Chapter 17: Buying Land to nt Sweet Potatoesl
Trantor: 549690339
Five taels for a small silver ingot, arranged in a line, five to each line, twoyers, a total of one hundred taels (sixteen taels to a pound, over six pounds). “This is the profit from the past six months. As per the youngdy’s instructions, all the whole numbers have been made into silver ingots and the change is kept in the ount.”
Wei Ruo likes the hefty feel of silver, not the lightweight silver note, hence whenever the wet nurse brings in the shop’s earnings, she always brings the weighty silver ingots.
In addition to the silver, the wet nurse also brought the ount book for the shop’s recent half-year.
There are also baskets of dried mushrooms that have been sun-dried.
“Brother Xiaoyong thought the youngdy might not be used to the food here, so he specially brought some mushrooms that the youngdy likes. They’re all sun-dried, some of them were cooked in the way the youngdy used to teach, all fried in oil and sealed in jars.”
“Wet nurse, thank you for your hard work, as well as Uncle Xu and Brother Xiaoyong, for making you travel such a long way with me.”
“Not at all, not at all!” eximed Xu’s mother, “I haven’t had any hardship at all. I rode in a carriage all the way, not needing to travel on foot. I didn’t even have to carry anything heavy, Dazhuang and Zhengyong did all the work.”
A happy smile spread across Xu’s mother’s face. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Xu’s mother continued: “Being able to help the youngdy do things is the happiest thing. If it wasn’t for helping the youngdy, I don’t know how Dazhuang, Zhengyong and I would spend our days! I never even dared to dream that I could live such a life!”
“Have you arranged everything in Huaibei Town?”
“Dear girl, don’t worry. I handed over the estate there to Old Qian, he’s been on the farm for many years, you can trust him to manage things well. There’s also someone looking after the house.”
“Have you moved all the things I asked you to move here?” Wei Ruo asked.
“Everything has been moved here, exactly three carts of sweet potatoes!” “Good, then I’ll tell you the next arrangement. I’ve set my eyes on the Xiaoyang Mountain in the north of the city, you and Uncle Xu go negotiate, if the price is right, buy it and nt sweet potatoes on it; there are many fishermen in the city who have lost their livelihood due to the Japanese pirates, and some farmers who have been forced to beg due to poor harvests. You and Uncle Xu should check it out and the ones with good character who are willing to work hard, hire them as permanent workers.”
“Good, I’ll take my husband to the north of the city for a good inspection.”
“Then settle yourselves, find a decent house in the city. When you’ve settled,e back to the Military Prefecture and give me the address so that I can keep in touch with you.”
“Yes, I got it, I’ll take care of it when I get back.” Xu’s mother agreed repeatedly. Xu’s mother stayed in the Tingsong Garden for over an hour before leaving. While leaving, she passed Wei Qingwan’s Wangmei Garden, seeing the uncultured woman hurrying away, Li Granny happily said to Wei Qingwan: “Miss, the woman who just passed by is Miss Wei Ruo’s wet nurse. I heard that her son made a fuss at the entrance of our Military Prefecture yesterday. Fortunately, the eldest son stopped it, otherwise it might have ended in aughable situation.”
“Is that so… As long as nothing happened…” Wei Qingwan murmured.
###
After negotiating with the vige chief and elders of Yueying Vige, Xu’s mother decided on a price of one thousand taels of silver.
Then the wet nurse reported this result to Wei Ruo to make the decision.
One thousand taels of silver was not a small sum for Wei Ruo.
Several years ago, she was determined to start a business, but she was too young and had no way to do so, so she could only use her wits to earn some small amounts of money to improve her life in the countryside.
It wasn’t until she was ten that she officially started a business, but it was extremely difficult to start in such a society. Without connections or support, it was very hard work to stand firm.
So far, she has only amassed just over two thousand taels of silver. One thousand taels of silver is equivalent to staking half of Wei Ruo’s assets, if she fails, Wei Ruo’s financial situation would have to be set back by two years.
Wei Ruo felt there was no problem, she could take it directly, so the wet nurse and Uncle Xu took the initiative to buy Xiaoyang Mountain for one thousand taels of silver. This sum would be handed over to the vige chief of Yueying Vige for distribution ording to the share of each family.
Xu Zhengyong also wandered around the city for a few days, selecting a few unemployed fishermen that fit Wei Ruo’s description, and hired them as permanent workers.
The permanent workers hired were seeing sweet potatoes as a crop for the first time.
After the exnation by the Xu father and son, they realized that this crop has been widely nted in Huaibei Town and has received a good harvest.
About the origin of this crop, the father and son unanimously im that it was brought back by a ship from Nanyang by chance, and its use was discovered after cultivation.
Following this, the Xu father and son who have already had extensive experience inrge-scale sweet potato cultivation in Huaibei Town, led the permanent workers to start nting.
You have to first bury the sweet potato in the ground, wait for it to grow vines, then cut down the vines for insertion.
The three carts of sweet potatoes they brought from Huaibei Town can produce enough vines for insertion.
The permanent workers quickly grasped the key to nting and got busy.
The cost to maintain sweet potatoes on the hillside is much lower than the cost to maintain rice in terraced fields.
The permanent workers couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. They originally thought that the employer hired just a few of them to manage a whole mountain of rice, just thinking about it was exhausting.
Meanwhile, Xu’s mother also found a suitable house for resettlement, not too far from the Military Prefecture, convenient formuting.
After settling these, Xu’s mother ran another trip to the Military Prefecture, handing over the contracts signed with the permanent workers and the deed to the house she bought to Wei Ruo.
No matter what Wei Ruo said, the wet nurse held that these properties all belonged to Wei Ruo. They were just helping Wei Ruo with her work, and would be satisfied with some wages, not wanting a single penny more.
Wei Ruo also gave a task to Xu’s mother.
“Wet nurse, can you inquire about the wastnd south of the city for me? I heard that the Japanese pirates are mainly lurking around the eastern part of the city, the south should still be considered safe.”
The wastnd to the south of the city? Isn’t that a very poor piece ofnd? Thend by the sea can’t grow crops. Whatever you nt there, dies.”
“Yes, it should be like that. If thend wasn’t poor, it wouldn’t be a wastnd.” This was within Wei Ruo’s expectations.
“Why is the youngdy asking about that piece of wastnd?” Xu’s mother asked curiously.
“First, you help me inquire. I might have a way to turn waste into treasure. If we can nt crops on saline-alkalind, we can save the cost of buying normal crops for me, hire more permanent workers, and the crops we grow can solve the problem of Xingshan County’sck of grain that needs to be purchased from other ces inrge quantities. That way, more people can have enough to eat.”
“Alright, I’ll ask as soon as I get back.” Although Xu’s mother also felt that the idea of nting crops on saline-alkalind was a bit farfetched, she believed unconditionally in Wei Ruo.
Over the years, the youngdy has repeatedly broken their preconceptions, making many things they originally thought impossible be possible..