Chu Xun was puzzled. The suggestion he put forward was to eliminate gluttonous and lazy people and ensure the harvest of the fields.
As a local official, collecting grain taxes every year and handing them over to the national treasury was one of the considerations for performance.
Especially since the current Emperor valued the people's livelihood the most, building bridges and repairing roads for a hundred miles might not be as useful as handing over a hundred extra loads of tax grain.
Tang Shijun saw his doubts and patiently explained, "If this precedent is opened, people could privately collude with others to drive away tenant farrs and seize their farmland. It would be hard to distinguish true from false. Even if the true and false could be distinguished, it would cause panic among the people, making it difficult to stabilize."
"These refugees have just arrived in this county and just obtained land. This official wants to keep them here to settle down in the future, so I have to endure the short-term pain."
"This official understands your grievance, but the set six years is six years, and it absolutely cannot be changed!"
Chu Xun already understood. The County Magistrate didn't care about true or false, he only sought stability.
Even knowing that those few refugees were scoundrels, he couldn't punish them.
Because punishing these few people would make other refugees feel alienated and uneasy.
What Chu Xun sought was an abundant harvest from the fields right now; what Tang Shijun sought was that six years later, the refugees would no longer want to leave Zhangnan County.
One sought the near future, the other sought the distant future.
There was no right or wrong, it was nothing more than being in different positions and looking at things from different angles.
However, Tang Shijun understood Chu Xun sowhat. He knew he was young and promising, and couldn't deliberately fra others for a few acres of farmland.
Seeing Chu Xun remain silent, he said, "If the farmland of those three people is abandoned because of this, this official will privately exempt your wasteland tax for you. There is no need to worry."
Reject what should be rejected, win over who should be won over.
Although this County Magistrate was young, he was not completely ignorant of officialdom's thods.
He was quite adept at the ways of the world.
Chu Xun shook his head and said, "This move is inappropriate."
Tang Shijun raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking Chu Xun was too arrogant and stubbornly insisted on punishing those few refugees no matter what.
Before any displeasure could arise in his heart, he heard Chu Xun say, "What I said earlier was because this commoner was short-sighted. I only thought of the abundance of this year's harvest, and never thought of the blessing of this county in the coming years."
"Your Honor's words have awakened the drear. This commoner is ashad in his heart, how could I let Your Honor break the imperial court's laws again."
"For those few acres of land, this commoner will find others to work on their behalf. Taking a step back, if they are truly abandoned, I will definitely hand over the wasteland tax, not a single copper coin less!"
Tang Shijun's brows gradually relaxed, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
"I rather underestimated you. No wonder you have this family estate at such a young age. Given ti, Zhangnan County might not be able to hide a dragon in shallow water like you."
"In the future, do not call yourself a commoner in front of anymore. They cannot compare to you."
Chu Xun said politely, "It is all thanks to Your Honor's blessing. Having no more confusion in my heart, I will take my leave now."
"This official will see you out."
"Your Honor is too polite."
Tang Shijun thus saw Chu Xun out the door. Although they didn't leave the county office, given his status, this was already high-level treatnt.
Looking at the entire Zhangnan County, not many people could have such a special honor.
An official is an official, a commoner is a commoner; the difference is like heaven and earth.
The tall and thin Registrar, Zheng Xiuwen, who happened to co over to report on affairs, saw this scene and walked over, asking curiously, "Was that Honored Guest Chu just now? To actually trouble Your Honor to personally see him out, what a trendous face."
Tang Shijun smiled faintly and said, "This person has courage and ability, and can beco a help in the future. Giving him a bit more face is of no harm."
Pausing for a mont, Tang Shijun added, "It's just that this matter has wronged him a bit. Other families might also have this kind of situation, we still need to think of a way to appease them."
Zheng Xiuwen said, "He is but a rustic commoner, why must Your Honor go to such lengths."
Tang Shijun shook his head, "You only see their low status, but you do not know the principle that water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."
——————
After returning, Chu Xun, as he had promised earlier, found a few more people to do short-term work, asking them to help cut the grass, plow the land, and sow seeds in the abandoned farmland.
However, before even half the work was done, Wang Erlai and the other two ca running over again.
Holding bricks in their hands, they fiercely drove the short-term workers away.
They then spoke viciously to Chu Xun, who was standing on the ridge of the field, "This is the field we rented. The six years are not up, how can we allow others to trample on it? If there is no harvest this year, it's all trouble you brought upon yourself, you can't bla others!"
The several short-term workers, who were also refugees, were all angered. You were given land and silver, yet you don't farm properly.
Now the boss hired us to help, which ans paying extra silver out of his own pocket.
It's one thing if you're not grateful, but to actually use vicious words, you really don't know what's good for you!
If Chu Xun gave the word, they wouldn't be unwilling to take action and teach these few people a lesson.
However, Chu Xun did not do so. Seeing Wang Erlai and the three blocking them, he called the short-term workers to go back.
Seeing this, Wang Erlai and the three only thought Chu Xun was cowardly, and their laughter beca even more rampant.
"Want to touch my land without giving silver? No way!"
A few short-term workers couldn't swallow their anger and ran over to say to Chu Xun, "Why must the boss endure this so much? Even if these three scoundrels are beaten to death, the county office might not pay attention."
Chu Xun said calmly, "Just being lazy and not farming is a cri not worthy of death. When one day they have a reason to seek death themselves, then they should die."
The short-term workers didn't understand what he was thinking. Seeing him like this, they had to let it go.
After that, every once in a while, Chu Xun would bring short-term workers to try to plow the land, and every ti they would be stopped by Wang Erlai and the others.
After two or three years, he stopped going.
Wang Erlai and the others used this matter as capital to show off. So what if you sit on a hundred acres of fertile land? The barefoot are not afraid of those wearing shoes. Don't you still have to eat dirt in front of us?
Hearing this, Zhang Anxiu was furious.
If Chu Xun hadn't stopped her, she would definitely have taken the strong n of the village to settle the score with the three scoundrels.
Regarding her husband's forbearance, Zhang Anxiu never understood.
Chu Xun didn't explain much either. No matter how she asked, it was just one sentence, "Wait for them to seek death themselves."
Zhang Anxiu couldn't understand. How could scoundrels seek death themselves?
Not long after, the county office issued a governnt decree.
All farmland rented by refugees would be exempt from tax grain for three years.
In this way, the dozens of acres of land Chu Xun rented out suddenly saved a large amount of silver.
The more farmland one had, the more advantage one took.
Although the County Magistrate Tang Shijun didn't say it explicitly, Chu Xun understood in his heart that this was to compensate for the losses of abandoned farmland caused by gluttonous and lazy people among the refugees.
Even the previously furious Zhang Anxiu didn't say anything anymore.
Just like this, another two years passed. The twenty-sixth year of the Kingdom of Jing.
Spring.
In a corner of the courtyard, a small vegetable patch had been reclaid.
Chu Xun ford a hand seal, and within a radius of about a ter, a continuous drizzle fell.
The ground beneath his feet was moist, and several plants sprouted new shoots, growing to about a foot high.
Several voles drilled out from the soil, squeaking, raising their heads to welco the rainwater falling from the sky.
A sound ca from his feet. Looking down, he saw a two-inch-long small weasel slip by his feet.
It raised its paws, catching the rainwater containing extrely faint spiritual energy, and stuck out its pink tongue to lick it.
Seeming to sense Chu Xun's gaze, it looked up, then ran to his feet and rubbed affectionately.
Chu Xun couldn't help but laugh. He didn't know which litter of children this was from that pair of weasels, but anyway, it was the smallest and also the boldest.
Other weasels at most only wandered outside the courtyard door; if they wanted to catch the rain, they had to go to the fields.
Unlike it, knowing that Chu Xun often distributed rain in the courtyard, it frequently ca uninvited.
Those few small voles were also brought by it and had even settled down in the courtyard.
Although weasels had clean fur and didn't prick the hands when touched, unfortunately, their butts were really too slly.
Zhang Anxiu only refrained from actively driving them away on account of the good things the weasel family had sent in the past, but she never touched them either.
No longer paying attention to these few small playthings, Chu Xun's gaze shifted to the plants in the vegetable patch.
These were the seeds sent by the voles the year of his grand wedding.
After several years of planting, it had been confird that the two were rice and black beans respectively.
However, the quality was much better than ordinary rice, and the rice ears grown were long and plump.
If they could all be planted in the fields, the yield could increase by at least fifty percent.
As for black beans, they were rarely seen near Pinecone Village.
This thing had extrely strong adaptability, was resistant to drought and barrenness, and at the sa ti, during its growth process, it also had the effect of improving soil fertility.
If rotated with rice, it could make the farmland even more abundant.
Although it was not a staple grain and did not have a high yield, whether it was rotating beans and grain to improve fertility, boiling bean porridge to supplent nutrition, or using bean stalks and bean pods to feed plowing cattle, they were all good choices.
So over these years, Chu Xun had always cultivated them carefully. Now he had saved up quite a lot of bean seeds, just waiting until the quantity was about right, then they could be taken to be sown.
[End of Chapter]
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