I was pulling trees in Daming, and Lao Zhu begged me to come out of retirement

Chapter 8 Zhu Chongba Raises the Price
The legend of Zhu Yuanzhang's burial of his mother and the influence of the gods soon spread throughout the area.

Those magical wooden farm tools also brought many visitors to Zhu Yuanzhang's house.

"Hey~!"

In the small courtyard, Zhu Chongba was showing off the immortal treasure he mentioned.

With one shovel, he could easily dig out a large hole in the ground. After a dozen strokes, he could easily dig out a large hole one meter square.

The crowd around them cried out in surprise.
"This wood bark is really sharp. Digging the soil is like cutting tofu."

"You see, Chongba didn't even break a sweat. Did he really not exert any effort at all?"

"How can something made of wood be so powerful? Could it really be given by the God of Land?"

"Why can't I come across such a good thing? I'm afraid the Zhu family is really going to get rich."

"Humph, after all, isn't it just something used to grow crops? It's not a good thing."

There are envious and jealous people among the crowd.

But everyone began to believe that these wooden things of Zhu Yuanzhang might be treasures.

Landlord Liu Xiaode looked at the shovel in Zhu Chongba's hand with green eyes.

At this moment, he wanted to slap himself. If he had agreed to sell himself to Zhu Yuanzhang before, wouldn't these treasures be his now?
But these small landowners also started out as farmers.

The three generations before them were also poor. These land deeds were accumulated slowly by generations of hardworking ancestors who worked hard to grow crops and store food, and then exchanged them for money and land bit by bit.

Because the landlords know that the land they own is hard-earned, they are often very stingy.

He was asked to give up his own land for the burial of Zhu Yuanzhang's parents, but he was reluctant to do so.

But when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang get the treasure, he was extremely envious.

"Zhu Chongba, how much do you sell this wooden thing for?"

Liu Xiaode yelled at Zhu Chongba with envy,

Zhu Chongba rolled his eyes, stretched out a finger, then stretched out another one halfway and said:
"One... one or two taels of silver!"

Liu Xiaode cried out like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "You are robbing me! Two taels of silver? Two taels of silver is equivalent to two mu of land!"

This was the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
Disasters have occurred everywhere, people are living in dire straits, and the price of land has basically dropped to a lowest point.

Although it is still not as good as the one tael of silver per acre of good farmland in the early Ming Dynasty, the difference is not too big.

Zhu Chongba raised his head and snorted coldly:
"This is a treasure from the immortals! Even though it's only useful for digging soil now, who knows if it has any other special uses. Maybe it can even suppress luck and be used as a family heirloom!"

"This treasure from the Immortal Family is only sold to you for 2 taels of silver, and you still think it's too expensive? Pah! Take it or leave it! Now I'm selling it for 5 taels of silver!"

Liu Xiaode stared with his eyes wide open, and the fat on his body swayed in anger.

"You, you are asking for a higher price!"

Zhu Chongba sneered complacently:
"If you don't want it, there are plenty of people who do."

He looked at the landlord Liu Jizu on the other side, and his expression softened a little.
At least the other party was willing to give me a piece of land to bury my parents when I was most desperate.

"Master Liu, would you like one? I will give you two taels of silver."

Liu Jizu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and took out two taels of silver.
"Come on, get me an axe."

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed when he saw this. He thought that with the first one, the rest would be easier to sell.

Although these things seemed to him to be "immortal treasures", as a peasant by birth, the fields were his real treasures.

What’s the use of having all these farm tools without land?

What he lacks now is the speed of farming? What he lacks now is land.

Therefore, these seemingly powerful "immortal treasures" are like chicken ribs to Zhu Yuanzhang and his brother. They are tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.

Rich people don’t need this thing, and those who need it can’t afford it.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was also worried about whether this thing could be sold. After all, it was not realistic to let the landlords buy it and then chop wood and farm the land themselves.
As for giving the treasures bought with the two taels of silver to the tenants?

Stop kidding, this is a joke, who would be willing to give the treasure to these peasants?

So these farm tools have no practical significance at all.
The best thing would be to publicize it as a gift from the gods, as Zhu Yuanzhang did, and then let the landlords buy it back at a high price to worship it.

Originally Zhu Chongba was worried that he would not be able to sell it.

Now that Liu Jizu has taken the lead in trying it out, the rest should be much easier to sell.

After all, this thing is a real treasure and it does have magical effects. It’s just that this function is of no use to the landlords, so I am not cheating them.

Two taels of silver is not a lot for a landlord, but it is definitely not a small amount either.

At this time, the land price had fallen to 1 tael per mu. Although it was not good land, it was already outrageous.

This is all due to the cruel rule of the Yuan Dynasty over the Central Plains for more than 2 years. The population has decreased significantly, resulting in more land and fewer people. So these two taels of silver are at least two acres of land. Even the landlords may not be willing to spend this money in such a disaster year.

They are more willing to buy land from poor people who cannot afford food at this time, as this is the best time for land annexation.

However, Liu Jizu thought that the wood ash used by Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed magical, so it would not be too bad to buy it to have a try. If it didn't work, he could return it. Zhu Yuanzhang would not dare to refuse.

Liu Jizu took the wooden axe and weighed it. It was no different from an ordinary wooden axe.

He frowned and asked doubtfully:

"What kind of fairy treasure is this thing really?"

Zhu Chongba patted his chest and said loudly:
"Master Liu, don't worry. I will cheat anyone but you. There is a big locust tree on the left. You can try to chop it down. If it doesn't work, come back to me!"

Seeing Zhu Chongba so confident, Liu Jizu also became interested.

A group of people gathered around Liu Jizu and came to the big locust tree outside.
"It's fake, right? How does a wooden axe chop down a tree?"

"I think Zhu Chongba is just trying to trick people. He uses the wooden shovel to dig the ground because he is so strong."

"Isn't it nice to buy this with two taels of silver and go out of the county town to drink some wine?"

The landlords from all over the country gathered behind Liu Jizu and watched the joke.

Liu Jizu rubbed his hands, his not-so-strong arms, picked up the wooden axe, and chopped at the half-meter-thick locust tree trunk.

bang,
The wooden axe penetrated directly into the trunk of the locust tree, going three feet deep into the wood.

The crowd at the scene suddenly fell silent.

Even Liu Jizu was stunned.
He didn't use any strength.
With just a casual swing of the axe, he had already chopped off nearly one-third of the tree.

Is this really a treasure?

He excitedly pulled out the axe and struck the locust tree a few more times.

The half-meter-thick locust tree suddenly fell down in the hands of this powerless landlord.

"It's fallen! It's fallen!"

The onlookers exclaimed,

If Liu Jizu had not been unfamiliar with felling trees and had not chopped the tree crookedly, he might have only needed three axes to chop down a big tree.

This treasure is a magical tool for chopping wood.

Liu Xiaode, who was hiding at the back of the crowd, looked uncertain.

He stretched out his short legs and dragged his fat body towards Zhu Yuanzhang's house.

"Five taels of silver a bunch! I'll buy them all!"

The calm Zhu Chongba showed his not-so-white teeth:
"Now it's 10 taels a handful!"

(End of this chapter)