The chief clerk first took them to two villages on the outskirts of the county.
Both farms are sold privately, one is 125 acres and the other is 132 acres. They are of similar size, with a wall and a small courtyard. The asking price is 1,300 taels each, and this price is fixed.
Chunxiao looked at the soil and found it was okay. There was no problem growing crops there. It was a bit expensive, but still good and worth considering. She saw several people taking notes, so she asked Shuwen to take notes as well. The only difference was that others used paper, but they used their brains.
Then we went to a town and looked at several scattered plots of land, which together amounted to about one or two hundred acres. These lands were all top-quality farmland, and the price was relatively expensive, at nine taels of silver per acre.
Then they went to another town. There were two large tracts of wasteland in the village. The soil was average, barely suitable for growing crops. The land was much larger, one 300 mu (approximately 1.5 acres) and the other 370 mu (approximately 1.5 acres). The asking price was 7 taels of silver. The chief clerk told the buyers that the two plots could be purchased together but not individually. This meant that several people could negotiate to buy the entire plot, but if they only wanted to buy a portion, they wouldn't. Chunxiao thought the two plots were good. If she could grow cotton, that would be great. If no one bought them, she would buy them. So much land, it was fantastic. She had it all figured out, and as she thought about it, she began to get excited.
"We've pretty much finished looking at this large plot of land today. There's only one more plot left, but it's a long way off. It's already past noon, so let's eat something in town before we go."
Everyone thanked the chief clerk. The place for the meal was chosen to be the township government office, and the host was the town's headman.
"Aunt, from what I heard from the headman, there are also plots of land in other places. Why didn't the chief clerk Qian mention it? Maybe he's not familiar with the plots of land in various places in the county."
Chun Xiao smiled and lowered her voice. "How could he, a county clerk, not know about this? Even if he didn't know the details, he should have a general idea. This county has more than just a few towns. Let me tell you, these last few we saw are probably the ones the county wants to sell the most. Did you take a look at the environment in the towns just now? These ones we saw are far inferior to the first one. Don't worry, I think the land we just saw is okay and worth buying."
"Aunt, do you want to buy the 300-acre one or the 370-acre one?" Shuwen looked at the others who were also whispering.
"Buy them all. I'll buy one, and your father and your second uncle will buy one together. That's great." The two of them lowered their heads and laughed secretly.
After finishing the meal and saying goodbye to the headman, the four carriages set off again. This time it took a full hour and a half to arrive at the destination. As a result, everyone got off the carriages and was dumbfounded, whispering to each other.
"Auntie, where is this land?"
Chunxiao saw nothing but a wasteland. If it weren't for the mountains in the distance, she would have thought she had arrived at the grassland.
"Master Zhubu, don't you want to see the land? Where is it?"
The chief clerk and the official exchanged a glance and smiled awkwardly, "What we are standing on is the ground. This area at the foot of the mountain is all ground."
Everyone was stunned. Chunxiao squatted down and dug the fine sand on the ground. She shook her head and smiled.
"Master, you must be joking. This place is completely deserted. It's not even land. Look at the soil. You can't even grow crops here."
"It's always good to take a look. Why can't we plant the land? There are more than 200 acres of good farmland to the west. This piece of land has 1037 acres, including 213 acres of good farmland. The total price of the land is very cheap. If we sell it, it will only cost 4 taels of silver per acre."
"This kind of land is still 4 taels per mu! No one would want it even if I gave it away back home. It's just wasteland to be reclaimed!"
"Not really, not really." The Chief Clerk was a little embarrassed. He had no choice. This place had been idle for years. Now that more people have bought land, he had to make some plans for the county government. "Didn't I tell you that there are more than 200 acres of good farmland here? Think about it, this good farmland is only 4 taels per acre. Where can you find such cheap land?"
No one was moved, and some people even regretted traveling so far to see such a place.
"Master, could you take me to see the fertile fields?"
The chief clerk was feeling embarrassed when he suddenly heard someone wanted to see it. He quickly asked the yamen runner to pull a carriage to take her to see it. The others stood where they were and had no intention of looking.
Chunxiao followed the carriage for a while before finally arriving. She dismounted, surveyed the ground, and felt the soil. This area was indeed much more fertile than the previous one, truly worthy of being considered a good farmland. She asked the official to take her to various corners of the field, as the carriage was fast and convenient. It was half an hour later when she finally returned.
Everyone squatting beside the carriage had been waiting impatiently for a long time, and when they saw them come back, they urged them to leave quickly.
Several people got on the carriage, and it took about an hour to reach the town. It was already dark at this time. When they arrived at the township government office, Chunxiao learned that the town was called Luojia Town. The headman of Luojia Town warmly welcomed them and prepared a room for them.
No one expected that this would last a whole day. During dinner, a few people could not wait any longer and told the chief clerk that they wanted to buy the farm. Once one person said it, the others also started arguing.
"No hurry, no hurry, let's eat first, and then we can sit down and talk together. I know you are all anxious, but you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, right?"
Everyone was eating in a hurry, but Master Qian was the only one who was leisurely and not in a hurry at all. Chunxiao was impressed by him.
After dinner, everyone was arranged to sit in the front hall. The chief clerk sat at the top, with the officials sitting beside him. The first person at the bottom was the head of the pavilion, and the rest sat in order.
The oil lamps in the hall were lit very brightly. This was probably not the first time such a meeting had taken place. Even the servants who served the water were very skilled.
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