36 Unscrupulous Uncle

Zhao Ce carefully pondered for a while. The original owner was a lazy person who didn't distinguish between different grains. At that time, he had just sold the last two acres of good land in his family and had a falling out with Zhao Youcai's family.

He said he didn't want them to interfere. It was also the time for spring plowing.

So he searched and found someone in the village to plant the two acres of land for him.

The son of Uncle Liu had many children and sufficient labor. So he went directly to them.

They agreed on the wage and that Uncle Liu's family would help take care of the crops until they matured, and then help with the harvest. They also gave money to Uncle Liu to buy seeds and paid in advance for a few days' work to plant the crops.

Uncle Liu's family helped plant the seeds, but the original owner didn't care about the land afterward. When Uncle Liu's family tried to find him, they couldn't.

Thinking about Zhao Ce's reputation and the recent fight with the village chief's family, Uncle Liu's family was afraid they wouldn't get paid for their work.

So they helped take care of the crops for two days and then stopped. If it were someone else's family, they wouldn't have done this. After all, farmers rely on this bit of land to pay taxes and support their families all year round.

Even if they didn't get paid, others would still help take care of it. But this Zhao Ce...day after day, he didn't even look at them, and they had to work for him for free.

They certainly didn't want to. So Uncle Liu wasn't afraid of this. Even if the crops were ruined, the land wasted, what of it? If you don't pay enough money, why should I work for you for free?

At most, people in the village would say that the seeds were wasted, and the land was wasted. Even if his uncle was the village chief, so what? Not to mention, Zhao Ce was thin-skinned and wouldn't lower himself or argue with them, the farmers, over this matter.

After Uncle Liu told everyone the reason, the person who had just blamed Uncle Liu for not explaining clearly only muttered, "You are indeed a bit unscrupulous." Then they prepared to go back to their own fields to work.

One person spoke coldly, saying that Zhao Ce didn't understand anything about the land and should go home and study instead of causing trouble in the fields and delaying everyone's work.

They also said that Zhao Ce was not at all honest, wanting others to work for him for free. Uncle Liu listened to his words and became pleased, turning the tables on Zhao Ce. "I won't ask you for the wages for two more days of work. You don't take care of your own land, so you can't blame me for this. You are a learned person, so you probably don't care about a little autumn tax." "I'm still busy in my field, so I won't invite you. " After finishing, he quickly finished his own food, rolled up his pants, and continued to work in the fields. Aunt Liu was a little embarrassed and said, "Zhao Ce, this...we also have a lot of work to do at home, so it's really not good for us to work for your family for free." Zhao Ce looked at Aunt Liu and couldn't help but laugh out of anger.

Although the original master was a bit arrogant, he never took advantage of anyone. When he hired people to work, he paid them according to the standard wages in the city.

Not only did he pay enough, but there was also less work to do in the fields. And yet, he still wasted two acres of land for him.

Putting aside the people in the village, he was still a scholar. When he succeeded in his studies, the whole village would benefit. Other families would help look after the crops in the fields anyway.

In ancient times, many clans supported young people in their clan to study by sending family members to take over their farm work. Although their village was not wealthy enough to let their own people work for free, was Uncle Liu's approach really faultless?

Thinking of the tall weeds and Uncle Liu's tone, he couldn't help but feel angry. He said sternly, "Stop!" Uncle Liu was taken aback by his serious tone as he took his first step forward. He looked at Zhao Ce and thought that although he was speaking differently today, he seemed to have some courage. "What do you want?" Uncle Liu asked unhappily. He had many sons at home, so he wasn't afraid of trouble.

The onlookers were about to disperse when they heard Zhao Ce's cold voice, and they returned to their positions holding their bowls. Zhao Ce said, "When I hired you to work, it was during the busy farming season. I paid you 50 coins per day as wages. Including the money for buying seeds, I gave you a total of 400 coins! Do you agree or not?"

As soon as Zhao Ce spoke, the people around them started to discuss. "Fifty coins a day? Is it true or false?" "This price is 20 coins higher than what Master Liu pays in his house!" During the busy farming season, the most a hired worker could get was 30 coins per day, and that was only if they were lucky enough to find a generous landlord. Generally, they could only earn 20 coins per day.

The original owner thought he was a scholar and didn't want Zhao Youcai to think he was useless without them.

In addition, he doesn't understand the value of things, so he gave Uncle Liu a much higher wage than others. Otherwise, with his reputation, would Uncle Liu even bother to work for him?

When Uncle Liu heard his serious words, he hesitated and asked, "So what if it's true?" Zhao Ce nodded and said, "Since you also agree, then this matter is easily resolved." "400 coins." "If I remember correctly, contracting two acres of low-quality land would already be more than enough, right?"

Zhao Ce had learned a lot about this era in the past two days. Although he only remembered the land issue yesterday, he spoke confidently and without any falsehood.

Uncle Liu paused for a moment and suddenly became angry, "What do you mean?" Zhao Ce looked at him, squinting his eyes slightly. "What do I mean?" Zhao Ce asked the man who had just accused Uncle Liu of being unscrupulous.

"Uncle, can I ask you something?" The man was confused and said, "Huh?" Then he heard Zhao Ce say, "How much grain can be produced from one acre of low-quality land?" The man didn't know what Zhao Ce meant by this question and hesitated, "Probably... one load of grain?" Zhao Ce nodded and quickly calculated, "Even if the grain is of poor quality and can only be sold for 500 coins, two acres of land, after deducting the tax from one acre of grain production, can still fully recover the grain from one acre of land." "In other words, if I were to take back these two acres of land, I would make a profit of at least 500 coins." "Even if I don't farm the land myself if I rent it out for 400 coins per acre, I can still make a net profit of 400 coins." "By taking my 400 coins, you are essentially renting my land." "Even if you didn't pay me rent, you still wasted my seeds and only left me with two acres of grass." "Do you dare to say that you are honest in this matter?" Zhao Ce stared at Uncle Liu, reprimanding him with a stern tone.

Uncle Liu trembled and stuttered, "Y-you, what are you talking about?" "You never said you were going to rent the land to my family..."

Zhao Ce sneered and said sharply, "I never said I was going to rent it to you, so you just took my money without a second thought." "Not only did you not do the job well, but you also accused me of not understanding farming?" "As a scholar, if I've never farmed before, does that mean I know nothing at all?"

Although Zhao Ce's robes were still tied around his waist and looked somewhat out of place, his words shocked everyone present. They couldn't help but think that at this moment, Zhao Ce was not the same as the arrogant scholar Zhao Ce who used to spout nonsense, but more like a true scholar!