Chapter 2564: Drought Resistance (Updated Yesterday)
Bai Erlang likes this kind of fighting with others the most. The main reason is that it does not require too much brainpower, and he has the upper hand, so he can make others suffer secretly. Just thinking about it makes him excited and he can even eat half a bowl of rice extra at night.
Mingda was quite annoyed at first and could not appreciate this kind of fun, but when she saw Bai Erlang for two consecutive days, he would rather reject the invitation of Bai Shan and others and go to Xincheng to watch the manager rent a shop to someone. As long as he saw the stiff smile on the manager's face, he was very happy, and she couldn't help but feel happy too, vaguely touching that edge.
So the couple went to the new city together, and sat in the shop every day, looking down at the shopkeeper and receiving the merchants and travelers who came because of the notice.
With two masters present, the manager didn't dare to do anything, because Mingda and Bai Erlang had already set the floating range of rent, so he couldn't raise the rent to scare people away.
So the merchants that the stewards had gone to great lengths to find turned around and signed contracts directly with the princess, paying rent and getting the shops.
When the managers received the news, they almost vomited blood. They had been looking at this shop for several days and were about to close the deal, but who knew Princess Mingda would show up halfway?
They didn't dare to go to Princess Mingda, so they could only go to the princess's steward in anger.
Although no one has said it explicitly, you have accepted so many gifts from everyone. Both parties hinted at the beginning that you would rent the shop to us at a low price, and we would sublet it to others. As a result, we took the trouble to attract merchants from outside, and you turned around and snatched the shop away from us?
If there is no such logic anymore, will we still talk about the moral code of the underworld?
Compared to the interests of the master and servant, the moral code of the underworld was not worth mentioning. The princess and her husband were sitting in the shop next door. He didn't dare to promise to return the business trip they had already signed the contract with, nor did he dare to let them make too much noise...
If the princess and her husband knew what happened here, he would be dead.
So he could only reluctantly return the items he had received and even make up for it himself. He said bitterly, "This matter is now under the personal supervision of our princess and her husband. You have seen the two notices at the top and end of the street. Until our shop is fully rented out, it will be impossible for you to rent it out at a high price."
"That's not what you said before..."
"I had no idea the princess valued the shops on this street so much," the steward said. "This is just a street in New City. There are only a few people in New City. Our princess owns countless businesses, not to mention the shops in the capital, and even her fiefdoms bring in a lot of annual income. How could I have known that the princess would personally manage the businesses here in New City?"
"Anyway, let's just consider this matter as bad luck."
"How can this be possible..."
"Why is that not okay? I've given you the lowest rent for this shop you rented, and the location is pretty good. Even if you can't rent it out, you can still use it for business," he threatened secretly. "Princess, just sit in the shop next door. Let's both take a step back. It's good for me, it's good for everyone. Otherwise, if there's a commotion, I won't get any relief, and you and your masters won't be able to get any relief."
They fell silent for a moment.
But I still feel unwilling to give up. There are very few people in this new city now. If I spend so much money on renovation, I will definitely lose money in the end.
A few of them gritted their teeth and decided to go back and tell the host that this matter would have to be postponed for a while.
They manage the business for their employers, and if they suffer too much loss, they will be punished at the end of the year.
A lot of shops were rented out at once. Mingda was very happy, Bai Erlang was also very happy, but the emperor was not very happy.
This year, there was a drought in the Yongzhou area of the capital, and other areas in the Central Plains also suffered from drought to varying degrees. Therefore, this year's field holiday was not only started early, but also extended by three days.
Officials who needed to go home to farm were given a total of fifteen days of vacation, including their rest days, which was a full half-month vacation.
He thought his daughter would follow her husband back to the palace to live for a while and accompany her old father. However, after the holiday, his daughter did not even live in the capital, but moved directly to the imperial farm.
Oh, Bai Er also had a farm leave because he said he wanted to go and farm the land in the imperial farm. His boss gave him a note with an indescribable look on his face.
Wei Zhi also took a leave from working in the fields, but he did not take a fifteen-day leave, but a ten-day leave. Even the ten-day leave was not pure, as he would still handle official business after returning to the mansion from the fields every day.
Wei Zhi had a piece of land in Yongzhou, which he bought himself.
This year there was a drought, so he personally followed the farmhands to fetch water to irrigate the fields, then watched them plow the fields, and followed them to roll up their trouser legs and plant rice seedlings.
Unfortunately, that piece of land was very close to the piece of land that Old Zhoutou gave to Manbao as a dowry.
Because of the drought, the two new tenants we found this year changed their minds. They also had land of their own, but they did not expect the spring drought to be so severe. They obviously could not cultivate so much land, so they had to return Zhou Man’s land.
When Old Zhou saw this, he couldn't help but mutter to himself while taking his sons and daughters-in-law to farm.
Manbao and Baishan simply took a leave from working in the fields. They put on big straw hats, rolled up their trouser legs and went to the fields.
There is no canal here, so we can only open the ridges above the fields and release water from each household. However, the water volume in the river is low, so everyone can only carry water.
It was impossible for Manbao to fetch water, so they pulled an ox cart and put the water directly on the cart to transport it over. As a result, when the cart reached the edge of the field, the water had almost been spilled.
Even putting a lid on the bucket doesn't help much.
The two squatted on the car and stared at the bucket in a daze, "It would be great if there was a water truck."
There are water trucks that can deliver water, but where can they find one in the short term? Moreover, water trucks are expensive, and they cannot afford to pay more than the harvest cost just to farm.
Old Zhou came back from knocking over the large clods of earth in the field. Seeing the two children staring at the wooden barrels with frowns on their faces, he glanced at the ox cart and exclaimed, "You've spilled all the water along the way! What a waste!"
Chanting at them, "You wouldn't pick a few large leaves and put them in the bucket and cover it..."
Manbao and Baishan's eyes lit up, and they both remembered that the villagers liked to put a lotus leaf in the wooden barrel when they went to fetch water, so that the water would not spill when it was shaken.
Manbao immediately jumped out of the car and said to Old Zhou, "Dad, don't worry. The water won't be wasted. If it falls on the ground, it will be eaten by the grass. When the grass grows back, our cows will eat it."
Old Zhou: ...How idle they are! The rice and wheat don't even have water to drink, so they are eaten by grass first.
The two of them pulled the ox cart to fetch water again.
Compared with other farm work, fetching water is not too hard.
When they arrived at the river, Bai Shan and Manbao took down the wooden barrels from the cart and filled them with water. Manbao picked some large leaves and put them in the barrels before closing the lids.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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