Chapter One: Perplexity

  "It's not for anything else, it's just because you're a sincere person. I only have good feelings towards loyal and honest people. Those who follow me and are faithful to me will never be let down by me. You're the same, remember my words: you can only watch but not speak, no matter what I do is right. Just keep everything you see in your belly!" Gao Huaiyuan said with a gentle smile to Liu Da, who was staring at him.

  "Ah! I remember everything! Young master is good to me, and I understand that in my heart. I will do things well! I guarantee I won't speak recklessly, even if someone beats me to death, I won't say a word!" Liu Da rubbed his hands on his apron, guaranteeing with all his might.

  Why does this sentence sound so familiar? Gao Huaiyuan suddenly felt like laughing, and when he looked at Liu Da again, he couldn't help but think that he looked a bit like the fat chef from "A Bite of China"!

  It's almost time for autumn harvest, and it's also the time of year to collect rent. Although Gao Huaiyuan wanted to stay in this villa, which he called a military school, for some more days and get things back on track, he couldn't avoid dealing with the matters at the old mansion either. If not, by the end of the year, he wouldn't be able to hand over the money to his father, and his new position as manager would be in vain again. After all, maintaining this private military school costs money, and relying on the harvest from these dozens of acres of land is not enough! The first step is still to get things going at the old mansion and make some capital before anything else can be done.

  So Gao Huaiyuan could only temporarily hand over the matters here to Huang Yan and Zhou Huan, asking them to assist Zhou Jun in teaching these young people to recognize characters. Although the two did not quite understand why Gao Huaiyuan was doing this, because of their long-term contact, they also knew that Gao Huaiyuan would not do anything meaningless, so they must have had a reason for doing so. Therefore, the two men patted their chests and guaranteed that they would definitely be able to discipline these guys well.

  "There's one more thing I forgot to tell you, we need to have a system that is ruthless but managed with emotions. We need to make them not dare to violate the rules, but also make them feel the warmth here, don't let them feel like this place is cold and unfeeling. Reward those who should be rewarded, punish those who should be punished, and care for those who need to be cared for! Right now these people are still physically weak, first give them good food and drink, let them build up their strength, don't exhaust them all at once or it will backfire!"

  "This is important, they are all orphans, while disciplining them, treat them as brothers! Can't just make them fear you, but also make them respect and love you! Remember my words!" Gao Huaiyuan once again exhorted them.

  Huang Yan and Zhou Hao carefully savored Gao Huaiyuan's words, slowly grasping their meaning. They immediately nodded in agreement, responding positively. If not for Gao Huaiyuan's parting instructions, these two would have likely exhausted the young ones within a few days. With Gao Huaiyuan's orders, they began to learn how to manage people and underwent a clear change in attitude.

  After arranging these people, Gao Huaiyuan hurried back to the old mansion, called Xue Yan and a servant of the old mansion, and went together to the fields of the Gao family.

  The Gao family's ancestral land totaled over 300 mu, with both paddy fields and dry fields. As long as there was arable land, there were also thin fields and good fields to speak of. In recent years, the old steward had been muddled by the foolish old manager, turning the Gao family's ancestral land into a mess. The good fields were rented out to his close relatives, but they paid rent for the thin fields, while the thin fields were rented out to honest people who didn't give him any benefits, but they had to pay rent for the good fields. When this situation fell into Gao Hua Yuan's hands, it naturally couldn't be allowed to continue. Otherwise, if things continued like this, the honest tenant farmers would definitely become more and more miserable. He couldn't let this situation continue to happen.

  After learning about this matter, Gao Huaiyuan decided to conduct a field investigation to grasp the first-hand information before making any further decisions, which led to today's trip.

  The tenant farmers all lived in some remote and uncultivated areas, where they built houses to live in and could take care of the fields they rented nearby. Although commerce was very developed during the Southern Song Dynasty and the country was relatively rich, these peasants who tilled the land were not concerned with any of this. These people living at the bottom of society still lived a hard life, and most families relied on human labor to cultivate the land. Only some large households had draft animals.

  Gao Huaiyuan was accompanied by Xue Yan on the ground, checking it out block by block. In his past life, he had never been in contact with agriculture, and in this life, as a noble, it was even more impossible for him to come into contact with these things. He had very little understanding of the concept of land and grain. When he arrived at the field, he found that everything looked black to him, and no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't tell the difference between good fields and bad ones. All he could recognize was that the fields were planted with rice, but he couldn't even distinguish between paddy rice and dryland rice.

  Fortunately, Xue Yan was originally from a farming family and was good at farming. With him and another servant accompanying him, things became much easier. The two of them took one look and knew which piece of land was fertile and which was barren, and roughly how much it would yield. Gao Huaiyuan recorded everything according to their statements, then compared it with the original register, and in just one day, he had a thorough understanding of the situation here.

  And after a day, he also learned a lot of things that he didn't know before. It turned out that in the late Southern Song Dynasty, grain production had already reached a relatively high level, and the large-scale promotion of Zhancheng rice played an indispensable role. Zhancheng rice has a short planting time, strong disease resistance, and its yield is much higher than that of ordinary rice in the past. No wonder the population of 70-80 million people in the Southern Song Dynasty could be supported by such a small amount of land, mainly thanks to the improvement of grain yield per mu!

  After figuring out these things, Gao Huaiyuan started scolding Gao Laogen in his heart, calling him a despicable and unscrupulous person! Before, he had only heard about it, but didn't have a clear understanding. Today, after taking a look, he realized that the ancestral fields of the Gao family were indeed messed up by this guy, which was essentially plotting to rob them of their wealth and lives. Fortunately, he arrived in time; otherwise, the fields of the Gao family would have been abandoned and left barren!

  These tenant farmers who rent thin fields, after a year of hard work and paying the land rent, basically have no grain left over, and it's hard to make ends meet for food. Those who rent good fields, on the other hand, reap high yields and pay less land rent, their lives are much better than those who rent thin fields!

  It's obvious that all the good land rented out must have some connection with the Gao family, and it's possible that they are even distant relatives of the Gao family. However, this situation is really unfair. Although Gao Huairen sympathizes with all the tenant farmers, he cannot distribute the land to them. All he can do is try his best to be fair within his power.

  Now that the grain harvest is basically ripe, tenant farmers are preparing to start harvesting, but Gao Huaiyuan suddenly sent someone to notify all tenant farmers to go to the old mansion of the Gao family for a meeting.

  These tenant farmers also knew that the person in charge of the old house of Gao's family had changed, and the former Gao Lao Gen suddenly disappeared. After inquiring from many sources, it was only heard that Gao Lao Gen had retired and returned home, but no one knew where he went!

  So many tenant farmers were quite uneasy in their hearts, not knowing what new policies this newcomer, Gao Jia San Shao, would take towards them. After receiving the notice, these tenant farmers rushed to the old mansion of the Gao family. Several well-dressed men even brought some gifts. As soon as they met, they glared at each other, none of whom looked pleasing to the eye. If it weren't for the sake of the Gao family, they might have fought.

  It's no wonder, especially for those tenant farmers who have been resentful for a long time. They didn't have the ability to show filial piety to Gao Lao Gen, nor could they get close to him, so they had to swallow their anger. As soon as they saw these people who rented good land, they couldn't help but feel angry and speak harshly. When these people got together, they would argue in just a few words, making the front yard of Gao's house as lively as a market.

  Gao Huaiyuan sat at the front of the main hall, with a large table in front of him. On it were laid out the old rental agreements of the tenant farmers, as well as some blank ones. When he saw that all the tenants had arrived, he slightly raised his head and swept his gaze over them, without revealing any expression on his face. Xue Yan and Li Tong immediately stepped forward and shouted: "What's all the commotion about? If you make another sound, I'll have you thrown out! Do you think this is some kind of marketplace? Be quiet! Our Third Young Master has something to say to everyone!"

  These twenty or so tenant farmers immediately shut their mouths and quickly fell silent, all stretching their necks to stare at Gao Huaiyuan, waiting for him to speak. After getting a clear look at Gao Huaiyuan, these people were somewhat astonished - it turned out that the third young master of the Gao family was actually still just a youth! How could Old Man Gao have sent such an underage son to take charge of affairs here? Everyone began to harbor some doubts.

  After seeing that the tenants had stopped their noise, Gao Huaiyuan stood up and bowed his hands together, saying: "Gao Mou has paid his respects to everyone. You are all people who have rendered meritorious service to our Gao family. Here, I would like to thank you on behalf of my father! By the way, I also want to inform everyone that from now on, I will officially take over the affairs of the old mansion. Please, everyone, support me in the future!"

  These tenants looked at Gao Huaiyuan with a more polite attitude, and they all smiled and returned the courtesy. Some richer people showed off their ordinary gifts, wanting to put them on Gao Huaiyuan's table, and took the opportunity to get close to him, but were immediately stopped by Xue Yan and Li Tong on the side.

  "Thank you all, I don't lack these things here, I appreciate the thought!" Gao Huaiyuan smiled slightly and declined them as he glanced at those embarrassed tenant farmers.

  It seems that those people have somewhat regained their psychological balance. It appears that this Third Master is not like Old Man Gao, and doesn't seem to care about these guys!