This is a good idea. Collecting all the potatoes in the village and selling them can avoid the situation where there are too many sellers and each household's sales are not high. It can also quickly establish the impression that Xinghua Village is a major potato-producing area in the minds of the public.
Furthermore, these potatoes are quite unusual. What kind of potatoes grow so well? They're so big and plentiful; what if people find them strange?
Selling under the name of Xinghua Village would make the villagers feel more trustworthy.
As for how to distribute the profits, it's very simple: establish a commune, where each household will hand over their goods to the commune, record how much each household handed over, and distribute dividends monthly according to their share.
"That's a good idea, Second Brother, you're really clever. And Lili is clever too. This commune is something I've never heard of before," Shen Jiahao praised.
"No, no," Shen Jialu said. "But Lili, we have this idea, but who are we going to sell to? If it's a small sale, we can go to town or the city. But this quantity is probably not small, is it?"
Lili raised an eyebrow slightly: "Maybe, probably, perhaps... a few hundred koku? A few thousand koku?"
Shen Jialu shrugged: "With such a large quantity, it's impossible to sell it all by setting up a stall in the city. If we want to make money from this in the long run, we need to find a long-term partner that needs a lot of potatoes, such as a grain store or a restaurant."
Lili understood.
You have to admit, my second brother is really smart; I never expected that.
Shen Jiahao was troubled: "But where are we going to find these people? Should we just go and ask them directly?"
“Yes, let’s go ask directly. Winter is coming, and given the current situation in Southern Jin, anyone with a brain knows they need to stockpile grain. Plus, with the Crown Prince embezzling relief grain from Xixiang County, the people are probably on edge. Supply can’t meet demand, so let’s go and supply them.” Lili gave a mysterious smile. “However, I have an even better way.”
*
The next day, Village Chief Ma came to tell Lili that the villagers had a very good response and were all willing to plant potatoes.
Lili then discussed with Village Chief Ma that he should first organize everyone to plow the land to be planted with potatoes. She needed to figure out who to sell the potatoes to, and she also needed to go to Liucheng to bring back the potatoes that were stored there as seed.
Village Chief Ma said, "I was just about to ask who we should sell these potatoes to, but I didn't expect you to have already thought of it, Lili?"
"Hmm, but it wasn't me, it was my second brother who came up with it. Lili's second brother is really amazing." Lili smiled.
"The children of the Shen family are all good children," Village Chief Ma sighed. "Lili, I really don't know how to thank you..."
Lili interrupted him: "Alright, Uncle Village Chief, thank Lili after Xinghua Village gets rich."
Village Chief Ma laughed: "Alright. But as for the grain seeds, I've already told everyone that we'll buy your seeds according to our share, and everyone has agreed. We know the Shen family has plenty of grain and doesn't care about this little bit of money, but it's enough that you're willing to work with everyone. You must accept this money, otherwise we'd be taking advantage of you, wouldn't we?"
Lili nodded: "Okay, then Lili will discuss it with my second brother later."
"OK."
After saying goodbye to Village Chief Ma, Lili and Shen Jialu went to Liucheng with Chen.
Before that, the group went to the embroidery workshop in town.
Although the Shen family's life had improved, the three sisters-in-law of the Chen family still did some embroidery in their spare time. However, the Shen family was busier than before, so they did less embroidery.
Shen Jialu took Lili outside to buy candied hawthorns, while Chen went inside alone.
As always, the proprietress of the embroidery shop greeted Chen Shi as soon as she saw her.
"Madam Chen, it's been a long time."
Chen handed her the things and noticed that she looked a little haggard and her smile seemed forced. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? You don't look like you slept well?"
The embroidery shop owner smiled. The two had worked together for so many years and were quite familiar with each other, so there was nothing they couldn't say.
“My husband owns a grain shop in Liucheng, you know. The people who go to the grain shop are all wealthy families, and they buy a lot at a time.”
Madam Chen had heard that her husband owned a grain shop in Liucheng and earned quite a bit of money. As for why she opened an embroidery workshop in this small town, it seemed that she didn't want to stay at home like other women who were devoted to their husbands and children, so her husband's family opened it for her as a hobby.
But could there be something wrong with the grain store?
Chen knew that Lili was going to the city today to discuss buying and selling potatoes with a grain shop, so she paid a little attention.
"What's wrong? Is business bad today?"
"Not really. As you know, winter is just around the corner, and this year's harvest is not good. Even the wealthy families' estates haven't yielded much. Add to that the drought and famine, and Nanlin County might just become the next Xixiang County."
The embroidery shop owner looked worried. "That's why the grain shops in the city are basically sold out and can't meet the demand. My husband is really worried about this. The supply of grain can't keep up with the demand. My husband can't find a new grain supplier all day long, so he can't sleep well."
"Can't find a grain supplier?" Chen thought of her two sons outside; wasn't that why they came here?
What a coincidence! I ran into someone who came right to my door as soon as I stepped out!
Chen's face lit up with joy, and she chuckled twice. But after receiving a strange look from the embroidery shop owner, she immediately became serious.
"What a coincidence! Our village has grain! Tell us the location of the grain shop, and we'll go there!"
Given the food shortage across the entire Southern Jin Dynasty, how could a small village possibly have any food?
But after working with the Chen family for so many years, she knows that the Chen family is reliable and doesn't seem like someone who just brags.
The embroidery shop owner was skeptical, but he told her the address of the grain shop.
Chen immediately took her two children and rushed to Ruigutang.
Lili felt like she had won the lottery; she could eat as soon as she opened her mouth and wear clothes as soon as she reached out.
Sigh, I won by doing nothing.
Ruigutang was a small grain shop. There were two grain shops in Liucheng: Ruigutang and Fenggutang, which was three streets away.
Coincidentally, Fenggutang is a business owned by the Qi family.
However, due to what happened to Master Qi, the Qi family is now leaderless and can only rely on Madam Qi to temporarily manage a portion of the family's businesses to support the family.
As Fenggu Hall was a large enterprise, Madam Qi was already too exhausted to manage the other businesses. Coupled with the famine, the Qi family simply closed Fenggu Hall and stored all the grain in the hall in their private granary as a precaution.
Therefore, only Ruigutang grain shop remained in the entire Liucheng.
When Fenggutang was still in operation, Ruigutang was large enough to meet the demand.
But once Fenggutang closed down, everyone came to Ruigutang to buy grain, and gradually, Ruigutang could not meet the demand.
Not to mention that wealthy families are busy stockpiling food for winter, and they can't sell a single grain of rice or a single vegetable.
Sure enough, the group followed the road all the way to Ruigutang. Lili saw the shop assistant take out a piece of paper and stick it on the door.
Lili leaned closer to take a look and saw that it read in black and white, "No rice in the shop. Come again when rice is available. When will rice be available? Not yet."
Chen looked into the grain shop and saw that the row labeled "rice" was indeed empty, without a single grain of rice.
There were some vegetables scattered around on the other side, still damp with water, which looked very fresh.
However, there are still quite a few flour and starch products, perhaps because the people of Nanlin County do not like to eat noodles.
The three of them peered out from the doorway. Shen Jialu spotted a shopkeeper-like figure inside and tried to pull Lili inside.
Chen naturally had to go along. What if her two youngsters, fresh out of school, got ripped off in business negotiations?
The shop assistant was wiping the wooden table when he saw a woman come in with two children. He assumed she was also there to buy grain and went up to her with a smile: "Madam, what are you here to buy? Everything we have is here. If we don't have it, we don't have it. Please see if there's anything you need."
Pear's eyes curved into crescents as she flashed a bright smile: "We're here to discuss business!"
Waiter: "Huh?"
Xiao Er looked at Chen Shi with a puzzled expression, but when Chen Shi nodded, he stopped taking Li Li's words as a joke.
The man who looked like the shopkeeper noticed the commotion and asked, "What do you gentlemen need?"
After the waiter explained the situation, Manager Zhao said, "I am the owner of this grain shop. Madam, you said you were introduced by my wife?"
Ms. Chen nodded and recounted what had just happened.
Manager Zhao's expression remained unchanged as he smiled and said, "As far as I know, 80% of the land in Nanlin County has already been taxed, and the remaining 20% will be collected soon. Judging from the 80% already collected, this year's harvest in Nanlin County will be the same as last year, or even worse. As for what you said about Xinghua Village having hundreds or thousands of shi of potatoes, I naturally don't believe it."
This statement is reasonable and well-founded. In fact, if Chen herself hadn't been from Xinghua Village, she certainly wouldn't have believed that Xinghua Village could have hundreds or thousands of shi of potatoes.
Chen looked at Lili.
Lili: "I wonder if you know that the Qi family's villa in the suburbs has been bought by someone to store grain?"
Manager Zhao thought for a moment: "Is it the one that brought in grain in a cart two months ago? Of course I know it."
"That's home."
"ah?"
“Yes, from home.” Lili smiled brightly. “The potatoes in Xinghua Village will soon be planted on a large scale, and at the earliest by the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, we will be able to provide you with at least two hundred shi of potatoes.”
Two hundred bushels? How is that possible!
The largest estate near Liucheng can only provide a maximum of one hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) at a time.
Let alone a whole village!
Lili blinked: "Actually, we can give you more, but you probably don't need that much, right?"
The three-year-old child in front of him seemed to have some kind of magic, making Manager Zhao nod involuntarily: "Yes, just talking about potatoes, we can't sell this many. But potatoes have a certain feeling of fullness, and if there really is no other choice, more people will buy potatoes."
“That’s right,” Lili said. “How about we agree to deliver the goods on the third day of the twelfth lunar month? Two hundred shi of potatoes, not a bit more, not a bit less, cash on delivery.”
The city is currently experiencing a food shortage, mainly because wealthy families are hoarding food.
Ordinary people wouldn't buy that many.
Two hundred bushels of potatoes—given the nature of wealthy families, they would definitely buy some and hoard them, no matter how much.
Two hundred bushels of potatoes aren't unsellable...
Moreover, potatoes are basically planted once a season, and they can be stored for a long time, so there's no worry about them not selling out; they can just be piled up.
That's something I could really consider...
Manager Zhao was pondering this when the waiter beside him secretly pulled him aside: "Manager Zhao, she just said the goods would be delivered on the third day of the twelfth lunar month, but today is already the eighteenth of the tenth lunar month!"
Manager Zhao was startled.
Yes, from today until the third day of the twelfth lunar month, there is less than a month and a half left. She just said that Xinghua Village is about to start planting potatoes, which means they haven't started planting yet.
How could potatoes possibly mature in a month and a half?
But for some reason, Manager Zhao just couldn't believe that the little dumpling in front of him would lie.
"Little girl, are you sure you've got the time right?" Manager Zhao then looked at Madam Chen, "And this lady?"
Ms. Chen smiled and said, "You're right."
Lili and Shen Jialu nodded emphatically: "Mmm!"
Manager Zhao and the waiter looked at each other in bewilderment.
Are these people here to scam and cause trouble?
As we all know, it takes at least two or three months, or even a month and a half, for potatoes to go from sprouting to harvest. Are you suggesting we just dig up a seedling for them?
Manager Zhao was about to wave them away when Lili said, "Manager Zhao, don't be so skeptical. You won't lose anything anyway. Why don't you take a look on the third day of the twelfth lunar month?"
Shen Jialu: "Yes, I guarantee they'll be big, plentiful, and delicious!"
Lili's round almond-shaped eyes were full of sincerity, making it impossible for Manager Zhao to refuse her after just one glance.
Oh well, I'm not losing anything anyway, so I'll just take a look!
After careful consideration, Manager Zhao relented: "Alright, the third day of the twelfth lunar month, right? Two hundred shi of potatoes, bring them here for me then. If there really are two hundred shi, and they're as big and delicious as you say, I'll pay you right away!"
Shen Jialu and Lili exchanged a glance, both of them picturing rolling silver coins.
Money, money, money! We're rich!
"Alright!" Shen Jialu said, "Manager Zhao, shall we discuss the price?"
"At market price, potatoes are four copper coins a pound. How about I calculate it as five copper coins a pound? That's two hundred shi, or one hundred and twenty liang!"
Manager Zhao thought his price was already tempting enough; one more coin per pound, and two hundred bushels would be a full twenty-four taels more.
As a result, Shen Jialu remained silent, and neither did Lili.
Seeing that the two children were silent, Chen thought about it for a while and realized that twenty-four more taels was already quite good. She was about to agree when Shen Jialu interrupted her.
"Shopkeeper, the market price is probably higher than this during this famine year, right? And I bet your grain shop makes a lot of profit, doesn't it? It's because Fenggutang closed down that everyone has to come to you to buy grain, so your prices must be quite high, right?"
Manager Zhao choked.
Shen Jialu chuckled: "If I'm not mistaken, then I must be right."
Lili: "?"
Nonsense literature?
Manager Zhao had a strange expression on his face, as if he didn't understand what he was saying.
Shen Jialu made a gesture: "We won't charge more, eight copper coins per catty."
Chen: "!!"
Manager Zhao: "!!"
Lili: That's right!
"Eight coins?"
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