Chapter 316: Set Up Production Teams!
The moment Magistrate Chen spoke up, everyone’s eyes converged on him. Feeling the pressure of their gazes, Magistrate Chen leaned back slightly: “Don’t just stare at me! Say something, will you?”
Then, everyone’s eyes shifted in unison toward Wen Xiuyi.
“Ah? What?” Wen Xiuyi still looked completely out of it.
Old Madam Luo cast a thoroughly disdainful look at him, having no idea what he had been pondering moments ago, and repeated Magistrate Chen’s words: “Lord Chen asked whether we are going to reclaim the wasteland or not.”
Wen Xiuyi: “Ah, that…”
Old Man Wen tapped the pipe in his hand, instinctively wanting to pick it up for a puff or two, only to realize there had been no tobacco inside for a long time. Ever since Wen Jun told him that smoking dry tobacco was bad for his health, Old Man Wen had gradually quit; now, the pipe was merely something he held to play with in his hands.
Setting the pipe down, Old Man Wen let out a cough before saying, “If we don’t reclaim this wasteland, wouldn’t it be a waste? Now that Eldest Son has a way to improve the soil quality, even in the worst-case scenario, planting some sweet potatoes and regular potatoes won’t be a problem at all. Leaving so much wasteland unused—isn’t that a waste?”
Magistrate Chen looked toward him: “Indeed, but how do we reclaim it? Hire people, or distribute it to the commoners for them to reclaim themselves? And whom does the reclaimed land belong to?”
Old Man Wen: “…” You ask me, but who am I supposed to ask? I’m not the county magistrate.
Only at this thought did Old Man Wen realize that the person right in front of him was the county magistrate himself. He whispered under his breath, “Isn’t that what you ought to be worrying about?”
Magistrate Chen possessed sharp ears and happened to catch it right then.
“Uncle, that’s not how it works! Yunwu Town isn’t up to me alone to decide now. Everyone, what do you say?” Magistrate Chen threw the question back out. They were all tied to the same rope now; they would prosper together and fall together.
The crucial issue was that there was such a vast amount of wasteland in Yunwu Town. Leaving it unutilized would be a waste, yet utilizing it brought numerous troubles. If things weren’t handled properly, he might end up with a reputation for exploiting the commoners. Most importantly, the blame would ultimately land on his shoulders as the county magistrate regardless, so he was truly out of ideas.
“Those prominent families are eager to grab a piece of the pie and are acting extremely proactive. Knowing that our new high-yield seeds have been harvested recently, they’ve all come seeking me out, claiming under the guise of wanting to share the burden of promoting the new crops. In truth, who among them isn’t eyeing the future market for these new crops?” Magistrate Chen said with considerable helplessness.
“How about selling the wasteland to the commoners and letting them reclaim it themselves?” Qiu Rongrong suggested tentatively.
The crowd considered it and nodded—it didn’t seem unviable.
Magistrate Chen asked, “Then how do we distribute the crop seeds? Sell them as well?”
According to Qiu Rongrong’s mindset, they should naturally be sold to them—there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, after all.
Qiu Zhi followed up, saying, “I fear very few people will participate if we do this. Buying both land and seeds—not to beat around the bush, but judging by the current situation, these tracts of wasteland will ultimately fall into the hands of those prominent, wealthy families. How many commoners can afford to buy land, let alone on a large scale?”
Magistrate Chen nodded in agreement; he held the exact same thought.
Qiu Rongrong shrugged. As a merchant who spoke purely in business terms, the only method she could think of was buying and selling.
“Then whoever reclaims the land owns it?” Old Man Wen suggested. For unowned wasteland, so long as it wasn’t court-owned land, however much someone reclaimed belonged to the person who cleared it.
Magistrate Chen shook his head: “If everyone goes to reclaim wasteland then, endless bickering and quarrels will surely erupt over land claims.”
The crowd: “…” That seems true as well.
Magistrate Chen could only turn to Wen Yao for help, saying, “Eldest Niece, you are the cleverest. Give us an idea.”
Wen Yao was currently pondering how to develop processed food products from these crops. Hearing Magistrate Chen’s question, she blurted out directly, “Using the village as a unit, why not just divide the areas up? Collective labor, collective income generation, and then independent accounting with each village as a unit, where profits and losses are borne by themselves!”
None of the others understood what Wen Yao meant by these words, except for Wen Xiuyi, who slapped his thigh: “Right! How did I not think of that?!” How could he have forgotten this? Using each village as a unit to set up a production team model, dividing labor via a work point system! That way, it wouldn’t affect each household’s private chores, while keeping the collective land properly managed.
Wen Yao raised an eyebrow at Wen Xiuyi—Yes, that’s exactly what you’re thinking.
“Eldest Niece, explain it in detail!” Seeing Wen Xiuyi’s reaction, Magistrate Chen knew there was hope and pressed further while the momentum was high.
Wen Yao, however, was busy discussing processed food production with Qiu Rongrong, and pointed at Wen Xiuyi: “Uncle Chen, ask my dad. My dad should know what I’m talking about.” When it came to production teams, Wen Xiuyi was far more familiar with the concept than Wen Yao.
Magistrate Chen looked toward Wen Xiuyi with burning eyes. Even the others gathered around to hear what he had to say—except for Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong.
After the two sisters whispered for a long moment, Wen Yao suddenly called out to Old Madam Luo several times: “Grandma, Grandma!”
Old Madam Luo looked at them, then looked over at Wen Xiuyi holding court as he adapted the modern production team model into terms suitable for this era. In the end, she decided to give up listening to the grand affairs, walking over to Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong to hear about their minor matters.
Regardless of what the men were discussing over there, the three women of different generations held their own little meeting on this side.
“What vermicelli, what starch?” Old Madam Luo caught only half of it and voiced her doubt.
Wen Yao explained patiently, leaving Old Madam Luo utterly astonished: “Sweet potatoes can actually be made into vermicelli? And this starch stuff is made from regular potatoes?” These two lumps—aside from filling one’s belly, they can be made into other things?
Wen Yao explained the preparation, consumption methods, and uses of vermicelli and starch to the two of them in this manner and that manner, making the eyes of both women light up.
Yet Old Madam Luo reacted quickly, casting a quiet glance toward the men’s area before whispering, “But your dad and the others plan to keep these regular potatoes and sweet potatoes for seeds! Can they give them to us?”
“Regular potatoes have a high yield, so sharing a portion with us shouldn’t be difficult to negotiate. As for sweet potatoes, we won’t need that many for seeds anyway. Grandma, sweet potatoes can be planted using another method—vine cuttings! A single vine can be split into many seedlings, so there’s no fear of not having enough,” Wen Yao whispered in equal measure.
Old Madam Luo pondered the matter carefully, then heard Wen Yao say, “Since there’s nothing for us to do here anyway, Grandma, shall we head over to your place?” Saying that, Wen Yao wiggled her eyes at Old Madam Luo.
Old Madam Luo caught on in a flash, gritting her teeth: “Let’s go!”
As for what collective labor and work points Wen Xiuyi and the others were discussing, Old Madam Luo harbored no further interest whatsoever, wishing only to see what this vermicelli Wen Yao described was all about—it sounded quite delicious.
The three left the study silently. By the time Wen Xiuyi and the others were nearly done discussing, Wen Xiuyi wanted to find his daughter to confirm if anything had been overlooked, only to raise his head and find no trace of anyone left.
Stepping out of the study to ask, he learned that the old lady had taken Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong over to the old compound to tinker with who knows what, even carrying some sweet potatoes and regular potatoes out from the storeroom.
Hearing this, several of them broke out laughing. Magistrate Chen licked his lips even more, teasingly saying, “It seems I can score another meal today! That salted duck egg made by my aunt—the egg yolk oozes with oil, it’s simply too delicious!”
Hearing this, Old Man Wen made a grand gesture with his hand: “If you like eating them, I’ll have your aunt pack some for you to bring home later!”
“Ah, then I certainly won’t stand on ceremony!”
Saying that, several of them burst into laughter. Seeing Old Man Wen’s proud demeanor, no one would ever have imagined that one day the county magistrate would call him ‘Uncle’—this feeling was truly uniquely grand.
