Chapter 40: Expanding lands

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“I won’t stop you if you want to start a small business, but we’re new here and haven’t established ourselves yet. If you want to start a small business, you’ll have to wait two years!”

Old Yuan knew that Yuan Zhao Di couldn’t stand the pain of farming, but their family had just settled down in Shi Qu village and didn’t have a single plot of land. The most important thing now was to open up new land and farm to solve the family’s food problem.

Although he still had some money in his hands, he had to keep it in case he needed it. There was no way he would spend all the money at once.

They were outsiders, so even if they wanted to borrow money, they couldn’t find anyone to ask for it.

“Father, I understand!” Yuan Zhao Di thought about her father’s words for a while and did not insist.

Old Yuan did not delay Yuan Wang Di and Yuan Lai Di’s enlistment because of General Shi Feng’s tablet.

“What about you, Pan Di?” Old Yuan asked his eldest son after convincing Yuan Zhao Di.

“Father, I will still do the same things as before!”

Farming and occasionally hunting in the mountains was Yuan Pan Di’s life in the past. Even though they had changed locations, everything remained the same.

“Little five, what about you?” Old Yuan finally looked at his youngest son, Yuan Yin Di.

In the beginning, Old Yuan had wanted his intelligent youngest son to take the imperial examination and bring honor to his ancestors. Because in Great Yin, the imperial examination was the only way to change one’s status.

In Great Xia, imperial examinations could bring glory to the family, but in the environment of the military merit system, the glory brought by imperial examinations was somewhat reduced.

“Father, I want to walk around, look around, and travel!” Yuan Yin Di had always heard from others about what kind of country Great Xia was.

As the old saying goes, seeing is believing. Yuan Yin Di wanted to understand this country before deciding on his next step.

“Alright, you decide!” Old Yuan nodded and did not interfere with Yuan Yin Di’s plan.

…

On the third day, after the Yuan family settled in Shi Qu village, Yuan Wang Di and Yuan Lai Di took General Shi Feng’s tablet and headed straight to the Ming River Camp outside San Chuan city to join the army.

On the same day, Yuan Yin Di carried the long sword his family had bought with a lot of money on his waist and embarked on the journey to travel around Great Xia.

Old Yuan had wanted to give Yuan Yin Di a sum of money, but Yuan Yin Di rejected, saying that he wanted to explore Great Xia with his ability.

The Yuan family did not feel sad for long when their three sons left home because life had to go on.

Old Yuan took out half of the money he earned from selling the tiger to buy three acres of good land in Shi Qu village and planted the crops.

Then, as long as they could, the whole family would work on the land.

According to Great Xia’s laws, all the land they had cleared would belong to them.

Shi Qu village’s location was excellent, but others had taken over all the accessible land to open up.

The Yuan family could only open up the mountains.

It was much more challenging to open up land in the mountains than on the plains because the mountains were overgrown with weeds, shrubs, and small trees.

Yuan Zhao Di’s hands were full of blisters, having worked hard for three days. However, he gritted his teeth and persevered.

Yuan Zhao Di wanted to slack off, but he stopped thinking of that when he saw his nephews hard at work. If he, as an uncle, slacked off, how could he show up in front of his nephews in the future?