Chapter 1638 My Ambition
Manbao ignored her father's words. She had not yet told him that she would provide them with wheat seeds.
She went straight to Bai Shan to discuss quietly, "Can your family provide all the wheat seeds?"
Bai Shan said, "It shouldn't be a big problem. It's only the autumn harvest. There was a drought near the capital this year, and Longzhou was also affected a little. Grandmother must not have sold the harvested wheat."
So he should be able to gather hundreds of acres of wheat seeds.
Bai Shan asked, "This is also a big deal, why don't you tell Uncle Zhou?"
"Let's wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival," Manbao said, "I want my father to have a good holiday."
Bai Shan thought so too. Once they brought the wheat seeds over, Zhou Bo would use them even if it hurt him.
Bai Shan turned to consult with his grandmother.
Old Lady Liu had guessed it long ago. The three children had made a lot of money by relying on the new wheat seeds. Now the new wheat seeds have basically become popular, and the court even often distributes good seeds to the people. However, these people who rented official land are still using the old seeds they kept, and the children will definitely have to change them.
Either buy it or make your own.
The former costs a lot, and for the latter, Luojiang County is too far away from Yongzhou, but Longzhou is not far away, and it only takes three or four days to go back and forth, so she guessed that they would get it from Longzhou.
Old Madam Liu was still very happy. She said to Bai Shan, "This year, the entire capital area was hit by drought, and Shengzhou was hit by floods. I guessed that grain prices would rise, so I didn't sell the wheat from this summer's harvest. However, the Ministry of Revenue allocated the grain properly, and the grain price in the capital is currently very stable. It rose by less than two cents some time ago, but now it has fallen back, so this wheat is a good bargain for you."
Bai Shan immediately said with a smile: "Grandma, Manbao didn't ask us for nothing. We will return it to us after the harvest next year."
Madam Liu smiled and said, "I know. Given the relationship between our two families, do we really need to be so polite?"
She said, "I'll have Liu Gui return to Longzhou tomorrow and have him escort the wheat seeds here. But I want to ask you, are you planning to turn this official farm into a farm like yours?"
Bai Shan pondered for a moment and then said, "Grandma, farming is very hard. I find the principles of this world very strange. My education and the books I read all tell me that land is very valuable. Even the changes of dynasties were caused by land. But I have calculated that the returns from land are not high. Yet, everything in this world, no matter what it is, is inseparable from land."
"A piece of Shu satin can cost anywhere from five dang coins to a hundred jin. The difference lies in the silk, but also in the craftsmanship of the people who make it. However, the mulberry leaves that silkworms eat all come from the land. From the time the mulberry leaves are planted until the Shu satin is worn, the wearer, the merchant, and even the craftsman can become wealthy. Only the person who first raises silkworms and plants mulberry trees seems to remain poor. Why?"
Mrs. Liu: ...How does she know why?
No, why should she think about such a question?
Why did Shanbao think about such a question?
Just as Old Lady Liu was about to speak, Bai Shan sat down at her feet and said, "But farmers don't always stay poor. Look at the farmhands in our small village. They were so poor at the beginning."
They were so poor that they didn't even have a change of clothes, let alone a house or to get married and have children.
As a result, after only a few years, let alone clothes, he already has a house, a wife, and children. Although two of the children are not his own, they are still adopted children, right?
Now they have enough food and clothing, and they also have a share of the large flock of chickens, ducks and geese raised in the farm. We can't guarantee that they will have meat to eat all the time, but we can guarantee that they will often have eggs to eat, which is not worse off than that of ordinary rich families.
"And Uncle Zhou's family. Manbao's family didn't have an easy life before, but isn't it doing pretty well now?" Bai Shan said, "So the problem isn't with farming, but with the people."
“I’m wondering how I should farm this land.”
Mrs. Liu: …She just asked one question.
Bai Shan continued to talk to her grandmother about her worries. "In the past, my grandmother always asked me to carry on my father's legacy, so I wanted to seek justice for my father and become an official like him. But now I have a vague idea of what I want to do in the future."
Madam Liu's heart immediately settled down. She smiled and asked softly, "What do you want to do in the future?"
Bai Shan's eyes lit up and sparkled. He said, "Let's do something that will bring peace to the world and allow the people to live and work in peace."
Madam Liu nodded in satisfaction, and patted his head, a rare gesture, and said softly, "Go and rest."
After he left, Madam Liu was still in a state of confusion for a long time. After a while, she said softly to Madam Liu, "This child has grown up."
Aunt Liu smiled and replied "Yes".
Manbao, who was eavesdropping outside the window, reunited with Bai Shan and asked, "Is this how you want to convince Madam Liu?"
“This is clearly my intention.”
Manbao was very confused. "But you told me during the Chinese New Year that Confucius had three aspirations: 'to comfort the elderly, to have the trust of friends, and to cherish the young.' You are young and have limited ambitions, so just vowing 'to comfort the elderly, to have the trust of friends' is enough. It shows that you have made your ambition long ago. Why are you only telling Grandmother Liu now?"
Bai Shan tapped her nose and said, "It's none of your business. Just wait for the wheat seeds to arrive from Longzhou."
Manbao wrinkled his nose and snorted, "What a treacherous person."
However, she did not go to Old Lady Liu to expose him, because it was late at night, so they both went to wash up and go to bed. The next morning, they went to the other two miles to check on their remaining more than 100 acres of land.
In fact, they are almost connected, but these more than 100 acres of land happen to be within the scope of another two miles, so they are under the management of another village head. Manbao showed them the list and determined the scope of the official land, and then went to Putian Village.
After thinking about it for a night, the people in Putian Village all agreed to Manbao's request, and then began to wait anxiously for the rent.
Manbao himself breathed a sigh of relief, then pretended to have expected this. He took the bookcase from Daji, opened it directly, and took out the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone. "In that case, let's register today. Today happens to be Mid-Autumn Festival, so everyone should have a good holiday. Tomorrow we will start preparing the fields for wheat planting."
The head of the village quickly agreed on behalf of everyone, and then asked people to bring tables and chairs from home to cook for them.
Manbao was grinding ink as he said, "I've seen the documents. My thousand acres of official land, including the one hundred acres at the farthest end, was previously rented by people from your village."
The village head smiled and replied "Yes", "This is also the government's requirement. Otherwise, it would be difficult to collect rent if we separate them."
That's why he was worried. He didn't want to manage the official land. Not only would it be troublesome, but if he couldn't pay the rent, he, as the village head, would be held accountable.
If you accidentally meet a bad official and his demands are strange and excessive, life will be difficult for everyone.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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