There are more mountains than fields. Most of the villagers in Anqing Prefecture rely on rice cultivation for food. How can they grow rice if they lose their fields?
Everyone present understood this principle, hence the worry on each of their faces.
Zhen Fugui moistened his lips and added nervously, "Moreover, we need to clear the mountain land ourselves. Fortunately, my uncle persuaded us, and the yamen runners allocated us some more land."
"What good are mountains if we don't have farmland? How will we eat?"
"That's right. We only have enough food to last until the next harvest. If we don't have land to grow rice, how will we feed our whole family?"
Zhou Dashan lowered his head, feeling very anxious. Back when they lived in Lijia Village, he could go up the mountain to hunt and supplement the family income.
Now Anqing Prefecture is all small hills, and this only skill has been lost.
Their family is large, and with their younger brothers also getting married and having children, they'll be even more numerous.
They face the greatest life pressures among this group.
Suddenly he thought of Lord Feng, glanced at Zhen Wanwan, and then turned to the crowd and said, "My family has many men. After we finish clearing the wasteland, I will come to the county town to find work and then save some money to buy a few acres of land."
"Alas! This land is the lifeblood of every farming family; who would want to sell it!"
Old Master Zhen and Zhen Fugui had already inquired with the yamen runners about buying land with money.
In Guangling County, most of the farmland was privately owned by landlords, with only a very few families owning just a few acres of land.
The rest of the ordinary families farmed the land belonging to the landlords.
Han Lide had also told the two of them about this, which is why Grandpa Zhen and his son looked so worried.
Grandma Li frowned with worry and asked doubtfully, "Isn't there any other way? I don't believe that Guangling County is so big, we can't buy an acre or two of land!"
Grandpa Zhen muttered guiltily in a low voice, "It is indeed difficult to buy."
Seeing the old man's nagging, Old Lady Li's temper flared up.
She grabbed his sleeve and said, "What are you muttering about! We're almost starving, why don't you use your brain and think of a solution!"
Zhen Fugui rushed forward to break up the fight, while gesturing to Wang Cuihua to comfort Old Lady Li.
"Mother! We haven't finished talking yet!"
"Spit it out!"
Seeing that there was still a chance for things to turn around, everyone looked at Zhen Fugui with hope.
Under everyone's gaze, Zhen Fugui stammered, "Actually, there's another way! It's...we can go to the landlord's house and get some land to farm..."
"As long as seven-tenths of the harvested grain is given to the landlords each year, the rest is ours..."
A 30/70 split! That's too ruthless!
Zhen Wanwan listened in disbelief. This landlord's exploitation of migrant workers was even more ruthless than that of modern capitalists.
Thinking of the working class in my past life, who spent their whole lives working hard to earn money for capitalists to eat, drink, and have fun, I feel a pang of sadness.
Aunt Zhou slowly walked up to Zhen Fugui and asked worriedly, "Gui! How much of the remaining grain do we still need to give to the imperial court?"
Looking at the elderly and frail man, Zhen Fugui couldn't bear it and held up one finger: "One-tenth."
"However, my uncle said that in the past two years, the government has only collected half a percent of the taxes..."
The crowd's brows remained furrowed, and worry filled the entire courtyard.
The initial anticipation and joy turned into worry and distress.
Grandpa Zhen sighed and looked at everyone, comforting them, "Lide said he can reclaim the Han family's land for us, with no limit on the amount!"
"So as long as we work hard and take good care of the fields, we won't lack grain when the harvest comes!"
"Moreover, I've heard that the Han family sends gifts to their tenants during festivals, and if the master is pleased, he'll reward them with some nice things..."
Isn't this just like being a long-term laborer in someone else's house?
It's just that exchanging silver for food gives you more freedom in terms of time.
Dongzi stood silently in the corner, listening the whole time. He and his wife were the only adult laborers in his family.
With an elderly mother to care for and a young son to raise, their family had no money left except for the grain they had received last time.
We were so grateful for the help from Zhen's family along the way, otherwise we wouldn't have made it this far.
But now the imperial court is only willing to allocate mountainous land to them, not farmland, which is the beginning of hell for them.
Now that everyone is out of the fields and has heard Zhen Fugui's method, a weight has been lifted from their hearts.
Although most of the grain produced has to be given away, it's still better than sitting around eating up all the grain and going hungry.
Most importantly, you don't have to spend your own money to buy land.
So after Zhen Fugui finished speaking, he was the first to raise his hand and say, "Brother Fugui, I am willing to become a tenant farmer in the Han family."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Dongzi's family. Seeing that neither Dongzi's mother nor his wife had refused, they knew that they had made their decision.
Zhen Fugui remained silent, then turned to look at Old Master Zhen, seemingly waiting for him to make a decision.
Although the Zhou family was waiting for Old Master Zhen to speak first, they had already decided to lease the land.
Grandpa Zhen understands everyone's thoughts; given the current situation, they have no choice but to comply.
Unlike them, the Zhou family and the Dongzi family were indeed much worse off in terms of their living conditions.
But he still wanted to try and see if he could buy a few acres of land himself, and if he really couldn't buy it, he would rent it out for the time being.
We can't just lie at home, eating and waiting to die!
"Everyone should go back and think this through carefully, and then tell me. Also, consider your own family's labor force and how much land each family can contract..."
"Once things are settled on our end, I'll go talk to Lide again..."
Zhen Wanwan stood by, observing everyone's expressions, but in her heart she was thinking about the estate that Zhu Yuan had given her.
At first, she thought she had gotten a good deal when she received Zhuangzi's contract, but she never expected that she had gotten such a huge advantage.
I wonder if Zhu Yuan knows about this situation. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that they couldn't buy land, but he just happened to give her a manor!
The contract shows that the land area is quite large, about four or five hundred acres of farmland, seven or eight hundred acres of mountain land, and a mountain.
Those present found it difficult to acquire even a single acre of land, while she already owned nearly a thousand acres.
It feels like walking down the street, spending two dollars on a lottery ticket, and then winning a 200 million dollar jackpot.
This feeling of suddenly becoming rich is just too amazing!
No wonder so many netizens like to dream of getting rich quick!
Zhen Wanwan couldn't help but smile, which stood out against the gloomy faces of everyone else.
After Qu Huaiyuan helped Aunt Qu back into the house, he came out to find her grinning foolishly.
He didn't even notice when he walked up to her.
"Zhen Niangzi! What are you thinking about?"
Everyone else looked worried about the fields, but she was the only one smiling foolishly.
Could it be that Lady Zhen is finding joy amidst her suffering?
Zhen Wanwan woke up from her dream with a start, and embarrassedly closed her big mouth to cover her exposed gums.
Somewhat embarrassed, he explained, "Brother Qu! I just suddenly had some things to take care of, so..."
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