When Zhang Fangyuan returned from the city with the paperwork, the house was bustling with activity.

"Twelve catties, seven hundred and twenty Wen. Did you bring your own change?"

"Yes, yes, there are two hanging coins and eighty Wen."

In the yard, Xu He held a cash box and gave money to the villagers who came to deliver silkworm cocoons, licorice lined the villagers with silkworm cocoons, and Huangqi looked at the two children.

Rui Li looked at the lively yard, and was very energetic and happy. The yard was full of people running around. Ruijin didn't like such a lively scene, but fortunately, the villagers who came today were busy with things, and they were all rushing to get money , no one has the leisure time to tease the child, so he quietly sat on the chair next to his little father, watching and counting the money.

The whole money was paid back, and loose money had to be counted except for those who had already been dressed in a sling early in the morning. Xu He muttered, counting a copper coin and dialing a copper coin.

It is very interesting to stick his Ruijin next to him like a bank burst, staring at his little father's hand intently: "One, two, three..."

Hearing the soft voice beside him, Xu He couldn't help but stop his hands and turn his head to look at Ruijin, his eyes widened.

Ruijin's eyes are not as big as Brother Li's. Seeing Dad's eyes widen, he also widened them: "Is the count wrong?"

Xu He shook his head: "How can you count?"

"I see dad counted."

"Oh, this kid is so talented, he can count at a young age!" The villagers who were waiting to settle the money were also surprised, admiring at one end, and bragging about the child and the Zhang family at the same time: "It's so precocious, maybe In the future, he will be a good hand in business!"

Xu He didn't care about the flattery of the villagers. He was very happy in his heart. Ruijin didn't talk much, and he was a bit indifferent to people other than his family, so that the villagers who didn't know the whole picture outside rumored that the child was stupid, and he didn't care how others arranged it. Myself, but I can't see the children.

Seeing that the child is so smart, the villagers can't talk anymore.

Xu He's voice of counting copper coins was amplified a little, and he specially taught Ruijin how to count.

However, Ruijin blinked at his little father, and stopped following suit.

Xu He frowned slightly.

The villager said: "Children are like this. If you don't have the heart to teach him, you have the heart to learn a thing or two. If you want to teach him, he feels that it is not a game but a thing, and because of this, he loses interest."

Xu He felt that what the villagers said was very reasonable. After all, the children are too young to be forced, otherwise they will not be able to find a teacher to study in Mengmeng if they get tired of studying in the future.

He stroked Ruijin's head, his soft hair felt very smooth, and kissed the child's cheek, he continued to work, and let Ruijin stay quietly again.

"This year's silkworm cocoons are pretty good!"

When Zhang Fangyuan came into the house, the villagers greeted him politely.

"It's pretty good." Xu He looked up at Zhang Fangyuan, and wanted to ask if the land was in order, but the villagers who were selling silkworm cocoons in the yard didn't ask. Seeing the man with a happy expression, it seems that the problem is not Big, said: "Already received almost fifty catties."

"The warehouse doesn't have to be empty now."

As soon as Zhang Fangyuan finished speaking, Rui Li, who was running in the yard, ran back and stretched out his arms like lotus knots to be hugged by him.

He picked up the child shortly, the weather is sunny but not hot today, but Rui Li is still running sweaty and sticky, and he doesn't know that he is a dirty child, hugging Zhang Fangyuan's arm and complaining that his little father just kissed him The brother didn't kiss him.

Xu He said: "Brother Li is too vengeful, I don't know who was chasing the butterfly under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree just now and refused to come here."

Zhang Fangyuan took a funny look at Brother Li, who was embarrassed to bury his head on his chest: "Then Daddy just give him a kiss."

Only then did Brother Xiaoli raise his head, and moved his face closer to let his father kiss him.

This time, the silkworm cocoons were harvested at nearly a hundred catties. The reason why there were so many was because the earlier batch of silkworm farmers kept the silkworm cocoons. Sending them this time is equivalent to sending two batches at once. Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He reckoned The last wave of village households this year will increase the number of silkworms raised. After all, some people have started to collect silkworm cocoons, and if the things can be sold smoothly, they will be willing to do it.

Song Yong only comes to Siyang twice a year, and when he comes to deliver summer cloth next spring, Zhang Fangyuan can sell the cocoons he has collected once, and then sell them again in autumn, which is very suitable.

Zhang Fangyuan was relieved when he watched the servants put the cocoon boxes on the hay and put them in the brightest and dryest warehouse.

"Has the government approved the matter of the land?"

"Approved. In the past two years, the nearby villages have been doing business. Everyone has more money in their pockets than before. It is easier for the county government to collect taxes than before. The county magistrate has a good impression of our villages. I heard that It’s the county magistrates who used to do business in our villages who are all kind.”

Zhang Fangyuan has been away for so long because the county magistrate dragged him to talk for a while, merchants and farmers earn money, and the county government’s tax revenue is easy to increase. They sent people to measure the land area, and even encouraged Zhang Fangyuan to open up more wasteland.

After some conversation, Zhang Fangyuan learned that the imperial court had also assigned tasks to the provinces and counties, asking the county magistrates to encourage the people to open forests and reclaim wasteland, so as to increase the income of grain and grass.

Many people live a tight life, the population is not large and they are unwilling to open up wasteland, and the county magistrates in many counties also have a headache. Zhang Fangyuan took the initiative to go to reclaim the land, and the county magistrate was of course happy.

Apart from other things, he also knows some internal policies, but Zhang Fangyuan knows that he can't eat too much. If he buys more land, the labor force in the family will not be enough by then, and he will have to spend more money to buy it. .

The county magistrate refused, and persuaded: "Then make up a whole number, and then measure 32 mu of wasteland in your village, which is exactly 100 mu. This way the master book is easy to remember, and the official can report it."

"It's not forcing you to open up so much wasteland. In fact, you Jijiu Village hasn't done much land reclamation in recent years. You have to learn from Hongshi Village on this point."

Zhang Fangyuan said: "Where is the lord, the mulberry trees were only opened two years ago when they were planted."

"How many acres of land is it? A scattered village only adds up to more than ten acres."

This is a good point. The villagers are unwilling to open up wasteland because the cost is too high. They would rather allocate some of their own land to plant mulberry trees and raise fish, but they don’t want to buy wasteland.

Seeing that he had nothing to say, the county magistrate refused to agree to measure the land again, so he said, "Well, the price of thirty-two acres of wasteland to make twenty-eight acres of wasteland is an encouragement."

Zhang Fangyuan smiled slightly, and he had already talked about this point. He didn't want to refute the face of the magistrate, so he reserved a hundred acres of land.

After hearing what Zhang Fangyuan had said, Xu He smacked: "It seems that our land is still expensive."

"I think the same way. The county government is a fine person. Although the people call the county magistrate Qingtian Dalord, he is covering most of the sky in Siyang with one hand. If you don't do something on the land, you just rely on it." Can the meager money of the imperial court support the wives, concubines and children of that big family?"

Xu He also knew that the magistrate of the county had a wife in his wife's house and four concubines. He also took out other unnamed people and had a lot of children, all of them dressed in gold and silver, so graceful and rich. In the busy streets and alleys of the east of the city is another big house, and that family business cannot be started with a little monthly money from the imperial court.

But even so, no common people dare to ask anything. After all, this county magistrate has never harmed Zhongliang, and it is much better than those poor counties who wantonly oppressed the people and merchants. As long as life can still pass, thank God.

"Then where do you think about the extra tens of acres of land?"

"Thirty mu of land is not very much, but we can't choose Haitang Bay. There is no wasteland at that end, and there is a mountain forest beyond. It is more troublesome to cut down the forest and make land. Just open up some wasteland.”

Xu He nodded: "Then let's go through the formalities earlier."

Zhang Fangyuan said: "The county government is more anxious than we are. Tomorrow they will send someone over to take measurements, and they will go through the formalities with the village chief directly for us."

Xu He couldn't help shaking his head, the county government was very efficient in making money, and the chickens and ducks were all given away for nothing.

It was the end of autumn after all the formalities were completed. Zhang Fangyuan's wasteland and the old land he had previously managed totaled a total of 120 mu, which was already on par with the landlords in the village.

But the difference is that the more than 100 mu of land owned by the landlord's family is not wasteland. They are real land that can directly grow crops, and their family has to reclaim it.

Even so, stepping on the solid and large piece of land, even if it looks desolate and desolate, still makes the couple feel extremely at ease. The land gives people a sense of stability that a shop can't give.

"We don't have many people, and we need to cultivate and fertilize the land. At least it will take the next year to plant crops."

"Good things take time, so it's good to take your time. With enough time, you can think about what to plant and where to hire people."

Zhang Fangyuan found a stone pier and sat down, looked at the Pennisetum taller than him and said: "I want to find a farmer. The lives of a few villages around us are good, but there are many people in the city of Siyang." In a poor village, it shouldn’t be a big problem to find farm laborers from there. After all, unless the entire Zhang family clan farms so much land, it will depend on how our family manages it.”

Xu He responded.

After the winter, before the couple released the news that they would hire people to open the land, the villagers in the slack farming came to the door and asked if they wanted to hire people.

Zhang Fangyuan saw that there were many people asking questions, so he took advantage of the situation and said that he would invite people, but the wages were low, 30 Wen a day for men, 20 Wen a day for women, no meals were provided, and anyone who wanted to come would come.

But Xu He said to him when he was discussing wages: "It's not good."

"Do you think the wages are too low?"

Xu He shook his head: "It's not that the wages are low. During the slack season, the wages of laborers everywhere are low. It's just that you set the price and let them work for a day. It's not enough to guarantee that many people will be lazy. Anyway, they get so much money for a full day."

He has planed too much ground to be more experienced.

"Then what do you mean?"

Xu He said: "It's easy. The folks told me how much it costs to cultivate an acre of land, not how much it costs a day. In this way, they will definitely not be lazy, and they can save it faster than anyone else."

Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "It's really you."

As expected by Xu He, the wages ranged from one day to one day, to the corresponding wages per acre of land. The villagers worked fast and well, and almost no one was bragging in the field. Yes, some even dragged their families to work in the field, asking the younger children to mow grass and stuff mud, etc., so strong they moved away the stones in the wasteland and dug the soil.

One winter, all the laborers in the village were on the wasteland of Zhang Fangyuan's house, and it was very lively.

Almost everyone has something to do, and they are all grateful to Zhang Fangyuan for doing the work. They used to call the butcher the boss, but now they call Zhang the landlord with good words, which is much better than the old gossip in the winter slack. up.

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