Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 49 Recognition
Kitada and the others came to the yard and saw the leopard.

Who shot the leopard?

Kitada already had a guess when he asked this question.

Bei Gong Dingbian laughed and said, "Who else could have done it? Master Wu did it last night. He's sleeping in the backyard right now. Everyone get to work. I'm going to the river to skin this leopard."

Knowing that it was Beijiwu who caught the leopard, Kitada nodded.

"These harmful beasts should be killed more often, so they won't come back to the village to steal sheep when they can't find food in winter."

Kita-Tane's family had a sheep stolen and eaten by a leopard. These large felines can leap several meters high, and the earthen wall couldn't stop them at all.

If a child encounters a leopard, the chances of survival are slim, and they could easily be carried off.

Kitada looked at the leopard's belly and said with a smile, "It's a male, this one's valuable."

Bei Gong Dingbian smiled and said, "We've got next year's tax money covered."

Some items are easy to sell at high prices, and usually, because they want follow-up business, the price won't be too low.

At this moment, Beiji Wu walked out of the house shirtless and immediately gave orders to those outside without any politeness.

"Everyone should go home for lunch today. Until the village canteen is repaired, you will all eat your own meals!"

Beijiwu no longer wanted to provide meals, and he also understood the importance of saving his own meat.

In reality, meals were provided very rarely; it wasn't as generous as one might imagine.

Kitada Gen said happily, "Don't worry, Master Wu, I'll go build the canteen after I finish lunch."

Arctic Warrior pointed a finger at the old man, "Call me Chieftain! How many times have I told you? Don't you ever learn? If you call me that again, don't blame me for hitting you!"

Kitada hurriedly replied, "Yes, Chief! I'll go build the dining hall after I finish lunch."

He was humble, but Beijiwu continued to berate him: "Build my house first before worrying about anything else. Don't you have any sense of community? Even if you build a canteen, you won't be able to serve meals until my family's problems are resolved!"

It was only after Arctic Martial reminded them that the group of people in the courtyard realized this.

Kitada replied timidly, "Yes! Don't worry, Chief! This old man will definitely repair the Chief's house first!"

Beijiwu was already very sleepy, so he casually said, "It's too noisy here. I'm going to sleep in the woods behind. Call me if you need anything."

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly and respectfully agreed, seeing the grandfather off.

This grandfather had a terrible temper and was ruthless, but he was good at hunting and getting things done. Everyone was used to being bullied, so they got along quite well.

Among the Han people, there were officials, soldiers, local ruffians, powerful figures, mountain bandits, and gentry; among the Hu people, there were also various bandits, mountain bandits, robbers, nobles, chieftains, and the like.

Unless you hide in the mountains, you'll inevitably be under someone's control.

Although it is indeed in the mountains now, it is normal for someone to be in charge.

Having enough to eat, not having to fear wild beasts, and not having to deal with the government—that's enough.

The people of Kitada Village are people who have experienced hardship, witnessed tragedy and despair. As long as they can survive, they will not oppose the current Arctic Army.

More than 100 people spent three days building five rooms for Beijiwu and also helped to build a 600-square-meter backyard with stones and mud.

There are about thirty or forty trees in the backyard, as well as a lot of weeds, shrubs and stones.

However, once surrounded, it's only a matter of time before it's flattened.

After the houses were built, the villagers didn't have time to rest. They then set aside people to build a school and a canteen.

After a few more days of rest, it was finally time to harvest the millet.

Plant a millet in spring and harvest ten thousand in autumn.

Beijiwu led his men to work in the fields, harvesting millet that looked like foxtail grass, also known as foxtail millet.

Millet, a staple food for poor families in northern China, has a long history of cultivation in the Hetao region.

Bei Jiwu rode the village's collective horse, carrying an account book as he patrolled the roadside. "Old Li, your family harvested five mu of millet this year, with each mu yielding only seventy or eighty jin. You'll have to pay thirty jin of millet per mu, so for five mu you'll get one shi. Once it's all sorted out, take it to the granary."

Beijiwu first determined the yield per acre. Millet yields are lower than wheat yields, and the land for growing millet is relatively barren, so the yield per acre is only a few dozen kilograms.

To support a normal family of seven or eight, you need at least forty or fifty acres of land.

Old Man Li was working when he heard this and felt wronged. "Didn't we already hand over the grain?"

"What, do you have a problem with this?" Bei Jiwu frowned, looking down at Old Man Li and his family.

Old Man Li dared not object, “No! Clan chief, don’t be angry, this old man has no objection, we’ll hand over the grain!”

Aunt Li also dared not throw a tantrum in front of Beijiwu.

Li Niu also worked diligently.

The entire family of three had been beaten by Arctic Martial Arts. Arctic Martial Arts was as brutal as a Tatar and would never reason with them.

"Deliver the grain to the granary within seven days. If you dare to smuggle it in like last time, humph! You won't just get beaten up!"

Beijiwu rode his horse out to find a second household to continue registering the tax amount.

Taxes are adjusted based on the yield per acre; more yield per acre results in higher taxation, and less yield per acre results in lower taxation.

The Arctic Warriors ruled over twenty-nine households, relying solely on violence and devoid of any human compassion.

There might be some sentimentality involved, but that was definitely not Arctic Martial's intention.

For example, Beijiwu didn't intend to do things like treating people to meals to build relationships; it was just an unintentional, casual act.

Paying taxes for everyone is also to save trouble; I'll deal with the outside affairs first before playing with this group of people.

The practice of wining over this person or that person through dinner parties is too backward in Arctic Wu's view. The most effective management method in the slave era was violence.

Beijiwu doesn't lack this, and he's too lazy to drink and socialize with those scoundrels in the village.

I've already beaten them into submission; it would feel too shameful to try and build a brotherhood with them now.

Beijiwu rode his horse and collected taxes from the entire village again, setting a uniform rate of 50%.

In the past, such a deadly tax would have driven people away long ago.

However, there are no miscellaneous taxes or forced labor in Beijiwu, and the grain handed over is stored in the village, so everyone feels much more at ease handing it over.

***
Outside the village's grain station, more than twenty households were queuing up to deliver their grain.

The grain collectors hadn't arrived yet, and a group of grandchildren were waiting in the sun for their grandfather to come and collect the grain.

Aunt Beigong walked to the side of the Beitian family's car.

"We've handed over so much grain this year, what if our families don't have enough to eat?"

Aunt Beigong expressed her concerns, noting that since the canteen's communal meals haven't started yet, everyone is still very concerned about what to eat.

Kitada comforted him, saying, "What's there to be afraid of when the grain is all in the village? Besides, the clan chief has plenty of money. He's not greedy; he'll definitely spend money when necessary."

Kitada Biao chimed in, "The clan chief has a good relationship with the Wen family. They can lend us grain and even go hunting, so we definitely won't go hungry!"

The others also had great confidence in Arctic Martial Arts.

Aunt Beigong had no choice but to believe in Beijiwu along with the others.

Beijiwu personally came to handle the grain collection.

After inspecting the last basket of clean corn, Beijiwu said with some disappointment, "You guys know what's good for you!"

The others breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, there were no problems, otherwise I would have been beaten up.

(End of this chapter)