One of them went to search through the files and copied down the list of homeless children.
One of them went to prepare food and drinks to offset the wages.
Over the next few days, Zheng Ruqian and Zhang Qiquan visited hundreds of homeless children on their own, and finally managed to gather enough land for thirty acres.
The people they hired were also quite interesting. There were eight households in Shilipu Village that sold their land, so they selected eight people from these eight households to work for them, each paying five coins a day.
Ninety percent of the homeless children were willing to work because Zheng Ruqian's contracts to them were not for money, but for three meals a day, a set of clothes every six months, and taxes to be paid at the end of the year.
This move can be considered a win-win situation, as it solves the problem for everyone.
But there was a crucial point, which Xu Mo specifically reminded his younger brother: "Street children are unruly and have never learned to farm. Don't let them end up causing trouble instead of planting beans."
Zheng Ruqian had already anticipated this.
At Zhang Qiquan's suggestion, instead of directly assigning the eight day laborers from Shilipu Village to manage the village's fields, he taught them how to grow green beans and then sent them to take care of dozens of homeless children.
It's difficult for one person to manage dozens of people, but it's much easier for one person to take care of five or six children.
With the help of Zhang Qiquan, Liu Cui, and Zhang Xianglian, the bean planting campaign was in full swing after a spring rain.
These long beans, also known as cowpeas, are sown in April and May. In places with a pleasant climate, they can also be sown in June or July.
Xieyang County is located in the north and has a lower temperature, so around May is the best time to visit.
Soak the bean seeds in warm water until they sprout, then sow them in tilled soil at intervals of about one hand's width.
After about half a month, the sprouts will emerge, and then trellises will be needed for the sprouts to climb. By July or August, long, thin bean vines will be hanging on the trellises, which is quite a sight.
According to the experience of the people in Anyang County, the yield of green beans per mu is about 1,000 jin. It looks like a lot, but after drying, it is only about 100 jin, which is not enough to fill a truck.
I wonder if the dried green beans from these thirty acres will be enough to last a year.
Zheng Ruqian's planting business was in full swing, with wages paid daily and even homeless children having food every day. This made the people who hadn't sold their land to work green with envy, and also made some people furious.
Inside the Niu family compound.
A girl dressed in a colorful dress, as beautiful as a butterfly, stomped her feet angrily and tugged at an old man with a white beard. "Father, the land for those homeless children was ours, how come that man surnamed Zheng bought it all? He ruined our plans."
Yes, Zheng Ruqian is not the only one eyeing the land of homeless children.
Both the Niu and Ma families have plans.
They looked down on the land that the homeless children had acquired for free, and they didn't want to buy it at the full price. So they deliberately waited until the homeless children couldn't pay their taxes, until they were arrested and imprisoned, and until they became afraid, before buying it at a cheap price.
They didn't really care what would happen to homeless children who lost their land.
Who would have thought that Zheng Ruqian would suddenly appear out of nowhere, buy up a large number of homeless children's land, and hire them to work for him with just a few meals, truly taking advantage of the situation.
The girl in the colorful dress swayed the white-bearded old man, then let go of his hand and turned around angrily. "It's already annoying enough that the Ma family is already taking a share of the pie in Shili Town. Now, is the Zheng family going to join in? I don't agree."
"Hey, Xiaoxian, don't act recklessly!" the white-bearded old man shouted, bewildered. "We must first find out the background of the Zheng family before we act rashly."
"I know, I know," the girl in the colorful dress said dismissively. "I already found out. He's just a homeless kid who made some money outside and wants to come back to his hometown and show off."
"Does he really think doing business is so easy? If I don't teach him a lesson, I'm not Niu Xianxian."
She snorted coldly, turned and left, leaving behind the white-bearded old man sighing deeply.
About three days later.
Zheng Ruqian, who was watching homeless children plant crops in the fields, suddenly received news that the fields where he had first planted crops had been maliciously trampled, and all the healthy seedlings had been crushed. If he did not replant, he would definitely have no harvest in two months.
But replanting requires new manpower and resources, and wages must be paid.
This was like a knife to Zheng Ruqian's heart. He rushed over in a rage, wishing he could strangle the culprit.
Upon arrival, Jiang Sheng was already there.
She squatted down on the ground, resting her chin on her hand, looking at the mess all around her, her eyes filled with heartache and a hint of regret.
"Who did this? Who did this?" Zheng Ruqian was so angry that his voice cracked.
Jiang Sheng turned around and said softly, "It's the Niu family."
Doing good deeds will be rewarded.
The siblings that Jiang Sheng had helped came to her hesitantly and told her the truth. They also warned her to be careful, as the Niu family was unruly and would not let things go easily.
"I knew it was them!" Zheng Ruqian was furious. "I'm not finished with them!"
He looked menacing and ready to cause trouble for the other party.
Jiang Sheng quickly hugged his arm, "Second brother, don't be angry, don't be angry. Eldest brother said that any problems should be resolved at the yamen."
Private brawls are unacceptable.
Zheng Ruqian looked up in surprise.
Jiang Sheng smiled, revealing her teeth. Since the Lunar New Year, she had been studying with Xu Mo, which broadened her horizons and made her realize the importance of the government to the people.
“Being trampled on without cause is a violation of property rights, especially since it happened in someone’s field. There must have been people who witnessed it.” She opened her bright eyes and said, “Second brother, we can sue them.”
Who should we sue? We should sue the people who trampled the crops.
As for the Niu family behind them, we don't need to worry about them at all.
Whoever tramples on it will be sued, summoned by the yamen, and interrogated by the county magistrate.
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