Time flies, and when Mu Yi'an received the first letter from the Northwest, a considerable amount of time had passed since they left.
"Madam, a letter from the Northwest."
"Quick, bring it here, let me see."
Mu Yi'an was very excited; she had been thinking about it too. The journey was too long, and communication was too inconvenient.
“Madam, there are Uncle’s people, Steward Jiang’s people, Manager Wei’s people, and Accountant Song’s people.”
Butler Li handed the letter addressed to his wife to Sister Fang, as well as the letter addressed to Manager Wei to Sister Wei, the letter addressed to Steward Jiang to his wife, and the letter addressed to Accountant Song to Sister Song.
Mu Yi'an opened her elder brother's letter first. The letter described some things that happened during their trip to the Northwest.
General Gu summoned his elder brother and the others, expressing his gratitude for their long journey to the Northwest.
Regardless of the reason, both the people and soldiers in the Northwest benefited.
General Gu was very busy, so he briefly explained a few things and then left.
Afterwards, Lord Jiang helped them choose a suitable location for the farmland, which was some distance away from the Northwest Army's garrison.
The location was good; there's a water source.
Brother Mu's letter explained how things were going, reassuring Mu Yi'an that everything was going smoothly for them.
Manager Wei's letter was more specific, stating that land in the Northwest was relatively cheap, costing four taels of silver per mu, and that they were buying fertile land.
When they left, Mu Yi'an gave them 50,000 taels of silver notes.
Manager Wei said that he and Accountant Song calculated that they had bought 6,000 mu of land, which was then divided into two locations.
Manager Wei and his family also bought a courtyard as their place of residence.
We've also bought cattle and horses; with so much land, we'll need quite a few.
For future management purposes, Manager Wei and Accountant Song selected three servants from the brokerage firm and bought them back.
All the servants in the three branches of the family have been formally indentured into official contracts, and now we are beginning to train them.
When they wrote this letter, they had already begun preparing for autumn plowing.
Song the accountant's letter was much simpler, more like a financial report.
Jiang Shuhe's letter described the local climate, rainfall, soil fertility, and that they had already begun accumulating fertilizer.
Finally, he also asked Mu Yi'an to help look after his wife and child.
"Steward Li, Manager Wei and the others have settled in and started autumn plowing."
The letter took a long time to travel, so the land has probably been plowed up by now.
Find some time in the next couple of days to go back to Xinyuan County and deliver the letters from my elder brother and Steward Jiang.
The main purpose is to check on the estate and shops. Next year's watermelons will be planted on the estate in the county town. I'm going to see how Manager Wang's preparations are going.
Also, while you're at it, go check on Manager Jiang's wife and children. See if anyone is bullying them; we can't let them worry about home while they're away.”
Mu Yi'an gave some instructions; Steward Li now holds several positions.
After Butler Li went to attend to his work, Mu Yi'an thought that she should write a reply to them.
When Steward Li returns from Xinyuan County, he will also bring back the reply from his parents to his elder brother. At that time, they will be sent together to the post station and then to the Northwest.
Steward Li delivered the letters to each household, gave some instructions, and prepared to go to Xinyuan County the next day, hoping that everything would go smoothly at the estate.
Fortunately, during this time, the master asked Li Li to come back and help with the family accounts.
Otherwise, he would truly be overwhelmed.
That evening, Jiang Shuyun also read the letter from the Northwest.
"They're doing quite well. I didn't expect General Gu to meet with my elder brother in person."
"I didn't expect it either. It's probably because of the headmaster's influence. Otherwise, why would a general who is in charge of a region have time to see us?"
Jiang Shuyun felt that it was because of the headmaster that they had the opportunity to meet General Gu.
As for buying land in the Northwest, Chiang Kai-shek helped with that; it was an exchange of benefits, and it was agreed upon at the time.
However, it's still good to express gratitude; it's never wrong to be polite.
"By the way, Yi'an, it's almost the end of the year again."
This year for Chinese New Year, I'm taking Shaoming and Shaoyun back with me. You and the younger children shouldn't go back.
The baby is less than a week old, and I'm worried they won't be able to handle traveling by boat and car.
Next year, when they're older, we'll go back.
“That would be perfect. I was thinking the same thing. The children are too young, and the journey is quite long. I’m afraid they’ll get sick if they have to go through all that trouble.”
Mu Yi'an also thought of this. Last year, when her pregnancy was too advanced, Jiang's parents told them not to go back. This year, the baby is too young, and she hopes that Jiang's ancestors and parents can understand.
"It's alright, I'll write a letter and have Butler Li deliver it to my parents. They'll understand."
Jiang Shuyun couldn't let Yi'an talk about this, so he wrote a letter explaining it himself.
The next day, Butler Li, accompanied by his guards and carrying gifts from Madam for the Mu family parents and the Jiang family parents, set off.
I won't go into details about the long journey, but Butler Li and his group arrived in the county town without incident.
"Let's go back to our house in the city first and deliver the things and letter to the Mu family."
Butler Li didn't even bother to eat, thinking he should go back and wash up first.
In the courtyard of the county town, there is now an elderly couple who are guarding it. They are servants that the wife asked her to buy.
The two of them were responsible for guarding the yard, cleaning the house, and keeping an eye on its repairs.
Jiang Shuwen had been helping to take care of her before, but Mu Yi'an found it too much trouble.
So they had Butler Li buy a house from an elderly couple who weren't too old, so they could watch the house and not have to tidy it up before people could move in.
When Butler Li and the others arrived, they went to wash up first. After they finished washing up, a hot meal was ready.
"Butler Li, I've made some simple noodle soup. Please have something to eat first."
"Okay, at a time like this, a bowl of hot noodle soup is better than anything else."
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