Qin Yilin understood her daughter's intentions and smiled, "Your father and I are in the middle, so it's close to either your place or Shuiqing's house. There's no need to consider us."
Besides, as Shuiqing said, they're all in the same village, how far could they be? You only need to consider whether you're comfortable staying there.
She felt from the bottom of her heart that it was the best location!
Just like the old village chief said, if we expand to the back mountain, there will definitely be noise and smells. Also, the villagers will be going back and forth several times a day to feed the livestock, so they will have to greet each other when they meet.
Jiajia isn't a lively person and prefers quiet. They chose the back of the village because they wanted peace and quiet, but now that the back is no longer peaceful, they definitely have to avoid it.
Besides, there's an entire mountain forest over there!
Our family only knows how to collect herbs and only likes to work with them. We're not very good at planting them. But the Hu family is different. Hu Da Ge and Hu Wen Hua are two men each, each with the strength of two or three men. They can grow any kind of medicinal herb in that mountain forest.
Sister-in-law Hu is also very good at growing vegetables and raising chickens, ducks, and rabbits. The spacious area there is perfect for all her needs and nothing is wasted.
Ding Heli shared the same thought, but was more concerned about safety: "Isn't that place too desolate?"
Although Governor Ling has taken over Guangning Prefecture and resettled some of the refugees, it should be less chaotic than before. However, it is unknown whether the situation will become more chaotic due to the ongoing war. If it does become more chaotic, then densely populated areas will be safer.
The old village chief had also considered this issue. Hu Wenhua repeated the old village chief's words verbatim: "The old village chief said that the land is not only reserved for the families of girls in the village who will marry into the village in the future, but also for families whose parents have passed away and whose members are too many to divide the family."
Take Master Fan's family as an example. His eldest son already has a grandson, and his second son's family is about to have a grandson as well. Meanwhile, Fan Xiaoliu is still unmarried. There are advantages to having a large family, but with more than twenty people living together, there are bound to be many disputes and arguments. Now that the family has some money, they are thinking about dividing the family property.
With several families splitting up all at once, wouldn't they need to buy more land and build new houses? There are quite a few other families in the village considering splitting up; the other side has more land, and many want to move there and live comfortably in larger houses.
Moreover, the previous attacks on Shanshui Village by bandits and refugees had all failed, resulting in heavy casualties. Shanshui Village had become famous after these two battles, and anyone who wanted to attack their village would think twice.
Ding Heli's last remaining concerns disappeared, and he happily said, "Then what's there to complain about! I think it's perfect."
The whole family sat together to analyze the pros and cons, and they all agreed that the other side was the best. Hu Wenhua quickly got up and ran to the old village chief's house again.
He wanted to finalize these matters before leaving home so he could marry Jiajia as soon as possible!
In the end, the Zhao family spent eight taels of silver to acquire the hill. The adjacent few acres of land were wasteland, and the imperial court encouraged land reclamation. The tax was only half a tael of silver per acre. Butcher Hu handed the silver to the old village chief, who then handled the matter for all the other families as well.
The cost was far less than the Hu family had expected. With money in hand, Hu's mother began to think about the betrothal gifts, but a matchmaker was needed first to arrange the betrothal.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were two types of matchmakers. One type was a professional matchmaker, who would act as the matchmaker for any successful match made through her introduction. The other type was a matchmaker who introduced a couple through an acquaintance.
Hu's mother approached her daughter, troubled: "Wenhua and Jiajia don't qualify as either of these, but both sides need to arrange a matchmaker. We don't know where the family we met in Niutou Town has moved to, and it's inconvenient to travel back and forth."
Mother is thinking of arranging one for our family in Shanshui Village as well. Who do you think would be suitable?
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