Most of the guards in the Yang Family Fields were from the same family. Only a few of them were outsiders. This seemed to be nepotism, but only the people from the same family were the most trustworthy. It would be less reassuring to hand over all the guard duties to outsiders.
In addition, this was also a kind of benefit. They were all family, so they would naturally take care of each other. Working as coolies and guards in the fields was naturally more dignified and treated better. If they let outsiders work as guards and let the same family do the coolies, they would definitely be unanimously opposed by the elders, which would be very detrimental to the unity of the family.
Ang Lee also learned that one-third of the villages where the Yang Family Fields were located had the surname Yang. Moreover, they all came from the same family, which was a branch of the imperial concubine's family. In this branch, there were both legitimate and illegitimate children. Among them, the head of the family was naturally a legitimate child, and he was very good at management. Before the imperial concubine was favored, he was already doing very well and had some reputation in the local area. As such, after the imperial concubine was favored, he very smoothly received the opportunity to be rewarded. As for the rest of the family, most of them had declined. Some had become ordinary farmers, and there were naturally many who were poor. In short, they did not live very well.
When the head of the family received the reward from the imperial court, these poor relatives of the main family naturally would not let go of this opportunity to take advantage of him. They always felt that the imperial court's reward was for their entire branch, and should not let the head of the family enjoy it alone.
Faced with the unreasonable demands of these poor relatives of the main family, the head of the family was somewhat helpless. They were all family, and he had received many rewards for no reason. If he did not give some to the poor relatives of the main family, it would definitely intensify the conflict. If he fell out with all the poor relatives of the main family, he would definitely be laughed at by outsiders. Moreover, outsiders would also think that he was a miser, which would be very bad for his reputation.
However, if he directly gave a large amount of money and a mountain to these poor relatives of the main family, the head of the family would feel too pained. Among these poor relatives, there were also many good-for-nothings who did not live up to expectations. When the time came, he did not know what would happen. He was not afraid of giving them money, but he was afraid that they would continue to reach out and ask for more after spending the money. In that case, it was simply a bottomless pit that would drag down the head of the family.
In short, directly giving money and land to the poor relatives was not something the head of the family could do. He was also worried that the poor relatives would not let go and keep asking him for money. However, if he did not care about the poor relatives at all, he would also be opposed by the entire small family, and they would also not be able to live a good life.
The way to have the best of both worlds was to let these relatives of the main family work for him, and then he would give them wages. This could greatly improve the economic situation of these poor relatives, and at the same time, they could better help him. After all, as he became richer and his house became bigger and bigger, the security issue must be paid attention to. The necessary guards were definitely needed, and the poor relatives of the main family were completely competent for this job.
Although they were called guards, in fact, they were just guarding the door. In case they really encountered robbers, their fighting ability was very limited. For example, the security guards who guarded the door in the future played the role of guarding against thieves. If they really encountered a strong person, they would have no way to resist. However, as long as they could guard against thieves and discover the robbers in time, it was enough. As long as the field maintained a sufficient number of guards, and those pastoral dogs that kept barking all day, ordinary thieves and petty thieves would not dare to easily visit. This was the value of guards.
In addition, the guards did not need to work. They just needed to patrol everywhere every day. They looked more respectable, at least more respectable than those who swept livestock manure all day. It was also more acceptable. Even a lazy prodigal could be competent for this job.
Although they did not directly receive money and land, they could easily look after the house and accompany people to do things. They could earn a good income. Naturally, these poor relatives of the main family were quite satisfied. At least, their lives had improved, especially those poor relatives who had no other skills but were still unwilling to do manual labor. They were so happy that they jumped up. For these lazy people, looking after the house was the most comfortable job in the world. There was no job more comfortable than looking after the house. They only needed to stand or sit. It was almost the least physically exhausting job among all the jobs.
The elders of the family were also very happy with the arrangement made by the head of the family. This arrangement could take care of many people in the main family. In the whole village, everyone in the Yang family could live more respectable lives than outsiders. This was the glory of the whole family. At the same time, the capable people of the family would take care of the weak in the family. This was also good for promoting the overall prosperity of the family.
It could be said that the head of the family recruited a large number of poor relatives of the main family to be his guards. This was a win-win situation based on reality. Both sides would benefit. Perhaps the number of guards recruited was a little too much, but in order to appease the poor relatives of the main family, this sacrifice was worth it.
At this time, there were five guards and four big dogs in the yard. Among them, two guards were on the three-person tall watchtower. The remaining three were strolling back and forth in the yard, chatting as they strolled. When they saw Ang Lee and the others come in, they quickly patrolled seriously.
The top of the haystack was made of mud, but the top of the granary was made of bamboo of better quality. These bamboo pieces were split into two halves. By being arranged in a staggered manner, they could well block the passage of rainwater. This allowed rainwater to flow along the bamboo pieces to the ground, thus preventing the inside of the granary from becoming moist.
The granary had walls, but the haystack obviously didn't. The walls of the granary were all made of mud, a kind of specially treated clay. The walls were very sturdy. In order to prevent the formation of moisture, the interior of these walls had to be heated with fire after construction. This would force out most of the water vapor and allow the interior space to be in a dry environment to prevent the food from becoming moist.
For storing food, the most fearful thing was moisture and heat. Moisture would cause the food to rot, and heat would cause the food to ferment. The end result was that the food would rot and spoil. Therefore, these two problems must be paid attention to. The best way to store food in a dry environment was to preserve it at room temperature.
In order to ensure that the granary was dry, it had to be built in a place as far away from water as possible. Building a granary on the side of a river was obviously very unsuitable. Building a granary in a place filled with water vapor was also very undesirable. Building a granary in a dry place was the best option. During construction, a series of dehumidification techniques had to be used to ensure that the granary would not become moist in the future.
For example, burning firewood inside the granary would dry the interior walls and the ground. At the same time, a lot of dry rice bran and wheat bran would be added inside and evenly spread on the ground. This would further prevent the underground moisture from rising and destroying the food in the granary.
All these measures were to prevent the food in the granary from rotting and deteriorating. There were generally two ways to store food. One was directly in bulk, which was the most efficient way to store food. The other was in bags, which was to use rancid sacks to store the food, and then put the sacks in the granary.
These two storage methods had their own advantages and disadvantages. Bulk was more space-saving and could allow a granary to store more food. Bags were easier to manage, so there would be some gaps between each generation of food. These gaps were obviously very good for dissipating heat and could better prevent the food from fermenting due to the high temperature.
"Assistant Minister Li, these two granaries store rice. Do you want to go in and take a look?"
The family head asked politely.
Ang Lee nodded and stepped in. He was very interested in the interior of the granary. How could he satisfy his curiosity if he did not take a look around?
After entering, Li An realized that the Yang family's grain storage was done in bulk and in bags. The so-called bulk method was to enclose a cylindrical space inside the granary and pour the grain directly into it. On the other hand, the bagging method was to put all the grain into bags and stack the bags one by one.
The interior space was quite large. There were more than a dozen small cylindrical devices filled with rice, and the shelves on the other side were also filled with food.
Perhaps to prevent the food from being stacked too high and causing the bags below to be crushed, they used a layered solution. There were a total of three layers, and each layer was the height of a person. This way, there would not be a situation where the bags below would be crushed, and it would be more convenient to access them.
Preliminary estimates showed that there were at least two thousand kilos of food. This amount of food was enough to feed five hundred people for a year. The Yang Family had more than one granary, and there were at least a dozen granaries. With so many granaries added together, it would be easy to feed a few thousand people. The Yang Family did not have that many people. The relatives and tenants of the family also had some surplus food. These were all stored safe food. If there was a famine, these food could save many lives.
"Not bad! One granary has two thousand kilos of food. Looks like your family has more than ten thousand kilos of food stored! Haha! This is really not bad! "
Ang Lee praised.
Li An was not shocked by the Yang Clan's storage of so much food. This was because there were many people in the capital who had stored much more food than the Yang Clan, and the Imperial Court had even more food. Everyone had the mindset of prioritizing food in their bones and could not be changed in a short period of time. Everyone understood the importance of food, and in times of famine, it would be safer to have food in their hands. Even if there was no famine, there was nothing wrong with storing more food. Even if some of the food became moldy, it would not be too big of a problem. For the sake of peace, even if they lost a little bit of food, it was still bearable.
"These are all the newly harvested rice from last year. They are all the latest."
The family head said.
It turned out that the Yang Family almost never kept food that was more than two years old. Every year, before the tenants handed in new food, they would sell the food from the previous year to make room for new food. This way, they could ensure that the food in the family would not become moldy because of being stored for too long.
In addition, when the two year old food was sold, the granary could be repaired to a certain extent. If there were any problems with the granary, they could be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent these problems from causing food safety problems.
The granary in front of them was last year's new food. In that case, the other granary was the previous year's food. Before the autumn harvest, these food had to be sold to welcome the new year's food.
This method of selling old food and storing new food was also used quite commonly in the future. The imperial court of the future would also store large amounts of food reserves. However, these reserves would be stored for a certain period of time and would definitely be sold to the market. Then, they would continue to store new food to ensure the food safety of the entire country.
For many people, they would definitely be more inclined to buy new food. This was because the taste of new food was much more delicious than old food. The nutrition was also better than old food. However, the price of old food was closer to the people, so the price would naturally be lower. For some people who did not have a high income, the price of old food was still very attractive. In order to save some money, it was not a bad idea to buy old food.
Restaurants, cafeterias, and food factories also required large amounts of food. When these units purchased food, they would naturally be more inclined to buy old food. After all, the price of old food was there. Buying old food from a few years ago could save a lot of money and was a great benefit to reducing costs.
As a result, the food in the cafeteria would always be so unpalatable. It would always make people feel that it was difficult to swallow. It could never be compared to the food at home. Many people felt that it was a problem with the culinary skills. In fact, it had a lot to do with the ingredients.
Every year, they would store two thousand kilograms of new food. This amount was already not small for the Yang family. It was enough to ensure that when the Yang family encountered a famine, no one would starve to death.
Ang Lee casually touched a handful of food. At first glance, it was indeed last year's new food. From the quality of the rice, one could tell the year. Although it was not particularly accurate, it was still very obvious that it was new within a year. As long as one was experienced, it would be very easy to distinguish. Otherwise, how could one determine the price of rice?
The price of rice was not only related to the variety, but also the year. The newer the rice, the more expensive it was. This was the opposite of wine. The longer wine was stored, the more expensive it would be.
The reason why the Yang Family only stored the excess grain for less than two years was naturally because they were worried that it would spoil. Even though this era also had the technology to store grain for decades, that was something only the imperial court could do. Building a granary that could store grain for decades was not an easy task. There were too many factors that had to be considered in order to build a granary that could store grain for decades. It had to be fully considered in terms of moisture resistance, heat insulation, ventilation, airtightness, resistance against insects, rats, sparrows, and fire. It also had to be easy to store and retrieve grain, easy to store grain in bulk, and sturdy enough to withstand earthquakes. In short, there were too many things to consider. The better the quality of the granary, the longer it could store grain safely.
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