"Then let's go ask them when they plan to start harvesting this land. I'll have the county constables help with the rice harvest then!"
The old village chief neither agreed nor disagreed with the magistrate's words.
They had originally planned to exchange some rice seeds with the Liu family after they harvested their land, so they could plant them next year.
Unexpectedly, the county magistrate came again.
He's here again...
What does this have to do with the villagers of Qingshan Village?
It's estimated that the county magistrate will take away more than half of the rice, and what's left won't be enough for all the villagers of Qingshan Village.
Heaven knows that the seemingly respectful old village chief had been cursing the county magistrate a hundred and eighty times in his heart.
"Sir, why don't we go to Liu Xiuhe's house together and ask her?"
And so, the village chief took the county magistrate directly to Old Liu's house.
Seeing the county magistrate rushing over again, Old Man Liu immediately realized that something was wrong.
It seems the county magistrate has his eye on their rice paddy again.
Several villagers have already placed orders for rice seeds with his family. What are they going to do now?
The county magistrate didn't care about all that.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they got straight to the point.
"Your family must be short-handed, right?"
"I see that the rice in your field is ripe. Why don't I have my men help you harvest it?"
Although it was phrased as a question, everyone present knew what the magistrate was really thinking.
What else could Old Liu say?
He had no choice but to take his three sons and follow the county magistrate, watching as a group of people cut down his family's rice.
Harvesting the rice is not the end of the story.
The county magistrate stayed in Qingshan Village until all the rice had been threshed and weighed.
Only then, satisfied, did he drag away half of the millet.
"Oh, Brother Liu!"
"Thanks to the magistrate's commotion, we won't have enough grain seeds left!"
Grandma Wang, who lives in front of Old Liu's house, looked at the remaining bags of rice with a regretful expression.
Even if the Liu family doesn't eat any of this rice, they still need to keep enough rice seeds for themselves and share some with the clan elders in the village.
There's not much left for their family to get their hands on.
Although their family was willing to exchange double the amount of grain for seeds.
But these good seeds are hard to buy even if you have money!
After all, the big head had already been dragged away by that county magistrate.
Not only Grandma Wang's family, but several other families in the village who had previously reserved seeds were also lamenting in their hearts.
"Don't be discouraged, everyone. We also grow this kind of rice in our field. Although the yield is not as high as that in this field, the rice ears are heavier than those of other people."
Upon hearing Old Liu's words, the crowd, who had been silently lamenting, all rushed to the Liu family's land.
"I must say, Brother Liu's rice is noticeably taller than ours, and the ears of rice are longer and fuller, with more grains."
The villagers, who had been dejected, saw hope again.
"How about we help Brother Liu's family harvest their rice first?"
"If the magistrate of Ning'an County were to launch a surprise attack, we probably wouldn't even be able to save the rice in the fields!"
It was some young man who shouted out, and everyone agreed that he made sense, so they all turned their attention to Old Man Liu.
"OK!"
"As long as you help me bring the grain home, I will give you priority in exchanging the grain seeds!"
Old Liu would be a fool not to use this free labor.
Since he didn't have to do anything himself and could get more grain, Old Liu felt this was a good deal.
The county magistrate, carrying the grain back, carefully transported it to his private granary.
He planned to use this grain as seed to plant on his own farm next year.
Once there are enough seeds, it will be opened to the people.
At the same time, I also plan to learn from the Liu family's farming experience and raise ducks in the rice paddies. These ducks grow up without needing to be fed much.
They harvested both grain and a large number of ducks.
Magistrate An thought this method was excellent and worth popularizing.
After two days of happiness, Magistrate An realized that Liu Xiuhe's family owned more than just this one plot of land. How could he have forgotten to check on Liu Xiuhe's large field?
Once he realized what was happening, Magistrate An led his constables to Qingshan Village.
Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, the Liu family had already harvested and stored their grain.
Although the yield per mu is not as high as the land next to my house, it is more than double that of other families in the village.
Half of the rice harvested by their family was traded for by the villagers, while the remaining half was stored separately in the warehouse by Old Man Liu.
After the county magistrate learned the whole story, he exclaimed that he had been foolish.
But in the end, he still spent money to buy the remaining half of the grain seeds from Old Liu, and left with a heartbroken look on his face.
"Father, why did you sell all the grain to the county magistrate?"
"Our rice is much more fragrant than other people's rice."
"Other people's rice grains are all clumped together, but our rice grains are thin, long, and plump!"
Looking at the half-empty warehouse, Liu Qing complained to Old Master Liu with a sense of dejection.
His wife loved this kind of long-grain rice the most, but his father sold it all to the county magistrate.
Their family hasn't even paid their taxes yet, and they'll have to give away some of their grain later.
Just thinking about it made Liu Qing's heart ache.
"Third brother, don't say anything more. Father had already thought of this, so he allocated some of the grain to our room!"
"Since the county magistrate has come in person this time, he probably won't come again next time. I'll take those bags of grain to your house later."
The Liu family had long anticipated that the county magistrate would make this unexpected turn.
So they weren't unprepared.
Although they wouldn't tamper with the grain varieties, they could conceal the quantity.
After all, it's rice grown by our own family; we can't just not get to eat a single bite, can we?
After harvesting the rice, the village chief came to Old Liu's house again.
"The rice has been harvested and the land has been mostly plowed. I wonder what crops your family plans to plant next season?"
"Logically, it should be time to plant wheat this season, but the village has to buy wheat seeds from the town."
"What I mean is, if your family has good grain seeds, don't keep them hidden away. Why don't you just share them and let's all grow high-yield grains together!"
Although the village chief was speaking to Old Man Liu, his gaze was fixed on Lin Xue, who was sitting in the back playing with her youngest son.
“Uncle Village Chief, my master did indeed send me some wheat seeds.”
"These wheat seeds are not numerous, and this wheat is the wheat that my master's sect eats themselves. It was cultivated from the best grains in the world!"
"If it's just me growing them, it's fine. But if the villagers want them too, they'll probably have to pay for them themselves."
The villagers of Qingshan Village have been living here for more than half a year, and they have settled down. Some work in the fields, while others go to town to work. Every household has saved some money.
Lin Xue didn't want to give them the seeds for free; wouldn't that just make the villagers more greedy?
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