Chapter 32: Land Distribution to Households
During the lunch break, Deng Changyuan, who had been promoted from a "mud-stepping apprentice" to a "mud-stepping master," was learning to make large vats from his childhood friend Deng Yuntai.
Though the two-yuan daily wage of a mud-stepping master was enviable in this era, as the saying goes, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier. Compared to the big vat master, who could earn seven to eight yuan a day, the mud-stepping master's salary paled in comparison.
In tile factories, the wages of mud carriers and mud-steppers, who had low or no technical skills, were fixed.
Only skilled jobs, like making large and small vats, were paid on a piece-rate basis.
For example, a large vat master could earn a commission of 0.75 to 1.5 yuan per vat, depending on the vat's specifications.
There were over a dozen types of vats, including Guang vats, water vats, sugar vats, oil vats, gold vats, and hemp-waist vats.
Among them, the Guang vat was the largest, capable of holding seven to eight hundred kilograms of grain. It was the king of vats.
In all of Bobai County, only Wendi Commune could make such large vats. It wasn't that other places lacked skilled vat makers, but specific soil was required to make Guang vats. Without it, no amount of skill could produce one.
Currently, the soil needed for Guang vats couldn't be found in the Double Prosperity area, so Deng Shirong's tile factory didn't make them.
The sugar vat, which earned a commission of 1.5 yuan, was the second largest after the Guang vat. A standard sugar vat was two feet tall, with a base of five feet, a waist of two feet, and a mouth of six feet. It could hold 340 to 500 kilograms of grain.
The oil vat was 2 feet 2 inches tall, 2 feet at the base, 1 foot 8.5 inches at the waist, and 1 foot 3 inches at the mouth. It could hold about 300 kilograms of grain, earning a commission of 1.3 yuan.
The large water vat earned 1.1 yuan, the small water vat 9 cents, and the waist vat 7.5 cents...
Though the tile factory had only been operating for over half a month, the master vat maker had a rough idea of how many vats he had made and how much commission he could earn.
Deng Changyuan, being Deng Yuntai's childhood friend, naturally received detailed explanations. After hearing this, Deng Changyuan was eager to become a big vat master.
The process of making large vats wasn't easy. Today was the first day of teaching. Deng Yuntai didn't demonstrate directly but explained the production process in detail to Deng Changyuan.
A large vat couldn't be made in one day because it was made of clay. Wet clay couldn't withstand much force. If built too high, it would collapse under its own weight.
Thus, the vat had to be made step by step. First, the base was made, and then the upper parts were added as the clay dried and hardened.
There were many key technical points in this process. For example, the clay couldn't be too wet or too dry, and there couldn't be any air pockets at the joints, or the vat would easily break.
Moreover, when the vat was halfway built, it needed to be flipped to dry. Since clay items were fragile, this required two people with good coordination. The force used to flip the vat had to be just right—too little or too much, and the vat would be ruined.
These skills had been perfected over generations. Without a master to teach, it would be nearly impossible to learn on one's own.
Deng Yuntai didn't hold back, explaining all the key techniques to Deng Changyuan in detail.
After finishing, Deng Yuntai said, "A Yuan, memorize these core techniques. Once you've learned the theory, I'll demonstrate and let you practice. If you study hard, I believe you can become a big vat master by next year."
Deng Changyuan nodded eagerly. In the countryside at that time, becoming a big vat master was a significant achievement. It was no exaggeration to say that he could choose any girl from the surrounding area.
Thus, Deng Changyuan vowed, "Atai, don't worry. I'll study hard and strive to become a big vat master like you as soon as possible."
By the end of June, the production team had finished paying the public grain tax and distributing the grain. The cadres began counting the number of people in each household to prepare for the first batch of land distribution.
Deng Changfu and Guan Yongying had already registered their marriage, and the wedding invitations had been sent out. Thus, they were included in the count.
After the headcount, on the afternoon of June 27, all members of the Thatchfield Production Team gathered at the brigade, and the first batch of land was distributed by drawing lots.
Deng Shirong had experienced this land distribution process once before. Even decades later, the scene remained vivid in his mind.
He remembered being full of anticipation back then. Though he was a big vat master and had contracted a tile factory, not relying entirely on farming, fields were the roots of rural people. Who could resist the allure of land?
Even in later generations, when most people no longer farmed, they still cared about their fields and generally wouldn't sell them—unless offered a high price.
Though most members wanted to divide the land and work independently, a few held opposing views.
Some members didn't want to take responsibility if they drew a bad lot.
However, dividing the land and working independently was the general trend. Even if problems arose during implementation, they wouldn't affect the outcome.
Deng Shirong's family had eight members. The first batch of land distributed was three mu and two fen, with four mu per person.
Perhaps because the timing of the lottery after his rebirth was different, the land allocated to Deng Shirong's family was also different from his previous life and of better quality.
Deng Shirong didn't mind. Whether the fields were fertile or not didn't matter to him.
What mattered was that from now on, he no longer had to do production team work.
After the fields were distributed, each household began planting rice seedlings. The seedlings were naturally distributed by the production team.
In his previous life, after the land was divided, Deng Shirong's family had become incredibly enthusiastic about farming. Everyone, young and old, joined in, and their efforts were rewarded with a bumper harvest.
This time, to motivate his children to study, Deng Shirong had introduced a monetary reward system and exempted them from work.
With his eldest son working at the tile factory, only Deng Shirong and his two daughters could work the fields.
Thus, Deng Shirong decided not to farm this time.
Of course, not farming didn't mean leaving the fields fallow. He could lend them to others to farm. When the harvest came, in addition to paying the public grain tax, the borrowers would give him a certain amount of grain. Many in the village would be interested.
As for who to lend the fields to, Deng Shirong suddenly thought of a suitable person.