Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Settled in the Neighboring Mountain Village
Songjiang City.
The towering city wall was wide and broad. It took Gu Youan more than ten steps to walk from the city gate to the inside of the city, which shows how wide the city wall was.
Seeing Gu Youan sizing up the city wall, Han, the shopkeeper standing nearby, said with a smile, "This is the west gate of Songjiang City. Because the west gate is close to Prince Qi's mansion and the government office, ordinary people usually don't pass through here unless they're going to the government office for business."
"Which gate did you go through?"
"Except for the West Gate, which is rarely used, the other three gates are all frequently used. However, we merchants mostly use the South Gate. Outside the South Gate is the official road, and caravans from the interior enter the city through the South Gate. The east and west streets near the South Gate are the most prosperous, with all kinds of shops and goods from both the north and south. Most merchants who come and go end up there."
It is also because of the prosperity of the South City Gate that the land price near the South City Gate is the most expensive, except for the place where officials and their families live at the West City Gate.
Large merchants like the Han family, who rank among the top in Songjiang City, all have large houses near the South City Gate.
The soldiers guarding the city conducted a thorough inspection, and it took quite a while before it was Gu Youan and his group's turn. Manager Han, who was standing behind them, gave instructions, "Although Songjiang City is small, the rules are very strict. Even people from Prince Qi's Mansion entering the city have to go through the necessary procedures. No one is allowed to get away with it lightly."
Speaking of Songjiang City, Manager Han praised Songjiang City and Prince Qi's Mansion highly.
Gu Youan looked at the Su family members in front of him and thought to himself, since Prince Qi values Su Guang, his former teacher, why didn’t Prince Qi come to greet the Su family members when they entered the city?
After the people from Prince Qi's Mansion entered the city, the people in the queue behind them had almost nothing, so they entered the city much faster.
Officer Huang waited until everyone was present, then took the four families to the yamen to hand over the documents. The Su family also went, and Zhou Changshi naturally had to accompany them.
Before leaving for the yamen, Zhou Changshi politely thanked Han, the shopkeeper, and said, "Our prince went out on an inspection tour a few days ago and has not been home these days. When our prince comes home and meets Lord Su, he will definitely thank Han, the shopkeeper, for his generous help."
"Hahaha, Mr. Zhou is too polite."
Shopkeeper Han had been following the people from Prince Qi's Mansion back to Songjiang City, waiting for this sentence. Now that his goal had been achieved, Shopkeeper Han would not stay any longer.
With Zhou Changshi leading the way, the handover to the government office went smoothly. When writing the new household registration, Zhou Changshi told the clerk, "The Su family's household registration is in Huaihua Lane, Second Street, West City. The Tian and Gu families are exempted from five years of land reclamation. They will be registered as ordinary citizens and sent to Dongyuan County. As for the Li family, we will follow the rules."
The Su family was very excited, and the two daughters-in-law held their mother-in-law, Mrs. Lu's, hands tightly, their eyes sparkling with tears of excitement.
They had just heard that the government office was on West First Street, and behind it was West Second Street. Almost all officials in Songjiang City lived on West Second Street. With Zhou Changshi making this arrangement, didn't it mean that the future of the Su family was set?
That’s great. With the protection of Prince Qi’s Mansion, the good days for the Su family are yet to come.
The Gu and Tian families were naturally delighted as they were spared five years of reclaiming wasteland. Only the Li family was panicked, and Mrs. Liu was so pale that she almost fainted.
The clerk smiled and said, "Master Zhou, it would be cheaper for the Gu and Tian families to change their household registration to civilians. However, the population in Dongyuan County is quite large, and we can no longer accommodate them. Even if they go there, it will be difficult to get land."
Dongyuan County is located to the east of Songjiang City. It is backed by mountains and faces water, and is also a large plain. Dongyuan County was the first area chosen for reclamation. Over the years, the population of Dongyuan County has continued to grow, and it has gradually developed from a village into a town, and from a town into a county. There is no land to be distributed to the new population, so where can there be land to be distributed to outsiders?
"Where do you think it would be appropriate to send it?"
The clerk smiled and said, "Dongyuan County is overcrowded and difficult to visit. The area to the north is being reclaimed, so it's messy and difficult to live in. I think the neighboring mountain village in the northeast corner is a good choice. It was only reclaimed two or three years ago, so there's plenty of land and few people, so we can still get enough land."
According to the rules of Songjiang City, children under the age of fifteen, regardless of gender, are allocated three acres of land, men over the age of fifteen are allocated ten acres of land, and women are allocated eight acres of land.
For example, Dongyuan County, with its large population and limited land, certainly cannot distribute the land in full, but the neighboring mountain villages in the northeast corner can still do it.
Zhou Changshi asked Gu Wen and Tian Qingde: "What do you think?"
Gu Wen and Tian Qingde exchanged a glance, then both bowed and said, "We will follow your instructions, sir."
Zhou Changshi nodded with satisfaction: "It's settled."
Liu was anxious, but before she could open her mouth, she was stopped by her second daughter-in-law, Xu. Xu even covered her mouth rudely. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started to quarrel, and no one cared.
Zhou Changshi was going to send the Su family to the Second Street in the west of the city, so the Gu family, the Tian family and the Su family said goodbye.
After completing their mission, Officer Huang and the others left.
After the clerk finished his work, he said, "Wait a moment in the yamen. Someone will come to take you there."
"Thank you, sir." Gu Wen was full of gratitude.
The clerk paused and said, "Let me tell you something. This place is different from the interior of the country. Outside Songjiang City, there are many mountains, rivers, and wild animals. This is especially true over there in the neighboring village, which is close to Tiger Ridge. Behind Tiger Ridge are endless mountains, and there are countless wild animals. You guys are new here, so if you don't understand something, ask your neighbors. It will be to your benefit."
"Thank you for your advice, sir!"
The clerk nodded and walked away with his hands behind his back.
Gu Wen and Tian Qingde sighed lightly. Even though they had arrived in Songjiang City, the future would not be easy.
The Gu and Tian families were whispering about the neighboring mountain village, while over there the Li family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a big quarrel. Liu cursed at her second daughter-in-law Xu and asked her second son to divorce her.
Xu sneered and said, "It would be best if you divorce me. I can find an ordinary person to marry again. Whether I become a stepmother or marry a widower, I won't have to suffer in the wilderness anyway."
Li Qingyun, the second son of the Li family, held onto Xu's arm and refused to let go: "Don't say such angry words."
Xu shook Li Qingyun off and angrily said, "Don't you see what your mother said? Li Wangfeng recruited bandits to kill people, and the Prince Qi's Mansion didn't kill us, so you should be happy. Your mother wanted to tear them apart just now. What's going on? Is she afraid that we won't live long enough?"
"What if someone died? Even if someone died, King Qi couldn't sentence us, and the officers could only send the news back to Luoyang. My Liu family has a concubine, so why should I be afraid of them?"
Xu was so angry that she almost laughed. Liu must have gone crazy to say such words. With such a person in the family, life will never be easy in the future.
She turned to Li Qingyun and said, "Although we have been married for less than two years, our love for each other remains. I have only one thing to say today: either we separate and live separately, and I will go with you to open up the wasteland; or we divorce and I will marry someone else, and you will go with your brother, sister-in-law, and your mother."
Li Qingyun was silent.
The eldest sister-in-law, Mrs. Xie, hurriedly advised: "We are all family. It is common for things to get heated and angry. Why does your sister-in-law have to force your second brother like this?"
Xu curled her lips and said, "Sister-in-law, I call you sister-in-law for my husband's sake. If you treat me like Zhang and let you manipulate me, then you are making a mistake. If you insist on not dividing the family, then let's give it a try and see how far this family can go."
Xu acted like she was determined to fight to the death, so Xie didn't dare to try to persuade her and quickly winked at her husband.
Li Chengfeng frowned: "Second brother, although mother is confused, she is your biological mother after all. Please persuade your wife."
Li Qingyun made a decision: "Brother, let's split up the family. You are the eldest brother, and mother will live with you. If my wife and I are well off in the future, we will definitely not be short of filial piety to mother."
Li Chengfeng wanted to speak again to persuade them, but Xu immediately said, "Brother, we know about the arrangements made by Dad. That amount of money is not small. If you refuse to give up now, then we should divide the family property properly. Before you speak, you'd better ask your sister-in-law if she is willing to give it to us."
Xie was naturally reluctant, but she had to say, "Forget it, if you don't want to serve me, forget it. Anyway, as the eldest son and daughter-in-law, my husband and I will not shirk our responsibilities."
Xu said to Li Qingyun, "You fool, do you understand?"
Li Qingyun was shocked. He didn't expect that his elder brother and sister-in-law really had money in their hands. If that was the case, if that was the case... why was Wen Dan stripped of his clothes and thrown out to freeze to death by the bandits, and why didn't his elder brother and sister-in-law save him?
Could the rumors be true?
Isn’t Wen Dan born from my sister-in-law’s belly?
Then whose child is Wen Dan?
Li Qingyun looked at his mother and his elder brother, neither of them spoke.
Could it be that my mother and the others’ love for Wen Dan is fake?
Xu sneered and pulled her husband Li Qingyun aside, not staying with the Li family.
The Gu and Tian families were also shocked when they heard this. What kind of person could give up their own children and grandchildren for money?
Tian Erlang winked at Gu Wenqing, and he said, a wealthy family like the Li family must have connections and must have made plans long ago.
Mrs. Du was so angry that she spat at Mrs. Liu: "At least the child called you grandma, and you let him freeze to death outside like this. Aren't you afraid that one day in the underworld, the King of Hell will fry your family in a frying pan."
"What are you arguing about? What are you arguing about?"
Two officers came in, glared at the group, and snorted coldly, "Who's Li Chengfeng?"
Li Chengfeng stepped forward: "I am Li Chengfeng."
"Call your family and follow me to Beihuang Village. Humph, in the middle of winter, you're always causing trouble for me."
"Yes, yes, thank you for your help, sir."
The Li family was called away, and another yamen runner was much gentler. Gu Youan guessed that this runner probably knew the relationship between the Gu and Su families.
It was still early at this time, and it was noon when the officers sent the two families to the neighboring mountain village. The officers handed them over to the head of the village, and the mission was completed.
The village head of the neighboring village was literate and spoke standard Mandarin. He looked at the household registrations of the two families and said, "The first snow fell a while ago, so it's too late to ask you to build houses now. Fortunately, there are a few vacant houses left over from the land reclamation two years ago. If you want to live there, you can rent them."
"Excuse me, may I ask the village head, how can I rent a house?"
"The houses left behind by the land reclamation belong to the government. After the land is reclaimed and no longer needed, they are sold to the people who left behind. If you can't afford to buy them, you can rent them. The price is also cheap, ten cents a month for a room."
That's...really cheap.
There were five or six houses left in the neighboring mountain village that had not been sold. After the two families followed the village head to look at the houses, the Gu family chose a house with five rooms at the east end of the village, and the Tian family chose a house with three rooms in the village. The two families were about three miles apart.
Gu Wenqing couldn't help but sigh that this place is so vast and sparsely populated.
After deciding on a house, Gu Youan stood at the door and looked around. The nearest house was two miles away, while their house was close to Laohuling behind.
Gu Youan walked around the house. This house is called a cellar, half of it is built underground and half of it is above ground. It was the first time she had seen it.
Mrs. Du pushed the door open and entered the house. She knew at a glance that many people must have lived in this house before. Among the five rooms, except for a kitchen, the other four rooms had kangs, and the walls on both sides were connected, so at least a dozen people could lie in one room.
"It takes a lot of firewood to heat this big kang."
There were only a few empty rooms, and they didn't even have firewood to cook today, let alone firewood to heat the kang.
Gu Wenqing said, "Dad, we still need to ask the village head for help and borrow an axe to go up the mountain to chop firewood."
"Don't worry about that. First ask the village head if there's anyone selling firewood."
Gu Wenqing was shocked: "Do we still have money?"
Gu Wen smiled and said, "We don't have much money left, but it will be delivered soon. Just wait and see."
The Prince Qi's Mansion would not treat Su Guang badly, and would naturally provide the Su family with everything they needed. Su Guang and his wife came from a prominent family, and both were well-respected. When they became well-off, they would naturally think of repaying the Gu family.
Gu Youan and her father had the same idea. She was also waiting to use the Su family as an excuse to move some food and daily necessities out of the space so that she could take good care of the health of the whole family during the winter.
Ah Xuan jumped happily: "Sister, there is a hole in the yard!"
The family hurried out to the yard to look. Mrs. Du looked and said with a smile, "Silly child, this is a cellar, used to store things."
"Hey, there's nothing in the cellar." A Xuan squatted on the ground and looked.
"It will be available in a few days."
Food and daily necessities are indispensable.
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