A Blessed Daughter

  Chapter 17 Buying land to grow sweet potatoes

  Five taels and one small silver ingot, five in a row, two rows on one floor, two layers, a total of one hundred taels of silver (sixteen taels a catty, six catties more).

   "This is the profit of the past six months. According to the young lady's wishes, the whole numbers are rounded into silver ingots, and the fractions are kept in the account first."

  Wei Ruo likes heavy silver, but doesn't like that light silver bill, so every time the nanny gives Wei Ruo the proceeds from the shop, she always comes with heavy silver ingots.

  In addition to the money, the nanny also brought the store's account books for the past six months.

   There is also a basket of dried mushrooms.

  "Xiaoyong was afraid that the lady would not be used to eating here, so he bought some mushrooms that the lady likes before coming here, and dried them. Some of them were fried according to the method that the lady taught before, and sealed in jars."

   "Nurse, thank you for your hard work, and Uncle Xu and Brother Xiaoyong, I want you to run such a long distance with me."

"It's not hard, it's hard!" Mother Xu said repeatedly, "I don't have any hard work. There is a carriage on the way, so I don't need my legs to drive. I didn't even take any important things. They are all strong and upright. Yong is busy."

  Mother Xu's face is filled with a happy smile.

Mother Xu went on to say: "It is the happiest thing to be able to help Miss. If it weren't for helping Miss, I don't know how to live with Dazhuang and Zhengyong! I used to dream that I could Such a day!"

   "Have you made arrangements in Huaibei Town?"

   "Miss, don't worry, I have entrusted the Zhuangzi over there to Laoqian. He has been in the Zhuangzi for many years, so you can rest assured when doing things, and there will be someone watching over the house."

   "Did I ask you to ship all the things?" Wei Ruo asked.

   "It's here, all of them are here, three whole truckloads of sweet potatoes!"

"Okay, then let me tell you about the next arrangement. I have taken a fancy to Xiaoyang Mountain in the north of the city. You and Uncle Xu go talk about it. If the price is right, you can buy it and plant sweet potatoes; There are fishermen who have lost their livelihood because of Japanese pirates, and farmers who are forced to beg because of poor harvests. You and Uncle Xu went to investigate and investigate. If you have a good character and are willing to work hard, you will be hired as long-term workers."

   "Okay, I'll take my family to the north of the city to investigate."

   "Then settle yourself down and find a better house in the city. After you settle down, come to the Captain's Mansion again and tell me the address so that I can contact you later."

   "Okay, I see, I'll do it when I get back." Mother Xu responded repeatedly.

  Mother Xu stayed in Tingsongyuan for more than an hour before leaving.

  Passing by Wei Qingwan's Wangmei Garden while walking, and seeing the vulgar woman leaving in a hurry, Nanny Li happily said to Wei Qingwan:

"Miss, the woman who just passed by is the eldest lady's nanny. I heard that the nanny's son was still making trouble at the gate of our school captain's mansion yesterday. Fortunately, the eldest son stopped it, otherwise there might be some jokes." .”

   "That's it...it's good that nothing happened..." Wei Qingwan murmured.

  ###

   After negotiating with Lizheng of Yueying Village and the elders in the village, Mother Xu talked about the price of one thousand taels of silver.

  Then the nanny reported the result to Wei Ruo, letting Wei Ruo make up his mind.

  One thousand taels of silver is not a small sum to Wei Ruo.

  A few years ago, she wanted to start a career, but she was too young, so she had no choice but to rely on her cleverness to earn some extra money to improve her life in the countryside.

  I didn’t start building a shop until I was ten years old, but it was also very difficult to start. In such a society, there are no relationships and no dependencies, and it is very strenuous to gain a foothold little by little.

  Up to now, a total of more than two thousand taels of silver has been saved. One thousand taels of silver is equivalent to taking out half of Wei Ruo's net worth. If it fails, Wei Ruo's financial situation will go back two years.

Wei Ruo felt that there was no problem, and he could take it directly, so the nanny and Uncle Xu came forward to buy Xiaoyang Mountain at a price of one thousand taels of silver. to allocate.

  Xu Zhengyong also wandered around the city for a few days, picked out a few unemployed fishermen who fit what Wei Ruo said, and hired them as long-term workers.

   It was the first time for the employed long-term workers to see sweet potatoes as a crop.

   It was only after Xu's father and son explained that this kind of crop has been widely planted in Huaibei Town and has achieved a good harvest.

   Regarding the origin of this crop, the father and son jointly stated that a ship from Nanyang accidentally brought back a section of potato vine, which was found useful after being planted and cultivated by humans.

   Immediately afterwards, sweet potatoes were planted on a large scale in Huaibei Town. The father and son of the Xu family, who have rich relevant planting experience, went to battle in person and led the long-term workers to plant.

  You need to bury the sweet potato in the soil first, wait for it to grow potato vines, and then cut the potato vines for cuttings.

  The three carts of sweet potatoes they transported from Huaibei Town can produce enough potato vines for cuttings.

  The long-term workers quickly mastered the essentials of planting and started to get busy.

  The maintenance cost of growing sweet potatoes on hillsides is much lower than that of cultivating rice terraces.

  The long-term workers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They thought that the employer would hire only a few of them to manage a whole mountain of rice. Just thinking about it would make them tired.

   At the same time, Mother Xu also found a house to settle in, not too far from the Xiaowei's Mansion, so it is convenient to come and go.

  After arranging these things, Mother Xu went to the Captain's Mansion again, and handed over the contracts signed with the long-term workers and the deed of the house she bought to Wei Ruo.

  No matter what Wei Ruo said, the nanny still meant the same thing. These properties belonged to Wei Ruo. They helped Wei Ruo to do things, and they just got some wages, and they didn’t want any more.

  Wei Ruo has one more task for Mother Xu.

   "Nurse, please help me find out about the wasteland in the south of the city. I heard that the pirates are mainly fleeing in the east of the city, and the south of the city is relatively safe."

   "The wasteland in the south of the city? It's a very barren land, right? The land near the sea can't grow crops. What you grow will die."

   "Well, it should be so. If the land is not barren, it would not be a wasteland." This is in Wei Ruo's expectation.

   "Miss asked what was the wasteland for?" Mother Xu asked puzzled.

"Go and ask me first. I may have a way to turn waste into treasure. If I can grow plants on the saline-alkali land, I can save myself the cost of buying common and lower costs, and I can hire more long-term workers to plant them. The plants can also solve the problem of lack of food in Xingshan County and need to buy a lot from other places, so that more people can eat."

   "Okay, I'll ask when I get back." Although Xu's mother also felt that planting crops on saline-alkali land was ridiculous, she believed in Wei Ruo unconditionally.

  Over the years, Miss has broken their cognition time and time again, making many things that they thought impossible to happen possible.

  (end of this chapter)