When Li Sanniang saw Wu Huaiyu, she smiled and said hello.
Facing this daughter of the Li family who was younger than herself, Wu Huaiyu had no choice but to call her sister.
"Has it been a smooth journey?"
"It went very smoothly. Last year I went to Huiningguan, but I encountered robbers from time to time on the way. Later, I also encountered a large group of horse thieves. In the end, I surrendered. This time I took Huiningqing Road, even Qingzhou
I didn’t encounter any robbers on Dongchuan Road.
Even the shops and stalls next to the inn are not robbing customers anymore, Prince Consort Duan is really famous."
Wu Huaiyu smiled. Even in Yanzhou, he often heard about Duan Lun's suppression of bandits in Qingzhou. Now whoever dares to block roads and rob in the three states of Qingzhou Governor's Office has booked himself into a slave or exiled labor camp.
position. Even if you dare to steal or rip off customers on official roads, you will at least be beaten first and then punished.
"It's better here in Yanzhou, it's prosperous and lively."
"I heard that the current price of grain in Yanzhou is only fifty yuan for a bucket of rice. When I came here, it was still a hundred yuan in Chang'an." Li Sanniang was a little curious.
"Lingzhou next to our Yanzhou is choked with rice and grain rivers. Now salt, furs, slaves, etc. gather here. Lingzhou's grain is shipped here in large quantities. There is enough food, and the price has naturally dropped. Our Yanzhou now has grain.
The price is the same as Yeongju, and much cheaper than Gyeongju.”
In fact, the price of grain is a commodity that fluctuates greatly. It is a bulk commodity, and at the same time, due to difficulty in transportation and other reasons, regional price differences are also large.
Now the grain in Yanzhou is basically imported from Lingzhou. The distance is actually not that far, and the cost has not increased much. In addition, there are some policy reasons in Yanzhou, resulting in many merchants transporting grain here, so that they can trade salt, slaves, and furs.
Priority for livestock, etc.
If there is more input and there is no shortage, the price will naturally return to the normal range.
A dou of rice only costs 50 yen. In fact, the price of millet is even lower, only 30 yen a dou. This is almost one-tenth of the price of grain in Chang'an when the Turks invaded the Wei River last year.
The return of grain prices to low levels has many benefits, and it is especially important for border states like Yanzhou.
"With grain prices so low, wouldn't it be impossible to make money from that kind of land?" Li Sanniang asked another question. If Yanzhou's dry land could only produce half a stone per acre, a bucket would only cost thirty, and half a stone would only cost one hundred and eighty yuan.
.
There are also costs such as seeds, farm tools, cattle, and even hired workers that need to be deducted. How much will be left?
"The land price here is cheap, only one hundred yuan per acre, and to build a manor, the annual gross income per acre is about two hundred yuan. Although it is not much in single calculation, if you plant a lot, it will be a lot in detail.
"
"Besides, when we grow grain here in Yanzhou, we don't have to worry about the cost of exporting and transporting it. Yanzhou can absorb it locally. Especially if there is grain in Yanzhou, we can give priority to exchange for salt, livestock, furs, slaves, etc., and then sell it back to the customs.
land, the profit will be very high."
The farming in Yanzhou is not just about farming, it is a business settlement, where people go to exchange grain for salt.
Li Dejiang bought 50 hectares of land in Yanzhou for only 500 guan. However, to run these five villages, he still needs the full support of the Chang'an Yongkang Palace, reliable managers, and
There must be enough slaves.
Building a farm, buying cattle, farm tools, seeds, and even providing food and clothing for the slaves are no small expenses.
Especially at the beginning, the investment was much larger than buying land.
Li Sanniang came this time with many stewards, servants and slaves. She also brought a lot of money and food, and even brought a large amount of goods to make a fortune.
"How long do Sanniang plan to stay in Yanzhou?"
"What, you're driving me away as soon as I come here?"
"No way, I just want to ask Sanniang what her plans are."
"I plan to live in Yanzhou from now on. I will build five new villages here and take good care of them. By the way, I will also do some business in the border market of Baicheng. I will also keep an eye on our salt farm in Wubai Salt Pond."
Wu Huaiyu was quite surprised by her plan. After all, the daughter of a well-known family was already of marriageable age. It was a bit strange to not stay in Chang'an for a blind date, but to go to Yanzhou to manage these farms, salt farms, businesses, etc.
.
Li Dejiang was not surprised by his niece's idea. To be honest, the uncle and nephew were more like brother and sister. They were quite similar in character, but both were a bit deviant.
"Where are you going to live?"
Wu Huaiyu also lived in the backyard of the Governor's Yamen in Yanzhou City. As a member of the army, Li Dejiang did not buy a house here for the time being. He lived in an official residence, a dormitory for officials. Anyway, he often followed Huaiyu everywhere.
, and often stay in the military camp. I have no family or children, so there is no need to buy a house.
Li Sanniang looked at Huaiyu, "Where does junior brother live now?"
"I rarely stay in Wuyuan City. I spend most of my time in Yanchi County."
"Where are your concubines? I heard that the Fan sisters have also come to Yanzhou."
"They also live in Baicheng now, and during their holidays, they also go to Zhuangzi outside the city."
Li Sanniang then said, "Then I will also buy a yard in Baicheng. Second uncle, does our family have land next to the Wu family's Baicheng manor?"
"We have five farms, one of which is right next to Baicheng Wushijun's manor."
"That's good, we can be neighbors again." Li Sanniang was very happy. She said that she would buy a yard or land directly in Yanzhou City and build a house here so that it would be convenient to live here when she comes here in the future.
You can also buy property in Baicheng, Yanchi County.
Li Dejiang looked at his niece and seemed to see something wrong. He looked at Wu Huaiyu again and found that Wu Huaiyu was quite normal.
Are you overthinking it?
Because the concubines were all in Baicheng and there were few people here in Yanzhou, the dinner for Jie Feng was quite simple. It was just Huaiyu, Li Dejiao, and Su Lie. There were no other outsiders, and the food was simple.
Wu Huaiyu asked An Zhuer to pick up her mother and sister, and they came to the backyard of the Yamen to make chopped buckwheat noodles and sauteed rice made with fresh mutton.
It was simple, but Li Sanniang praised it greatly after eating it and thought it tasted great. After she heard about Wu Huaiyu's past with this family, she couldn't help but praise Junior Brother Wu for his kindness.
After the meal, she called over Liu's mother and daughter. Not only did she reward Liu with two coins, but she also offered that if Liu was willing, she could send her twelve-year-old daughter to her to be a maid, with the same treatment as An.
Zhu'er is just like Huaiyu, with food and accommodation provided, three sets of clothes a year, and three stones and six buckets of food.
Liu was naturally very happy.
Although her twelve-year-old daughter is already a good helper at her noodle stall, and is very skilled at rolling, chopping noodles, and even cooking noodles and steamed dumplings, her stall does not make much money in the first place.
It is very rare that a daughter of a daughter, who takes care of food, shelter and clothing, can still earn three stones and six buckets of food a year like her brother.
Of course, if you can serve beside the county prince's daughter, even if you marry in the future, you will be able to marry a better person.
Li Sanniang named the eldest daughter of the An family Siqi to fill the place of Runniang who left the Li family with Huaiyu. Mrs. An liked this name very much.
This thin and shy girl stood in front of them holding her skirt and lowering her head, feeling quite inferior.
Mrs. Liu, on the other hand, was extremely grateful and kept saying words of thanks, "From now on, when Sanniang comes to Baicheng, she can eat noodles at my stall without charge."
Li Sanniang liked this somewhat simple woman quite a bit.
When she finally left, Li Sanniang also gave her a few sets of clothes. Although they were clothes for the Li family's servants and maids, they were definitely good for her and her daughters. The clothes were all new and unpatched, which made her
Mrs. Liu expressed her gratitude again.
"You two brothers and sisters, you must do your best."
Simple people have simple concepts and simple thoughts, and they just need to repay their kindness.
"She never imagined that a bowl of chopped noodles could bring such a great opportunity to her family." Li Sanniang said to Huaiyu with a smile. Wu Huaiyu's behavior towards this woman and her family made Li Sanniang appreciate Wu Huaiyu even more.
To be able to do this to the weak at the bottom is enough to illustrate his character.
"Actually, I just like the taste of her chopped buckwheat noodles. They abandoned their hometowns and came to seek refuge. Now they are in a situation and have no relatives. She and I can be regarded as meeting old friends in a foreign land. I can help if I can."
"Before I left Chang'an, I went to your house with my grandmother to visit Mrs. Fan. She has a big belly and is very plump. I can see that she misses you very much."
Chang'an and Yanzhou are thousands of miles apart, so Wu Huaiyu took almost three days to write a letter to Xuanfu, and the official document was delivered back to Beijing by the postman.
Fan Xuanfu also replied to a letter every three to five days. The couple sent letters to each other, and it felt a bit like a long-distance relationship. Although Fan Xuanfu's letter now talks most about the child in her belly. The child has not been born, and she
So I gave him a nickname, and asked Huaiyu to give him a big name.
Occasionally, he also talks about things in Chang'an's family. For example, Lao Wu finally succeeded in bringing Chu Chuna from Pingkangfang home, and Mrs. Liu still paid for the ransom.
Although this Chu Chu successfully married into a wealthy family, life was not easy once she entered the Wu Mansion.
Mrs. Wu Liu began to set rules for her, and her two daughters-in-law, Mrs. Cheng and Mrs. Fan, naturally stood in front of her mother-in-law. Lao Wu's other three concubines, Mrs. Wang and others, even stood firmly on the side of the mistress and maintained a relationship with the fox girl.
distance.
Now Chu Chu's situation in the Wu family is that she is ostracized by everyone. She waits in front of Mrs. Liu like a maid every day. She stands at the table to wait on her during meals. She can only go to eat after eating.
The rest of the time, except for sleeping time, she tried her best to stand in front of Mrs. Liu and serve her.
Even at night, she had to sleep outside Mrs. Liu's bedroom. Mrs. Wu and Liu never gave her a chance to be with Lao Wu.
At first, Chu Chu wanted to resist, but Mrs. Liu went straight to the family method, asking the servant girl to hold her down and then whip her. After a few beats, she became more obedient.
She approached Lao Wu, but it was not easy for Lao Wu to quarrel with his wife because of this. After all, it would be a great honor for Mrs. Liu to let him take her back.
In the end, Lao Wu came up with a plan to get away. On the grounds that Shenjifang was busy with business, he moved to a small courtyard in Qujiang and stayed away from home for the time being, letting his old wife take care of Chu Chu.
After a while, Chu Chu was treated submissively.
Lao Wu is probably quite depressed now. He didn't expect Mrs. Liu to be so powerful this time. If he had known this, he might as well not have redeemed her.
If I were still in Pingkangfang, I could often go there and have fun, but now I'm at home, but I can't even talk.
Huaiyu was even considering whether to find a foreign job for Lao Wu in Gyeonggi Province, so as to save the restless family.