Volume 1 In the Countryside Chapter 19: To be rich...
The three sides of the house were brick walls that were once painted but are now mottled, showing the signs of age. In the west corner stood a black lacquered wooden cabinet, which was the most decent piece of furniture. Next to it was a pottery or clay basin, in which a few small flowers were blooming, bringing some freshness to the house.
However, Zhang Shou knew that these seeds were dug out from the field in the morning and planted freshly with the soil still in place.
Seeing several children crowding at the door and watching curiously, they were impatiently driven away by the adults guarding the door. Except for Zhu Ying who occupied the only rattan chair, the others either squeezed into a bench with two or three people, or could only sit on small stools, but their backs were all straighter than each other. Zhang Shou, who was standing in the middle, couldn't help but look at the eldest lady twice.
Ever since he passed the news to the Yang family last night, this rattan chair has been scrubbed over and over again with well water. Now, this chair, which has been sat on by so many people, is greasy with age and looks a bit rustic. Yet, one can sit on it with ease, as comfortable as sitting on a throne in a mansion. Only Miss Zhu, who does not look like a lady in many aspects, can do that.
He retracted his gaze, cleared his throat, and gave a concise opening statement that sounded like a village committee meeting: "Since everyone is here, let's start the meeting now. Mr. Yang, you go first."
Yang Laogong glanced at Zhu Ying with awe-filled eyes, then he held his head high, looked down at the others, and said in a serious tone: "Today, in front of the eldest lady and the son-in-law, I will talk about our Rongshui Village."
Hearing the name "son-in-law", Zhang Shou was helpless. He had already warned him, but this damn old man still did it knowingly!
However, it was not known whether it was the serious tone of Mr. Yang or his address as "son-in-law", but Zhu Ying was amused. Her smile made the farmers who wanted to see but did not dare to do so feel so amazed that their mouths were dry and they could not speak. Even Qi Liang, who was specially called by Zhang Shou and was a junior in the village but was listening in the corner, could not help but feel his heart skip a beat.
When Yang Laoguan saw that no one else dared to say anything, he thought that he had intimidated everyone, so he pretended not to notice Zhang Shou's angry look and started to talk about the main topic.
"We used to grow mostly wheat in our village, but thanks to my brother-in-law, we rebuilt the canal and brought water to irrigate the fields. In the past two years, we have planted a lot of rice. The sandy land that was flooded before the riverbank was repaired is now planted with cotton. We have also planted a lot of trees on the hillsides and raised two seasons of tussah silkworms a year. The situation is much better than before."
The oldest one now had a rosy face and said with great joy, "If it weren't for my son-in-law convincing Madam Wu to spend a lot of money to dig canals, select seeds, buy silkworm seeds and cotton seeds, and waive the rent for the first year, we wouldn't have been able to hold on! The year before last, the harvests from the rice and cotton fields were average, and many tussah silkworms died. It was not until last year that things got better, but this year it looks like a bumper harvest!"
"You know, there are many southerners serving as officials in the capital, and they prefer rice. There is more wheat than rice in the north, and most of the rice is transported from the south to the north, so the price of rice has always been much higher than in the south of the Yangtze River. We sell refined rice, not brown rice. If we sell it this year, we will definitely make more than the combined income of the previous two years. What's more, there are fish directly from the rice fields, so we can eat meat often if we want."
"As for the cotton fields, let alone the money, every household now has two new cotton-padded jackets to wear. Raising tussah silkworms is even better. This spring, everyone made a lot more money. If we hadn't had the big tree to enjoy the shade, the tax on cotton fields and silk would have been lighter than that on rice and wheat. But those tax collectors are not easy to talk to. Seeing that we have just become rich, I don't know how much they will exploit us!"
"So, today I'm going to say this: from now on, no matter what the son-in-law says, our Yang family will do it without hesitation!"
Even though he was annoyed at Mr. Yang for calling him "son-in-law" all the time, at this moment after Mr. Yang finished speaking, Zhang Shou had to admit that this cunning old man was really good at talking.
This is not an explanation of the situation, it is clearly a display of loyalty!
Sure enough, with Yang Laoguan taking the lead, the others all followed suit, as if they were competing to see who had the loudest voice. It was not until Zhan Jin, who was standing beside Zhu Ying, could no longer bear the noise and covered his ears with his hands that someone shut up.
Zhu Ying didn't mind the noise. She seemed to be listening attentively, but in fact she glanced at Zhang Shou from time to time, thinking about the words he had said before inviting her here.
I didn’t expect that Zhang Shou was so popular in this small village… But what exactly did he want me to help with?
"What Mr. Yang said before is that it will take some years to go from making ends meet to having enough food and clothing, and from having enough food and clothing to a comfortable life. And it will be even harder to go from a comfortable life to becoming rich. Since we are near the capital, if we want to become rich..."
Zhang Shou paused, and swallowed back the words "build the road first" - you know, the village is not far from the main road, and the small road extending from the main road is well built and can accommodate carriages and horses. It is not a problem to transport things in and out, otherwise the carriages and horses of the Duke of Zhao's mansion could not pass. It can be said that the innate conditions of this village are very good.
He took a deep breath and said seriously, "If we want to be rich, we must at least not let this village look so shabby. We must renovate the houses. You know, in the near future, there will be a steady stream of people coming from the capital!"
Zhu Ying was immediately surprised and asked, "A Shou, what do you mean by that?"
Zhang Shou turned around and looked at Zhu Ying, who was sitting on a rattan chair in the middle of the room like a host, and said with a smile, "Since the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhao has come to live in this small village, won't some people who have heard the news come in droves?"
Thinking that Zhang Shou didn't believe what she said in the Zhang family mansion before, Zhu Ying couldn't help but snorted and said unhappily: " I told you, don't pay attention to them, they don't have the guts to make trouble! If anyone dares, I won't let them off!"
"They may not cause trouble, but what if they also plan to stay here like you? These people are rampant in the streets of the capital, let alone in the countryside?"
Zhang Shou smiled at Miss Zhu, who was getting a little angry, and deliberately winked at her, "So, now that our village has finished harvesting, let's immediately dry the grain, thresh it, and grind the rice, and then start renovating the house."
As soon as these words came out, Zhan Jin and Liu Yin, who were secretly staring at Zhang Shou, were shocked. Liu Yin even shouted, "Are you planning to use the young lady to lure those noble sons to come and pay for the accommodation?"
Before she finished her words, Zhu Ying interrupted her domineeringly, "What kind of use is this! Ah Shou is right, these guys may really gather around me like flies. However, these guys who only know how to circle around me, who don't know how to make progress and don't know how to do anything serious, are just pig-headed idiots who are more likely to cause trouble than to achieve anything!"
In the past, with the indulgence , Zhu Ying had played tricks on many of the playboys in the capital. At this moment, instead of being angry at Zhang Shou's suspected plan to take advantage of her, she was eager to try.
"But if you, Shou, renovate the houses in the village just to give them a place to live, that will never work. Even your house, these people who are used to luxury and splendor may not even care about it. These idiots are richer, more wasteful, and more picky than each other!"
Zhang Shou was not surprised by Zhu Ying's attitude, but even though he guessed that she wouldn't care, he couldn't help but feel that this young lady had an interesting temper when he saw her participating enthusiastically. In some ways, she and he were actually somewhat compatible!
Hearing this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile: "Renovating the village is to prevent them from living in the village, so as to avoid chaos and disrupt everyone's lives."
Hearing this, a group of villagers nodded their heads. There were no bullies here, and the clerks rarely came here except to collect taxes. However, anyone who had been to the city had seen one or two cases of bullies running rampant, and no one wanted to see this promising life go to waste.
Seeing that everyone supported it, but Zhu Ying looked doubtful, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "The village is under renovation and dust is flying everywhere. How can these noble children who are used to a luxurious life live here? And these guys can't stand setting up tents."
The more Zhu Ying listened, the more itchy she felt: "A Shou, tell me, where should we let them live?"
"Haha, the mountain man has his own clever plan!"
