Because of the earlier water-diversion and bandit-suppression affairs, Fang Zichen had built up prestige in these villages. Recruitment went smoothly—everyone was scrambling to sign up.
Though nobody knew why they needed to build such wide roads, whatever the prefect said was what they followed. Working with him couldn't be wrong.
After land acquisition in Anhe County, Shunan, Luoshan County, and other places, construction had all begun. But Anping County ran into a small problem.
The soldiers returned to report that a local gentry in Daoxiang Village refused to sell his land. They had reached a deadlock and had to decide whether to reroute the road or not.
Going around would cost extra money, and that was absolutely unacceptable to Fang Zichen—it felt like taking his very life. He wanted to know who this bastard was, and he decided to go deal with the matter personally.
Zhao Ger went along too.
Over in Daoxiang Village, there was a well-off old master named Qiu. His family owned plenty of land but had few members, so they lived a fairly comfortable life. Thirty years ago, Old Master Qiu had traveled out into the world and earned a good amount of silver. He came back, hired people to clear several patches of wasteland, tended them for a few years, and turned them into mid-grade farmland. Since they had more grain than they could eat, the family opened a rice shop in town. Later, as business grew, they moved to town to settle down. Now that he'd heard about the road construction, and his land happened to be right beside the road, if they wanted to widen it, they'd have to acquire his land.
Old Master Qiu rushed back immediately.
A prime mu of farmland went for over ten taels of silver. Originally, every family had no objection. But Old Master Qiu gathered the villagers together and said, "This calculation is wrong! Neighbors, if we tend one mu well, it can yield two dan (100 kg) of grain—that's two hundred catties. If we sell it all, we can earn over one tael of silver a year. If we keep the land, it can be passed down for over ten generations. One generation is eighty years—that's over eighty taels. Over ten generations, how many taels is that?"
"Now they want to take our land for just ten or eleven taels? No way."
Old Master Qiu knew the new prefect was a good one, so he dared to speak this way. If it had been those previous officials, he'd have run faster than a dog at the sight of them—he wouldn't have dared to play such little tricks.
Fang Zichen naturally knew all this. When he arrived, he asked directly, "So you want me to pay you a hundred taels per mu?"
"The common folk have heard that you are a good official who cares for the people," Old Master Qiu said, putting a flattering label on him first. "Surely you wouldn't take advantage of us commoners. I do have quite a bit of land myself—losing one or two mu wouldn't be a big deal. But you probably don't know about the other families, my lord. In our Daoxiang Village, there are many people and little land. Many families have only a few mu. If those are taken, what will their children and grandchildren eat in the future? Eleven taels is too little—it won't get them anywhere."
That sounded quite reasonable. But road expansion would barely take up any land. And a hundred taels per mu? If Zhao Ger and Zhang Quan hadn't been tightly gripping him on both sides, Fang Zichen would have already kicked the old bastard two li away.
Damn it—daring to come take advantage of me? Dream on.
When the villagers heard Old Master Qiu's words, they all seemed to agree. They had been just about to press their thumbprints to finalize the land transfer, but now every one of them held back.
Fang Zichen swept his cold gaze over them.
"What's your opinion? Do you want a hundred taels per mu too?" He let out a cold laugh. "This road construction is ultimately for your benefit. Whether it gets built or not doesn't really matter to me. If you all agree with this old beast's words, I'll withdraw everyone immediately."
Old Master Qiu's face turned ashen. He secretly signaled to a few villagers with his eyes. Those villagers, who had been terrified by Fang Zichen before, now took the cue and immediately said, "My lord, this humble man has only nine mu of land, and two sons to support..."
Fang Zichen raised his voice impatiently and snapped, "I don't want to hear your nonsense. I just want to ask you all—do you all want a hundred taels per mu?"
The villagers were frightened into silence, as quiet as quails. No one spoke, which was as good as a tacit agreement.
Fang Zichen let out a cold, mocking laugh, swung up onto his horse, leaned down slightly, and fixed Old Master Qiu with a dark, icy stare.
Under that gaze devoid of any warmth, Old Master Qiu felt a chill run through his entire body.
Fang Zichen laughed in anger: "Old man, since ancient times, the common folk do not contend with officials. You certainly have guts. But you want to take advantage of me? Hmph—you've successfully caught my attention. I'll remember you. You just wait. Let's go."
Old Master Qiu and the villagers watched as Fang Zichen led his soldiers away without a second glance, dumbfounded.
"Old Master Qiu, this... this isn't what you said would happen!"
For the villagers, the road construction was neither essential nor urgent. They had little money and rarely went to town, except now and then to sell eggs or buy salt. The existing one-meter-wide footpath was already enough for their needs, and besides, none of them had any idea what cement was. Still, if the road were built, they would have work and could earn some silver to help support their families. Now that Fang Zichen had left without another word, if the roadworks were called off, they would lose their chance to earn money.
Old Master Qiu remembered Fang Zichen's expression and felt a chill run down his spine. But on the surface, he remained perfectly calm: "Everyone, don't panic. Listen to me. I've asked around in town—our new prefect was transferred here from the capital. The man is out there suppressing bandits and blasting mountains, all to build up some achievements so he can return to the capital. Building this road—that's a benefit to the common folk, and it counts as an achievement too. Right now, the prefect is just trying to scare us! As long as we stay steady and hold our ground, we'll be fine."
Old Master Qiu was the most successful man in the village and carried some weight. He lived in town, and everyone had always held him in high regard—it wasn't easy for someone from their village to rise up in the world, so everyone naturally took his words seriously.
If land was worth a hundred taels per mu, then even if they lost just a fraction of a mu, they could still get several dozen taels. That much silver, spent carefully, could last a lifetime.
With that thought, everyone's hearts surged with excitement and fervor.
"Old Master Qiu, you've seen the world—we'll listen to you."
"Yeah, me too."
After all, this prefect was a good one; he wouldn't chop off their heads. At worst, he would simply order the construction of the road halted entirely. And if he didn't build it, so be it—they already had a path to walk on anyway.
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