Although it has the greasy taste of taro, water chestnuts are sweet, crispy and a great snack fruit. Every year, he buys about 10 pounds of them and keeps them at home to eat slowly.

Well, this year I don't plan to purchase tea seeds anymore, but I can't just sit back and enjoy all the food. I can't count on the output of my fields. According to my lavish spending, it may not be enough to cover my family's expenses for half a year. I need to add some income to the family.

I have planted both taro and water chestnuts in modern times, and they are not difficult to take care of. However, the seedlings have been planted in my paddy fields, and it is not easy to pull them up to separate the taro and water chestnuts. Even if he dares, the old farmers in the village will probably beat him to death with a shovel and scold him for ruining the farmland. However, there are several muddy ponds near the Daping River that flows through their village. Everyone thinks that the land is easily flooded and is not suitable for farming and raising fish, so no one wants it. He can take the two acres of muddy ponds first, and grow seedlings for taro and water chestnuts, and then plant them in June and July.

After thinking of the rules, Yang Dachuan went to report to the village chief the next day.

"Dachuan, what do you want to do with those two pieces of land? They are low-lying and flooded all the year round," the village chief asked helplessly. He felt that Yang Dachuan was really stupid about farming, and even marrying a hardworking guy couldn't stop him from messing around.

Yang Dachuan quickly replied, "Village chief, I plan to grow water chestnuts and water chestnuts, the ones that grow in the pond. When I was in the military, I saw local farmers growing them and selling them for a good price. I want to give it a try! You also know that I am not good at farming, and Taro needs to recover. The output from the paddy fields alone is not enough for our family to eat for a year!"

Village chief Xu thought about it and it made sense. Besides, they were using two useless mud ponds to grow crops, so there would be no loss whether they succeeded or not. So he went to the county town with Yang Dachuan to register the land as Yang Dachuan's family's reclaimed land.

In the Da'an Dynasty, no tax was collected for the first three years of wasteland reclaiming. After three years, half the tax was collected for five years. After eight years, the tax was collected according to the tax of good farmland. This is why Pingshan Village reclaimed all the surrounding mountainous land instead of the low-lying land by the river, because no matter how long it was cultivated, this muddy land could not be turned into good farmland.

As soon as the news came out, Pingshan Village was in a state of discussion. Xu Lin, who was on good terms with Yu Ge'er, even came to the house to persuade him.

"Is Yuge'er at home?" After finishing the spring plowing, Yao took some time to go to Yang Dachuan's house to find Yuge'er. He had to remind Yuge'er that the fields that provided the family with food cannot be used casually. Although tea seeds can make money, the fields at home are still the most important to farmers.

"Yao Ge'er, come in, I'm here." Hearing Yao Ge'er's voice, Yu Ge'er hurried out to greet him.

When Yao Geer came in and didn't see Yang Dachuan, he asked, "Did your head really open up the two mu of muddy pond by the river to plant water chestnuts and water chestnuts?"

Yu Ge'er poured him a glass of water and said with a smile, "Drink some water and take a breath. Dachuan said to try using the wasteland first. It's okay if it doesn't work."

Although Yang Dachuan told Yuger that he would use the paddy field at home to plant water chestnuts and water chestnuts when planting the second crop, he didn't tell anyone else yet. If the village chief knew that he would not plant rice in the second crop but use the good farmland to plant these things, he would not even allow him to open the wasteland and would be driven out before he even opened his mouth.

Yao Ge'er breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that we don't need to use paddy fields. You are his wife now, and you are more familiar with farm work than he is. You can't let him mess around. You have to make the decision."

Yu Ge'er felt happy when he saw his friend's worried look. If everyone knew about this later, the water chestnuts and water caltrops had to be planted in paddy fields, the old farmers in the village would have to take care of them themselves.

Seeing that Yu Ge'er was not worried, Yao Ge'er changed the subject and said, "Didn't your family say a few days ago that they wanted to buy some livestock? Now that the spring plowing is over, do you still want them?"

Yu Ge'er nodded quickly, "Yes, of course. There is more than one spring ploughing. We have to harvest the crops and plant the second crop. You also know that our head of the family is not very good at farming. If we don't buy an animal to help him, he will get sick from exhaustion."

Yao Ge'er laughed, "Your head is so pretentious, but you indulge him. Everyone farms like this, and no one gets sick from working so hard on such a small piece of land. Well, it's not surprising. If my family had more money, I would also like to buy an animal to use. It would save me a lot of trouble."

Yu Ge'er laughed and scolded, "Your family hasn't split up yet. The three brothers Xu and Lin have eight strong laborers in the family. One of them is as capable as the two heads of my family. If Dachuan can be so efficient in farm work, our family won't have to consider buying a cow."

Yao Ge'er also laughed when he thought about it, and the two brothers joined in the fun by talking about other gossip.

Chapter 15 Building a New House

The spring plowing is over, but it is not time to weed the first crop of grass yet, so there has been no work in the village recently.

Yang Dachuan brought some good wine to the village chief's house again, this time to talk about building a house. This matter had been reported to the village chief before the New Year, this time mainly to ask the village chief to help find a team to build the house. Yes, there are already construction teams here now, most of these construction teams are formed by skilled masons, except for some leading bricklayers, the rest of the helpers are villagers from various villages during the slack season. Although houses can be built during the busy farming season, there are few people and the efficiency of building houses is not high. Often, the helpers go home to do farm work when the house is halfway built. Unless it is necessary, everyone builds houses during the slack season.

The village chief asked, "Dachuan, what kind of house do you want to build? A mud brick house or a blue brick house, or a mixture of the two?"

Yang Dachuan had already made up his mind, "Uncle Xu, I want to build a blue brick house! I have some savings from selling camellia oil before. If I build a blue brick house, I don't have to worry about it breaking down for decades. It will save a lot of trouble."

Village Chief Xu puffed on his pipe and said, "Building a blue brick house will cost a lot of money. It will cost at least a hundred taels of silver. Didn't your family say before that they wanted to buy livestock? Will the silver be enough to build a blue brick house?"

Yang Dachuan was shocked and asked hurriedly, "Uncle, what's going on? I heard before that it would cost about 30 taels of silver to build a farmhouse with green bricks and tiles? Why is it more than 100 taels now?"

"Nonsense, where did you get that information? Building a red brick house costs more than fifty taels of silver, and thirty taels is enough to build a small blue brick and tile house. Building a mud brick house is about the same!" Village Chief Xu scolded him. "If it's that cheap, who wouldn't build a blue brick and tile house? If a family of several people work together and tighten their belts for twenty or thirty years, can't they save up thirty taels of silver? How many blue brick and tile houses do we have in our village?"

Yang Dachuan touched his head. When he went to the city to sell camellia oil and asked about the prices, he just heard some information. He didn't expect the difference to be so big. This was a bit difficult. It was not that he couldn't come up with the money, but it would be too conspicuous if he took out so much money from his family at once.

Yang Dachuan thought for a while and said, "Uncle, I still want to build a green brick and tile house, so I won't buy livestock for now. There's not much work to do at home, so Yu Ge'er and I can still stay together!"

Village Chief Xu heard this and said angrily, "You are just a lazy guy. You can't even work on the little bit of land at home. You didn't plant rice in the paddy field, but just threw it there and messed it up. If your parents knew, they would be so angry that they would jump out of their coffins. Yu Ge'er can't do anything about you, right?"

Yang Dachuan smiled bitterly, "Uncle, that's called throwing rice seedlings. I saw some farmers doing that when I was in the army. It's not only easier, but the yield is not less than transplanting rice seedlings!" Yang