Chapter 12 Let's Go Farming
"Oh, no, no, no, I don't want to see it."
Wang Er waved his hands in refusal, his head turned away in disgust. Just looking at her face was enough to turn him off, so how could he even bother looking at her body?
Besides, he doesn't want to look at so many fair and beautiful women's bodies, but instead wants to look at this sick one. Isn't he asking for trouble?
His original interest was completely wiped out. Wang Er no longer had any thoughts about Xie Qiujin and walked to the back of the team with his whip.
Xie Qiujin sat on the ground stiffly, not knowing whether she should get up.
Sang Yu reached out and pulled her up, the corners of his lips slowly curled up to reveal a smug smile: "It's finally safe now."
She didn't know how long this journey of exile would last, but she knew that no officer would dare to target Xie Qiujin again.
Time passed day by day, and as the swelling between Sang Yu's fingers gradually disappeared, they climbed over one mountain after another and finally arrived at the end of their exile journey - Lingnan.
During the Daying Dynasty, there were nine provinces and thirty-two counties, and the development of Lingnan County was still in its earliest stages.
There are miasma forests and poisonous snakes everywhere. There are very few local people here, and most of the people who come and go are merchants and exiles.
The escorting officers brought the prisoners before the local officials and counted them one by one according to the seals on the wooden shackles and the registered names.
As the heavy wooden yoke on his neck was removed, Sang Yu subconsciously turned his neck, and the stiff joints made muffled sounds as he twisted.
She was still a little uncomfortable with the sudden loss of something on her body.
The people standing aside were all smiling happily. It was really not easy for them to come this far.
His Majesty the Emperor showed mercy and did not allow them to be slaves. After they were freed from these shackles, as long as they stayed within Lingnan County, they would be clean and honest children again.
After counting the number of people on the roster, remove the shackles from everyone.
Two officers temporarily set up a small platform, and Li Yuan, the chief officer in charge of the reception, shouted from a high place, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
"Everyone, I am Li Yuan, an official under Lord Li Mingxu, the governor of Nanjun. Now that you are all free, I wonder where you would like to go and what you would like to do next?"
Li Yuan was wearing a light-colored robe and looked a little thin, obviously a civil servant.
But even though he was being watched by thousands of eyes, he did not show any fear.
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he continued, "Our Lingnan County is vast and sparsely populated, and deep within it are filled with miasma and poisonous forests, making survival difficult."
"Fortunately, the county governor is kind-hearted. He considers your journey difficult and has given you two options for survival."
"One is to go to the edge of the forest and cut down trees to make charcoal. You will be paid according to your work every day. The other is to open up wasteland and farm. After paying enough grain tax, the rest will be yours."
Although the miasma forest is dangerous, as long as you don't rush into the depths and cut down trees at the edges, as the number of trees decreases, the area covered by the miasma will gradually shrink.
The chopped wood is not wasted and can be burned into high-quality charcoal.
Traveling merchants loved this item the most and were willing to spend a lot of money to buy it and ship it to other prosperous states and counties.
This time, as soon as Li Yuan finished speaking, everyone in the audience began to discuss in low voices.
Sang Yongjing whispered to Sang Yu, "Yu'er, chopping trees sounds like a good job. How about we go chop trees?"
The main thing is that they can get paid in cash, which is really attractive. Their family can't even afford a penny now, they are so poor!
Sang Yu shook her head and said, "You can't cut down trees. Your hands will be completely destroyed."
She had just noticed that everyone present seemed to be in good spirits, but in fact, everyone was injured to varying degrees.
The wooden yoke and iron chains are not just for decoration. Even if you try your best to avoid friction between your skin and flesh, it is inevitable that your wrists and ankles will be rubbed as you walk.
Now everyone was overwhelmed by the joy of regaining their freedom and could not feel the pain.
But as soon as the excitement subsided, they would realize that removing the shackles was not always a good thing.
It's not worth it to cut down trees with an unhealed wound on my wrist. I'll earn money but my hand will be crippled.
"Then shall we go farm?"
Sang Yongjing showed a trace of embarrassment. In the first half of his life, all he had in his hands was paper and pen. He couldn't even tell the difference between rice grains and wheat ears, so how could he talk about farming?
"The fields can be planted, but not now." Sang Yu still shook his head.
Even as she walked further south, she could feel the temperature dropping day by day, indicating that winter was approaching.
The sowing season has passed, and if we want to plant crops we have to wait until next spring at the earliest. It will be useless even if we get the land now.
Li Yuan set aside some time for them to discuss. When the discussion gradually died down, he returned to his high position.
"Next, please divide into two lines. Those who are cutting trees will stand on my left, and those who are farming will stand on my right."
Sang Yu frowned upon hearing this. Did she have to make a choice now? She had been thinking of letting her family recuperate for a while before going back to chop wood to earn some money.
Sang Yongjing looked around awkwardly, then looked left and right. Finally, his gaze fell on Sang Yu. "Yu'er, where are we going?"
Sang Yu pondered for a moment and raised his chin slightly, "Well, let's go farm."
We absolutely cannot go and cut down trees now, but the fields will have to be planted sooner or later.
Even if the seeds were planted immediately, they would starve to death before the harvest.
The Lingnan County governor sent people to divide them into two groups, certainly not to let them starve to death. Since the tree cutters were paid, the farmers would also be paid...
"For those who choose to farm, each household should send a head of household to register here and receive the seeds."
Hearing the sound coming from afar, Sang Yu's lips slowly curled up. Her guess was right.
Seeing Sang Yongjing still standing there in a daze, Sang Yu gently pushed him and said, "Dad, go register quickly."
Soon, Sang Yongjing finished the registration and came back with two bags of grain seeds.
The bag was woven from coarse linen and was not very big. Sang Yu weighed it in his hand and felt that it should weigh about ten pounds, enough to last for a while.
Looking at the two bags of grain seeds in Sang Yongjing's hands, Sang Xingjia grinned foolishly.
It seems that he doesn't need to eat bitter dandelions to fill his stomach today. He has been eating grass leaves all the time and his sense of taste is almost lost.
Seeing his silly look, Sang Yongjing couldn't help but sigh. Why didn't he think his son was silly before? He obviously looked quite smart when he was studying.
"Jiaer, what are you laughing at?" he asked.
"I'm happy that we can have a full meal today, Dad." Sang Xingjia answered honestly.
Sang Yongjing glared at him, "These are grain seeds. Can we just eat them casually? If we eat them now, what will we plant next year?"
"It's okay, eat as much as you want today." Sang Yu suddenly spoke.
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