Ang Lee stood at the top of Little Pagoda Hill and carefully observed the Yang Family Manor at the foot of the hill. Because of the binoculars in his hand, Ang Lee could close the distance by ten times. Originally, the manor was only a few miles away from the top of the hill, but after ten times, the distance was only two or three hundred meters. This distance was already very close. Although he couldn't see people's faces clearly, he could see people's daily activities clearly. He could see people walking and lifting their feet very clearly. These people didn't know that Ang Lee was watching them.
The area of the Yang Family Manor in front of him was still very considerable. According to Ang Lee's estimation, it covered at least fifty mu. It was a very large manor. After all, this was not inside the city, but the area outside the city. It was understandable that the area was larger.
There were hundreds of buildings in the manor. The tallest building had three floors. It was a half-wooden structure. The lower floor was piled up with stones, while the upper floor was made of wood. It was a very typical building style of the Tang dynasty.
In addition to the living quarters, the Yang Family Manor also had a large area of warehouses. This warehouse occupied at least a quarter of the area. The stacks of granaries and haystacks were very clear.
Grain was naturally stored in the granary, which was a very important resource. The haystacks were turned in by the tenant farmers during the busy farming season. Other than the stalks for their own use, the rest of the haystacks were turned in to the landlord.
The Yang Family Manor stored so much straw for two purposes. In fact, it could be used to feed the manor's cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys. Cattle were the main labor force for plowing the land, pulling goods, and overturning carts. Sheep were a more economical type of food. The role of donkeys and horses was needless to say. Donkeys could be used to pull carts, and horses were a necessary means of transportation. Without enough straw, how could they ensure the survival of these livestock?
The other role was naturally to cook. In addition to feeding livestock, straw could also be used to cook. Straw was a very good fuel. Although straw didn't last as long as firewood, straw was easier to ignite. It was better to mix it with firewood. Especially at the beginning of cooking, it was necessary to light a handful of straw. After the straw burned for a period of time, then add in firewood that was not easy to ignite. This way, the wood could be fully ignited. If firewood was used at the beginning, the firewood would not be able to ignite at all, which would delay the cooking.
Corresponding to the warehouse that occupied a quarter of the area, the livestock also occupied a quarter of the area. Ang Lee carefully observed with his binoculars and found that there were a lot of livestock. There were more than ten species, which greatly exceeded Ang Lee's expectations.
First of all, the livestock that Ang Lee saw the most were chickens, ducks, and geese. Among them, there were more chickens, ducks, and geese. These poultry were all reared in captivity. The total number should be more than a thousand. Then, there were very few cats and dogs, only a dozen or so. There were more cattle, which seemed to be more than a hundred. There were probably some that were pulling carts and transporting goods outside. In fact, there were more than two hundred of them. There were more sheep than cattle, which seemed to be more than three hundred. There were more horses, which seemed to be more than twenty, but in fact, it was definitely more than that. From the number of horse sheds, it could be seen that the actual number was more, which should be more than thirty. The number of donkeys should be about the same as the number of horses, which could be seen from the same number of donkeys and horse sheds.
Pigs definitely couldn't be less, but the pigsty was blocked by the horse sheds and donkey sheds. He couldn't see how many there were behind, but it was estimated that there would be a lot of pigs. After all, there was so much food harvested every year. Wheat bran and rice bran were a large quantity. It would be a pity to throw these things away directly. They could be used to raise pigs, which would be killing two birds with one stone.
If wheat bran and rice bran were used to raise pigs, not only could they harvest a large amount of pork, but at the same time, the produced pig manure could also be used to fertilize the crops, making the crops grow better and the harvest better. The manure of these livestock was provided to the tenant farmers for free. This was very humane. However, there were also conditions. That was, the people who received the manure must provide a certain amount of labor for the landlord. For example, if they received the corresponding manure, they must work for the landlord for a few days to help the landlord take care of the livestock. Or, several families would take turns to take care of the landlord's pigsty as free labor. Then, they would get the pig manure, which would be divided equally among several families.
What tenant farmers lacked the least was labor, and what the landlord lacked the most was labor. This could also be regarded as a win-win situation. At the same time, it also showed the shrewdness of the Yang family's head. He was too good at calculating. He could get enough labor for free just by using some waste pig manure. This was really too shrewd. This was even more ruthless than Zhou Bapi. If the farm workers in the future were paid with pig manure, then the workers would rebel. Many tenant farmers of the Yang family were willing to take care of the landlord's livestock just for a little bit of manure. They were oppressed too severely.
Of course, this was also because labor in the Tang dynasty was not worth much. Except for the obvious increase in the price of labor in the capital, labor in Central Sichuan was very cheap. Basically, one only needed to spend a little money to hire a good labor force. It was naturally easier to understand why they would do free labor for a little manure.
Looking at the Yang family manor in front of him, Ang Lee felt that the manors of the Tang dynasty were very different from the manors of the European Middle Ages in the future. There was no comparison between the two at all. The difference was too big.
For example, there was a big difference between the crops grown and the livestock raised.
The main crop of the manors in the European Middle Ages was wheat, which was also the main food that people ate. However, the growth period was slow, the yield was low, and the requirements for the land were very high. Barley was also very common. The growth period was relatively short, and the yield was high. However, it was difficult to be eaten by people unless during famine. It was mainly used to feed horses. This was in sharp contrast to the rich crops of the Tang dynasty.
The cash crops were relatively special, mainly grapes and olives. The former could be said to be a tradition left over from the Roman period and was usually used to make wine, while the latter was used to make oil, namely olive oil, a very healthy cooking oil. The development of the Tang dynasty in the Middle Ages was also very good.
The development of animal husbandry was also not bad, similar to the situation of the Great Tang. At that time, cows and horses were also necessities. The number of cows had to be guaranteed, or else it would be impossible to effectively plow the land. Horses, as a necessity for military service, were also indispensable. Without horses, there would be no cavalry. Meat was mainly provided by domestic animals, mainly pigs, goats, and chickens. When the weather was good, there had to be a certain number of animals. But because of the poor breeding conditions at that time, these domestic animals could not survive the winter. Thus, when a large number of them were slaughtered in autumn, it became a festival. This was because doing so could avoid death and preserve them for a long time. The main preservation method was curing meat.
At that time, the peasants lived a poor and heavy life, even more miserable than the people of the Tang dynasty. Their class included almost all kinds of labor forces. This class worked very long hours and lived a life of men plowing and women weaving. Not only did the peasants farm, but they also had legal obligations to do labor, such as building bridges and repairing roads. This was similar to the Tang dynasty. However, in the Tang dynasty, people could pay to be exempted from labor, but even if they paid, they could not be exempted from labor.
The living conditions of the peasants were also very poor. There were no beds at home, let alone any entertainment activities. Life was monotonous and unchanging. In the Tang dynasty, cultural and entertainment activities were very rich. In the early Middle Ages of Europe, there was no secular culture and education. The peasants were illiterate and had no books to read. At that time, only the priests had sheepskin books in their hands.
The heavy burden of the peasants in the Middle Ages was also extremely rare, far exceeding the burden of the people of the Tang dynasty. The rent in kind, the rent for labor, the cost of using public facilities, and the marriage tax had to be paid when getting married. This was very strange, especially the people outside the manor, who had to pay a fine and inheritance tax. In addition, the serfs also had to bear the living expenses of the manor owner. It could not be more exploited.
From this, it could be seen that the economic life of the manor in the Middle Ages of Europe was very fragile. The peasants lived in a narrow range, and problems would arise at the slightest sign of trouble. In that period, disasters and plagues were common, but most people were also accustomed to this way of life and status. Few serfs dared to resist. This manor system lasted for a long time in the Middle Ages and was not broken until the later part of the Middle Ages.
In this way, the life of the tenant farmers of the Tang dynasty seemed to be somewhat happy, because the people of the Tang dynasty did live better than the serfs. There really was no harm without comparison.
Of course, although the manors of the Tang dynasty were better than the manors of the Middle Ages of Europe, compared with the manors of the later generations, they were much worse. That was because the later generations had entered a highly civilized society, and all kinds of conditions were much better than in ancient times. Manors were also divided into many categories according to their functions, such as food and beverage manors, sports manors, business manors, experience manors, and health manors.
Food and beverage manors were ecological, green, organic, and pollution-free food. They were surrounded by trees, had fresh air, and were far away from the hustle and bustle of the environment. The main products of the manors were drinking tea, tasting farmhouse dishes, barbecue, and other food and leisure activities.
Sports manors were characterized by elegant environment and leisure activities. They were targeted at the high-class rich people in the city, businessmen, and other high-income people. Business manors were required to have the functions of business meetings, holidays, and leisure activities. Its characteristics were beautiful environment and fresh air.
Experience manors were mainly engaged in agricultural harvesting, planting, breeding, and herding. The main source of customers was the residents, and they played the role of educating children and entertaining themselves. Beautiful mountains, clear water, fresh air, tranquility, and charming scenery were the characteristics of health and leisure manors. Health and leisure manors were targeted at people who were tired of the reinforced concrete, crowded, and monotonous urban life. When they wanted to find a living space close to nature and release themselves, health and leisure manors were their first choice.
The main functions of the Yang family manor in front of them were production and storage. It also had a certain leisure function. However, these leisure functions were not prepared for ordinary tenant farmers, but for themselves.
In addition to a quarter of the warehouse and a quarter of the breeding space, there was still half of the space. Of the remaining half, only a quarter was a large number of residential areas, and the remaining quarter was the back garden, which was the leisure and entertainment place of the Yang family master.
The manor was distributed according to the word 'Tian', almost equally divided into four equal parts. The southeast corner was the warehouse area, the southwest corner was the livestock area, the northwest corner was the back garden, and the residential core was in the northeast corner.
This arrangement was made after fully considering the wind direction and other factors. After all, the livestock area was easy to emit a stench. Therefore, the livestock area had to be separated from the residential area. In order to prevent the influence of the wind, the livestock area was placed in the southwest corner. In this way, whether it was the southeast wind or the northwest wind, the stench would not affect the other areas much, especially the residential area. It could be said that it was completely unaffected. The back garden and the warehouse area were also very little affected, which was a great help in improving the living experience.
Although the residential core area only occupied a quarter of the entire manor, which was about a dozen mu, it was actually not small. The entire area was converted to square meters, which was more than 8,000 square meters. An ordinary house in the future was only about 100 square meters, so 8,000 square meters meant the area of 80 suites in the future. Even a villa only occupied half of the land, which was much smaller than this.
It was easy to build a house with eight or nine courtyards on a dozen mu of land. Therefore, the area was still very large. Only a landlord could have such a large area. An ordinary person's house could only occupy half a mu of land, which was even smaller in the city. Therefore, it was very unfair in the ancient times. The rich and the powerful could have a very large living space, while the poor could only live in a very small space.
The population density in the ancient times was relatively small, but the living conditions in the future were even worse. In many densely populated areas, the area of the houses was not even one square meter. Houses that could only fit one bed could be built. This was still considered good. Some houses were remodeled into three floors. The height of each floor was only three feet, the length was seven to eight feet, and the width was four to five feet. This was almost no different from a coffin, so it was also called a coffin house. This was even more miserable than the ancient times. In addition, there were some coffins surrounded by iron wires, which were called pigeon cage houses. The area where each person lived could only accommodate one living person. Trapping people in such a small space was no different from raising livestock. There was no living experience to speak of.
In terms of living area, the area that the ancient tenant farmers lived in was higher than that of many city people in the future. After all, the ancient population was relatively small, and the land was relatively abundant. Even the lowest class of people could be allocated a good living area. It was not a problem for a family to have a few rooms. Moreover, they generally had a yard. The area of the countryside was even more impressive. Living crowded generally existed in the cities of the future.
:. :.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
