Chapter 880 Chapter 880, Wait and See
A few days after the grain store opened, the Four Seasons Pharmacy was almost set up. Daohua knew that there was a shortage of medicine here, so she brought several carts when she came. Later, she asked Qin Xiaoliu to bring more than 20 carts, which was enough to supply the two pharmacies for the time being.
The military medical department of the garrison had been built, so Doctor Ge no longer led his medical apprentices to provide free medical services at the city gate. On the day that the Four Seasons Pharmacy opened, Gu Jian also put up a sign at the door of the store offering free medical services to one person.
As soon as the sign was put up, a long queue formed in front of the pharmacy door in a short while.
When in the capital, the medical apprentice that Doctor Ge brought was found by Xiao Yeyang, and his major was in the field of military medicine.
The medical apprentices that Gu Jian brought with him were all selected by Daohua from the farm, and they learned to treat common headaches and fevers.
Naturally, all the medical apprentices brought by Doctor Ge went to the military medical department of the garrison. On Gu Jian's side, except for those on the pharmaceutical assembly line, there were ten left, which were evenly divided into two shops.
Even though the store hired two doctors, five medical apprentices, and Gu Jian was in charge, they were still overwhelmed by so many people coming in at once.
There were so many people coming to see the doctor that Daohua thought for a moment and asked Meilan to add a sentence on the sign: only one hundred patients would be seen for free every day.
However, it is difficult to catch up with those who have already lined up to see a doctor today. Daohua can only send people to guard the back of the queue to prevent new people from continuing to line up.
She also went into the pharmacy, stood behind the medicine cabinet, and helped to prepare the medicine.
"Auntie, the consultation is free, but the medicine is charged. Look at the long line outside. If everything were free, I'm afraid this pharmacy wouldn't be able to open tomorrow."
One woman thought that the medicine was also free, and Daohua patiently explained it to her.
When she heard that she had to pay for the medicine, the woman said anxiously, "But I don't have any money."
Daohua noticed that many people in the queue were looking at her, and continued to explain, "Auntie, why don't you go back and talk to your family? The herbs in our pharmacy are already very cheap. I looked at your prescription, and five doses of medicine only cost twenty cents."
The woman shook her head: "My family can't afford twenty cents."
Hearing this, Daohua was speechless. She knew what the woman was trying to do. Maybe her family really had no money, or maybe she simply wanted to take advantage of her. She would not waive the money for the medicine.
Once this precedent was set, there would definitely be people coming to her with countless excuses to ask her to prescribe medicine for them for free.
Seeing that Daohua refused to give in, the woman hesitated for a moment, but finally lowered her head and left with the prescription.
Daohua didn't say anything more. She looked away and looked at the next person who was going to get the medicine. She took the prescription and quickly filled the prescription. "Next!"
Later, someone said that they had no money to buy medicine. Daohua did not feel soft-hearted towards these people. She was willing to help the people here within her ability, but she would not encourage their mentality of taking advantage of their poverty to ask for things as a matter of course.
After five or six days of hard work, the doctor, his apprentice, and the other staff gradually became proficient.
Daohua was worried that Gu Jian was too tired and suggested that he only treat serious cases.
Maybe there were too many patients seeing the doctor these days, and Gu Jian felt that his old bones could not bear it anymore, so he nodded and agreed to Daohua's proposal.
Seeing that the pharmacy could operate independently, Daohua turned his attention to the spring plowing that was about to begin.
Huangpo Mountain is just across the pasture, and Daohua took the opportunity to take a look at the situation of the pasture.
Cao Chuan is still very reliable. The ranch's signboard has been changed to "Qingyang Ranch". All the repairs that needed to be done have been completed. More than 20 sheepdogs have been bought and the guys are training them.
"Girl, the calf and lamb have already contacted their families."
Daohua nodded and asked, "Are there any herders nearby who raise camels?"
The roads in Xiliang are too difficult to travel, and the carriage damage rate is particularly high. Most of the goods transported here rely on camels.
Cao Chuan: “Yes.”
Daohua: "Then buy a hundred baby camels and raise them as well."
Cao Chuan nodded and took note: "I will contact them later."
Rice Flower: "Where did you plant the grass? Has it sprouted yet?"
Speaking of forage grass, Cao Chuan immediately laughed and said, "I thought that the area near the Dan River might have more water, so I planted all the forage grass there."
"The grass has started to sprout and is growing well. By the end of February, we should be able to bring the calves and lambs home for rearing."
Daohua nodded and said, "After all, we have never raised cattle and sheep before. Can you see if you can hire a few herdsmen to help us?"
Cao Chuan: "I've made note of it."
Rice Flower went to the pasture where the grass was planted and looked around. Seeing that the grass had broken through the soil, she nodded and said, "There are fewer seeds this year. Next year, we will try to plant the entire pasture with grass."
As he said this, he looked at Cao Chuan.
"This pasture is growing better than I expected. If the cattle, sheep, and camels adapt well, I can buy more to keep."
Cao Chuan nodded again to indicate that he had taken note of it.
Then, the rice flowers came to the bank of the Dan River.
Because the hillside opposite the ranch was bought by Daohua, in order to facilitate traffic, Caochuan was asked to build three bridges on the left, right and middle.
The dry and silent river made construction easier. At this moment, the bridge in the middle had been built.
Rice flowers crossed the bridge and looked at the progress of converting the sloping hills into terraced fields.
Yan Shouhou hired a large number of people from the surrounding areas and provided various tools. The slope with the gentlest slope and the lowest part has been transformed into terraced fields.
At this moment, farmers are pushing carts to apply fertilizer to the terraced fields.
Ganzhou Wei usually starts spring plowing after mid-February. In order not to delay sowing, Yan Shouhou is now asking everyone to speed up the progress.
Although the labor was intensive, the Xiao Mansion provided three meals a day, enough to keep people full. Every three days, they could even have meat at noon. The wages were settled on the same day, and the people nearby all scrambled to come and work.
While Daohua was watching the progress of the terraced field renovation, many people were also watching, including common people, garrison officials, and wealthy families in Ganzhou Garrison. Even Xia Jianren was paying attention.
At first, everyone thought that it was completely stupid for Madam Xiao to spend so much effort to buy a deserted ranch and five useless barren mountains.
But when they saw the area of Qingyang Ranch next to the Dan River gradually turning green, many people were surprised.
You know, there are quite a few pastures along the Dan River, and they are quite large. Due to lack of water, it is impossible to grow grass, and now many of them are deserted.
It is really surprising that someone has now grown forage grass.
Among them, Xia Jianren reacted the most. After the Dan River dried up, he had been busy with the ranch and had planted all kinds of forage grasses. Unfortunately, the germination rate was very low and the growth was not good, so he could not feed many cattle and sheep.
A ranch covering an area of 50,000 acres can only raise dozens of cattle and sheep every year, and he himself has no heart.
Unexpectedly, after Mrs. Xiao took over the ranch, she actually grew grass.
Xia Jianren felt very regretful and sent people to inquire with other people who had ranches. Cao Chuan had obtained the order for rice flowers and did not hide it. He just said that the master had cultivated new forage grass seeds.
Everyone wanted to buy some, but Cao Chuan refused outright: "The Xiao family just arrived in Xiliang, and the seeds they've cultivated are only enough for their own use. You can wait. If we have extra forage seeds in the future, we'll sell them at the Four Seasons Grain Shop."
As soon as this news came out, the wealthy households and garrison officials who were originally dissatisfied with the Four Seasons Grain Store for selling grain at low prices and were ready to find Xiao Yeyang to argue, all shut up at the same time.
They also bought some grain seeds, and we will know whether the yield is high this year.
But they saw with their own eyes that forage grass seeds are drought-resistant and have a high germination rate. Since spreading the grain all year round can bring profits, they naturally will not go against it.
Then there is the transformation of the terraced fields.
They still couldn't see what the purpose of transforming the barren hillside into terraced fields was, but they did see that it increased the cultivated area.
"The barren mountains are already barren. Even if the cultivated area is large, it will be useless if we can't harvest food."
"Even if the grain output provided by the Xiao Mansion is higher, the investment is too huge and it may not be able to recover the cost."
Everyone was waiting and watching, waiting to see if the Xiao family could really grow crops before deciding whether to follow suit.
Whether it was the pasture or the transformation of the terraced fields, Daohua never deliberately concealed it. The Dong family knew that the Yan family was good at farming. After hearing the news, Mrs. Dong wanted to join in, but unfortunately she had no money.
Seeing her mother-in-law looking worried, Liu Xiaoman asked her about the reason. After learning the reason, she held her waist and went back to her room. Soon, she came out with a wooden box: "Mother, here."
Mrs. Dong looked at the wooden box and her face darkened. "This is your dowry. Keep it safe."
Liu Xiaoman stuffed the wooden box into Mrs. Dong's hands and said, "Mother, I don't know much. Since you think that following my sister-in-law will benefit our family, then do it."
"I am now the daughter-in-law of the Dong family. If mother doesn't treat me as a family member, then you can't accept me."
Mrs. Dong looked at Liu Xiaoman helplessly: "Aren't you afraid that your dowry will be wasted?"
Liu Xiaoman smiled and said, "Mother has more experience than me. I believe in her and my sister-in-law. She is the Crown Prince's Consort of the palace, and she will definitely succeed in what she wants to do. Even if everything goes to waste, I still have my husband. He will support me and the child in my belly."
Mrs. Dong looked at the wooden box and was silent for a while. "Our family really needs capital to start a business now, so mother will not be polite with you."
Liu Xiaoman smiled and nodded. "There's no need to be polite as a family. But mother, I don't have much money, only a few thousand taels. Can I help the family?"
Mrs. Dong nodded and said, "Of course we can. We can't buy large barren mountains and pastures, but we can buy small ones."
Hearing this, Liu Xiaoman felt relieved.
When Dong Yuanxuan came back in the evening, Mrs. Dong told him about Liu Xiaoman taking out the dowry money.
Dong Yuanxuan was silent for a while. "Mother, please accept it. Sister Yan is quite knowledgeable about farming. She has invested so much financial and human resources, so she will definitely not do anything reckless."
"As for Xiaoman's dowry, we'll give her more money when we earn money in the future."
Seeing her son agreed, Mrs. Dong no longer hesitated. "You are well-informed in the garrison. Ask where there are suitable barren mountains and pastures? Preferably near the Xiao family."
Dong Yuanxuan nodded: "Son, I'll take note of it."
After washing up, Dong Yuanxuan returned to his room. Liu Xiaoman had become more sleepy since she became pregnant and was already asleep at this moment.
Dong Yuanxuan lay down beside her quietly, reached out and touched Liu Xiaoman's belly. He felt extremely peaceful in his heart and fell asleep in a short while.
Xiaoman was completely incomparable to the ladies and noblewomen he had met before, but she was more than enough for him, an exile and a divorcee.
The most precious thing is that she is devoted to him.
It’s time to be content!
(End of this chapter)
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