I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

The village head had really opened his heart to Liu Yanxi. If it weren't for the fact that his family already had enough land and they didn't have the energy to cultivate it, he would have wanted to buy that place himself.

"Oh? There's so much to it about buying land, Uncle Village Head. I'll go home and discuss it with them first."

Liu Yanxi was a little embarrassed. He thought he would just ask the village head if anyone was planning to sell their land, and then his family would buy it. He hadn't realized that they could cultivate the land themselves?

The main reason is that their family had never cultivated the land before.

The village head wasn't surprised. "Go ahead. I think your cousin is quite knowledgeable. It's good to discuss it with him. Your uncle definitely won't cheat you. Buying wasteland and then cultivating it is definitely the most cost-effective way."

The village head didn't know Song Chen's actual age and thought he was a few years older than Liu Yanxi. He didn't expect that when Liu Yanxi said he would go home to discuss it, he was actually mainly asking for his younger sister's opinion.

That evening, when Liu Nanjia and the others returned, Liu Yanxi told them about it.

Liu Nanjia was also somewhat surprised. So this was possible? Well, in modern times, there were many people and little land, but it's different now. There's plenty of land and few people.

"Did you ask how much paddy fields, dry land, and wasteland cost?"

Liu Yanxi was quite reliable. Of course, he wouldn't come back without asking anything. He replied, "I asked. Paddy fields are the most expensive, costing three taels of silver per mu, and they're basically impossible to buy. No one in the village with paddy fields is willing to sell. Dry land is two taels, and wasteland is the cheapest, costing five qian of silver per mu. If you buy a lot, Uncle Village Head said it can be cheaper."

"Is there such a big difference?" Liu Nanjia was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, here, if you grow rice in paddy fields, you can plant two seasons and harvest twice a year, while wheat can only be planted once. Even if rice yields less grain, it still makes more than wheat. As for wasteland, it's mainly because it's difficult to cultivate. Most people don't have the ability to spend a lot of time cultivating it, so there are fewer buyers, and it's naturally cheaper."

“Yes, the imperial court encourages land reclamation, so it has kept the price of wasteland down a bit.” Song Chen added, “If it’s an ordinary family, it might take one or two months to reclaim an acre of land, and they might easily miss the planting season and have no harvest in the first year. There are already few people willing to do it, so if the price is higher, even fewer people will buy it.”

Now Liu Nanjia understood that the time and labor costs of clearing wasteland were enormous. It required working every day and there was no harvest even after a year. Most families couldn't afford to wait that long, which explained why there was so much wasteland but so few people came to clear it.

However, their family can afford it, since they don't rely on farming to make money and have enough income.

Buying land now provides more security, and they don't expect to recoup their investment quickly. In that case, land reclamation is actually more suitable for their family's situation.

The village headman truly lived up to his reputation; the ideas he gave them were indeed excellent.

Liu Nanjia did the math in his head. If his family wanted to reclaim wasteland, they would definitely have to hire someone else to do it. If they hired 10 people and paid them 15 coins a day, and they could reclaim one mu (a Chinese unit of land area) within ten days, it would be more cost-effective than buying dry land.

Furthermore, they also plan to buy oxen, which will definitely plow the land much faster than people, so it should be feasible.

"Since Uncle Village Head has suggested this to us, let's do as he says, buy the wasteland, and then hire people to cultivate it. We'll save money, and the villagers will have income. It's a win-win-win situation. Uncle Village Head is really cunning... cough, wise, wise, haha."

Liu Nanjia accidentally blurted out her true feelings and quickly corrected herself. Although they were all family, her choice of words was indeed inappropriate.

The next day, the village head met Liu Yanxi, who had come to see him again, with an expression that said, "I knew you would agree."

"I didn't trick you, did I? The path I showed you is definitely the best! If your family wants to clear the land, you'll need to ask the villagers for help, right? I'll have my son go too!"

Liu Yanxi was starting to agree with his sister's statement from yesterday, and after a few words of agreement, he pulled the village head aside to get down to business.

“Uncle Village Head, now that we’ve bought them, we plan to buy at least ten acres. You said yesterday that you could offer a discount, how much of a discount?”

When the village head got down to business, he became serious. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Ten mu, according to the original price, is five taels of silver, but I already said I would give you a discount. Clearing wasteland is a great thing. How about this, five taels for twelve mu, how about that?"

This was pretty much what they had expected, so Liu Yanxi nodded in agreement.

"Uncle Village Head, if you can sell wasteland, what about mountain land?"

"Mountains? You mean the mountains north of the village? They can be sold, but what would you want with that stuff? You can't quarry that mountain; there are too many rocks inside."

"Yes, it's the area behind the school. My sister said that when she builds her own house, she'll build it on that land behind the school, which is right next to the foot of the mountain. If villagers go up the mountain to cut firewood or something, they can see my backyard from the mountain. She said she might as well buy the whole area and treat it as her own garden."