Not to mention anything else, even Old Zhou's heart isn't that hard.
Mr. Zhuang nodded and said, "The Ministry of Revenue agreed to let you manage the official land so quickly for another reason, which is this year's drought in Yongzhou. Ordinary people might have some grain stored, and even if they don't, they can tighten their belts to get through the year. But it's difficult for the tenant farmers."
So it's even harder to manage the tenant farmers. If the Ministry of Revenue could manage fewer lands, it would mean fewer troubles. If it wasn't for their responsibilities, they would have been happy to hand everything over to individuals.
Sure enough, the application Mr. Zhuang submitted quickly got a response. The Ministry of Revenue directly processed the paperwork for them. Coincidentally, the official land was actually divided in June.
It's just that the crops in the fields still belong to the previous official, so they don't belong to them yet.
