It was almost noon. The clouds had not dispersed and the wind was still howling.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan finally had enough sleep. When the sky was overcast, they wanted to sleep. They got up and ate something. The two of them rode the cart made by the carpenter and went outside to see how Zhuangzi was doing. The two of them sat in front and behind. The cart was made of wood and had no chains. Both wheels had to be pedaled.
The person sitting in front was responsible for controlling the direction. The person behind was more tired and had to keep up with the person in front. There were two pieces of wood at the back of the cart. There were two small wheels on top of the wood to maintain balance. The wheels were three inches wide and five inches in diameter. They would not fall over even if they stood there.
"Xiao Bao, do you think it will rain heavily? If it does, we should release the water." This time, Wang Juan was in front. She was controlling the direction while asking.
"How would I know? We will talk about it later. We are not in a hurry to release the water. If we release the water and there is no rain, how are we going to survive these few months? Millet, wheat, rice, and sorghum all need water. The vegetable field cannot be lacking. The trees cannot be withered. There is also water for daily life. "
Zhang Xiaobao looked at Wang Juan from the corner of his eyes. The two of them were moving at the same time. The cart moved forward slowly. It was not as fast as the two of them running. The main reason was that they did not want others to serve them. If they went out alone, they would be afraid of falling. But if they rode the cart, they would not have to worry about falling.
Zhang Xiaobao replied to Wang Juan. In his heart, he was thinking about whether to give the county the 1500 taels of silver. He could take out this amount of money. He still had a lot of money left. If he made those burned beans and sold them as soy sauce, he could make a lot of money. 55,000 dan. For every 5 jin, he could make 2 copper coins.
According to this price, he could make almost 32 copper coins per dan. If he sold all these, he could make 1,740 taels of silver. The main reason was that he did not spend any money on soybeans. As for whether he could sell them and where he sold them, it was up to him. If he wanted to make money, he had to sell them.
Logically speaking, he should give the money. He did not lose money. If he really lost money, it was because he exchanged the wood ear for soybeans. He lost some money.
"What are you thinking about? Why haven't you spoken for a long time? "Wang Juan noticed that Zhang Xiaobao was silent, so she turned her head and asked.
"Didn't County Magistrate Cheng say that he wants money from us? I was just thinking whether to give it to him or not."
"If it were up to me, I wouldn't give it to him. Why should I give him so much money? Our family's money doesn't come from nowhere. How much have we helped him? 'Give me an inch, and you want a mile?' Why don't we give him less? It's not easy for him. This is also considered an investment. Don't those Western countries do this a lot? "
Wang Juan was definitely not a child. She still understood some things. In the beginning, she said that she would not give it to him, but later on, she compromised.
"En, then I'll give it to him. But I definitely can't give it to him directly. I want to exchange it for something else. I heard from Song Jinggong that the soil on the south coast of Little Luoshuihe is not bad. There are some rocky mountains on the north coast. There are few trees on the mountains and it's not suitable for farming.
That's 1,500 taels of silver. No one would be unwilling to buy a mountain like that. It's just a waste to leave it there. If we buy it, won't County Magistrate Cheng be able to use the money? "
Zhang Xiaobao thought for a while and gave such an answer.
Wang Juan stopped and looked back at Zhang Xiaobao. "Didn't you say that that place is more than 1,000 mu? You want to buy it with 1,500 taels of silver? "
"1,800 mu is only one square kilometer. That place is made of rocky mountains. One tael of silver per mu is not a small amount. If you add a little more, you can buy a mu of land. He should be secretly happy. This is also because that place has no production and doesn't need to pay taxes. Otherwise, who would buy it?"
Zhang Xiaobao said it with confidence. If Wang Juan didn't know what kind of person he was, she would definitely be moved by his righteousness. In reality, the more Wang Juan listened to Zhang Xiaobao, the more she felt that there was a problem. But she didn't directly expose him.
"Oh, so that's how it is. You lost money, right? You must not pay taxes. Last year, five families in Zhuangzi didn't produce silk, but they paid an extra 70 taels of silver. It was my family that paid for it. What is this? This year, I think they should pay it too.
Why don't we change it? If you can pay from your family to my family, you can directly waive the tax. Those seven families don't have good lives. If you can help them, help them. "
"Do you know how to calculate? If you change my family's people, then won't my family have to pay too? It's just a transfer of losses. You are harming others to benefit yourself. The fundamental problem is not solved at all. Fine, leave this matter to me. This year, let them raise more chickens. When the time comes, use eggs and chicken to pay. Why are they so stubbornly guarding the land that they can't grow? "
Zhang Xiaobao knew that those seven families all had patients in their families. Last year, there was no welfare for them. They spent a lot of money on medicine. At the end of the year, when they paid the rent, they didn't hand in any silk, so they paid an extra 14 taels of silver. This year, there was welfare, and they could find some easy work for them to do. They could use this money to pay the rent.
"Alright, then tell me, did you really buy that place with the intention of losing money?"
Wang Juan was relieved. Those seven families had better lives in the future. Otherwise, 14 taels of silver could drag them down. Although it was paid, it still needed to be paid. No matter how good the master family was, it was impossible for them to pay for the village. The rent had to be paid by the person who should pay.
She and Zhang Xiaobao could find ways to make money, but they couldn't directly contribute money. Extra money was special. At the end of the year, all the families had to pay more money, including various kinds of insurance and funds. This money or other things were collected and let Zhang Xiaobao operate it.
When they earned more money, other than the funds for medical care and various kinds of houses, the extra money would be used to pay welfare, improve the road conditions in Zhuangzi, and so on. She didn't have to worry about this, so she asked about the place where they bought the land.
"It's better than taking the money out for nothing. If we can exchange it for something, we should. When the time comes to build houses in Zhuangzi, there are stones there. No matter what, we have to support County Magistrate Cheng." Zhang Xiaobao looked helpless.
Wang Juan suddenly laughed, "Are you fooling a fool? Forget it, I won't ask you anymore. I don't believe that you won't do anything after buying the land. Let's go and see our little seedlings. I've decided to set up a team to protect all kinds of seedlings. I've even thought of a name. It'll be called 'Vigorous Seedling Protection Team'. "
The two of them were riding forward when Steward Wang hurried over from the other side.
"Young Lady, Young Master, the Ge family has lost a lot of Zhuangzi. I've told Ge Yingxi that we can help them replenish some seedlings. He wants to provide three times the amount of seeds. What do you think? If it's not enough, we can raise the price. "
Steward Wang asked Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. This was what they had agreed before. If the Ge family was in trouble in Zhuangzi, they could help according to the situation. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to act on his own accord.
"Sure, why not? It's three times the amount. It won't take much effort. Ask him how many seedlings he wants. Tell him that the grain must be able to be used as seeds. Otherwise, the price will be doubled. If he takes three times the amount of ordinary grain, we'll suffer a loss.
Xiao Bao, I've decided. From next year onwards, we'll start selling rice seedlings. We can use this year's harvest to advertise. We'll also find a few smart people and let them study the hybrid rice. You know how to do this, right? "
Wang Juan settled the matter.
"No, I don't know. I don't want to learn that kind of small knowledge that can only feed a few hundred million more people." Zhang Xiaobao shook his head disdainfully.
"I finally realized that you're too thick-skinned. Then let's study the big knowledge. Physics. Now, you can ride on your own. I'll show you the direction. Let's see how much effort you need to get us to the nearest paddy field in ten minutes."
*****
In Sanshui County, County Magistrate Cheng accompanied the various people who came down from the top. The first thing he had to do was to treat them well. There were dozens of people in the party. Only a few of them were here to do the work. The rest were here to take advantage of the situation.
Logically speaking, County Magistrate Cheng not only had to treat these people well, but he also had to give them some money to pay for the journey. However, he wasn't greedy and didn't collect much money. He had to pay more than a hundred taels for each trip. With so many people, where could he get tens of thousands of taels of silver? Therefore, he didn't pay for the journey.
These people originally wanted to play for a while and get some benefits. However, seeing that the county magistrate didn't know how to appreciate their kindness, they didn't treat him well. From time to time, some people would find fault with him. For example, the streets were too messy. Of course, if they paid, they would say that it was bustling.
County Magistrate Cheng was well aware of this. He didn't make any excuses and let them say whatever they wanted. It was cloudy this year, so County Magistrate Cheng was happy. He hoped that there would be rain to alleviate the disaster. However, some people said that it was cold.
County Magistrate Cheng was angry and found the deputy county magistrate. After a few words, the deputy county magistrate glanced at those people and left.
After waiting for them to leave, County Magistrate Cheng started to work on the case. In fact, there weren't many cases. Since Zhou Xihu stopped making trouble, County Magistrate Cheng dealt with those wandering gangs. The county became much more stable. It was just a case where a chicken that laid eggs suddenly went missing or a cow that got sick.
For the people at the top, they didn't need to care about such small things. However, for the people, it was a big loss. If the chicken went missing, there would be no eggs. Perhaps the family was counting on the eggs to survive. Even if they sold the chicken, they could get some firewood.
"Chen Dong, go to Li Liu's house and have a look. Why is his pig not eating?" County Magistrate Cheng threw a stick from the case and ordered the bailiff who often went to Zhangjia Zhuangzi.
"Yes, I'll go and have a look." Chen Dong had long been used to these kinds of messy things. He took the stick and left in a hurry. If the pig starved to death, Li Liu's family would lose a few taels of silver.
"Song Yang, go to Shahe Village and have a look. Why is one duck missing from Wang Wu's house? Find out whether it was dragged away by something in the river or stolen by someone."
County Magistrate Cheng dealt with the cases one by one. The people who came to look for him were all waiting, hoping that the county magistrate could help them solve these important problems.
The whole morning passed under such circumstances. The deputy county magistrate also rushed back and told County Magistrate Cheng that everything was arranged properly. County Magistrate Cheng then left the interrogation hall and turned around to invite those people to eat.
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