Chapter 434 Acquisition

Xu Zhichun also felt regretful. If it were normal, the sweet potatoes and potatoes would have been brought into the workshop by now to start trial production of sweet potato flour and potato flour in small batches. But now, nothing can be done. All he can do is wait.

Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

When the cotton was being harvested in Zhuangzi, Qingyang County, Xu Zhichun was worried and specially took Chunfen and others with him to go there.

Fortunately, Manager Wu was familiar with the job and everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

He Biaotou and his men did not dare to be negligent and took turns to guard the place day and night.

With them around, Xu Zhichun felt much more at ease.

She thought to herself that she had made the right decision to hire them.

Who could have imagined that this would happen by accident?

The pure white cotton flowers in the cotton fields were picked, deseeded, and dried, then piled up like a small hill on the ground. Not only was Xu Zhichun, the owner happy, but everyone in the village was also delighted.

A good harvest always makes people feel good, at ease and full of hope.

More importantly, everyone is busy picking cotton every day, going out early and coming back late. Although it is very tiring, the wages are very generous.

The lady also said that after the harvest, every household will receive cotton based on the number of people, with at least five pounds per person. If everyone works hard and does a good job, they will receive more.

Cotton is a good thing, but it is expensive, and it is difficult to buy good quality even if you have money.

Everyone can see with their own eyes that the cotton produced in Zhuangzi is of very good quality.

Just as they were collecting the cotton, someone came from the provincial capital, Yang Zhifu, saying that he wanted to buy all the cotton and send it to the front line where the war had broken out.

Magistrate Yang sent his personal advisor, Mr. Mo, to come in person.

"I heard that Madam Xu planted a lot of cotton this year. We'll take it, no matter how much. But Madam Xu is afraid that she'll be at a disadvantage in terms of price. Madam Xu knows the current situation. The government really can't afford much money."

"These cottons are priced at fifty cents per pound. Is that agreeable to Madam Xu?"

If Xu Zhichun was just the wife of an ordinary country squire, Governor Yang would not have been so polite. But Governor Yang knew Liang Minglang's identity, so how could he dare to act recklessly?

He was just testing the waters by offering fifty cents for a pound of cotton. If Xu Zhichun wasn't willing, he wouldn't force him and would have to accept it.

Xu Zhichun didn't know what was going on and was stunned when he heard it.

If she remembered correctly, the market price of cotton last year was fifty to sixty wen per catty. She had been prepared for Yang Zhifu to give her twenty to thirty wen per catty, but she didn't expect it to be the same as last year's market price?

Yes, the market price of cotton has now risen to one hundred coins per catty, but at this critical moment, this is an urgent material needed by the military. Even if the court just said it would be requisitioned for free, no one would say anything against it.

Magistrate Yang is such a good official!

Xu Zhichun sighed in his heart and stood in awe!

Seeing she remained silent, Master Mo assumed she was unhappy and hurriedly added, "This price is indeed a bit low. It's understandable that Madam Xu isn't willing. How about this? Sixty wen per catty? Seventy wen? I'm afraid the government can't afford that much silver right now. I'll write Madam Xu an IOU, and when this war is over, Madam Xu can just go to the government office and cash it in."

"Master, you misunderstood," Xu Zhichun said with a quick smile, "Fifty wen is already a lot. I know it's not easy for the court. Forty wen will do."

"Okay, okay—how much!"

Master Mo opened his eyes wide and was completely stunned, and Manager Mao was also dumbfounded.

Xu Zhichun smiled: "Forty cents, not much, right?"

“Not more, not less, not less!”

Master Mo came to his senses and hurriedly shook his head, sighing with excitement and admiration. "No wonder everyone praises Madam Xu. Madam Xu is truly virtuous. I shamelessly agreed. This way, if we can scrape together the money, we can pay Madam immediately. Madam, please prepare the cotton as soon as possible. If you need it, I will contact the county government and ask them to send more people to help."

Xu Zhichun was delighted and nodded quickly, saying with a smile, "That's great! This way it will be faster. The warehouse has already collected more than half of the goods. Lord Yang can send someone or a car to transport them away."

"Okay, okay," Master Mo beamed, bowing to Xu Zhichun. "I'll arrange it right away. By the way, how many kilograms of cotton are there in this warehouse?"

Xu Zhichun knew the number without even looking at the account book. "About 100,000 jin."

"well!"

Master Mo was even happier. Winter was coming soon and cotton was a hot commodity. The more the better. After purchasing it, it had to be sent away immediately, so the sooner the better.

Manager Wu felt secretly regretful and heartbroken. Forty cents per pound, forty cents! When he heard this price, he wanted to become a profiteer.

Even if you borrow money to do this business, you can still make a lot of money steadily.

One hundred thousand catties of cotton at forty cents per catty is only four thousand taels of silver, but if it is based on the current market price, you can make at least eight thousand taels.

Madam is really generous

Although it was painful, Manager Wu and others were even busier and continued to harvest cotton.

This is to be sent to the front line, and no one dares to neglect it.

For no reason, they felt a sense of pride in their hearts: they were working for the imperial court, and if the imperial court won a battle in the future, they would also have contributed to it!

Xu Zhichun also asked Master Mo, "I have some herbs, including Strychnos nux vomica, turmeric, Panax notoginseng, ephedra, asarum, cassia twig, and Angelica dahurica. Do you need them?"

Master Mo's voice trembled with joy, and he smiled so brightly, "Yes, yes, yes. No matter how much Madam has, I'll take this too. These herbs are also in great demand right now."

They were being bought everywhere, and Master Mo, who had originally been clueless about these things, was now forced to learn a lot. The names of the herbs Xu Zhichun read out were either for treating injuries or colds, and they were exactly the categories that were in very high demand.

Xu Zhichun smiled thoughtfully and said, "It's not that much. I don't remember the exact amount, but it's probably around 60,000 to 70,000 kilograms in total."

She didn't know what the appropriate amount was, so she weighed it herself and reported this amount.

In fact, it wasn't much, but she couldn't take out too much. If she took out too much, it would seem too abnormal.

Even so, it was enough to make Master Mo happy.

"Okay, okay, that's great! Madam Xu, thank you so much! But I'm afraid I'll have to write an IOU for the money first."

There is not a single penny left.

Mr. Mo was also feeling miserable. The government office was truly impoverished, and everyone was tightening their belts to get by. Fortunately, the autumn harvest had come, and this year was a good year, otherwise life would have been unbearable.

Unfortunately, Xijiang Province was connected to the fiefdom of King Yuchang, and the defense cost a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources.

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "That's fine. If I want to buy land in the future, I'd better ask the government to give me a lower price."