Chapter 306

"Yes, yes, but if the two houses are merged and the two houses continue to be retained, will it be detrimental to centralized management?" Zhou asked.

"Can't you manage it separately, why do you have to concentrate?"

Zhou Shi was stunned.

"Yes, but yes. But if they are separated, it will not make much sense to merge the two Zhuangzi."

Lin Xiaoyue smiled, "The meaning of the merger is not to merge the two Zhuangzi into one, but to reduce the cultivated land between the two Zhuangzi to improve the Zhuangzi's privacy."

"I can't go to Zhuangshang every day. In the end, Zhuangzi has to be managed by the people in Zhuangshang."

"If the two mansions are forced to be merged into one, the stewards of the two mansions will probably not obey each other. I don't know the situation of the two stewards. If the wrong person is chosen, it will be troublesome at that time."

"So, I thought, it's better to just follow the previous one. Two managers, one on the other side, cooperate with each other, so the effect may be better."

When Zhou Shi heard this, he nodded.

"If you say that, it seems that it is indeed better to take care of it separately."

Lin Xiaoyue raised the corner of her mouth.

"Since I mentioned this, sister-in-law, I was about to ask you. How much do you know about the two stewards of Zhoujiazhuang and Maoerzhuang?"

Zhou Shi was stunned.

"Zhoujiazhuang's steward Fan, I have a few ties. As for Mao'erzhuang, I don't know the situation." Zhou Shi said here and shook his head.

She didn't know before that Maoerzhuang was the property of the third cousin.

Of course, it is more likely that someone else gave it to the third cousin.

After all, the third cousin just came to Qingshi Town not long ago.

"Then talk about this Fan Guanshi. How is this person?"

Zhou Shi replied, and then said: "This steward Fan is over fifty years old. As far back as I can remember, it seems that he has been working as a steward at Zhoujiazhuang Village."

"Before, I seem to have heard from my father that Steward Fan also sold his family as slaves and came from our Zhou family."

"Later, my father saw that he had some ability. He arranged for him to be sent to Zhuangzi to be in charge. This time, it took more than ten years."

"What about Steward Fan's family?" Lin Xiaoyue continued to ask.

"Go to Zhuangzi too. Steward Fan told my father later and arranged for the whole family to go to Zhuangshang."

"Oh. Their body deeds are along with Zhuangzi's land deed, and I have given them to you." Zhou Shi added.

Lin Xiaoyue remembered the wooden box that Zhou gave her back then, and nodded.

"Everything is done with a body contract, and such a person can feel at ease when using it." Lin Xiaoyue said.

Zhou Shi nodded.

"My father mentioned it before, saying that this Fan is a steward, he does things properly and is loyal. Under his management, Zhoujiazhuang's annual output is not very outstanding, but it has always been very peaceful. The relationship between the village and the tenant farmers is good."

Lin Xiaoyue was taken aback.

Zhou Shi smiled at Lin Xiaoyue.

"You must be wondering why my father thinks that Zhuang Shang needs to have a good relationship with the tenant farmers."

Lin Xiaoyue nodded.

Although she also agrees with this idea.

But in ancient times, the tenants had low status and looked to Zhuangzi Shang to hire them to farm the land for a living.

One is the exploiter and the other is the exploited. The two are difficult to reconcile.

In other words, as an exploiter, the landlord would only think about exploiting the tenant farmers for more benefits, but would not or disdain to think too much about the tenant farmers.

"That's because after Zhoujiazhuang's land was enclosed by my father, most of the nearby villagers moved out. In addition, Zhoujiazhuang is not far from Qingshi Town, so it is convenient to find jobs in the town."

"Many tenant farmers simply stopped renting their land when the rent was too high."

"There are not many people in the village who can go to the fields. They still have to rely on the help of the tenant farmers to help them."

Zhou shi looked at Lin Xiaoyue with a smile, "Just the Maoerzhuang that the third cousin gave you, there have been endless rent-outs before."

"Of course, the tenancy of Mao'er Village is higher than that of Zhoujia Village."

Lin Xiaoyue nodded, indicating that she understood.

"Then Zhoujiazhuang, how did the landlord and the tenant farmer settle the lease?"

"Zhoujiazhuang previously used a share-renting system, with a ratio of four to six. The tenant farmers could share 40% of the harvest."

Mr. Zhou looked at Lin Xiaoyue, "However, Steward Fan mentioned to my father before that he hopes to change the share-renting system to a fixed-rate rental system. That is, a fixed amount of rent will be paid for each piece of land, and the extra portion will be owned by the tenant farmers."

"In this way, whether it's a good year or a disaster year, the income of the farm will not change. At the same time, the enthusiasm of the tenant farmers can be higher."

A flash of volatility flashed in Lin Xiaoyue's eyes.

This Fan Guanshi is indeed a man with a broad mind.

"I'm going to plant peppers and sweet potatoes next, and it's not suitable for the tenants to follow the share-renting system or the fixed-rate rental system." After all, she didn't plan to share the peppers and sweet potatoes that were planted.

Zhou Shi nodded.

"What do you think?" Chong Lin Xiaoyue asked.

Lin Xiaoyue pondered for a while.

"If I don't rent the land, I'll just hire someone to farm the land and settle the money with the tenant farmers. Do you think this is feasible?"

What she plans is to model the operation mode of rural vegetable farms in the 21st century.

Before going to college, a boss suddenly came to my grandmother's hometown, contracted a large piece of land and started a vegetable farm.

The surrounding peasants will go to work when they have time.

The person in charge will arrange people to go to the designated place according to the actual situation.

After recording the working days every day, check out at the end of each month.

Later, in order to earn money, my grandmother worked in the vegetable market all the year round.

Although the wages are low, they are all familiar villagers working together, and the work is not heavy, so I don't feel very tired.

Zhou Shi thought about it and nodded.

"You can also exchange food for money. As long as the wages are suitable, it should be possible."

Lin Xiaoyue's eyes flashed with joy, and then she told Zhou about her plan.

"At that time, Zhuangshang will focus on purchasing a batch of agricultural tools, and when the workers come to work, they will distribute the agricultural tools to them according to the actual situation, and then arrange for them to go to the corresponding place to work."

"Tilling the ground, weeding, transplanting and picking at the same time, if there are many people, it is not difficult to take care of a Zhuangzi's field."

After the peppers are dried into dry red peppers, the workshop will charge them at the price of fifteen cents per pound.

As long as the output of peppers and sweet potatoes can be greater than the wages paid to the workers by Zhuang Zishang, she will make money.

"What do you mean, you want to direct the tenant farmers to plant the land?" Zhou Shi was a little surprised.

Her sister was definitely the first to come up with this idea.

However, the girls planted something special. No one else has her planting experience, so it seems necessary for her to guide everyone in planting.

"It's not really a guide, it's just asking the workers to do what I want."

"I can see what you think. But you will definitely encounter some troubles in operation."

"Go to Zhuangzi tomorrow. Otherwise, you can talk to Steward Fan first. He has been in charge of Zhuangzi in Zhoujiazhuang for more than ten years, and he knows a lot about it."

Lin Xiaoyue nodded, "Yes."

Then his eyes moved slightly.

"However, there's no need to talk to just one person. It just so happens that I haven't met the three stewards before. Let's meet together tomorrow and talk about it."

Especially now that Zhoujiazhuang and Maoerzhuang are merging, she doesn't want to give the impression that she has a lot of partiality towards Fan Guanshi.

Zhou Shi smiled.

"to make."

Lin Xiaoyue talked to Zhou again for a while before going out.

After informing Zhao Fu of his arrangement, Zhao Fu immediately arranged for Zhao Kang to spread the news.

the next day.

Li Xiao didn't go to the town, he rode his horse and led two carriages to Zhoujiazhuang.

As soon as they arrived at the Zhoujiazhuang boundary, they saw three people with a group of people, as well as two other groups of people, waiting by the roadside.

Those three people dressed appropriately were the three stewards of Zhoujiazhuang, Maoerzhuang and Mengjiazhuang.

Standing behind the three were the dozen or so servants from Zhuangzi in Zhoujiazhuang.

The other two teams, wearing blue and black outfits respectively, were the guards arranged by Liang Yu and Zhou Ye.

"Is the person coming from Lin Dong's family?" Before Li Xiao and others approached, the rough men in the front group had already shouted.

"Exactly!" Li Xiao responded.

The people in front relaxed their guard.

At the same time, Fan Guanshi and others also showed excitement on their faces.

After a while, the carriage finally stopped in front of Manager Fan and the others.

Steward Fan glanced at the other two stewards, and finally he led the other two forward, bowed to the carriage curtain and saluted.

"Little man Fan Ming—"

"Zhong Gui—"

"Cao De-"