The speaker was none other than Ge Laosan!
Li Zheng said with a stern face, "What's wrong? Among so many households in the village, is your family special? Or have you made some contribution to the villagers that makes you the first one to come?"
Ge Laosan's face immediately turned red. He lowered his head, his hands tucked into his sleeves, waving them back and forth: "Anyway, you're in the right, so what you say goes, okay?"
Li Zheng took out a red wastebasket, shook it at everyone, and slowly said, "You all see this clearly. This is entirely based on your personal luck. If you catch less, don't complain. If you want to complain, complain that you had bad luck. I can't fake this. Those who catch more, you should know that weeds cannot grow in your fields, and you can't rent the land to others. In the first year, if weeds grow, you will have to compensate the village with 30 catties of wheat per mu. Of course, this grain is not for me, Li Zheng. In case of any disaster, this grain will naturally be used where it is useful. Of course, if the harvest is good, you will naturally be rewarded!"
Upon hearing Li Zheng's words, the pent-up emotions of the crowd deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving them utterly drained.
"If we catch too many, we won't be able to plant them all, and we'll end up having to compensate the village. It seems like catching too many isn't a good thing after all?"
“That’s right. We don’t have many people working in our family, just two strong laborers. Let’s take less grain. As long as we do a good job with this little bit, that’s enough. We’d rather get a reward than pay a fine of grain to the village every year. That would be such a loss.”
The third son's wife was shrewd; she kept a clear account of everything. She wore a patched shirt, her hands tucked into her sleeves, looking completely indifferent.
"Alright, let's start the arrests. We'll start in this line. First one, you, Aunt Liu!"
Aunt Liu glanced at the people behind her, then covered her face in embarrassment and said, "Let my husband do it. After all, when it comes to luck, men tend to have better luck!"
Old Liu waved his hand: "Alright, you catch it yourself. That's enough. I, Old Liu, am not greedy. If I catch too much, I'll have to hand over grain to your village every year. I'm not that stupid."
Aunt Liu grabbed a handful and casually pulled one out: "It really did fulfill Old Liu's wish, 5 mu of land!"
Aunt Liu hung her head, glanced at the man, and complained, "It's all because of your nagging. I only managed to get five mu of land. If the harvest is good, these five mu can yield some harvest. But if the harvest is bad, what can I do with those five mu?"
"Alright, if we arrest too many people, who will grow the crops? We have to hand over the crops we work so hard to grow to the village. It's not fair no matter how I look at it!"
Old Liu was very shrewd. He calculated that instead of taking so much land to pay the village for grain, it would be better to take two fewer acres and not pay a single penny to the village, so as not to benefit those who shouldn't benefit!
The plump aunt took out a slip of paper, opened it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, it's ten mu of land! Ten mu is fine. Although it's just me and Xiaxia in our family, I will find a way to plant grain on the land. Even if we have to pay grain to the village, it's no big deal."
Everyone has different ideas. When it was Liang Shuyan's turn, Li Zheng looked at one of the families and said, "Aunt Dashan, should you catch the culprit in your family or should Dashan catch the culprit?"
Da Shan hesitated: "Let my mother catch it!"
Liang Shuyan smiled faintly: "If I arrest them, and arrest too many, some gossipy people in this village will definitely jump out and complain. But if I have my grandson make the arrests, I don't think anyone will say anything."
"Lizheng, what do you think? If we're going to draw lots, let my grandson Beibei draw one and see how lucky he is?"
Liu was confused, not understanding why her mother-in-law wanted Beibei to grab something. She happily picked Beibei up and gave him a kiss on his rosy cheeks: "Child, do your best for your mother, I promise you'll grab a big one in one go. There are many of us in the family, we're not afraid of weeds growing in the field!"
Liu picked up Beibei and whispered to her mother-in-law, "Mother, let's not be so stingy. Look, we have so many people in our family, aren't we afraid of having too much land? The more the better! Let Beibei catch us a big one!"
Liang Shuyan took Beibei and held her in front of the wastebasket, saying, "Beibei, be good and do Grandma a favor by grabbing the biggest one. Grandma will buy you candied hawthorns later!"
As soon as Beibei heard about candied hawthorns, his mouth watered, and he reached into the basket with his chubby little hand and grabbed one.
When Liang Shuyan opened it, she burst into laughter in surprise: "Wow, it really is huge, 30 mu of land!"
Everyone was astonished!
"If I had known that my own child could catch them, I would have let my child try too. This old woman from the mountains is really getting a free ride!"
"However, whose family has more people than the Jin family? They have people to farm. If we were to seize so much land, it would really grow overgrown with weeds. Every year, the magistrate could just sit back and wait for us to come and pay our grain taxes!"
After the land was divided, no one mentioned Dahei anymore, and they all left the Jin family and went out.
As Li Zheng was leaving, he said, "By the way, Aunt Dashan, if you're planning to plant any seeds, just let me know, and I'll have my brother come and plant them for you. It's five copper coins per mu. Do you think that's okay?"
Liang Shuyan was a straightforward person. Although Li Zheng wanted to help his brother earn some money, in the end, Yu Lao Er was not a heartless person. Besides, five copper coins per mu was indeed not high.
"Okay, Lizheng, thank you. I'll plant all 30 mu of land with wheat. I'll need you to tell your brother to be careful and thorough. Money is no problem."
Li Zheng nodded happily: "Don't worry, my brother is honest and won't cheat or swindle. Rest assured, I guarantee that you will be able to plant all your crops in a short time!"
"Have you prepared the wheat seeds? If so, I'll go back tonight and have my brother get ready. Tomorrow morning, I'll call you from your doorstep, and you can come up the mountain to sow them. I'll also lend you a hand, how about that?"
Liang Shuyan had already pre-ordered the wheat seeds in the system; they were all top-quality varieties. Moreover, the specific fertilizer to use and its proportions were clearly specified before sowing.
"Lizheng, the wheat seeds are ready. Tomorrow morning, I'll have the children get up early and go up the mountain to sow the seeds for our family. With your help, Lizheng, I believe our wheat will be planted very soon!"
"Okay!"
In the Jin family's courtyard, everyone cheered for Beibei, saying, "Beibei is amazing! She got us 30 mu of land today!"
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