Chương 9: Renting Land

At the Goat hour. After the father and son had eaten and drunk their fill and come out of the restaurant, Jiang Huanyu hesitated again and again, but in the end, he still bought some fine tea leaves and fruit. Returning to the martial arts school, he delivered the tea leaves and fruit to Huang Qingzhou. Huang Qingzhou glanced at the gifts before him and spoke with a faint smile.

"Brother Jiang, you are… too polite." Jiang Huanyu smiled slightly.

"Elder Brother, please do not refuse. In the future, Stone will still have to trouble you to look after him more."

"If this boy is mischievous and causes trouble here with Elder Brother, please discipline him as you see fit. This younger brother will absolutely not say anything more." The two families had not interacted for many years, and he did not think that with some tea leaves and fruit, he could restore the relationship from back then. This gift was only meant to make Huang Qingzhou put a little more care into his child. Wasn't this how worldly relationships worked?

"Haha… easy to say, easy to say."

"My own nephew, this foolish elder brother will certainly treat him as my own." Huang Qingzhou had originally still intended to refuse. In his view, Jiang Huanyu coming to give gifts at this time more or less carried some intention of clinging to old ties. With the Huang family's current circumstances, renewing this relationship would undoubtedly be like picking up a burden. If he accepted this gift, then in the future, if Jiang Huanyu opened his mouth to ask for something, it would be difficult to refuse.

But now, hearing that Jiang Huanyu only wanted him to look after the child more, the burden in his heart disappeared, and he accepted the gifts at ease.

"Brother Jiang, if there is nothing else, then this afternoon I'll let Stone follow everyone and stand in postures together."

"Do you father and son still want to say a few words?" Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu looked at Jiang Wenfeng beside him, rubbed his head, and shook his head.

"I've already said what needed to be said."

"Elder Brother, I leave the child to you. This younger brother will return now." He cupped his hands, turned around, and walked toward the outside of the courtyard.

"Father!" Jiang Wenfeng turned to look at his father's back and could not help calling out. In the end, he was only a seven-year-old child. Leaving his parents for the first time, his heart was somewhat lost and somewhat frightened. Jiang Huanyu's body stiffened, but he did not turn back. His steps grew even faster as he walked out of the martial arts school. From behind came Stone's low sobbing voice.

"Stone, treat your elder uncle's place as your own home. Study martial arts properly. Do not disappoint your father's expectations…" By the time Huang Qingzhou's comforting voice rang out, Jiang Huanyu had already gotten onto the ox cart and slowly left the martial arts school. On the road, his eyes were somewhat red. He turned his head and looked at the martial arts school, then gave a bitter smile and shook his head. As parents, sometimes one truly had to harden one's heart.

If he had turned back just now, there would inevitably have been a round of crying and fussing over the parting. When he returned from town, Hu Yufen was in the courtyard copying that book, Miscellaneous Agricultural Arts. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Jiang Huanyu untied the old ox from the cart, led it into the cowshed, and came over to her.

"You came back this early?" Hu Yufen asked somewhat surprised.

"Did you settle Stone properly?" Jiang Huanyu stood behind her and gently kneaded her shoulders.

"Everything is settled. I bought some gifts for Master Huang, and he promised he would take good care of Stone." After hearing this, the worry on Hu Yufen's face eased slightly. Then she glanced at the small courtyard and sighed.

"In the past, the two children would play and make trouble in the courtyard. Now that it has suddenly grown quiet, I'm really not used to it." Jiang Huanyu did not speak. He only gently placed his hand on her shoulder, letting her head lean against his abdomen. A moment later—"If we want the children to have some prospects, we must eventually let them leave our protection."

"Besides, isn't Anu still here?" Hearing this, Hu Yufen looked up at the time.

"It's almost time to go pick up Anu." Time passed in a flash. In the blink of an eye, more than a month went by. The studies of the two brothers, Stone and Anu, both went very smoothly. At noon that day, Jiang Huanyu returned from weeding in the fields. Hu Yufen brought over the food, and the husband and wife sat in the courtyard.

"Husband, have you heard? Erzhu was arrested by the authorities!" Arrested by the authorities? Jiang Huanyu held his rice bowl, his brows slightly furrowing.

"Why?" Hu Yufen shook her head.

"I'm not clear. I heard it seems to be smuggling. In any case, it's very serious. He has already been taken to Willow County."

"According to Great Yu's laws, this time, even if he does not die, I'm afraid he will be exiled." Jiang Huanyu understood.

"No wonder the weeds in Erzhu's family's fields are growing taller than the crops, yet neither he nor his wife has gone to weed them." Niu Erzhu's fields were adjacent to their family's fields, about 1 hectare in total. With about 1 hectare of fertile land, according to the harvests of these past two years, their days should have been passable. But this Niu Erzhu did not engage in proper work. He liked gambling and drinking. On ordinary days, the family's fields were all managed by his wife with the children.

Some days ago, when Jiang Huanyu went to Blackwater Pond, the rather thin young man he encountered on the field ridge had been Niu Erzhu. Jiang Huanyu had also heard of smuggling before. The Western Wilderness barbarians, separated from Great Yu by a mountain range, produced rare ores and all kinds of furs. Bringing these things into Great Yu territory would often multiply their price several times, or even more than ten times. Such enormous profit naturally drew some people to take desperate risks.

They used grain to exchange for furs and ores from the barbarians, then sold these things. After moving them around like this, they could often earn until their bowls and basins were full. These people were called "mountain smugglers." In the early years, in the villages and towns along the mountains, one could often see mountain smugglers carrying huge bundles on their backs. Later, the newly appointed Emperor of Yu established Mountain Patrol Commandant Camps along the mountains.

On one hand, it was to patrol for barbarian warriors secretly crossing the border. On the other hand, it was also to crack down on these "mountain smugglers." What Jiang Huanyu had not expected was that Niu Erzhu was actually this bold. Knowing clearly that Mountain Patrol Commandants existed, he still dared to do such business. Great Yu's laws were extremely strict. For this kind of smuggling behavior, even if the amount was not large, the punishment was still extremely severe.

This time, Niu Erzhu's family property being confiscated and his whole family, old and young, being exiled was something he definitely could not escape. It was even possible he would lose his life because of it. Thinking up to here, Jiang Huanyu's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Yufen, Erzhu's family's fields are adjacent to ours. I'm thinking, after the county's judgment comes down, should we buy his family's fields?" Hearing him say this, Hu Yufen was also somewhat tempted. The harvests these past two years were good, and the composting method Jiang Huanyu had been tinkering with could greatly increase soil fertility. If they could gain another 1 hectare of fertile land, it seemed quite good. But Niu Erzhu's family's fields were definitely going to be confiscated.

Buying land from the government was not the same price as buying land from ordinary commoners.

"The family now only has a little over one hundred and thirty taels of silver left. We still have to keep some for emergencies. I'm afraid we can't afford it." Hu Yufen spoke regretfully. Jiang Huanyu, however, did not think so.

"If we can't afford it, we'll rent it first. The prefectural office definitely does not have the manpower to manage this little bit of land."

"Great Yu's laws have regulations. Tenants have the right of first purchase. After we rent it for two years and our hands become more comfortable, we can buy all this 1 hectare of land in one go." Hu Yufen nodded.

"Then after you eat, go ask the village headman about it?"

"Done!" After eating, Jiang Huanyu hurried to the village headman's house. Hu Yufen, meanwhile, busied herself preparing winter clothes for the few members of the family. The weather had already entered autumn, and the two children's winter clothes from last year were clearly much too small. They had to be sewn again. In order to save money, she did not throw away those winter clothes. She planned to directly alter the original clothes and make do with wearing them first.

Jiang Huanyu also obtained definite news from the village headman. The matter of Niu Erzhu's family had basically already been determined. Because of suspected smuggling, the male members of the family would be exiled to the Northern Sea, while the female dependents would all be demoted to penal laborers. Penal labor was a kind of punishment Great Yu imposed on criminals.

Male convicts were assigned to build city walls and do other filthy and tiring labor, while female convicts were assigned to pound rice for the government day and night. Together, they were called penal laborers. As for the matter of renting the land, the village headman also agreed to ask about it for him later. If there were no problems, then in the spring of next year, the land could be rented to him.