readytorunbook Chapter 595: Selecting a Field
Chapter 595: Selecting a Field
Due to years of war and natural disasters, the area north of the capital is sparsely populated and has a lot of land.
At this time, Xu Han had many places to choose from, even near the county town.
Because there are not enough people to cultivate the land, a large part of the land in the county has been left barren.
Except for the land around the village that is currently being cultivated, most of the vacant land between the two villages is idle. Although the government encourages everyone to reclaim wasteland and cultivate it, a family has few people, so even if they want to, they are unable to do so.
Besides, if the harvest of newly opened fields is not good in the first three years, it is impossible to produce high-quality grain without proper cultivation for a few years.
If there were enough manpower, there would be enough spare time to reclaim wasteland, but these days there are fewer people and every household has enough land to farm, so there are even fewer people to reclaim wasteland.
The land given by the court is all fertile land, which is managed by the government itself, so Xu Han can just choose the area he wants from the map, and he doesn't have to worry about whether the land he chooses can be cultivated. But if you say how good the land is, it is not.
According to the standards of previous years, it can't be considered good farmland, but only inferior farmland. It's because the fields under the control of the government are too large to be managed at all.
The county magistrate had explained this point clearly to Xu Han in advance, and Xu Han said he understood.
Originally, she had not expected how good the land bestowed by the emperor would be. The couple also had some general understanding of the conditions of the land in their county. Learning about this situation now was within their expectations and was acceptable.
"Mr. Agricultural Envoy, this is roughly the situation of the farmland in our county. You can choose any of the locations circled in red on the map. The farmland near the county seat is relatively more fertile than that in other places. I suggest you choose a place near the county seat.
Of course, although the land near the county town is fertile, the plots are relatively small. You have a lot of land, so if you choose all of it here, it may be a bit scattered. "
Xu Han nodded thoughtfully and looked at Lu Chuan to hear his opinion. Lu Chuan was undecided for a moment and just said, "Your reward is entirely up to you. You can choose any place."
Xu Han hesitated for a moment and did not speak, staring at the map and reading it carefully.
The imperial envoy beside him wanted to speak after the county magistrate finished his introduction. Seeing that no one spoke, he quickly said, "When the emperor gave the reward, he took the land situation here into consideration, so your official land is slightly more than that of the officials of the same position in the capital. When he gave the reward, he directly gave you a thousand acres of good land.
The emperor said that instead of letting those farmlands lie idle, it would be better to give them to you. I believe that with your ability, you will definitely improve these inferior farmlands into superior farmlands within a few years."
Xu Han secretly complained about the emperor's evil intentions, but on the surface, she still said with gratitude, "Thank you for your compassion and consideration. I will definitely live up to my mission and strive to turn them all into top-quality fields."
After saying that, he bowed in the direction of the capital, just to put on a complete show.
After looking around, Xu Han pointed out the places he liked and asked Lu Chuan and Yun Hua, "What do you two think of these places? Although this one is a little far from the county town, it is large and close to the water source.
The most important thing is that this is the only way for us to go down the mountain. If we build a house nearby in the future, it will be convenient to transport things down the mountain and it can serve as a transfer station. "
The place Xu Han chose was right next to a big river on the official road that was the only way to go down the mountain. There was open space for several miles, so it was quite a large place.
Lu Chuan came over to take a look and said, "This land is really good. Although the land is not fertile, the location is really good. The most important thing is that it is very suitable for our family."
Yunhua also said, "Yes, this place is fine, let's choose this place. It would be nice to build a farm here later."
The county magistrate looked at the place Xu Han pointed to and said, "This vacant land is about 500 to 600 acres, less than 1,000 acres. Sir Lu, please choose another one."
Xu Han pointed to another piece of land that was neither too big nor too small. It also had a good location, but it was not too close to the county town. But it didn’t matter, since they didn’t live in the county town often, so it didn’t matter which place they chose.
"Let's choose these two places from the 1,000 acres of land. If the measurement shows that it's not enough, we can extend it to the side. It doesn't matter if the land is not good. We can just cultivate it for a few years."
"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll mark it down and have someone measure it when the time comes."
The imperial envoy beside him added, "Since the land you have chosen is not good farmland, the county magistrate should be more careful when measuring the land."
Everyone laughed when they heard this, and the county magistrate kept saying, "Of course, of course."
The county magistrate originally intended to release some water when measuring the land.
Putting aside other things, just based on the relationship between his family and the Taoist priest, plus the food sent by Xu Han, and Xu Han's current identity, no matter which one is taken out alone, he would have to turn a blind eye appropriately.
After choosing the rewarded fields, several people began to choose official fields. This was much easier to choose. Official fields only had the right to use but not the right to own. It didn't matter where they chose, as long as it was convenient for planting.
After some discussion, Xu Han finally chose a large field in the north of the county. There were fewer people planting crops here, and the fields were all connected together. Xu Han chose a place that was convenient for irrigation and began to expand in all directions until it reached 700 acres.
The county magistrate took the map and looked at the selected place, then smiled and said, "You are worthy of being the agricultural envoy. The location of the selected fields is good. Although these fields do not look fertile now, as long as they are well cultivated for two years, they will definitely become first-class fertile fields."
Xu Han was very satisfied with the fields he had chosen, and was extremely happy. In an instant, he went from having no fields to being a small landlord. Anyone would be happy.
With these fields, Xu Han no longer has to worry about having no food to eat. More importantly, there is no need to pay taxes on these fields, which makes Xu Han even happier.
The food you grow is your own. As long as the weather is good, you don’t have to worry about going hungry. You can even exchange the food you don’t eat for money. Isn’t this a great thing?
After the few people decided on the rewarded fields and official fields, Juxiang came over and asked if they were going to start serving the meal.
Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Xu Han said, "Let's serve the meal." Then she led everyone to the side hall to eat.
Today's banquet was decided by Xu Han yesterday. In addition to the banquet for some wealthy families to entertain guests, Xu Han asked Wei Yan to add a few dishes that cannot be eaten outside, with all kinds of flavors, sweet, sour, bitter and spicy.
When the food was served, several people looked at the food that they had never seen before, and no one dared to pick up their chopsticks for a while.