HLnovel Chapter 278: The First Time in the Creation of the World
Chapter 278: The First Time in the Creation of the World
The old lady had always known all this, but even when the third son was raising money to go to the provincial capital to take the exam, she never thought about her daughter-in-law's dowry.
The eldest brother Shen Zhichun and the fourth brother Shen Zhidong did not express their opinions. It was not because they were dissatisfied with the decision, but because they felt that the land bought by their brother's wife (sister-in-law) with her dowry belonged to her, and had nothing to do with them. It was not their turn to interfere.
The eldest sister-in-law Song was only secretly surprised that her younger brother's family was wealthy and could leave money to buy 1,300 acres of land, and she had no other feelings.
After all, when her brother-in-law was about to take the imperial examination, she said that she could sell the silver bracelet and give the money to her brother-in-law first, but her mother-in-law refused.
As for Xiao Yang, she felt a little sour when she heard this, and she had no other thoughts. Now she felt nothing but envy for her third sister-in-law.
In the past, she really looked down on her third sister-in-law, thinking that apart from having a good family background, she could not do anything else. Even when she gave birth, she had to ask her mother-in-law to take care of her. Moreover, she always showed off the things she brought from the city when she came back.
Now that she thought about it, the third sister-in-law was actually very nice to them. She didn't stop the third brother from buying land and cows for the family, and she never came back from the city empty-handed. She also didn't act bossy when talking to her and the eldest sister-in-law just because of her background.
Especially during this escape from famine, the change in my third sister-in-law was so great that she could do everything and was not afraid of hardship or suffering. She just followed everyone along the way.
Even when we rode horses or took a car, it was my third brother who insisted on letting us do it because he loved my third sister-in-law.
Now thinking back, what she did before was really wrong. After all, although she was traveling with the wives from Shenjia Village along the way, she could still tell the closeness and distance between them.
The third sister-in-law took special care of her, the eldest sister-in-law and the eldest sister-in-law, and never left out any delicious food for their Jinbao and Erya.
Erya really learned a lot from following Youyou along the way, and it is impossible for her to say that she is not grateful.
But Yang always considered herself a vulgar person. She also truly felt that she could live a good life following her third brother and his wife, and they were not arrogant. So she thought that she should not say bad things about her third brother and his wife and Youyou in the future.
Especially since Jinbao will study with her third brother in the future, maybe she can pass the exam and become a scholar, and Erya can also learn more from Youyou. Although she is still closest to Jinbao now, she also admits that Erya is not a useless girl anymore.
In fact, this is quite good. After all, a person cannot change so quickly. As long as there is some change, it is fine. As for Yang's changes, Shen Zhidong knows it best.
As the person by my side, my wife basically no longer calls me "Dead girl" or "money-losing thing", but instead calls me "Er Ya".
Since Shen Zhiqiu's family has no objection, the rest of the Shen Village people will have even less objection.
Shen Zhiqiu then told everyone: "As for the time being when we reclaim wasteland, we will also reclaim these 1,300 acres, but we won't let you do it for free. The first three years will be free for you to farm, and after three years, Jingshu will collect 40% of the rent from the farmland."
Shen Fugui just took a sip of water and spat it all out with a "Puff!" sound: "Third brother, what do you mean? What's wrong with us all clearing the land? Why are you saying such polite words? We have come all the way here, we are like a family, can't you just take care of any work?"
"That's right, Third Brother, you don't treat us as your own family. We all know how much you have done for us along the way. What's the big deal about reclaiming the wasteland for your brother and sister-in-law? It's just a matter of some strength. We have nothing but a lot of strength."
Shen Mazi and others also expressed their dissatisfaction.
The old man, Gao Liehu, also got angry and said, "Little Sanzi, are you trying to alienate us?"
Master Shen couldn't even straighten his back and didn't forget to grab Shen Zhiqiu:
"Little Sanzi, you can just order them to do your job. Even if it's not for your family, we have to give those lands to the third grandson's wife for Mr. Li's sake."
Shen Zhiqiu: "What are you talking about? I am the only one who is alienated from you. Besides, my family also eats this kind of food.
Let’s do it this way. No need to say more, whether we lease the land to ourselves or to someone else, this way we can have the best of both worlds.
Anyway, my wife doesn’t know how to farm, and as for Uncle Li and Da Hu and Er Hu, they are not cut out for farming either.”
Li Quan also advised: "Yes, I really haven't farmed much. I used to farm with my parents when I was a child, but I almost forgot about it. Da Hu and Er Hu have never farmed anything. Everyone should just listen to your uncle."
But these men were so stubborn that they insisted that they would not farm Li Jingshu's land for free, and that they would not split it 60% and 40% but 50% and 50% respectively.
He also seemed to sigh and said: "Half and half is not a small amount. Mr. Sun from the village next to our hometown has to pay 60% of the rent for his land."
It was Li Jingshu who spoke last: "If you want to plant crops here, just follow what Yoyo's father says. If she refuses to listen, then the land she bought will be left uncultivated."
Well, this sentence still works. For farmers, land is their life, even more important than life. How can they not plant on the land and just leave it idle?
This is absolutely not possible. Wouldn't that be a threat to nature?
This matter was settled, and Shen Zhiqiu began to arrange tomorrow's tasks with a smile: "Tomorrow I will follow Tang Lizheng to settle down. You will give me all the household registrations in a while.
Also, this is what I plan to do with our 1,000 acres of public land: we will divide it up according to the number of people, so that both men and women will have land.
Whether it's a daughter-in-law or a daughter, they all have the same land, and each of us can get three mu and four fen of land."
This decision was obviously the first of its kind in ancient feudal society.
After hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the people in Shenjia Village were obviously different.
The girls were shocked: "They actually have their land, and not only the same as the able-bodied laborers, but also the same as their brothers. In a farming family, which girl can get land after marriage, let alone be given land at home."
Moreover, even if the imperial court distributed land, only men had land, but women did not.
The women felt even more complicated, as they never expected that one day they would be able to get a share of the land.
Why did women in ancient times have no say in their parents' home and no status after marriage? Wasn't it because they had no land? In this world, you have to listen to whoever you live with. If you are disobedient and not virtuous, or even if you don't give birth to a son, you may be divorced.
Life is even harder for a woman who has been divorced. When she returns to her parents' home, she will be embarrassed by her parents' family, will not be welcomed by her brother and sister-in-law, and she will have to listen to the gossip of the villagers.
The root of all this is that women do not have their own land and cannot support themselves. If they follow someone else, they are just eating someone else's food.
But the third sister just said that both men and women can share the land, which means that the food they eat in the future will no longer be the food of their husbands and sons, but the food grown from their own land, which also means that they may no longer be an accessory.
Isn’t it strange that when this decision was made, even the most patriarchal mother-in-law in Shenjia Village did not speak out in opposition or raise any questions.
Even Yang, who was the most patriarchal, didn't say a word.
Shen Erya looked at her mother in disbelief, because when she first heard what her third uncle said, she was shocked, and she was also afraid that her mother would be the first to stand up and oppose it, not because she wanted the land that much.
She was afraid that her mother would not care, so she cursed in front of so many people: "Why? Why should she, a money-loser, get a share of the land? The land belongs to my Jinbao."