Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 240: No Trouble
After King Wu went away to escape the summer heat, things in the capital continued as usual.

Chai Yuzi went into the store to buy a newspaper and saw that all the women sitting there were strangers. After buying the newspaper, she casually asked a question.

"What about the 498? Is she off today?"

Tian Gubo and Fang Wen did not know Chai Yuzi, but Hu Yan and the other two girls who came to help knew her.

“My sister went abroad as an outstanding representative of the mountain farmers to accompany Wu Yue on a trip to Qiongzhou. She said she would not be back until August.”

After hearing this, Chai Yuzi nodded, "I see."

After buying the newspaper, Chai Yuzi felt very uncomfortable.

An inexplicable discomfort made Chai Yuzhi irritable and restless.

For these young ladies from wealthy families, going on a trip is too extravagant.

Although train tickets are not expensive, many people do not have the right to move freely.

Neither the mountain farmers nor the Han people had it.

Only officials and cadres with status and position can travel freely.

Or perhaps they were farmers fleeing from disaster.

I haven't seen the latter for almost ten years.

After sulking for a while, Chai Yuzi quickly calmed down.

"King Wu was a good emperor. He enjoyed things first, and once he had enjoyed them, others could enjoy them too."

"I heard that after this summer vacation to the seaside, the other production teams will be allowed to relax a bit. They will have to wait until King Wu is comfortable before they can relax too."

"Even if only the mountain farmers enjoy it now, our family is considered an official family, and it won't be our turn for two years."

"This is infuriating!" Chai Yuzi became angry again. "I, Chai Yuzi, have to wait until so many others have enjoyed themselves before I can enjoy myself. It's only right that I'm ranked after King Wu, but how come even those commoners are ahead of me?"

Missing out on the first wave would be a shameful thing for Chai Yuzi and many other young masters and ladies.

Li Tangqing's family's plight did not elicit any sympathy from anyone.

Chai Boshi and Li Tangqing didn't have a good relationship, and he had long advised Li not to court death, but the old man Li wouldn't listen.

Old Li deserved to be punished.

Even if his whole family were killed by King Wu, it would be his own fault.

Everyone felt that King Wu had tolerated him for too long and that old man Li should have died long ago.

It's hard to be too saddened by something that was expected, and soon everyone forgot about the old country man who was still alive.

At this time, Old Man Li returned to his hometown with his son, grandson, and granddaughter. He was allocated fifty acres of land, two cows, and a dilapidated courtyard by the field.

Li Anmin remained silent, tidying up the courtyard with his concubine and several sons and daughters.

Fourteen-year-old Li Xun worked alongside his father, building a cowshed for two cows.

His grandmother and mother were killed by King Wu's men on the grounds that they accepted bribes, interfered in court affairs, and formed cliques for personal gain, despite repeated warnings.

From a wealthy young master to an ordinary citizen today.

Li Xun experienced the greatest contrast.

My memories still include the days when I was a child and didn't have enough to eat, followed by the memories of the increasingly better days.

From the time my grandfather became an official, we never had to worry about food or drink, and we always had friends from the same county town to play with.

The neighbors were friendly and harmonious, and they often went to Luoyang city to buy food and play together with their friends.

I can actually sense what my grandmother and mother have been up to all these years.

The events were not sudden; in retrospect, it was a gradual process that led to his sudden death.

Although the actual killing was gruesome, I accepted it after a few days.

Compared to the deaths of his grandmother and mother, Li Xun now has to think more about himself while living in this poor and dilapidated courtyard with his younger siblings.

While they were working, Old Man Li walked in with a man carrying a load on a shoulder pole.

"Just leave it in the yard, thank you."

"It's nothing, you just moved back?"

Old Li replied, "Yes, I'll come back to farm and earn a living."

The porcelain seller laughed and said, "It's not hard to have a full meal, what's so difficult about begging for food? Grain is very cheap in our Huanghuai Province. This rural area of ​​Huainan may not have much else, but it has plenty of grain! I see you don't have much grain prepared. It's three coins a pound. How much do you want? I'll pick out as much as you need. Do you want it?"

Old Li replied, "Just buy some pots and pans. On the way back, I bought some ground flour from the county. It cost five coins a pound, which was a bit expensive, but it saved me the trouble."

As the man spoke, he noticed that the family consisted of more than ten people, and they didn't look like people who did the work.

“My name is Li Dong, and I live in Huainan County. You can buy any porcelain items you need from me in the future. You know the place. If you buy a lot, I will deliver it to your door.”

Old Li nodded. "No problem."

Li Anmin came over at this time and helped with the work of moving things.

"Father, how much are these porcelain bowls?"

Looking at the porcelain bowls separated by hemp rope and wheat straw in the basket, Li Anmin felt that the price wouldn't be cheap.

Old Li replied, "It's not expensive, fifteen coins for a bowl. Ten years ago, a piece of porcelain from a folk kiln like this would have cost around five hundred coins, and one with patterns would have cost two or three taels of silver." Hearing this, Li Dong smiled and said, "Old sir, you know your stuff. Now, porcelain factories can produce two or three hundred pieces a day. I've heard that the official kilns can produce tens of thousands of pieces a day. The people of Luoyang use porcelain produced by the Luoyang official kiln."

Li Xun interjected at this moment, saying, "The people there don't use porcelain; they use glass teacups and iron rice bowls."

Li Dong became curious upon hearing this. Huainan belongs to the Huanghuai Province, but since Beijiwu entered Luoyang, the people of Huanghuai have chosen to submit to the south, resulting in poor treatment and neglect over the years.

They are the ballast that lowers the average coefficient of the Huanghuai Province, bringing the data of Luoyang public household registration, which had outrageous benefits, down to a level similar to that of other public household registrations.

Even with such differential treatment, people from Huainan and the Jianghuai region yearn for Luoyang.

"I know about the iron rice bowl; people there inherit their positions. Is the glass teacup a crystal goblet?"

Because of the concentration of industry, not only in Jiangnan Province, but even in some parts of Huanghuai Province, no one has heard any inside information about Luoyang Industrial Group for several years.

The two sides are not from the same circle at all, while the Li family previously belonged to the Luoyang circle.

Because they angered King Wu, the Li family is no longer part of that circle.

Even when children like Li Xun ran back to play with their friends, having lost their identities and household registrations, they would only feel that the people they once knew had become strangers.

Others haven't changed; it's them who have.

The porcelain bowls in the basket are still porcelain bowls, not much different from more than ten years ago; what has changed is the people.

A poor farmer is more likely to use pottery or wooden bowls that he makes himself.

These rough, earthen-colored bowls are good enough as long as they work, and people might even use ladles instead of bowls to get by.

If there are many people, buying coarse porcelain bowls is an expense that needs to be carefully considered.

A typical restaurant waiter in the city earns between 20 and 50 coins a day.

He broke a rough porcelain bowl that cost ten coins, which was equivalent to losing half a day's wages. He would feel bad, but he could still bear it.

He would never eat with a "brand name" porcelain bowl worth 500 to 2000 coins.

A middle-class family shop owner in the city might own a set of decent porcelain tableware, such as a set of ten Jingdezhen porcelain bowls worth a few strings of cash, for entertaining guests or to show off their status.

This is an important asset within the family.

Luoyang is not representative of the average; the standard of living there has always been at the level of the capital.

The workers there could earn two or three hundred coins a day, and even more in places with good business, without worrying about deductions or issues related to food, clothing, and lodging.

The more you spend, the more you earn.

The difference between Luoyang and my hometown of Huainan is roughly equivalent to the difference between a first-tier city and a third-tier rural area.

Fortunately, Li Xun's mother and grandmother were dead; otherwise, if those two had come back with him, they would have cried every night and made a scene every day.

She constantly nags her husband and son for not working hard enough, causing them to suffer.

Without the nagging of the two troublesome women, Old Man Li was finally able to settle down and enjoy his retirement.

It's tougher than it was two or three years ago, but much better than it was ten years ago.

After settling down, Old Man Li discovered that the prices of farm tools, grains, and daily necessities had all dropped significantly.

People in the Huainan region don't need to worry about survival at all, because there are no taxes, and even farming can support a family of more than ten people.

Pots and pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, clothes, paper, and pens are all decreasing in price; the only thing that has increased is the wages for migrant workers.

Building houses, roads, and the Yellow River for King Wu was paid for, but building water conservancy facilities for one's own village was free.

Compared to farming their own land, the villagers preferred to accept King Wu's summons during the busy farming season to collect public land.

They actually pay you, which is much more profitable than farming your own land.

With so many people in each household, just a few people going out can earn as much as the whole family earns from farming.

The only downside is that good things don't happen to us.

Most of the time, it's eerily calm here, without a single ripple.

Occasionally, due to overpopulation, too many relatives, or some private matters, incidents of death and fighting may occur.

The mundane reality and the newspaper reports of King Wu's southern tour and vacation were like two different worlds.

Most people's hometowns are stagnant; only by going to the capital can they experience a vibrant and colorful life.

It's quite normal for brothers to fight over the quota to enter Luoyang, turn against each other, or even turn against each other with knives and guns.

Everyone was eager for King Wu to undertake a hundred major projects a year, a directive he gave.

Arctic Martial Arts is not stupid; it would rather pay money than loosen its household registration quota.

Some people are willing to work and get paid to solve problems, so they won't issue household registrations indiscriminately and cause a series of troubles.

More than half a year had passed since the tenth year of the Common Era, and apart from building construction, there had been almost no major projects in the Arctic.

Apart from the machine factory and the construction company having some issues, most other areas were proceeding as usual.

Life was as still as stagnant water, and most people had no way to serve their country.

In times of peace and tranquility, the capital city seemed all the more glorious.

(End of this chapter)