Chapter 379 Follow Manbao
Yang Heshu pondered and asked, "If I had an ox, could it replace a laborer?"
"Oh, sir, you're joking. An ox isn't the equivalent of one laborer, it's the equivalent of three. A person like me can only walk three rows before stopping to rest. A well-fed ox can walk eight or ten rows in one breath. The stamina of an ox is much greater than that of a human."
Yang Heshu hadn't expected the cattle to be so useful, so he quickly asked, "If the government is willing to buy cattle on credit, would you be willing to do so?"
Manbao couldn't help but sit up straight. They hadn't yet discussed what had just happened. Was County Magistrate Yang going to abandon her and find a new love?
"That won't do. Can a family like us afford this cow?"
The other party obviously didn't have Manbao's courage or the determination. He even treated it as a joke. He laughed and said, "Can the government be so kind? If you owe money on credit, you'll definitely have to pay interest. If you can't pay it back, your house and land will be taken away. How unfair would that be?"
"The interest is not expensive, only twelve cents a month for one ounce of silver."
The villagers tutted their tongues and shook their heads, saying, "A cow is so expensive. The government can make money just by sitting there. I won't buy it on credit."
Yang Heshu: ...
He looked at Manbao, who was looking at him with sparkling eyes, and said, "Look at me, I trust the county government very much, really!"
Yang Heshu withdrew his gaze, changed the subject, asked some more questions about farming, and was about to get up and leave.
It happened to be getting late, and the villager's wife saw that they were sitting there talking and not working, so she simply took out lunch and asked the children to come over and eat.
Their family's life was not much easier. They made black steamed buns from ground bran and flour, and there was a pot of cold vegetables in the bamboo basket they brought.
They invited Manbao and others to have dinner together.
Manbao and the others declined, and they didn't force them. Right now, everyone had little food to eat, so they were just being polite.
There were many people who were polite to Manbao and his friends. It was lunch time, and each family walked to the edge of the field, found a wide piece of grass to sit down, opened their bamboo baskets and ate.
When Manbao and his friends walked by, the villagers greeted them, but they refused and never invited them again.
Yang Heshu was very interested in their lunch. He watched it all the way and looked calm on the surface, but he felt very uncomfortable in his heart.
Let alone eating these things, he had never seen them before coming to Luojiang County.
Yang Heshu would not eat it, because the food they were eating was what he had eaten in many farmers' homes in the past two days, and it was really not tasty.
He talked to several other families along the way and asked them if the county government was willing to sell cattle to them on credit. However, to Yang Heshu's surprise, none of the people he asked were willing to do so.
Yang and Shu both suspected that Manbao did it on purpose.
Manbao looked at him and said, "The village chief has a cow, so they definitely won't buy it. Brother Zhou Hu's family is very poor now. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Zhou Hu couldn't plow the fields by himself, so he teamed up with the Zhou family at the beginning of this spring. Although they worked together, they ate separately.
The Zhou family is used to going home to eat because they need to take a break at noon, but Zhou Hu did not go back. He took his two sons to eat lunch and planned to go to his own fields later.
Seeing Manbao and the others coming over, he smiled and waved to them, "Have you had lunch yet? If not, come and have some with me?"
Manbao declined politely, "We've already eaten, Brother Zhou Hu, this is Mr. Yang, here to ask a question."
Zhou Hu looked at Yang Heshu curiously and asked, "What's the question?"
Manbao disliked the fact that Yang Heshu always had to lay out a lot of groundwork, so he spoke directly in front of him: "He wants to ask you, if the county government is willing to give you a cow on credit, would you like it?"
Zhou Hu hesitated and asked, "Do you want money?"
"Yes," Manbao said uncertainly, "Grandma Liu said a cow would cost more than 3,200 coins. But, Mr. Yang, are you giving me credit in silver or copper coins?"
"I'll give you the cow on credit."
"Cows also cost money," Manbao insisted. "If a cow costs three taels and two hundred coins, I can afford the two hundred coins. I can just give you three taels on credit. That way, it's easier to calculate the interest. So, do you want to give us silver or copper coins on credit?"
"Since you want three taels, then of course you're paying on credit."
"Can you give me the silver first? Then I'll take the money and go to the county government to buy the cow. The document I sign with your county government is for a loan of silver."
Yang Heshu looked at her suspiciously. "Why go to all this trouble? Why not just buy the cattle on credit? Just tell me how much you want on credit, sign the IOU, and pay the remaining amount."
"No, that's too confusing. I think it's better to sign a separate contract. I can buy the silver on credit first, and then buy the cattle. The two are separate."
Zhou Hu listened to the two men's discussion and couldn't help but ask, "Manbao, do you want to buy cattle on credit?"
"Yes," Manbao nodded. "Using people to pull the plow is too tiring. An ox is very useful. It can do the work of at least two men. A good ox can do the work of three men."
Zhou Hu lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then looked up and asked Yang Heshu, "Sir, if I can't pay you back in a year, can I sell the cow to pay you back?"
Yang Heshu was stunned, obviously not having thought of this. He frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Theoretically, it's possible, but the transaction must go through the county government, and we must ensure that the oxen fall into the hands of farmers and are used for farming."
This is because they are afraid that they will be slaughtered.
This kind of thing happens very often. The Yang family often does this. Otherwise, how could they eat beef?
"Okay, I'll buy the cow on credit too. How much is the monthly interest?"
Yang Heshu didn't expect him to be so straightforward, mainly because along the way, everyone seemed to not trust this policy very much.
I don’t trust the county government much either.
Zhou Hu didn't look at Yang Heshu, but looked at Manbao and sighed: "Manbao is the reincarnation of a fairy. It won't be a disadvantage to follow her, right?"
Yang Heshu: ...
Manbao felt the pressure coming towards him and said guiltily, "Well, not necessarily..."
Although she also somewhat believed what her mother said about the fairy, she knew deep down that Koko was right and that superstitions were wrong.
Bai Shanbao nodded approvingly at Zhou Hu and said, "Brother Zhou Hu, your decision is right. If my family wasn't so poor, I would have bought a few more on credit."
Zhou Hu immediately said, "I just want to buy one on credit."
So, Zhou Hu and Man Bao looked at Yang Heshu eagerly, "Mr. Yang, do you think we can buy the cow on credit?"
Yang Heshu hesitated and thought, although the steps were different, the results were the same, and there seemed to be no problem.
After thinking for a while, Yang Heshu said, "Of course, you can, but you have to promise that the money you borrow will be used to buy cattle from the county government, otherwise I will fine you."
"Yes, yes, I'll definitely listen to Mr. Yang. By the way, is Mr. Yang the county supervisor or something?"
Manbao was happy and watched how Yang Heshu responded.
Yang Heshu smiled and said, "Now I am in charge of agriculture and sericulture, so I want you to buy some cattle and cultivate more fields."
Zhou Hu praised him generously, "What a good official!"
There's another chapter at 2 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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