Ch 20: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

The next morning, Jiang Ji and Zhao Ru split up to take care of their own tasks.

Jiang Ji went to find a local landlord to buy farmland, while Zhao Ru brought Aunt Xiufang to the clothing shop. Xiufang had finished a set of undergarments the night before, and today she needed Shopkeeper Sun to inspect her work.

Yesterday, Jiang Ji had already asked the village head about available land. There happened to be a large stretch of farmland near the neighboring village being sold off by a landlord who had lost money in a failed business venture and urgently needed silver. Jiang Ji asked the village head to accompany him to negotiate.

They easily found the seller, and the discussion went smoothly.

Normally, fertile land in this region sold for about five taels of silver per mu, but since the landlord was desperate for money, Jiang Ji managed to bargain the price down slightly—settling at four taels and five qian per mu.

They went to inspect the fields. Jiang Ji picked several good plots that were conveniently located for irrigation, totaling eleven mu and six fen, for a total of fifty-two taels and two qian of silver.

Afterward, they all went to the county office to register the transaction and have the deed transferred.

Holding the freshly issued land deed in his hand, Jiang Ji finally felt at ease.

After leaving the yamen, the landlord went off to take care of other business in town, and Jiang Ji returned to the village together with the village head.

On the way back, Jiang Ji thought about it—he would likely need the village head’s help again in the future—so he said, “Village Head, if your family has some spare money, you should buy a couple of mu of land too, or at least rent a few more.”

The village head had already been puzzled about this yesterday when he’d heard that Jiang Ji planned to buy so much farmland. He knew the family’s situation well. He figured the silver probably came from that young master whom Jiang Ji had saved, but to spend all of it on land still seemed strange.

Now, hearing Jiang Ji urge him to buy land as well, the village head asked, “You’ve bought so much land already—your family can’t possibly manage it all. Are you planning to lease it out?”

“No,” Jiang Ji replied, “we’ll farm it ourselves.”

The village head looked surprised. “You can’t possibly handle that much land on your own.”

“I’ll hire people to help,” Jiang Ji said calmly.

The village head paused, a thought forming in his mind. “You telling me to buy land too—does that mean something?”

Jiang Ji then briefly explained his plan. The village head hadn’t yet seen sweet potatoes or corn, but when he heard that Jiang Ji had access to a new type of high-yield rice seed that could double production, he became intrigued.

Seeing his interest, Jiang Ji pressed gently, “Village Head, what I said is true. I wouldn’t lie to you. It’s best to buy the land outright—and soon. In a few days, when the weather warms up, it’ll be time to sow the fields. If you just rent land, the rent will definitely go up next year. Owning it yourself means you won’t be at anyone’s mercy.”

The village head was a shrewd man. Land in one’s own hands was always valuable. If the harvest really did double as Jiang Ji claimed, both the price of land and rental rates would rise by next year.

But his family didn’t have much silver left—at most, they could afford another three mu.

Jiang Ji then reminded him, “Village Head, could you keep this between us for a few days? Four days will do.”

Four days would give Aunt Xiufang’s family enough time to gather money.

He worried that if the village head mentioned it to his brothers and word spread, people might rush to buy land, and Aunt Xiufang’s family wouldn’t have saved enough yet.

The village head nodded. “Alright.”

When they got back, the village head followed Jiang Ji home to take a look at the sweet potatoes and corn. There wasn’t time to steam them, so he bit into a raw sweet potato to test it—and found it edible. Convinced, he went straight home to fetch his silver and hurried off to buy land from the same landlord.

Meanwhile, Zhao Ru and Aunt Xiufang had arrived at the clothing shop in town.

Shopkeeper Sun examined the garment Xiufang had made and was quite pleased with the craftsmanship. She immediately paid her two taels of silver.

When Xiufang saw she had truly earned two taels, her smile was so wide her eyes nearly disappeared.

Just as they were about to leave, they ran into Madam Qian, accompanied by her old maid. The lady looked radiant and in a very good mood.

Seeing her, Zhao Ru instantly understood—Madam Qian must have been very satisfied indeed.

Madam Qian recognized Zhao Ru at once and took her aside, whispering, “Sister, you’re here to deliver more clothes to Shopkeeper Sun, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Is Madam here to choose more?” Zhao Ru asked.

A faint blush crept across Madam Qian’s cheeks. “I came to pick two more sets.”

Shopkeeper Sun smiled. “Perfect timing—Madam Jiang just brought in some new styles yesterday. Would you like to have a look? I promise you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

“New styles? Alright,” Madam Qian said, following Shopkeeper Sun into the back room, while Zhao Ru and Xiufang took their leave and headed to the fabric shop.

As they walked, Xiufang tugged Zhao Ru’s sleeve and whispered, “That lady—she’s the one buying the undergarments, right?”

Zhao Ru nodded quietly, avoiding any mention of the concubine situation at Madam Qian’s household. “Yes, she bought two sets a few days ago. Seems she liked them a lot—she’s back for more.”

They selected fabric at the shop and rushed home. Xiufang was now so eager to work that she practically wished she could sew in her sleep. Except for eating, sleeping, and going to the latrine, she and her daughter Tao’er stayed glued to Zhao Ru’s room, sewing side by side with her.

As for Jiang Ji, news that he and the village head had gone to buy farmland spread quickly.

No one suspected anything unusual—they were just astonished that Jiang Ji had purchased over eleven mu of land in one go.

Everyone whispered in awe. Jiang Ji must really have saved a wealthy young master, and the reward must have been generous. Otherwise, how could his family suddenly have so much silver to buy that much land?

Jiang Yan also heard about the land purchase. He knew Jiang Ji planned to grow rice, sweet potatoes, and other new crops, and they hadn’t kept any of it from him.

While Jiang Ji was checking his wound, he said, “You’re healing well. It’s closing up nicely. We can remove the stitches in a few days.”

Jiang Yan felt relieved. Looking up, he asked, “I still have some banknotes—should I use them to buy more land?”

Jiang Ji, wrapping the bandage, glanced up with a grin. “Didn’t I tell everyone you only had a bit over a hundred taels left? You need to keep something for yourself, don’t you?”

“I could still use a hundred taels to buy land,” Jiang Yan said.

Jiang Ji paused and looked at him. “You really want to lend me a hundred taels to buy more? Aren’t you afraid I won’t pay you back?”

“It’s fine,” Jiang Yan said casually. “I doubt I’d miss a hundred taels.”

Jiang Ji chuckled. “What a big spender… You sound just like me. But what if you are a fallen young master and this is your last bit of money?”

That could very well have been the case—but Jiang Yan didn’t even blink. “Then I’ll just follow you and farm. We won’t starve.”

Jiang Ji looked at him with a bright, amused smile. “You trust me that much?”

“Yes.” Jiang Yan nodded seriously.

Jiang Ji paused for a beat, then, still smiling, said, “Alright then. If that’s the case, lend me the hundred taels. I’ll buy more land—no such thing as too much.”

And Jiang Yan truly handed him the money.

The very next day, Jiang Ji went out again and bought another twenty-two mu of farmland, which conveniently connected to the plots he’d bought before.

When the villagers found out, they were stunned.

Twenty-two mu—added to the previous eleven plus their family’s original few—made nearly forty mu in total. Overnight, Jiang Ji had become a small landlord.

His public explanation was simple: Jiang Yan had lent him all his money to buy land.

That left everyone speechless again—first, at how readily Jiang Yan had handed over everything without keeping a coin for himself; second, at how lucky Jiang Ji was to have saved such a generous man.

Of course, if it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have dared to borrow so much money just to buy farmland—not knowing if they could ever repay it.

The village head and Xiufang’s family, however, felt reassured.

If Jiang Ji was willing to invest this heavily, it meant he was confident about the new rice and crops.

And indeed, Jiang Ji was. He had complete faith in sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and the high-yield hybrid rice seeds.

Holding the small stack of freshly sealed land deeds, he suddenly felt like a rich man.

“Come on!” he said cheerfully. “Let’s go see our new fields!”

He led his family out to the farmland. They all stood along the ridges, Jiang Yan included.

Jiang Ji pointed ahead. “See that stretch? From here, all the way to that irrigation ditch and up to the roadside—that whole area is our paddy field now.”

“And that whole stretch of dry land over there—that’s ours too!”

As Jiang Ji lifted his arm, he felt an almost heroic surge of pride, his heart swelling with ambition. He could already picture it: months later, the entire expanse rippling with golden crops, bursting with harvest.

The whole family stared in stunned disbelief at the vast stretch of fields before them.

“All of this… really belongs to us?” Jiang Nan asked, wide-eyed and dazed.

Jiang Ji nodded firmly. “That’s right.”

Jiang Bei’s jaw dropped. “Wow! That’s so much land—we can grow tons of food!”

Both Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia broke into smiles.

For people in the countryside, as long as there was land under their feet, there was nothing to fear.

Two days later, Aunt Xiufang’s family had also managed to save enough silver to buy four mu of paddy field and two mu of dry land. Jiang Ji personally took them to the same landlord, buying at the same discounted price.

When they held the freshly sealed land deeds in their hands, both Aunt Xiufang and Uncle Tu Gen were glowing with joy.

They could hardly believe it—just in a few short days, Xiufang and her daughter Tao’er had earned enough from sewing clothes with Zhao Ru to buy six mu of land.

“Xiao Ji, really, thank you,” Uncle Tu Gen said sincerely, patting Jiang Ji’s shoulder with genuine gratitude.

Jiang Ji smiled. “Uncle, no need to thank us. Our family’s made it this far thanks to you and Aunt Xiufang looking after us all these years.”

The couple exchanged a look, deeply moved.

They had only ever offered help within their means—who would have thought such kindness would come back to them like this?

…

As the weather grew warmer and a spring rain passed, wild grass began to flourish.

It was now time to start sprouting sweet potatoes, potatoes, and various summer vegetables and fruits. Crops like rice, corn, soybeans, peanuts, and cotton would have to wait a little longer.

Jiang Ji walked over to the village head’s home.

“Village Head,” he said with a grin, “it’s time to gather everyone.”

He was about to hold a meeting—to announce and sell the seeds.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾