Chapter 110 Chapter 110 Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong are not stupid...
Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong were not fools, so how could they not see that this was a trap set by Xue Fenglin to force them to agree to his proposal to rent out the land?
But now they are stuck here, it is very embarrassing. If they all disagree, wouldn’t they be going against everyone in the government? The relationship that had been built up with great difficulty over the years was broken up by Xue Fenglin!
"This... It's not that I'm reluctant to give up my annual salary, but using up my annual salary can only solve the temporary deficit. If we talk about a long-term solution, the first method can solve the problem." Shi Jinrong hesitated for a moment, but still spoke.
After all, his family background is not as rich as Chen Wenxun's. Rather than spending my annual salary, it would be more cost-effective to agree to rent the land. Anyway, if the land cannot be rented out, he won't suffer any loss. It would be even better if it could be rented out, as it would also increase the income for the government.
Chen Wenxun originally wanted to go against Xue Fenglin. But at this time even Shi Jinrong had defected, and there were so many people in the yamen who owed wages, so he didn't dare to force his way in. He could only reluctantly say: "That's right, the first method is better. Then post a notice and let the people and wealthy businessmen in Sarawak see if anyone is willing to rent the land!"
He said this almost with gritted teeth, but Xue Fenglin smiled when he heard it.
He said with a smile on his face, "Since everyone supports this method, let's do it. I have found all the land deeds under the government's name, and have had them calculated. I will post the form later and rent it out at the market price, with a minimum lease term of ten years. Do you two adults have any objections?"
What other opinions could Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong have? If you have any objections, you will have to wait for your annual salary to be paid.
Seeing that they didn't say anything, Xue Fenglin took out the documents he had prepared long ago and brought them to them, asking them to sign and seal them.
Once the document was signed, it would become a reform plan jointly decided by several officials in the Sarawak government. No matter how Xue Fenglin manipulated it, they could not complain to others without Xue Fenglin's permission, or deliberately obstruct anything.
Xue Fenglin easily controlled the governor and the judge with this move, and made them agree to rent the land according to his plan.
When Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong came to their senses, they felt even more uncomfortable.
In the evening, Shi Jinrong went to Chen Wenxun's house again, had dinner with him, and discussed the next response strategy.
"Sir Chen, Magistrate Xue is very tactful in his work. He doesn't seem as easy to talk to as we thought before!" Shi Jinrong said with a long sigh.
Chen Wenxun was furious. He slammed the table and said angrily, "You are just a brat. You are just talking nonsense! Let him rent the land. I want to see which fool is willing to rent the wasteland!"
The next day, Wen Yi had just posted the proposed rental conditions on the notice board outside the government office, and it attracted a group of onlookers.
"Land for rent? Ten years minimum. Three hundred acres of sandy land near the dock? And a few pieces of wasteland in the suburbs outside Sarawak City, totaling five hundred acres?"
"One tael of silver per mu of land is not expensive. But it takes ten years to rent! And why rent sandy land? You can't grow food, but you can grow some fruit, but you won't make much money."
"What fool would spend money to rent such a wasteland?"
"There are still a lot of wastelands on the outskirts of the city. Once they are cultivated, they belong to you, but no one is willing to cultivate them. After all, if you get the land, you have to pay more taxes. With that little harvest, I'm afraid it won't even be enough to pay the extra taxes!"
"I don't think this land can be rented out. It's just something the new official came up with on the spur of the moment. Let's just take a look at it."
…
Even the clerk who posted the notices and the guard at the gate of the yamen shook their heads at the scene.
They said they would use the land rent to fill the shortfall and make up for their previous wage arrears. But looking at the situation, I'm afraid it won't work. After all, Xue Zhizhou is young. When he comes up with an idea, he just acts recklessly. But what's the use if he can't implement it?
Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong had anticipated this scenario, and although they saw that the land could not be rented out, they were secretly happy in their hearts.
Just as everyone was talking about it, a servant suddenly came forward and took down the notice posted on the notice board.
Wen Yi, who was in charge of the guard, immediately stopped him and asked, "My dear brother, you can't just post this notice randomly. What do you mean by this?"
The servant then said, "I put up this notice because my master wants to rent this land, right?"
"Ah? Someone wants to rent land?" Wen Yi was stunned. The first thought in his mind was that there was finally hope for his overdue salary!
He immediately treated the boy politely, and asked with a smile: "Which nobleman wants to rent the land? Please bring the person in to discuss it!"
Before the boy could answer, a handsome man came over, took the notice from the boy and said, "I want to rent the land."
Wen Yi didn't expect that the person who came was a boy, and he was stunned for a moment. Suddenly I felt that the guy looked very familiar, as if I had just met him before.
He thought about it carefully and suddenly slapped his head. Isn’t this guy the husband who came here with Lord Xue? I came to the yamen a few days ago!
Lord Xue proposed to rent land, and the husband of the Xue family came over and rented the wasteland. Was it Lord Xue's deliberate arrangement? Is it just to pay out of your own pocket to make up for everyone’s losses?
Are there really such officials in this world? Wen Yi couldn't believe it for a moment, but he couldn't think of a second possibility, and he couldn't help feeling excited.
He led Shen Xuan and the servant beside him into the yamen. Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong were stunned to see that the person who rented the land was Shen Xuan. I thought carefully about the strangeness of this, but I couldn't figure out anything.
"Eight hundred acres of land, all rented out." Shen Xuan put the notice on Xue Fenglin's desk and said to him.
Xue Fenglin had already discussed it with Shen Xuan at home, but now he had to act it out again. He deliberately put on an awkward look and said, "Xuan'er, what do you mean? Why do you have to do the land leasing yourself?"
Shen Xuan said, "It's only eight hundred taels a year, not even the monthly income of my shop in Beijing. It will save you from worrying about this and keeping you awake all night."
When Shen Xuan said this, everyone present was surprised again.
Sarawak is a poor place. Even officials like Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong, who usually take bribes, only have an annual salary plus other extra income of around 1,000 taels.
However, the eight hundred taels of silver mentioned by the husband of the Xue family was just a casual remark, and they didn't know how much silver the officials in the capital had.
It was only at this moment that he deeply felt that the Lord Xue in front of him was a prince from a marquis's mansion in the capital. After all, he had a strong family background, which was different from them, the local minor officials!
Since Xue Fenglin was paying for the performance out of his own pocket, Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong naturally would not object.
Besides, the eight hundred taels of silver a year would become public funds once they entered the yamen. If there was a surplus after taxation, it would also benefit them.
This time, Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong did not raise any objections. Instead, they received Shen Xuan politely and signed a lease contract with him.
The lease term of this contract is ten years, but it is only because Shen Xuan is the husband of the Xue family and has a good reputation. The rent does not have to be paid in one lump sum, but can be paid annually.
After the contract was drafted, Na Wenyi brought the red mud and asked Shen Xuan to sign and stamp his handprint. Shen Xuan did all of this, handed the contract to Wu Wang to keep, then bowed to Xue Fenglin before turning around and leaving.
When this matter came to the attention of everyone in the yamen, they all knew that it was Xue Fenglin who paid back the wages they were owed out of his own pocket. Everyone's original resistance to Xue Fenglin also disappeared, and they became much more motivated in doing their work.
"The new Master Xue is really good. He paid all our overdue salaries as soon as he arrived. I'm afraid he won't delay payment again in the future!"
"Although Lord Xue is a bit strict, he doesn't delay our salaries. I think he is much better than the previous governor."
"We are lucky. Lord Xue has such a rich family and doesn't need this little money. He gave it to us out of his own pocket. We should be more diligent in doing things in the future."
…
In the evening, Xue Fenglin returned home after finishing his business trip. Then he saw Shen Xuan asked Chef Huang to prepare a table of delicious dishes, and he also cooked his specialty fried chicken and red oil skewers himself.
"It smells so good!" Xue Fenglin had accomplished something big today and was in a good mood. He ate two more bowls of rice, which was a rare occasion.
After dinner, he took out the blueprint that he had planned long ago and said to Shen Xuan: "This dock needs to be renovated and dug deeper, which will probably cost a lot of money."
"The several acres of beach nearby will need to be reserved for commercial development. We can just hire someone to cultivate the sandy land nearby. This is easy, and we can get someone to do it tomorrow!"
Shen Xuan pointed to a blank space on the drawing and said, “The processing workshop will be built here. There is a hill in front to avoid typhoons, but it is not far from the dock, which is convenient for future transportation.”
"You are still thoughtful." Xue Fenglin said, hugging Shen Xuan's waist.
"But this is easier said than done. It will take time to implement it. It will probably take at least next year before we can achieve any results." Shen Xuan said to Xue Fenglin very seriously.
"Do you know how many years a prefect's term of office is?" Xue Fenglin laughed when he heard this: "Do you think next year is too slow? For any local official, if he can achieve some results within five years, it's already very good."
"Thinking about Chen Wenxun who opposes me in every way, there is nothing wrong with this matter." Xue Fenglin said with some emotion: "So it is difficult to get things done at the local level. To implement a good strategy, you must first fight wits and courage with these parasites."
"If I hadn't played a trick on them first and used the unpaid wages to control them, Chen Wenxun would have definitely opposed me, and Shi Jinrong would have followed him."
"Fortunately, the land is now in our hands. We can do whatever we want, and they can't say anything." Shen Xuan nodded and said, "When the workshop is up and running and the wharf is built, we will definitely make money. By that time, the wealthy businessmen outside will want to come and share a piece of the pie. Only then can Sarawak's business and wharf be fully operational!"
Shen Xuan asked Jin Gui and Jin Zhi to take charge of household affairs, while Wu Xin and Wu Wang were brought by him to be mainly responsible for recruiting workers and farming.
He found some tooth farmers in Sarawak and asked them to help him find experts who were good at growing fruits such as sugarcane, bananas or pineapples.
After searching for a few days, the people of Naya brought back more than a dozen people. Many of them had been to Southeast Asia or had married Southeast Asian wives, which is why they were good at growing these crops.
If the crops cannot be sold in Sarawak, they will make them into dried fruits and then find ways to take them to Southeast Asia to sell, which can also add income to the family.
Shen Xuan carefully inquired about their family, income and other information, and found that most of these people were smart and their families were not too poor.
He selected some people with reliable information and asked them to stay and teach others planting techniques. Afterwards, the rented land was subcontracted out at the price of half a dollar per acre.
That is to say, as long as you come to farm, you can get half a dollar per acre of land a year, and you can hand over the crops to the landlord without paying taxes.
For the impoverished people of Sarawak, half a dollar was actually a considerable income, so many people in Sarawak city with surplus labor rented two or three acres of land to earn extra money.
It didn't take long for the five hundred acres of sandy land to be leased out.
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