Chapter 211 Recruitment
It was only after Sang Luo entered the farm that she realized that the large blue brick and tile house and the pavilions and landscape that Shi Erniu mentioned should be the place where the Wang family, the original owners of the farm, rested when they came.
The children were running towards the house, but Old Man Chen and his fellow farmers had fields in their sight, even though the large fields were now overgrown with weeds.
Old man Chen pulled aside the grass stems and grabbed a handful of mud from the roots. He could not hide his excitement: "This land is well maintained. It has been barren for more than three years, right? It still has this much fertility."
The official laughed and said, "How can it be bad? This was originally the farm of Master Wang. I would say you are lucky. How far is Daxing Farm from the city gate? It is close to the official road and close to the mountains. Where else can you find such a good place? Your descendants will have a good life in the future. Come, come one by one, let's measure the land first, and you can choose which one you want. In addition, the court will give one mu of garden land for every three people, and we will measure it for you as well. You can live in the old house or build a new one later."
As early as the second time Shen Lie came out to inquire, he had heard that the government had returned the garden and house land. Now when they heard it from the official, everyone still smiled.
"One mu for a family of three?" Mrs. Chen was delighted, and she counted with her fingers: "Then my homestead will be nearly two mu and seven?"
There are not many people in the Shen family. Chen Lie and Sang Luo's small family only has more than one acre of land. But Sang Luo is also very satisfied. According to the original general acreage of Dagan, the garden and residential land that their family of four can get is more than 700 square meters in modern times, which is more than enough for living. This is so much that she can wake up laughing in her dreams.
Daxingzhuang is really big, stretching as far as the eye can see. I imagine there were quite a few tenant farmers in the past. There are more than 20 houses in it. Except for the exquisitely built and magnificent one where the owner of the house stayed when he came to rest, the rest were rammed earth houses where the tenants lived.
It didn't matter whether they chose it or not. The blue brick and tile house was directly given to Shopkeeper Xu's family. To be frank, they were able to get such a good place as Daxingzhuang because Shopkeeper Xu asked Mr. Wang for help. This was a consensus shared by everyone. Moreover, Sang Luo also knew that this time they should be able to settle down. She wanted to think about her house carefully and build it according to her own wishes.
There were nine households in total, including the Xu family, Wei Qinghe family, the Shen family, the Chen family, the Lu family, the Shi family, the Zhou Cunzheng family, the three Shen Jin brothers, and the family of Uncle Xu who was released from the household register by Manager Xu. Adding Shen Jin, who was not yet an adult but was the head of the household and was allocated land according to the adult males, there were 17 adult males in total, totaling 680 acres.
Most of the permanent farmland was mountainous land, where mulberry trees could be planted, and vegetables and beans could also be grown. The land allocated to each household was truly fertile land, so these nine families together had only 510 acres of fertile land, and the rest was mountainous land and garden land. The mountainous land was the one behind the farm.
The Wang family is a real wealthy family in Shezhou. They own more than 700 mu of good farmland in Daxing Village, not to mention the uncultivated land. They have plenty of land. After the official measured the land, he said, "Don't settle any more people in the remaining land. Wait a few years for the children in your family to grow up before you can divide the land. Otherwise, there will be no land to divide in a few years. By then, you can either divide the mountain land or move out."
Everyone nodded repeatedly. This was also the reason why their nearly 200 people had to be settled in three villages.
Old Man Lu rubbed his hands and said to the official: "I have a useless eldest son at home who doesn't live with us. I have to ask his brothers to go into the mountains to find him and bring him back. Can he settle down in this farm?"
The officer looked at him and said, "All right, as long as the families in your village have no objection."
The official worked efficiently, and by noon he had measured the land of the nine households in the village and given each head of each household a new pass. Then he put away a large roll of bamboo slips, said goodbye, and went to help in two other farms.
Chen Lie and Shopkeeper Xu saw them off. Inside the farm, each family began to carry their belongings to their own houses. Sang Luo and Shen Ning carried the light items, while Chen An and a few young boys from the farm helped to carry away the heavier items. The names "Master" and "Master's Wife" were not used in vain.
The rich families’ farms have one advantage over those outside: there are several wells. There is one next to the Shen family’s house, which, needless to say, is used primarily for their household purposes.
The area chosen by Sang Luo and her friends had three houses. Except for the kitchen, the other two were for living. The houses had been abandoned for three or four years, and it took them an entire afternoon to clean them, mainly weeding and dusting. As for packing up, there was actually not much to pack. They didn't bring back much, just bedding and pillows for the time being, a few sets of clothes, and more than a month's worth of food. Even the weapons were carefully rolled up in animal skins before leaving the mountain.
Most of the things are still hidden in the valley, including this year's newly harvested grain, some stored meat, vegetables, and dried fruits. The pheasants, rabbits, and sheep raised in the village outside the village are being taken care of by the neighbors. As for the sheep raised at the bottom of the valley, they were sown with a lot of grass seeds and enough hay when they were ready to come out, and then they were allowed to roam free.
There aren't even any natural enemies in that environment, so it's safe to let them roam free and then deal with them when there's room again.
In the evening, Shen An came back with some firewood, hurriedly made some food to fill his stomach, and then settled down.
The Shen Jin brothers also have three rooms. Before the new house was built, Shen An lived with the Shen Jin brothers.
The next day, they went to the government office to receive relief food and seeds. Each family also received a hoe. Just as they left the government office, an official came after them from afar: "Mr. Shen."
Chen Lie turned around when he heard the voice and saw that it was the clerk who helped them measure the land yesterday. He hurriedly stopped and said, "Master Xing."
The officer named Mr. Xing said with a smile, "Mr. Shen, please stay. Our Lord Chu has something to ask you."
The group of people looked at each other. These days, no one is not afraid of officials, especially Old Man Chen and his companions who had almost never dealt with officials in their lives. They felt a little nervous after hearing what the officer said.
Chen Lie had some guesses in his mind, so he put down the relief grain he had received, asked Old Man Chen and the others to wait for a while, and followed Mr. Xing to the provincial government office.
Just as he expected, this General Chu was still thinking about making some good political achievements, so he asked him to help go into the mountains to preach and bring people out.
Chen Lie came out very quickly. Old Man Chen and the others surrounded him and asked, "What's going on? Master Chu is calling you over?"
As Chen Lie walked towards the city gate, he explained the matter in a few words. Now they were far away from the Dezhou government office. He whispered, "However, our Lord Chu told me to lead the garrison and the yamen runners in yesterday, but today he changed his mind and only asked me to find people to go into the mountains by myself."
Leading the garrison and yamen runners into the mountains and delivering messages to the mountain people by yourself are two completely different things. It seems that Lord Chu didn't quite believe his excuses yesterday, or he was eager to make political achievements and placed all his hopes on those of them who had stayed in the mountains for several years.
Shen Lie didn't know that Chu Qichang had asked Wang Maolin about their group's situation in detail before he dared to place the bet.
Old Man Chen and his companions relaxed. Shopkeeper Xu looked around and saw that there was no one around. He whispered, "It's not that we can't accept it. We still have to go in. Several surrounding villages are also waiting for us to bring news."
Who doesn't want to live in peace? The mountains are good, with no need to serve in the military or pay taxes. But life in the deep mountains and forests is not that easy, not to mention the many inconveniences. Forget about anything else. Once their two villages leave, no one in that area will be able to hunt and clean up the surrounding area regularly. In less than two years, the number of wild beasts will surely increase, and there will be too few areas for people to move around, and the danger will increase greatly.
To put it bluntly, not only them, but also the people in several surrounding villages have lived a peaceful life in the mountains in recent years thanks to the martial arts of Chen Lie and his gang. Life in the deep mountains and old forests without sufficient martial arts is not so peaceful.
"But did you promise me any reward for running to the mountains?"
Not to mention that the fields had to be reclaimed in this winter, it was not easy to go into the mountains. Otherwise, the government would not let the yamen runners go by themselves? Instead, they let Shen Lie and the others run away?
This won’t work without some skills.
It would be feasible to ask the garrison to search inside, but how deep and wide are the mountains in this area? Without a target, it would be useless to send a team of people in. Where can we find people? We can only rely on people like Shen Lie who have been hiding in the mountains for several years and know where there are people. We hope that he will make a few trips for the sake of profit.
Chen Lie laughed, took out a purse from his sleeve, opened it and poured it into his hand. There were three silver ingots in it: "Yes, I promised to pay you thirty taels of silver for every month you walk in the mountains. I have already received the first month's silver. This is the announcement. If you bring people out, you will be allowed to use the mountain land behind our farm for a certain number of acres for 20 years."
Huh!
Thirty taels. Except for the experienced ones like Manager Xu and Uncle Xu, Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, Zhou Cunzheng and Shi Dalang all gasped. Even the young Shen Jin was not ignorant of the amount of money.
Manager Xu did say, "This money sounds like a lot, but in reality, no one can bring people out of the mountain alone, so there won't be much left. The land is the real valuable thing."
Old man Chen nodded repeatedly: "Yes, this land is really good, this job can be done!"
We got the mountains for free, and you can use them for twenty years!
As old as they are, can they still live for another twenty years? Wouldn't that be like getting an extra share of land from the imperial court?
Even if it is a mountainous area, it can be used in many ways. Didn’t they live in the mountains before?
Old Man Lu, Zhou Cunzheng, Shi Dalang, Manager Xu and Uncle Xu also had shining eyes.
They know very well how many people are still in the mountains. If only some of them come out, how many more hills can they have in their village?
They were originally going back to the mountains to transport things out, and they were also going to deliver the news to people in the neighboring villages. Since they were going to go with them, how could they not care about them?
Now, the government pays me, and it’s a pretty generous salary.
Not working in vain!
The group was so excited that they walked with the wind. Not far from the city, they arrived at Daxing Village. Chen Youtian was repairing the gate of the village with a group of young men, while the women were clearing the road and land nearby. They were originally gathered together. Old man Chen couldn't contain his excitement and told them the situation as soon as he entered the village.
Mrs. Chen was delighted: "Is there such a good thing?"
The hoe was thrown aside and asked, "Are you really giving it to the mountain land?"
Chen Lie smiled and said, “What Lord Chu promised should not be false. Besides, the mountains here are really worthless to the court.”
Too many.
If they were to give Qianzhou government office, they might not be able to give too much, but if they were to give the mountains and land, they could bring people out, so they would not be reluctant to give up this little bit of mountains and land.
Chen Youtian was delighted: "The mountain is good, there is no doubt that we can grow yam. This thing is very easy to grow in the mountains!"
Sang Luo also laughed. Mountains can be used for more than just growing yam.
"Go, let some people do the land clearing and reclamation here, pick a few good people and go to the mountains. In addition to the area where we originally lived, we should also explore the horizontal area. It's just right, maybe we can find the whereabouts of Aunt Shi and her clansmen. But be careful of those who are only young and strong and women, and no old or young. Stay away, and don't attract such people back to this area."
Chen Lie smiled and nodded, "Just one person from each family can go. Me, Dashan, Second Uncle Lu, Uncle Shi, Changjian, Wenqing, six of us will be enough. Bring fewer people at a time and make more trips."
He was absolutely worried about taking all the young and strong people away and leaving only women and children in the village.
The matter was settled, and he took out the money bag and said, "This thirty taels is the salary for a month's journey into the mountains. Five taels per person, and you can divide it among yourselves."
He handed the silver to Zhou Sanlang and Xu Wenqing respectively. These two families should have some extra money. He asked them to divide it among themselves and Lu Erlang and Shi Dalang. He took the last one and said to Chen Dashan, "I will give you five taels of silver later."
Before going into the mountains to take refuge, the family left more than ten taels of silver, and also gave Chen Dashan five taels of change.
Mrs. Chen smiled so hard that her teeth were almost exposed: "This money came just in time. If we save it up, we might be able to build a blue brick and tile house in three to five years."
As she spoke, she looked at the house where the Xu family lived now, and her eyes narrowed: "If I can live in a house like this when I am old, my life will not be lived in vain!"
This caused Sang Luo to burst out laughing: "Grandma, just wait and see, it won't take three to five years."
Mrs. Chen: "Wouldn't I be more beautiful then? I can enjoy many more years of happiness."
This made Old Mrs. Xu and Wei Lingzhen laugh as well.
Just as they were talking and laughing, Wei Qinghe, who had gone to the provincial school to investigate the situation, came back with Shen An. As soon as he came in, he also announced the good news: "Brother-in-law, the provincial school is recruiting students. The exam will be held on December 9th. The top 40 will be selected and can enroll next spring!"
Everyone's eyes were drawn to it, and Shopkeeper Xu asked, "But what is the test?"
Wei Qinghe said: "Choose any two of the Nine Classics, the Examination of the Classics and the Interpretation of the Classics."
Shen Lie was stunned. So easy?
Sang Luo hadn't expected this, but thinking that this was the state school entrance exam, she felt relieved and turned to look at Chen Lie: "Do you want to try?"
Chen Lie has never stopped reading over the years. If he is asked to select two classics from the Nine Classics, namely Tie Jing and Mo Yi, he can still participate.
Shen Lie thought about it for a moment and shook his head: "No, Xiao An will go and try."
If he really went to study, would he leave all the family finances to A-Luo? And let A-Luo earn money to support him? Shen Lie couldn't do that.
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