After a moment of contemplation, Li Yumei suggested a candidate, "Let's find Granny Li. She was very skilled at embroidery when she was young. Now that she's older and her eyesight isn't good, she can't do embroidery anymore, but she can still sew a flour sack without any problem."

"Moreover, Granny Li's husband, son, and daughter-in-law have all died, and she only has a little granddaughter to raise. She lives a miserable life. Giving her this job will allow her to earn some pocket money."

Meng Zhao nodded and asked Li Yumei to make the arrangements.

After she finished teaching the workers how to determine whether the potato residue needed to be rinsed, she saw Li Yumei come over with Granny Li, and next to her was none other than Shen Yun, who had sold her the green plums.

When Shen Yun saw Meng Zhao, she quickly went over to her and said, "Sister Meng Zhao, what are you doing here?"

"I'm also in this workshop. Are you here to help your grandmother?"

The little girl nodded. "Yes, I usually help my grandma thread needles at home."

When they first met, she thought the girl was only ten years old, but later she found out that she was actually twelve.

Shen Yun grew up without parents and with her grandmother. She lived a hard life, often going hungry and cold, which naturally prevented her from growing tall.

Each bag needs to hold 50 jin (25 catties) of starch. Meng Zhao has high standards; the stitches must be tight and double-stitched to prevent starch from leaking out.

So it takes a bit longer to make. The price is one coin per bag, and the grandfather and grandson can earn about twenty or thirty coins a day.

Once all these bags are made, they should be able to earn around 200 coins. If they use them frugally, it should be enough for the grandmother and granddaughter to eat for a month or two.

When the village head returned, he showed Meng Zhao the day's account book.

The purchase price of potatoes was 10 copper coins for 7 catties. Shenjia Village bought 300 catties, and Xiahe Village bought 1200 catties. In addition, they bought 10 bolts of hemp cloth. The total expenditure was less than 4 taels of silver, and all of this was paid in cash.

The reason for keeping such detailed records is not only to facilitate subsequent accounting, but also to cover another major expense: paying taxes.

After all, this is a formally established workshop, not just a place where you can just set up a stall and pay a stall fee. They have to pay commercial taxes on time according to regulations.

Meng Zhao knew nothing about tax payment and relied entirely on the village head's explanations.

"The founding emperor ended the chaos in just over twenty years. When His Majesty was young, he also followed the founding emperor in his campaigns and witnessed the suffering of the people. At first, the tax system was relatively lenient."

"However, in recent years, I have heard that things have not been peaceful in the north. The imperial court has been training new soldiers and collecting grain and fodder, so tax revenue has gradually increased again."

"Especially the commercial tax, which has increased several times, is now about one-fifteenth of the total tax."

The contract for Chunfenglou was worth 675 taels in total. My 20% profit was 135 taels, and I needed to pay about 8 taels in taxes.

In Meng Zhao's mind, this ratio was still completely acceptable.