Chapter 72: Granting Land

  After the worship was completed, Liu Laoshi reported his guilt to his ancestors and then got up to instruct Liu Heshe to collect the offerings on the incense table one by one. Afterwards, with the help of Liu Yitia, he carefully took down dozens of ancestor plaques from the table and put them into a hemp bag that had been prepared in advance, waiting to be taken out again for worship at the end of next year.

  Because today is the grand wedding day of Liu Yitiao, Mrs. Liu specially prepared a table of good dishes, and Old Liu also took out his treasured wine jug, warming it up in hot water for a while. The whole family, except for Liu Xiaohui, all drank a full cup to celebrate.

  To know that one's son is getting married and having children, whether in ancient times or today, is a very important and joyful event. The Liu family's good fortune today is most attributed to the two elderly members of the Liu family. Therefore, tonight, both Liu Laoshi and Liu He Shi forgot themselves and drank several more cups than usual.

  One was notoriously shallow, getting drunk with just a sip of wine. The other had hardly ever drank before, and the result was predictable. Liu Yitia looked at his two parents lying on the table, as well as Er Xiaozi who had passed out under the table from secretly drinking too much, and shook his head in bitter laughter. After downing a cup, he got up to help them back to their rooms one by one. Then he accompanied Liu Xiaohui in devouring the full spread of dishes on the table.

  A night without words.

  The next morning, Lao Liu and others had not yet gotten out of bed when the village head of Gutian Village came to their door. His purpose was to allocate land.

  Land allocation is the right and duty of every male citizen over 18 years old in the Tang Dynasty. Land allocation, farming, taxation. It's the way for farmers to make a living, and also the source of national revenue.

  Munemasa's surname is Wang, his name is Zhenggang, he is a sturdy man in his 40s, with a very good temper, similar to Liu Laoshi's moral character, an old good fellow, always with a harmonious face, without any official airs.

  Chong Chong got up from the bed and warmly invited Wang Zhenggang into the house. Following etiquette, he asked Wang to take the upper seat and instructed Liu Yitiao to pour tea. Liu sat down at the lower seat next to Wang and asked: "I don't know what instructions you have for us today, Village Chief Wang?"

  "There's no need to be so polite, Old Liu. You're just too courteous." Wang Zhenggang said with a smile: "Isn't one of your nephews already eighteen years old? According to the village rules, he should be allocated land, so I was thinking of dividing some land for him before spring plowing. If it's done well, we might even have a good harvest this year."

  "Village head Wang, please have some tea!" Liu Yitiao handed over the teacup with both hands and said with a smile: "I've troubled you with my affairs, Village Head."

  Wang Zhenggang took the tea bowl, blew it twice and gently put it on the table, smiling: "Assigning land is my duty, there's nothing to worry about. You can sit down too, fellow villagers don't need to be so polite."

  "Your Liu family is now a big household in our Gutian Village, especially with one virtuous nephew. This year, he even obtained 30 mu of Yongye land, which was directly approved by the county government. This is something that hasn't happened in our Gutian Village, or even several surrounding villages, for decades. Hehe, 'a hero emerges in youth', this proverb suits your nephew well."

  This king is indeed eloquent, worthy of being an official. His words made Liu Yitiao feel light and airy in his heart. Liu Yitiao smiled and said: "King Village is overpraising me, I am just lucky for a moment, it's not worth King Village's great praise."

  Wang Zhenggang smiled lightly, picked up the tea on the table and took a sip, saying: "I know that Xianzhong is a man who can do great things, so I'd like to ask for his opinion on this matter of land distribution. The village has good fields, poor fields, and wasteland that can be allocated. Generally, people's allocation method is uniformly good fields 10 mu, poor fields 40 mu, wasteland 50 mu. The number of wasteland is fixed, but good fields can be exchanged for poor fields according to the allocator's intention, and poor fields can also be exchanged for wasteland. Does Xianzhong have any inclination in this regard?"

  Liu's eyes lit up, and he thought that someone had come to offer him a pillow while he was sleepy. He opened his mouth and asked Wang Zhenggang: "May I ask, Wang Village, how are the good fields, thin fields, and wasteland exchanged?"

  Wang Zhenggang seemed to have expected Liu Yitiao's question and smiled at him before saying, "One mu of good land can be exchanged for two mu of thin land. One mu of thin land can be exchanged for three mu of wasteland. Does a virtuous nephew like you have any intention of exchanging?"

  One swap two, one swap three. With the ten mu of good land plus forty mu of poor land, wouldn't that be enough to swap for one hundred and eighty mu of wasteland? Wouldn't his land increase by two hundred and thirty mu all at once? What a great deal - only an idiot wouldn't make the trade.

  Liu Yitiao stood up, saluted Wang Zhengang and said: "Wang Zhengang, I want to exchange all my fields for wasteland. Can you allocate these wastelands next to the thirty hectares of land I have on the west side of the village?"

  "Wait!" Old Liu intervened, "Why don't you reconsider? Those are ten mu of good land and forty mu of thin land. If you exchange them all for wasteland, who knows how many years it'll take to have a harvest? It's not worth it."

  "Yes, a wise nephew." Wang Zhenggang was also shocked by Liu Yitiao's bold decision. As the village head for over a decade, he had never seen anyone like Liu Yitiao who exchanged all his land for barren land. Isn't this being short-sighted? "Liu Yitiao, your father is right, it's hard to cultivate barren land. If you exchange all of it, you might not even be able to pay next year's taxes."

  Liu Yitiao stood firmly there, his eyes scanning the faces of Liu Laoshi and Wang Zhenggang one by one, smiling leisurely: "Please don't worry about this, Father and Village Chief Wang. I have my reasons for doing so. You will understand when autumn harvest comes. Also, please ask Village Chief Wang to combine those wastelands with my thirty hectares. I would be eternally grateful."

  "What's this?" Wang Zhenggang glanced at Old Liu, wanting to hear his thoughts. After all, this wasn't a small matter. If the village could gain several more mu of good land and thin land, it would be a good thing. But Wang Zhenggang also couldn't let people gossip, right? "Old Liu, what do you think...?"

  Lao Liu looked at Liu Yitiao, knowing that this kid had something unusual about him, and wondered what he was up to this time. But... after thinking for half a day, Old Liu finally let out a long sigh and said: "Forget it, forget it, just go along with what Yitiao says."

  "Good!" Wang Zhenggang smiled and stretched out his thumb to Liu Yitiao, saying: "Liu Yitiao is indeed different from others, has a strong personality, and I admire him."

  Although he heard the opposite meaning in his words, Liu Yitiao still smiled and said: "Wangcun is overpraising me, I'm just a bit bolder, somewhat reckless. What about those wastelands...?"

  "This one thing, don't worry about it, I can still help with this matter." Wang Zhengang readily agreed: "After measuring the land tomorrow, the deed to those 230 mu of land will be handed over to Yitiao Xianzhu."

  Liu bowed and said: "Then I'll have to trouble Wang Village."

  "Hehe, a wise nephew has been polite, it's just a matter of duty." Wang Zhengang stood up and bowed to Lao Liu and Liu Yitiao: "Since the matter here has come to an end, I won't bother you again. If there is leisure in the future, I will come to visit again."

  "King Village is walking slowly!"