Due to years of war and natural disasters, the area north of the capital is sparsely populated and has abundant land.
At this point, Xu Han had many places to choose from, even near the county town.
Because there are too few people to cultivate the land, a large portion of the land belonging to this county has been abandoned.
Apart from the land around the village which is currently being cultivated, most of the open space between the two villages is idle. Although the government encourages people to reclaim wasteland for farming, families are small in number, so even if they want to reclaim wasteland, they lack the resources.
Besides, newly cultivated fields don't yield good harvests in the first three years, and without proper care for several years, they simply can't produce high-quality grain.
When there are enough people, there is still time to clear land, but these days there are fewer people, and every household has enough land to cultivate, so there are even fewer people to clear land.
The land provided by the imperial court was all fertile farmland, which was under the control of the government. Therefore, Xu Han could simply select the area she wanted from the map without worrying about whether the land she selected was suitable for cultivation. However, it was not exactly a case of the land being exceptionally good.
According to previous years' standards, this land doesn't qualify as good farmland; it can only be considered inferior farmland. The government controls too much land, and simply can't manage it all.
The county magistrate had explained this to Xu Han beforehand, and Xu Han said she understood.
She hadn't expected the land bestowed by the emperor to be anything special. The couple had a general understanding of the land situation in their county, so learning of this situation was within their expectations and they could accept it.
"Your Excellency, the situation of the fields in our county is roughly as follows. You can choose any of the locations marked with red circles on the map. The fields closer to the county seat are relatively more fertile than the fields in other places. I suggest you choose the places closer to the county seat."
Of course, while the land near the county seat is fertile, the plots are relatively small. Since you have a lot of official land, choosing all of it here might spread it out a bit.
Xu Han nodded thoughtfully and looked at Lu Chuan beside her, wanting to hear his opinion. Lu Chuan was also undecided for a moment, and only said, "Your reward is entirely up to you. You can choose whichever one you like."
Xu Han hesitated for a moment and remained silent, staring intently at the map.
After the county magistrate finished his introduction, the imperial envoy had been wanting to speak, but seeing that no one was saying anything, he quickly said, "When His Majesty bestowed the rewards, he took into account the land conditions here, so your official land was specially more than that of other officials of the same rank in the capital. When bestowing the rewards, His Majesty generously gave you a thousand acres of fertile land."
His Majesty said, "Rather than letting those farmlands lie fallow, I would rather bestow them upon you. I believe that with your abilities, you will surely transform these inferior fields into superior fertile land within a few years."
Xu Han inwardly complained about the Emperor's cunning, but on the surface she still said gratefully, "Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty. Your Majesty is very thoughtful. I will definitely live up to your mission and strive to turn them all into top-quality fields."
After saying that, he even bowed in the direction of the capital, emphasizing that he was going to go all out in this performance.
After looking around, Xu Han pointed out the places she had her eye on and asked Lu Chuan and Yun Hua, who were standing beside her, "What do you two think of these places? This area is a bit far from the county town, but it's large and close to the water source."
Most importantly, this is the only route we can take down the mountain. Building a house nearby would make transporting goods down the mountain much easier; it could serve as a transit point.
The place Xu Han chose was right next to the big river on the official road that was the only way down the mountain. There was open space for several miles, and the place was quite large.
Lu Chuan leaned over to take a look and said, "This land is indeed quite good. Although the soil isn't fertile, the location is excellent, and most importantly, it's perfect for our family."
Yunhua also said, "Yes, this place is good, let's choose this place. It would be nice to build a manor here later."
The magistrate looked at the place Xu Han pointed to and said, "This open space is about five or six hundred acres, not enough for a thousand acres. Lord Lu, please choose another place."
Xu Han pointed to another piece of land that was neither too big nor too small. It was in a good location, but it wasn't very close to the county town. However, it didn't matter, since they didn't live in the county town much anyway, so it didn't matter where they chose.
"Let's choose these two sites for this thousand acres. If the measurements show they're not enough, we can extend them to the side. It doesn't matter if the land isn't good; it'll be fine after a few years of cultivation."
"Okay, I'll mark it down right now and have someone measure it later."
The imperial envoy added, "Since the land you chose isn't exactly fertile, the county magistrate should take extra care when measuring the land."
Everyone laughed upon hearing this, and the county magistrate repeatedly said, "Of course, of course."
The county magistrate had originally intended to slack off during the land survey.
Putting everything else aside, given his family's relationship with the Taoist priest, the food Xu Han sent, and Xu Han's current status, he would have to turn a blind eye to any of these things.
After choosing the land to be rewarded, the group began to choose their assigned land. This was much easier to choose from, as assigned land only had the right to use it, not the right to own it. It didn't matter where they chose it, as long as it was convenient to cultivate.
After some discussion, Xu Han finally chose a large tract of farmland north of the county town. There were even fewer people farming the land here, and the fields were all connected in large tracts. Xu Han chose a spot that was easy to irrigate and started to expand outwards, aiming for 700 mu (approximately 47 hectares) of land.
The county magistrate looked at the selected location on the map and said with a smile, "You truly deserve to be called the Commissioner for Encouraging Agriculture. The location of the fields you have chosen is excellent. Although these lands do not look fertile now, as long as they are properly cultivated for two years, they will definitely be first-class fertile fields."
Xu Han was very satisfied with the land she had chosen, and she was overjoyed. She had gone from having no land to becoming a small landowner all at once. Who wouldn't be happy in that situation?
With these fields, she would never have to worry about not having enough food again. More importantly, these fields were tax-free, which made Xu Han even happier.
The grain they grow all belongs to their own family, so as long as the weather is good, they won't go hungry. They can even sell any surplus grain for money – isn't that a wonderful thing?
After the group finalized the allocation of the rewarded land and the official land, Juxiang came over to ask if they should start preparing the meal.
Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Xu Han said, "Let's set the table." Then she led everyone to move to the side hall to eat.
The menu for today's meal was all arranged by Xu Han yesterday. In addition to the dishes served to guests by wealthy families, Xu Han also asked Wei Yan to add a few dishes that cannot be found elsewhere, with a variety of flavors including sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy.
When the food was served, none of the group dared to touch it, as they had never seen such dishes before.
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