Besides, didn’t Andrew Carter just say earlier that even if the elders order the family to split, it would still take two years!

“Second son, are you trying to kill your grandmother?” Mrs. Carter sighed, grief-stricken. “What’s going on, what sin have I committed!”

Edward Carter and Bennett exchanged glances. Bennett couldn’t help but sob, “Grandmother, of course we don’t want to split the family, but eldest brother and fourth brother are forcing us, there’s nothing we can do…”

They shifted the blame onto Charles Carter and Henry Carter. Henry Carter’s face darkened, thinking, “So you want to split the family, is that it?” He looked up and saw Andrew Carter. Right, this kid was just talking non-stop—maybe he has an idea.

“Andrew, what do you think we should do?”

Andrew Carter was fed up with his second uncle’s family. If they could split, the sooner the better, so he wouldn’t get dragged down with them.

“Uncle, according to the court’s rules, if grandparents or parents order their children to leave the family register, they’ll be punished. But if they just divide the property among the younger generation, there’s no crime. You can split the assets without splitting the household—each branch takes care of its own expenses, and of course, any money earned is theirs to keep. After all, third uncle isn’t home. If we split the family rashly, his share of the property would be hard to handle.” Andrew Carter pondered aloud.

After hearing this, Henry Carter slapped his thigh and said, “Let’s do it! Let’s split the property right away! I can’t wait any longer!”

Chapter 11: The Magical Stinky Shoes

Mrs. Carter was a hundred times unwilling, but she couldn’t withstand Henry Carter’s insistence, and the second uncle’s couple didn’t want to drag things out either. With no other choice, Mrs. Carter had to order the division of property.

Traditionally, when a family splits, houses and farmland are the main assets.

First, there was the old three-courtyard house, and 380 mu of farmland—sounds like a lot, but in reality, once you convert it to cash, it’s not worth much.

Land prices in the Northern Song were chaotic, with various records differing. For example, when land was requisitioned to build Emperor Zhenzong’s Yongding Mausoleum, the price per mu was between 400 and 500 wen. At the same time, in Fuzhou, cultivated land sold for an average of 1,700 wen per mu.

Roughly estimating, a mu of hillside land in Huangshan was worth less than half a string of cash, while cultivated land was worth about four times as much as wasteland. Of course, this was calculated in copper coins—the Northern Song also issued iron coins and jiaozi (paper money), which affected value. Plus, with frequent border wars and price fluctuations, it’s hard to say exactly what land was worth in the Northern Song.

But Cangzhou was near the border, the land was poor, and war was constant, so land prices were much lower than in inland places like Fuzhou.

A mu of land was just over one string of cash at best. That’s the market value, but if you needed to sell quickly, buyers would definitely drive the price down. To scrape together a hundred strings, you’d have to sell at least 200 mu.

In other words, to pay off second uncle’s debts, the Wang family’s land would be cut by more than half in one go—who could stand that! No wonder eldest uncle Henry Carter was eager to split the family.

But how to divide it was a big question. Normally, the family would be split according to the number of male heirs. When this was suggested, eldest uncle Henry Carter objected. He was alone, while the second uncle’s family had two sons, and the fourth uncle’s family also had two sons. If they divided by male headcount, what would he get?

“Big brother, the children aren’t grown yet. I think we should just split the property equally among the four branches. As for third brother’s share, let’s leave it for grandmother and mother—what do you think?”

Of course, Henry Carter agreed. Edward Carter was a bit sour, but when he thought about it, if they really divided by male heirs, the fourth uncle’s family would be in the same boat as him, so he wasn’t too happy either. Besides, he didn’t want to drag things out.

“Equal split it is!”

Each of the three branches got 95 mu of land. Mrs. Carter hesitated for a moment and said, “There’s been no news from third son for years, and he hasn’t been able to fulfill his filial duties. Give 5 mu of his land each to eldest and fourth sons, to make it a round number—100 mu.”

With 5 more mu, Henry Carter was so happy he almost had snot bubbles. Father Charles Carter didn’t say much—he’d help third brother farm those 5 mu for now, and when he came back, he’d return them. He wouldn’t take advantage of his brother.

With those two getting 5 extra mu, Edward Carter felt uncomfortable and kept glancing at Old Lady.

“Sigh, second son, even though the debt is your fault, we’re still family. Take 35 mu from third brother’s land as yours.”

“Thank you, grandmother!”

Edward Carter got the fattest share and was overjoyed, waving his arms in delight. Henry Carter took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said with a mournful face, “Grandmother, I’m still alone at this age. It’s not easy to find a wife. You can’t play favorites!”

Seeing him like this, Mrs. Carter said, “Alright then, the remaining 50 mu are yours.”

“Thank you, grandmother!”

“Not so fast!” Mrs. Carter waved her hand. “Eldest, these 50 mu aren’t for free. Your mother and I will both live with you.”

At these words, Henry Carter was dumbfounded.

He’d only thought about splitting the assets, not the burdens!

Mrs. Carter was over seventy, and his mother was over fifty, both in poor health. Getting 50 more mu of land was nice, but taking on two elderly dependents—Henry Carter wasn’t happy about that. Wait, not just two—there was also John Carter. That made three elders!

As they got older, they’d get sick and need doctors and medicine, which would be expensive. Plus, Mrs. Carter liked to be in charge—keeping her was like having a retired empress dowager in the house. Henry Carter wanted a comfortable life, not trouble.

After thinking it over, 50 mu of land was nice, but the price was too high—it just wasn’t worth it!