Chapter 234
234 The Harvest Has to Be Low Profile
Speaking of which…
While Murong Run was heading to Wanning City nervously.
The people of Hu Family Village were extremely happy.
It was a huge harvest!
Not to mention the fertile fields of the Wang Family, even the inferior fields of the villagers had yielded two to three dans of crops!
In the past, this was an amount that even fertile fields could not reach.
These days, the seeds were not good, and there were many natural and man-made disasters. The fertility of the land was also low. It was all thanks to the meticulous nurturing of the farmers.
At the end of the year, there was still a spring and autumn tax. According to the number of people in the family, they had to pay around two dans of crops a year even if they didn’t do anything.
The crops that the government wanted were not that kind of coarse grain. They had to be carefully selected before they could be used to pay taxes.
Therefore, they would have to submit more since some would be wasted.
Coupled with the conscription three to four times a year which spanned one to two months each time.
There was really no way for a regular family to survive!
Now that the county magistrate had fallen, their taxes had been restored to half a dan. Because of the disaster, the spring tax was also exempted, and Shanyang Village had taken their place in the conscription. Therefore, the harvest from Hu Family Village this time was purely left for the villagers.
In the past, the poorest family in the village was Old man Wang’s family. They only had more than 10 mu of farmland and 60 mu of mountainous land.
The villagers had even more land.
Even the family with the worst harvest would have 20 to 30 dans of crops. This was something that they did not even dare to think about in the past!
The happiest people were none other than Widow Zhou and the others. They rented the Wang Family’s land and used the grain seeds provided by the Wang Family. Thus, they directly obtained seven to eight dans more grain.
Other than the portion that had to be handed over to the Wang Family, the rest were theirs. That was far more than what ordinary families could get normally!
For a moment, those who chose to plant their own seeds regretted their actions.
“If we had known earlier, we would have trusted Old man Wang’s family. That way we wouldn’t have lost so much harvest!”
“Fortunately, our family’s harvest is not too bad. Otherwise, I might have been jealous and stolen their crops.”
“Isn’t that so? Look at the grains planted by Old man Wang’s family. It’s white and smells good.”
“We can use ordinary grains to pay the taxes. We’ll sell our own grains to buy some from the Wang Family. I think it’ll taste much better.”
“In the past, I was afraid that the food would be eaten up too fast if I made them delicious. There are so many mouths at home so everyone could only take a few bites. My heart really aches. Now that there’s a bumper harvest, I can let the children eat their fill.”
Everyone had bright smiles on their faces.
Not only were there grains, but there were also all kinds of beans. They were bigger than before, and the fragrance was also very strong.
People who worked in agriculture all year round could smell that those were definitely high-quality beans!
The entire Hu Family Village was filled with joy, but Village Chief Hu poured cold water on everyone.
“Don’t be stupid and give your crops out.”
Everyone was puzzled. “Why can’t we give them out? I was about to send a bag to my wife’s family. Previously, when our family was short of food, my father-in-law’s family even sent us half a bag of food. Now is a good time to return the favor.”
Village Chief Hu said, “Go out and ask around how the others’ harvests are like. Don’t forget about Shanyang Village.”
At the mention of Shanyang Village, everyone’s expressions did not look good.
Why did he mention that unlucky village for no reason?
Old Master Hu: “As the saying goes, it’s not a matter of scarcity but of inequality. It’s fine if all the villages have such a bumper harvest, but only our village has such a bumper harvest. Hence, we have to keep a low profile.”