Chapter 96: Selling Land
Editor: Atlas Studios
The dejected refugees carried their title deed to the table to register. Then, they placed the deeds down and took a bag of grains from behind before leaving with a sad expression.
The squires’ accountants looked increasingly smug. Qi Xiuyuan, who was standing in the corner, saw all of this. He also smiled and said to Jiang Ze, “It’ll be difficult to get these title deeds back once they mortgage them. Then why hold on to such unrealistic thoughts? They might as well sell the land and exchange it for grains.”
Jiang Ze blinked and said, “General, you’re right.”
Qi Xiuyuan: “…”
After a while, Qi Xiuyuan sighed and looked up at the sky. His heart twitched. If only Rong Xuan was here. Alternatively, it would be good if Mo Xiong was around, too. At least he didn’t have to say anything else.
After Qi Xiuyuan was done being melancholic, he turned to Jiang Ze and smiled faintly. “Spread these words in a different version. Make sure that the refugees sell their land to these squires instead of mortgaging them to borrow grains. The grains borrowed aren’t even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.”
Realization dawned on Jiang Ze. He scratched his head in embarrassment. “Yes, General. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get it done for you.” He added, “I won’t let anyone find out it was your idea.”
Qi Xiuyuan glared at him. “We definitely can’t let them trace this back to West Camp.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll make sure they don’t even have a clue.”
Feeling that there was no one around him to deploy, Qi Xiuyuan returned to the entrance of the residence and saw a few ragged people standing not far away. Mu Yangling was standing opposite them, stuffing a few pieces of silver into their hands.
Qi Xiuyuan was deep in thought. He knew that the villagers of Nearhill Village were in the refugee settlement in the east of the city, but since the Mu family did not ask him for help, he naturally would not take the initiative to ask.
There were more than 200 people here. If he had to feed them for a month, he would definitely go broke doing so. Hence, he avoided them as much as he could. But now, it seemed like there was no need to do so.
Qi Xiuyuan took the initiative to step forward and bowed with a smile. “Seniors.”
Liu He and the others hurriedly avoided accepting his bow. “General, you’re too polite. We don’t deserve it.”
“You’re elders, so it’s only right for you to receive my greetings.” Qi Xiuyuan smiled and said, “A few days ago, I wanted to invite you elders over as guests, but I was too busy to come.”
Although he knew that he was just being polite, Liu He was still so excited that he couldn’t speak.
Qi Xiuyuan didn’t seem to notice their tattered clothes and chatted with Liu He and the others for a while.
Seeing that Liu He and the others were extremely restrained, Mu Yangling said, “Eldest Great-uncle, you guys can go back first. I’ll take good care of my uncles and cousins.”
Liu He hurriedly bade farewell.
Seeing that Qi Xiuyuan was staring at their backs, Mu Yangling asked curiously, “General, what’s wrong?”
Qi Xiuyuan seemed to have just come back to his senses. He lowered his head and smiled, then looked straight at Mu Yangling and asked, “The squires are all borrowing grains from the government office. Why aren’t your great-uncle and the others going?”
Mu Yangling pursed her lips and said without thinking, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to repay them after borrowing their grains.” Seeing the smile on Qi Xiuyuan’s lips, her heart skipped a beat. She tilted her head and asked, “General, do you think we should borrow their grains?”
“No.” Qi Xiuyuan smiled faintly and said, “I just think that you should sell the land to them and get more grains.”
“But, but the land is their lifeblood. If they sell it all, how can they live in the future?”
“They might not have no land.” Qi Xiuyuan said meaningfully, “And the person holding the title deed might not be the owner of the land.”
Mu Yangling fell deep in thought. When she came back to her senses, Qi Xiuyuan had already walked far away.
Mu Yangling hesitated for a moment before turning around and running after Liu He.
“You want us to sell all our land to Minister He and the others?” Liu He stood up in shock.
Liu Daqian also stood up and looked at her with widened eyes.
Mu Yangling nodded solemnly and looked at Liu He persistently. “Great-uncle, exchange as much as you can.”
“Why?” Recalling that Mu Yangling currently lived in the general’s residence, his eyes lit up. “Did you hear something?”
Mu Yangling frowned. Qi Xiuyuan had reminded her out of goodwill. Although she didn’t know the reason, she trusted him.
Qi Xiuyuan had also seen Liu He just now, but he didn’t mention it when he was around. Instead, he only secretly reminded her after Liu He left. It was obvious that he didn’t want anyone to know about his involvement.
Mu Yangling naturally couldn’t implicate him.
“Great-uncle, I was just guessing. I thought that since the villagers can’t stand the hunger anymore, they might as well sell their land. Anyway, even if the ministers acquire so much farmland, they can’t very well farm everything themselves, right? We can just rent it from them later. When we have some time on our hands, we can see if we can reclaim more farmland. We’ll be alright eventually.”
Liu He looked at Mu Yangling seriously for a while and sat down on a rock to smoke. He knew that this was just some excuse cooked up by Mu Yangling. She was not such a rash person to suggest such a thing based purely on these mere guesses.
She must have heard some news from the general’s residence. Perhaps General Qi had told her just now. Otherwise, why would this child chase after them after just parting ways with them?
The reason why the general’s residence was willing to take in the Mu family, Dazhuang, and the other seriously injured people was because Ah Ling had once saved the two young masters of the general’s residence. Considering this, they probably wouldn’t lie to Ah Ling.
Liu He’s hands trembled slightly. In the end, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Sell it. Sell it all. Dacang, bring over our title deed.”
“Father, we can’t sell this land. The Liu family has accumulated for three generations to only have this small plot of farmland. If we sell it all, how are our descendants going to live?”
Liu He looked at him with a burning gaze. “My word is final. Go get it!”
Liu Dacang knelt on the ground for a while. Finally, he wiped his tears and took out the title deed wrapped in layers from his bag. On his knees, he handed it to his father.
Liu He took the title deed and touched it reluctantly. His great-grandfathers had reclaimed the land bit by bit. The previous generations of the Liu family had died from exhaustion reclaiming these lands. But now, they had to use these things to exchange for sustenance.
Liu Daqian and Liu Erqian looked at each other. In the end, they gritted their teeth and waved their hands to get their sons to find their title deed.
Liu Ting and Liu Yuan took it out with reddened eyes, but they trusted Mu Yangling more than Liu Dacang. Although Ah Ling was young, the two of them had stopped treating her as a child ever since she brought them into the mountains to hunt.
After Liu He, Liu Daqian, and Liu Erqian expressed their stance, the other families also took out their title deeds one after another. But there were also some who were unwilling and stood at the side without saying anything.
Liu He did not force them. He brought the families who were willing to sell their land and contacted the refugees in the nearby villages to go to the government office to talk to Minister Liu and the others.
Comparing selling and borrowing, selling the land would fetch them more grains, right?
After Liu He sold the land, he carried back a few bags of grains. Cries immediately broke out in the refugee area they were in. Everyone was overwhelmed with emotions when they heard that. Soon, the refugees all burst out crying.