Chapter Nineteenth: Niu Er's Festival

  Niu Er has become a popular figure among the tenants, and Young Master Su was the first to visit his home. Moreover, Young Master Su's promise is also something that Niu Er has been spreading everywhere.

  At home, there was not much wheat flour left. Niu Er had his wife make a sumptuous lunch. His daughter ate her fill, and his wife also ate her fill. Niu Er's appetite was big, but he restrained himself while eating.

  Li Chang and Jia Shou went to Niu Er's home first to take stock of the situation, to see how much was left in storage. Niu Er also continued to spread the word, quietly, and everyone had some faith in it.

  To be honest, Su Tiancheng's statement in front of the tenants was not very believable. Who would have such a good landlord? Not only did he not mention collecting rent, but he also gave grain to the tenants. With winter approaching and little rain, next year's harvest is still uncertain. Is it possible that Young Master Su is planning to use his own silver to support so many tenants?

  The new housekeeper of the Su family, Su Pingyang, arrived at the tenant's place, and what was most crucial was that Su Pingyang brought more than 300 stones of wheat flour, which shocked the tenants.

  It's only been a day, and the statistics of Li Chang and Jia Shou have not yet been finalized, but the wheat flour promised by Young Master Su has already arrived, which shows that Young Master Su is indeed a man of his word.

  Niu Er had long accepted the task, and right next to his house, he had cleared out a vacant lot. Su Pingyang had said that when distributing food, there were things to be arranged. The head of each tenant household was required to gather here.

  Early in the morning, the empty land was packed with tenants, all men dressed in the same attire.

  The cowherd burned a lot of boiling water, and the tenant didn't have so many scruples. Whoever was thirsty would think about drinking water, take the bowl prepared next to them, and pour hot water to drink. Tea was too expensive to be served, it's a precious thing.

  Niu Er and his wife were busy back and forth, his wife boiled water, the little girl was not idle either, she had eaten well for two days and her spirit had improved.

  As the horse-drawn carts carrying grain slowly approached, cheers erupted from the crowd.

  To everyone's surprise, Young Master Su had also arrived, riding a fine horse at the very front of the carriage.

  "Everyone, you have been working on the Su family's land for years, but due to the recent disasters, the land has become like this. I am representing the Su family to apologize to you all. The other day, I visited Cow Second's house and felt ashamed. If it were the Su family's tenant farmers who had to sell their children or starve to death, that would be a sin on the part of the Su family. Such a situation cannot happen. Today, we will first give each household one stone of wheat flour and two catties of coarse salt. Before Chinese New Year, we will distribute another stone of wheat flour, fine salt, and meat to each household. The Su family must also think of ways to solve this problem, so that every household can have meat to eat during the Spring Festival and use fine salt."

  Grain was distributed, everyone already knew about it, but each household received two catties of coarse salt, which no one had expected. On the vast empty ground, more than 300 people stood silently, not a sound to be heard.

  Salt is a precious thing, 350 tenant households, each with two catties of coarse salt, that's 700 catties of coarse salt. The price of salt in Pingyang Prefecture is five cents per catty for coarse salt and one tael per catty for fine salt. Even these 700 catties of coarse salt would cost 350 taels. This time the young master of the Su family really took the tenants into consideration.

  Salt is a very important thing, to put it bluntly, sometimes its role is no less than that of grain. If you don't eat salt for a long time, your whole body will be weak, your immunity will decrease, and for farmers who work in the fields, this can be fatal.

  Niu Er stood at the front and heard Young Master say that. He saw that on the horse carriage in front, it was indeed coarse salt.

  He knelt down, raised his head and looked at the young master.

  "The great kindness and virtue of Master, Niu Er will never dare to forget for his whole life. From now on, whatever things there are, Master's orders, Niu Er will risk his life."

  After Niu Er knelt down, all the tenants also knelt down.

  The tenant farmers were not good at speaking, but they knelt down, which was the best expression. This also shows that if the young master of the Su family has something arranged, they will do their best. Moreover, the young master called them brothers, and this treatment was what the tenant farmers encountered for the first time.

  "Alright, everyone hurry up and get up, today I really have something that requires everyone's cooperation."

  Su Pingyang and Su Er'tong have already called everyone up.

  "There are four things that everyone needs to do. First, start sowing winter wheat immediately, I have brought the seeds, and they will be distributed according to each household's needs. Everyone must seize the season and not miss the farming time. Second, dig irrigation canals, all 500 hectares of farmland need to have unobstructed canals, and three reservoirs need to be dug to store water. This is a huge task, but it must be done well. Third, dig wells to get water, without water, there will be no harvest for winter wheat, five wells must be dug within the year. Fourth, each household needs to collect straw and stubble, chop them up and store them properly, they will come in handy later."

  Everyone was silent, except for collecting straw and hay, everything else, everyone knew, this is actually doing things for themselves.

  "Digging ditches and ponds, including wells, Li Chang and Jia Shou must count the working days of each household. After next year's winter wheat harvest, the Su government will take out silver to pay everyone for their work."

  Su Tiancheng came in person, not to make the tenant thank him, but mainly to implement these things. If Su Pingyang and Li Zhang and Jia Shou came to arrange such things, the intensity would not be very great. By coming himself, the situation is definitely different. His thinking is still somewhat different from that of people in this era, which he has already felt through his conversation with Su Pingyang.

  Su Pingyang thought that what he did was the greatest kindness to the tenants, and they must be grateful. As for the things that needed to be done, there was no problem with them, everyone would do their best, including repairing water channels, digging ponds and wells. But Su Pingyang didn't think so.

  Building ditches and dams should be the responsibility of the Su family, not something to be demanded of tenants. Digging wells is still a matter that can be done alongside the tenants' lives. Therefore, requiring tenants to do these things, the Su family must provide silver. Moreover, with two consecutive years of poor harvests, as the landlord, they should consider the specific difficulties of the tenants. This is a basic human issue. If the Su family does not consider these problems and only makes demands, they will ultimately lose everything.

  The Su family has 350 tenant households in Pingyang Prefecture, and as time goes on, the number of tenant households will increase. Managing tenant households is the same principle as managing a country. When the tenant households become rich, the Su family will naturally become richer too. On the other hand, if they are exploited excessively without restraint, the tenant households will not be able to survive, and the landlord's family will also not gain any wealth.

  Based on this understanding, Su Tiancheng's starting point is different.

  Now that Father and the Eldest Madam have left Pingyang Prefecture, this is where I will make my fortune. Everything depends on me, the servants, and over 300 tenant farmers to create wealth.

  To get something, you must first give something.

  This is the basic principle, tenants have their own property, life slowly became rich, they will think of ways to protect their property, once these interests are damaged, they will do their best to protect them, not to mention what peasant uprising army, even if the government soldiers came, they dare to pick up hoes and fight to the death.

  If things can develop in such a good way, everything will slowly get on the right track, and more things will be carried out step by step in the future.

  As a modern person, Su Tiancheng has an unparalleled advantage in terms of understanding. He believes that through his own short-term observation, combined with the laws of historical development, he can quickly find the crux of the matter and find a way to solve the problem.

  So, coming here today and personally arranging these matters for the tenant is a crucial step in his opinion.

  After Su Tiancheng finished arranging, Su Pingyang continued to supplement it.

  Thirty li long and Jia Shou were given a task, including Niu Er.

  Niu Er is a representative, the young master's words spoken in Niu Er's home are being fulfilled step by step. It can be said that Niu Er is a witness. Su Pingyang instinctively felt that the Su Mansion in Pingyang City, although the old master and madam have passed away, under the leadership of the young master, will undergo earth-shaking changes.

  Niu Er has once again become a celebrity among the tenants, and even the young masters remember his name. It's really not easy.