Uncle Wang led Jiang Shuhe to the county government office, found Mu Ziwu, and explained their purpose.
Mu Ziwu happened to have nothing to do, so he told Shangguan and took them to the cattle market. He found a familiar cattle dealer and bought a strong bull, along with a cart frame, plow, and other equipment. The total cost was thirteen taels of silver.
On the way back, Jiang Shuhe and Uncle Wang each drove an oxcart.
Upon arriving at the Mu family's residence, Jiang Shuhe was taken by Uncle Wang to have lunch.
"Uncle Wang, let's go to Yi An's house."
"Yes, young master."
Uncle Wang drove the cart, following behind Jiang Shuhe, and they headed towards Jiangjia Village together.
"Big brother, what brings you here?"
"Come and see. I know it's inconvenient for you to go out. If you need anything in the future, I'll come over. It's not far anyway."
Brother Mu looked at the neatly tidied yard of the Yi An family and thought it was quite nice.
"Brother-in-law, please come inside."
Jiang Shuyun heard the noise and quickly came out. His brother-in-law rarely came, so he had to keep him company.
"Shuhe, tell Uncle Wang to rest for a while."
"Understood, Brother Shuyun."
Jiang Shuhe happened to have some questions he wanted to ask Uncle Wang, so he took him to sit in the yard. Then he went to the kitchen and brought over some water.
Jiang Shuyun and the other two entered the living room. Brother Mu was thinking about the method of accumulating fertilizer that Yi'an had mentioned, as well as the matter of seedling cultivation. He wanted to learn more about it.
"Yi'an, how do you plan to cultivate seedlings?"
"You buy watermelon seeds, plant them indoors or in a shed, and when the seedlings grow to three leaves and a heart, you can plant them in the ground."
Mu Yi'an wrote down the seedling cultivation method in detail in plain language, which his older brother could understand.
"Wouldn't this allow the watermelons to ripen earlier and be available on the market sooner?"
"Yes, with the temperature here, we can basically plant them in the ground by the end of March. That way, after the first batch of melons is finished, we can plant another batch in July."
Mu Yi'an calculated that watermelons would ripen in large quantities in June, so if seedlings were started and fertilizer was accumulated in advance, another crop could be planted in July, just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"If it works, that would be great. Yi'an, I've understood the method for composting that you wrote. You can find fish intestines at the dock in the county; there are fish stalls there."
"Just have your second brother give the word, it should be fine. Have your long-term helper and Uncle Wang go together, so they'll have company. I'll prepare the big jars for the fish intestines, you don't need to worry about that."
Brother Mu knew that his brother-in-law needed to study hard and couldn't help Yi'an with the arrangements. As a woman, she couldn't be involved in many things.
"Alright, brother, then I'll trouble you. I'm really not in a position to do certain things right now."
Mu Yi'an thought that she should make money as soon as possible so that she could also buy a household of servants, just like Uncle Wang's family, which would make everything much more convenient.
“Okay, in a few days I’m going to the prefectural city to buy watermelon seeds. How many fields do you plan to plant?”
"Thirty mu."
"so much?"
Brother Mu was a little surprised, as he had also just planned to cultivate thirty acres of land.
"We have exactly thirty acres of land at home, so we planted it all together, taking a gamble."
"Sure, we've already made arrangements, so what's another ten or eight acres?"
Brother Mu is obsessed with farming, and when it comes to farming, he's really willing to go all out.
Mu Yi'an was fortunate that the units of measurement in this dynasty were not much different from those in modern times. One jin was approximately equal to five hundred grams, and the decimal system was used instead of the hexadecimal system. Otherwise, it would have been too troublesome for her to convert, and she was not used to it.
She didn't know what variety of watermelon seeds were used in this era, whether they were large or small, how many watermelon seedlings could be planted per acre, and how many kilograms of seeds were needed.
"Brother, I don't know what variety of watermelon seeds are used in the city, so let's just take the middle number. If we calculate that 700 to 800 seedlings are planted per mu, then about 3 jin of seeds are needed per mu. Can you buy me 100 jin of watermelon seeds?"
"Okay, I've never grown it before either. I'll plant it the way you read in the book. I'll have experience after I plant it this year."
Jiang Shuyun glanced at Mu Yi'an, secretly amused by the non-existent agricultural book she had mentioned. Her Yi'an was a skilled farmer, yet she still had to come up with all sorts of excuses.
Having finished discussing the watermelon planting, Mu Yi'an asked her older brother, "Brother, how much silver did it cost to buy the ox?"
"Thirteen taels. Your second brother knows someone here, so it's a little cheaper."
"Okay, I'll get them for you in a bit. You can go buy the watermelon seeds yourself, but I don't know how much they cost per pound. Should I get them for you now or bring them back later?"
"Give it to me when you get back, no rush. Do you have enough money?"
Brother Mu knew his sister's temperament; she wouldn't take advantage of her family for nothing. Therefore, he wouldn't mention that he had paid for the cow and the watermelon seeds.
"It's enough. If it's not enough, I'll talk to my older brother."
"Okay, just let me know if you need anything, don't be shy with your older brother."
Brother Mu looked at Yi'an. Since the family split up, Yi'an had become more talkative and matured.
Having finished discussing the matter, Brother Mu was about to head back. After tidying up the land, he set off for the prefectural city to buy watermelon seeds.
After seeing Brother Mu off, Mu Yi'an looked at the cow that her family had bought. It looked quite robust, but she didn't know much about it.
"Shuhe, from now on you will be in charge of the cattle and sheep at home. Start plowing the land tomorrow and prepare thirty acres of dry land for later use."
"Okay, sister-in-law, can I have my younger brother come and help lead the cow?"
Jiang Shuhe thought for a moment and then asked. He needed to help Li, as he wasn't familiar with the cow and needed someone to lead it.
Does he have time?
“My fourth brother is only ten years old. He doesn’t do any work. He just helps with odd jobs around the house.”
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
