Chapter 497 Land is the Foundation

Cheng Wanwan asked Kong Xiuniang to bring out the clothes.

A men's cotton undershirt was placed on the table and passed around for careful examination.

Some of them were involved in the fabric business. Just by touching the fabric, they knew why it had caused such a stir in the market. Even businessmen who didn't know much about the clothing business knew that this fabric was something special. No matter how much it cost, as long as it was something that hadn't been seen on the market before, it would definitely attract wealthy people.

Bai Qi spoke first: "Do the people of Sui'an have any goods on them?"

"Manager Bai is a smart man." Cheng Wanwan smiled. "To be honest, I have about 15,000 sets of cotton undergarments on hand. Because Hu Ji launched its products earlier and gained an advantage, this batch of goods is now stuck in my hands. That's why I wanted to ask for your help. However, we're talking business. You don't need to go against your conscience and help me clear out my stock just because I'm from Sui'an. That's not the kind of scene I want to see."

These are all long-time business partners, and there are some things she doesn't want to hide; it's better to tell the truth.

As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Qi immediately said, "My soap sales are already on track, and I'm just thinking about finding new avenues. I've taken the orders from the people of Sui'an. However, I heard that Hu Ji's business is booming because of the name of Dahe Village. But outside of Huzhou, the name Dahe Village might not be as effective. Since I don't know what the market prospects are, I can only order a thousand sets for now."

"Manager Bai, please don't rush. I haven't mentioned the price yet," Cheng Wanwan said calmly. "The cost of adult and children's clothing differs due to their body size. Adult clothing is one tael and fifty cents per set, while children's clothing is one tael and twenty cents per set. If you have considered it and have no problem, you can come to Manager Yan to register and pick up your goods."

The merchants each had their own calculations in mind, and they quickly began to do the math.

They brought soap back from Dahe Village. There were some empty seats in the car, so it was no trouble to bring some clothes back.

If this garment can fetch two taels of silver in Huzhou, it might not be unsellable elsewhere. Even if it doesn't sell for two taels of silver, it shouldn't be difficult to recoup the cost. At worst, you can keep it until next autumn and bring it to Huzhou to sell; that would be feasible.

It is an honor for the people of Sui'an to ask for their help, and they must not let the people of Sui'an feel embarrassed.

“I’m going to Jizhou this time. It’s a northern place where it’s already snowing. These cotton undergarments should be very popular. I want a thousand sets.”

"It's a pity I'm going to the south, but I can still give it a try. I'll take three hundred sets."

"I plan to take a trip to the capital this time. It is said that the emperor is going to celebrate his birthday, and officials and nobles from all over the country will gather in the capital. I want to take two thousand sets to the capital to try my luck."

"..."

Everyone rushed to speak, and more than 10,000 sets of clothes were quickly divided up.

Kong Xiuniang was dumbfounded.

If they opened their own shops and went to the city to sell, it would take at least one or two months to sell out. This speed was beyond her imagination.

Cheng Wanwan hadn't expected everyone to be so helpful. She smiled and said, "There's one more thing. Now that Dahe Village has built more than ten warehouses, when you come to pick up your goods next time, you can bring some local specialties to exchange with others. If you can't find a time that works out with others, you can temporarily store your goods in the warehouse. The warehouse rental fee is 500 coins per month. If you need someone to take care of it, you can add another 500 coins."

The merchants all laughed.

Every time they come to Dahe Village, they arrive empty-handed, which is a real waste. If they could exchange goods with merchants from other places, it would be like having another business opportunity. Who would complain about having more ways to make money?

Manager Yan smiled and led everyone to the inner room to sign contracts, register, and pay for the goods. Then they went to the warehouse to deliver the goods. Those who needed the warehouse could also make reservations now.

After talking with the merchants, Cheng Wanwan walked to the market. The market was almost finished. The four streets in the east, west, south and north formed a crossroads. The row of houses built in the northeast direction were warehouses. This side was windward and well-ventilated, making it suitable for storing goods.

"Grandma Dashan, isn't this market nice?" The village headman said with a smile. "The street in Ping'an County is about this size. I never thought that our Dahe Village would catch up with the city. It's just that the goods sold here aren't as complete. I hope that more and more people will come to do business in the future."

Cheng Wanwan chimed in, "Once the market is fully built, we'll promote it in the city, and merchants should be willing to rent shops. Things will gradually improve."

Today, Dahe Village has a large flow of people, including farmers at the bottom, workers at the middle level, and scholars and dignitaries at the top. No matter what kind of business you do, there is a market for it.

She paused for a moment and then said, "Recently, many people have come to the village to buy land. Is there any land left in the village?"

“Now everyone in the village has someone working, so no one has time to tend to extra crops. Basically, no one is buying land. Even so, I still plan to leave about two hundred mu of land for the villagers. This land is the foundation of us farmers. If business doesn't work out one day, we can go back to farming, right?” The village head stroked his beard and said, “Those people in the city, they're all rich. I raised the price of wasteland to two taels of silver per mu, and they paid without hesitation, buying fifty or even a hundred mu at a time. But I think renting land is more profitable than selling it…”

This market occupies only two acres and has twenty shops, yet it generates considerable profits, and these profits will continue to grow in the future.

Selling land is a one-off deal; you get a sum of money after it's sold, and then you lose everything. Thinking about it carefully, it always feels like a bit of a loss.

“Selling those wastelands on the outskirts is fine. Even if we don’t sell them, no one will rent them anyway,” Cheng Wanwan said, pointing to the area around the market. “Don’t sell the land around here. Maybe we’ll build a third or fourth phase in the future. The bigger the market, the more the village will benefit. Also, after most of the wasteland in Dahe Village is sold, I’m afraid some merchants will offer high prices to buy the villagers’ fertile land. The village head should issue a notice that if villagers need to sell land, they can only sell it to villagers and are not allowed to sell it to outsiders.”

In this era, land is the foundation of farmers' livelihoods. Once they lose their land, it is very difficult to buy it back later.

As the two were chatting, Yu Jiao skipped over and said, "Auntie, my dad said he's reorganized the village school and would like to ask you and the village head to come over and give him your opinions."

The village headman was delighted: "Master Yu is quick to get things done. Let's go take a look."

This wave of land buying in the village was started by Cheng Zhao. Once Cheng Zhao actually passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, the trend will probably be even stronger.

The merchants were so eager to buy land and build houses that the school naturally had to be put on the agenda as well.

In the past, he and Dashan's mother would definitely have been in charge of setting the rules for this matter, but since the responsibility was delegated to others, he no longer had to worry about these things. He only needed to listen to the results and offer his opinions.

The two followed Yu Jiao to the school.

The school was built near the Zhao family ancestral hall, in a relatively quiet environment, where the students' clear reading voices could be heard, which was very pleasant to hear.