Chapter 350 Cotton Harvest
"How's the situation? Did you buy land in Wuwei County?" Sui Yu asked at the dinner table.
Sui Liang nodded, "I've found it, I'm back to get the money."
"Is it inside the city or outside the city?" Sui Yu asked again.
"Inside the city, near the east gate." Sui Liang came to his senses and explained, "I misheard. I didn't buy the land. I took a fancy to two shops. Both have yards behind them. I plan to buy them and connect them to do just the food business. We were a step too late. Wuwei County has two more guesthouses. I've been staying in the local guesthouses for a while. These two guesthouses are similar to ours, with guest rooms, barns, and livestock pens. But they're not as cleaned as ours."
"Was it built by locals?" asked Zhao Xiping.
Sui Liang nodded, "These merchants from Wuwei County should be old acquaintances of ours."
"Forget it then. We only deal in food and fodder." Sui Yu said, "Did Song Congzu buy land in Wuwei County?"
"He bought it. He paid a high price for 50 acres of reclaimed wasteland. He plans to use it all to grow golden grass," Sui Liang said. "I discussed with him that after our food shop is established, we can partner with him in the food and fodder business. He can sell the golden grass he grows to caravans through us, and then he can use the money to come to Dunhuang to buy food and fodder to feed his camels, so he doesn't have to transport the grass all the time."
"Buy low and sell high. We can't help him do business." When talking about business, Sui Yu suddenly became shrewd. "He is different from Xiaozai's aunt. I can't take care of him like I took care of Xiaomi's business before."
"I understand." Sui Liang nodded.
Zhao Xiping handed Sui Yu a bowl of skimmed chicken soup and said, "See if you can drink it."
"Yes, my brother is back. I'm in a good mood, and my appetite is good too." Sui Yu drank half a bowl of chicken soup in one breath.
Sui Liang smiled. He looked at Zhao Xiping and said, "Brother-in-law, if you beg me, I will stay at home for a few more days."
Zhao Xiping ignored him and said, "You still remember Captain Yang, right? He's the father of Yang Erlang and Yang Sanlang. He came to me yesterday and wanted to be your matchmaker..."
Sui Liang instantly wilted, and he surrendered: "Brother-in-law, I was wrong."
Zhao Xiping snorted.
"Is it true? Why didn't you tell me?" Sui Yu asked, tilting his head.
"It's not suitable. I rejected it directly and didn't tell you." Zhao Xiping scooped her a spoonful of fried broad beans and said, "The girl Captain Yang introduced is his eldest niece. I've heard that she's beautiful and arrogant. I think Sui Liang is not bad-looking, and I don't see him being proud of his appearance. Their personalities are not compatible. You're not greedy for beauty, are you?"
"Don't be greedy." Sui Liang personally served a bowl of soup to his brother-in-law.
"What kind do you like? Tell me, and I'll keep an eye out for you if someone recommends one to you." Zhao Xiping took the bowl of soup.
Sui Liang pointed and said, "Brother-in-law, you should know best what it's like to be like my sister."
Zhao Xiping lowered his head and drank his soup without saying a word.
The kid looked left and right. The table was quiet, so he finally had time to gnaw on a chicken leg. He chewed with his ears erect.
Sui Liang felt something was wrong, and he urged, "Brother-in-law, say something? What do you mean?"
"You're just dreaming." Zhao Xiping laughed at him. "Find it yourself. I don't have the ability."
Sui Yu found that Sui Liang had not yet come to his senses. He did not even have a specific fantasy about his spouse, whether passionate, smart and capable, or easy-going and generous, rather than a living reference object.
"I'm full." Sui Yu put down his bowl and chopsticks, ending this meaningless topic. "Brother Liang, now that you're full, go back to your room and have a good sleep. How many days did it take you to get back from Wuwei County?"
"Ten days."
Sui Yu frowned, "Traveling day and night? Don't rush like that in the future. A month has thirty days, and twenty of them are spent on the road. This time you go back, settle the food store business, and then come back. You don't have to come back once a month."
The kid nodded and said, "Uncle, it's okay to come back once every two months."
Sui Liang didn't answer. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, stretched himself and said, "I'm going to bed."
The cub wiped his mouth and ran away.
Zhao Xiping was the only one still eating at the table, and Sui Yu sat down to accompany him.
"Your brother is back, but your little follower is lost." Zhao Xiping said.
"I'm not jealous. This is called returning the property to its original owner. I borrowed it for this month." Sui Yu smiled. "How's the cotton harvest on the land I rented?"
"Not bad, I estimate we can harvest 200 catties per acre." Zhao Xiping poured another bowl of rice and said, "I'm going to go see Captain Qu this afternoon and ask him to send a team of soldiers to patrol at night to see if there are any cotton thieves."
The patrol arrangements went smoothly, with three teams working in shifts. With them, the cotton growers were freed from the cotton fields.
Sui Yu arranged for Xiao Chunhong and Xiao Xi to go to the military and civilian settlements to pass on the message, so that the cotton farmers could come to her to find work after finishing their own work.
"Picking cotton for half a day earns one penny, and breaking a pound of cotton costs one copper coin. One person can break about 20 to 30 pounds of cotton in half a day. Although the pay isn't as high as picking cotton in the fields, it's better to avoid the sun and the pain. There's also the job of crushing cotton seeds, which pays two copper coins for crushing a pound of cotton seeds." Sui Yu said, "You can choose from these three jobs. Except for picking cotton, which requires you to start and end work on time, you can come and go as you please for the jobs of crushing cotton and crushing cotton seeds."
"I'm going to the fields to pick cotton. I'll be free tomorrow morning."
"Let me pick the cotton. I can't handle the heavy farm work."
"I'm going to the fields to pick cotton, too. What time do I start work?"
“…”
Sui Yu called A Shui and Hua Niu and asked them to come over to register.
With the help of this group of people, the cotton accumulated at home was deseeded within five days, and 3,378 kilograms of cotton fluff was sold to Jinxiu Weaving Workshop.
This year's cotton was monopolized by Sui Yu. She still sold it at last year's price, twenty coins per catty. The first batch of cotton fluff sold for sixty-seven thousand five hundred and sixty coins.
Sui Liang stayed at home for ten days. Seeing that the household chores were going on in an orderly manner, on the tenth day of the seventh month, he proposed to leave.
This time, Sui Liang was going to Wuwei County with 10,000 coins. Sui Yu had wanted to arrange for Qingshan to lead the escort, but Sui Liang disagreed. He took Dazhuang with him and helped Song Congzu bring ten servants from home. The twelve of them left with 20 camels carrying the money box.
Sui Yu and Xiaozai went to see them off as usual. When they returned, the mother and son went to the clinic with great enthusiasm.
"Congratulations, I've felt the pregnancy pulse," the old doctor said. "According to the pulse, I estimate that the pregnancy pulse has been on the upper body for two months. The baby will be born in February or March next year."
Sui Yu smiled, "Is the pregnancy stable? When I was pregnant with my eldest son, I didn't vomit or feel sleepy, but with this one, I feel sleepy and vomit."
"It's normal, there's nothing wrong." The old doctor withdrew his hand. "Go home and take care of yourself. Just don't do any heavy work. Sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry, and don't eat if you don't have an appetite. Don't think too much about it."
Sui Yu let out an "Ah" and led the cub away.
"The baby won't be born until February or March next year? That's still a long time." The kid sighed after leaving the clinic.
"Time flies. In two months, my belly will be bulging." Sui Yu went to the stall to buy two straw hats and two fans. She and her cub walked back wearing straw hats and waving fans, with two camels following slowly behind them.
A month later, the second batch of cotton wool sold 4,100 kilograms, and Sui Yu earned 82,000 coins.
At the end of August, the cotton harvest season came to an end, and the third batch of cotton lint only weighed 1,580 kilograms.
In total, Sui Yu's 72 mu of cotton yielded just over 9,000 kilograms of lint and about 9,000 kilograms of cotton seeds, for a yield of 250 kilograms per mu. Of the 72 mu of cotton fields, 40 mu was government land, and the 40% grain tax paid was equivalent to 4,000 kilograms of cotton.
On the second day of September, cotton growers, escorted by patrolmen, each carried their cotton to the north of the city to sell.
Xiaozai, Ashui, Huaniu and Aqiang took out the account book registered at the end of spring. Five cotton seeds were equivalent to one cotton seedling. The cotton grower returned the cotton seeds, and the debt in the account book was cancelled.
A cotton seedling can produce twenty or thirty cotton bolls. The cotton seeds harvested from one cotton boll can offset the debt owed by the cotton seedling. After cotton growers hand over the owed cotton seeds, they still have a lot of surplus cotton seeds on hand.
"A pound of cotton wool costs fifteen cents, and a pound of cotton seeds costs three cents." Sui Yu took out a sheepskin roll and sat at the door of the teahouse. Erhei and five maids stood on his left and right, and they were responsible for weighing and settling the bill.
"Don't think cottonseed is cheap. I'm selling it to you cheaply too. Unlike cotton, it can't be shipped out of customs, so it can't be sold at a high price." Sui Yu explained, "Cotton is only expensive temporarily because of the low supply. In two or three years, the price of cotton will drop, and it will probably be similar to the price of grain."
The woman at the front of the line did the math and figured that at this price, after paying taxes and rent, an acre of cotton could fetch about 750 coins. Since two or three of them worked together on one acre, each person would get 250 coins, which was more than enough for them.
"Forty-three pounds of cotton wool and forty pounds of cotton seeds." Erhei counted.
"The total is 765 coins." Sui Yu quickly calculated, "How many people planted this cotton?"
"Three people."
"We can plant more next year." Sui Yu said, "The next one."
"Forty-one pounds of cotton wool and thirty-eight pounds of cotton seeds." Erhei counted.
Sui Yu looked up and asked, "Why are there three or four pounds less cotton seeds and cotton than others?"
“It was stolen.”
"Didn't catch the thief?"
"No."
"Next." Sui Yu shouted.
It took a total of ten days to harvest the cotton. From the 558 mu of cotton, Sui Yu received 23,500 kilograms of cotton fluff, which she sold to Jinxiu Weaving Workshop. She made a profit of nearly 120,000 yuan from the difference.
As for paying the grain tax, she handed over the third batch of 1,500 kilograms of cotton and added 2,500 kilograms of cotton seeds. The person responsible for this was Zhao Xiping, and he had no objection at all.
In mid-September, Zhao Xiping sorted out the collected cotton taxes. He arranged for Ma Nongjian to lead a team, escorted by the army, to deliver 48,360 kilograms of cotton to Chang'an.
At this point, this year's cotton planting has come to an end, and only the cotton stalks in the field have not been pulled out.
The autumn harvest season has arrived, and caravans from inside and outside the Great Wall gather together in Dunhuang County.
Jinxiu Weaving Workshop collected 30,000 kilograms of cotton fluff, which would have to be made into 3,000 quilts. Owner Du worked day and night, and he wanted to do the work with great care, but there was a problem with the manpower.
Sui Yu recommended cotton growers to him. They didn't know how to weave cloth, but they could learn to fluff cotton.
For her sake, Master Du hired a group of strong cotton growers to pick cotton.
"Shopkeeper Yu, can you please ask for me which caravan brought dyes? We have three colors in stock and they are not enough." Master Du came over.
"I have it. I bought it in Chang'an." Sui Yu stood up and said, "I'll take you to see it."
Seeing her bulging belly, Master Du instinctively reached out to support her, but then felt imprudent, so he quickly withdrew his hand and said, "You take a break. Just point out someone to take me to see her."
"It's only been a few months. It won't affect my walking." Sui Yu stroked her belly. She would walk around the guesthouse every day, and coupled with her restraint in eating, the child was five or six months old, and she didn't gain much weight, so her belly wasn't that big.
After opening the warehouse door, Sui Yu asked Master Du to go in and take a look. "They are all in the boxes against the wall."
Master Du was as excited as if he had seen his own father when he saw the dye. He carefully tasted it in the warehouse for a while, then came out and said, "Shopkeeper Yu, I want all eight boxes of dye. How about two hundred coins a box?"
"Two hundred and thirty coins."
"Deal, I'll go back and get someone to move it," said Du Fangzhu. "Shopkeeper Yu, next time you buy dye, please send it directly to the weaving workshop for me."
Sui Yu locked the door of the warehouse and left the guesthouse with him. After they left, she pointed to the nearby warehouse and said, "I'll definitely have a stock of dyes in the future. Master Du, come and have a look when you're free. I have a lot of good stuff."
The warehouse had been completed, with the doors and windows open to let in moisture. Looking inside through the open door, one could see many horizontal wooden shelves and partitions made of wooden boards.
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