As Mo Qianshang walked around, she looked at the property. Although she had expected a price of 1,200 taels of silver before coming, after seeing the estate, she realized that Master Xu hadn't actually asked for more.
Contrary to her expectations of a desolate estate, this estate was still being managed. Not only were there still many things in the fields, but it was also clear that the previous owner had taken good care of it.
Such a large estate, even though it's not land, they've built a wall around it, making it look quite impressive.
The land was easy to see at a glance, so Mo Qianshang mainly went to look at the houses.
"Look, Madam Mo, there are quite a few houses inside. My estate originally had many servants, and many of them lived there."
There was even a courtyard for the owner's family to live in, which was more luxurious. It was a small courtyard with two sections, made of the best materials, and somewhat similar to the house in Mo Qianshang's county town. It was also planted with many flowers and plants. Although there was nothing there now, one could imagine that when spring came and the flowers bloomed, the scene would be very beautiful.
As for the fruit trees, needless to say, unlike the fruit trees planted haphazardly on Mount Moqianshang, the fruit trees here are all very robust, clearly having been planted for many years.
It's clear that if he had no other choice, Master Xu probably wouldn't have sold this estate; he probably wasn't exaggerating.
"Lady Mo, to tell you the truth, I even repaired the road leading to the main road for this manor. Otherwise, it would be difficult for carriages to even get here, let alone outside the manor."
Standing in the field, Mo Qianshang could see other places not far away, including other people's fertile fields. This manor was not an isolated island, but rather connected with other farms, and was very prosperous.
Most importantly, there is a river not far from here.
The abundance of fertile land in this area is largely thanks to this river. The river is wide, and as long as it exists, it seems capable of sustaining all the surrounding villages.
Mo Qianshang walked towards the river and checked the soil to make sure that the land here was not exaggerated.
The fields are all quite nice; along the riverbank, besides fertile fields, there's also some sandy soil.
Mo Qianshang carefully examined the plants in the orchard and found that some of them were not even suitable for this latitude and climate, which made her quite curious.
As soon as he asked a question, Master Xu was surprised: "Madam Mo has a good eye. No wonder she was able to accumulate a fortune. She is indeed very good. My wife is from the South. Some of the fruits here are actually grown because she likes to eat them. However, many of them do not grow well here. But it doesn't matter. We just keep them as part of the scenery."
Mo Qianshang smiled slightly: "In that case, if Master Xu is willing, he can dig them up and plant them, so that these trees won't stay in my hands for too long."
Upon hearing this, Master Xu was taken aback for a moment. Mo Qianshang said, "I am very satisfied with everything else, but I still need to repair this house. If Master Xu is willing, how about we settle on a fixed price of 1,400? I can pay the silver and sign the contract immediately, and go directly to the yamen."
Master Xu had no doubt about what Mo Qianshang said, after all, he had witnessed how readily Mo Qianshang took the money when he sold land before.
Fourteen hundred taels of silver was perfectly acceptable to him, and he would be more than happy to sell it to Mo Qianshang.
The two hit it off immediately, found a middleman to draw up a contract, and went to the government office together to complete the formalities. The large estate then belonged to Gui Moqianshang.
The officials were already numb to Mo Qianshang. Mo Qianshang even used silver to treat his brothers to drinks, telling them about buying the estate and asking them to take care of him in the future.
Mo Qianshang gave the money readily, but little did she know that she was actually feeling the pinch. Afterwards, she treated the group to a meal at a restaurant.
At the dinner table, Master Xu drank some wine and became more talkative.
"Lady Mo, you're so capable, and you're from somewhere else. Have you ever been to the seaside?"
Mo Qianshang has probably been to more seas than Master Xu has in his entire life, but she still shook her head: "Master Xu has been there? Why don't you tell me about it?"
Master Xu immediately launched into a long-winded explanation: "My wife's hometown is close to the sea, and there are many fishermen at the docks. But do you know some of those boats can go to other places!"
“Some caravans risk their lives to travel the sea routes, bringing back all sorts of strange and wonderful things, and then they take our goods there to sell…” he said, lowering his voice mysteriously, “to make money, to make money!”
Mo Qianshang raised her eyebrows slightly. She knew very well that at this time, in an era with such great risks at sea, goods from overseas could fetch exorbitant prices on both sides.
However, Master Xu also said that this round trip was not a three-to-five-day shopping trip. This fleet was just like the land-based merchant fleet, and a trip could take anywhere from a few months to two or three years.
Master Xu was moving cash around this time to raise money to prepare for purchasing goods here and loading them onto the ship, hoping to make a good profit!
Mo Qianshang has plenty of ways to make money. She has no interest in going to sea, but she is very fond of overseas goods and the scenery by the sea.
After all, for her, seafood could be redeemed from the system, but scenery still had to be seen in person.
She kept this in mind, but she also had things to do at the estate. Master Xu's original men would be leaving in the next couple of days, and she needed to arrange for her own people to take their place.
This is not a difficult matter. It's such a good opportunity. If she goes to Dongshan Village and asks, she thinks many families would be willing to go.
After all, the houses in the manor are much better. Mo Qianshang plans to make them all into kang beds, and also plans to build more empty rooms, not for people to live in, but to raise chickens and pigs, so that they won't starve to death in the winter.
Master Xu was a generous man; he left behind all the necessities of the manor, including two oxen for plowing. He also reminded Mo Qianshang about buying servants.
Mo Qianshang had been hesitant about this matter. Although Dongshan Village had enough people, in this era, domesticated servants and hired servants were definitely different.
After having dinner, Mo Qianshang decided to postpone buying people for the time being.
It's not that she doesn't want to use it, but for her, with someone who has a contract of servitude, the other party has sold her for a lifetime, so she feels a corresponding responsibility towards them.
She can't use people like tools, nor does she think that people can be easily sold off just because they're not useful.
The idea that someone who buys something has to keep using it is a false premise, and Mo Qianshang felt that there was no need to create such trouble for herself for the time being.
Moreover, there are advantages to hiring people. At least they know that they can't rely on Mo Qianshang forever, and Mo Qianshang can stop them from working at any time.
Back in Dongshan Village, Mo Qianshang still asked the village chief and Shen Niangzi to handle the selection of candidates.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com