Chapter 94

When Zhang Fangyuan returned from the city with the documents, the house was bustling with activity.

"Twelve pounds, seven hundred and twenty coins. Do you have your own change?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Two hundred dollars and eighty coins."

In the yard, Xu He held the money box and put money into it for the villagers who came to deliver silk cocoons. Gan Cao weighed the cocoons for the villagers, and Huang Qi looked after the two children.

Ruili looked at the lively yard, full of energy and joy, running around the yard. Ruijin didn't like such a lively scene, but fortunately, the villagers who came today were all busy with things and were in a hurry to get their money, so no one had the leisure to amuse the children. He sat quietly on a chair next to his little father, watching him count the money.

The whole money had to be paid, and the loose change had to be counted, except for the ones that had been tied up in a string early in the morning. Xu He muttered to himself as he counted out each penny.

Rui Jin, who was leaning against him, seemed to be in great excitement, staring at his father's hand intently: "One, two, three..."

When Xu He heard the soft voice beside him, he couldn't help but stop what he was doing and turned his head to look at Rui Jin with his eyes wide open.

Ruijin's eyes were not as big as Xiaoli'er's. Seeing Xiaodie's eyes widen, he also widened his eyes: "Did you count wrong?"

Xu He shook his head: "How can you count?"

"I watched Daddy count."

"Oh my, this child is so talented. He can already count at such a young age!" The villagers who were waiting to be paid were also surprised. On the one hand, they praised him, and on the other hand, they boasted about the child and the Zhang family: "He is so precocious. Maybe he will be a good businessman in the future!"

Xu He ignored the villagers' flattery, he was very happy in his heart. Rui Jin didn't talk much and was a little indifferent to people outside his family, so that the villagers outside who didn't know the whole story spread that the child was a little stupid. He didn't care how others talked about him, but he couldn't bear to see others talking about the child.

Seeing how smart the child was, the villagers were unable to say anything.

Xu He counted the coins a little louder this morning, and specially taught Rui Jin how to count.

However, Ruijin just blinked and looked at his little father and stopped learning.

Xu He frowned slightly.

The villagers said, "Children are like this. If you don't want to teach them, they will learn a thing or two. If you want to teach them, they will think it is not a game but a matter, and they will lose interest in it."

Xu He felt that what the villagers said made sense. After all, the children were too young and should not be forced. Otherwise, if they became tired of studying in the future, it would be difficult to find a teacher to teach them.

He touched Ruijin's head, his soft hair felt very smooth, and kissed the child on the cheek. He continued to work, leaving Ruijin to stay quiet again.

“The silkworm cocoons are pretty good this year!”

When Zhang Fangyuan entered the house, the villagers all greeted him politely.

"It's pretty good." Xu He looked up at Zhang Fangyuan, wanting to ask if the land issue was settled, but because of the villagers selling silk cocoons in the yard, he didn't ask. Seeing that he looked happy, he thought there was no big problem, so he said, "Already received nearly fifty kilograms."

"The warehouse doesn't have to be empty now."

Just as Zhang Fangyuan finished speaking, Ruili, who was running in the yard, ran back and stretched out his long arms like lotus roots, asking him to hug him.

He bent down and picked up the child. The weather today was sunny but not hot, but Ruili was still running and sweating all over. He was so sticky that he didn't know he was a dirty child. He hugged Zhang Fangyuan's arm and complained that his father kissed his brother but not him.

Xu He said: "Little Li is too vindictive. I wonder who was chasing butterflies under the osmanthus tree and refused to come over."

Zhang Fangyuan looked at Xiaoligeer who buried his head in his chest with embarrassment and said, "Then just give it a kiss from Big Daddy."

Little Li then raised his head and leaned forward to let his father kiss him.

This time, nearly 100 kilograms of silk cocoons were harvested. The reason for so many was that the early batch of silkworm farmers stored the cocoons. This time, it was equivalent to sending out two batches at once. Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He estimated that the last batch of villagers would increase the number of silkworms raised this year. After all, some people have started to collect silk cocoons, and they are willing to do it if the products can be sold smoothly.

Song Yong only comes to Siyang twice a year. When he comes in the spring to deliver the summer cloth, Zhang Fangyuan can sell the collected silk cocoons once, and then sell them again in the autumn. It is very suitable.

Zhang Fangyuan felt relieved after watching the servants spread hay on the boxes containing the silk cocoons and placed them in the brightest and driest warehouse.

"Has the government approved the land issue?"

"Approved. In the past two years, the nearby villages have been doing business, and everyone has more money in their pockets than before. It is easier for the county government to collect taxes than before. The county magistrate has a good impression of our villages. I heard that the county magistrates from our villages who went to do business there were all very friendly."

The reason why Zhang Fangyuan was gone for so long was because the county magistrate pulled him aside and talked for a long time. If merchants and farmers made money, the county government's tax revenue would easily increase. The county magistrate was naturally very tolerant of the landlords and big families. Not only did he send people to measure the land area, he even encouraged Zhang Fangyuan to open up more wasteland.

After a conversation, Zhang Fangyuan realized that the court had also assigned tasks to each province and county, asking county magistrates to encourage the people to open up forests and reclaim wasteland in order to increase food and fodder income.

Many people live a tight life, with a small labor force and no one willing to reclaim wasteland. Many county magistrates are also troubled by this. Zhang Fangyuan took the initiative to ask for land to be reclaimed, and the county magistrate was of course happy.

Apart from other things, he did learn about some internal policies. However, Zhang Fangyuan knew that he could not eat too much. If he went to buy more land, there would not be enough labor in the family and he would have to spend more money.

The county magistrate refused and tried to persuade him: "Then we can round it up to an even number and measure the thirty-two acres of wasteland in your village to find exactly one hundred acres. This way, the chief clerk can remember it easily and I can report it to the higher authorities."

"I'm not forcing you to reclaim so much wasteland. It's just that your Jijiu Village hasn't done much reclaiming in recent years. You still need to learn from Hongshi Village in this regard."

Zhang Fangyuan said, "That's not true, sir. The land was only opened up two years ago when we were planting mulberry trees."

"How many acres is that? The scattered land in a village only adds up to a dozen acres."

This is quite true. The villagers are unwilling to reclaim wasteland because the cost is too high. They would rather use some of their own land to plant mulberry trees and raise fish, but they don't want to buy wasteland.

Seeing that he had nothing to say and refused to measure the land again, the county magistrate said, "How about this? I'll give you 32 acres of wasteland at the price of 28 acres of wasteland. This can be considered as an encouragement."

Zhang Fangyuan smiled slightly. Now that things had come to this, he couldn't refuse the county magistrate's face any more, so he decided to allocate 100 acres of land.

After listening to Zhang Fangyuan's talk, Xu He sighed and said, "It seems that we bought the land too expensive."

"I think so too. Everyone in the county government is a shrewd man. Although the people call the county magistrate the great master of justice, he controls most of Siyang. If he doesn't make some achievements on the land, how can he support his wives, concubines and children with the meager monthly salary from the court?"

Xu He also knew that the county magistrate had a wife and four concubines, in addition to others of unknown origin. He also had many children, all of whom were dressed in gold and silver, and looked very wealthy and luxurious. There is another large house in the busy streets of the east city, but the family fortune is far beyond the means of supporting it with the monthly salary given by the imperial court.

But even so, no common people dared to ask anything. After all, the county magistrate had never killed loyal officials, nor was he like those poor counties who wantonly exploited the people and merchants. As long as they could still make a living, they should be thankful.

"So where do you plan to use the extra dozens of acres of land?"

"More than 30 acres of land is not a lot, but we can't choose Haitang Bay. There is no wasteland on that side, and there are mountains and forests beyond. It will be more troublesome to cut down the forest and make land. It's not appropriate. We can just open up some wasteland on the side where we planted mulberry trees before."

Xu He nodded: "Then let's go and complete the formalities as soon as possible."

Zhang Fangyuan said, "The county government is more anxious than us. They will send someone to measure it tomorrow and complete the formalities with the village chief for us."

Xu He couldn't help but shake his head. The county government was very efficient in making money, and the chickens and ducks were given away for free.

By the time all the formalities were completed, it was already late autumn. The wasteland in Zhang Fangyuan's family, together with the old land he had managed before, totaled 120 acres, which was already on par with the landlords in the village.

But the difference is that the landlord's more than 100 acres of land is not wasteland. It is real land that can be used to grow crops directly, while theirs still needs to be reclaimed and cultivated.

Even so, stepping on the large piece of solid land, even if it still looks desolate and bleak, still makes the couple feel extremely secure and comfortable. The land gives people a sense of security that a shop cannot provide.

"We don't have many people, and we need to cultivate and fertilize the land. We won't be able to plant crops until at least the year after next."

"Good things take time, so it's better to take it slow. This way, I can have enough time to figure out what to plant and where to hire people."

Zhang Fangyuan found a stone block to sit on, looking at the Pennisetum taller than him and said, "I'm thinking of hiring farmers. The villages near us are doing well, but there are also poor villages under Siyang City. It shouldn't be a big problem to hire farmers from there. After all, with so much land, unless the entire Zhang family comes to farm, how can we manage it with just a few of us?"

Xu He responded.

After winter came, before the couple even announced that they wanted to hire people to cultivate the land, villagers who were not busy with farming came to them on their own and asked if they needed to hire anyone.

Seeing that many people were asking, Zhang Fangyuan took the opportunity to say that he wanted to hire people, but the wages were low, 30 cents a day for men and 20 cents a day for women. No meals would be provided, but anyone who was willing to come could come.

However, when Xu He was discussing his wages with him, he said, "This is not good."

"Do you think the wages are too low?"

Xu He shook his head: "It's not that the wages are low. During the slack season, the wages of laborers everywhere are low. It's just that you set this price and asked them to work for a day. Many people might be lazy. Anyway, they only get this much money for a full day."

He has dug so much ground that his experience could not be richer.

"So what do you mean?"

Xu He said: "That's easy. Tell the villagers how much it costs to cultivate one mu of land instead of how much it costs per day. This way they will definitely not be lazy and will definitely work faster than anyone else."

Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "You are amazing."

It was just as Xu He had expected. The wages for work changed from daily pay for a day's work to corresponding pay for each acre of land reclaimed. The villagers really worked quickly and effectively. Almost no one was bragging or chatting in the fields and wasted their time. Some even brought their families to work in the fields, asking their younger children to cut grass and fill mud, etc. The strong ones moved the stones in the wasteland and dug the soil.

One winter, all the laborers in the village were working on the wasteland of Zhang Fangyuan's home, and it was very busy.

Almost everyone had something to do, and they were all grateful to Zhang Fangyuan for giving them work. Those who used to call him "butcher" or "boss" now called him "landlord" with all kinds of nice things. This was much better than gossiping about him during the winter when there was no farming work.