The Hidden Immortal

Chapter 32 The Scoundrel

A year later, Zhang Sanchun and Lin Qiaoxi moved from Songguo Village to Pingshui Town.

They used the money borrowed from Chu Xun to buy the house and shop, but they didn't have enough money to buy land.

Moving to town wasn't just Lin Qiaoxi's idea.

Zhang Sanchun always felt that his wife, who was once the daughter of a wealthy family, shouldn't always live a life of hard labor with him.

So he thought he could open a roasted nuts shop in town and perhaps earn more money than farming.

Of course, the family's few acres of land can't be neglected either; they still need to be cultivated.

He would return to the village during the busy farming season.

Chu Xun instructed them on how to make various fried nuts, rice cakes, and candied hawthorns.

Even though Pingshui Town has not yet recovered from the negative impact of the Lin family's extermination, the business of roasting nuts and seeds, which has low costs and low selling prices, can still be done with difficulty.

Even if you're broke, it's not hard to buy a handful of sunflower seeds to eat with a few coins.

Knowing that the refugees had very little money, Zhang Sanchun, on Chu Xun's advice, suggested that they exchange firewood for roasted goods.

Six pounds of dry firewood can be exchanged for half a pound of roasted soybeans or roasted peanuts.

This barter system isn't a loss, since the roasted nut shop needs to consume a lot of firewood.

The price is cheap enough, the taste is good, and the couple is honest and never shortchanges you.

Lin Qiaoxi also took the opportunity to make some hand cream. It didn't sell well in town, so she went to the county to promote it, and the business was alright.

Including the land, he earned twenty or thirty taels of silver in a year.

When this news got out, many people were stunned.

Didn't they say there weren't many people left in town? How can they still make so much money?

For a time, many people flocked to Pingshui Town to see the novelty or to ask Zhang Sanchun how to make money.

Some people were still hesitant, but also wanted to buy a shop in Pingshui Town to start a business.

If you could earn tens of taels a year, you'd be making a fortune!

Although Chu Xun owned eight shops, he had no intention of going into business.

Firstly, our energy is limited, and secondly, the development of Pingshui Town is still in its initial stage.

Most importantly, the Spirit Pearl Grass cannot be transplanted.

Even if the treasures brought by the livestock during his wedding could buy the entire town, Chu Xun still had to stay in Songguo Village.

This concerns how long he will live in the future, and there is no room for error.

So he rented out the shop while some people were having ideas.

In addition, some people were recruited from among the refugees. As instructed by the county government, each person was allocated two or three mu of land, and they would pay rent when the harvest was ready.

To ensure these migrant workers could work with peace of mind, Magistrate Tang Shijun specially created a "harvest loan" for busy farming seasons.

Each household can borrow up to five taels of silver to purchase farm tools, to be repaid within six years, with interest being negligible.

Surprisingly, despite such generous treatment, some people still don't appreciate it.

Among the refugees recruited by Chu Xun were several lazy and scoundrels.

We agreed beforehand that I would work hard and never let my employer suffer any losses.

Once they got the land, they ignored it completely.

When Chu Xun went to check on the fields during the autumn harvest, he found them overgrown with weeds, with only clumps of rice scattered here and there.

Without pest control, weeding, and fertilization, there's no harvest to speak of.

Before Chu Xun could even go looking for those tenants, they had already come to him on their own initiative.

There were three people in total. Wang Erlai, who was short and thin, was a notorious scoundrel even before he fled the famine.

He had scabies on his head for years, and most of his hair was gone. People also called him "skinny head".

In his younger days, he used to freeload off his family wherever he went in his hometown. When he heard that he could get land and loans, he patted his chest and said that he would work hard in the fields.

In reality, after receiving the money, he gathered a group of the same kind of scoundrels and gamblers to squander it, completely disregarding the fate of the crops in the fields.

The other two, Liu San and Sun Laoyou, came from the same village.

The two of them are very good at talking and love to take advantage of others.

The three were entangled together, each one a scoundrel.

He rented land and borrowed money from the county government, but spent it all in less than a month.

They thought, "This won't do."

After some discussion, they came up with a despicable idea.

Facing Chu Xun who came to his door, Wang Erlai was not afraid at all, casually shaking his leg and squinting at him.

"We've heard that the landlord owns a hundred acres of fertile land and eight shops, making several hundred taels of silver a year. We three brothers won't make things difficult for you; how about we each give you ten or eight taels to tide you over?"

"As long as you pay enough, we three brothers will take good care of your mere few acres of land."

Chu Xun was so angry that he laughed instead. So, even if he didn't want money to give you land to farm, he would still have to be grateful to you and give you some money as pocket money.

What kind of logic is that?

"Why should I give you money?"

Wang Erlai said with a grin, "According to the imperial court's rules, if a family's land cannot grow grain, they must pay a wasteland tax. If this continues for five years, the government can take the land back."

"I've inquired about it. The county magistrate has set a rule that these lands must be leased to us for at least six years and cannot be taken back."

"Do you want to pay ten or eight taels of silver to avoid disaster, or do you want to be fined five years' worth of abandoned land tax, and then have the government confiscate your land deeds, leaving you with nothing?"

Liu San and Sun Laoyou chimed in, "The boss isn't short of money. Even if he's going against us, he shouldn't be going against himself."

"We're all ordinary people. If you help us out today, who knows, next year we might be the ones helping you out."

They helped each other out, making it sound as if Chu Xun was heartless and asking for trouble if he didn't spend any money.

Although Chu Xun usually doesn't hold grudges against people, they are all villagers to whom he owes favors.

But he wasn't so easy to talk to these few scoundrels.

"So if I don't give you money, you won't farm for six years? Aren't you afraid of starving to death?" Chu Xun asked.

"Then we won't trouble you, sir. We brothers believe we have some skills." Wang Erlai chuckled.

Chu Xun's expression turned slightly cold as he said, "I can use my money to feed dogs, but I would never feed it to ungrateful bastards. Eight or nine acres of land, even with the wasteland tax, would only yield a hundred or so taels of silver, which I can afford to lose."

"Whether you cultivate this land or not is up to you. I will inform the magistrate of this matter. You are on your own."

However, Wang Erlai and his men remained unfazed and instead burst into wild laughter upon hearing this.

"Go ahead and sue, let's see if the magistrate will give in to your wishes!"

Chu Xun sensed their confidence, narrowed his eyes slightly, stared at them, and then decisively left after a moment.

Liu San watched his retreating figure and snorted, "This guy seems a bit tough; it'll be hard to squeeze anything out of him."

"Who cares? If they don't give us money, we'll be in trouble, and he won't be in trouble either!"

Ungrateful wretches are everywhere; they're not unusual.

After Chu Xun left, he went straight to the county government office.

He had previously spent a thousand taels of silver to buy shops and land, and was quite well-known in the county government, so he easily met with the county magistrate, Tang Shijun.

Upon learning that several ruffians had emerged from among the refugees recruited by Chu Xun, Tang Shijun asked, "What do you intend to do?"

Chu Xun said, "This matter appears to be the work of three people, but in reality, it reveals the whole picture from a single glimpse. Among the refugees, there are far more than a few who are lazy, good-for-nothing, and prone to causing trouble."

"This humble citizen dares to offer a suggestion to Your Excellency: issue an official decree to order the tenant farmers to investigate each other."

"If any family's leased land is left uncultivated and is accused of inaction by three or more households, the lease will be revoked, and they will be fined or given a few lashes as a warning to others!"

Before coming, Chu Xun had already thought this matter through very clearly.

If it were according to his own idea, each household should be paired with another.

However, considering Tang Shijun's ideas, it was ultimately changed to a joint identification by the three households to avoid accusations of inciting infighting among the people.

Chu Xun believed he had thought things through carefully, and even if Tang Shijun had other ideas, he should first express his agreement.

To his surprise, Tang Shijun replied almost without hesitation, "This is absolutely impossible!"