Bai Sheng also strongly supported him becoming the village head. Although the village head was merely a minor village official, the future development direction of Hongshu Village would be in his hands. Desalination and utilizing sand would make planting trees and crops in the desert much easier to manage.
As the saying goes, "A new official starts with three fires." Lu Ye quickly threw himself into the construction of Hongshu Village.
He arranged for manpower to transport the building materials he had "purchased" in the county town and hired a construction team to build houses for the villagers.
Of course, these building materials were advanced by Lu Ye's family, and each household wrote an IOU to repay the loan within ten years.
The construction workers' wages were also advanced by Village Head Lu, with IOUs written and to be repaid within five years.
Given the long repayment period, the new villagers did not bear too much living pressure.
In addition to settling accommodation, there were also matters such as household registration, population registration, and land allocation.
However, with Ji Cheng and the overseers, Feng Pingyuan as the chief steward, and Zhao Dazhuang as the deputy steward helping, Lu Ye could also spare time each day to accompany his darling and the four little ones.
One evening after dinner, Bai Sheng and Lu Ye kept everyone back. They had important matters to announce.
Now their entire family, excluding the four wet nurses hired by Prince Yu, and including all the servants, numbered twenty-nine people.
Among them, Lu Tong, Lu Tie, Lu Huo, and Lu Yin, along with the two kitchen maids Mi and Mian, were household slaves purchased by themselves. A Qiu and A Dong were household slaves gifted by Prince Yu. Bai Sheng naturally would not release their slave status at this time.
As for the Du Min couple, the Hu Da Niu family, the Zhao Da Zhuang family, the Ma San couple, and the single dog Huang Gou Sheng, these five families had, out of necessity, voluntarily sold themselves to Lu Ye and Bai Sheng to survive.
After nearly a year of living together, they had truly become like a family, and their affection had deepened day by day. However, the more this was the case, the more Bai Sheng was unwilling to take advantage of them.
Hongshu Village was currently registering household records for the villagers. If these five families were released from their slave status and their deeds of sale returned, they could also take advantage of the situation to finalize their household registration. This way, if their children wanted to pursue official careers in the future, they would have no worries.
Of course, the houses they were currently living in would be given to them as thanks for their hard work for the family over the past year.
However, when Bai Sheng expressed her intentions, the five families all knelt uniformly before her and Lu Ye, begging them not to drive them out of the house.
"Drive you out of the house?" Bai Sheng asked with a wry smile. "It's not driving you out, but returning your freedom. You can still work as before."
"We don't want the freedom to not be part of the family, to not be our mistress and master!" In their eyes, their mistress and master releasing their slave status meant driving them out.
The master voluntarily released the slaves without asking for redemption money, yet they were unwilling to leave. This scene was also the first time Prince Yu, Ji Cheng, and others had witnessed, and they were somewhat astonished.
Tian Guihua, wiping tears, began to act shamelessly. "Mistress, you can't release my and Tian Dou's slave status. I have long considered this place my home, and I consider you and Master my family.
Anyway, I will never leave this home in this life. I live as your family's kitchen maid, and I will be your family's ghost in death. My son Tian Dou is not destined for scholarly pursuits, and he will not take the imperial examinations. Even if his son takes the imperial examinations in the future, at most, his son will be separated from the family!"
Tian Dou knelt beside his mother and raised his chin, saying ambitiously, "Mother, I won't take the imperial examinations. I want to follow the Dung General forever. In the future, he will be a general fighting on the battlefield, and I will be his little follower."
What a little brat, he had quite the ambition! Prince Yu smiled and looked at the Dung General.
The Dung General, sitting beside Lu Ye, pursed his lips and made a fist-clenching gesture towards Tian Dou, indicating that he would definitely become a general, and Tian Dou would certainly become his little follower.
Yang Shi also looked terrified. "Mistress, our whole family is willing to follow you and Master to the death. As for the reason, I won't hide anything. Besides greatly admiring your character and that of Master, we also want to receive your and Master's protection.
I'm not afraid of being laughed at, but I've actually... I've always felt that you and Master are no ordinary people. A wise bird chooses its roost, and our whole family wants to attach ourselves to a big tree like you and Master."
Bai Sheng covered her nose with her hand and smiled. "Sister Yang, you flatter me."
"It's not flattery. Everything I, Yang Shi, say today is from the bottom of my heart." She was born into a scholar's family of a minor household. Her father was a private tutor in the village. Because she had no one to protect her, her family was constantly bullied. In the end, their house and land were seized, and she was almost taken by a local bully. Fortunately, she met the honest and simple Da Niu.
Hu Da Niu was slow-witted, so he nodded frequently when his wife spoke.
Yang Ming's gaze was firm. "I am also willing to follow Mistress and Master to the death, with unwavering loyalty."
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye exchanged glances. Just as they were about to persuade Yang Ming, Granny Zhong suddenly said loudly, "Mistress, this old woman cannot say beautiful words, but I feel proud to be a member of Mistress's family. Every day when I go out, many people envy me. If Mistress lets us take back our deeds of sale, I won't be able to show off anymore, and life will have no flavor."
Zhao Dazhuang also said with emotion, "My mother and I think the same way."
Tie Zhu also chimed in, "I think the same as my grandma and dad."
The crowd burst into laughter.
Ma San stood up and patted his increasingly sturdy chest. "I don't want to say much else. Anyway, my wife and I are people of Mistress and Master's family, and we don't want to leave our slave status. If our son wants to take the imperial examinations in the future, he can be separated from us. From now on, if anyone dares to bully Mistress and Master, I, Ma San, will cut him down with my saber!"
Liu Shi also stood up, her voice full of emotion. "What my man says is what I want to say too. Without Mistress, I, Liu Shi, would have died long ago. My life was given to me by Mistress."
Bai Sheng's eyes were slightly moist, but she was amused by Huang Gou Sheng.
Huang Gou Sheng began to cry loudly, "Mistress, Master, please don't drive me away. You are my family. If you don't want me anymore, then I... I will have no home, sob sob..."
Ma San, immersed in the sentimental atmosphere, suddenly felt the incessantly crying Gou Sheng wiping something on his side hip. He reached out to touch it, and good heavens, it was all snot and tears!
"You damned Huang Gou Sheng! You wiped all your snot on me!" Ma San jumped up and shouted.
Huang Gou Sheng raised his face, where tears and snot were mingled, and said aggrievedly, "Did I? I thought I wiped it on the stool."
Ma San was so angry he wanted to hit him, but seeing Huang Gou Sheng's innocent face, and considering that he himself had a wife and children in the blink of an eye, while Huang Gou Sheng was still a bachelor, he could only endure it.
He suspected that Gou Sheng was jealous that he had a wife.
The crowd watching this scene burst into laughter.