When Zhang Fangyuan arrived in the city, it was also bustling. Many people were sweeping snow and cleaning the streets. Stalls that had been closed for a long time were open again, and farmers were selling vegetables at the city gates. Siyang was coming back to life.
He stopped to eat a bowl of noodles before going to find the agent to finalize the house purchase.
Originally, the house was priced at one thousand taels, but the couple had negotiated with the previous owner and settled on an auspicious number: eight hundred and eighty taels.
Zhang Fangyuan handed over a stack of silver notes and received a set of keys in return. Without delay, he went to the county office to complete the paperwork. Since he had donated a large amount of charcoal at the beginning of the year, the county office remembered his kindness and didn't give him much trouble. The paperwork was completed quickly.
When he left the county office, the sun was brighter. With so many people in the city, efficiency was high. In the morning, the roofs had been covered in snow, but by now, they had been cleared, revealing the original blue tiles. The streets were also mostly cleaned, though they hadn't yet dried in the sun.
Zhang Fangyuan untied his heavy cloak, planning to first visit the new house to see what furnishings were still needed. Once everything was in place, they could move in at any time.
"Go somewhere else! Don't you have eyes to see what kind of place this is?"
"Go away, go away! We have nothing, nothing!"
Zhang Fangyuan noticed a commotion near the county office and went over to take a look. A group of ragged refugees had gathered, begging the guards for food and being driven away.
"Where did these refugees come from? Didn't we just raise funds for disaster relief last month?"
The county government officer, noticing Zhang Fangyuan's inquiry and knowing he had just completed some business at the county office, treated him with respect. "These aren't refugees from Siyang. After the recent fundraising, the local refugees have already been settled. These are from other counties. Have you not been in the city recently? Right now, the city is full of refugees."
Zhang Fangyuan frowned slightly. "Are they from Ningjiang Prefecture?"
The county government officer nodded. "Some are from there. After the heavy snow, the epidemic was cured, but many poor people couldn't survive the repeated disasters. They sold their homes and land and now have no place to settle, so they're wandering everywhere. It's not just our county, other counties have also seen an influx of refugees."
The officer sighed helplessly. "The higher authorities have issued a notice forbidding the expulsion of disaster-stricken refugees and requiring us to do our best to resettle them."
Hearing this, Zhang Fangyuan suddenly understood why the county government was so busy. They were scrambling to deal with this issue.
Siyang had also been affected by the disaster, though not as severely as Ningjiang Prefecture. Previously, there had been many refugees here, and the county government had already raised funds to provide relief. If they tried the same approach again, the merchants might not cooperate, and it could even provoke dissatisfaction among the local wealthy families.
If they left these refugees to fend for themselves, begging on the streets and starving to death, it would severely impact the city's appearance. The common people would complain, and when higher officials came to inspect, a casual inquiry on the streets could ruin the county magistrate's chances of promotion.
As Zhang Fangyuan walked toward Qingshan Lane, he observed the refugees in the streets. There were many of them, wandering like ghosts, disheveled and emaciated. Their faces were gray and lifeless, their eye sockets sunken, and their lips cracked and pale. They were so thin that they needed bamboo sticks to support themselves.
Such scenes were common after major disasters, much like how locust plagues often follow droughts. Those who managed to flee to other places to beg were still somewhat fortunate, as many had already lost their lives during the calamities.
Zhang Fangyuan pondered for a while. He had originally planned to return to the new house first, but an idea struck him. He went straight to the stable, untied Xiao Hei, and rode back to the village.
"Our hundred mu of land might finally have a solution!"
Xu He was preparing lunch, with the two little ones trailing behind him like ducklings. Whether he was fetching water or getting vegetables, they followed him everywhere. He eventually handed the task of washing vegetables to Gancao and Huangqi and carried the two children out of the kitchen.
Coincidentally, they saw their father returning.
Xu He noticed Zhang Fangyuan's excited expression. Instead of talking about the house first, he brought up the family's land. Curious, Xu He asked, "What's the plan?"
"Everyone's busy with their own land this spring, so it's hard to hire people to plow the fields."
In truth, hiring people was possible as long as you were willing to pay, but who wanted to spend extra money? Zhang Fangyuan had been worried about his hundred mu of land. He had been so happy when he acquired it, but now it was becoming a joke because it was left unattended.
He pulled Xu He into the room, with the two little ones still following behind. As he handed Xu He the keys he had brought back from the city, he said, "When I went to the city today to complete the paperwork, I saw many refugees begging on the streets. They're from other counties, and the county magistrate is struggling to figure out how to resettle them."
"Our land needs people to tend to it. I originally wanted to hire farmers, but aren't these refugees ready-made laborers?"
Xu He immediately understood Zhang Fangyuan's meaning. "You want to bring the refugees here and allocate the land for them to farm?"
Zhang Fangyuan nodded. "In the village, a family might have as little as ten mu of land. Our hundred mu could be divided among ten households, but most of these refugees aren't in family units, so we could accommodate even more. Tenant farmers aren't servants of the landlord, the landlord doesn't have to pay taxes for them. After the autumn harvest, they would pay a portion of the grain to the government, and the remaining nine-tenths would be divided."
Xu He thought about it. The life of a tenant farmer wasn't easy, it was harder than that of an ordinary commoner. The grain they harvested each year first went to the government, then to the landlord. Usually, what was left was barely enough to feed their families, and that was only if the landlord was kind. If the landlord was stingy, going hungry was a regular occurrence.
In other words, tenant farmers essentially borrowed the landlord's land to work for a living, existing in a gray area between free commoners and enslaved individuals.
Most people wouldn't choose to become tenant farmers unless they had no other options.
Xu He wasn't sure if they could persuade these refugees to become tenant farmers, but if it worked, it would kill two birds with one stone.
"Alright, let's act quickly. Once the snow stops and spring arrives, the weather will warm up. Our land is newly reclaimed, so the yield won't be as good as the villagers' well-tended fields. We'll need to fertilize it more and can't afford to delay."
Zhang Fangyuan said, "I came back to discuss this idea with you as soon as I had it. Let's settle the land issue first, and then we can find a suitable tutor for Ruijin and Ruili."
Thank you for the chapter!!!
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