The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1658 - Capítulo 1658: 1633: Affinity by Marriage

Capítulo 1658: Chapter 1633: Affinity by Marriage

Since they played late on the fifteenth, both of them slept in the next day.

When they got up, it was already bustling outside again. They weren’t in a hurry to return to their village; a group of young friends gathered and divided into several groups, exploring Yongzhou City and buying some inexpensive and miscellaneous items.

By the afternoon, when the sun wasn’t as intense and it felt cooler, they finally checked out of the guest rooms and left.

Yin Huo and Liu Huan didn’t want to return to the capital immediately either. Since they were already out, they might as well play for a couple more days.

The servants of the Yin Family didn’t urge Yin Huo, but the servants of the Liu Family couldn’t help but urge Liu Huan.

However, Liu Huan turned a deaf ear and whispered to his friends, “Since going back will inevitably lead to a beating, we should at least enjoy ourselves thoroughly. It’s better to get beaten a couple of days later.”

Bai Shan and a few others agreed wholeheartedly, so they took the two of them back to the village, even turning it around to help Liu Huan persuade the Liu Family’s servants, “Just go with the flow, and when you get back, you can blame Liu Huan for everything.”

Liu Family’s servants: ……

When they reached Bai Family’s village, Liu Huan and Yin Huo followed them. Since the sky hadn’t darkened yet, they went to the orchard to pick some fruit and then walked around half the village, saying, “Your village isn’t that big, is it?”

Bai Shan replied, “Managing to buy this village between the capital and Yongzhou is quite fortunate. My grandmother waited a long time for this opportunity. Land between these two cities is snapped up as soon as it’s available, so there’s no worry about it not selling.”

Liu Huan said, “Our family has a village on the outskirts of the capital.”

Bai Shan laughed, “I know, my family can’t compare to yours in that aspect.”

Yin Huo asked, “Your ancestral home is in Longzhou, which isn’t too far from here. Doesn’t your family have land there?”

“Yes, most of my family’s land is still in Longzhou,” Bai Shan said. “But Longzhou is quite far from the capital. This village mainly grows vegetables, fruits, and common gourds and pulses we eat, which can be sent to the capital in season. We also grow grain, but that’s secondary.”

Yin Huo nodded, and couldn’t help but ask, “What does Manbao’s official land mainly grow? Fruits and vegetables too?”

Bai Shan said, “…It’s a thousand acres of official land, so of course, we mainly grow grains.”

Bai Shan explained their primary planning, and while Liu Huan wasn’t very interested in it, Yin Huo listened intently.

Bai Shan said, “Liu Gui went to Longzhou to get wheat seeds. He should be on his way back now and will return in no more than two days. Once Mid-Autumn is over, everyone can start farming.”

Farming may sound simple, but it’s not easy; it’s not like you can just say you’re going to farm and then it’s done.

The next day was the seventeenth. Before dawn, Old Zhou got up, woke his eldest son, changed into work clothes, and was about to take several daughters-in-law and grandchildren to Pu Village to have a look.

Surprisingly, Mr. Zhuang also changed his clothes to go with them.

Manbao and the others, who originally wanted to laze about and use studying and practicing calligraphy as excuses, could only get out of bed, change their clothes, and go with them.

Old Madam Liu and the others weren’t going; they decided to manage the household affairs in the village for them.

When they got to Pu Village, Manbao and the others couldn’t get a word in edgewise, as each family had already decided on the number of acres they wanted to lease, and the land had been divided.

The court had very neatly planned the official fields—a single acre was a single acre, making it easier to redistribute the land whenever a new official was appointed, simply by counting blocks. Who had the manpower and resources to re-measure everything?

Of course, this method was quick, but its drawbacks were also obvious. Official fields were easily encroached upon; some fields would disappear over time because certain high-ranking officials would buy the private land surrounding the official fields once they were allocated, and gradually, their private land would increase while the official fields would decrease.

After a few years or a decade, when the official left for other positions, retired, or for other reasons, no longer held authority over a given official field, the Ministry of Revenue would find that the official lands had shrunk or disappeared entirely when they came to reclaim them.

At this point, the Ministry of Revenue had two routes to take: one was to be strict in implementing the rules, spending the next few years and a massive amount of administrative effort to reclaim the official fields, triggering more issues;

The other was to turn a blind eye, report that the official fields had been destroyed due to various natural or man-made disasters, and required new fields to be surveyed.

The naive and romantic Manbao, Bai Shan, and Bai Erlang sat on the chairs brought out by the villagers. While stamping the tenant lease contracts, they listened to the villagers explain why they moved there over a decade ago.

It was because their land was adjacent to a large official field, which later became the private field of a certain Lord Cui. Subsequently, their land was redeemed by the court to become official fields, but the yamen didn’t want them to lease the fields after buying their land.

An old man whispered, “The chief said that the officials wouldn’t let us farm because they were afraid we’d cause trouble there, so they relocated us here.”

Manbao and Bai Shan exchanged a glance with Bai Erlang. Finally, they understood why certain books explicitly stated that wars began due to severe land annexation, leading to rebellions when farmers couldn’t survive anymore.

This is only the second generation of the current dynasty, yet some have already encroached on large amounts of official fields. If it continues, won’t they blatantly seize the lands of good citizens?

Bai Shan furrowed his brows tightly.

Yin Huo and Liu Huan, obviously not having read those books, didn’t understand the trio’s unspoken connection and only felt stunned.

Yin Huo said, “This violates the law, doesn’t it? Liu Huan, won’t your grandfather intervene?”

Liu Huan’s grandfather is the Minister of Revenue.

Liu Huan flushed and asked, “Cui? Could it be the Cui family?”

Yin Huo said nothing. The Cui family is a renowned noble lineage, and the most critical point is their marital connections are spread throughout the court. Without even mentioning the distant ones, sitting right in front of him, Liu Huan had a cousin married to the Cui family’s daughter.

Wei Zhi, Lord Wei in the court, has a daughter-in-law from the Cui family, as does Scholarly Senior Brother Yang’s wife and Minister Han’s and State Duke Chen’s families, who each have a daughter-in-law from the Cui family. This only covers the middle-aged generation, not to mention the elderly generation.

The intricate network of connections among families is indescribable. Yin Huo’s grandmother even has a sister-in-law from the Cui family in her maternal home.

Therefore, even Yin Huo himself, upon seeing someone from the Cui family, must acknowledge the relationship and greet them as a cousin or uncle.

In essence, the Cui family has genuinely connected the entire court through marriages.

Yin Huo, due to his frail health, hasn’t memorized the Clan Record but has seen it. With six sisters at home, it’s tough for him not to know these connections in the capital.

Let alone Bai Shan, who memorized the entire Clan Record and the Bai Family’s genealogy.

By the way, the Bai Family also has a marital connection with the Cui family.

Thinking this, even Bai Shan was taken aback.

After hearing this, Manbao exclaimed in wonder, “The Cui family is even more powerful than Old Master Ma in our town.”