At this moment, Thomas Bell's wife The Carter Family whispered a few words in his ear. Thomas Bell nodded, coughed, and said in a sharp voice, “There’s something I want to tell everyone. Autumn sowing is coming soon, and I’ll need everyone’s help with the work in the fields. Don’t worry, we’re all colleagues here at the watchtower. When it’s time to work, I’ll make sure everyone gets enough to eat.”

According to the Ming dynasty’s guard-post system, just like ordinary banner soldiers, the soldiers stationed at watchtowers in various places were also allocated forty to fifty mu of land, along with oxen, tools, seeds, and so on, so that the soldiers could farm and support themselves while focusing on their duties. The few soldiers at the Jingbian watchtower were all hereditary military households; their ancestors had lived here, and they too had originally been allocated land. Although military households had to pay two dou of grain per mu as rent—double what ordinary civilian households paid—back in the early Ming, they could still live decently.

However, the flaws of the Ming dynasty’s land cultivation system meant that, over the years, most of the soldiers’ land at Jingbian watchtower, like that of other banner soldiers, had been almost entirely seized by officers at various levels from Shunxiang Fort and Dongjiazhuang. Privately, they had also become tenant farmers for these officers. In recent years, with constant natural disasters and the heavy annual rents they had to pay, it was nearly impossible to make ends meet. That’s why they and their families looked like beggars.

As the chief banner officer, Thomas Bell’s family also had one hundred mu of inherited officer’s land. He was an official of some rank, with a certain amount of influence, so his land wasn’t seized by others. But since his rank was low, he couldn’t seize much land from others either. Still, he had his own way: he made several of his subordinate soldiers farm and work for him. This was a common phenomenon in the Ming guard-post military system.

After the mid-Ming period, in order to curb the practice of officials and military officers seizing military households’ land, the Ming court allocated each officer a certain amount of “clean salary” land according to their rank. Thomas Bell’s family received fifty mu, making a total of one hundred and fifty mu. Besides what his family farmed themselves, most of the land was worked by his subordinate soldiers. In the past, Henry Carter had been the main laborer.

It was now the thirteenth day of the eighth month in the seventh year of Chongzhen. According to the modern solar calendar, it was only early September. Normally, it wouldn’t be time yet for autumn wheat sowing, but in the Ming dynasty, due to the effects of the Little Ice Age, the weather turned cold early, so the autumn wheat sowing in Bao’an Prefecture happened much earlier. That was why Thomas Bell was speaking up.

David Miller was the first to speak: “Come on, Chief Zhong, helping you with some work is our duty. Even if you didn’t ask, we’d help out on our own. Why even mention food? Saying that makes it sound like we’re outsiders.”

A smile appeared on Thomas Bell’s oily face as he gave David Miller an approving look. Thomas Bell’s wife The Carter Family also praised David Miller: “Buddy Miller is really clever.”

After hearing Thomas Bell’s words, Brian Reed and Frank Howard both looked bitter. Along with David Miller, the three of them were tenant farmers under Zhang Gui, the squad officer of Dongjiazhuang. Their daily farm work was already heavy, and now they had to help Thomas Bell for free. Life was truly hard. But after so many years, they had become numb and used to it. If Thomas Bell wanted them to work, they’d do it. At least they’d get a few solid meals out of it. In these times, having food was already something.

Brian Reed was about thirty years old, from an ordinary military household. Strangely, he was literate, and though he was small and thin, his appetite was astonishing. When he spoke, he didn’t ask about anything else, but first asked, “Chief Zhong, will we really get enough to eat when we work?”

Brian Reed’s question made Thomas Bell unhappy. He fell silent with a sullen face. His wife The Carter Family scolded from the side, “Of course! Would our head of household lie to you? But Monkey Reed, could you maybe eat a little less when the time comes? You eat so much, no matter how much we have, you’ll eat us out of house and home!”

Brian Reed scratched his head, a little embarrassed. His wife The Taylor Family tugged at him, signaling him not to speak carelessly. It was no wonder Brian Reed had doubts—every time Thomas Bell promised to feed the workers well, Brian Reed never got his fill. When it came to stinginess, Thomas Bell was famous in the area.

Next to Brian Reed, Frank Howard, who was two years younger, was most concerned about his own land. He hesitated for a while and asked, “Chief Zhong, how many days will this work take? I’m afraid I’ll miss the right time to work my own fields.”

Thomas Bell replied irritably, “Just be quick about it when the time comes, won’t you?”

While they were talking, the brothers Charles Grant and John Grant stood leisurely to the side. They had no problem helping Thomas Bell as long as there was food. Like Henry Carter, they weren’t from military households, but had been recruited from civilian households in recent years. No one knew where the Charles Grant brothers had wandered in from, but because they were skilled, they were recruited as “night scouts,” becoming reconnaissance soldiers for the Ming. Henry Carter was from the nearby Xinzhuang village.

Originally, the three had joined the army just for the rations—one shi of rice per month—and didn’t have to pay rent on military land, so the prospects were good. But in recent years, the court often delayed their pay, and for more than half the year, they received no silver or rice at all. This made life extremely hard for the Charles Grant brothers, sometimes even worse than for the watchtower soldiers, who at least had some income from renting and farming land.