"The village chief and the others are back!"
Someone shouted, and the villagers of Qingshan Village all stood up and looked in the direction of the village chief.
Because they were carrying too much luggage, none of them dared to leave their belongings without worry.
Every household sent someone to inquire about the situation. Old Liu had previously gone to the city with the old village chief and the others, but now he had returned to his family.
"Jizhou City is indeed willing to accept refugees, but there are two options for this acceptance!"
"The first option is that if the villagers are willing to be dispersed, they can be assigned to different villages after spending some money."
"The second option is for the entire team to be grouped together, but the city will only allocate a plot of land as a place for them to settle down and recuperate."
"Although the villagers are not separated, everything has to be started from scratch. They have to do everything themselves, from clothing and shelter to food and shelter. It's like starting from zero."
"The land allocated to us is also quite far from the county towns, and most of it is barren mountains and wasteland."
As soon as Old Liu finished speaking, everyone understood.
This means we're willing to give them a place to live or die on their own.
Even so, it's better than continuing to wander.
After all, Jizhou City has a large enough territory, with vast stretches of barren land everywhere.
They arrived relatively early, so even if they were allocated wasteland, their situation would be much better than that of those who came later.
At least for now, we still have a choice.
After the old village chief brought the news back, everyone discussed it and said they didn't want to be separated.
After all, as long as a group stays together, difficulties can always be overcome, and at least they won't be bullied by the locals.
The power of numbers is especially important at this time.
"Mr. Lin, we are just ordinary people, but you have a powerful master. I wonder if your master has mentioned to you which land is better!"
"Alright, we're going to the yamen later to choose a place to stay. You'll come with us, and we'll try to pick a good place, since we'll be making our home here from now on!"
Jizhou City is far from the border, so as long as there are no natural disasters, there is no need to worry about attracting war.
However, the fertility of the land directly affects the quality of life of the villagers.
"Okay, I'll get ready and go into town with you guys later."
Lin Xue went, and Liu Qing will definitely follow.
So Old Liu was left behind this time, since entering the city required paying an entry fee, and bringing one more person would cost an extra sum of copper coins.
The officials did not make things difficult for them. When they learned that they had come to choose land to settle down, they took them to their office.
Several lines of people were already queuing up. The old village chief explained the situation in Qingshan Village and gave a general count of the villagers.
The officials then produced a map and asked them to choose a place to settle down.
Many places have been marked on the map, and these places are available for them to choose from.
The old village chief entrusted the task of site selection to Lin Xue.
Lin Xue then had 629 do some research and finally selected three locations, letting the old village chief choose for himself.
“These three places have relatively fertile land, are nestled against mountains and by water, and are not too far from the county seat.”
"You can choose the rest, Uncle Village Chief. We won't lose out no matter which one you choose!"
The situations in these three places are similar, except that they are located in different counties.
After all, a prefecture has countless counties under its jurisdiction, and each county has towns under its jurisdiction.
The choice is now up to the village chief.
In the end, the village chief chose a piece of wasteland located near the prefectural capital, under a county town.
The place they chose had a large mountain facing south, with a vast plain at its base and a river with abundant water flowing through it.
This was the most suitable environment for people to live in. After they made their choice, the official wrote them a document and told them to build their own village and settle down.
Then another constable was sent to lead them to the chosen place.
Because there are many refugees coming to seek refuge in Jizhou City, the yamen runners in the government office are not enough.
The yamen runners simply led the people to the location and roughly designated an area for them.
"You will build houses and cultivate land in this area. After you finish this period of work, people from above will come to re-register your household registration and process your land deeds."
"It's not peaceful outside, so try not to wander around. If we find out you're causing trouble, we'll take back your land and expel you from Jizhou City."
The constable seemed very tired, and his tone of voice was not very pleasant.
Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Old Man Liu.
"Sir, please wait! Our village has 56 households and several hundred people. This place seems a bit small. I wonder if you could be merciful and give us a little more land!"
Old Liu was referring to the land on the plain. Although the plain was very large, it was impossible to accommodate only one village.
"There are so many refugees coming here, it's already good enough that we can allocate a piece of land to you, so please don't be greedy."
The constable was extremely annoyed; the size of the land was not something a lowly constable like him could decide.
"Sir, there is a high-yield crop in our village that can fill our stomachs, has a short growing period, and produces extremely high yields."
"We are willing to donate our grain seeds, hoping that the adults can talk to the higher-ups and allocate us a little more land!"
"This land is really too little. Even if we cultivate it all, the grain we grow won't be enough to feed all the villagers!"
This high-yield grain variety was provided by Lin Xue. She had already told Old Man Liu the wording and instructed him to find this yamen runner to pass on the message to his superiors.
The yamen runner, who was initially very irritated, suddenly brightened up after hearing what Old Liu said.
These days, no matter who it is, whether they are ordinary people or officials, they will definitely be tempted when they hear about high-yield grain varieties.
Where are the high-yield grains you mentioned planted?
"If what you say is true, I can persuade the magistrate to allocate you twice as much land!"
Although Jizhou City is not prominent now and its productivity is backward, it is considered relatively poor among the other major cities.
But once the population here increases and more migrants come to settle down, things will get better and better after we get through this difficult period.
After all, the people are the source of productivity.
As long as there is a sufficient population, there will be unlimited resources.
"Sir, please look, this is called a potato, and it is a grain crop that can yield a thousand catties per mu."
"This grain was left behind by a chivalrous knight-errant when he passed through our village. It is said to have been transported from overseas."
"Those overseas merchants are all tall and strong, about eight feet tall. I heard it's because they eat these grains, because they're well-fed, that they all grow so tall!"
Lin Xue's original words were not like that, but Old Liu was so nervous when he saw the official that he became somewhat incoherent.
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