If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"Uncle Niu, I suggest that our village should start by developing a collective economy."

What is collective economy?

"The so-called collective economy means that our village develops some projects and allows the villagers to participate. To give a simple example, I give the fishing nets to the village, and the villagers can use the fishing nets to catch fish, but these fish belong to the village, and we pay the villagers for their labor."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing Zhou Wu's words, Niu Cun felt as if something had entered his mind, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

"Moreover, the village development project will not only provide more job opportunities for the villagers, but we will also have more income to pay taxes to the imperial court."

Taxation is one of the most important means for the imperial court to assess local areas. Although the harvest in Niujia Village was not good in the past few years, in theory, if all the money had been used to support the people, no one would have starved to death. However, the imperial court's tax collection did not care whether people starved to death or not. At that time, they collected more than half of the grain and took it away. Even so, it was only just enough to barely reach the passing grade. Otherwise, as the village head, Master Niu would probably have been punished by the imperial court.

"Alright, scholar, you've been to school, so we'll do everything your way. Since you don't want the position of village head, then I'll take it for now. With my old face, I can clear away any obstacles in the village for you. Just go ahead and do your job."

In the end, the two reached an agreement, and Zhou Wu also came to a realization: since he had transmigrated here, he should live a good life here and use his knowledge to change the people around him.

Although Zhou Wu had many ideas, after discussing with Uncle Niu, he decided to start with the fishing industry. The next day, he convened a collective meeting of all the villagers.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet."

The collective meeting was held under the big locust tree in the middle of the village. Village head Niu Ye and Zhou Wu sat in the middle, while the other villagers sat around them. The once noisy scene instantly quieted down at Niu Ye's command.

"I have called you all here today because I have an important announcement to make."

As soon as Grandpa Niu finished speaking, the villagers started discussing it again.

"A big event? What big event could be happening in our Niujia Village?"

"Could it be the tax collectors have arrived?"

"What are you talking about? It's only been a few months, it's still early."

"What else could it be? Could it be... another conscription?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding villagers immediately showed expressions of fear.

"Alright, everyone stop guessing. It's not about collecting taxes or conscripting soldiers. It's about reforms in our village. Now, let's invite the scholar to explain it to everyone."

As the villagers' ramblings became increasingly outrageous, the village head quickly interrupted the discussion.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what is reform? To put it simply, it is change. Our Niujia Village has lived on this land for generations, but have you noticed that we are getting poorer and poorer?"

Zhou Wu's words struck a chord with everyone: the biggest victims of war, taxation, and natural disasters are always the ordinary people at the bottom of society.

"So we can't keep living the old ways anymore. Do you all remember the fish we ate at my house the other day? I want to ask you all, was the fish delicious?"

"What are you saying, scholar? Meat, how can it not taste good?"

"That's right, the scholar is really capable, he managed to get so many fish."

"When will the scholar treat us to fish again?"

The villagers chattered amongst themselves, but all of them expressed their longing for meat and a better life.

"Haha, treating everyone to fish is a small matter, but the village's next plan is to ensure that everyone can have fish."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd. Even the old village head wouldn't dare to make such a boastful statement, so why should a mere scholar like him have the right to do so?

However, some people supported Zhou Wu, after all, he was the only scholar in the village, and he passed the imperial examination to become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations). His family had also been officials in the past, so he must be more knowledgeable than ordinary people.

"Let me briefly explain the village's plans. First, the village will establish a fishing team. Each household can provide one laborer, either male or female. The village will assign different tasks based on each person's abilities, and wages will be paid every ten days."

"What! There's still wages?"

"At first I thought it was another forced labor service."

"Lord Muramasa is really generous today."

"It should be the magnanimity of a scholar, haha."

You know, in the past, when the village did collective work, everyone contributed their strength, but that was corvée labor, which was free and didn't include food or drink.

"Let me make this clear first: the fishing nets aren't just a secret of the scholar's, but a secret of Menniu Village. Anyone who dares to utter a single word about them, don't blame me, Old Niu, for turning my back on them."

"Don't worry, Lord Muramasa, we're not the kind of people who betray their own people."

"That's right, one Niu Bi is enough for the village."

In the end, each household reported one person to the village head, who then assigned them jobs.

Early the next morning, Zhou Wu led several selected strong men, along with his horse-drawn carriage and Master Zhang's mule cart, to the seaside.

Since this is the first time, Zhou Wu came along in person. Once everyone gets used to it, Zhou Wu won't come along every day anymore.

"Niu Er, demonstrate for everyone."

"Good."

Niu Er excitedly grabbed the fishing net and cast it with a standard motion. The others looked closely but saw no movement in the water.

"Didn't win?"

"It seems that it's not 100% certain after all."

Just as the villagers were in utter despair, Niu Er began to slowly pull the rope in his hand. As the fishing net gradually tightened, waves began to appear on the water's surface. As the net rose, the waves became increasingly rapid, and large fish could be seen thrashing about in the net.

"I won! I really won!"

Wow, so many fish.

"This, this is just too easy."

Many things seem complicated and unbelievable when you don't know them, but once you get a glimpse of the way, they become very simple.

Before a single day had passed, everyone had learned how to use fishing nets. It seemed Zhou Wu wouldn't need to come tomorrow, as he had more important matters to attend to.

On the first day, because I was inexperienced and only had one fishing net, I only managed to bring back four truckloads of fish.

The fish caught in the morning were all taken directly to the county town for sale. The fish caught in the afternoon were sent to the village because of time constraints. The women there slaughtered and cleaned the fish, and then dried them into dried fish, which made them easier to store and sell.

county seat.

"Holy crap, it smells so fishy, ​​what is this?"

"So many fish..."

A carriage slowly moved down the street, the fishy smell emanating from it permeating the entire street. The uninformed people began to complain.

"Why don't we sell here?"

Because there were several hundred kilograms of fish to sell, which was quite a fortune, Niu Cunzheng specially arranged for several strong men to come and sell them. However, the strong men seemed to have no sales experience and stood there dumbfounded for a long time without knowing how to hawk their wares.