Chapter 238 Buying the Wasteland Valley
The next morning, at dawn, Zhao Lan set out for Beijing without even asking Su Ruojin to see him off. He rode away at full speed on his horse, as if he had something important to tell him.
Su Ruojin got up and went to the kitchen to eat. Cheng Yingzhen asked nervously, "Ajin, did your father say something too harsh?" Did he make the young prince angry and leave?
"No, mother, the little prince is in trouble, don't think too much."
Cheng Yingzhen was comforted by her daughter and immediately stopped worrying. "That's good, that's good."
After Su Ruojin finished her breakfast, she said to her mother, "I asked my father last night, and he said there is wasteland at the foot of the West Mountain. I'll go take a look, and if it's suitable, I'll buy it."
"West Mountain is not close to here. If we go out in the morning, we will probably come back in the dark."
"If I can't make it in time, I'll stay in a nearby village for one night and come back tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yingzhen became worried, "Ah Jin, why don't you find someone to buy it instead of going by yourself?"
Su Ruojin was worried until she saw it with her own eyes. "Mom, Uncle Hua, Aunt Ye and the others are going with me, so don't worry."
The daughter insisted on going, and Cheng Yingzhen couldn't persuade her, so she had to let her go.
Mother Dong has been back for a while, and the young master said he wanted to open a restaurant, but it has never been opened. She thought that there were relatives and dignitaries at home, and the young master might be too busy to handle it. He thought that after they all left, the young master would have time, so he went out to buy land again.
"Jinniang, you're not opening a restaurant anymore?"
It must be opened, but food is scarce now, Su Yanli is the county magistrate, and it is not easy for Su Ruojin to sell such good breakfast, so he plans to open it after the New Year and the spring harvest.
Su Ruojin told Dong's mother about her thoughts and asked her to wait patiently until after the New Year.
"If I had known, I would have been busy in the capital until the beginning of next spring."
"It's my fault for not thinking it through." Su Ruojin said with a smile, "Just treat it as a vacation, Mom."
Mother Dong shook her head and laughed, "Okay."
Although he said this, he was not idle at all. He helped the hostess with the housework and asked Qiuyue to follow his wife to handle the interactions between family members inside and outside the yamen.
With Qiuyue's help, Cheng Yingzhen increasingly showed the demeanor and bearing of a county magistrate's wife.
Su Ruojin found that after she left home for the capital several times, her mother had grown a lot when she came back. So, she consciously did not stay at home and did not let her mother consciously rely on her, so that she could gradually become a good wife to Su Yanli.
After all, children only accompany their parents for a dozen or twenty years, but as long as the couple does not divorce or die unexpectedly, they will be together for thirty to fifty years, or even longer. Su Yanli's continuous growth as the county magistrate also affects Cheng Yingzhen's continuous growth.
To be honest, both the love and the family affection between Su Yanli and his wife are what Su Ruojin yearns for. If she and Zhao Lan are destined to be together, she also hopes to have the same love and family affection as her parents.
How nice!
Suddenly, the wheels sank into a pothole, interrupting Su Ruojin's distraction. She stuck her head out and asked, "Uncle Mang, Uncle Hua, what's wrong?"
Mangzhong and Huaping had already gotten off the car. One looked around vigilantly, while the other lay on the ground to look at the pit. They saw that the marks of mud and stones were all new and the fractures were neat, which showed that someone had done it on purpose.
The two looked at each other and understood instantly.
Ye Huaizhen had already jumped off the carriage. Seeing the two people's small movements, he instantly looked around vigilantly, but there was nothing but fields and wind, and a half-bald, half-tree-covered mountain on the side. There was not even a bird in the sky.
"It's okay." Hua Ping looked at Su Ruojin, "It's just that the road is hard to walk on, so it's a pity for you to come down."
As he spoke, Su Ruojin had already jumped off the carriage and looked around.
On one side was a mountain range with sparse trees, and on the other was a wilderness covered with wild grass. She walked down the slope, squatted down, and pulled away some grass, revealing some muddy and rocky land.
The half-yellow and half-black mud is full of sand and clods. Crops can be planted there, but they need to be cleaned up and maintained, otherwise there will be little yield.
She stood up and looked into the distance. There were dozens of farmhouses scattered in the wilderness. They were all thatched houses, the kind that could be illuminated by the wind.
This was the scene Su Ruojin saw when she walked to one of the houses. In front of the thatched hut, men, women, old and young were standing and sitting. The clothes on these people were patched up so much that it was impossible to tell what they were originally.
Su Ruojin asked the older man, "Excuse me, where does the village head live?"
The old man looked at the person who came with vigilance, and even the men, women, old and young who were surrounding him stood up straight nervously.
Su Ruojin smiled and said, "I have something to discuss with him." As she spoke, she motioned to Chunxiao to take out a handful of maltose and distribute it to everyone.
Precious sugar!
Everyone took a step back instantly and made room.
Su Ruojin: ...
On the one hand, the old man was surprised by the visitor's fancy clothes, and on the other hand, he was proud that he was the head of the village. "Young lady, I am you, and you are..." Such a beautiful young lady should be the daughter of a wealthy family in the town. Why did she come to Shangala?
What a coincidence? Looking at the patched old man, Su Ruojin was a little bit unbelieving, but still replied, "Old man, my last name is Su. I heard that this piece of wasteland in the south has no owner, right?"
The old man nodded, "Why are you asking these questions, young lady?"
"Old man, I plan to buy it. I wonder how many young people there are in your village. I want to hire them to dig stones. One acre of land costs 800 coins."
Eight hundred!
Isn't it just a little more than one or two taels of silver?
The old man's eyes were frighteningly bright, "Young lady, are you serious?"
Su Ruojin nodded solemnly, "It's not as simple as just digging on the surface, we have to dig at least three feet deep."
Just a little bit of silver! Not to mention three feet, even ten feet, they would do it.
Oh my! The old man jumped up with excitement in an instant. "Young lady, just wait for me, I'll be there soon." He went to gather the villagers.
While Su Ruojin was busy in the village, Hua Ping led two secret guards into the woods. Behind a dense bush, they knocked on a cave, and a secret guard walked out of the cave. "Hua Sicha—"
Hua Ping looked around vigilantly and said in a low voice, "Did you kill those people who were digging the pit just now?"
"Yes."
"Are there any survivors?"
"No." The dark soldier said, "Judging from his body shape, he is from Liaoxia in the north."
It was indeed that fellow. Hua Ping nodded and said, "Protect Madam Su Er and the Su family."
"Yes, Hua Sicha."
After Hua Ping finished speaking, he looked around, then dodged and disappeared into the bushes.
When he showed up, Su Ruojin had already arranged with the villagers of Shangouzi Village about the work of digging stones and carrying rotten soil from the forest. "Don't worry, digging stones will cost 800 coins, and carrying rotten soil from the forest will also cost 800 coins. There will be no less than a coin. But there is a rule. There cannot be a single small stone more than three feet deep in the field. If there is a small stone, one coin will be deducted, and if there is a large stone, ten coin will be deducted. For rotten soil, try to find soil with bird and animal feces. The more animal feces and rotten soil you have, the more I will reward you. The starting reward is ten coins, and the highest reward is five hundred coins."
The common people in the valley were delighted when they heard this. They had been carrying soil and manure for generations. The busy farming season had recently ended and they were worrying about where to find odd jobs. They didn't expect that money would fall from the sky while they were just sitting at home.
The old man was excited to invite Su Ruojin to his house for dinner.
Su Ruojin refused.
"So what do you eat?"
"Thank you old man, I just need you to excuse the pot."
"That's easy, easy..."
The village head asked the villagers to go back, but they were eager to start working right away. They surrounded Su Ruojin and refused to leave, making her laugh and cry. "Tomorrow morning I will measure the land you need and let you work on it."
The villagers jumped for joy when they heard this.
On the other side of the forest, there is a valley. On the other side of the valley, in September, the jungle is lush and leaves are falling in the wind. A mausoleum is looming. In front of the mausoleum, wooden houses and reed houses are lined up on both sides of the mausoleum.
The mountain breeze blew, bringing with it smoke from distant cooking fires.
A man in his thirties who was sitting in front of the wooden house and listening to the mountain sounds smelled something different and shook his cloak, "Yuan Chang, go see if there are any strangers coming to the village across the street."
"Yes, sir."
In a blink of an eye, Yuan Chang disappeared in front of the wooden house.
The man thought for a moment, stood up, walked down the eaves of the wooden house, and walked towards the hill.
The attendant around him became nervous, "Master, this is not appropriate." As soon as he finished speaking, several secret guards emerged from nowhere and stopped the man from going out.
The man laughed when he was stopped, "Forget it, I'm not curious anymore." He returned to the eaves, sat at the small table and continued to sip tea.
Half a quarter of an hour later, the man named Yuan Chang came back and said, "My Lord, there is a young lady from the village in the valley ahead who wants to buy land. She said she wants to grow vegetables on the wasteland and hire villagers to pick up stones."
“Growing vegetables?”
"Yes, sir."
"It's really interesting." The man asked, "Whose little girl is this?"
Yuan Chang replied, "The daughter of Lord Su from Weizhou County - Madam Su Er."
"she?"
The attendant just now asked in surprise: "Master, have you heard of her?"
The man smiled slightly, "Not only have I heard of it, but we've also had meals together. I remember her brother is the same age as my Yao'er, and that Lord Su also gave me advice on my mission, the three-in-one..." He let him skip the second one and successfully completed the mission.
Yuan Chang obviously remembered it, "Master, you have a good memory."
This person is none other than the mediocre Prince of Yan, Zhao Jing, who is currently guarding the mausoleum.
He shook his head, raised his eyes, and looked at the starry sky. "Is there no movement from the second brother in the south?"
The attendant analyzed: "This year, there have been disasters in various places, and the south has not been spared. I guess the King of Wei is waiting for food and grass."
King Yan nodded, "The troops have not yet moved, but the food and fodder have gone first. Your analysis is correct, sir."
"Master, you..."
Prince Yan seemed to smell the meat and said, "I want to eat meat. I wonder if my father will blame me."
Follower: ...
Yuan Chang and others: ...
Su Ruojin didn't know that across the mountain, not only was there Weizhou County, but also the imperial mausoleum of the Dayin Dynasty. At this moment, the mediocre fourth prince, Prince Yan, was guarding the mausoleum. The aroma of the dinner she cooked actually drifted over the west mountain and reached the imperial mausoleum on the opposite side. If there wasn't a valley, this place would probably be a strictly restricted area.
After dinner, it was dark.
Su Ruojin and her group did not stay at a farmer's house, but brought their own tents. They could have tents thanks to Zhao Lan. Waterproof cloth was not easy to find in ancient times, and only people like Zhao Lan could find it. She managed to get two tents with the help of Zhao Lan.
I brought it out today in case I couldn't go back home at night, but I didn't expect to actually use it.
The villagers in Shangouzi were so amazed that they couldn't close their mouths and kept exclaiming in amazement. If Mao Ya hadn't sent them home to sleep, these villagers would have watched the show for the entire night.
When he got home, the old man was full of emotion. "Even the small house surrounded by cloth is cleaner, neater and better looking than ours. They are indeed rich people. Now I feel relieved. These people are definitely not trying to trick us into picking up stones."
The wife of the village head was still suspicious, "With this money, why don't you buy good land? Instead, you have to pick up stones and grow vegetables here. Could it be that this is a good feng shui site? Compared with the one across the street..." The old woman didn't dare to say the word "royal mausoleum".
If there had not been a natural valley blocking it, Shangouzi Village would have long since become part of the imperial mausoleum. The deep valley blocked the Zhao family mausoleum, allowing them to keep their home.
The old man was told by his wife, "Could it be that the county magistrate actually wants his daughter to look for the tomb a hundred years later?" They actually want to look at the imperial tomb from across the mountain?
This is too ambitious!
Lying in the comfortable tent, Su Ruojin sneezed twice. It was a bit cold at night in September, but she didn't feel it. "Did someone say something bad about me?"
Mao Ya smiled when she heard this, "These villagers are eager to worship you as the God of Wealth, who would say anything bad about you?"
"Yeah, who could it be?" The tent was pitched not far from the headman's house, and with Hua Ping and others protecting him, Su Ruojin was very confident and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
In the darkness of night, another group of people quietly arrived at the edge of the wild woods. However, before they could get close to the village, they were blocked by an unknown force and returned in failure once again.
Early the next morning, Su Ruojin circled the number of acres she wanted to buy, left a deposit, and asked the village chief to distribute it to everyone first. She returned to the county government office with the measured acres, pointed to the county map and circled the place where she wanted to buy land.
"Master Tu, please send someone to measure it again and take a look at what the land I bought looks like."
"Madam Su Er, you are too kind. I believe what you say."
"Master Tu, you should send someone to measure and verify whether it is a wasteland. This is not a question of belief or not, but a matter of seeking truth from facts."
"Yes, yes..." You are the daughter of the county magistrate, whatever you say is right.
Why does this guy look like he's being hypocritical? For the sake of her father's reputation as an official and the people, she still asks the Household Department to go in person or ask his subordinates to do it.
"Excuse me, Master Tu."
"Second Madam, you are too polite."
Su Ruojin paid the handling fee like any other common people, but this Lord Tu was perfunctory again, which made Su Ruojin's eyes twitch. This petty official was very slippery and cunning, and it seemed that he wanted to create hidden dangers for Su Yanli's career.
She saw it all but remained calm. When she got home, after dinner, her father and Mr. Pei discussed the affairs of the yamen. Then she told Su and Pei what she had seen and heard in the yamen that day.
"Dad, sir, I think this person is going to cause trouble and will make the land I bought a stain on my dad's career. Sir, please find a way to solve it."
Mr. Pei nodded. "This guy is a typical local tyrant. He relies on his family's size and never does his job seriously." It was a good opportunity to give him a lesson.
As a native hereditary clerk, Tu Licai certainly knew which pieces of land in Weizhou County were good and which were bad. He didn't even need to go and see them. Even if he went, he would still write the land as average.
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