Chief Li was in a good mood and raised his hand to stop the noisy chatter. "Don't rush this matter. After you finish building the village school, you can start building the noodle shop. You need to eat one bite at a time, and you need to do things one by one!"
Everyone who originally wanted to try it out had to temporarily suppress their desire to start work. Although each family could dispatch manpower to build a workshop, since the clan leader said there was no rush, they just had to follow the arrangements!
After everyone digested the first thing, Clan Leader Li brought up the second thing, "Now there is one more task. Yan'er's family provides a kind of rice seedlings. You can take them back and plant them. When the harvest comes, I will charge you five cents per pound!"
"What is the yield per mu? How long will it take to harvest?" the villagers couldn't help asking.
Chief Li waved his hand, signaling everyone not to worry. He then turned to Li Yan and said, "Explain it to everyone again in detail!"
"My dear uncles and aunts, the rice seedlings we start planting now will be ready for harvest in March. As for the yield per mu, I can only say that 800 kilograms will be a no-brainer, which means we can earn four taels of silver per mu. Of course, this isn't absolute. If you carefully tend to the crops according to the methods I've described, you might be able to earn five taels of silver per mu. If you just plant and leave it alone, you won't get that kind of yield!"
When everyone heard that there was so much money, they were very excited. One acre of land has four taels of silver. If two acres of land are cultivated, wouldn’t that be eight taels of silver?
If we start planting now, we will start harvesting in the autumn harvest season. That is the time to pay taxes. By the harvest time, we will get a large sum of cash, which is enough to pay taxes for the family!
Everyone present had thought of this, and they all rushed to Li Yan, expressing their willingness to plant the crops, fearing that if they expressed their intentions too late, they would miss out on this good opportunity!
Li Yan was suddenly surrounded by the crowd. The people in front surrounded Li Yan, and the people behind also wanted to squeeze forward. Li Yan was suddenly submerged in the crowd.
The scene suddenly became chaotic. Fortunately, the leader of the clan, Li, who was standing at the head of the group, saw that something was wrong and quickly called out to everyone, "Why are you so anxious? Disperse!"
Everyone then realized that they were too impatient and retreated in embarrassment.
Fortunately, Mr. Li stood behind his granddaughter and protected her. Apart from being squeezed a few times, she was not seriously injured.
Li Yan retreated to the side of the Li clan leader and said to everyone with a smile, "Uncles, you can plant as much as you want. There's just one thing I need to emphasize: anyone who takes on this job this year must not keep it privately, let alone sell it secretly! If anyone violates this and tells me about it, I will send him to the authorities. Don't accuse me of being ungrateful to my fellow townsmen!"
Although what he said was unpleasant, everyone could understand it. As long as they thought about the money and silk they would get after the autumn harvest, the unhappiness in their hearts disappeared completely!
"Girl, when do you think we can start planting?" a villager asked impatiently.
"Uncles, please go home and discuss how much space you have available, then come to my house to register. I will then sign a deed with you, outlining the rights and obligations of both parties. This will provide protection for both of us!"
After all, she was a girl who had done big business. Look at how well-arranged she was. After hearing this, everyone couldn't wait any longer.
Especially the young ones, they want to go home quickly to discuss such good things with their parents!
Seeing that they were all agitated, Patriarch Li waved his hand and said, "If there's no problem, go ahead!"
The young men scattered like birds and beasts, while the older men walked in groups of three or four, asking each other how many acres of land they were planning to plant.
Cao Jiang, who was standing at the back of the crowd, was now hesitating and standing there. He had of course heard what Li Yan said. The place where they lived now, apart from the few acres of land used to build the house and cultivate the vegetable garden and flowers, there were still 31 acres of wasteland that were originally allocated to them.
He wanted to ask the girl for the farming job, but he was hesitant about how many acres of land to plant. They were now divided into five households, each with an old man and several children, and the labor force seemed to be insufficient.
Just as he was lost in thought, Li Yan came up to him and asked, "Grandpa Cao, is there any difficulty?"
Seeing Li Yan's question, Cao Jiang said with some worry, "I'm thinking about how many rice seedlings I should ask you for. You know, although we have land, we haven't cultivated it yet. There are only old and young children in the family, so we can't count as laborers. I think three acres of land is the limit for a family to manage!"
Li Yan thought for a moment and suggested, "This isn't a difficult task. Every household in the village wants to grow this crop, but there isn't much idle land. If Grandpa Cao is too busy, you can ask the people you know. You can either rent the land to them, or ask them to help cultivate the land. In return, you can give them some land to grow. You can discuss the choice between the two of you!"
Cao Jiang slapped his thigh in surprise. He was only worried about not being able to cultivate these fields. Why didn't he come to his senses?
Cao Jiang said goodbye to Li Yan with a happy face. He needed to go home quickly to discuss this matter with other tribesmen so that he could find familiar villagers to discuss it with.
The villagers over there returned home and began to discuss this matter. Now the spring wheat and beans in the fields are not yet mature, so where can they find land for planting?
But if I don't plant it, I can't bear to spend the four taels of silver, which is equivalent to the harvest of two acres of land. I absolutely can't bear to miss it!
The old man in the lead looked at the vegetable patch in his yard, hardened his heart, and said through gritted teeth, "Thin out the vegetables in the front and back yards. Pick the beans, cucumbers, and garlic, dry them all and pickle them. In just three months, if we can make it through, we can earn more than eight taels of silver. We can't miss this opportunity!"
In the countryside, the open space in front of and behind the houses is very large. If the vegetable fields are reduced, the vacant land can be used to grow one or two acres of peppers.
On the other side, Cao Jiang returned home and discussed with several other households. After discussion, they decided that each household would plant three acres of land.
Since there were no farm tools or fertilizers, he thought of asking the villagers to help him cultivate the land and then give them some farm manure. In return, he would let them plant the remaining 16 acres of land for free for one year.
Doing so will not only improve the relationship with the villagers of Lijia Village, but also has another good point. After these lands are reclaimed, they will not have to spend a lot of effort to clean up the land in the future. For the new "three-no" personnel who have no money, no people, and no tools, this is obviously a good suggestion.
Without hesitation, Cao Jiang went to the village immediately after seeing that his clansmen had made up their minds.
He had to find someone to reclaim the wasteland before planting began!
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