Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 20 The Problem of the Widow Village

Upon learning that their older and younger sisters were likely still alive, the heads of the eight communities and sixteen villages in Ningyang County rushed to the widow's village.

What follows is naturally the scene of those with relatives embracing and weeping, while those who have no relatives are filled with tears of joy for those with relatives.

After she had cried and calmed down, Zhang Wangshi remembered that Yang Shaofeng had said he would give them land.

But when Zhang Wangshi expressed her thoughts, Wang Wuqi became anxious: "What do you mean by staying here? What do you mean by causing trouble for your family? The master has already told you to move to the county town, how can you be so ungrateful?"

Liu Sanshier, the head of Liumiao Village, chimed in, "Xihe and Liumiao aren't that close. There's so much land lying idle in between. Why don't you go there to find land? Why do you have to stay here in these deep mountains and forests and suffer?"

Wang Wuqi snorted and said, "What's so good about staying here? If you want to buy salt or needles and thread, where is the county town? According to what you just said, you want to do needlework, grow mulberry trees, raise silkworms, and weave cloth. Who will you sell the cloth you weave here? And for whom will you do needlework?"

Zhang Wangshi lowered her head and stammered, "Well, we don't know what kind of person the county magistrate is. What if, what if..."

Wang Wuqi snorted again: "What kind of person is the master? The master made your brother reclaim seventeen mu of land, and your sister-in-law and your nephew also reclaimed seventeen mu. Our family now has more than fifty mu of land. Tell me, what kind of person is the master?"

"And a while ago, the people from that village in the west of the city thought that the master wanted to raise chickens and pigs, so they cut some grass and gave it to the master as a way to repay the master for letting them recognize land. But guess what?"

"The magistrate ordered all the villages and communities to sort and bundle the grass, and then sent it to the imperial army, saying that this was the fodder that Ningyang County had prepared for the army. The Ming Dynasty's Pingzhang not only gave money, but also gave our Ningyang County dozens of cattle and horses. Our Xihe Village alone received five cattle."

"Although money can't buy much these days, the master has always been thinking about us poor folks and has been trying to find ways for us to earn more money and grow more grain. Such a great favor, what kind of person do you think the master is?"

At this point, Wang Wuqi's tone softened again: "Sister, I'm not telling you this to scold you, I just want to tell you that our magistrate is a good official who loves the people like his own children. He said you should move to the county town, so you should move there obediently, take responsibility for the land, and after you've taken responsibility for the land, you should also help cut grass. We can talk about the rest later, okay?"

Zhang Wangshi glanced at Wang Wuqi cautiously, then lowered her head again: "But, I just told the master that I wanted to stay here. Would it be inappropriate to go to him now and ask him to go to the city?"

Wang Wuqi glared at Zhang Wangshi with exasperation, then turned around and, with a forced smile, approached Yang Shaofeng, who was strolling along the riverbank: "Master, um, hehe..."

Yang Shaofeng stopped and turned to look at Wang Wuqi: "What's wrong?"

Wang Wuqi said hesitantly, "Well... my sisters were confused for a moment, but they know they were wrong now, they..."

Yang Shaofeng was somewhat confused by what Wang Wuqi said, and immediately frowned and asked, "What do you mean by confused or not confused? What's wrong or not wrong? If you can't explain it clearly, then come and explain it to me in a clearer way."

Wang Wuqi steeled his heart and said, "Reporting to the lord, they now want to move to the county town, or move to the west of the town, as long as it's close to the county town, hehe."

Seeing Wang Wuqi's cautious appearance, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's a good thing that they are willing to move to the county town. I will find them a house in the town later. Each of your villages and hamlets should send a few able-bodied men to help them move there."

Wang Wuqi immediately exclaimed "Ah!" and thanked him repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

Seeing that the family reunion was almost complete, and the land reclamation was put on hold because Zhang Wangshi and the others changed their minds, Yang Shaofeng said to Wang Wuqi: "You should all put more effort into the family reunion and try your best to find all their families. Even if they still want to live together, it's always good to have a maternal family."

After Wang Wuqi bowed in agreement, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Alright, I have a lot of things to attend to and need to return to the county town first. You can take your time to get to know your relatives."

……

Summoning all the village chiefs and community leaders and having them recognize their sisters and relatives in the widow village was the first step in solving the widow village problem.

Once all the women from the widow village moved to the county town and were allocated land, it was equivalent to taking the second step in solving the widow village problem.

But taking just these two steps is not enough.

On the surface, the biggest problem in Widow Village is that there are only widows and no men. In the agricultural era, the absence of men meant that there would not be a good harvest, and these widows even had difficulty supporting themselves.

In reality, the biggest problem with widow villages is that the women lack the ability to survive.

As Zhang Wangshi said, these women bring bad luck to their maternal families, not because they bring misfortune to their families, but because their families will have a heavier burden after taking them in. Parents, brothers and sisters-in-law are fine, but what about sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law?

The prevailing social norm is that once a daughter is married, she is no longer considered a daughter. If her family continues to provide for her, conflicts are bound to arise sooner or later.

When conflicts arise, no one in the family will feel too good.

When you're in a bad mood, nothing seems to go right.

This naturally leads to what is known as bad luck.

Therefore, the women in the widow village cannot rely on their maternal families forever. It would be best to ensure that they can survive normally even after leaving their maternal families' shelter. This is the key to truly solving the problem.

Just as Yang Shaofeng was thinking about how to solve the survival problem of the women in the widow village, he heard Limpy Five suddenly chuckle beside him.

Seeing Yang Shaofeng looking at him, Lame Wu quickly stopped laughing and said, "Please forgive me, Your Excellency. I was just thinking about those women from earlier."

Yang Shaofeng asked curiously, "Those women? What happened?"

Limpy Wu chuckled and said, "At first they were unwilling to move out, but after hearing from their family that the county magistrate was a good official, look at the regret on their faces, hahahaha."

Yang Shaofeng suddenly burst into laughter.

Limpy Wu laughed and said, "Right? Doesn't the county magistrate find it quite interesting too?"

Yang Shaofeng shook his head slightly, a mysterious smile on his face: "I'm not smiling because of them, but because I thought of something else that makes me happy."