Chapter 17 - 17 Buying Land to Plant Sweet Potatoesl

Translator: 549690339

Five taels for a small silver ingot, arranged in a line, five to each line, two layers, 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 young lady’s instructions, all the whole numbers have been made into silver ingots and the change is kept in the account.”

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 account book for the shop’s recent half-year.

There are also baskets of dried mushrooms that have been sun-dried.

“Brother Xiaoyong thought the young lady might not be used to the food here, so he specially brought some mushrooms that the young lady likes. They’re all sun-dried, some of them were cooked in the way the young lady 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!” exclaimed 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.

Xu’s mother continued: “Being able to help the young lady do things is the happiest thing. If it wasn’t for helping the young lady, 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. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“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 plant 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, come 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 a laughable situation.”

“Is that so… As long as nothing happened…” Wei Qingwan murmured.

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After negotiating with the village chief and elders of Yueying Village, 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 village chief of Yueying Village for distribution according 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 explanation by the Xu father and son, they realized that this crop has been widely planted in Huaibei Town and has received a good harvest.

About the origin of this crop, the father and son unanimously claim 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 in large-scale sweet potato cultivation in Huaibei Town, led the permanent workers to start planting.

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 planting 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 for commuting.

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 wasteland 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 wasteland to the south of the city? Isn’t that a very poor piece of land? The land by the sea can’t grow crops. Whatever you plant there, dies.”

“Yes, it should be like that. If the land wasn’t poor, it wouldn’t become a wasteland.” This was within Wei Ruo’s expectations.

“Why is the young lady asking about that piece of wasteland?” Xu’s mother asked curiously.

“First, you help me inquire. I might have a way to turn waste into treasure. If we can plant crops on saline-alkali land, 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’s lack of grain that needs to be purchased from other places in large 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 planting crops on saline-alkali land was a bit farfetched, she believed unconditionally in Wei Ruo.

Over the years, the young lady has repeatedly broken their preconceptions, making many things they originally thought impossible become possible..