205 — Distribute the Houses and Farmland!

At present, the most important thing was to solve the accommodation problem of nearly 30,000 people. It was impossible to build the houses in such high-grade. Therefore, except for the county government office and the school, the structure of each house was the same — it was a three-large-room house. Despite that, enough space was left behind each house so that after the house was distributed, if the householder had enough financial resources, they could add or renovate the house with their own money. All the houses were sturdy with no cheat in work or cut down on materials.

When all the farmland and houses had been taken care of, the first cultivated land could not be left unattended for at least another three to four months. This season was not suitable for planting wheat. After asking the local farmers, Qin Mian had people buy seeds suitable for planting in that season from other counties, including sweet potato, corn, cucumber, water spinach, wax gourd, celery, tomato, pepper, and so on. The planting was done on a proportional base of 3 mu of corn field, 1 mu of sweet potato field, and 1 mu of vegetable field in every 5 mu of farmland. The mountain is high, the emperor is far away. Having nothing to worry about the imperial court finding any abnormality, he and Lei Tie quietly used some spiritual spring water to improve the soil quality, at least to ensure that all the seeds could grow smoothly.

In the beginning, the civilians had a very bad impression of the new magistrate. After a period of time, they discovered that the new magistrate truly did things for them. They respected him from the bottom of their hearts and worked harder and more willingly.

During the day, the civilians worked together, and at night, they rested in the houses that had been built. Perhaps it was because they had experienced the great disaster together that they got along very well. Even if there were some big or small contradictions, they could quickly let go of their heart knots after being advised by others.

Great things might be done by mass effort. In the middle of the 7th month, the road from the new Kui County to the outside of the mountain was completed; in the middle of the 10th month, all the farmland had opened up for farming and all kinds of crops had been planted. In the first seed-planted fields, vegetables had already been picked several times. By the end of the 12th month, all the houses in the new county had been built.

Standing on the mountainside overlooking the new county, everyone’s eyes were full of joy, surprise, and pride. One could see that the large and small blocks of well-planned farmlands were like the squares on a chessboard, surrounded by a wide lake. On the outskirts of the chained farmlands, twenty-four rows of houses formed six “口” shapes of different sizes in a close fitting, parallel to each other and very neat. Among them, there were sixteen rows of brick houses, four rows of wooden houses, and four rows of bamboo houses. On the account that the wooden and bamboo houses were less warm than the brick and tile houses, their area was increased — there were two floors. The design drawing was provided by Qin Mian. It was beautiful in appearance and very likable. In addition, there were four watchtowers in the four corners of the county, which was to better play the role of Kui County in guarding the country. The open area to the east was the military camp.

In short, the new Kui County was more well-liked than the former Kui County.

The next important thing to do was to distribute the farmland and houses. There were some households that only had one person left and some had five to six people. Therefore, Qin Mian carefully considered how to distribute the farmland and houses before he made the final decision.

The farmland would be distributed according to the headcount, whether it was a dying old man or a newborn baby, male or female, everyone could get 1 mu of farmland. As for who got which farmlands, it was decided by drawing lots. Since the first-planted farmland had already yielded and the seeds sown later had not germinated yet, the county government would give the people who drew up the later-sown farmland certain subsidies according to the actual situation, at least to ensure that they could survive until the next spring. After all, there were nearly 30,000 people, so it was impossible to achieve absolute fairness. For example, the farmland close to the lake were more convenient for irrigation.

The houses would be distributed by drawing lots. The population of the county was counted before the reconstruction. If there was only one person in the household, the person had no right to own a house exclusively and had to share a house with others. It was not unfair since a household with only one member certainly had less capabilities than a household with a large population. To make an example, if there were several households with only one unmarried girl or one widowed woman or one old lady, they all could share a house. If a certain household wanted two certain adjacent houses, it was also fine. After the distribution, the household could discuss with the neighbors, whether to rent or buy the houses. That’s their own business; it was not under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate.

There were other more detailed rules. Qin Mian made it clear and told people to write them in detail and put up the official notices on the four bulletin boards specially set up in the county. All the people naturally went to think about them carefully. The next day at the beginning of the dragon hour [7 a.m], they had to gather at the drill ground to be distributed to houses and farmland.

The next day, all the civilians of the county had a whole breakfast and came to the drill ground early. This was the first major event after the establishment of the new county. The school also gave the students a holiday. There was a lot of noise and excitement in the drill ground.

Prefect Cai knew a few days in advance that Kui County was going to conduct the distribution of farmland and houses, so he also came.

There were three sets of tables and chairs on the drill ground. Qin Mian, Lei Tie, and Prefect Cai were all there. In front of Lei Tie were two big boxes for drawing lots, one with red cloth and the other with blue cloth. Qin Mian had a list and a map of the new county in front of him. This list was, of course, to prevent people from fishing in troubled waters. The official notice stated that if someone lied about the population of his/her household, there would be a reward for reporting it and those who intended to cheat would be severely punished.

Qin Mian looked around. When he estimated that almost all the people had arrived, he went to the front.

“All quiet.”

It soon quieted down below.

“Now, it’s time to distribute the farmland and the hou—”

Before Qin Mian finished his words, the civilians began to clamor.

“County Magistrate, you pick a house and a few mu of land first.”

“Yes, the County Magistrate is a good official. It should be so!”

“That’s right, the County Magistrate has two children. He should pick two houses.”

“……”

Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin stood by and smiled at each other. They were proud of their Dad being treated in such admiration.

Qin Mian’s heart felt so warm that his gaze became gentle. This period of hard work with energy and time invested was worth it.

“In this case, this official I, won’t be polite. I’ll pick a house. As for the farmland, no need. After the farmlands have been distributed to everyone, if there is any extra, I’ll pick a few mu to plant.”

One after another, the civilians asked him to pick a few mu of farmland. Qin Mian waved to stop them. “No need to say anymore. Our family chooses the first bamboo storey house in the first row in the south. Alright, now it’s time to draw lots. Whoever comes up, please state your names, as well as the number of people in the household.”

He spoke with the aid of vital spirit. It was loud enough to make sure everyone could hear him clearly. Then, he returned to his seat.

“Number one.” At the top of the list was a man in his early thirties. With a happy face, he quickly ran up the steps. Because he was too excited, he almost fell down. Everyone could not restrain from laughing.

“Hehe…” With a simple and honest grin, the man ran to the table, knelt, and kowtowed. “Paying respects to the three officials. This lowly one is called Chen the First. There are five people in the household.”

“Don’t be formal. Get up.” Qin Mian said, “Grab one paper ball in the red clothed box and five paper balls in the blue clothed box.” The red clothed box was used to distribute houses, while the blue clothed box was used to distribute farmland.

“Yes.” The man grabbed the paper balls out and handed them to Qin Mian.

Qin Mian opened the six paper balls, which read “East 0211”, “South 0511”, “West 0304”, “West 1023”, “West 1023”, “West 1024”, and “North 0101”. Qin Mian said, “Chen the First. House is the 11th in the second row in the east; farmlands are the 11th in the 5th row of south farmland…… and the 11th in the 1st row of north farmland.”

Lei Tie and Prefect Cai each kept a record. One was kept to handle the house deed and land deed. The other one was handed to the soldiers on standby to lead the Chen household to identify their house and land.

Chen the First’s eyes were filled with tears. Now, they owned a house and more land than they used to have; how could he not be excited? He called his awaiting family and happily followed the soldier to leave.

“Next.”

More and more people were assigned houses and land. The atmosphere on the drill ground became more and more warm.

Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin watched for a long time and found it very interesting.

“Ge, if only we could go a draw lots once,” said Lei Ruilin with regret.

Although Qin Ruilin didn’t open his mouth, he seemed very interested by the look on his face.

At the side, an old man standing in line heard it and beckoned them with a smile.

“Come.”

Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin were very polite and didn’t at all put on the air of a noble young master. Only a few people in the county didn’t know them. They were very popular.

When they heard someone calling, they walked over in quick steps.

“Great-grandfather.” [T/n: Not blood-related]

“Ah.” The old man stroked his beard. “This old man is old and [my] arms are not flexible. Later, how about you two help this old man draw lots?”

Qin Ruiqi understood that the old man intended to let him and his Didi satisfy their curiosity. “I’m afraid if we draw a bad location, we’ll disappoint Great-grandfather.”

The old man was still smiling, “It doesn’t matter. This old man and my family are capable. Even if you draw a bad location, we won’t live worse than others.”

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled.

“Well, my Gege and I will draw good ones for you.” Lei Ruilin grinned at him.

The two brothers had been changing their teeth recently. There was only one upper incisor left. Yet, Lei Ruilin’s smile did not make people think it was unsightly, rather, it was full of innocence and loveliness.