Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 68 Granary
Eight more people have joined the Shan Nong ethnic group.

Three wives, three slaves, and two lodging guests.

Beijiwu led a few people into the village and arrived outside the commune that was under construction.

The commune consisted of a granary, a canteen, a livestock pen under construction, and a warehouse under construction.

The nearby weeds were eaten by cattle and sheep, so the people building the house first set up four circles around the perimeter, without rushing to deal with the weeds and trees inside.

The front yard was the canteen, and the back yard was the granary, warehouse, and tool shed. There were livestock sheds on the left and right, one for cattle and one for horses.

Donkeys prefer to be alone, and each household keeps one.

The sheep are grazing in Beijiwu's yard and will be moved to a different location soon.

Beijiwu said to the three women of marriageable age, "I have found men for you from here. For now, let's get to know each other, work together, and eat together. After we finish plowing the land, I will have someone build a small courtyard for each of you as your wedding house, and then we will allocate land to you."

None of the three women knew who they were going to marry, but they were relieved after hearing what Beijiwu said.

"Okay! Thank you, Master Wu!!"

Beijiwu smiled and said, "Just call me Chief. Tuoba Niu will be working here for about a month. If you have any questions, just ask him."

"Our mountain farmer tribe's rule is that the clan chief is the head. You don't need to worry about family matters. Just call me clan chief from now on. If you listen to me, you will have a house and land!"

Arctic Martial's generosity quickly brought smiles to the faces of all three women.

The wedding will not be held for the time being, and the marriage arrangements have not been finalized, but the first step is to join the Shan Nong tribe.

Four women sat with Bei Jiwu near a table.

The canteen, which could accommodate thirty or forty people, was now packed with onlookers.

Fortunately, all the adults and children kept a safe distance from Arctic Warrior and did not offend him.

"I usually eat alone, but since you've come from afar as guests, you'll eat at the same table with me. From now on, you can eat inside or outside the house like everyone else. We provide all you can eat here."

Beijiwu then looked at the three Tatar slaves outside the door.

“We don’t have slaves here. Although those three are slaves, don’t worry about what’s going on outside. They will all be members of the Mountain Farmers tribe and will be treated the same as everyone else.”

"In our mountain farming tribe, whoever can work and whoever is obedient will live a good life. No matter who is lazy, even if they are the women who serve me, their treatment will be reduced if they can't work!"

Beijiwu easily abolished slavery, leading the mountain farmers from a slave society into a feudal society.

The others felt no difference, but Arughtai's family felt a strong sense of humanistic care.

Unfortunately, the three of them couldn't squeeze through the doorway because a group of mountain farmers, men and women, and children were blocking the way.

Beijiwu didn't have much to say to the three round-faced women, but he mainly exchanged a few words with Ma Tuchai.

Because she was in a hurry, Ma Tuchai hadn't dressed up and looked quite ordinary, covered in dust.

Arctic Martial does not hide its attitude.

"Dinner's ready! What's for dinner today?"

Aunt Zhang quickly called out, "Clan leader, today we're having wolf meat stew."

A round-faced girl asked, "Chieftain, why is there wolf meat here?"

Beijiwu looked at the table and said, "I killed the wolves that came out at night before. These past few days, I've been riding around the area and killing any wolves or foxes that might run into our village, so they won't harm our livestock."

Not long after, an older woman brought out a large pot of wolf meat stew weighing over 30 kilograms. The pot was full of meat and soup, with vegetables as a garnish.

Arctic Wu ate the meat first, then glanced at the people nearby.

"Go eat when you're supposed to, don't stand blocking the door! Get out!"

The people of Kitada Village were completely convinced by Arctic Martial Arts and went out to eat with smiles on their faces.

The kitchen then brought out eggs and stir-fried vegetables, along with pickled vegetables and whole-wheat steamed buns to go with the rice.

"Come on, let's eat. Everyone, eat."

"Thank you, Chieftain."

The four women started using their chopsticks and picked up some meat to eat.

Whether it's the herdsmen of Changchengtun or the rice shop owner like Matouchai, they can eat quite a bit of meat throughout the year.

After examining the flesh, the four women realized it didn't look like human flesh.

After taking a bite, I roughly determined what kind of meat it was.

"It tastes like dog meat," Ma Tuchai said with a laugh.

Beijiwu said, "Wolf meat and dog meat are about the same, eat as much as you want, just eat until you're full. We provide all-you-can-eat meals here." After saying that, Beijiwu didn't seem to want to say anything more.

He has never been one to waste time talking, and he has never talked to women for very long.

Although he did use words during the conquest of Kitada Village, he mostly insulted others and rarely had a calm and friendly chat.

When it's time to use violence, Arctic martial arts always do so swiftly and accurately.

He should have exercised restraint when necessary, otherwise the three Kitada brothers and Beigong Dingbian would have been killed long ago.

We're not so polite to outsiders, especially those who come looking for trouble. If we're not going to reason with them or solve problems, then they should just die!

Beijiwu felt that these four women had no use to him.

The three grassland women were soon assigned to the families of Aunt Li, Aunt Zhang, and Mu Chuanliang, who was currently unmarried.

The others either have wives and children at home, or their children are too young.

There's no wedding yet, and no wedding house either; we'll take it slow.

After finishing his meal, Beijiwu took Matuchai home.

"From now on, you will be in charge of keeping accounts. You will be responsible for recording who did the work and how many work points they earned, and how much food they ate each day. You won't have to do any other hard work."

"I'll arrange for a woman to work with you. Just let me know when you want to leave."

Ma Tuchai nodded and said, "Yes, clan chief."

Every village needs a few educated people, and Beijiwu needs to train a group of people who can read and do arithmetic as soon as possible.

The village is still busy with autumn plowing, with a large amount of manpower devoted to cultivating the land and building houses.

The Arctic Army was not idle either, and quickly mobilized labor to solve agricultural problems.

Xianglan and Xidan were playing at the door, with two small wolfhounds fighting in front of them.

As soon as the two black and yellow mongrels sensed Arctic Martial approaching, they quickly ran over, barking excitedly like little wolfhounds.

Beijiwu was in a good mood and said to Xidan and Xianglan, who had also run over, "This is the new Matouchai. She will be staying with us for a while."

Xi Dan looked at Ma Tuchai and greeted her, "Sister Chai."

Ma Tuchai smiled and said, "My surname is Ma, you can just call me Tuchai."

The group entered the courtyard together, where Li Hong and the others came out to greet Bei Jiwu, and naturally accepted Ma Tuchai as a new member.

The issue of food is no longer important; everyone knows that Beiji Wu is a powerful and capable man!
Ma Tuchai was also a woman who knew how to handle things. In the customs of the Hu people, there was no concept of chastity, so it was normal for her to be conquered by a more powerful man.

Ma Tuchai quickly became familiar with the women of the Beiji Wu family and learned about the family's food reserves.

***
After a busy day, just as Beijiwu was about to go to sleep, Ma Tuchai, wearing a fluffy robe, approached Beijiwu's large bed.

"Sir, I have something I'd like to tell you."

Beijiwu and Li Hong were lying together when they heard this and looked at the newly arrived widow.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow."

Ma Tuchai blushed and said, "Sir, my family used to be in the grain transport business. We often bought grain from Gaoliuwei. If you are willing to spend a hundred taels of silver, you can buy more than three hundred shi of grain."

Beijiwu knew his own situation. He sat naked on the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked at the woman on the ground.

“I’m willing to spend the money. With 300 shi of grain, it won’t be a problem to last until next year’s wheat harvest. But is grain really that cheap? I remember that 1 shi of grain per mu costs about 1 liang.”

Ma Tuchai stretched out her hand and said with a smile, "Whether grain is expensive or not is up to the grain buyers. The reason we ordinary people can't understand it is because they don't let us understand. When they buy grain, they say that grain is not worth anything and ask us to pay extra silver, but when you buy grain, it's not the price they paid."

"If you don't have enough grain after paying taxes and want to buy more, then it's one shi of grain for one tael of silver."

"After paying taxes, if there is a surplus of grain, one might want to sell some to make money. Two or three bushels of grain can only be exchanged for one tael of silver. Grain buyers are also in it to make money, so they certainly won't do business at a loss."

"It's the same every year. No matter who's the emperor, it's all the same here."

Arctic Military discovered that this was indeed the case; everyone, from top to bottom, was thinking about making money. The officers and soldiers wanted to extract money from the farmers, and in addition to the law and taxes, they also colluded with merchants to manipulate grain prices and create a rollercoaster ride.

Merchants like Wen the Rich were those who cooperated with the government troops.

Oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger; even in the early and middle stages of ancient dynasties, there were always various rebellions.

The situation is even more severe in border regions, which are among the hardest-hit areas.

Arctic Martial realized that the border soldiers did not lack food, nor did they care about the meager grains; what they lacked was money. So he tried his best to extort money from the lower classes, resulting in food shortages for the lowest-ranking people.

Military settlements should not lack food. There is actually a lot of land here, and with the support of the imperial court, it should be a granary. However, more often than not, it is a bottomless pit that absorbs food and funds from the rear.

(End of this chapter)