After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 690 - 682: Want to Buy Land

The journey from Chen County to Luoyang isn’t far. If Zhao Hanzhang led the soldiers on horseback, they could reach it in two days. However, since there were many returning this time, the speed was much slower.

As an aside, Zhao Hu, who had always coldly ignored Zhao Hanzhang, silently followed along after seeing that his son and grandson were going with her to Luoyang.

There are advantages to moving slowly; they could enjoy countless sceneries along the way.

Zhao Hanzhang spent half the time in the carriage handling government affairs or discussing the future construction of Luoyang and Yu State with Fu Tinghan, Wei Jie, Zhao Cheng, and others. The other half she rode at the front, admiring the scenery or checking the farming conditions along the route.

Along the way from Chen County to Luoyang, large stretches of farmland lay fallow, the population was sparse, and it took a long time to see signs of habitation scattered across the fields.

Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse and looked into the distance while mounted.

Fu Tinghan, a step behind her, also reined in and looked up, saying, "The piece of land they’ve chosen is rather mediocre. Look at that one, connected to the river by channels, with a canal right beside it. Usually, such fields are decent, yet here it’s overgrown and uncultivated."

Zhao Hanzhang dismounted, tossed her horse’s reins to Ting He, and went down to inspect with Fu Tinghan.

Entering the field, she parted the wild grass. Underneath was gray field soil. She yanked the grass effortlessly; the soil was loose. She shook it, and the gray dirt fell away easily, prompting her to admire, "Good land!"

Zhao Hu, rarely taking a break from riding, stood by the roadside for a while, then held onto his follower’s hand to join the commotion.

He noticed the grass in Zhao Hanzhang’s hand, then glanced at the soil, his eyes lighting up. He said to Zhao Hanzhang, "This plot of land is good; I’ll buy it!"

Zhao Hanzhang casually tossed the grass aside and asked, "Do you have people who can cultivate the land, Seventh Ancestor?"

Zhao Hu looked around and pointed to someone swinging a hoe in the distance, saying, "Aren’t they people? I’ll buy him and have him farm for me. Would he refuse?"

Zhao Hanzhang snorted lightly, picked up her whip, and walked toward the farmers.

Zhao Hu immediately followed, occasionally glancing at the earth beneath his feet and commenting, "This patch is worse but close to the channel, still decent. This one’s good; plant wheat here, and the harvest will be excellent... This one’s a bit far from water, but suitable for beans. Plant rice first season, and the second year switch to millet..."

As they approached the working farmers, Zhao Hu had made up his mind, "Sell me this whole area. By the way, is this your land?"

Zhao Hanzhang just gave him a look.

Zhao Hu understood, happily following her, "Sell it to me. I can buy up this whole area."

There’s a river channel and also drainage ditches here. Although there’s a lot of sludge in the ditches, a light cleaning would make them usable.

With such a network of water channels, this area could withstand minor droughts or floods and still yield a harvest without encountering major natural disasters.

Such good land!

The more Zhao Hu thought, the more he wanted to buy it.

Zhao Hanzhang, however, remained silent, finding the farmer at work.

The man saw so many people approaching and tightened his grip on the hoe. Not far away, other farmers noticed and hurried over, carrying their hoes, puffing out their chests, yet looking intimidated, their eyes wide with fear.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t understand how they managed such a blustering stance. She stopped, raised her hand in greeting, "Brothers, we’re passing through and feeling thirsty. Do any of you have water?"

The farmers remained tense, pointing directly to the distant river, "There’s water there, just go fetch it. You just crossed over the channel; there should be water in there too."

Zhao Hanzhang: "... That’s raw water."

The farmers retorted, "The water we carry is raw too, and since it’s not cold yet, why waste wood to boil it?" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"But raw water is unclean and can cause illness," Zhao Hanzhang frowned slightly, "Do you always drink raw water? I remember the county government promoting the use of boiled water."

The farmers relaxed a bit, and one said with a sigh, "The county government just says it, and we just hear it. Did you take it seriously?"

Zhao Hanzhang thought: ... If I don’t take the decrees I issued seriously, who else will?

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but smile and dropped his head. When Zhao Hanzhang glared at him, he restrained his laughter, looked up, and asked, "Is the raw water you use also from the river?"

"Yes, we use it for drinking and cooking."

Finally, Zhao Hanzhang spoke again, "Don’t you have wells?"

"Hey, isn’t river water and well water both just water?" he said, "Having water to drink is good enough. A few years back during the drought, even mud water was scarce, but now the river water is so clear, what is there to complain about?"

Zhao Hanzhang fell silent, then said after a moment, "Nowadays, there are twigs and stems everywhere outside. If you have children at home, have them boil water. It’s not a big effort. Raw water contains algae and breeds pests, drinking it easily causes stomach issues. If there’s an internal ailment, the body becomes more susceptible to external attacks, such as colds and other illnesses."

The farmers paused in surprise, and seeing her serious advice, they replied earnestly, "Young lady, it’s not that we don’t want to, but even the children have tasks to do, and from dawn till dusk there’s no rest, where’s the time to boil water?"

"Now the cold weather is coming, we haven’t prepared much firewood for winter, where would we dare waste it boiling water? Once it gets colder, we won’t drink raw water anymore."

The other two farmers were more direct, "There are no children in our home."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "How many people are there in your family?"

The farmers were very guarded and unwilling to easily disclose their information.

Beside them, Zhao Hu interjected, "Are there many young and strong in your family, how many can work? Are your teeth healthy, and how about your stamina? If I buy you, aside from food rations, what other demands do you have?"

Zhao Hanzhang turned her head and glared at him, but what surprised her even more was that the farmers instantly became excited, yet quickly and worriedly scrutinized Zhao Hu, cautiously asking, "Master, do you want to buy people? But for what purpose?"

Zhao Hu replied gruffly, "What can you do besides farming?"

"Nothing else, nothing else, we can only farm." After some consideration, the farmers said, "But we don’t know how much food ration will be given each year, is it given monthly, or quarterly, is it directly from the field, or from the manor?"

They actually began to seriously discuss the buying and selling of people right in front of her.

Zhao Hanzhang simply stood to the side and listened.

Zhao Hu was not a complete fool; he had two methods for buying people. One was a "live contract," just for a few years, which he was willing to call long-term labor.

He didn’t pay a purchase price outright; money and food were given monthly, and each month he assessed the labor efficiency. If suitable, they’d continue; if not, he would either dismiss them or send them to dig river mud, daring them to disobey.

The second method was a "dead contract," directly buying a person’s life. Typically, this kind of trade had close relatives outside, and the payment was given to the relatives.

Since it was a dead contract, naturally there were no wages; a certain amount of grain was given each month, just enough not to starve. Beyond that, they’d have to rely on doing other things during the off-farm season to perhaps make life a little better.

Zhao Hanzhang found his conditions harsh, but the farmers seriously considered them, repeatedly asking, "Can the master truly give a bucket of grain every month?"

Zhao Hanzhang thought, what can a bucket of grain do for food?

Zhao Hu nodded proudly.

The farmers were all tempted and then hid to the side to discuss.

Zhao Hanzhang had sharp ears; while listening to their discussion, she asked Zhao Hu, "Is this treatment very good?"

Zhao Hu said, "It’s average, not particularly generous to them, but I’m not mistreating them either."

Zhao Hanzhang frowned, "A bucket of grain a month isn’t enough even to eat to half-full."

Zhao Hu looked at her curiously, frowning, "How many people in this world can even eat to half-full now? A bucket of grain a month is quite a lot, make some vegetable dumplings with it, and it’s quite good not to starve."

He said, "How many people outside starve to death every day now?"

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him, "Seventh Ancestor actually knows."

Zhao Hu laughed loudly, "I’m not one of those scholars ignorant of worldly affairs. My trade caravans travel all over; how could I not know?"

Zhao Hanzhang suddenly felt very sad, stiffly pulling the corners of her mouth, "Scholars who know worldly affairs have no heart to save the country, while those who do want to save the country don’t know worldly affairs and aren’t willing to lower themselves to find out, this world is truly pitiful."

Zhao Hu was stunned for a moment, then said, "You need not say this to me, you should say it to Wang Yan."

After saying this, Zhao Hu realized, "Oh, Wang Yan is dead, and now it’s you and Gou Xi in power."

Zhao Hanzhang’s face darkened, "Can you change your wording?"

"Fine, you’re a good official, with you in Yu State is a blessing, but the detestable ones are those like Gou Xi."

This praise was obviously half-hearted, and Zhao Hanzhang didn’t feel any joy. The farmers, after finishing their discussion, though they made a decision, each still wore an expression of hesitation and difficulty, clearly not knowing if their choice was right.

Because Zhao Hanzhang, with her excellent hearing, knew their individual decisions, she didn’t wait for them to speak, directly asking, "Can’t you manage to live by farming on your own?"

The one who decided to reject Zhao Hu and continue being a law-abiding person sighed, "Currently, my family has five buckets of wheat and half a bushel of beans, mixed with vegetable dumplings, we should be able to survive until March or April next year, but who knows what the situation will be then?"

"Selling oneself might be a way out."

Another farmer who decided to sell himself remarked, "But the master must be kind, otherwise, with constant driving, I fear we won’t survive this winter."

Their lives would be in the hands of the master with a dead contract.

Both were worried and uneasy, looking at Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, clearly, those considering selling themselves were scared, unsure if selling themselves was right; those deciding to remain law-abiding were also hesitant, unsure if their persistence was justified, both expressing doubts about their choice.

She raised her hand to stop Zhao Hu from speaking any further and directly got to the main point, pointing to the fertile land by the ditch, "Those plots are also ownerless wasteland, why don’t you cultivate those instead of choosing this land?"