"I built it," the village chief said aggrievedly. "The road you came to the village to find was built by us."
Bai Shan: "...Do you call this road construction? Even horses can't get in."
Village Chief: "Sir, you can still come in without riding on a horse."
Bai Shan was too lazy to continue the question and asked directly: "When was the last time you built a road?"
The village chief said uncertainly: "Four years ago? Or five years ago."
"Where do you send your annual corvee?"
The village chief immediately said: "There are official roads and some canals outside the mountains, and sometimes we have to go to the seaside to build docks."
Anyway, it was not given to the corvee in his own village.
Bai Shan frowned, "Is there a dock in Beihai County?"
The village chief said: "There was one a few years ago, in the Longchi area, but later it was not built and became deserted."
Bai Shan: "Why should it be abandoned?"
Village Chief: “Because there is no money?”
Bai Shan:……
Forget it, let’s wait until we meet Fang Xian Cheng and Dong Xian Wei to ask about this kind of thing. How can he ask a village chief who can’t even understand his own village’s corvee?
Bai Shan reached out and touched the wheat in the field, and said to the village chief: "It's all ready to be harvested. You can work hard. When the farming season is over, I will issue an order to you to build a road out."
The village chief was worried and asked nervously: "Do you want to go outside for repairs at once?"
Bai Shan: "I do have such ambitions, but there are not many of you, and the mountain roads are difficult. If you don't send soldiers from other places, it would be good if your village can build it outside within five years."
He said: "You can't delay the farming time just for a road."
The village chief breathed a sigh of relief quietly.
When Bai Shan saw it, he said: "But you must not slack off. It is very important to have a road to the outside. If your village has a road to the outside, when the bandits come to kill you, you will still be besieged."
Isn’t it even possible to ask for help here?”
Bai Shan believed that the reason why bandits were able to attack Xiaoliu Village again and again without any scruples was because it was isolated and helpless.
The mountains on all sides protected the village, but also blocked their way, so they had to find a way.
And being surrounded by mountains, even if the land is fertile, they just don't lack food. But life is not just about food, there is also clothing, shelter, and at a higher level, there is also the need for knowledge.
When a person lives his whole life, he must leave something for this world. Only then can his life in this world be considered worthwhile, right?
Only when Xiaoliu Village has access to the outside can all of this be possible.
Bai Shan's heart moved. Xiaoliu Village is like this, so why not Beihai County?
Speaking of which, Beihai County is small and has few people. After arriving in Qingzhou City, many caravans will transfer to Laizhou and go to the sea from Laizhou Bay. In addition to the caravans who are interested in salted fish, they will come to Beihai County, and other caravans will come here as well.
In order to sell things, it is rare to take goods from Beihai County.
But Beihai County has a small population and is poor. How many merchants can come to sell things?
Even if they eat delicacies from the mountains and seas every day, they won't be able to leave much money for Beihai County, so they still have to find ways to attract more merchants.
So how to attract?
"My lord, my lord?" Seeing Bai Shan in a daze, the village chief couldn't help but shout twice more.
Bai Shan came back to his senses, suppressed his thoughts, and asked the village chief: "Have you sown your rice seeds?"
"Yes, they have all sprouted."
"Let's go take a look."
The village chief then turned around and took them to see the seedling fields in the village.
There are not many people in their village, and most of the rice seedlings are planted in the field at the end of the village. The river flowing through their village happens to be right next to it.
The river is not big, so there is no danger of flooding. At this time, the water in the river is flowing gurglingly, and the fields on both sides are full of green seedlings.
Bai Shan walked down the field to take a look. He reached out and pulled out a seedling. At this time, it was only one finger high, but its color was about to turn dark green, which showed that the fertility of the land was good.
He looked at the rhizomes of the seedlings. They were a little thin, and the root system was not as good as the rice seeds that Datou experimented with in Pucun.
However, there is no shortage of water here, and it is normal for the seedlings' root systems to be underdeveloped.
Bai Shan asked the village chief, "What was the average rice yield per mu last year?"
The village chief opened his mouth but didn't reply. What's the average yield per mu when they have nothing to do?
Bai Shan changed the questions and asked, "How many acres of land does your family have? How many acres of rice were planted last year? How many bags were harvested? Has it been weighed?"
The village chief could answer that he had a good memory and the annual harvest was very important.
Bai Shan listened carefully and calculated in his mind, and then he had a rough understanding. He asked: "Who farmed the best land in the village last year?"
The village chief also knew this and said: "As for Erzhu's family, his old man is very good at farming. He has two fields that are very fertile and can produce higher yields than other families every year."
,Pity."
Bai Shan sighed, it was a pity. He was still thinking of renting a few acres of experimental fields here and letting the best growers do the planting.
He turned to the village chief and asked, "Does anyone in the village want to rent out their land?"
Village head: "...No need, you can still finish the planting after hard work. Even if the mother and daughter of Erzhu's family can't finish the planting, the village will also help with the planting. The folks in the village don't have to rent a house."
Someone else’s land?”
Bai Shandao: "I want to rent land."
The village chief didn't know what he was thinking, and the smile on his face was a little forced. He said: "Why rent? If you want to farm, your family has several acres of land. Why don't you give some to you?"
Bai Shan glanced at him condescendingly and said, "My home is in Longzhou and my family is in the capital. Why do I need the land here?"
village head:……
Although I was criticized, I was inexplicably happy and breathed a sigh of relief again.
Bai Shan withdrew his gaze, looked at the entire rice field for seedlings, and said: "I think the climate in the mountains is good. I have some new rice seeds that I want to try planting here. This kind of field is called an experimental field, and it doesn't require much.
, just rent two or three acres."
He said: "It's not urgent. We don't have rice seeds in hand. Even if we want to plant them, we won't be able to plant them until next year. Please help me first ask who is willing to rent the fields, and then find me someone who is honest and obedient and knows how to farm."
The village chief immediately agreed. As long as the land is not needed, it can be rented out for a few years for free. The county magistrate will probably be promoted in a few years, right?
Bai Shan returned to the village just before dark. The village was bustling with smoke. Because wheat had to be harvested, everyone in the village ate late today.
Man Bao and the others had just closed down their stall, and they had something to say to each other as soon as they met.
Bai Shan paused and said, "Speak first."
Man Bao said: "I have seen almost all the people in this village. I will leave the village tomorrow afternoon and go to several nearby villages for free clinics."
Bai Shancai said: "I also want to visit several nearby villages. There are bandits in the mountains. It is impossible to just rob Xiaoliu Village, especially a bandit den with about a hundred people. I can't survive just by robbing Xiaoliu Village."
came down, so I want to see the situation in other villages."