Chapter 388: Formulating

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Miss Mu, this is…?” Magistrate Fang tilted his head and looked at the children sitting upright below.

“These children were chosen by Teacher Liu. They are of all ages. Since we’re resetting the rules, we naturally have to let them listen in. After all, this involves their personal interests,” Mu Yangling explained.

Advisor Huang, who had suggested that Magistrate Fang give in, rolled his eyes. He couldn’t decide if Mu Yangling was putting on a show or if she was trying to brush Magistrate Fang off.

Magistrate Fang’s expression was also a little ugly. He looked at Mu Yangling seriously and felt that she was still as frank and open as before. Could it be that she had changed in just half a year?

However, he didn’t say anything. He just sat in the middle and nodded. “Then how do you want to change it, Miss Mu?”

Mu Yangling turned to look at Bowen. She had completely left this matter to the three of them, and was only here to show them support.

As the representative of the nursery, Teacher Liu sat on the other side with the other three youths.

Bowen coughed lightly and took out the fruit of labor that he, Xiuhong, and Cousin Lang had worked hard to produce for a few days. “The Mu family’s intention is that the conditions for those who have not reached the age of 14 will not change. Those who have reached the age of 14 and think that they can stand on their own feet can take back their fields and assets if they want to leave the nursery. From then on, they will no longer have any financial entanglement with the nursery.” Bowen paused for a moment. Seeing that no one had any objections, he continued, “Those who think that they aren’t yet able to stand on their own feet or want to continue staying in the nursery for other reasons can also stay as long as they meet the following conditions.” Bowen further perfected the plan according to Mu Yangling’s intentions. In short, they would separate out the fields of those who weren’t leaving after turning 14. Although they were still farmed by the Mu family, they had to work in their own fields. From the beginning of plowing to the end of harvesting, they had to follow along and learn the entire process so that they could master the farming techniques faster.

During the autumn harvest, after deducting taxes, the grains received would be split 80-20. The Mu family would receive 80% while the owner of the field would receive 20%. The seeds needed for farming, farming tools, plowing oxen, fertilizer, and other labor would all be provided by the Mu family. In addition, they would continue to provide courses for youths who had reached the age of 14. Every year, they had to attend a certain number of classes on time and ensure that they did not fail more than two subjects during the examination. During this period, all their expenses in the nursery would still be paid for by the Mu family. However, the age limit was 20 years old. Unless they were mentally handicapped or physically disabled, they had to leave the nursery with their belongings after turning 20, no matter the reason. Bowen closed the booklet and looked up with a straight face. “This is the Mu family’s request for the nursery. Any objections?”

Magistrate Fang blinked. This seemed to be a little different from what he had imagined. This was not harmful to the children. He had come to patrol the nursery, and the courses there were indeed very practical. It was more beneficial than harmful for the children to stay until they were 20 years old. He turned to look at the children and saw that they were indeed very excited. He nodded slightly. It seemed that the children from the nursery were the ones who suggested it. In any case, those who turned 14 could still leave if they wanted to.

After thinking through all the factors, Magistrate Fang smiled and said “We don’t have any objections. We’ll have to ask the children at the nursery.” Bowen looked at the youths opposite him.

Teacher Liu coughed lightly and said, “We think that the 80-20 split is too low. It should be 70-30…”

Teacher Liu was very embarrassed, but since Mu Yangling appointed him as the Nursery Manager, he had to represent the students. It was best if he could state the students’ requests. Therefore, since no one raised this, he could only brace himself and go forward.

As soon as these words were spoken, not to mention Magistrate Fang and the others, even the children below became noisy. Some of the children even had indignant expressions on their faces, but they were actually siding with the Mu family.

Mu Yangling broke off a piece of wood and slammed it on the table to silence everyone.

Seeing that his sister was looking at him, Bowen coughed lightly and asked, “What’s the reason?”

Teacher Liu did not speak this time. He looked at the youth on the far right. Blushing, the youth said, “I just looked at the schedule set by Young Master…” “That’s just a rough plan.” Bowen interrupted him and said with a straight face, “The specific curriculum and schedule have to be discussed.”

Since it’s a rough estimate, the difference shouldn’t be too big, right?” The youth asked.

Bowen thought for a moment and said, “This is calculated based on this year’s labor days. So, it should be about the same. Then?”

“I realized that we’re going to start farming in February. During the busy farming period from February to April, we’ll be working in the fields for 72 days, and we only have 15 days to study. We only have three days to rest. Under such high-intensity work, we can only get 20% of the grains? I remember that the tenants outside have to pay 60% of their harvest to rent the fields. We don’t dare to hope for 60%, but 50% should be fine, right?”

Actually, if it weren’t for the fact that his friends weren’t at all willing to raise the number, he would have wanted to propose 40%. He felt that it was already a loss for them to leave so much for the Mu family.

Bowen said, “Firstly, we are not landlords and tenants. Secondly, 60% of the rent paid by the tenants includes taxes.” The corners of his mouth curled up and he said, “And ours is after deducting taxes. The Imperial Court’s law stipulates that you have to serve the military when you turn 14 years old. In order to ensure your learning time, the nursery will bear your labor, including head tax and farm tax. Also, don’t think that our Mu family is taking advantage of you. Your food, clothing, and educational resources in the nursery cost a lot. And to be honest, unless you are a strong man, you can only be considered half a laborer compared to the short-term workers we hire. Never mind those enlisted in the army, each of the civilians has 40 acres of freehold field. Which one of you can plant so much land by yourselves?”

Bowen looked at Xiuhong. “Cousin Xiuhong, show them the calculations.” Xiuhong took out her abacus and calculated the area that a 14 year old could farm by themselves. She factored in the various costs and calculated their income based on this year’s yield per acre. Then, she deducted the taxes to obtain their final income.

Finally, she calculated how much they would get from the 80-20 split.

With this year’s yield per acre as a reference, this was not difficult to calculate at all. Xiuhong even factored in the expenses that the Mu family was paying for, including their food, clothing and accommodation in the nursery.

In the end, she concluded that the grains they would receive according to an 80-20 split was actually not much different from the harvest they would obtain should they opt to farm their own land by themselves.

The only difference was that in the latter case, they would have to farm by themselves and work tirelessly for a year. In the scenario of an 80-20 split, the Mu family would be in charge of most of it and would even provide them with food, accommodation, and education.

Xiuhong looked at them with her big eyes. Anyone with a brain would know how to do the sums. The youth opposite her was a little embarrassed.

Liu Lang recorded these numbers and planned to hand them to the youth for verification after the meeting.

Magistrate Fang’s eyes also flickered. Indeed, the benefit of letting the Mu family farm the fields was that they could make full use of the resources and not let the land become barren. Therefore, even if they split it 80-20, these children would not lose out.

The youth had only suggested this because he was indignant. However, he could not refute it in front of Bowen, who was well-prepared. Moreover, he was indeed convinced by the data, so he did not raise any other opinions.

Bowen immediately grinned and turned to look at Magistrate Fang. “Since there are no more problems with the nursery, Magistrate Fang, should the Mu family and the nursery talk to you next?”

“What?” Magistrate Fang was still a little out of it. Confusion flashed across his eyes.. “Aren’t I here to be a witness?”

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