novelDivide the Fields Split the Houses!
| ← Ch.204 | Ch.206 → |
This was because the most important thing to do right now was to solve the problem of living quarters for nearly 30, 000 people. It was impossible to build a high-grade house, so, other than the county magistrate and school, every house had the same structure and was divided into three large rooms. However, there was enough space left behind for each house. After the house was divided up, the head of the household could pay for the construction or alteration of the house if he had sufficient financial resources. All the houses were strong, and there was absolutely no ditching.
When all the fields and houses had been tidied up, it would be at least another three or four months. This season was not suitable for growing wheat. After Qin Mian asked the local farmers, he got someone to buy seeds from other towns that were suitable for the season, including sweet potatoes, corn, cucumbers, cabbage, winter melon, celery, tomatoes, chilli, and so on. They were to be sowed according to the ratio of 3 mu of corn, 1 mu of sweet potato, and 1 mu of vegetables per 5 mu of land. As the emperor was far away, they did not need to worry about being discovered by the imperial government. Thus, they used a few Spirit Spring Water s to improve the quality of the soil, or at least ensure the smooth growth of all the seeds.
The commoners had a very bad impression of the new County Magistrate. After interacting with him for a while, they realised that the new County Magistrate was helping them with their work really and truly, respecting the new County Magistrate from the bottom of their hearts, and was more willing and hardworking towards his work.
During the day, all the commoners worked together. At night, they rested in the already built houses. Perhaps it was because they had experienced a catastrophe together, but the commoners got along rather harmoniously. Even if there were some conflicts between big and small, after being advised by others, they could not quickly let go of their worries.
Everyone was picking up firewood. In the middle of July, the road from the new Kui County to the mountains was completed; in the middle of October, all the farmlands were cleared and planted with various crops. In the first fields, vegetables had already been picked a few times. By the end of December, all the houses in the new county had been built.
Standing halfway up the mountain and looking down at the new county town, almost everyone's eyes were filled with joy, surprise, and pride. The farmland was about the size of a square on a chessboard, surrounding the wide lake. Outside the farmlands, twenty-four rows of houses formed six different sized "mouths". Each one was built in parallel to the other, and was extremely neat. There were sixteen rows of brick houses, four rows of wooden houses, and four rows of bamboo houses. Because the wooden and bamboo houses were not as warm as the brick ones, their area had increased?? both were two storeys high. The design was provided by Qin Mian. It had a beautiful appearance and was very popular. In addition, there were also four watchtowers at the four corners of the county town. This was to better utilize the Kui County to guard the country's gates. Directly to the east, an open field is the barracks.
In short, the new Kui County was even more popular than the original one.
The next big thing was the division of land and the division of houses. Some people only had one mouth left in their home, some had five or six people in their house, thus Qin Mian had to carefully study how to divide the house with Tian.
According to the number of people, whether it was an old man or a newborn baby, both were given an acre of land. As for whether it was a corn field or a vegetable field, it all depended on luck. Because the first fields had already been sown, and the seeds had not yet sprouted, the county would grant them a certain amount of subsidies, if anyone should be able to get them to sow the last fields, at least to ensure that they would be able to survive until the next spring. After all, there were nearly thirty thousand people here. It was impossible to achieve absolute fairness. For example, in a field close to a lake, it would definitely be more convenient to irrigate it.
The distribution of houses is also made by drawing lots. The population of the county had been counted before the town was rebuilt. If there was only one person left in the house, he had no right to own a house and needed to share a house with others. And don't think it's unfair. A family with only one person must do less than a family with more people. For example, if only one unmarried girl or a widowed woman or an old woman remained in a few families, they could share a house with each other. If a certain family wanted two neighboring houses, that would be fine too. After the allocation was completed, they would discuss it with the neighbors or rent or buy the houses. That was their own business and did not belong to County Magistrate.
Qin Mian explained each of the more detailed rules in detail, letting his subordinates write them down in detail on the four bulletin boards that were specially placed in the city. Everyone then started to carefully study them, and when morning arrived, they would gather at the training field and distribute the houses and fields.
The next day, all the commoners in the county had a full breakfast and gathered at the training field. This was the first major event after the establishment of the new county city, and the academy also gave the students a leave of absence. The training field was bustling with noise and excitement.
The people from the organizations that Lei Tia had accepted lined up, the first to arrive were the ones at the front. With more than one family member, they only needed to line up one person.
Prefect Cai had already known a few days ahead of time that Kui County was to split the land and houses, so he rushed over as well.
On the podium in the training field, three sets of table and chairs were placed. Qin Mian, Lei Tia and Prefect Cai were all there. In front of Lei Tia were two big boxes with lots drawn on them. One of them was tied with red cloth, while the other one was tied with blue cloth. In front of Qin Mian was a list of names and a map of the new city. Of course, this list was to prevent others from taking advantage of the situation. The notice said that if someone lied about their family's population and reported that there was an award, the intended fraudster would be severely punished.
Qin Mian looked around, he reckoned that they were almost there, and walked to the front.
"Silence."
Soon, the audience fell silent.
"We shall now divide the land and divide the rooms??"
Before Qin Mian could finish speaking, the commoners started clamoring.
"Master County Magistrate, please choose a house and a few acres of land first!"
Yes, Lord County Magistrate is a good official, of course!
Yes, County Magistrate's family has two children, we should be choosing two houses.
"??"
Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin stood at the side and smiled at each other.
Qin Mian was extremely vexed, and his gaze became gentle. All the hard work and effort during this period of time was worth it.
"If that's the case, then I'll choose a house. As for the fields, there's no need for that. After everyone finishes distributing the fields, if there's anything extra, I'll pick a few acres or so to plant."
The commoners let him choose a few acres of land, Qin Mian waved his hand to stop them, "No need to say anymore. Our family chose the first bamboo house in the south row."Well, now we're drawing lots, and those who come up are all consciously giving their names, and how many people there are in the house."
He used his true essence to speak at a very loud voice, ensuring that everyone could hear him clearly. After he finished speaking, he returned to his seat.
"First."
At the front of the line was a man in his early thirties. He had a happy expression on his face as he quickly ran up the stairs. Because he was too excited and almost fell down, everyone couldn't help but laugh out loud in good will.
"Hee hee??" The man smiled honestly and ran to the table, knelt down and kowtowed to them."Greetings, my three sirs. I am called Boss Chen, and I have five family members."
"No need to be so polite, quickly get up." Qin Mian said: "Grab a ball of paper from the red cloth box, and five balls of paper from the blue cloth box." Boxes tied with red cloth were used for the distribution of houses, while boxes tied with blue cloth were used for the distribution of fields.
"Yes." The man handed over the ball of paper to Qin Mian.
Qin Mian opened six papers, and on them were written: "East 0211", "South 0511", "West 0304", "West 1023", "West 1024", "North 0101". He recited: "Boss Chen's family, house, second row of the east side, eleventh house; and the first row of land in the north."
Lei Tia and Prefect Cai made a record of each of them. One of them was left behind to handle the house deed and the land deed, while the other one was given to the soldier who was standing by the side to lead Boss Chen and his family to recognize their own house and fields.
Boss Chen was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. How could they not be excited when they were given more houses and fields than they had? He called his family, who were waiting nearby, and happily followed the soldier.
"Next."
More and more people were being assigned to the houses and fields, and the atmosphere on the grass face was becoming more and more heated.
Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin, who were watching from the side for a long time, felt that it was very interesting.
"Brother, if only we could grab a lot of lots." Lei Ruilin said regretfully.
Although Qin Ruiqi did not speak, his interest could be seen from his expression.
A nearby old man in the queue heard this and waved at them with a smile.
"Come."
Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin were extremely courteous and did not have the presence of a noble son. In this county, there was almost no one who did not know them and they were even well-liked and welcomed.
Hearing someone call them, the two of them quickly walked over.
"Old grandpa."
"Sigh." The old man stroked his beard, "This old man is getting old and his arms are not agile. In a while, can you two brothers help this old man draw lots?"
Qin Ruiqi could see that the old man intentionally let him and his brother get addicted once, "I'm afraid that if I accidentally grab onto a bad position, I will disappoint grandfather."
The old tutor was still smiling."No matter, this old man's family is capable. Even if they manage to grab a bad position, they won't be worse off than anyone else."
The two brothers looked at each other and smiled.
"Alright, big brother and I will definitely catch you a good one." Lei Ruilin gri ed at him.
The two brothers had been changing their teeth recently, and only one upper incisor remained. However, when Lei Ruilin smiled, he did not make people feel ugly. Instead, he felt that it was filled with i ocence and cuteness.
| ← Ch. 204 | Ch. 206 → |