Chapter Seventeen: In Poverty, One Must Change

  Thank you old friend 1949, thank you to all the readers who have been supporting me. I will continue to work hard.

  After entering the house, Su Tiancheng didn't care about other things, how the tenant's family was decorated, whether there were decent furniture, these were not important things for the time being. He went straight to the rice jar and lifted the lid on top of it.

  In Pingyang Prefecture, every household has a rice jar. Look at the conditions of this family and focus on how much rice or wheat they have.

  In the large rice jar, you can see a small amount of wheat flour. Su Tiancheng bent down and inserted his hand into the wheat flour to estimate how much was left.

  "Is all the grain you have for your whole family just this little bit of wheat in the jar?"

  "Master, this is all the grain we have left in our household, we really can't afford to pay the rent."

  "It's only the end of October now, and this little bit of wheat flour is not enough for a family of three for even one month. We're about to sow winter wheat soon, and next year's wheat harvest won't be until May. What will you eat after another month?"

  The man's lips trembled slightly, probably because he hadn't expected the old master to say such words.

  "Why haven't tenant farmers started preparing for planting winter wheat yet?"

  The man looked at Su Tiancheng and didn't say anything, probably because he had some reservations.

  Su Pingyang also lowered his head and didn't speak.

  "You all don't say, I'll guess, is it that the Su family forced you to hand over the rent, and you even handed over the seeds. Now there are no winter wheat seeds left, and there's no grain at home either, so it can't be sown, and therefore there's no need to plow the fields."

  The man lowered his head, and the woman behind him who had been thinking of speaking up also fell silent.

  It was the little girl who spoke up.

  "Master, there's no wheat flour at home and I'm always hungry. Father is planning to send me to a wealthy family to eat white flour."

  Su Tiancheng's body began to tremble and he instinctively hugged the little girl.

  "There is no more food to eat, are you going to sell your daughter?"

  The man and woman knelt down in front of Su Tiancheng with a thud.

  "Old master, we really have no way out. The children are following us and can only starve to death. The harvests for the past two years were not good, and after paying the rent, there is almost no grain left at home. We thought that this year's harvest would be better, so we could make up for the rent owed, but who knew that this year's harvest was even worse? Many families have run out of food, and our family is one of the better ones, with some grain left, but it will only last for a little over a month. We can't keep the seeds."

  Su Tiancheng hugged the little girl and rushed forward, stretching out his right hand to help them up. Su Pingyang, who was beside him, reacted quickly and had already gone to pull them up.

  "You cultivate my family's land, and now it has become your own field. This is all the Su family's problem. I'm apologizing to you here, but not having food to eat is absolutely unacceptable. The Su family cannot let people starve. All of the Su family's tenant farmers must get through this winter. Winter wheat must be sown. As for the grain problem, I'll think of a solution. Seeds must be preserved and can't all be eaten."

  Su Pingyang was stunned, the young master had actually said such a big thing. The Su family has more than 300 tenant households, so many tenant households need how much grain? There are still seven months left, even if each household solves five dou of wheat flour per month, the total number is over 1,200 shi of wheat flour, which is equivalent to nearly 400 taels of silver. Where can you find so much silver?

  The man probably thought he had misheard, where was there a master who gave tenants food?

  "Master, let's think of a way ourselves, as long as you don't rush us to pay the rent."

  "Don't worry, I keep my word. Uncle, all the tenants in Su's mansion, how much grain they have stored at home and how long it can last, count them one by one, see what the total shortage is. Within this month, each household will be guaranteed to get at least one dan of wheat flour to tide over the current difficulties. As for later, we'll think of a way slowly. The top priority now is to organize all the tenants to sow winter wheat."

  "Young master, the Su family has a total of 350 tenant households. If each household is allocated one dan of wheat flour, that's a total of 350 dan. With this amount of wheat flour, we should be able to make it through the new year without too much trouble."

  "I know, it's not just until the Spring Festival, but until May next year, this data must be counted. The tenants of the Su family cannot have cases of selling children, and even more so, they cannot have cases of people starving to death. Uncle, you are now the manager of the Su household, if such problems arise, I won't be polite."

  "Master, I will resolve this issue within three days."

  "Okay, I think it's better to use Li Chang and Jia Shou as the starting lineup for now, this way we can speed up a bit."

  The household registration system of the Ming dynasty, the core is the li-jia system. Every 110 households form a li, which is called a fang in cities. Ten households are selected as li-zhang, and the remaining 100 households are divided into ten jia, each selecting one household as jia-shou.

  The Su government has 350 tenant households, with 30 neighborhood heads and 30 village chiefs, organizing these people to count and urge production, the efficiency is much higher.

  After Su Tiancheng finished speaking, the man finally believed him, and the young master of the Su family was telling the truth.

  He dragged the woman down to her knees.

  "We will remember the great kindness and virtue of our ancestors for generations."

  Su Tiancheng still held the little girl, and the tenant gave him a bow. He couldn't feel his dignity, but instead, he felt a heart full of bitterness.

  "Get up, the child is starving, there's still some wheat flour at home, make a good meal and let the little girl eat her fill. Within three days, the wheat flour can be sent down, temporarily solving so many problems. Today I came to your house first, which means we have fate. This matter of sowing winter wheat, you must take the lead."

  "Okay, after dinner, I'll go to Tian's place. Everyone has wheat flour now and will definitely be sowing winter wheat."

  Su Tiancheng was very meticulous, his habit was that no matter what he did, it had to be put into practice, otherwise it would just be empty talk.

  "This doesn't seem right, there's still something wrong with this."

  Su Pingyang looked at the young master without speaking, he had already guessed what the young master was concerned about.

  "The seeds of winter wheat that were sown, if there weren't any, everyone went to the field and still couldn't do anything about it. Moreover, this field is too dry, even if we sow the seeds, they won't have much effect."

  "Young master, there are still many winter wheat seeds in the house, and the old master had arranged to leave these seeds for the 500 mu of land, so there shouldn't be any problem. It's just that the lack of water is a temporary issue that can't be solved for now."

  Su Tiancheng smiled.

  "How can a living person be killed by holding back urine? A way will always be thought of."

  Su Pingyang's men did not expect Su Tiangong to say such a thing, they wanted to laugh but dared not open their mouths.

  "Uncle, regarding the matter we were just discussing, please ask Li Chang and Jia Shou to help organize it. The seeds for winter wheat will be fully provided by the Su Manor. After providing subsidies for food and distributing seeds, we'll organize everyone to dig canals and wells to fetch water. The Su Manor doesn't have that much silver at the moment, so all of this will be recorded on account. Once there's enough silver, the Su Manor will provide financial assistance. I don't know if this plan is feasible."

  "Master, let me handle this matter, Master has arranged it, I will definitely implement it."

  The man's face turned bright red, apparently thinking of speaking up.

  "Just say what you want to say directly, don't hold it in."

  "Master, I'm Niu Er. What you've done for us tenant farmers is already a great kindness from heaven. If anyone still doesn't follow your arrangements and do things their own way, I'll fight them to the death."

  "Hehe, Niu Er, don't get agitated. All matters should be discussed and handled together. There are many things to come that need to be implemented step by step. When in trouble, think of ways to change. If it goes on like this, I won't be able to take it next year either. I'm just talking, but specific tasks still need you guys to do."

  Next, Su Tiancheng continued to visit several tenant farmers, none of whom had gotten up yet. Niu Er accompanied him and Su Pingyang.

  The young master of the Su family came to the tenant's house, and each tenant was given one stone of wheat flour and seeds for all winter wheat. The news spread quickly.

  Many tenants didn't believe it, but Niu Er described it in vivid detail. Although the young master was young, he spoke very decisively after arriving at his home: "No tenant of the Su estate is allowed to starve to death, and no selling of children is permitted." Within three days, every household received a shi of wheat flour. The grain provided by the master to each tenant family was not just one shi of wheat flour, but enough to sustain them until May next year, before the winter wheat harvest.

  Niu Erjiu made every effort to promote, the old master arranged, everyone has to start sowing winter wheat, open ditches, dig wells and fetch water. The old master also said that a living person cannot be urinated to death.