Chapter 128
As for the early-ripening varieties of oranges, they are naturally supplied to Fusheng Trading Company and the royal family in Beijing first. The rest of the oranges are then sold to others.
Tangerine peel takes time to process, but marmalade and canned oranges can be produced in a short time, so she also plans to use some early-ripening oranges to make marmalade and canned oranges and sell them during the New Year period.
After all, the New Year is the most important festival for the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty. The goods sales market during this period is also the largest. The sale of oranges is also seasonal. Of course, it is cost-effective to make the most money during the best time.
As for late-ripening tangerines, of course we have to first satisfy those customers who placed orders early last year.
In fact, according to the orders, most of this year's late-ripening oranges have been sold, and the remaining ones are the ones she kept for making orange jam and canned goods.
I wonder if this batch of newly transplanted oranges this year can bloom and bear fruit in time.
Because orange trees are divided into early-ripening and late-ripening ones, depending on the growth conditions of the orange trees or the supply of nutrients, if the conditions are good, the batch of oranges transplanted this year may also bloom, but the flowering period will be much later than those transplanted in the normal season. If this really succeeds, her orange grove will still be able to harvest fruits after November this year. Then this batch of oranges can be considered to be shipped to the port for sale, or all used to make jam and canned food.
If there are too many oranges by then, she can also consider developing new products, such as orange candy.
I heard the old farmer who came to her house once said that a large part of the oranges harvested by the Liu family in the past were also obtained through cooperation with sea merchants going out to sea.
There are many cargo ships and merchant ships heading to Southeast Asia at the other end of the port. They not only buy large quantities of oranges to sell to various countries in Southeast Asia, but also the ship owners and their servants, as well as the passengers on the ships, all have a huge demand for oranges, especially those who travel long distances.
Gu Ran also understood the reason.
It's sepsis.
Whether it is a short or long voyage at sea, the inability to replenish vegetables and fruits in time often leads to nutritional imbalance, and the body's functions cannot maintain metabolism, which will cause sea drift sickness and sepsis.
Therefore, both merchant ships and passenger ships will store a lot of citrus fruits to meet the needs of sailing.
The coastal areas of Minzhou have convenient shipping and high demand for citrus fruits, which is also the reason why citrus farmers in this area have no worries about sales.
This is also the reason why Gu Ran has been able to sell all the oranges he harvested in the past two years, whether at the Lucky Wharf or the port.
It was precisely because of this realization that Gu Ran, after contacting Eunuch Ren, dared to continue purchasing large quantities of mature orange trees to expand the plantation.
And she thought further.
Although marmalade and canned oranges have a much longer shelf life than fresh oranges, it is more cost-effective to stockpile marmalade and canned oranges than fresh oranges when sailing. Her goods are also very popular when they arrive at the port. However, what if there is an orange product with a longer shelf life than marmalade and canned oranges?
For example, orange candy?
So Gu Ran planned that if there was a good harvest of oranges this year, he would definitely set aside some to try making orange candy.
Both soft and hard candies are fine.
But if we want to make new products, we will have to recruit more short-term workers and find a workshop specifically for making orange candy.
The orange grove was expanding, and when she was away, Lu Boyi had hired more guards. With more guards, the number of servants and kitchen staff naturally increased. He also asked Uncle Wu to build a few more houses outside the orange grove for the newly added servants to live in.
There will be more employees hired periodically, and I will have to tell Uncle Wu about their food, clothing, housing and transportation.
But after Gu Ran returned, he told Lu Bo and Lin Erlang about this matter. He mentioned that when the orange harvest was good, officials would come to Dunzi Island to inspect the Gu family's oranges to be sent to the Imperial Palace. Both of them were stunned.
"Boss, are you saying that we should do business with the royal family?"
"Then the oranges we grow will be used by the emperor, right?"
"That's right, you can also just call it Gu family tribute orange." Gu Ran nodded with a smile.
Lu Bo and Lin Erlang were overjoyed, "Isn't that amazing?"
"It's nothing special. As long as you know someone in the palace and have good goods, you can do business with the royal family."
It's the same principle as tribute pears and tribute dates elsewhere.
"Ah!"
Uncle Lu glanced at Mr. Gu and shook his head.
If you want to do business with the royal family, you must first get to know the people in the palace!
If Mr. Gu had not gone to the capital and informed the emperor about the orange planting when he met him, and had the reputation of General Qiao, how could he have made friends with Eunuch Ren?
Luck, this is luck.
"Lin Er, hurry up and tell the people outside that the oranges here are tribute oranges favored by the emperor, and that the government will come to our island to purchase them in the future. Ask them to be careful when they come to the island and not damage our orange trees, otherwise they will not be able to bear the consequences." Lu Bo made arrangements immediately.
Lin Jilang: How could those gentlemen from the island enter the orange grove? They're all outside!
But he nodded repeatedly: "I understand, Uncle Lu, I will arrange for someone to spread the news immediately."
Gu Ran looked at Lu Bo with a smile.
That is, by spreading the reputation of Gu's tribute oranges, customers will come to order her oranges without her having to go out and look for them herself.
"That's right. The palace wants the early-ripening oranges, but Fusheng wants more too. How are we going to divide them then?"
"Let's focus on the ones in the palace first!" Gu Ran said, "Leave the best ones to the government first, and then pick the best ones from the rest for Fusheng."
Although she didn't want to admit it, the people living in the Imperial Palace were the most noble people in the Great Sheng Dynasty, so the best oranges had to be sent to them. Otherwise, those masters who had the power of life and death would be unhappy with the oranges. Not to mention not doing business with her Gu family, she was afraid that they would destroy the Gu family's oranges with a wave of their hand or a word.
Besides, now that she wants to use the title of "royal official" to promote her own oranges, she has to show some sincerity.
"I estimate that if everything goes well this year, the appearance and quality of our early-ripening oranges will stabilize. By then, when we pick the oranges, whether we send them to the palace or sell them to Fusheng, the quality shouldn't be much different." Gu Ran said, and then asked Uncle Lu, "Did you do what I asked you to remind Old Man Zhao and the others in the spring?"
"I've done it. How could I forget your instructions, Boss? I watched them finish the work."
"What was the result?"
"It's fine. Just as you said, Master Gu, the fruit branches were grafted in and they're growing well in a month," Uncle Lu explained. "And the other sixty or so orange trees didn't survive, just like you said. Then we waited for the orange tree in the courtyard to grow new branches, and then we re-grafted them one by one. Now they're growing well too. If you don't believe me, go and see. The flowers have faded, but now the trees are full of fruit."
What Gu Ran and Lu Bo were talking about was grafting the red tangerine branch she brought from her second life onto an early-maturing tangerine tree.
In the experimental field, the first batch of orange trees grafted by Gu Ran himself showed different results during last year's harvest season.
Some showed no change at all, some early-maturing orange trees had their flowering delayed after grafting, some had their flowering and fruiting delayed after grafting late-maturing orange branches, but the biggest change was seen in the grafting of red orange branches.
Whether it is an early-ripening or late-ripening variety of orange trees, including the wild orange trees originally on Dunzi Island, which have been grafted with red orange branches, the oranges produced this year have all become sweeter and juicier without exception.
Perhaps it was because the tangerines were carefully cultivated by her, and were once otherworldly creatures that absorbed spiritual stones, so the fruits they produced were originally sweet and delicious. When grafted onto the rootstock, these traits were also transferred to the local tangerine trees, thereby improving the quality of the tangerines.
After realizing this, Gu Ran looked at the red tangerine tree that had been transplanted into the courtyard of the big house: now with a large area of soil for growth, as well as plenty of water and sunlight, the red tangerine tree had grown rapidly in the past two years, and now it had grown to more than ten meters tall, which was really gratifying.
The oranges produced tasted the same as before.
Looking at the lush and green tangerine trees that looked like big umbrellas, Gu Ran immediately had an idea: since grafting tangerine branches can improve the quality of tangerines, wouldn't it be better to graft tangerine branches onto local tangerine trees as much as possible? Wouldn't that help improve and stabilize these tangerine trees?
That's why after she harvested all the oranges last year, she called three fruit farmers, including Uncle Zhao, and taught them how to graft fruit branches: because Uncle Zhao and others have been growing oranges for so many years, they are probably more likely to do this delicate work than others.
As Gu Ran expected, they quickly learned this grafting technique, so he told them to select fruiting branches and graft them onto early-maturing orange trees when the red oranges sprouted the second batch of new leaves in the spring.
Her goal was to graft all the orange trees at once, but she also had to consider not affecting the growth of the fruiting branches of the red oranges, so she would graft the early-maturing varieties of orange trees in batches, one batch a month, until all were completed, and then graft the late-maturing varieties the following year.
In order to prevent Mr. Zhao and others from neglecting this matter, she specifically instructed Mr. Lu to remind them of this matter when the time comes, to urge them to complete the grafting, and to send someone to look after the tangerine to prevent others from breaking or cutting it and damaging her precious tangerine.
He glanced at the orange tree outside that was full of small green fruits, and knew that Uncle Lu was watching Uncle Zhao and others to complete the grafting work he had instructed, and also to protect the red orange well. Only then did he feel relieved and talked about making new orange products.
"Uncle Lu, I'm also planning to make some orange candies. I'll pick a spot in the orange grove. You'll keep an eye on it and hire someone to build two more workshops."
"Okay, okay, boss, please tell me the workshop requirements in detail, and I will arrange for someone to do it right away."
After Uncle Lu heard Gu Ran finish explaining the requirements for the sugar-making workshop, he added, "Right now, it's the off-season for farmers in every village. How about inviting Uncle Wu San from our village? The house he recently built for you is already completed, so he probably won't have any major work to do lately."
"Okay, that's exactly what I meant."
After she came back, she had not yet gone to see the Cat House and her own villa that she had paid money to Wu Sanbo to build across the river before leaving, so she planned to go and take a look.
Gu Ran took the donkey cart and continued to go to the back mountain. Along the way, he watched the scenery of the orange grove change from the fruit-bearing to the withering flowers, and then to the full bloom of snow-white flowers.
After leaving the huge orange grove, we didn’t walk far before we saw the Shen family’s beautifully built villa. There were people inside!
It was Mrs. Shen and Grandma Shen, mother and son.
Mr. Shen and his son returned to Xiaxi Village early in the morning after settling the matter of the head of the Shen family. Shen Erlang had already returned to the official school to continue his studies, but Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang had not been seen for a while recently, and no one knew where they had gone.
When she came ashore today, she didn't see the Shen family's beautiful boat.
The Shen family came to the island to escape the summer heat. It was already mid-June, and the weather in Minzhou was originally hotter than elsewhere. It was already scorching hot before the dog days of summer arrived.
Seeing the people in the Shen family villa from afar, Gu Ran didn't say hello to them. He drove the donkey cart directly past them, passed through the woods, and arrived at the river. He found that the wooden bridge that was originally paved with several planks had become a stone bridge.
There were piled stone piers on both sides of the river bank, about three inches above the ground. They were paved with large stone slabs, so the donkey carts were very stable when they went on them.
After crossing the bridge and passing through a patch of woods, we arrived at the place that was originally a rocky area.
But now all the stones on the ground have disappeared. It is estimated that when Uncle Wu San brought the craftsmen to build the house, he moved all the remaining stones on the ground and used them, such as the stone bridge just now, the cat yard that can be seen from afar now, and the mansion that belongs to her built against the mountains.
The donkey cart stopped at the foot of the mountain.
Gu Ran went to see his mansion first: at the foot of the mountain was the front hall with a saddle wall. After entering, there was a yard of half an acre, with green grass and shrubs on the side, a stone-paved path in the middle, and corridors under the eaves on both sides, winding and wide, but extending all the way to the other end of the other gate.
This gate is the main entrance of the mansion. After entering, there is a hall. Inside the hall is a long corridor that goes through the mountain. It is winding and curved. One corridor leads to the houses on this floor, and the other continues to go up along the mountain to the houses on a higher floor.
The house on the first floor is used for living and eating. Three large wing rooms and two side rooms were built, which were used as the main hall, banquet hall and dining room respectively. The side rooms can be used for living of the workers hired to work.
The second floor is a place for rest and relaxation, with two large side rooms and two small rooms. The main side room is naturally for her and Liu Niang, and the side rooms are used to entertain guests.
Because she spent an additional three hundred taels of silver on the basis of using local materials to build the house, and gave Wu Sanbo and others plenty of time to build the house. This mansion was different from the big house in the orange grove before, and also different from the small house she lived in Xiaxi Village. She sent craftsmen and stonemasons to spend a lot of time to build it. Many green plants were planted between the wing rooms. Pavilions and waterside pavilions were also built according to the mountain terrain. The doors, windows, and pillars were also carved with flowers and magpies, which were exquisite and elegant.
However, the tables, desks, and cabinets in the side rooms were not furnished and looked like they were just empty.
Gu Ran was extremely satisfied.
She was now quite well-off, and she would buy some elegant and beautiful furniture later on.
After looking at his own mansion, he went to see the big house specially built for the Daju family.
Well, cats build big houses. Not only do they want to live in a big house, but Daju’s family can also live in a big house.
The cat house is right next to the front hall. Although it was built on an acre of land, it was mainly to provide a spacious place for the furry cats to move around. The most important thing about the house is that it has high walls around it, which do not prevent the furry cats from going out, but also protect them from possible harm from enemies.
The house was only built to one-third of its original size, which is about 100 square meters.
According to her request, a simple building style was built with two floors, and small rooms were separated inside, allowing Maotuanzi to choose which one he liked to stay in. Three large rooms were also left, one for living, one for storing cat food, and one for a kitchen.
The large patio outside the house is also covered with green grass and shrubs. Against the wall is a row of green bamboos and several specially transplanted green trees, specifically for the furry cats to climb on. Custom-made cat climbing posts and cat vine nests are also placed under the corridor, staggered and orderly.
Outside is the activity area, a large piece of ground paved with stone slabs, which is washed clean and can be used by furry balls to run and roll around.
At the northernmost corner, which is also the farthest from the mansion where she lives, there is a loosened mud ground covered with mud and sand scooped from the river. This is a natural cat toilet, a place for the furry balls to poop.
After a period of time, when the storage capacity is felt to be almost full, the top layer of mud and sand will be dug out, cleaned, and then covered with new mud and sand, so that the cat house can be kept clean.
It is the big house that I want to settle down for Daju and his family.
So, we can choose an auspicious day and move Daju's family here.
After returning to the cottage that day, Gu Ran told Pei Liu about the mansion and cat house he had built on Dunzi Island.
"Are we going to move them all there to raise them?"
"Except for the three pregnant female cats, all the other cats will move there first. If any cats can't adapt to life there, we'll bring them back."
Gu Ran looked at the furry kitties in the house who kept calling out for cuddling and rubbing, and felt reluctant to leave.
However, as the number of Big Orange's offspring increases, it is no longer suitable to keep them in the small house. Now, even after giving General Qiao two furry balls, there are still more than 20 cats left, and three more female cats are about to give birth, so the number will definitely increase.
It would be better to send them to a bigger world.
"If we send them to the island, we won't be there all the time. Who will take care of them?" Pei Liu asked worriedly.
"When I came back, I visited Madam Shen. Their villa is on the island. They don't usually live there, but they still want servants to look after the house. So I discussed with them and gave them a sum of money to two servants who are willing to help take care of the cats. They are usually responsible for feeding Maotuanzi twice a day and cleaning up the cat poop once a month." Gu Ran said, "Plus, when we go to the island, we can also deliver food to Daju and the others or cook food for them. We can also stock up on dried fish and shrimp for them in the kitchen. I think the cats will have enough food and drink."
"If that's the case, that's good."
So, on a sunny afternoon, Gu Ran went to the market and bought a lot of rattan cages. He put more than 20 cats into the cages, comforted them, borrowed a carriage from the Shen family, and transported them to the ferry.
They used their own cargo ship to take the ship to Dunzi Island.
The guys in the orange grove were surprised to learn that Boss Gu had moved a large family of cats to the island. They saw the cats in cages from afar and wanted to see them, but were stopped by Gu Ran.
There was no way. These cats had never seen the world and stayed at home in the small house. They were most afraid of seeing people. After transporting them for such a long time, Gu Ran noticed that some cats were stressed. He quickly comforted them and did not stop. He went straight through the orange grove and arrived at the cat house at the fastest speed. After entering the house, he opened the cages on the car one by one and took the cats out.
The furry balls were very frightened at first when they came to the new environment. They lowered their tails, curled up their bodies, and squatted beside Gu Ran and Pei Liu without moving. It was not until Pei Liu asked the servants from the Shen family to come and help bring out small fish and shrimps and coaxed them to eat that the furry balls gradually relaxed.
After eating, the brave ones lowered their tails, raised their ears and looked left and right. When they realized there was no danger, they began to let loose and wander around to explore the new world.
Cats are wild by nature. Regardless of whether they are male or female, after making sure that the surroundings are safe, they will go out to explore the yard one by one.
Gu Ran and Pei Liu let them play.
He drove the carriage into the house and then stored the cat food he brought in the kitchen: he would cook for Maotuanzi in the future, so this place would be dedicated to him. On one side was a stove, and on the other side was a large cat restaurant, where the cats would also be fed.
They sent the cats to the island and had to stay with them for a few days. First, they had to let the cats get familiar with the new house and teach them where to sleep, eat and play. They also had to help the two servants who came to take care of the cats get close to the cats. Finally, and most importantly, they had to teach the cats where to poop, so as to avoid making such a beautiful cat house dirty.
Fortunately, cats are clean creatures, and fortunately, cats are smart. They dig up the cat poop and go to the other side of the cat toilet. After each fur ball takes it and smells the smell, they all learn: Meow, that is the place for poop, go there and dig a hole.
In just three days, these furry balls had adapted to life here. They even had more fun playing here than in the cramped space of the small house. Each one became excited and jumped around all day long, which made Pei Liu and Gu Ran unable to get enough of watching them.
During this period, Mrs. Shen and Grandma Shen also brought their daughters to see the cats that Madam Gu brought. They were stunned by the sight of the entire cat paradise.
"Mother, mother, they are so cute!" Jiaojiao came into the house and looked at the cats, one here and one there, some lazily lying in the sun, some climbing up trees, and two hugging each other and falling over. She stared at them with her eyes wide open, her little face flushed red, and she kept shouting, "Mother, mother, I want one, this one?"
He was young and didn't know what the thing he saw was called, so he turned around to look at his mother.
"Raccoon slave, it's raccoon slave."
"Cats, these are cats!" Mrs. Shen said.
"Mom, I want to have a cat too!" Jiaojiao said with anticipation.
"Okay, then Jiaojiao, come over and help auntie take care of the cats, okay?" Gu Ran took the opportunity to say, "Jiaojiao, help auntie take care of the cats. All of auntie's cats can play with Jiaojiao!"
"Okay." Jiaojiao agreed immediately.
After that, Mrs. Shen and Grandma Shen would bring Jiaojiao to see the cats from time to time, as if they had three more little helpers in raising cats.
Now Gu Ran was completely relieved. After returning to Xiaxi Village, he prepared to go into the mountains to pick red mushrooms.
Later, it was discovered that there were many more traces of hunters breaking into the basswood forest, which was originally sparsely populated.
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