The village chief immediately retorted, "How is it not enough? Now that all the rice seedlings have been planted, we can continue building houses and clear some wasteland to plant peanuts, beans, and vegetables. That will be enough for us to eat."
His words were unanimously agreed upon by several elders in the village.
"That's right, we can handle all of these things."
"The crops produced in the fields are enough for us to eat."
“Even if the yield per mu is 150 jin as Ding Gui and Chen San said,” Lin Yinan said, taking the abacus from Lin Yiheng and fiddling with it. “We have planted nearly 1,800 mu of land, but the total yield is only a little over 200,000 jin. There are about 1,200 of us. Even if we eat sparingly, the grain produced in the land will not last us for half a year.”
She paused for a moment, then continued, "Besides, this is a conservative estimate of the output under good weather conditions. Nobody can predict the weather in the south. If it hailes once or twice, what will we eat this year?"
Before the clan chief and elders could speak, Lin Shuo and Lin Qingxiang reacted first, spitting a few mouthfuls of saliva on the ground.
With hands clasped together and a devout expression, he said, "Pah! Pah! Children don't know any better. If it's ugly, it won't come true; if it is good, it will. Please don't be offended!"
Lin Yinan saw this and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Yunye kept his eyes fixed on the numbers on the abacus, his expression gradually becoming serious.
"Clan leader, the secret guards of my Yun family and the two hundred followers brought by Yun Yu have to go out on patrol every day, and their meals must not be reduced."
"Grandfather, do we really have to tighten our belts and live frugally?"
Lin Yuanzhi looked at his grandfather, whose brows were furrowed. His grandfather was getting old and his mind was becoming less sharp.
The village chief scratched his gray hair in frustration. Since Anan took charge, he had grown increasingly disliked things that required thinking.
"Anan, tell me, what should we do?"
Lin Yinan didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "We are currently very short-staffed. Once we get busy with the work in the fields, the house construction will have to stop."
"If we can bring in more people within our control, and send more young and clever people to supervise, we can carry out the farming and house construction at the same time."
"What is the scope that we can control?" The clan chief immediately grasped the key point in her words.
Everyone else turned to look at Lin Yinan, waiting for her to explain further.
Lin Yinan: "Just like Liang Wen and the others, we provide meals and accommodation."
As soon as she said that, everyone immediately understood.
The village chief hesitated, "After ten years, are we really going to give them houses?"
Lin Yinan nodded, "Send it! If we want the horse to run, we have to prepare plenty of fodder for it first."
This is similar to how modern companies manage their employees. If you want employees to work wholeheartedly for you, in addition to showing them the development prospects of Longtan County, you also need a fair and just reward and punishment system.
She believed that as long as the monetary reward was sufficient, nothing else mattered.
If money can't solve the problem, then it's definitely because not enough money has been given.
Besides Wu Xu and Wu Xingwang, there were also Liang Wen and the others who joined later. Lin Yiheng knew about the amount of money that the public funds had distributed to each family.
So he gave the clan chief another strong dose of medicine.
"Chieftain, our village is currently extremely poor. Everyone's pockets are emptier than their faces. If we don't quickly build shops and revitalize the economy of Longtan County, even if we move into new houses in the future, we'll still be destitute. And what about furnishings? Everything costs money!"
These words were like a wake-up call; the clan elder and the young leader of the group looked at each other in bewilderment.
They have enough to eat and drink now, so they haven't even considered this issue.
“Alright, then let’s bring them in. As for how to allocate them, you young people can decide.” The clan chief decided not to interfere any further.
The village chief and the clan elders nodded, "We have no objections. Please give us a copy of the list later."
Lin Yinan didn't ask them what they needed the list for, "Okay, no problem."
Looking at Hu Shao and Lin Yisong, who were sitting in the corner whispering to each other, Lin Yinan remembered the task she had given them that afternoon.
"Hu Shao, have you made any progress on the matter I asked you to investigate?"
Caught off guard by being called out, Hu Shao stood up in a panic. Facing the gazes of everyone, he looked like a child who had done something wrong, nervously fidgeting with the hem of his clothes.
A little.
His voice was a little soft, and Lin Yinan could not hear him very clearly. Noticing his nervousness, she softened her voice and said, "Tell me more carefully."
Hu Shao looked up and his eyes met her gentle yet encouraging gaze, and he instantly forgot his panic and unease.
He mustered his courage and said loudly, "The manager told us that among the refugees who came with us, some were influenced by the beggars in the city, and a small number were instigated by the Ye family."
“The major families in the south are basically aware that we have settled down in Longtan County,” Lin Yisong added from the side.
Lin Yinan paused for a moment, then said, "In that case, let's take the initiative."
Yun Mo thought she was about to attack someone again, so he immediately became extremely vigilant.
"Anan, how do you suggest we take the initiative?"
"Right now, they're driving people towards our county. What if we took the initiative to send people there to persuade those migrants who are heading south?"
Lin Yiheng quickly chimed in, "This way, we won't be short of manpower, and we can also find out about the situation of those refugees in advance."
"That's a great idea!"
Yunye clapped and cheered. The three brothers were only good at military campaigns, but they were completely clueless about the intricacies of governance.
Therefore, they were happy to let Lin Yinan do things boldly.
Failure doesn't matter, the two brothers will cover for us.
Lin Yinan's gaze returned to Hu Shao and Lin Yisong. "Hu Shao, Yisong, do you two dare to go to Shigong City?"
The two exchanged a glance, then looked firmly at Lin Yinan.
"Sister Anan, let's go! Don't worry, we'll definitely bring back more people to our county."
"Okay, go back and make preparations. Then the delivery team will leave."
At night, the moonlight bathed the earth like water.
The pitch-black night sky was dotted with countless stars, dazzling and eye-catching.
Amidst the sounds of insects and frogs, Lin Yinan discussed with the others the overall development direction of Longtan County in the future.
As the night deepened and all was quiet, the two or three pots of mugwort burning in the main hall of the county government gradually went out. The weather in Longtan County in May was already quite warm, and with the rising temperature came the annoying problem of mosquitoes.
The high temperature and humidity in the south are ideal for the breeding and growth of mosquitoes.
The next day, Qianxia woke Lin Yinan up early.
After breakfast, before the scorching sun rose, she led the Yun brothers, Lin Yiheng and Lin Yuanzhi, along with more than a hundred copies of the contract she had copied overnight, to the city gate.
Lin Yinan twitched her nose, smelling the rich scent of mugwort in the air. Her gaze fell on a bundle of green mugwort that hadn't yet burned out in the fire, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
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