kvmb Chapter 815 There are plenty of people
Chapter 815 There are plenty of people
"Good days?"
Jing Cong clearly didn't agree with Yang Zheng's statement: "What good life do we ordinary people have? We work ourselves to the bone tending the crops, and we're lucky if we can even get a full meal!"
Upon hearing this, several farmers around Jing Cong nodded in deep agreement. Those who fled famine from Liangzhou were miserable, but those of them who did not need to flee were not necessarily having an easier time either.
They work diligently in the fields, tending to the crops as if they were their ancestors, yet they struggle to even feed their family!
Especially in recent years, the villagers of Jingming Village have suffered even more due to the impact of the cold weather, with many even starving to death...
This is also why Chen Dao and his group saw the village in such a desolate state when they entered it.
The prolonged cold snap has significantly reduced the population of Jingming Village. In peaceful years, Jingming Village would have had at least 200 people, but now... only about 80 remain.
After glancing at the village chief Jing Cong and the farmers' deeply furrowed faces and tattered clothes, Chen Dao and the others had no choice but to believe Jing Cong's words.
Although the village chief was not an official appointed by the imperial court, he still had power.
Generally speaking, even if the village chief is not the richest person in a village, his living conditions are definitely better than those of more than 90% of the villagers.
But Jing Cong in front of me...
Not only did they have to do farm work themselves, but their faces were also deeply lined with wrinkles, their clothes were covered with patches, and their trouser legs were covered with a lot of mud...
Clearly, Jing Cong's living conditions are not very good.
"Village Chief Jing, judging from what you're saying, things aren't going well in the village?"
Yang Zheng asked thoughtfully.
"How could it possibly be any better!"
Jing Cong sighed, "All the land in our village belongs to the Lu family. The majority of the grain produced has to be handed over to the Lu family as rent. Only a small portion is left for us. How can that little bit of grain be enough for us to eat?"
Does the entire land in Jingming Village belong to the Lu family?
A look of surprise flashed across Chen Dao's face. When Yang Zheng told him that 70% of the land in Youzhou belonged to the Lu family, Chen Dao did not have a clear understanding of this number.
Only now do we realize just how terrifying the Lu family's control over Youzhou was, given that they occupied 70% of the land!
Even in a small village like Jingming Village, hundreds of miles away from the prefectural city, the land cultivated by the villagers belonged to the Lu family, and most of the grain grown on that land had to be handed over to the Lu family...
This is truly terrifying to think about. If the land in such a remote village is monopolized by the Lu family, then what about those prosperous county towns and prefectural cities?
It is no exaggeration to say that the entire population of Youzhou probably needs to rely on the Lu family in order to have the right to survive!
"Village Chief Jing, does all the land you're farming belong to the Lu family?"
Yang Zheng's eyes widened as well. He knew that the Lu family monopolized the land in Youzhou, but he did not know that the Lu family's monopoly had reached such a level that they would not even let go of the farmland in a small village like Jingming Village.
"Of course!"
Jing Cong nodded: "Not just our village, all the land in the surrounding villages belongs to the Lu family. We are just tenant farmers who cultivate the land for the Lu family!"
"..."
Yang Zheng remained silent!
He had already overestimated the Lu family's greed as much as possible, but as it turns out, he still underestimated them!
Jingming Village is hundreds of miles away from Youzhou Prefecture, where the Lu family is located. Even though the distance is so far, the villagers of Jingming Village still cannot escape the fate of being enslaved by the Lu family. They have to farm for the Lu family in order to survive...
"Village Chief Jing, how much rent do you need to pay for the Lu family's farming?"
Yang Zheng asked again.
"Eighty percent."
Without hesitation, Jing Cong replied, "Of the grain grown in the fields, 80% needs to be given to the Lu family, and the remaining 20% is for us."
"..."
Yang Zheng, Chen Dao, Li Qiao, and Chen Cheng all gaped open, their eyes filled with disbelief.
What does 80% of the rent mean?
Given the grain yield of the Xia Kingdom, a mu of land could only produce a maximum of 300 jin of crops. The tenant farmers who cultivated the land for the Lu family would receive 20%, which is about 60 jin per mu.
A strong adult needs about 2 jin of grain a day, which means that 60 jin of grain is only enough for an adult to eat for a month. And like Liangzhou, Youzhou can only grow crops once a year due to the cold weather.
Suppose a tenant farmer cultivates ten mu of land for the Lu family, the maximum amount of grain he can get in a year is 600 jin!
600 jin of grain would be barely enough to feed a strong adult for a year, let alone a whole family.
It should be noted that when the imperial court simply raised the grain tax to 50%, it caused a nationwide rebellion.
The people of Youzhou, however, were required to pay 80% of the rent to the Lu family…
Yang Zheng had no idea how they had survived.
"How can a family support themselves if the rent is only 80%?"
Li Qiao couldn't help but ask. Having followed Li Mingyuan around for many years, he was also very knowledgeable about farming.
He knew very well that no matter how hard a able-bodied adult tried, cultivating 20 mu of land was already the limit.
The output of 20 mu of land, after 80% is handed over to the state, may be enough to feed one person, but it is definitely not enough to support a family of several people.
Moreover, every citizen of Youzhou depends on the Lu family for survival, and it is impossible for one person to be allocated so much farmland to cultivate.
"What can we do if we can't feed them? Life still has to go on, doesn't it?"
Jing Cong shook his head. How could he not know that the rent was probably too high?
But what can he do?
The entire village's land is controlled by the Lu family; if you're unwilling to cultivate it, there are plenty of others who are.
In Youzhou, only those willing to farm for the Lu family are qualified to survive.
As for whether the 20% of the grain obtained from farming for the Lu family can feed themselves...
If family members cut back on food and everyone eats less, they can still barely survive.
"Too."
Looking at the resigned expression on Jing Cong's face, Chen Dao and the others felt an unusual heaviness in their hearts. They put themselves in the shoes of the people of Youzhou and felt only despair.
If they didn't become tenant farmers for the Lu family, they would starve to death.
Being a tenant farmer for the Lu family was even more miserable. They toiled in the fields all day long, sweating profusely, and after a year of hard work, they only earned about 20% of the harvest...
It can be said that the people of Youzhou lived worse than cattle and horses under the rule of the Lu family!
After all, cattle and horses have some fine feed to eat and grooms to take care of them.
The people of Youzhou... worked hard for the Lu family, yet they struggled to even support their families, or even themselves...
Just look at Jing Cong and his fellow farmers; they all looked pale and sickly, dressed in rags, and were so thin they looked like skin and bones. At first glance, they looked like beggars.