The woman asked cautiously, "Can I sell only two acres of land to survive this famine? I still have to rely on farming for a living, so I can't sell all of it."
Originally, when the rich man bought the land, he asked the people to sell him all the land they had. He wanted the land to be connected and did not want to buy individual pieces of land.
Yu Jiao nodded gently, "Okay."
The woman breathed a sigh of relief and said repeatedly, "Good girl, you are such a good person."
Seeing this, others also said, "Then I will also sell two acres of land to deal with the emergency."
Hearing the noisy sounds in the yard, Yu Fuling came out of the kitchen and said to Yu Jiao, "The porridge is ready."
Yu Jiao nodded and said to the refugees in the courtyard, "Everyone, eat some porridge first. I have something else to say. After I hear it, you can decide how much land to sell."
The servant carried the porridge bucket into the yard, and the refugees took turns to get the porridge, squatting on the ground and eating.
The rice porridge distributed by Yu's Grain Store is not just for show. It is thick and very effective in satisfying hunger.
Unlike some hypocritical people who said they were giving out porridge, but the porridge was mixed with mud and sand and tasted like clear soup, these refugees knew what was going on and were therefore particularly grateful to Yu Jiao.
The whole yard was filled with the sound of people swallowing porridge. Yu Jiao took a sip of tea and said, "I bought your land to find someone to help farm it. If any of you want to sell all your land, I am willing to hire his family to farm for me. No matter what the harvest is, I can ensure that the family has enough food every year, and I will also pay him wages, which are linked to the harvest of the land."
Yu Jiao's words caused an uproar among the group of people. After all, after working hard on the farm for a year, as long as the harvest was poor, the family would be tight on food. If they sold the land, they would not have to worry about food every year and could even get extra wages. This sounded like a rare and good thing.
"Miss, the work you are talking about requires signing a contract to sell yourself to death?" asked a man who was about to sell his children to wealthy families as slaves because of famine.
"It's not a death contract, it's a labor contract." Yu Jiao explained, "It's different from selling yourself into slavery. I just hire you to work for me. You belong to your employer and do your part in farming. Everything else has nothing to do with me. You are still free, just my workers, not my slaves."
"How much can that girl pay us every year?" someone asked.
Seeing that there was still more to talk about, Yu Fuling moved a chair for Yu Jiao and made her a pot of tea.
Yu Jiao sat down on the chair and said slowly, "Everyone knows that the yield of one stone per mu in the north is more than one grain. However, no one can predict the impact of natural disasters and insect pests. Therefore, as long as the yield per mu reaches the average, the laborers can receive eight taels of wages per year. If it does not reach the average, they can only receive four taels. If the fields are well planted and the harvest is higher than the average, the wages can be increased by 20% of the harvest."
Almost all of these people were illiterate and not very good at arithmetic. They only had a vague understanding of Yu Jiao’s words and did not quite comprehend them.
"What is the average?" someone asked in a low voice.
Yu Jiao took a sip of tea and explained, "Let me give you an analogy. Your field produces one dan per mu, his field produces two dan per mu, and her field produces three dan per mu. The average is the total output of the three of you. If the output per mu reaches two dan per mu, you can get ten taels of wages."
The two people pointed out by Yu Jiao as producing two and three dan of grain started to giggle. One of them said, "That means we can get eight liang of wages." He pointed at the man who produced one dan of grain and said, "He can only get five liang of wages?"
The man suddenly became unhappy and muttered, "Girl, I'm a good farmer! They can grow two or three dan, so can I!"
Yu Jiao chuckled and continued, "One dan of grain is based on the grain price of that year. Take the grain price in the north before the flood. The man who produces three dan per mu cultivates four mu of land, and the total grain output is twelve dan. One dan is six cents, and the market value of twelve dan of grain is seven taels and two cents. If the wage is increased by 20%, it will be one tael, four cents and four coins, which means he can get nine taels and four cents."
After hearing this number, many people were very tempted, but they still asked cautiously, "What if we encounter a flood like this year, where the fields are flooded and there is no harvest, will you still provide us with enough food and pay our wages?"
Yu Jiao smiled and nodded, "Send it as usual. I will draft a deed, and it will be written clearly on the deed. It will be passed through the government and kept by the county government. You can rest assured about this."
"Girl, my family has seven acres of land, and I want to sell them all!" After hearing what Yu Jiao said, these people no longer had any worries, especially those families with many people. You know, they have to work hard on the farm all year round, and worry about droughts, floods, and locust plagues all day long. Even if they have enough food, it is difficult to have extra money left.
"I have twelve acres of land at home, and I'm selling them all!" Then the voices of people who wanted to sell all their land came one after another.
Yu Jiao raised her palm and pressed it down, and these people quickly fell silent.
"I still have to say something ugly up front. If you don't work hard on the farm and want to cheat and get paid, I will never allow it." Yu Jiao's tone turned cold. "It's not a natural disaster, but you are lazy and sloppy. The yield per acre is one-third lower than the average. You won't get any wages! I will also terminate his employment contract."
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