"No matter what, we have harvested the cotton and put it in the warehouse except for the seeds. We will decide whether to sell it or not when the time comes." This notice has not been issued yet, and its authenticity remains to be verified.
Just as she was thinking this, the notice came down the next day, and the statement was exactly the same as that of the two merchants.
In the evening, when everyone in the family returned home, she gathered everyone together and told them about this matter. Everyone was curious about the origin of this business.
"What's the price? If it's a good price, that's fine. You'll just have to pay for the travel expenses."
Chunxiao felt that things might not be as simple as they thought. "The village has started to harvest cotton now. We need to harvest all the cotton in the village by the end of the month. I'm afraid my eldest and second brothers will have to go to the city to inquire about this matter and find out what the background of Tongyuan Trading Company is and what the price is."
"I'll go. I've been to the county town several times and I'm familiar with it. I'll be back soon."
The next day, Yan Dashan set out early. At noon, people from the government office entered the village. Everyone was startled, but when they realized they were here to collect taxes, they breathed a sigh of relief. Collecting taxes is better than announcing a death. This time, every family paid their share, which surprised the drivers. "In other villages, there are a lot of complaints, but you guys are so self-aware. If everyone was like you, we wouldn't say bad things to each other. It's a good thing for both of us, don't you think?"
The village head smiled and said, "We villagers are all very honest people. We will cooperate with whatever the higher-ups say."
"That's more like it. After making a fuss for a long time and getting beaten, you still have to hand over the grain in the end." The officer patted the headman on the shoulder and said, "You've done a good job as a headman. I will definitely report this to the higher-ups." The people from the yamen drove the cart and left with the things in satisfaction.
As soon as the person left, there was a burst of "Pooh" from behind, "All they do all day is squeeze, what a piece of shit."
"Okay, okay, let's all go back and don't gather here anymore." The village head dispersed the people and went back to his own cotton field.
Yan Dashan returned in the evening of the next day. She was very angry and cursed the county magistrate as a dog official. Yan Bingfa was so scared that he immediately stepped forward and covered her mouth.
When Chunxiao arrived, she saw that everyone looked unhappy. "Is this bad news?" She had a premonition.
"The owner of the Tongyuan Trading Company is the county magistrate's brother-in-law. Not only do they offer low prices, but they also don't pay upfront. I asked around, and they bought wheat and rice for 10 wen per jin, and cotton for 45 wen. They wait two months after harvesting, and they're getting paid. There are so many people in the county now who are cursing them."
This is just a scam. Using power to make money is really shameless. "This price is even lower than the previous one!"
"I've heard a lot about the county magistrate along the way. You know the grain collection in the second half of the year? It started back then, but now it's even worse. Our father-in-law is a piece of shit."
"What are we going to do with all this cotton? Selling it at 45 wen a pound is too much of a rip-off."
"I will never sell it for 45 cents. At worst, I'll just leave it there." Chun Xiao said firmly.
"You're just kidding. If we don't sell this cotton, it'll be stale by next year, and it's hard to say what the price will be then. And the villagers' cotton is in this state, so why don't we just buy it?"
"Mom, this won't work. The original contract stipulated that we would guarantee 50 cents for the cotton. No matter what happens outside, we must harvest the cotton from this village." She looked at Yan Dashan again, "Brother, if we don't sell it locally, why don't we just sell it somewhere else?"
"I thought so before, but now the city gates are strictly checked and these are not allowed to be transported out."
"What should I do?"
"These corrupt officials only know how to exploit the people. Why doesn't anyone file a complaint?"
"Who said no one filed a complaint? I heard people talking about it in the county. A grain merchant was planning to file a complaint, but he was discovered and is still in jail. They say that if the people don't fight the officials, they will definitely lose."
"It seems we can only wait and see."
Zhang Yuqing had been staying at the Dashan family for so many days that she had a basic understanding of their family situation. The more she knew, the more amazed she was. She now knew that the Yan family's current success was all due to Chunxiao, which was completely contrary to what she had thought before. Now the whole village was growing cotton all because of Chunxiao. A woman did the math with her. Their family planted 3 mu of cotton this year. Based on the minimum yield of 200 jin per mu after paying taxes, they would get 30 taels of silver, which was equivalent to planting more than ten mu of grain before.
Only then did she realize that this one acre of cotton land could actually make so much money. No wonder her uncle told her to plant cotton next year. Even if she only had one acre of land, she could still earn 10 taels of silver, enough to raise her children.
From this process, she saw hope in life. She thought that she could borrow 10 taels from her uncle and buy two mu of land. With three mu of land, she would not have to worry about her future. Although the two children helped with the work of picking cotton seeds every day, they ate well and slept well every day and were very happy. Yan Bingfa prepared meat for the two children every few days, which made Zhang Yuqing feel very embarrassed. Zhou asked her to live well and let her go after she finished the housework.
The days passed by in a busy manner. By the end of the month, all the cotton in the farm had been harvested, and everyone started pulling out the cotton branches. The village had also harvested several crops of cotton. Chunxiao agreed with the head of the village and the villagers that to ensure that no household's cotton was left out, she decided to gather the cotton together on the last day of October. By then, everyone could gather the cotton and bring it over, but the first step was to make sure that the cotton seeds were removed.
Everyone was naturally delighted to hear her promise, as it meant half the money was already in their pockets. Each family calculated their share of the money, and the more they calculated, the happier and more excited they became. Some families were so excited that they couldn't even sleep at night.
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