One went to search through the documents and transcribed the list of homeless children. Another went to prepare food and drink to be deducted from their wages.
Over the next few days, Zheng Ruqian took Zhang Qiquan with him to visit in person, and after finding over a hundred homeless children, they finally gathered together thirty mu of land.
The hired laborers were also quite interesting. Ten Li Village had a total of eight households selling land, so eight people were selected from those eight families to work, with each person earning five cents a day.
Among the homeless, ninety percent were willing to work, because what Zheng Ruqian gave them wasn't money, but rather three meals a day, a set of clothes every six months, and paying their taxes at the end of the year.
This could be considered a win-win, solving problems for everyone.
But there was also one major key point that Xu Mo deliberately reminded his younger brother, "Homeless children are unrestrained and have never learned farming before. Don't let them mess up planting snap beans and cause you trouble instead."
Zheng Ruqian already had a plan for this.
On Zhang Qiquan's suggestion, he didn't have the eight short-term workers from Shili Village directly responsible for the land in Shili Village. Instead, after teaching them the process of planting snap beans, he had them lead several dozen homeless children.
It would be very difficult for one person to manage several dozen people, but it was much simpler for one person to lead five or six children.
With the help of Zhang Qiquan, Liu Cui, and Zhang Xianglian, after a spring rain, the snap bean planting sprang into action.
These snap beans, also called cowpeas, are planted between April and May. In places with a favorable climate, they can also be planted in June and July.
Xieyang County was located further north with lower temperatures, so May was the most suitable time.
After soaking the bean seeds in warm water to germinate, they could be planted in the turned soil at the interval of about one palm's distance.
About half a month later, when the seedlings emerge, poles need to be erected for the seedlings to climb. By July and August, long snap bean pods would hang from the poles, pleasing to the eye.
According to the experience of the commoners of Anyang County, the yield of snap beans per mu of land was about a thousand catties. It looked like a lot, but after being dried, it was only about a hundred catties, barely enough to fill a cart.
It was uncertain whether the dried snap beans from these thirty mu of land could sell for enough to last a year.
While Zheng Ruqian busily started the planting here, wages were paid out daily, and the homeless children also had meals every day. This made the commoners who didn't sell land and work envious and resentful, and also made some people frown.
At the Niu family's big residence:
A girl wearing a colorful skirt, fluttering like a butterfly, stamped her feet angrily and pulled an old man with a white beard. "Father, we had our eyes on the land of those homeless people. How could you let that Zheng buy it all? He disrupted our plans."
Indeed, Zheng Ruqian wasn't the only one eyeing the homeless children's land.
The Niu and Ma families also had plans.
They just looked down on the land obtained by the homeless people for nothing. They didn't want to purchase it at the proper price either. So they deliberately waited, waiting for the homeless people to be unable to pay their taxes, waiting for them to be arrested and put in jail, and become fearful. Then they would purchase the land cheaply.
As for what would happen to the homeless children without land, they weren't very concerned.
Who would have thought a Zheng Ruqian would suddenly appear from an angle and purchase a large amount of the homeless children's land. And with just providing a few meals, he was able to hire the homeless children to work for him. This was truly taking full advantage of the situation.
The girl in the colorful skirt shook the old man with the white beard until he was dizzy. Letting go of her hand, she turned around angrily, "It's already annoying enough that the Ma family gets a share in Shili Town. Now there's going to be a Zheng family too? I don't agree to this."
"Aiya, Xian'er, don't act rashly," the white-bearded old man pleaded incoherently. "We must first figure out the Zheng family's background clearly. Don't take action recklessly."
"I know, I know," Niu Xianxian dismissed him carelessly. "I already did some checking. He's just a homeless person who earned some money outside and wants to return home in glory. He really thinks running a business is that easy? If I don't give him a little color to see, I won't be called Niu Xianxian."
She gave a cold snort and flounced away, leaving behind the white-bearded old man sighing.
About three days later:
Zheng Ruqian, who was in the fields overseeing the homeless children working, suddenly received news that the first planted fields had been deliberately trampled and the good seedlings were all crushed. If they didn't replant, there would definitely be no harvest in two months.
But replanting would require new manpower and resources, plus labor costs.
This was like having his heart carved out to Zheng Ruqian. He rushed over furiously, wishing he could strangle the perpetrators to death.
Upon arriving, Jiang Sheng was already there.
She leaned on her chin, squatting at the edge of the field, gazing at the mess on the ground. There was heartache in her eyes, and also some regret.
"Who did it, who did it?" Zheng Ruqian yelled hoarsely.
Jiang Sheng looked back and said softly, "It was the Niu family."
Doing good deeds earned rewards.
The siblings Jiang Sheng had helped came timidly to tell her the truth, and also urged her to be careful. The Niu family were bullies and wouldn't let this go easily.
"I knew it was them." Zheng Ruqian was so angry he was about to smoke. "I'm not finished with them."
He looked ready to make trouble for the other party.
Jiang Sheng hurriedly hugged his arm, "Second brother, don't get angry. Eldest brother said to resolve any issues through the yamen."
Fighting privately wouldn't do.
Zheng Ruqian looked up in surprise.
Jiang Sheng smiled, showing her teeth. Since the new year, she had been studying with Xu Mo and broadened her horizons a lot. She also knew the importance of the yamen to the commoners.
"The unprovoked trampling is property damage. And it was on people's fields, so there must be commoners who witnessed it with their own eyes," she said, blinking her clear, bright eyes. "Second brother, we can report them!"
Report who? Report the people who trampled the crops.
As for the Niu family behind it, there was no need to get involved at all.
Whoever did the trampling would be reported and summoned by the yamen. They would be questioned by the county magistrate.
With Xu Mo there, it only took half a day to trace things back to the Niu family.
Next, Niu Yuanwai was summoned.
But this time, Xu Mo did not immediately interrogate Niu Yuanwai. Instead, he temporarily detained him in the prison.
For the first time in his life, Zheng Ruqian finally experienced the joy of official-businessman collusion.
Xu Mo detained Niu Yuanwai in prison for the time being without interrogating him, on the pretext of looking for physical evidence of Niu Yuanwai hiring people. But it was also partly to get justice for Zheng Ruqian.
After a night passed:
All the witness testimonies and physical evidence were complete. Xu Mo rode in a carriage to the yamen.
The brothers all came to watch the show, with even Wang Fufeng following behind the carriage on horseback.
Zheng Ruqian sat on the shaft of the carriage, one hand holding the horse's bit and the other flipping up the curtains to talk with his elder and younger brothers inside.
Suddenly, a carriage came flying by and crashed into them.
No matter how quickly Zheng Ruqian reacted to rein in the horse, the two carriages still collided unavoidably.
There was a loud "bang", and the carriage behind Zheng Ruqian dropped a few boards and the overall frame became dangerously rickety.
Looking at the carriage across, it remained steady and sturdy, unmoving like a mountain.
Zheng Ruqian gasped deeply, glaring at the girl in the colorful skirt sitting on that carriage's shaft, and yelled angrily, "Are you crazy? What are you trying to do?"
"You're the crazy one. Release my father," Niu Xianxian stood up and yelled petulantly, "Trampling your fields was my idea and had nothing to do with my father. Release my father!"
So she was the daughter of the Niu family.
Zheng Ruqian gave an incredulous laugh. "You trampled my fields yet demand concessions from me? Don't threaten me, or I'll report this to the authorities to have you arrested right now!"
"You dare!" Niu Xianxian flew into a rage. "You stole my land first. I trampled your fields as a warning to you. If you apologize and compensate me, I'll let it go. But if you remain stubborn, I will definitely..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence.
She was staring at the carriage behind Zheng Ruqian, which was dangerously rickety, so the people inside needed to get out quickly.
The first one out was none other than Xu Mo in his green robe. The young master's features were gentle as jade, his bearing elegant. Not only did he safely get himself down, he didn't forget to carry his startled younger sister down too.
When he turned back around, his refined visage and transcendent aura made him stand out above everyone on the entire street.
Niu Xianxian stared blankly, pointing at Xu Mo, "If you marry him to my Niu family, I'll let you off this time."
