Chapter 107: The Mu Family’s Land (2)
Editor: Atlas Studios
On the other side, Madam Ma-Liu shouted after she finished the conversation, “Ah Ling, come over quickly. Let’s go over there and take a look.”
“Aye.” Mu Yangling jogged forward. Seeing that Madam Ma-Liu was sweating, she said, “Great-aunt, let me carry you.”
“No need. Your great-aunt isn’t old yet.”
As Mu Yangling helped her forward, she heard her sigh. “In the past, I thought that it would be great if we could have a lot of land. That way, we definitely wouldn’t have to worry about food and clothes. Now that we do have land, planting it has become a problem.”
“Great-aunt, if this land is too lousy, we won’t plant it. Isn’t there still 70 acres of military field over there?”
“You can’t say that. If we don’t farm this land, it will never be fertile. In another two to three years, it will become a wasteland. How vexing would the people who reclaimed it back then be?” Madam Ma-Liu said in a low voice, “I asked your grandmother just now. Since your father manages a hundred families, if we really have no choice, we can ask your father to use his power and deploy a few people over to work for us. No matter what, we have to fix up this land.”
“That won’t do.” Mu Yangling objected without thinking. “It’s not easy for everyone. If my father uses his power for personal gain, won’t the platoon commanders and the generals above be able to use their power for personal gain, too? Won’t the soldiers below be exhausted? Let’s plant it ourselves. If we really have no choice, we can just leave it alone for the time being. When we have money in two years, we’ll spend money to hire people. There’ll be a way.”
Madam Ma-Liu said in surprise, “But isn’t it only right for higher-ups to ask the subordinates to work?”
Mu Yangling: “… In the past, it might be the way things were, but it can’t be the case with my father.”
Seeing that she was upright, Madam Ma-Liu sighed. “Alright, I’ll listen to you. If you don’t want him to abuse his power, so be it. Let’s take a look further. Perhaps there’s fertile land ahead.”
The duo spent another half an hour walking from the military field to the freehold field. Finally, they started seeing medium-grade land, as opposed to the low-grade land seen earlier. However, Madam Ma-Liu and Mu Yangling’s hearts had already turned cold.
Out of 110 acres of land, more than 60 acres were considered inferior. What kind of luck was this?
Mu Yangling gritted her teeth in hatred towards Qi Haoran as she walked to the area near the riverbank. Mu Yangling stuck her stick in and pulled it up again. Soft and sticky, the brown soil was turned out with a little moisture. Madam Ma-Liu’s face was almost covered in tears. “This is high-grade land. Finally!” At this moment, she was so tired that her feet were trembling.
Mu Yangling looked up and said, “Great-aunt, there are more than ten acres of land here. We’ll plant grains on all ten acres later. Don’t worry. With my strength and your guidance, our family will definitely have a bumper harvest.”
Madam Ma-Liu sat on the ground and looked up, wiping her tears. “How can I be at ease? Why did Little General give us such a plot of land? Ah Ling, if you still have the strength, carry me to the south to take a look. If I don’t take a look, I’ll feel uneasy.”
Mu Yangling also feared that the 70 acres of military field in the south was inferior land. That would kill her.
Mu Yangling squatted down and carried Madam Ma-Liu on her back. She quickly walked south as she comforted her. “Great-aunt, don’t worry. Didn’t you say last night that with our ability, we can only plant 20 to 30 acres of land? There are also 30 acres of medium-grade land here. Coupled with the high-grade ten acres, it’ll be enough.”
“That’s true, but your younger brothers will grow up. Eventually, these plots of land will be left to them. You may not think it’s a big deal now, but you’ll know what a huge loss it is in the future.”
“Great-aunt, you’re worrying too much. Is Bowen someone who can farm? When spring comes, we’ll send him to school. Perhaps he can become a top scholar when he grows up.”
Madam Ma-Liu was stunned. “I thought you can’t take the Imperial Examination if you’re in a military household? How can Bowen be the top scholar?”
“When my father becomes a general, he can rid our family of the military status,” Mu Yangling said confidently.
Madam Ma-Liu was discouraged. “How can it be easy to become an official? It’s already not bad if he can keep his life.”
Nonetheless, Mu Yangling had great confidence in her father. The two of them silently went to the land in the south. Upon reaching, Mu Yangling put her down and Madam Ma-Liu began to check. When the sun set in the west, she sighed, having finally finished walking through these 70 acres of land. “The situation of these 70 acres is still not bad. There are about 30 acres of medium-grade land and 10 acres of high-grade land. The remaining 30 acres are low-grade land. Although it’s still low-grade, the soil quality here is much better than there. At least, it’s been cultivated for more years than the land in the east. It’s just that there’s no river in the south. It’ll be a problem in the future.”
“Since this is near to the mountains, I’m afraid there will be wild boars coming down in spring. We have to keep a close watch when the time comes. Otherwise, the grains will be wasted.”
Mu Yangling couldn’t tell. “Great-aunt, it’s getting dark. Let’s go back first.”
“Alright, let’s go back and ask your father for his opinion.”
Mu Shi was already home. He didn’t have much of an opinion though. In terms of farming, he was inferior to Shu Wanniang and Mu Yangling. At least the mother and daughter still knew how to plant vegetables, whereas he was someone who couldn’t even grow vegetables. So, he said, “Aunt, you make the decision. I’ll listen to you. However, we have to plant at least 40 acres of this military field. This is an order from the higher-ups. Moreover, we can’t be shoddy about it. They’re going to inspect it later.”
Mu Shi glanced at his wife and said, “From tomorrow onwards, I’m going to the camp to await orders and build houses with the soldiers. After building the civilian houses, we still have to build barracks. The little general said that we have to get these done before spring. Aside from that, we also have to take out four hours to train the soldiers every day. The snow disaster in Great Jin is more serious than ours, and we might have to go south after some time. Therefore, from tomorrow onwards, I have to eat and live in the camp.”
“But Father, the camp hasn’t been built yet, right? Where are you going to stay?”
“We’ll stay in the shed for the time being so that everyone won’t have to waste time going home every day. This is what the little general said. In the future, we can only go home once every ten days. Ah Ling, after I go to the camp, you have to take good care of your mother and younger siblings, understand?”
Mu Yangling nodded solemnly.
Mu Shi entered the house and took out a broadsword, handing it to her. “This was taken from the Jin soldiers previously and I hid one for you. I’ll leave this here for you. Put it away carefully. If anyone dares to attack our family, protect them using your ability, the way you fought the Jin soldiers. If anything happens, you can count on me. I’ll leave that dagger for you too. Bring it with you everywhere you go. Your grandparents will bless you.”
Mu Yangling nodded. “Father, I still have something to tell you.”
Mu Yangling wanted to speak to him about the problem of chopping trees. Since building houses and cutting firewood required trees, the forest would definitely suffer if they did not exercise control. “Father, the Hus burned down our houses. Those roof beams and whatnot must not have been completely burned down. We can use whatever can still be used. If they can’t be used, we can always burn them as firewood. When you guys enter the mountain to chop trees, you can’t chop consecutive trees. It’s best to chop one every five trees. Otherwise, if the wild beasts in the mountains don’t have a place to stay, what if they run down the mountain? This isn’t the end of Chef Mountain, but the middle section of Chef Mountain. There are many wolves and ferocious tigers inside that can kill should they run out.”
“I understand. I’ll tell the platoon commander when I see him tomorrow.” Seeing that his daughter was still worried, he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell the little general when I see him.”
At the mention of Qi Haoran, Mu Yangling gritted her teeth in hatred and said through gritted teeth, “Father, tell Qi Haoran that I’ll look for him to play when I’m free.”