Chapter 88: Gaining Momentum

Yu Wu patted Chen Wuji's shoulder, smiling and speaking in a low voice: "Don't look so worried, what's there to fret about? I'll tell you, this woman is from a good family, she's just reached marriageable age and remains unmarried, so we brought her here."

"This family is outrageously absurd—both daughters are of marriageable age, yet they refuse to marry and secretly hide people up on the mountain, feeding them daily. Humph, they really think the xianya can't do anything to them; put a knife to the necks of that old couple and they'll obediently come down the mountain."

Hearing this, Chen Wuji felt even more stifled in his heart.

If that's truly the case, bringing this woman into the gate carries a hidden risk far greater than Shen Youwei.

But, he had no choice.

"Thank you, Elder Brother Yu, for the advice." Chen Wuji clasped his hands and expressed his thanks.

"It's nothing, come on, let's go measure the land!" Yu Wu waved his hand, calling out to Chen Bushi standing aside: "Village Chief Chen, you and the village elders come and bear witness."

Chen Wuji was somewhat surprised: "Third Uncle, you've become the village chief?"

"I only just found out myself." Chen Bushi also wore a look of utter hopelessness.

Seeing his wretched appearance, Chen Wuji's heart immediately felt much lighter.

Letting thieves become officials—the xianya really has a way.

Yu Wu led Chen Wuji, Chen Bushi, and several elders from the village to Yuan Jintang's fields.

In Xishan Village, the fields belonging to the Yuan Jinbao brothers are the most, together amounting to over one hundred forty or fifty mu; the brothers usually don't farm themselves, having rented all of it out to villagers for cultivation.

As the group arrived at the field edge, the Yuan family members surged over in a mighty crowd.

Leading them, a woman threw herself onto the ground and began to wail and roll about.

She was Yuan Jintang's original wife; currently, only she remains in the household.

Their son has gone out to study and hasn't been seen for several years.

Yuan Jintang dislikes taking concubines but enjoys keeping performers from the pleasure quarters, swapping them out when he tires of them.

"Get out of the way, the xianya is at work—dare to obstruct us again, don't blame this constable for taking your heads!" Yu Wu shouted angrily, drawing his sword with a clang.

"Chop me to death, I'd rather die—you bully the weak with your power; if you have the ability, chop me to death!" Yuan Liu Shi lay on the ground, thrashing like a donkey, and in the blink of an eye she trampled the wheat in the field down several zhang.

This woman has a fine physique.

"Seize her!"

Yu Wu shouted angrily, and several other constables surged forward like tigers and wolves.

"Obstructing the xianya's duties, village elders, have you all seen clearly? Take them to the xianya, await the county lord's orders!" Yu Wu held his sword and shouted sternly, "Dare to obstruct again, and you shall be executed without mercy!"

With that shout, the surging Yuan family members instantly scattered in disarray.

Yuan Liu Shi finally realized she must yield: "I won't roll anymore, I won't roll anymore, you let me go!"

"Won't roll? Laborers roll your mother! Take her aside, make her shut her mouth!" Yu Wu snorted coldly, his eyes as cold as a blade.

A constable grabbed two bundles of straw, twisted them a few times, and stuffed them into Yuan Liu Shi's mouth.

"Such an ungrateful, wicked woman—this is how she ought to be dealt with!" Yu Wu, sneering, muttered to Chen Wuji, then said: "Your village's fields are limited; we truly cannot mark out forty mu. The county lord's meaning is to allocate ten mu from Yuan Jintang's estate, and supplement the rest with mountain land—what do you think?"

Chen Wuji naturally had objections.

Looking at the situation, the xianya is clearly seizing Yuan Jintang's land.

Nearly a hundred mu of good farmland, yet they're only willing to give him ten mu—the xianya wants to have its cake and eat it too!

"I want all the fields!" Chen Wuji said frankly.

Yu Wu was stunned for a moment.

"Reclaimable land will do as well." Chen Wuji added another sentence.

First state his conditions, then see what they can offer.

Yu Wu spread his hands: "The county lord also wants to turn all of it into fields for you, after all you've rendered meritorious service by slaying bandits, but there really is no land to allocate. To be frank, these ten mu were only taken out after Yuan Jintang's death, when the county lord inadvertently discovered that this old fellow had illegally seized civilian land, and thus these ten mu were stripped away."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wuji understood.

Even if the xianya wants to seize Yuan Jintang's land, it's still a covert operation.

What's shown on the surface will only be ten mu, still the county lord's benevolent arrangement painstakingly worked out.

Governing the people's livelihood may not be that good, but these people really are high at playing tricks!

Under this premise, he really had nothing more to say.

"The commoner thanks the county lord for his trouble." Chen Wuji faced north, clasped his hands, and went through the motions.

Since they've said it so fully, we ought to put on a show, high or low.

The land-measuring process is very simple: two plots are marked, under the witness of villagers, the village chief, and the xianya, the contract is signed; Chen Wuji simply wrote his name on it and it was done.

Afterward, the group again shifted their position to the mountain.

Once there, things were casual.

Yu Wu casually drew a line, set the corner with a stone pillar, then pulled a rope, and the area enclosed became Chen Wuji's nominal field.

The land is covered with forest, but the tax to be paid later will be land tax.

Moreover, the xianya didn't even give Chen Wuji the option to relinquish it.

However, Chen Wuji didn't disdain it.

Though this mountain land isn't as profitable as farmland, its value far exceeds the annual land tax he pays.

He has already been planning to make paper.

As long as the iron pot can earn him his first bucket of gold, his next step will be paper.

The paper currently used in the Dayu Dynasty is like a thousand-layer paste coated with glue—thick, coarse, and expensive; ordinary people simply can't afford it.

Even these constables on their outings use bamboo slips.

After clerks write on the spot, documents involving land that need long-term preservation must be recarved when they return.

"Chen Wuji, your land has all been demarcated; if any changes arise later, report them to the xianya." Yu Wu clasped his hands toward Chen Wuji.

"It's still early; how about a few constable brothers come to my house for some tea?" Chen Wuji said politely.

"No, we still need to take this woman back to the xianya for a thorough interrogation—find out why she incited the villagers to obstruct our duties, and what other misdeeds Yuan Jintang has committed in bullying the good and oppressing the weak." Yu Wu waved his hand.

Chen Wuji clasped his hands with a regretful expression, "In that case, I'll see you off."

A group followed Yu Wu down the mountain; after watching them go far away, Chen Wuji turned his head to ask Chen Bushi: "Does the Xianya have any ideas about you? How did they suddenly appoint you as a ward chief?"

"No, I think it's because they see me as a scholar." Chen Bushi said.

Chen Wuji nodded, "That's good. I really worry that one day I'll be dragged into the execution grounds as one of the nine clans because of you. Don't do those things lately; the Imperial City Department has shown up in Yunan."

"Imperial City Department?!" Chen Bushi's pupils contracted sharply, "How do you know?"

"I ran into them on the mountain." Chen Wuji casually told a lie, "Don't spread it, don't leak it; I just happened to overhear their conversation. If this news gets out, heh heh, neither of us will have a good outcome—I doubt we'll even qualify for the execution grounds."

"I know what I'm doing; this matter really must not be spoken about recklessly—not a single word." Chen Bushi nodded solemnly, "Those things really can't be done lately; I'll just stay put as a ward chief and bully the Yuan-surname villagers a bit."