Chapter 303, Peach Blossom Village
Yan Zhigao was indeed busy. Everyone in the Yan family had dinner in the old lady's yard, but he didn't come back.
Daohua, Yan Wenxiu and the other two came back on the first day and wanted to pay their respects to him, but it was already dark and no one showed up, so Mrs. Li asked the four of them to go back and rest first.
Early the next morning, before daybreak, Daohua came to the main courtyard.
Mrs. Li had already gotten up, but Yan Zhigao was still sleeping.
"Why are you up so early?" Mrs. Li looked at her daughter in surprise.
Daohua lowered her voice and said, "Mom, you forgot, I have to go to Shahe County with my uncle to look at the land today."
Mrs. Li: "There's no need to get up so early."
Daohua: "Uncle San said that we should go early and come back early. We don't know what we will be delayed for in the meantime."
Madam Li nodded and asked Pingtong to bring a bowl of almond tea: "Eat something first."
Daohua did not refuse. She had to take a boat later and couldn't go hungry, so she picked up the almond tea and started drinking it.
Madam Li asked Pingtong to prepare some desserts for the journey, and then she warned, "There are many refugees in Ningmen Prefecture. When you leave, listen to your Third Uncle and don't run around rashly on your own. Oh, and bring more people with you to avoid any accidents."
The rice flowers responded obediently.
She never refuted her mother's concern and nagging. She knew that only when her mother was reassured could she go out to the backyard.
"Mom, I'm leaving now!"
After drinking a bowl of almond tea and eating some cakes, Daohua took Wang Maner and Guyu to the third courtyard.
Mrs. Li watched her daughter leave the room. At this time, she heard a noise in the bedroom, so she walked in. Seeing Yan Zhigao stood up, she hurried forward to change his clothes.
"Why don't you get some more sleep, Master?"
Yan Zhigao yawned as he spoke, "There are so many things going on here at Ningmen Mansion. I won't be able to sleep well unless I sort them out soon. Was that rice flowers just now?"
Madam Li smiled and nodded: "That girl is going to Shahe County with my third brother to look at land today."
Yan Zhigao turned around and said, "Shahe County? The land there isn't very good. It's next to Jiguang, so there are a lot of refugees. Why did you think of looking for land there?"
Madam Li shook her head. "Who knows what your daughter is thinking? From what she said, it seems she's interested in the sandy soil over there."
Yan Zhigao looked puzzled: "This sandy loam can't lock in water or retain fertilizer, it's not a good land." Shahe County became the poorest county in Ningmen Prefecture because its land is all sandy loam and its grain production is extremely low.
Madam Li nodded: "Who says it's not true? But it's okay. Third brother is watching over us. He won't let that girl do anything wrong."
After taking a boat for almost two hours, Daohua, Yan Zhiqiang and his party arrived in Shahe County.
"It's really sparsely populated and the land is barren!"
Except for the densely populated areas around the county town, it takes a long time to see people in other places.
Yan Zhiqiang bent down, picked up a handful of soil, and squeezed it in his hands, then shook his head. "Although there is a river flowing through Shahe County, the soil is too sandy and its fertility is too poor."
Rice Flower came over and said, "But this kind of soil also has many advantages. It's loose, breathable, easy to till, and has good drainage."
Yan Zhiqiang looked at the rice flowers and asked in surprise, "You really like this sandy soil?"
Rice Flower nodded.
Yan Zhiqiang frowned and said, "The grain yield from cultivating this land won't be very high."
Rice Flower smiled and said, "I definitely can't grow crops that require a lot of water and fertilizer. I plan to use this land to grow yams."
Yan Zhiqiang was stunned: "Yam?"
Daohua: "Yes, yam can be used as medicine and also as a vegetable. It tastes good. I'm sure many people will buy it after I grow it."
Yan Zhiqiang looked skeptical: "Daohua, are you sure you can grow yams?"
Yam is a very precious thing and not easy to grow. It can usually only be bought in herbal medicine shops, and the price is very expensive.
Daohua: "Of course, Third Uncle, don't you know my ability? To tell you the truth, I have tried it before, but I just haven't encountered sandy loam, so I haven't started planting."
After hearing what Daohua said, Yan Zhigao thought for a moment and said, "Since you're so sure, let's buy a piece of land to try planting. Do you have a good spot in mind?"
Daohua nodded and said, "The place where we just got off the boat looks good to me. There seems to be a peach blossom mountain next to it. I took a quick look and saw that many peach trees have buds. I think we will be able to see peach blossoms in a few days."
Yan Zhiqiang was speechless. He was asking if the land was good, so what was he talking about peach blossoms?
As expected, she is still a little girl. As long as she sees flowers or something, her attention will be attracted.
Soon, the group arrived at their destination.
A vast hillside is planted with peach trees. Now it is the end of February, and the branches are full of pink buds, adding a touch of beautiful color to this place.
There are a few scattered households at the foot of the mountain, and large tracts of uncultivated fields are just lying there.
At Yan Zhiqiang's suggestion, Qin Xiaoliu found the village chief.
Looking at Inaka and his group who were dressed in extraordinary clothes, Muramasa looked a little restrained. He crossed his hands in front of his abdomen and kept rubbing them. He didn't dare to look directly at Inaka and the others.
Yan Zhiqiang said kindly: "Village Chief, don't be nervous. We are here to buy land. We asked you to come here just to ask if we can buy the land."
Hearing this, the village chief breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Yan Zhiqiang smiling, he relaxed a lot: "This is Taohua Village. Most of the land is unowned."
While Uncle San was negotiating with the village chief, Daohua took Wang Maner and Qin Xiaoliu to explore around. The more they looked, the more satisfied they became with the land.
"I want to buy this piece of land connected to Peach Blossom Mountain!"
Daohua said with a proud wave of her hand.
Qin Xiaoliu was stunned: "Buy them all?"
Daohua nodded and said, "After I buy this piece of land, I will build a farm at the foot of the mountain. Every spring, I will bring my grandmother here to stay for a while. We can relax and enjoy the peach blossoms all over the mountain. How wonderful it is."
Wang Maner swallowed and said, "Girl, this is several thousand acres of land."
Daohua immediately patted the pouch on her waist and said, "It's okay. I, your daughter, brought enough silver with me when I left home."
During the three years in Xingzhou City, her farm and shop earned her a lot of money, and she was rich!
When Yan Zhiqiang learned that Daohua was going to buy all the land under Taohua Mountain, he was also shocked. He tried to persuade her for a while, but when he saw that his niece was still not paying attention, he sighed helplessly.
This niece has been very careful since she was young. Now that she has the money in her hands that she has earned herself, she will be even less likely to listen to others.
Fortunately, the land in Shahe County is barren and mostly wasteland, so the selling price is not high, only one or two taels of silver per mu. However, if you buy thousands of mu at a time, it will cost thousands of taels of silver.
Looking at his niece who took out several thousand-tael silver notes without blinking, Yan Zhiqiang shook his head.
This girl is much more courageous than him.
The village chief standing by was also trembling in his heart, and was still wondering.
Is his luck about to change?
Last year, officials from the county came and said that Taohua Village had too small a population and paid too little tax, so they wanted to merge Taohua Village with the neighboring Shayun Village.
Who would have thought that two people would come that month and spend a huge sum of money to buy Taohua Mountain, which immediately paid off the tax revenue of Taohua Village for several years.
I heard that a new governor came this year to reform the impoverished counties. I didn't expect that at this time, someone came to buy land in the village again, and bought thousands of acres at a time.
The tax revenue in the village has increased. Will Taohua Village be merged out now?
(End of this chapter)
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