food, and was self-sufficient. But now that terraced fields have been opened, do they have to pay land tax?

Pei Nian glanced at her.

He said slowly: "You explain to the village owners that the fields opened in the village can be divided into each household according to the household register and the number of people in the village. If you get the land, you have to pay 10% of the land tax and 10% of the military rations. If you don't pay, you can not get the land and not cultivate it."

Su Qingmei nodded.

The mountain people don't have mountain deeds in their hands, so it's understandable to pay land taxes for opening mountains to grow grain.

If you buy a mountain deed from the government, you still have to pay land tax, and you have to pay the money for buying the mountain deed.

This is fine. If they don’t pay, they won’t farm the land and things will continue as before.