Chapter 17: Buying Land to Grow Sweet Potatoes

Five taels of a small silver ingot, five in a row, a layer of two rows, put two layers, a total of one hundred taels of silver (sixteen years a catty, more than six pounds).

“This is the profit of the past six months, according to the lady’s intention, the whole number is given into whole silver ingots, and the fractions are first stored in the account.”

Wei Ruo liked the heavy silver and disliked the light silver check, so every time Nurse gave Wei Ruo the proceeds from the store she came with heavy silver ingots.

In addition to the silver, the milkmaid also brought the store’s account books for the last six months.

There were also baskets of dried mushrooms that had been sun-dried.

“Xiaoyong is afraid that Miss is not accustomed to eating over here, before coming here, he specially got some of Miss’s favorite mushrooms, all of which are sun-dried, and some of which are deep-fried in oil and sealed inside the jars according to Miss’s former teachings.”

“Nurse, it’s been hard on you, as well as Uncle Xu and Brother Xiaoyong, asking you to follow me on such a long journey.”

“It’s not hard, it’s not hard!” Xu mama said in a continuous voice, “How can I have any hard work, there are carriages to sit on along the way, I don’t even need my legs to rush, I didn’t even take anything slightly important, it’s all Dazhuang and Zhengyong who are busy with their work.”

Xu’s mom’s face was beaming with happiness.

Mother Xu continued, “Being able to help you, Miss, is the happiest thing. If it weren’t for helping Miss, Da Zhuang and Zheng Yong and I wouldn’t know how to live our lives! I never dared to dream that I would be able to live like this before!”

“Have you made the arrangements for the Wyoming North side of town?”

“Miss don’t worry, the manor over there I have entrusted to the old money, he has been in the manor for many years, the work can be assured, the mansion side also arranged for people to watch.”

“Have you shipped everything I asked you to ship over?” Wei Ruo asked.

“It’s all here, three cartloads of sweet potatoes!”

“Good, then I’ll tell you about the next arrangements, I’ve got my eye on Xiaoyang Mountain in the north of the city, you and Uncle Xu go and talk about it, if the price is suitable you’ll buy it and plant sweet potatoes; in the city there are quite a number of fishermen who have lost their livelihoods because of the Japanese invaders, and there are also peasants who have been forced to beg because of poor grain harvests. You and Uncle Xu go to inspect them, and those with good character who are willing to work well will be hired as longtime laborers.”

“Okay, I’ll take my family’s mouth to the north of the city for a proper inspection.”

“Then settle yourselves and find a better mansion in the city. When you are settled, come back to the lieutenant’s mansion and give me the address so I can contact you afterward.”

“Fine, I know, I’ll go back and do it.” Xu’s mom answered in succession.

Mother Xu stayed in Hearing Pine Court for more than an hour before leaving.

Passing by Wei Qingwan’s Wangmei Garden as she walked away, and seeing the crude woman who left in a hurry on her feet, Sister Li happily said to Wei Qingwan:

“Miss, the woman who just went over is Missy’s nanny, I heard that yesterday the nanny’s son was still making a scene at the entrance of our school lieutenant’s residence, luckily the Grand Duke stopped it, or else he might have to make some kind of joke.”

“This way ah …… nothing happened is good ……” Wei Qingwan murmured.

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Mother Xu talked about the price of one thousand taels of silver after negotiating with the Rizheng of Yue Ying Village and the village elders.

The milkmaid then reported the result to Wei Ruo, letting Wei Ruo make up her mind.

One thousand taels of silver wasn’t a small amount for Wei Ruo anymore.

A few years ago she had the intention to start a career but was too young and had no choice but to rely on her ingenuity to make a little money to earn some extra money to improve her life in the countryside.

It was not until the age of ten that I officially started to make a store, but it was very difficult to start, and in a society like that, with no connections and no dependence, it was a very laborious thing to get on your feet little by little.

Until now, a total of only saved more than two thousand silver, one thousand silver is like half of Wei Ruo’s wealth are taken out, if it fails, Wei Ruo’s economic situation will be two years backward again.

Wei Ruo felt that there was no problem and could take it directly, so she let Nurse and Uncle Xu intervene and bought Xiaoyang Mountain at a price of one thousand taels of silver, which would be handed over to the Rizheng of Moon Reflection Village and distributed according to the share of each family.

Xu Zhengyong also skulked around the city for a few days, picking out a few unemployed fishermen who fit what Wei Ruo had said and hiring them as longtime laborers.

The hired long laborers were seeing sweet potatoes as a crop for the first time.

It was only through the explanation of the Xu family’s father and son that they realized that this crop had already been widely planted in the town of Huibei and had gotten a good harvest.

Regarding the origin of this crop, the father and son unanimously said to the public that it was a ship from the South Seas that accidentally brought back a cut of potato vines, which were planted and cultivated by the people who discovered its usefulness.

Immediately after already planting sweet potatoes on a large scale in the town of Huibei, the father and son of the Xu family, who had rich experience in related planting, personally took up the position and led the longtime workers.

You need to bury the sweet potato on the way, wait for it to grow a potato vine, and then cut the vine for cuttings.

The three loads of sweet potatoes they shipped from Wyoming North could send out enough vines for cuttings.

The longtime workers quickly got the hang of planting and got busy.

The maintenance costs of growing sweet potatoes on a hillside are much lower than the maintenance costs of reclaiming terraces for rice cultivation.

The long laborers couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, they had thought that their employer had hired just a few of them, and having to manage a whole mountain of rice was exhausting enough just thinking about it.

At the same time, mom Xu had also found a good mansion to settle down in, not too far from the school captain’s house, so it was easy to come and go.

After arranging all this, Mama Xu made another trip to the school captain’s mansion, handing over to Wei Ruo the deeds signed with the longtime workers, and the deed to the mansion she had bought.

Regardless of what Wei Ruo said, the milkmaiden still means the same thing, these industries are Wei Ruo’s, they help Wei Ruo to do things, get some wages can be.

Wei Ruo had one more task for mom Xu.

“Nurse, help me inquire about the piece of wasteland south of the city; I’ve heard that the Japanese are now mainly roaming east of the city, and that the south of the city is still safe.”

“The barren land south of the city? That’s a pretty barren piece of land, isn’t it? The land by the sea can’t even grow crops, what you plant dies.”

“Well, that should be the case, if the land wasn’t barren, I don’t think it would have become a wasteland.” This was in Wei Ruo’s expectations.

“What is Miss asking about that barren land?” Mother Xu asked in disbelief.

“You go and ask around for me first, I may have a way to turn waste into treasure, if I can grow plants on the saline land, I can save myself the cost of buying common lower, but also employ more long laborers, and the plants that are grown can also solve the problem of not enough food in XingShan County that needs to be purchased in large quantities from abroad, so that more people can eat.”

“Alright, I’ll go ask when I get back.” Although Mother Xu also felt that the matter of growing crops on saline land was a bit of a stretch, she unconditionally trusted Wei Ruo.

Over the years, the young lady had broken their perceptions time and time again, making a lot of things possible that they originally thought were impossible.