Chapter 83, Initial Investment
When Yan Zhiqiang bought the farms, in order to make it easier to take care of them, he required that the land on both the large and small farms be fertile and close to each other. Therefore, the Yan family's large farm and Daohua's small farm were both in the same village, but one was at the head and the other at the end of the village.
The village where the farm is located is called Danlin Village. There are more than 500 households in the village, and most of the villagers are surnamed Zheng. Almost all the tenants of the two farms are from this village.
Yan Zhiqiang sent his servant back to the Yan family to deliver a letter, saying that he, Old Lady Yan, and Daohua would stay in the farm for a few days, and asked everyone not to worry, and then he went to busy himself with work in the fields.
That night, Daohua and Old Lady Yan both slept soundly and there was no question of them being stuck in the same bed.
The next day, Yan Zhiqiang was relieved to see that both of them were in good spirits, and he devoted himself to planting watermelons on the two farms.
As for Daohua, seeing that his uncle was watching over the watermelon planting and that Old Lady Yan was also watching from the side, he turned his attention to the barren hill.
Zheng Zhuangtou did not dare to neglect the new owner, and brought back a cart of fruit saplings for her that day.
Daohua looked at the sapling carefully, nodded with satisfaction, and asked Zheng Zhuangtou, "Uncle Zheng, is anyone in the village free now?"
Zheng Zhuangtou: "Yes, each family in the village doesn't have much land, and since there are many laborers at home, many families have finished their spring plowing in early April. Many diligent young people are now planning to find work outside to supplement their family income."
Daohua smiled and said, "In that case, I'll trouble Uncle Zheng to help me find some people to reclaim the barren mountain. As for their wages, I'll calculate it based on their wages for working outside. What do you think?"
Zheng Zhuangtou nodded repeatedly and said gratefully, "Thank you for your care, young lady. I will go to the village to let them know and I promise to find enough people for you right away."
Daohua: "My grandmother, my third uncle, and I won't be staying at the farm for long, so having more people isn't a big deal. However, I don't want to see anyone sneaking around."
Zheng Zhuangtou's expression straightened: "Don't worry, young lady. I know all the hardworking people in the village. I guarantee that there won't be anyone like the one you're talking about."
Daohua smiled and said, "That would be perfect. We don't have enough fruit tree seedlings yet. Uncle Zheng, please go buy three more carts of each variety. Oh, and I just saw that there seem to be grape vines. You should buy more of them. The yard at the farm is very large. I'll find someone to build some trellises specifically for growing grapes."
Zheng Zhuangtou listened carefully, and after Daohua finished speaking, he said he would do it immediately.
Rice Flower: "Okay, I'm fine now, you go ahead and do your work!"
After Zeng Zhuangtou left, Daohua asked Wang Maner to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone and start keeping accounts.
When she came out, she took out all the silver she had left with the old lady over the years. After deducting the one thousand taels of silver she used to buy the farm, she now only had more than three hundred taels of silver left.
It costs money to hire people to open up wasteland, and it costs money to buy fruit tree seedlings.
Daohua didn't know if the money she had was enough for the initial investment in the farm.
While grinding ink, Wang Man'er asked in confusion, "Miss, can't you just dig a hole and plant a fruit tree? Why did you hire someone to reclaim the barren hillside?"
Daohua: "Because I not only want to plant fruit trees on the mountain, but also other things." It will take several years to harvest fruit trees. During this period, she must think of other ways.
Wang Man'er was curious: "Other things? What?"
Daohua smiled and said, "Of course it's the medicinal herbs that make money the fastest." After arriving in Xingzhou, she looked through some travel notes, which recorded that Xingzhou is very suitable for growing Chinese medicinal herbs such as Scutellaria baicalensis, Schisandra chinensis, Gentiana scabra, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Ligusticum chuanxiong, and Acanthopanax acanthopanax.
These medicinal herbs are common and their seeds can be bought in pharmacies. They have a short growth cycle and are very suitable for growing and selling.
As soon as she heard that Zhuangzi had taken a barren mountain, she made up her mind to grow medicinal herbs.
Daohua wrote down the medicinal herb seeds she needed and gave them to Wang Maner: "Give them to Uncle Zheng. He's going to buy fruit tree seedlings and might as well buy these medicinal herb seeds on the way."
Wang Maner took the note and went to find Zheng Zhuangtou.
At this moment, Zheng Zhuangtou was still at the village chief's house.
Zhuangzi needs people from the village to reclaim wasteland, so he needs to inform the village chief about this.
The village chief and Mr. Zheng were cousins, and their ages were not much different. When they heard that the village was looking for someone to work for, they immediately said anxiously, "What are you waiting for? I'll get someone for you right away."
Zheng Zhuangtou didn't stop him. He knew that this job was very precious to most people in the village.
In the past two years, there have been severe droughts in various parts of the north. Their area is adjacent to the Grand Canal, so the drought is not as serious, but everyone's life is still very tight.
Nowadays, if you can find a job, even if it doesn't pay but only provides food, there will be a lot of people rushing to do it.
As soon as the two of them reached the door, Zheng Zhuangtou saw his wife leading Wang Man'er towards them.
"Boss, this girl wants to see you."
Even from a long distance away, Zheng Zhuangtou's wife started shouting at the top of her lungs.
The sound was so loud that Wang Maner almost covered her ears.
Zheng Zhuangtou knew that Wang Man'er was Daohua's personal maid, so he immediately trotted over and asked, "Miss, do you have any instructions?"
Wang Maner handed the note written by Daohua to Zheng Zhuangtou: "This is the medicinal seeds that the girl wanted. I asked you to bring them back on the way." After that, she swiftly took out a silver note with a face value of fifty taels from the purse on her waist.
"Please keep the silver. Remember to settle the bill with the girl when you come back." After saying that, he turned and left.
The village chief was watching from the side. After Wang Man'er left, he stepped forward and asked, "Why, the one in charge is a little girl?"
Zheng Zhuangtou nodded and said, "Although the old lady and the third master are here this time, the decision-making is made by their eldest daughter."
The village chief glanced at the note in Zheng Zhuangtou's hand, his expression somewhat worried. "Why would you let a little girl make the decision? Buying fruit tree seedlings and medicinal herb seeds. If they don't grow well, will the master of the house blame you?"
Zheng Zhuangtou frowned: "That shouldn't be the case. I'm just following orders."
The village chief sighed, "Hasn't the previous owner of the village blamed you enough? Whenever the people in power are unhappy, they take it out on the people below them. You've had a hard time these past few years."
Zheng Zhuangtou showed helplessness: "Everyone is the same." As the head of the village, at least he can support a large family without having to sell his children. It is much better than many other families, so he should be content.
"Come on, I'll call someone for you."
That night, Zheng Zhuangtou brought back three carts of fruit tree seedlings, and Daohua also bought back all the medicinal seeds that he had bought.
After checking, Daohua said to Zheng Zhuangtou, "Have you hired the people yet?"
Zheng Zhuangtou: "It's already been agreed. We can open up the wasteland at any time."
Daohua: "Okay, let's do it tomorrow. Once the barren hills are reclaimed, we can plant fruit trees and medicinal herbs."
Afterwards, Daohua had someone put the fruit tree seedlings in the empty warehouse. After sending Wang Maner away, he put the fruit tree seedlings into the space.
In order to ensure the quality of the saplings, they were planted directly in the black soil. Then, they left the warehouse as if nothing had happened and locked the warehouse to ensure that no one would notice that the fruit saplings were missing.
(End of this chapter)
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