When Lin Jiuyue heard the village chief's words, he immediately understood the meaning behind them.

"Haha, since the village chief has said so, I'll get some wine for him after things are done."

Lin Jiuyue didn't force it, but directly gave the silver back. He thought that after the village chief helped him to get things done, he would give a little more silver.

The village chief said with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll wait."

After discussing with the village chief, Lin Jiuyue went back to his house and stayed there for a while. At noon, he heard the sound of gongs and drums in the village. Lin Jiuyue knew that the gongs and drums must have been played by the village chief.

Following the crowd, Lin Jiuyue also arrived at the dam in Shangbei Village where the "meeting" was held.

The villagers heard the sound of gongs and drums and arrived one after another.

When most people had arrived, the village chief told the villagers about Lin Jiuyue's plan to reclaim the hill.

Among the villagers, some were opposed, some were neutral, and some wanted to please Lin Jiuyue and agreed with Lin Jiuyue's plan to open up the wasteland.

The village chief and Lin Jiuyue stood in the middle of the dam, listening to the villagers' discussion.

After waiting for a long time, when the villagers had almost finished discussing, the village chief finally spoke.

"Miss Lin said that she didn't reclaim the land at random. If everyone agrees, Miss Lin is willing to give our fellow villagers some compensation."

After hearing this, the villagers started discussing it with their fellow villagers.

"I heard that the Lin family only has these two siblings. I originally thought they were fleeing famine and definitely didn't have much money. I didn't expect them to have so much money. They're even willing to pay for clearing the wasteland."

"If you ask me, the Lin siblings don't know how to live. The land on that little hill is so barren that it can't even produce any food. Yet they're still thinking of spending money to cultivate it. If they really do cultivate it, won't they lose a lot of money?"

"That's not necessarily true. I heard that the Lin brothers and sisters are both extremely strong. Perhaps reclaiming wasteland is a piece of cake for them."

The news that Lin Jiuyue and Lin Qiye were "as strong as an ox" had spread throughout Shangbei Village. Now everyone in Shangbei Village knew that Lin Jiuyue and her brother were not ordinary people.

"I'm not interested in what you're saying. I just want to know how much money the Lin family plans to give to compensate the villagers."

The hill is the property of Shangbei Village. If the Lin family wants to reclaim it all, the villagers will definitely not agree.

But the village chief had just said that the Lin family was willing to give the villagers some compensation. With the compensation, the villagers' thoughts would change. If the compensation was appropriate, no one would object.

"Village head? Miss Lin, you said there is compensation. How much is it?"

A bold villager in the crowd asked.

The village chief didn't know how much compensation Lin Jiuyue was going to give, so he had to focus his attention on Lin Jiuyue.

Lin Jiuyue lowered his head and thought about it.

The silver cannot be given too much, as it would not be worth it, nor can it be given too little, as the villagers would feel unbalanced.

Shangbei Village has a relatively large population. In the entire village, there are more than 200 people, big and small.

"My fellow villagers, everyone knows that our Lin family is a refugee from famine. We are not wealthy. If we were rich, we would have bought a house in the city long ago and would not have been assigned to the countryside."

"We are reclaiming this small hill to see if we can grow something valuable. If we do grow something, we will teach everyone how to grow it for free."

"I don't have much money on me right now. We're all from Shangbei Village, and you all know the land prices here better than I do."

"Today, I also asked the village chief. There are 232 people in Shangbei Village, both big and small. I thought that the compensation should be based on the number of people, not households. I thought that each person should get 100 copper coins. If everyone agrees, I will bring the copper coins over tomorrow."

"But let's make it clear. Once you take the copper coins, you can't go back on your word. And you have to sign and put your fingerprints on it."

One hundred copper coins per person may not sound like a lot at first, but in that era, a large family could have more than ten people.

In other words, families with many people might be able to get one or two taels of silver!

Although the money wasn't much, it was like money falling from the sky. Most of the villagers smiled happily after hearing this. However, a few were not very satisfied and wanted to get more benefits.

The village chief stood in the middle and saw the expressions of the villagers.

"Everyone, listen to me."

"Everyone knows what this little hill looks like. If it was really valuable, it wouldn't have been there until now."

"That little hill is empty anyway. We might as well let the Lin family use it to reclaim wasteland. Everyone can get some copper coins. If you don't agree and miss this opportunity, you might not get a single copper coin in the future."

"The Lin family has also said that they won't force anyone. If anyone disagrees, the Lin family won't care about the land and will just reclaim two or three acres. However, our Nanyue country has regulations that allow for free reclaiming of wasteland. If that happens, the Lin family won't spend a penny."

After the hilltop was reclaimed, the Lin family was willing to compensate them with some silver out of consideration for the villagers. However, if only two or three acres were reclaimed, they would not have to pay a penny.

"Everyone, please consider this. Those who agree with the Lin family's land reclamation should stand on my right, and those who disagree should stand on my left."

The village chief directed the villagers and asked those who had considered it to start taking sides.

The voices of discussion in the crowd grew louder.

But as time went on, more and more people appeared on the village chief's right hand side.

Some villagers were still wavering, and the villagers standing on the right were getting anxious.

The village chief and the Lin family girl just said that if many villagers disagree, the Lin family will not go to open up the wasteland.

Wouldn’t this just mean that all the money you have earned is gone?

"Oh, what are you still thinking about? That little hill has been there for so many years. Who in our village has gone to reclaim it? If you really want to reclaim it, can't you do it in the back mountain? It's not that much land."

"That's right, it's so hard to find someone willing to pay for the land reclamation? What are you still considering? Come on over here quickly."

After all, those who wavered were only a minority. After hearing the villagers' advice and the village chief's previous "brainwashing", they slowly walked to the village chief's right.

It took less than an hour from the time the villagers gathered until now, and there were only two families left standing on the left side of the village chief.

Lin Jiuyue had originally thought that it was impossible for all the villagers to agree at once. With the current "battle situation", Lin Jiuyue was already very satisfied.

The village chief looked at the two families standing on his left and frowned with some dissatisfaction.