Chapter 259: Slaves?
Since chatting with King Cheng'an that day, Ye Hao began to prepare for related matters.
First of all, there is the problem of the land needed for the resettlement of refugees and the subsequent cultivation of cotton, because when the girls were rescued before, a piece of wasteland had already been bought, and next to that land was also a continuous wasteland, which had not yet been cultivated, so it could not be used as a field.
Ye Hao pondered for a while and felt that it was feasible, so she went to King Cheng'an and told him about it.
King Cheng'an was reading the recital, but when he learned that Ye Hao was coming, he immediately put down the fold and went over to greet him.
"Lord, I came here to ask for something."
As soon as the two sat down, Ye Hao directly asked:
"Ye Hao wants to ask the prince to sell me a piece of wasteland."
"Oh?"
King Cheng An asked suspiciously:
"Haven't you checked before, there are almost no vacancies in the nearby fields, which land do you want?"
Ye Hao knew that King Cheng'an would have this doubt, so she settled down at this time, and said in a slow voice:
"What I want is the wasteland with the hill near the piece of land you sold me earlier, my lord."
Ye Hao had already thought about it, although this land seemed desolate, but with a hill, the mountain was rich in products, and it was a good place suitable for reclamation, and this place was now unattended, she wanted it, it should be possible to get it from King Cheng'an at a lower price.
Sure enough, King Cheng'an smiled after listening to what she said.
"What's so hard about this, it's a wasteland, if you're willing to lead people to reclaim it, that's great."
King Cheng An readily agreed.
Ye Hao got up and thanked King Cheng'an, and asked if she could get a better price.
"That's nature."
King Cheng'an pondered for a moment and said very generously:
"This land has no one to cultivate, if you take over, firstly, it will be regarded as increasing the cultivated land here, and secondly, it will also help solve the problem of refugees, which is beneficial to Lingnan, this king will naturally not embarrass you in terms of price, I don't know what the price you are interested in?"
Ye Hao didn't expect King Cheng An to be so easy to speak, so she thought about it and reported a number.
King Cheng An didn't respond immediately, but turned out the map and looked at it, and finally drew a circle on the map with his fingertips, and called Ye Hao:
"Look at it."
Ye Hao was so upset by King Cheng'an's behavior that she lowered her head when she heard the words.
King Cheng An pointed on the paper.
"This land, this mountain, all be assigned to you, and I will take you...... That's the number."
He picked up a pen and wrote a number on the paper, Ye Hao lowered his head and looked at it, slightly stunned.
"This ...... Isn't it too low?"
If the price is according to the usual price, I am afraid that I will not be able to buy even a tenth of this land. King Cheng An smiled heartily and explained to Ye Hao:
"This king just said, you can be regarded as solving the problem of refugees for this king, so it is reasonable to give you some preferential treatment here."
Having said that, Ye Hao also understood what King Cheng'an meant, and if he didn't agree, he would inevitably be a little unfamiliar.
Ye Hao leaned over and thanked him.
"Then thank you for your help."
The wasteland was transferred, the procedures were complicated, and it was already dusk when he went back after finishing it, and as soon as Ye Hao looked up, he saw Xie Yunshu standing in the courtyard, waiting for someone with his hands in his sleeves.
Ye Hao was surprised in her heart, and stepped forward to ask:
"Why are you standing here?"
Xie Yunshu wanted to ask her why she came back, but when she heard Ye Hao's words, she swallowed back the words she was about to say.
He coughed in disguise and turned to walk back.
"It's time for dinner."
Before Ye Zhenren could react, his body followed first.
After walking a few steps, she suddenly remembered again and called out to Xie Yunshu:
"By the way, tomorrow I'd like to take a look at the refugee area outside the city."
Xie Yunshu looked back sideways.
"What are you doing there?"
"I want to see the situation of refugees.
Prepare a little bit first."
Xie Yunshu thought for a moment and asked:
"You're going to take in refugees? Did King Cheng'an sell the land to you?"
Ye Hao nodded.
"Yes, but we have to see how they are doing. Originally, I wanted to find a place to grow something, but most of the fields here were in the hands of wealthy merchants, so I wanted to reclaim the wasteland. It's just that it takes manpower to open up the wasteland, and it would be great if we could work with the refugees."
"That's a good idea."
Xie Yunshu nodded, thought about it again, and said:
"I'm afraid it's not safe for you to go to the refugee side alone, so let's go with you tomorrow."
That's what Ye Hao meant, and she didn't twist it, and said generously:
"Okay."
Early the next morning, the two went out.
The chief secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture was already waiting at the gate of the city, and when he saw the two coming, he hurriedly greeted them:
"Mr. Fu, Mrs. Fu."
"I've been waiting."
Xie Yunshu bowed slightly at him.
"And bother the master to take us over to see the refugees."
"Hey, no trouble, no trouble."
The chief bookkeeper arched his hand with a flattering smile, turned around and beckoned a small soldier, and asked him with a straight face:
"Are those refugees still where they were last time?"
"Hui-sama, it's still there."
"Well, the two nobles and I are going to take a look at the refugee residence, and you can arrange for some people to come with us."
Hearing the command, the soldier clenched his fists and said "yes", then turned around and called a group of people to come over and led them to the main book.
The master got the arrangement he wanted, and turned around and said to Xie Yunshu with a flattering face:
"They're still there, I'll take the two nobles with me now."
This face-changing magic skill made Ye Hao breathtaking, but Xie Yunshu was very calm, calm and followed the master out of the city.
There are two worlds inside and outside the city, the city is very lively, but the outside of the city is sparsely populated, Ye Hao and the others followed the master book for a while, only to see a shack area in front of them, and some people live underneath.
"Two nobles, this is the temporary residence of those refugees."
The master bowed.
Ye Hao looked up.
Different from imagination, although this shack is not big, it is better to be clean and tidy, and the people who live in it are not yellow and thin, but neatly dressed, with neat hands and feet.
Not far away, there were people giving soup kitchens, and some people next to the soup kitchen were talking to the refugees, thinking that it was specially arranged.
It seems that although no solution has been found to resettle the refugees for the time being, every effort has been made to ensure their survival.
The main book also babbled on and on the side about the situation in the refugee area, and the main content revolved around how much work they had done for the refugees and how difficult it was.
All in all, the main one sells miserably.
"All the refugees are here?"
Xie Yunshu couldn't listen to it and interrupted.
"Oh, that's not it."
The master shook his head.
"Some refugees have been persuaded to go to other counties, and there are less than 100 people left here."
Ye Hao suddenly seemed to be the person in charge of persuasion next to the soup kitchen.
However, in her opinion, this method does not work.
If only a few refugees come, then it is appropriate to divert to other counties, but if the war in the north does not stop as long as it does not stop, then the refugees will continue to come, and no matter how they are diverted, there will always be a day of overflow.
Ye Hao's face was solemn, and she was about to talk to Xie Yunshu, but she saw someone under the shack who saw the master in official uniform and surrounded her.
"What are they?"
Ye Hao asked suspiciously.
"This ...... I don't know."
In fact, there are not many people who come over on weekdays, and Leng Buding was asked by Ye Hao like this, so he naturally couldn't answer, and he was afraid that the nobles would know that he didn't care, so he could only nervously scold the refugees.
「
Ahem, what are you doing here? In broad daylight, I advise you all to be honest and don't think anything crooked!"
Ye Hao glanced at him strangely, his words were rigid and blunt, and he didn't look like he often dealt with refugees.
"Your Excellency!"
The refugees leaning on the front shouted and knelt down with a thud.
"My lord, please let us into the city!"
There are one and two, and the refugees who gathered around did the same, and they fell to their knees.
The main bookkeeper's face was pale, and he didn't speak for a long time. He never expected that this group of refugees would actually make trouble at this time, making him ugly in front of the two nobles, but fortunately, Ye Hao and Xie Yunshu on the side were attracted by the refugees, and they didn't notice that the situation in the main book was different for a while.
The officials before the refugees met did not speak, and in a hurry, they rushed forward again.
"My lord, please, my lord, let us enter the city, we begged them outside for many days, but they didn't agree, my lord, you are the master of the blue sky, can you help us?"
"Yes, my lord, I am old and young, and my family lives in this shack, and I can't enter the city, and I can't go back, so I can only ask you to save us!"
A large group of refugees rushed over, and Xie Yunshu couldn't help frowning and took half a step back.
The main book next to him was already nervous, and he was frightened by this, and immediately screamed:
"What are you going to do? Come on, hurry up and stop me!"
Fortunately, when he went out of the city before, the master bookkeeper brought a small group of soldiers, and when they heard the order of the master bookkeeper, they immediately stepped forward and stopped these people.
The officers and men all carried sabs with their swords and stood there in a row, and the oppressive force was so strong that the refugees were stunned and did not dare to take another step forward.
Ye Hao was silent for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and said to the main book:
"Lord Bookkeeper, may you allow me to say a few words to the refugees?"
Seeing that the refugee was under control, the master bookkeeper had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her plea, and he was stuck in mid-air in one breath.
"This ...... Not very good."...
The master hesitated.
"Don't worry, it's just a few words."
Ye Hao softened her voice and whispered a look at Xie Yunshu as she spoke.
Xie Yunshu received her hint and also stepped forward:
"My wife is not a person who likes to cause trouble, and this time I came here for the situation of refugees, if you stop it, I am afraid it will be ......."
Speaking of this, Xie Yunshu deliberately glanced at the official uniform of the main bookkeeper.
The master bookkeeper didn't know why, a cold sweat broke out on his back, and after a little hesitation, he gritted his teeth and agreed:
"Then say a few words, don't say too much."
As he spoke, he gave way to his place.
Ye Hao nodded lightly at Xie Yunshu, took a step forward and stood in front of the refugees, and said softly:
"Friends from the north, the city is crowded, and you are afraid that you will not be able to find a place to stay when you enter the city. I look at your life here, but I have an idea, I wonder if you would like to hear it?"
Ye Hao first pointed out that it was difficult to live in the city, and then asked sincerely, but the refugees looked at each other and didn't say anything for a long time.
In the end, it was the first person who asked for the main book to speak:
"What can you do?"
Ye Hao smiled slightly.
"I have a lot of wasteland outside the city, it's a big place, but I don't have a house, and I'm willing to pay for you to build a house there for you to live in, what do you think?"
Pay for us to build a house to live in? Where did this pie in the sky come from? The refugees were a little confused.
"What are you trying to do?"
Some of the refugees couldn't help but ask.
Ye Hao blinked and made a little joke along with their words:
"I want you to stay and come and farm for me."
The refugees didn't hear it as a joke, but mistakenly thought that Ye Hao meant to use the money from the house to buy them as slaves.
The slaves were untouchable, and they did not want to, and immediately someone shouted:
"I'm not going! We'd rather stay in the city and have no place to live than be slaves to you!"
"That's right! We're not going to make you slaves!"
"The little girl's mind is broken, we won't be fooled, let's go!"
Everyone agreed with what they said, and they all expressed their reluctance to go over.