Fan Damu considered himself a government official, and believed he should be different from these peasants.
From now on, they will only ask me for help, but they won't be able to offer me any assistance whatsoever.
Especially since none of these people came to help him when he built his thatched hut, he remembered it and decided they shouldn't expect anything from him in the future!
Then, as if remembering something, he added, "Let me make this clear first: I will absolutely not sell to Fan Jin's family."
That family was dishonest; he only wanted his things back, so he will never cooperate with them again.
Unbelievable, isn't it? Fortune changes, and now he has Magistrate Wu's backing, making him someone they can no longer reach.
Having been unjustly scolded, Xu Laosan timidly raised his hand and asked weakly, "But if you don't sell to Fan Jin's family, who else in our village can afford your fields and forests?"
“Yes, go and take a look at the paddy fields. The top layer of fertile soil has been washed away, leaving only the bottom layer of hard soil.”
"Your mother was crying and wailing yesterday morning, saying that good land has turned into second-rate land, no, it's even worse than second-rate land. Who knows how many years it will take to recover? Who would buy it?"
"Now that we've suffered from the flood, it's bad enough that there's no harvest in the fields, but the government and the imperial court haven't said anything about reducing taxes or issuing disaster relief grain. Let alone our village, even people from other villages wouldn't buy land at this time, would they?"
A cacophony of voices arose as the people in the courtyard began to discuss the matter.
Even if they did have silver in their savings, they would never use it to buy land at this time!
Fan Damu was dumbfounded.
On his way back, he looked at the paddy fields on both sides of the road and felt only smugness, pleased with his own decisiveness and wisdom in finding a way out.
Even more delighted were those who felt a secret joy, knowing that everyone else in the village was suffering and enduring hardship.
He forgot about that.
He looked at the old village chief under the eaves, put away his previous arrogance, and asked, "Old village chief, you know my fields. They are in a good location, close to the water source. Although there is only one mountain forest, it is flat and covers a large area. It would be worthwhile to buy the mushrooms and exchange them with Fan Jin's family for rice, wouldn't it?"
Wang Guifen glanced at her father-in-law, knowing that he had some things he couldn't say at this time. She took the document and said with a worried look, "Last year was a year of good weather and a bumper harvest. The Bai family was willing to exchange rice for mushrooms. Now that things are like this, who would still exchange rice? I'm afraid we won't be able to exchange anything in the future."
"We can barely manage our fields and forests; any more and we don't have any livestock, it would be exhausting! Besides, we don't have any extra money to buy more land."
The family had more than thirty taels of silver in savings, but Changlin needed to study and learn to read, and all the expenses, including paper, inkstones, brushes, and the tutor's fees, had to be paid out in silver.
Secondly, if any member of the family is unwell, especially if the father-in-law is getting old, this money must be set aside, otherwise who will we borrow from?
Fan Damu's initial smugness upon entering the room vanished completely.
This was something he hadn't expected.
In the past, whenever villagers saved up a sum of money, they would think about buying land or clearing a piece of land to cultivate. Everyone valued land extremely highly.
It's safe to say that there's absolutely no need to worry about selling land.
Li Wen advised, "Why don't you stop selling yourself? After paying the money to redeem the children at home, you'll have somewhere to come back, right? It'll be a fallback plan."
Fan Damu glared fiercely at Li Wen and said coldly, "Are you cursing me to have a bad time in the master's family?"
He heard yesterday that open looting had begun in the Southern Capital, and many wealthy families had been robbed and their homes destroyed.
Even if Shanshui Village has food, it can't hold onto it; the harvest from the fields will only benefit the displaced people.
If we don't sell the land, we won't get a single penny when the village is looted by the refugees!
Li Wen choked, opened his mouth for a long time to explain, and finally muttered "never mind".
Seeing that Fan Damu looked like he wanted to eat people, the others knew that he was determined to do something he shouldn't.
No one tried to persuade them anymore.
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