The entire plot of land is about seventy or eighty acres. The Lianhe River is not far away, so water is very convenient. Looking ahead, you can also see Niutou Mountain, another plot of land she plans to buy.
With the designated plot of land in hand, they returned to the village head's house and, witnessed by the brokers, signed the deed. As they signed, the village head said, "Young lady, once this deed is signed, I will distribute the money to the villagers. It will be difficult to get it back later, so you should think it through."
The broker was getting impatient. What was wrong with these people? Why was it so hard to make money? Meng Zhao smiled, didn't say much, and simply signed his name. All that was left was to go to the yamen to complete the contract.
Since he wanted to handle everything at once, Meng Zhao had the village head wait, and then followed the broker to the two villages belonging to Niutou Mountain. After signing the contract, Meng Zhao remembered what the broker had said earlier, that the villagers would usually go up the mountain to chop firewood, so he said to the two village heads:
“I heard that people in our village usually go to Niutou Mountain to cut firewood. How about this: I will provide saplings, and you can find someone to plant them. As long as the saplings I prepare every year are planted, I will allow you to go up the mountain to cut firewood again. What do you think?”
The mountain is so big, and Meng Zhao can't just build a wall around it to keep people out. Even if she buys it, villagers will probably still come up the mountain. It would be better for her to allow them to come up the mountain directly, offering a small favor while also setting some conditions.
Even mountains containing limestone aren't completely barren of trees; if you select the right saplings, they can still be planted.
Hearing this, the village heads of the two villages were overjoyed. After all, if they didn't go to Niutou Mountain to chop firewood, they would have to walk a much longer distance. Besides, everyone knows that planting trees is a way to bring blessings to future generations. Many of the trees on Niutou Mountain today were planted by their ancestors.
Now that Meng Zhao is not only willing to let them cut firewood, but also willing to pay for saplings, this is truly a great thing, and they immediately agreed.
After everything was settled, it was time to go to the government office to transfer the property. When they arrived at the government office, they ran into Zhang, the shopkeeper, who was about to go out to patrol the streets. Meng Zhao greeted him with a smile.
"Officer Zhang, are you getting ready to patrol the streets?"
When Constable Zhang saw Meng Zhao and the others, he stopped and walked over, replying, "Yes, on patrol. Madam Meng and Brother Gu have some business to attend to at the yamen?"
"Didn't we mention to Constable Zhang before that we were planning to buy land in Hongnong County? We've already found a suitable place, so we're here at the yamen to transfer the ownership."
Meng Zhao might not know much about Constable Zhang, but he was very familiar with the other people present, including the brokers. Constable Zhang was an upright and incorruptible man. He would handle minor matters that the county magistrate couldn't concern himself with.
Some of the local thugs and ruffians would avoid him like the plague, never daring to cause trouble in his presence. But when they saw Meng Niangzi, they were surprised to find that she knew Zhang Butou, and they looked at Meng Zhao with even more caution.
Although Zhang Butou knew that Meng Zhao had come to buy land, he was still somewhat surprised to see that she had found a place so quickly and brought so many people to transfer the property, indicating that she had bought quite a lot.
Originally, only people from the county could buy land in the county. However, since no one was buying land in the county, the requirements were relaxed, and people from other counties could also buy land. Since one person finally came, Zhang Putou had to show a friendly attitude, even if it was for the good of the county.
So he said, "Madam Meng is really efficient when it comes to doing things. She has chosen a place so quickly. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come to the yamen to find me."
"Alright, thank you very much, Officer Zhang."
After saying that, Constable Zhang led his men to patrol the streets. The rest was just a matter of going through the formalities. Meng Zhao paid the money readily, and the village heads were very cooperative. The brokers, having just seen Constable Zhang, didn't dare to cause any trouble, and all the paperwork was completed without missing a single step.
From now on, this large piece of land and two mountains in Hongnong County will be under Meng Zhao's name.
The next morning, everyone sat around the table and ate breakfast together. After breakfast, Meng Zhao arranged the work to be done.
Building houses usually involves a lot of earth and wood, but since she was building a workshop and a pig farm, she needed something extra sturdy. So she first asked Gu Yun to go to a nearby brick kiln to inquire about prices and order some suitable blue bricks.
After receiving the task, Gu Yun didn't dare to delay and immediately went out to find a brick kiln.
He then instructed Gu Changwu to contact a construction team, preferably one from nearby villages with readily available manpower. He wanted to find as many people as possible to ensure the workshop and pig farm were completed as soon as possible.
Once the ordered bricks were made, the foundations for the workshop and pig farm were almost finished. Truckloads of bricks were transported to Dazhai Village, and the villagers were stunned to see the mountains of bricks piled up.
Ever since the land was sold, the once quiet village has become lively, with something new happening every day.
Gu Changwu led the construction team to the village and began building houses. Because a large number of laborers were needed, all the able-bodied young men in the village were recruited. After careful counting, there were twenty or thirty people in total. Who builds a house with such a large scale? It must be building a whole estate.
As a result, hiring people to build houses wasn't enough, so Meng Zhao also had Shen Yun find two women to cook for the workers, so they could eat meat slices at every meal. Normally, they wouldn't dare to eat like this even during the New Year.
Meng Zhao did this to speed things up. Xiao's expansion was too fast, and orders kept increasing. The workshop in Shenjia Village was about to reach its production limit. If she didn't quickly replace it with a new workshop, Xiao Youzhi would probably come to talk to her again.
When Meng Dashan went to buy pork, he made connections with the butchers in the county and inquired about where there were pregnant sows. He then went to each of them to reserve them, hoping to bring the piglets over once the pig farm was built.
Xu Ping was also being arranged around by Meng Zhao. He was familiar with everything needed in the workshop, such as stone mills and water vats. He would buy what he could and have what he couldn't buy made to order.
Meng Zhao then led Xiao Chuan to purchase many items that might be useful in the future. After such a busy period, another half month passed.
Next, we just waited for the house to be completed. Just then, Chef Zhou came over and said, "Madam Meng, my second uncle and I are opening our shop in a few days. We were thinking of asking you to come and oversee things for a few days. I wonder if that would be alright?"
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