Chapter 016 Contracting More Land
In the square, Bai Su carefully studied the notice board, but did not see any information about land leasing or selling.
Seeing this, a worker came up and asked Bai Su if he needed to hire anyone.
Bai Su shook his head: "I want to see if there is any information about land sales."
"Oh, maybe you should go ask at the farm in the east," the simple middle-aged man suggested. "The largest piece of vacant land in the whole town is right there. It belongs to a newly moved farmer. You can ask him if he can rent you a small piece."
Upon hearing this, Bai Su's heart sank to the bottom.
He opened his mouth and said with a look of disappointment, "Well, actually, I'm the new farmer."
"Oh my God!" The middle-aged man was extremely shocked. He looked up and down at the black-haired young man in front of him. "It seems that the rumors are true, farmer, you are indeed very rich - such a large piece of land is not enough for you to farm?"
The middle-aged man spoke a little loudly, and immediately, the pedestrians in the square looked at Bai Su.
Bai Su scratched the ground with her toes in embarrassment.
Who is it? Who is it! Who is spreading rumors that I'm rich?!
Bai Su suppressed his shame and stammered, "No, not quite enough... I still need about five, six, seven, or eight farms to become the richest farmer in the continent..."
The middle-aged man gasped.
"You are so rich!" he praised sincerely.
Bai Su: “…”
"I have a suggestion." It was afternoon, a time when people were most tired. The middle-aged man, who hadn't found a job yet, struck up a conversation with the young farmer. "Perhaps you could go to the city hall and ask if they could grant you some more land, perhaps even in another town not far from here, if you can afford the rent."
"Great!" Bai Su suddenly realized, "Thank you for your advice. When my farm expands, I'll definitely need more manpower. You can come and work on my farm then!"
The middle-aged man scratched his head and smiled innocently.
…
Behind the sign is the architectural map of Boeing Town.
After Bai Su noted down the approximate location, he followed the middle-aged man's instructions and quickly found the city hall.
The two-story City Hall features simple, elegant lines and a vibrant yellow exterior. Its architectural style is somewhat reminiscent of a Roman palace, and the detailed decoration is elegant and refined, creating a sense of solemnity.
The City Hall of the Wenk Empire is functionally equivalent to the modern administrative service hall. It is affiliated with the Senate and is a management consulting agency representing official authority.
There is even space inside for citizens to use for gatherings.
As an enthusiastic young man who often helped his fellow villagers to do business at the county government, Bai Su got a number plate at the security booth at the door with familiarity, cooperated with the security check, and then went into the hall and sat on a chair waiting.
Soon, his number came.
"Hello, what can I ask for your advice?" the representative with a perm asked him.
Bai Su first stated his identity, and then briefly explained that he needed more land for planting.
The representative with the curly hair frowned and asked to see Bai Su's ID. Fortunately, Bai Su was well prepared. He calmly took out the parchment scroll that was related to the legitimacy of his identity from the inside pocket of his clothes.
"Okay, please wait in the conference room for a while." The representative with the roll-headed face returned the parchment scroll to Bai Su, then took him to the large conference room on the second floor and gently closed the door.
Not long after, the representative with the egg roll head came back - followed by a large group of people.
There were even a few centaurs.
Bai Su was a little nervous. It was just a piece of land, why was there such a big fuss?
But soon, he saw familiar faces - Keos and his lieutenant, the centaur with red hair and black fur, Faria.
In front of everyone, Keos didn't do anything special, but Faria winked at Bai Su playfully.
With acquaintances around, Bai Su immediately relaxed a lot.
"Hello, farmer." The leading man stepped forward, shook Bai Su's hand, and said, "I'm the acting speaker of the city hall. I've heard about your request. In fact, if you hadn't come here today, I would have personally visited your farm soon."
Bai Su was flattered.
With a blushing face, he greeted the cordial and humble politician in front of him.
"Don't be nervous, Mr. Bai Su, let's sit down and talk." The acting speaker said with a smile.
"Before we officially begin our discussion on the land transaction, please allow me to introduce this person to you." The Acting Speaker gestured to Bai Su, and the leading centaur stepped forward. "This is Minister Robis, the Minister of War of the Senate."
Bai Su had heard of him before, but didn't expect to meet him so soon.
Robis, the former Centaur King, is now the leader of the Centaur tribe and the Imperial Minister of Military Affairs.
He is also the father of Keos.
"Hello, farmer, I believe Keos has told you about my prophecy ten years ago." said the centaur with gray hair and light brown fur just like Keos.
Bai Su finally understood where Keos inherited his straightforward and direct personality.
Minister Robis is exactly the middle-aged version of Keos, except that his face is a little tougher than his son's.
Just a little more serious than Keos.
I can only say that they are worthy of being father and son.
"Hello, Minister Robis, I do know about the impending crisis." Bai Su answered honestly.
Everyone in the conference room was in a high position of power, or had learned about the food crisis from their powerful elders or superiors. Therefore, when Bai Su said this, no one present looked surprised.
It seemed as if their original purpose was to discuss this matter with Bai Su.
"Well, then, let's get straight to the point." Minister Robis gave an inaudible smile, then said seriously, "I heard from Keos that you have a very high-yielding crop. I'd like to know how much you can produce per acre."
Bai Su calculated quickly in his mind.
The seedlings he brought were a high-yield hybrid variety cultivated by Elder Yuan, with an average yield of around 3,000 kilograms per mu. Converted to acres...
Bai Su replied, "Normally, the yield per acre is 9,000 kilograms, but because the land of my farm was blessed by the Archangel, and His Majesty the Son of God enchanted my gold, I think..."
He uttered a number under the incredulous gazes of those around him: "Twenty thousand kilograms, or more."
The conference room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and Bai Su heard several unmistakable gasps.
"Good! Good!" Minister Robis laughed. "Since His Majesty the Holy Son has personally inspected it, there must be no problem."
When Minister Robis was not smiling, he had a kind of majestic aura, but when he smiled, Bai Su seemed to see his face overlapping with the charming and handsome face of Keos.
At this time, the Acting Speaker, who had been silent for a long time, spoke again: "Then, Mr. Bai Su, can I understand that you are asking to buy more land because you still have a lot of seeds to plant?"
"Yes, I have only used about one-third of my farm, and all the remaining seeds have already sprouted. I have to plant them as soon as possible, otherwise they will rot in my hands."
"Then would you be willing to leave Boeing Town temporarily and go to the nearest Oat Town to plant the remaining seeds?"
Bai Su had heard of Oat Town, which was not far south of Boeing Town. The farming industry there was developing well, but because a hurricane last year destroyed most of the farmland, crop yields have not recovered yet.
Bai Su was not opposed to the business trip. He asked, "Has the farmland in Oat Town recovered?"
"It has fully recovered," the Acting Speaker replied. "In fact, a few days ago, the High Priest visited the Holy Mountain and asked the Archangel to bless the farmland in Oat Town as well."
"That's great!" Bai Su agreed happily.
On behalf of the imperial royal family and the Senate, the acting speaker gave Bai Su a lot of policy support: all agricultural taxes for Bai Su were exempted for five years, and the city hall bought all the rice at half the price given by Bai Su, which would be used for disaster relief; the 150 acres of prime farmland in Oat Town could be sold to Bai Su at cost price, provided that he must hire local growers to prevent these people from losing their livelihoods.
In addition, Bai Su's plan to open a grain and oil store was also highly recognized by the Acting Speaker, but the Acting Speaker told Bai Su that if he followed his idea and opened grain and oil stores throughout the Wenk Empire, or even in every small town, the royal family must participate in this business.
The Acting Speaker gently suggested, "If you agree, I will help you negotiate this matter with the royal family. Don't worry, your efforts will not be in vain."
How could Bai Su be reluctant? Isn't this a royal merchant in a sense?
"Of course I agree!" Bai Su quickly agreed, "It's just that the business tax..."
As far as he knew, the business tax in the Wenk Empire was very high, as high as 30%!
At this tax rate, how can the price of rice be high enough for the poor to have enough to eat?
"You can rest assured about this. I can help you apply for tax exemptions and reductions for grain and oil stores, a business that affects the livelihood of ordinary people." The acting speaker promised.
Bai Su was a little disappointed. He thought he could be exempted from tax.
But on second thought, if he doesn’t pay taxes on business activities, wouldn’t he really become an evil bourgeois?
Bai Su decided to quit while he was ahead, since he still had a strong enough "partner" anyway.
"If that's no problem, I'll let Faria lead the team to escort you to Oat Town to start planting tomorrow." Minister Robis concluded when he saw that Bai Su had already negotiated the price with the Acting Speaker.
The original purpose of his participation in this meeting was to provide some military support for Baisu's planting business.
"Me?" Faria asked in surprise, not expecting that this job would fall on him.
Minister Robis asked him, "Do you have any questions, Adjutant Faria?"
As the adjutant of Keos and also a mid-level leader of the guard, Faria is very suitable for this mission.
Keos, who had been listening quietly, noticed something was wrong, but he was still a step too slow and failed to stop Faria from uttering those shocking words -
"But Keos is dating that farmer, so he should be the one to go!"
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The author has something to say:
Bourgeois: Another name for the bourgeoisie.
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