By the time all the formalities were completed, it was already late autumn. Zhang Fangyuan's family now had a total of mu of land, including the newly acquired wasteland and their previously cultivated land, which made his family on par with the landlords in the village.
However, there was a significant difference. The landlord's over 100 mu of land was not wasteland, but fertile soil that could be directly planted with crops. In contrast, Zhang Fangyuan's land required reclamation and cultivation.
Despite this, stepping on the vast expanse of land, even though it was still barren and desolate, it gave the couple a sense of stability and security. The feeling of owning land was something that no business could provide.
"With our limited labor, we need to cultivate and fertilize the land. We won't be able to plant crops until at least the year after next."
"All good things take time, so it's better to take it slow. This way, we can have enough time to figure out what to plant and where to hire people."
Zhang Fangyuan found a rock to sit on, looking at the wolf's tail grass taller than him and said, "I think we should hire farmhands. Our neighboring villages are doing relatively well, but there are also poorer villages near Suiyang City. We should be able to find workers from those areas. With so much land, it's impossible for just our family to manage it, unless the entire Zhang clan comes to help."
Xu He nodded in agreement.
After winter came, before the couple even announced that they wanted to hire people to work on their land, villagers who were not busy with farming came to them on their own and asked if they needed to hire anyone.
Seeing that many people were inquiring, Zhang Fangyuan decided to go along with it and said that he wanted to hire people. However he offered a low wage, only 30 copper coins a day for men and 20 copper coins a day for women, with no meals provided. He told them that anyone who was willing could come.
However Xu He disagreed with Zhang Fangyuan's decision, "I don't think this is a good idea."
"Do you think the wages are too low?" Zhang Fangyuan asked
Xu He shook his head: "It's not that the wages are low. During the slack season, the wages of laborers are always low. But if you set this price, you're going to encourage people to slack off. They will think that as long as they put in a day's appearance, they will get paid this much"
He had cultivated land for so many years that his experience couldn't be richer.
"So what do you mean?"
Xu He said: "This is easy. Instead of paying by the day, we'll pay by the mu of land they have reclaimed. This way they will definitely not be lazy and will definitely work faster than anyone else."
Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "You are genius."
It was just as Xu He had expected. The villagers worked faster and more efficiently when their wage was tied to the amount of land they reclaimed. Almost no one was loafing around or chatting idly in the fields and wasting their time. Some even brought their families to work in the fields, asking their younger children to cut grass and fill mud, etc. while the strong ones moved the stones in the wasteland and dug the soil.
One winter, the entire village was busy working on the wasteland of Zhang Fangyuan's family.
Everyone had something to do and were grateful to Zhang Fangyuan for providing them with work. The villagers, who used to call him "Butcher Zhang" or "Boss Zhang", now affectionately called him "Landlord Zhang". The atmosphere was much better than in previous winters, when everyone had no farm work they would had nothing to do but gossip.
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