Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 821 - 419: Fertile Fields
Fourth installment, requesting pink votes.
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Lian Shouxin hurriedly invited everyone into the house. These people wanted to buy corn seeds from Lian Shouxin, but since they were not familiar with him and had no previous dealings, they sought out Zhao Liansheng, who had connections with the Shouxin Family, to speak on their behalf.
The Government Office’s document concerning the promotion of corn planting in Liaodong Prefecture had already been issued. Those who came had lands not selected, but they wanted to plant corn themselves.
The price of corn was set equal to sorghum, but because corn yields were higher, cultivating corn was extremely profitable. Even if one didn’t intend to sell it for money, they could use less land to harvest more grain, allowing a family to eat more plentifully.
Lian Manman glanced over the visitors with her eyes and couldn’t help but have a thought. She left the house to find Xiao Tanzhi.
"Xiao Tanzhi, are you busy? If you’re not, please run an errand for me quickly," Lian Manman said to Little Monk Yuantan.
Xiao Tanzhi, now, apart from doing chores at the temple, often came to Lian Manman’s family or Lian’s Shop. He was eager to work and was very diligent; if there was anything to be done, he was willing to put forth the effort to help out.
Now, Lian Manman’s family almost treated Xiao Tanzhi as one of their own.
"I’m not busy, Manman, what errand do you want me to run?" Xiao Tanzhi asked.
"Go to the town and see if Third Uncle Wu and Brother Jiaxing are home, and find a way to get them to come over quickly," Lian Manman instructed.
"All right, I’m on it," Xiao Tanzhi agreed and dashed off, taking a shortcut through the fields toward Qingyang Town.
In about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing arrived, driving their cart.
"They’re here," Xiao Tanzhi jumped down from the cart and said to Lian Manman with a smile.
"Manman, is there an urgent matter?" Wu Yugui secured the animals and approached with Wu Jiaxing. They were originally supposed to talk business with someone else, but when Little Monk came and said Lian Manman was looking for them, they promptly postponed that and hurried to Thirty Mile Camp.
"There is a matter," Lian Manman invited Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing to sit down in the study, and then asked Xiao Tanzhi to help call over Lian Shouxin.
"Third Uncle Wu, Brother Jiaxing, I need your help with negotiations today," Lian Manman was speaking with Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing when Lian Shouxin arrived.
Upon seeing Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing, Lian Shouxin was somewhat surprised.
"Father, I was the one who asked Xiao Tanzhi to find Third Uncle Wu," Lian Manman explained.
Lian Manman then had everyone take a seat before slowly revealing her intentions.
"Father, among the people who came from Zhao Family Village today, was there a Zhao Lianwang?" Lian Manman asked Lian Shouxin.
"Yes, he was there. He also wants to buy corn seeds from us and reserve sweet potato slips," Lian Shouxin replied.
"The one Third Uncle Wu pointed out to us at the market the other day, that was Zhao Lianwang, right? Third Uncle Wu said that Zhao Lianwang has twenty mu of land he plans to sell, right next to our fields, correct?" Lian Manman continued to inquire.
Lian Shouxin and Wu Yugui both confirmed it was true.
"In Zhao Family Village, there is only one Zhao Lianwang, there can’t be a mistake," Wu Yugui said.
"I also noticed just now, there were two others among those people; they also own land adjacent to ours," Lian Manman added.
"Manman, what exactly are you planning?" Wu Yugui asked.
"I do have a plan," Lian Manman straightforwardly said, "The land in Zhao Family Village, our family has already purchased forty-five mu, the rest, I estimate there could be about seventy to eighty mu left... Can we find a way to buy up all the remaining land?"
This way, her family would have a large tract of contiguous land, which would make planting in spring and harvesting in autumn, even grazing the green crops, much more convenient. Moreover, the soil quality of that land was good, and the price was not expensive. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
"It’s a good idea, but aside from Zhao Lianwang, it seems that the others do not intend to sell their land," Lian Shouxin hesitated.
"That’s why I asked for the help of Third Uncle Wu and Brother Jiaxing," Lian Manman said with a smile.
When they previously bought the two pieces of land from Zhao Family Village, one twenty mu and the other twenty-five mu, although together, there was still others’ land between them. Later, they negotiated with the people and swapped lands, eventually obtaining the contiguous forty-five mu.
For tenant farmers, it’s common to exchange equal plots of land with each other. Even if the land was of different quality, supplementing the difference in value or adjusting the acreage could make an exchange possible.
"They want to buy our corn seeds and sweet potato slips, right? We’ll just give them a favor." That is, using this as a condition for those people to sell their land to them.
