Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Crime of Gender 67

”Mr. Min, we are all common people heading to the border city under the court’s decree. Since you are also going to the border city, why not travel with us? We can look after each other. Besides, as your health hasn’t fully recovered, you can ride on the ox cart.”

Qin Shuangshuang was planning in her mind, no matter what, to first get Min Tiancheng to travel with them, and then gradually find a way to keep him in Qin Family Village.

Min Tiancheng understood that Qin Shuangshuang’s invitation for him to join them was to look after their family, to prevent him from fainting from hunger again.

Although, being a man of letters, he felt a bit embarrassed to follow others for free food and lodging, he was completely penniless, and he couldn’t bear to see his wife and children suffer any more. So, with a blush on his face, he nodded and agreed, while in his heart he decided to properly repay these kind people once they reached the border city.

Qin Shuangshuang was not yet aware that her plan was already seventy to eighty percent successful. Seeing Min Tiancheng’s awkward demeanor, she understood that he was shy about taking charity due to his scholarly nature. She just smiled and didn’t reveal his thoughts.

After bringing Min Tiancheng back, Qin Shuangshuang sought out the village chief, a few clan elders, and her mentor Fang Zhongyi to explain Min Tiancheng’s background, emphasizing that he was an Advanced Scholar with profound knowledge, and mentioned her intention to keep him in the village, urging everyone to be gracious and courteous to him.

As soon as Qin Shuangshuang spoke, even if others didn’t, the eyes of several clan elders with scholars in their families immediately lit up. They had been worried about finding a good teacher for their grandsons once at the border city, and now a ready-made teacher had come to them. They wouldn’t let this opportunity slip away!

Next, Qin Shuangshuang personally witnessed what it meant to curry favor! Several young Scholars and child students from Qin Family Village swarmed around Min Tiancheng’s family, eager to help, as if they wanted to carry them while walking and feed them at meals, making Min Tiancheng laugh and cry!

He knew these people wanted to learn from him, and with a mind full of knowledge and nothing else to do, he used the time during breaks to teach them and solve their doubts! It was also a way to pass the time.

Every day, while traveling and giving lectures, he enjoyed the eager and admiring eyes of the students. Over time, it released much of the pent-up frustration in his heart since he left the Capital City, and even his mood brightened up.

Whenever this happened, Qin Shuangshuang would pull Fang Yao and Qin Miao along to listen to the lessons. Qin Shuangshuang was fine, with her foundation from her past life, she could barely understand. However, Qin Miao and Fang Yao, both illiterate, listened to Min Tiancheng’s lessons just like ducks hearing thunder—completely oblivious.

After several sessions, seeing that Qin Shuangshuang and the other girls were also interested in learning, and considering that Qin Shuangshuang had saved him, Min Tiancheng began special lectures for the three girls, teaching them some basic knowledge.

It must be said that Fang Yao and Qin Miao had great learning talent. Putting aside Qin Shuangshuang, who intentionally hid her skills, the progress of these two amazed Min Tiancheng. Of course, the most surprising was Qin Shuangshuang, whose learning speed was extraordinary. Naturally, Qin Shuangshuang’s case was exceptional, so no comment was made.

Recently, everyone’s enthusiasm for learning soared, slowing down the pace of their journey significantly. Originally calculated to reach the border city in about ten days, it took them over a month to get there due to their delays.

Although everyone called it a border city, it was not actually a city. Rather, it was a high and long wall housing soldiers guarding the frontier, magnificent and grand like Feiying Pass!

Beyond Feiying Pass lay a vast, boundless grassland, where barbarians lived. Inside Feiying Pass, there were no actual cities; the common people lived in communities, though there were many of them.

Originally, this place only had one Feiying Pass, a crucial post for guarding the frontier. Later, General Qi came and intimidated the barbarians severely. It reached a point where wherever General Qi was, the barbarians would retreat automatically.

The common people living at the border gathered automatically behind Feiying Pass for protection, and as their numbers grew, the place became known as the border city. In fact, there wasn’t a city here, and this time, the Emperor moved people en masse to make the border city live up to its name.

Those who heeded Qin Shuangshuang’s advice and came to the border city also discovered it was not the desolate place they imagined. On the contrary, it was bustling with various shops and markets everywhere. As they entered the border city, they immediately felt its robust and open atmosphere, vastly different from the inner regions!

In the streets, people spoke loudly and boldly. Women, dressed neatly, were seen everywhere bustling through the streets and alleys. Even among the street vendors, women were common, and no one found it unusual. Clearly, such scenes were normal at the border city, indicating its openness compared to inner regions.

Even before entering the border city, everyone had heard of General Qi’s fame. They knew there was no need to fear barbarian attacks here, and after experiencing the bustling city, any lingering worries they had were completely put to rest!

As emigrant common people, Qin Shuangshuang and her group first went to report to the government, waiting for land distribution and housing plots.

They were received by a clerk who flipped through the ledger for a while, then counted the number of people, fifty-seven households in total, including 472 people.

Upon finishing the headcount, the clerk registered the total number of households, population per household, and each household head, etc. After registration, he reported to his superior and then allocated Qin Shuangshuang and her group a vast tract of wasteland, estimated to be around 3,000 acres.

Following the court’s incentives, the government provided materials for the houses, and they built them themselves. As long as the main gate didn’t violate regulations, they could build as large as they wanted.

The same applied to land. They cleared the land themselves and allocated it among each household as needed, as long as it didn’t exceed the land given to them. Regardless of how much wasteland was developed, it belonged to the developers, and for ten years, the land would be tax-exempt.

Additionally, once the wasteland was developed, they could receive seeds from the government according to the amount of land. Although it was past spring, it was still possible to plant some vegetables.

However, the clerk distributing the land strictly warned that all developed wasteland must be planted with grain or vegetables and could not be left idle. If even one acre was not planted, the family’s granted wasteland would be reclaimed.

This policy was meant to prevent common people from greedily expanding without planting, thus wasting land. Everyone agreed to this rule; as people who lived by the land, they wouldn’t let the land go to waste.