Chapter 543 Planting is on the agenda
The villagers had an idea of the amount, but Ran Qingxuan himself said that he was not sure whether he could really harvest that much.
At this time, many villagers had already stood up and planned to go back.
The eldest sister-in-law knew why Ran Qingxuan gathered everyone and encouraged them to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes. If everyone left, it would be too late to plant in the spring.
"Sixth brother's wife, please think of a solution..."
Ran Qingxuan signaled to his sister-in-law not to worry, and stood on the low platform beside the threshing ground, speaking loudly to everyone.
"Since everyone knows that it is difficult to grow crops in winter, they should also know that what we eat in winter is the food stored throughout the year."
"But when it comes to paying grain taxes in the fall, those with money pay money, and those without money pay grain. Life is tight all year round."
Her words instantly hurt the hearts of many villagers, but what could they do? After all, Ran Qingxuan was telling the truth.
"Gu's wife, you are right, but what if we spend so much effort to plant the crops but end up with nothing?"
Ran Qingxuan finally heard what he wanted to hear. It seemed that he was explaining to the aunt who questioned him, but in fact he was speaking to the whole village.
"You can't grow other crops in winter anyway. Instead of leaving your own land to dry, you might as well try it out first before making a decision."
"Besides, the seeds you grow are not white seeds. I will buy them back at the price of five cents per pound per acre of land."
"Five cents?"
"Maybe... it's a little too little..." a villager muttered to himself.
Five cents may sound like a small amount at first, but if you think about it carefully, if it is true as Ran Qingxuan said, that the yield per acre is not less than two or three thousand catties, then they can earn more than ten taels of silver per acre.
Gu Yanchen knew that someone as smart as Ran Qingxuan would not be easily stumped by a few words from the villagers.
So the villagers began to whisper, but for a moment they couldn't make up their minds.
"Madam, how much are these potatoes and sweet potato seeds?"
The person asking the questions was none other than the man driving the ox cart that was pulling the film for them. On the way, he was the one asking if he could stay and listen.
Seeing that someone had already asked the question, the villagers of Yongfeng Village stopped talking.
Seeing that he was very interested, Ran Qingxuan couldn't help but ask, "What's your name, big brother?"
"My last name is Jin, and my name is Yiguang."
Ran Qingxuan thought that this man might not be from Jinsha Village, so he smiled and asked, "Brother Jin, since you asked the price, aren't you afraid that I will cheat you?"
Jin Yi Guang shook his head and smiled embarrassedly.
“I’m not afraid of you laughing at me. I originally planned to go home for dinner, but in order to earn more money so that my wife, children and mother can have enough food to eat in the winter, I brought the goods here despite being hungry.
This big brother just shared the food with me, and I took a few more pieces because I was so hungry. But I ended up eating four sweet potatoes that were half the size of my fist. I’m burping from the food. ”
"Hahaha…"
The villagers of Yongfeng Village were instantly amused by this remark, and Jin Yiguang scratched his head embarrassedly.
"After listening to my wife's words, I was thinking, if the yield is really that high, and we store the crops after planting them, our family won't have to go hungry during the winter..."
Jin Yi Guang’s words silenced everyone present. Between going hungry one day and having a full meal the next, anyone would choose the latter.
"Anyway, no matter what other people do, I want to buy seeds and plant them."
Jin Yiguang's attitude was very firm, and Ran Qingxuan liked people like him who dared to think and act.
"Okay, of course we have seeds, but... you have to buy them yourself."
She doesn't force anything to be sold, nor does she do anything for free.
The villagers were afraid of taking risks when it came to unknown things, so as the provider, Ran Qingxuan naturally had to be cautious.
Jin Yiguang seemed determined to plant it, and asked, "Madam, how much are the seeds?"
"Depending on the fertility of the land, the amount of seeds per acre ranges from 120 to 150 kilograms."
"So...how do you sell the seeds?"
His family has two mu and three fen of land. Things with such high yields must be very expensive. If they plant all of it, it will probably cost a lot of money...
Ran Qingxuan smiled and said, "A pound of seeds still costs five cents."
"One pound of seeds, five cents?"
"Did I hear you right? How come the seeds are so cheap for something with such a high yield?"
Jin Yiguang thought for a moment and took out a tael of silver and two hundred coins without hesitation.
"I was originally going to use this tael of silver to buy New Year goods, and the two taels of silver were just given to you to help you transport the goods."
“I will use this money to buy seeds…”
Ran Qingxuan went to the Guo family's ancestral home last night. Since the construction materials were piled there, he put a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes under the waterproof cloth, which could be loaded and taken away at any time.
"Someone will take you to load the seeds into the car. When you leave later, leave a roll of film in the car. I will also tell you how to plant them."
"Ma'am, I heard something when we were loading the truck just now. These should be covered with soil, right?"
Hearing him say this, the surrounding villagers also listened attentively.
"Yes, after planting, the film needs to be put on in time to ensure that the seedlings will not be frozen to death during germination."
"Okay, I'll do whatever Madam tells me."
Jin Yiguang's move was somewhat risky, but he and his family had lived in the northwest all their lives. They had fallen asleep hungry countless times, and when they woke up they had to worry about their livelihood.
He never wanted to experience the feeling of being hungry again.
The money had already been given and there was no turning back. He could only pray that what Ran Qingxuan said was true.
When the villagers saw that there were still people who did not believe in it, the members of the Lin clan all looked at their own clan leader.
Lin Sui was a little hesitant at first. After all, if he nodded, his family members would definitely start planting.
But now someone has taken the first step, and the seeds are not expensive. As long as they are planted, the returns can be a hundred times the investment.
"Patriarch Lin, can you please tell me whether to plant or not?"
"kind!"
Lin Sui gritted his teeth and made up his mind. Just like Ran Qingxuan said, most fields were idle in winter, so it would be better to plant food.
Although it takes half a year to earn back the money they spend, if the harvest is good, they can earn back several years' income in two or three months, which is not a loss if you think about it.
Ran Qingxuan knew that forcing them to sell might make them feel uneasy, but directly telling them that the Marquis of Zhenbei needed this batch of grain might lead to unpredictable problems.
"In this case, the clan leaders of both sides will count the number of seeds each family needs, and as for the frost-proof greenhouse, they will be used uniformly."
The amount of land each family has is different, so when one family uses it up, the next family can take over, and there will be no waste.
Ran Qingxuan's goal had been achieved, so he called his family back. In the end, after discussion, each family decided to plant two acres of land, half with potatoes and half with sweet potatoes.
After the film was pulled to the Guo family's ancestral home, Gu Yanchen directly took out four large bags of sweet potatoes and potatoes and placed them in front of Wei Rao.
"Brother Wei, take these with you when you go home, and also bring back a roll of film."
There were 400 kilograms of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Wei Rao took out five taels of silver and stuffed it into Gu Yanchen's hand.
"One thing is one thing, I have to pay you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
