Chapter 214 Forty-six Acres of Mountain Land
In the winter of the third year of Wuding, throughout October and November, Chen Lie and his party traveled through the mountains and forests. Of course, the results were gratifying. In addition to the people from their own two villages, they went in and out three times and brought out a total of 183 people.
This is to bring out all the people from the three or four scattered small villages nearby who were willing to move out after hearing about the policy.
Chu Qichang was grinning so hard seeing Shen Lie and the other six that he couldn't stop smiling. Many petty officials in the state government office knew about Shen Lie and the other three.
While waiting to hand the person over to the officials at the city gate for resettlement, Chen Lie took the initiative to tell Chu Qichang that this was all he could do for the time being.
Chu Qichang's heart, which was just floating in the air, was suddenly pulled down: "What? Are you afraid of snow? It hasn't snowed yet? Please help look for more. We hope that more people can come back before next spring."
When talking to Chen Lie again, he no longer put on airs. He was so down-to-earth and so much to his liking. Nearly four hundred people came out before and after, and the area outside Shezhou City became more lively.
They did organize their own group to search in the surrounding mountains, but if they didn't go deep enough, they wouldn't meet anyone at all. If they went too deep, they would almost be surrounded by wolves. Fortunately, there were not only yamen runners who went there, but also a few garrison soldiers. However, this was enough to scare the yamen runners.
He didn't know how Chen Lie and his group did it. Looking at the coats they were wearing, he could tell from the edges that they were made of animal skins. In any case, the yamen runners didn't have the ability to do that.
Chen Lie was reluctant to give up this job. The six of them had already received five taels of silver per person for the first month and a half. As for the two and a half taels for the second half of the month, after several more contacts with Lord Chu, he knew that they would not be shortchanged in this regard.
Then there are the 183 acres of mountain land. There are six families, and each family can get 30 acres. Just thinking about the fact that each family will have an extra 30 acres of mountain land in the next 20 years, I can't stop feeling happy.
But now it was the end of the month, and the exam was in nine days. He couldn't really do nothing to prepare, so he still bowed to Chu Qichang and said, "Master Chu, please forgive me. I also want to help a few more times, but I dare not hide it. Two of the six of us want to take the provincial school entrance examination at the beginning of next month. On weekdays, we carry books with us and read them by the fire at night. Now that the exam is approaching, we must have a few days to prepare. The mountains are not safe. It is not safe for only the four of them to go in and out, and it is even more difficult to bring people out."
When Chu Qichang heard that some of them wanted to take the provincial school entrance examination, he was quite surprised: "Are you still studying?"
He looked at the six people with one pair of eyes. Shi Dalang had a broken arm, Lu Erlang was too old and didn't look like him. He looked at the remaining four people left and right and asked Chen Lie, "Who are they?"
Chen Lie was ashamed: "Just trying, it may not work."
Chu Qichang understood that one of them must be Chen Lie. He smiled and patted Chen Lie on the shoulder: "Good boy, you are both good at literature and martial arts!"
After praising him, he became worried again. He paced for several steps and then gritted his teeth and said, "This is about your future. I can't stop you. There are only a few days left. You should prepare for the exam first. If you are free later, you can help me walk around. If you really get into the state school, that would be a good thing. Then you can see if you can find someone suitable to help you go to the mountains."
Shen Lie subconsciously looked at Chen Dashan, but he hadn't asked him about his personal affairs yet, so he didn't want to ask first, so he just smiled and said yes.
Chu Qichang waved to the official named Xing who had been to Daxingzhuang before and whispered a few words to him.
Mr. Xing responded with a smile on his face, asked Chen Lie and the others to wait for a while, then turned around and went back to the city. He came out after about a quarter of an hour, with a companion by his side, who was the one who had been to Daxingzhuang last time. Both of them had instruments for measuring the land in their hands.
Chu Qichang was already busy with something else, so Master Xing smiled and said, "Brother Shen, let's go."
Chen Lie and his friends guessed that they were being asked to measure the mountain land, so they smiled and asked the two officials to go ahead, while the six of them followed behind, carrying the things they had brought out of the mountain.
After walking a distance and the mountain folks could no longer see him, Master Xing took out a purse from his sleeve and stuffed it into Chen Lie's pocket, saying with a smile, "Our master asked me to collect half a month's salary from you, fifteen taels, check to see if it's correct."
Chen Lie didn't need to look, he knew it by just pinching it with his hand, and thanked Master Xing with a smile.
Mr. Xing smiled, feeling quite envious. The state government was short of money, and the warehouse was empty with only wooden shelves and empty boxes. Their salaries were also grain, so where could they see money? But on second thought, although they were greedy for money, it was really reassuring to distribute grain in this year, and they were very satisfied.
…
Before the fields in Daxingzhuang were fully tilled, the six families had each acquired more than thirty mu of mountain land. Shen Lie sent the official away, but Shen Ning still couldn't believe it. She stepped on the mountain land and said as if in a dream: "Sister-in-law, this mountain belongs to us?"
Sang Luo looked at the land allocated to her family. With the addition of the ten mu of permanent farmland, her family now had forty-six mu of mountain land, covering two whole hills. The extra six mu was given to them by Master Xing at the behest of Lord Chu, based on the size of the land. Together with the original permanent farmland, they made it a whole, covering two whole hills.
"It's ours now."
Chen An was stunned: "Sister-in-law, can we finish planting all these fields?" Especially if he and his elder brother were really admitted to the provincial school, they would be able to help, but they could not compare to other families who had young and strong people who could work at home all day.
As the day of the state school entrance exam drew closer, Shen An felt heavier in his heart. He worked desperately every day, just wanting to help share as much of the burden as possible.
The three brothers Shen Jin also came to see the excitement of dividing the land. When they heard what Shen An said, Shen Jin hadn't spoken yet, Shen Tie said first: "Second brother, I will help my sister-in-law to farm."
The little boy, who is only eight years old, can now use the small pointed hoe to plow the soil. Although his movements are slow, he has learned it well.
Sang Luo laughed out loud, and Chen Ning pinched Chen Tie's cheek: "You've always been the sweetest talker since you were little. How old are you? It's good enough that you can sort out your own land, and you're helping us farm the land?"
Chen Tie was anxious and immediately exposed Shen Jin: "I didn't lie. My brother said that he would help my sister-in-law and elder sister to open up the mountain land after the fields at home are hoeed."
Shen Jin was embarrassed. This big mouth, the work has not been done yet, so it’s better to sell it first. However, seeing that Shen Tie was anxious, he still helped: "Sister-in-law, sister, Xiao Tie didn’t lie. We discussed it a few days ago. Our thirty acres of land should be ready in more than half a month. We have also planted vegetables in the garden behind the house, and we will cut firewood on the mountain first, so we should be able to help later."
Shen Yin also nodded repeatedly: "Yes, if the eldest brother and the second brother go to school, we will help the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister."
So the root is here. Sang Luo felt warm in her heart. She rubbed Chen Tie's head and said, "I know you want to help, but you have to use the mountain land. Don't underestimate it. If you use it well, your ten acres of mountain land may not earn less than the thirty acres of good farmland. As for helping us, you don't have to. If your eldest brother and second brother can really pass the provincial school, I will hire two more people to help."
When Shen Jin heard that he needed to invite someone, he hesitated: "Who?"
Chen An and Shen Ning also looked at Sang Luo. Sang Luo said, "It's easy to hire people. Not every family is short of labor like us. Many families have many people who can work but are still two or three years away from adulthood. Such families have surplus labor, so people can come out to work."
Many of the people living in the several nearby villages and towns were their original neighbors in the mountains, so they knew them well and it was not difficult to find them.
Shen Jin subconsciously asked, "The wages must be high, right?"
For those who have been the head of a household, the thought of spending money is still hard to bear.
Chen An's eyebrows relaxed: "It's better to ask someone who knows the background. I think there are many people in the Qiu family. Let's go to the next door village to ask. It's better to spend some money than to tire yourself out."
He knows his sister-in-law best. If she dares to hire people, the work done by the hired people will allow her to earn more.
Sang Luo smiled at him and said, "Xiao An, are you confident?"
Chen An was a little embarrassed by the question and shook his head: "Not really, I just thought too much before, but there is still a chance of success, right? I have no problem memorizing the words in the book copied from Yun Zheng, but my understanding of the scriptures may be a little worse."
After all, there is no serious teacher. He and his elder brother are learning these things. When they don’t understand something, they ask Wei Qinghe, Wang Yunzheng, or his elder sister-in-law. However, Wei Qinghe and Wang Yunzheng themselves are still learning, so they have to figure out the answers on their own.
As for Sang Luo, where had Sang Luo studied Chinese culture before? She could answer some of the questions, but she didn't understand some of them.
Chen An was not too worried about the exam, but was more concerned about the family finances that his sister-in-law and sister would have to bear in the future. He said, "My brother and I will go deeper into the area when we have time and hunt some things. Don't worry, sister-in-law, we can hire someone. We will definitely get the money for hiring someone."
There are many rich people in Shezhou City now, but not many of them can eat meat.
Shen Jin and Shen Yin's eyes lit up: "Take us with you, it's hard to find even a pheasant outside."
Sang Luo saw that the brothers were discussing going into the mountains to hunt, and shook her head: "Okay, right now we have your eldest brother's money, don't think too far ahead, it's only a few days, work hard these days, and you'll really pass the exam."
Chen Lie has earned seven and a half taels of silver in the past fifty days. Adding the savings before they fled into the mountains, Sang Luo now has twenty-five taels of silver in her hand. For a poor family, this is a considerable fortune, whether it is placed in Dagan or the current Da Qi.
Besides, with forty acres of mountain land, she was not worried about not making money. Sang Luo did not worry about this.
Then he said to the three brothers Shen Jin: "You read when you have free time. In the mountains, you followed the morning reading and attended classes. Now you are busy making a living outside. Have you ever taken out the bamboo slips I copied for you?"
Shen Jin was embarrassed and hesitated for a while before saying, "Sister-in-law, I'm not cut out for this. I can follow along when reading, but I can't memorize it. It's too complicated. It makes me dizzy. I can't remember it no matter how many times I read it."
"Where's Xiaoyin and Xiaotie?"
Shen Yin and Shen Tie, who were called out, looked at each other, but they didn't dare to look at Sang Luo.
"Then study with the goal of learning more words. No matter what you do when you grow up, you will suffer if you are illiterate. For example, even if you just work as a farmer, you may need to write or read land sales deeds. If you are a businessman like Manager Xu, it will be even more difficult if you don't know enough words."
Shen Jin nodded repeatedly: "As long as I can read, I think it's OK. Just don't ask me to memorize those flowery and confusing books."
Shen Yin and Shen Tie also breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Tie smiled, revealing two front teeth that had just fallen out and were a little leaky, which made Sang Luo laugh. She rubbed his head and said, "Okay, let's all go back first."
…
On the other side, Xu Wenqing, who had escorted the two officials out with Shen Lie, also pulled his father to beg for mercy: "For the provincial school recruitment exam, why don't you just ask Wen Hong and Wen Bo to go? I'm really not good at studying. There are only 40 candidates, so why would I get a turn? I won't go and make a fool of myself, right?"
How many times has this happened? Every time he came back and talked about it, Shopkeeper Xu really wanted to kick him: "What a waste of time! Do you think you will always have a chance to take the exam? You are seventeen this year, and you will be eighteen next year. If you want to go in the future, the provincial school will not allow you to step into that door. Just take advantage of this year and take a chance this year. If you are not so lucky, you don't have to take the exam next year."
Although he has been busy with his own affairs recently, he has been to Shezhou City quite often and met his old boss Wang Maolin at least twice. Especially during the most recent meeting, he really learned some things from their conversation.
If Xu Wenqing has a chance to enter the provincial school, he can only try it this year. If he can't get in this year, he doesn't have to worry about it and should make other plans for him early.
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