Chapter 226 Cooperation
After the military officer Si Hu came to deliver a gift, several more people in official uniforms came the next day. In addition to the Xu family members who lived on the outside of the manor, they knew the different uniforms of officials of different ranks. With Chu Qichang's reminder, they knew who the visitors were.
Who knows people like Old Man Chen, Mrs. Chen, Old Man Lu, and Mrs. Lu?
If Sang Luo had not entered Shili Village and started a business, they would have rarely gone to the county town on their own. In their entire lives, how many officials have they seen? Before they settled in Shezhou City, the most common official they saw was the head of the village. The higher-ranking officials, such as the grain collectors who collected taxes every year, were the high-ranking officials who could break their backs.
These people were wearing official uniforms and carrying swords. When they were heading towards the Shen family, those who were originally working on their own hills all hurried over to the Shen family's side. Even Feng Liuniang, who was pregnant, followed from a distance. In the end, they were together with several other families, not far from the Shen family, watching. However, seeing that Shen Lie and Sang Luo reacted well, no one approached them.
Seeing the man talking for a while at Shen's house, and then going up to the top of Shen's hill, and finally leaving in a friendly and happy mood, the whole village was confused. After Chen Lie and Manager Xu sent the man out, they couldn't wait for Shen Lie and Manager Xu to come back, and all of them surrounded Shen's house.
Mrs. Chen first looked at Sang Luo, and when she saw that she looked fine, she breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as she felt relieved, her curiosity came up, and she asked, "Ah Luo, what kind of officials are these? Why are there three officials, and why are their official uniforms in three different colors? Red, green, and blue? Is this because Ah Lie and the others were admitted to the state school?"
Old man Chen shook his head: "That's impossible. I didn't see him going to Xu's house, let alone running up the mountain."
Mrs. Chen wanted to say that Mr. Chu did not go to Xu's house yesterday, but when she thought about whether Chu Qichang wanted Chen Lie and their Dashan to go into the mountains to look for someone, she did not say anything back.
Sang Luo listened with a smile and explained that officials of different ranks had different colors of uniforms. Mrs. Chen was curious: "Who is the highest official?"
"The governor."
"The one in the green official uniform?" He was referring to the Chief Clerk, because Chu Qichang and the others knew him. Among the other two, the Chief Clerk looked older.
Sang Luo shook her head: "That one is the chief secretary, and the one wearing the dark crimson official uniform is the governor."
Mrs. Lu chuckled, "So young? The highest official?"
Sang Luo smiled. Since he could marry the daughter of Chenliu Fan, how could the governor's family be bad? The official position was not determined by age. She praised the young and promising, and then turned the topic to the main topic, saying, "The governor and the chief secretary came together today because my family made a yam dish last night, and Lord Chu happened to see it. They came here to learn how to grow yam."
He mentioned that the government might use grain to exchange the yams from each household.
No one was unhappy when these words came out. Old Man Lu said, "It's better to exchange for food, it's better to exchange for food. I'm more used to eating food."
The yield of yam is high, especially this year they changed the planting method, the harvest is much higher than they used to plant it randomly in the open space on the mountain, so every family will plant yam this year, and they will not plant less.
But it is relative that they will not plant less. In fact, the yam they have now is used as a staple food occasionally. They have been eating it for several years. How can eating yam be as comfortable as eating regular food? If the government wants to exchange food with them, they are naturally willing to do so.
Gan was more shrewd and asked, "Did you tell me how it was changed?"
Sang Luo shook her head: "It is said that it has been handed over to Lord Chu. I think there will be news in the next one or two days. Yams are originally medicinal herbs, and the price should be high, but they are only collected by herbalists. The price will definitely drop after large-scale planting. And the price of grain is high at the moment, so it is really hard to say. Let's wait and see."
This made sense. Gan and the others had also checked the grain prices in the state capital that day, and even the old rice, worms and beans were sold at high prices. But when they heard that it was handed over to Chu Qichang, they were relieved. Chu Qichang was considered a very honest official in the eyes of everyone in Daxing Village. Apart from other things, he brought people from the mountains and gave each family 7.5 taels of silver, and he didn't miss a penny. He also gave the mountains as rewards generously.
Knowing that the visit of government officials was a good thing and something that everyone could accept, they no longer gathered together and went back to work in the fields.
The other families left, but Mrs. Chen stayed.
"A Luo, how much of this kind are you going to give to the government? How much will you keep for yourself?"
Chen Dashan and Zhou Ge went home last night and told their family what happened in the evening. Mrs. Chen praised Chen Dashan at that time. In her opinion, being a clerk was not as good as working with Sang Luo. Even if Sang Luo sold tofu and they grew beans, Mrs. Chen felt at ease.
Now, of course, we have to listen to Sang Luo's arrangements so that we can know how much we can give to the government and how much we can keep.
This year in the mountains, Sang Luo tried to test the fine seeds on a small plot of land. The yield of fine seeds is really high, but it also consumes seeds. Mrs. Chen thought about it and said, "I remember that you had three mu of fine seeds this spring and planted nearly 200 kilograms of seeds?"
When they fled into the mountains, their families had scales. These things were not cheap to buy, and no one was willing to throw them away, so they took them with them. Of course, the small scales used at home would not weigh all the seed blocks to be planted, but only roughly, and most of the calculations were based on estimates.
Sang Luo nodded, "Yes, this year we are just trying it out. Next year we plan to divide the land into several plots and try different planting densities to see how the crops grow and what the yields are. However, given the current situation in Shezhou, the government is also having a hard time. I plan to give all the 400 to 500 kilograms of yams I brought this time to the government, and I will use the ones that are still in the mountains for my own planting."
They came out in a hurry. They were busy clearing the land outside, and a few good hands were busy helping the government recruit mountain people to come out. Therefore, each family in the inner valley still has a lot of things hidden that have not been taken out, such as grain, yams, and sheep raised in the valley.
Mrs. Chen's eyes widened. "Don't you have 700 to 800 kilograms of yam in the mountains? Are you going to use them all for seed?"
Moreover, judging from what she said, Sang Luo originally planned to plant all 1,200 to 1,300 kilograms of yam as seed blocks? ? ? ?
The old lady was greatly shocked. You know, not to mention the coarsely planted mulberry fields this year, everyone has estimated that the harvest from the three acres of finely planted fields is more than 300 kilograms per acre.
If she used more than a thousand kilograms of yams as seeds, please forgive Mrs. Chen, she has never calculated such a large number in her life, and she has no idea how much land can be planted and how much yams can be harvested.
It’s hard to calculate 1,200 to 1,300 kilograms, but the old lady can still calculate 700 to 800 kilograms, because this year, mulberry leaves can produce about 70 kilograms per mu of land. So, 700 to 800 kilograms, let’s say 700 kilograms, for 10 mu of land, wouldn’t that be 3,000 kilograms? ? ?
Three thousand pounds!!!
Mrs. Chen imagined how much there would be, and touched her pounding heart: "You planted so much, but how can you eat it all? Even if you sell it, it can only be stored for half a year at most after it is dug out. If it is not sold out, it will go bad. Besides, every family grows yam, where will you sell it then?"
The old lady was already worried, and she knew that Sang Luo always had rules for doing things, so she calmed down and asked, "A Luo, tell me, is there a way to sell your yam reliably, or can you make it into something that won't spoil for a long time?"
Sang Luo chuckled. She had always been close to the Chen family, especially Mrs. Chen. She simply pulled the old lady to the kitchen to talk: "Grandma, yesterday Dashan said that your family's mountain land is taken care of just like ours. He and A Ge told you when they got home, right?"
"I told you, this is the right thing to do. There is no safer option than following you. Grandma, thank you for agreeing to do this."
The old lady actually knew that the relationship between Dashan and Shen Lie was one of the reasons. Over the years, A'Luo had always been thinking about the rice and sugar water that she and the old man had given her.
Sang Luo said, "Let's not be polite. I've already told Dashan and his wife that there are risks in growing and raising crops. I think you know that too."
Mrs. Chen nodded: "I know, I know. Even if you have a lot of wealth, the hairy ones don't count. Even if you farm, you still have to rely on God to make a living. This is all clear."
At this point, they had just entered the kitchen, so Sang Luo didn't need to say anything else. She went straight to the point and said, "There is something I want to discuss with you. I won't hide it from you. There are many ways to eat yam. If you had said it, it can be made into a food that is easy to sell."
Mrs. Chen's eyes lit up: "Tell me in detail."
Sang Luo smiled and said, "This stuff can be used to make yam flour or yam noodles, whether fresh noodles or dried noodles that can be stored for a longer time. But we can't make it now, we need flour. I plan to find a way to rent a shop in the East City of the state capital after the yam harvest next year, and then we can run this business. We can do this business together, I will provide the recipe and the shop, and you can make noodles and sell them. What do you think?"
"Partnership? Teach us the recipe?" Before Mrs. Chen came, she thought it would be good enough if she could sell the raw materials to Sang Luo, so that her family could earn money from farming. Now, when she heard that the recipe was also to be taught to her, she was dumbfounded.
"Yes, as you know, I have a small family, and making noodles takes a lot of effort. Do you think that between me and Aning, who can do this job every day? I have the recipe, and you have people in your family. I trust the recipe, so I think it's best for our two families to work together. So I'm not afraid of having too many yams, as they can be sold. The flour that I'm worried about is the flour. But the earliest I can really make this thing is next winter, and I think I can buy it. I plan to plant some wheat on the 30 acres of land at home."
In her own time and space, people in the north could only grow one crop of roses, while people in the south could grow two crops, one crop of rice and the other crop of winter wheat. Although no one seemed to grow rice this way here, most people rotated it with beans, as they also worried about poor soil fertility.
But Sang Luo was ready to give it a try.
They came out a little late this year, the fields were not opened yet, and they missed the harvest.
Mrs. Chen was still dreaming: "Are you really going to work with us?"
Fangzi, shouldn’t this thing be kept well covered?
But she also knew that the children in the family were all kind-hearted. Even Zhou Ge, the granddaughter-in-law, was very nice. No one would have any bad intentions. Thinking of this, she straightened her back and patted her chest: "A Luo, don't worry. You can trust us. We will definitely keep this recipe well. If the partnership ends, we will definitely not occupy it ourselves."
At this point, he spit twice: "What are you talking about? This is a good business, why would we stop the partnership? We should run it for a long time."
Sang Luo smiled when she heard this: "It's unknown. There will be a better future in the future, so it won't be a pity to stop then."
This was a good thing to say. Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "Then should I plant more yams this year? But our family doesn't produce as many yams as yours. So, what we can give to the government is not much. At most, we can give about 100 kilograms in exchange for food. I won't be willing to give more than that."
Sang Luo thought it was nothing, and said, "One hundred kilograms is not a small amount, and it's not just our farm. In fact, every family of the mountain people we brought here has seeds. The officials in the government office will know when they go around. Most of these seeds are for people who were originally in the state capital or in the lower counties. Even if we give a little to each household, it will be enough."
Thinking of something, he said to Granny Chen, "Grandma, plant more mung beans on the remaining land."
Mrs. Chen looked at her and asked: "Can green beans be sold as food?"
Sang Luo nodded: "Yes, it's a similar dish. I'll teach you how to make it when the time comes. You can start making it next autumn when the mung beans are harvested."
By the time Chen Lie sent someone back, Sang Luo had already negotiated a business partnership with the Chen family. The only thing left was to discuss how to divide the profits and draft a document.
There is no rush, as the yam and mung beans have not been planted yet. Mrs. Chen has no idea about this. She thinks that their family is just providing labor, and they will accept whatever Sangluo gives.
The old lady was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth. She was thinking about how to keep the recipe given by Sang Luo safe. She thought of the backyard with a big lock that Sang Luo built in Shili Village that year and said, "Our homestead is large. I won't grow vegetables in the backyard anymore. I'll plant them on the hill next spring. There's no rush to build a house. We'll build a big yard next year. Ah Luo, can you help me see how to arrange the things you mentioned? Do we need to build a workshop? Draw a plan and we'll build it accordingly."
An old man and a young man came out talking, their faces full of smiles.
Shen Lie only heard the second half of the sentence and asked, "What workshop are you building?"
Granny Chen said cheerfully, "Ask A'Luo. I have to go back to the mountains to work. I want to use as much of the mountain land as possible by the beginning of next spring."
He said this with a smile on his face and walked away with the wind under his feet.
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