In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

After a moment of stunned silence, Chen Dao's eyes darted around, and he said, "I didn't hear what Master Li said just now."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiwen couldn't help but admire the boy's quick thinking. In just a few breaths, he realized that this was not something he could know, and decisively pretended not to have heard and distanced himself from the matter.

But this was obviously useless. Li Hu had a loud voice and spoke very clearly. What he said might not have reached outside, but Chen Dao, who was sitting at the stone table, could definitely hear it clearly.

"Young friend Chen, there's no need for such formalities!"

Li Hu glanced at the little round figure on Chen Dao's shoulder and said with a smile, "It was Magistrate Xu who wiped out the entire Zhu family, not you. There's no need to be afraid!"

"..."

Xu Zhiwen felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind. This Li Hu's mouth... was comparable to a gossipy woman!

However, Xu Zhiwen realized at this point that Li Hu wasn't a blabbermouth. Having frequently interacted with Li Hu recently, Xu Zhiwen was quite certain of this. Under these circumstances, Li Hu's decision to specifically tell Chen Dao about this matter seemed to carry a deeper meaning...

Thinking of this, Xu Zhiwen said, "Master Li is joking! It wasn't just me who wiped out the Zhu family; didn't you, Master Li, also take action?"

"..."

Chen Dao opened his mouth, then regretted coming today. Damn it, is it appropriate for you to discuss such a big matter in front of me? I'm just a fifteen-year-old kid!

Chen Dao was utterly speechless. He didn't know what had gotten into Li Hu, who had said something so outrageous in front of him, as if he wanted to drag him down with him.

and many more!

Are you trying to drag me down with you?

Chen Dao was taken aback and gave Li Hu a deep look. This Master Li had probably already noticed his unusual nature and was trying to pull him onto the same boat.

"Li did indeed take action, but the mastermind was none other than you, Magistrate Xu!"

Li Hu turned to Chen Dao and said, "You might not believe it, but the magistrate's purpose in eliminating the Zhu family was to ensure that the refugees outside the city could have a full meal, and at the same time to reduce the tax burden on the people of Taiping County. Don't you think Magistrate Xu is a good official?"

"Yes."

Chen Dao nodded without hesitation, his impression of Xu Zhiwen changing considerably. Because of the famine outside the city and the increased taxes, Chen Dao had a poor, even somewhat resentful, view of the Taiping County magistrate.

But after listening to Li Hu's story, it became clear that Xu Zhiwen, the county magistrate, might not be an incorruptible official like Hai Rui, but he was definitely an official who cared about the people. In such a feudal society, an official who cared about the people was absolutely the best official imaginable.

"Unfortunately……"

Xu Zhiwen sighed helplessly, "The grain I plundered from the Zhu family is only enough to cover this tax increase by the imperial court!"

In Xu Zhiwen's initial plan, the grain obtained after eliminating the Zhu family should be enough to cover the court's tax increase and to resettle the refugees outside the city.

But to his utter surprise, the Zhu family's grain reserves were far less than he had initially anticipated. After paying the increased taxes imposed by the imperial court, the remaining grain was insufficient to accommodate the refugees outside the city.

"Why doesn't the county magistrate make use of the refugees outside the city?"

Chen Dao tentatively suggested, "There are countless abandoned plots of land outside the city. If we just give those refugees a meal, they will surely be willing to work for the county magistrate. The county magistrate only needs to mobilize them to reclaim the wasteland, and next year we can harvest a large amount of fertile land, at which time we will naturally have enough grain to produce."

The idea that land outside the city is abandoned sounds absurd, but it is indeed a real phenomenon.

With the weather turning bitterly cold and crops failing to grow, coupled with repeated tax increases by the imperial court, the people were already under unbearable burdens!

To avoid the government's increased taxes, countless people abandoned their land and chose to become vagrants, thus avoiding the government's conscription and tax increases.

Therefore, there was actually a lot of wasteland outside Taiping County at that time. This wasteland could be turned into fertile fields with just a little reclamation. If it could all be reclaimed, it might be able to grow grain the following year and solve the food shortage in Taiping County.

"Young friend, your plan is brilliant!"

Xu Zhiwen's eyes lit up, but then quickly dimmed again: "Unfortunately, I don't have enough food to feed those refugees."

It is common sense that the more physical labor a person exerts, the greater their appetite will be. If we were to mobilize the refugees outside the city to reclaim wasteland, the amount of grain required would be astronomical. The grain we have plundered from the Zhu family is barely enough to feed the refugees thin porridge after taxes, let alone provide them with enough to eat to reclaim wasteland.

"This……"

Chen Dao opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

His idea was wonderful: to use work-for-relief programs to get the refugees to clear wasteland so that they could harvest a lot of fertile land the following year. But he forgot that Xu Zhiwen's grain reserves were far from enough to supply the refugees with enough food. It was obviously unrealistic to expect the refugees to work on an empty stomach.

"Brother Chen, you're here!"

Just then, Li Ying, having finished her boxing practice, wiped away her sweat and sat down next to Chen Dao. Her big eyes fell on Chen Dao, and she asked, "What breed of chicken did Brother Chen bring this time?"

Chicken breed?

Xu Zhiwen's gaze fell on the chicken coop that Chen Cheng was carrying. In fact, he had noticed the chicken coop that Chen Cheng was carrying long ago, as well as the peculiar breed of chicken in the coop. However, he had been distracted by Li Hu's big mouth and hadn't had a chance to ask any questions.

"I brought a total of 15 Bloodfeather Chickens this time."

Chen Dao replied with a smile, "According to the previous price, it's 20 taels each, totaling 300 taels of silver."

These blood-feathered chickens were specially bred by Chen Dao to help the villagers pay their taxes. The money earned from selling 15 blood-feathered chickens was more than enough to cover the taxes for the entire Chenjia Village.

However… after talking with Li Hu and Xu Zhiwen just now, Chen Dao could roughly guess that this tax increase would probably not be required. Nevertheless, Chen Dao still planned to sell this batch of blood-feathered chickens and hand over the rent money to the villagers, which would at least improve the lives of the villagers in Chenjia Village.

Bloodfeathered Chicken?

Upon hearing the name, Xu Zhiwen's eyes flickered. He had never heard of a chicken breed with this name before, and one chicken sold for 20 taels of silver. This price clearly indicated that it was not an ordinary chicken breed.

"So many?"

Li Hu was surprised. In his opinion, the Blood Feather Chicken was a precious and rare breed of chicken, as evidenced by the number Chen Dao brought each time he came – only 3-5 chickens each time!

But this time... Chen Dao brought 15 of them at once, which made Li Hu wonder... whether these Blood Feather Chickens were really as difficult to catch as Chen Dao had said.