Chapter 1045: Framed

  "Eight hundred taels? Two dogs, this... wait a minute," Zhao's nanny was the first to react. She was about to praise Chen Dongsheng for a couple of sentences when she suddenly thought of something and asked with a hint of doubt: "The barren mountain you mentioned, is it the small hill on the north side of Qingquan Mountain? The source of the fire that day?"

  "That's right, it was the northwest mountain that was set on fire. At first, they just wanted to burn off the weeds on the mountain, so they started the fire. However, they didn't expect that these past few days our area has been experiencing southeast winds, and the fire spread quickly to Chenjiazhuang in Qingquan Village..."

  Chen Dongsheng outside the window said, at this point, his tone was choked with sobs. He thought of his father who had died unjustly in the big fire and his mother who was still bedridden, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light.

  "This, this barren mountain is useless even if we buy it. I've heard that this mountain is strange, whatever you plant will die, and it's impossible to grow crops." Zhao Ayi furrowed her brow, seemingly refuting Chen Dongsheng's words, while also explaining to Qifang.

  Although Chen Erdou negotiated a pretty cheap price, the deserted mountain was basically given away for free, but useless things were given to them and they couldn't use them anyway. Besides, this place is after all the source of the fire, it's a bit unlucky no matter how you look at it.

  "Hey, Aunt Zhao, listen to Dongsheng's idea first," Wang Qifang waved her hand at Aunt Zhao, signaling her not to rush, then turned her head and asked towards the window, "Dongsheng, I think you brought this barren mountain in, is there another purpose?"

  Chen Dongsheng's face lit up as soon as he heard Qifang's words, and he didn't expect this stay-at-home young lady to be so clever, able to hear the problem from his simple narration. It seems that his decision this time was not wrong, following such a master, Chen Dongsheng would have a day to revive the Chen family sooner or later.

  "Let's go, Granny He and Aunt Zhao. This mountain is indeed barren, but we're not buying it for the 'mountain', but for the 'barren'. Chen Dongsheng paused on purpose, giving the people in the house time to think. After a moment, he continued: "According to the Great Ancestor Emperor's 'Da Zhou Law', to encourage reclamation, all barren land registered with the government will be exempt from all agricultural taxes for the first three years. For every ten mu of reclaimed land, the imperial court will reward the reclaimer with one head of oxen. That mountain has been left barren due to its poor soil and unfavorable location, and it's been a long-abandoned barren mountain in Qingzhou County..."

  "Oh~~ I get it, if we buy this barren mountain, our farm won't have to pay agricultural tax for three years...... Wait, no, our other lands aren't barren mountains, then..."

  Mrs. Zhao suddenly clapped her hands in realization, but before she could get excited for long, she thought of the practical problems and asked again.

  "Haha, Old Lady Zhao is indeed a wise and experienced person, considering things thoroughly," Chen Dongsheng first praised Old Lady Zhao without reservation, then changed the subject: "Originally, things were indeed as you worried, this mountain land in Qingquan Village was originally only barren mountains that were truly 'wasteland'. But the owner who bought Qingquan Mountain back then was not an ordinary commoner, but a wealthy merchant with backing. They used the excuse that the barren mountains and Qingquan Mountains were connected to simply merge them together, calculating everything as barren mountains, and the price they paid was extremely cheap, less than a thousand taels."

  Now that it's been said, Zhao Ayi no longer had any doubts. She nodded her head in satisfaction and immediately shifted her gaze to Gui Fang.

  Ji Fang listened to Chen Dongsheng's description, pondered for a moment, and asked: "So, does that mean the land deed has been changed? Or do we need to establish connections with the county government and Qingquan Village?"

  "Hmm, the land deed is fine, but it's best to give some tea money and silver to the head clerk who handled the procedures and the baojia who verified the land!"

  Although he didn't agree with Luo Zongjia and Feng Zhubao's behavior of shielding the arsonist, Chen Dongsheng had been living outside for many years and was very familiar with various unspoken rules. After listening to his master's words, he pondered for a moment and put forward his own ideas.

  "Good, Chen Dongsheng, you've done a great job," Qifang was extremely satisfied with Chen Dongsheng's performance. If things were really as he said, then Chen Dongsheng had passed her test with flying colors. Qifang reached into her purse and pulled out a 1,000-tael silver note, handing it to Zhao Ayi. "Ayi, this afternoon take my seal and go with Chen Dongsheng to the county yamen to handle the formalities. Deduct the 800 taels for buying the estate, give 100 taels to the county yamen's chief clerk, 80 taels to the local headman, and use the remaining 20 taels to hire a lawyer to help draft a contract with no loopholes."

  "What's a lawyer for? Seventh Sister, what would we need a lawyer for? We're not going to court."

  In ancient times, the profession of a lawyer was not a very glorious one. Once someone mentioned helping people with lawsuits and writing complaints, others would think of civilized hooligans who relied on the law to bully and oppress poor commoners. Zhao's nanny had lived in the inner courtyard for many years and rarely came into contact with the outside world, but she also didn't have a good impression of this profession.

  She heard that Qīniáng wanted to take out twenty taels to hire a lawyer, and hurriedly dissuaded her. Besides, isn't it just writing a contract? There's no need for a lawyer at all. Just find some poor scholar and one tael of silver can get you a beautiful contract, why bother spending a high price to hire a lawyer?!

  "Auntie, don't rush," Qifang said, handing the silver ticket to Zhao Auntie. "We've never dealt with these mundane matters before. What if there's something we've overlooked? It'll be a hassle later on. Besides, turning good land into wasteland is already a loophole in the law. If we don't get the contract right and someone finds out, we'll be in trouble too."

  Qifang's words reminded Zhao Ayi, and her originally puzzled face flashed with a hint of sudden realization. That's right, people like lawyers can be used if utilized properly, and might even help them save some energy.

  "Alright, I'll go to the county town with Er Gou this afternoon and also visit Ren Ya Zi's place. If we see any good girls or boys, let's buy two to serve us first."

  "Well, these things, just let the aunt handle them. Also, after the formalities are completed, we need to hire some experienced farm workers and plant those over 100 acres of land first."

  "Alright, alright, I know, Seventh Sister can rest assured!"

  Madam Zhao saw that Gui Fang was getting more and more methodical in handling matters, she couldn't help but feel extremely delighted, and she became even more conscientious about her orders.

  In the afternoon, after entrusting Chunni with some matters, Zhao's mother took Xie Fang's seal and silver ticket, accompanied by Chen Dongsheng, first went to Zhuangzi in Qingquan Village, found the head of the village, and the three of them went to inspect the fields and houses. After feeling that it was indeed not bad, she hired a horse-drawn carriage and went to the county government with Chen Dongsheng.

  With the silver, a lawyer who understood the way, and a capable partner, the land transaction procedures went very smoothly. In less than two days, a deed with the county government's red seal was delivered to Qifang's hands. Holding her first property, Qifang was still somewhat excited. She hastily called Chen Ergou, and the two of them discussed through the window for a long time, finally roughly determining the construction plan for the estate.

  "Madam, the small tenant farmers have already been hired to work on the land. According to our contract, we must cultivate this wasteland. However, there was just a fire here, and if we use fire again, I estimate..."

  Chen Dongsheng didn't mention the big fire, it was fine. As soon as he mentioned the word "fire", his mind presented the scene of that day's big fire spreading wildly, crops, houses and trees being destroyed in an instant, and he couldn't forget his father's painful wailing in the fire... If the landlord burns the wasteland with fire again, not to mention the nearby villagers won't agree, even he has a knot in his heart.

  "Reclaim the wasteland?" Qifang put down her needlework, rubbed her sore neck, "Alright, since this mountain can't be cultivated anyway, you might as well hire a few more people to reclaim the slope that connects Qingyuan Mountain. Don't need to do it too meticulously, just make an effort!"

  "Ah, I get it!"

  Chen Dongsheng understood what Qifang said and immediately responded with a series of nods, then quickly ran back to Chenjiazhuang to call people. The conditions offered by the East House for hiring people were still very tempting, with 20 big silver coins per day for each strong laborer, plus a lunch that was not just a thin soup, but a substantial meal of steamed buns, braised pork belly, and vegetables, with plenty of oil and water.

  He's from Chenjiazhuang, and no matter what happens, he can't forget his own folks. As for the people of Qingquan Village, humph, they colluded with the arsonist, maliciously concealing and embezzling the compensation money. Chen Er Gou helped his master buy Qingquanshan at a low price, which was already showing mercy to them. Ridiculous Luo Cunzhang from Qingquan Village still has the nerve to ask him for more help, bah! If I were to help you guys, my dad wouldn't even agree!

  Putting aside personal feelings, this young man's efficiency is still very high. In just one afternoon, he gathered more than a dozen strong and sturdy young men. It was also the right timing, as these young men were all villagers from Chenjiazhuang who had suffered losses in their homes, and were looking for some work to supplement their family income. Suddenly, a lucrative job with good pay and food dropped into their laps, and they all came running to work, even bringing their own tools to help the host family save money.

  On the first day at noon, after eating four or five big steamed buns and two bowls of stewed meat dishes to their heart's content, these young men worked even harder, and the area of wasteland gradually decreased.

  "Missus, missus," a eleven or twelve year old little maid, wearing a half-new green ramie skirt, came running to Qifang's bedroom.

  "What's wrong, Zichun?"

  Qifang bit off the last thread, smoothed out the clothes on the kang, and just by the sound, she knew that outside the door was one of the two little maidservants Zhao Ayi had just bought, whom Zhao Ayi had named Zichun. She was not very old and had a lively personality. After three or four days of teaching her rules and etiquette, she somewhat resembled a proper maid. But as soon as she left Ayi's side, the little maid immediately revealed her true nature.

  "Madam, I heard from people outside that when the small mountain next to Qingyuan Mountain was reclaimed, a hot spring was dug out. People nearby all ran to see the excitement!"

  The little girl heard the master's call and rushed in with a runny nose, excitedly chirping.

  "Hot spring?"

  Qifang's hands, which were folding clothes, stopped for a moment. She looked up at Xiaoyu and asked, "You're saying that a hot spring was dug out of the barren mountain in Qingquan Village? Is it the barren mountain on the north side of Qingquan Mountain?"

  Hehe, thank you for the lively and lovely gift from the fairy. I will work harder.