Not far from the big bend of the market, there is a gathering place of medicine shops. Four streets crisscross each other. More than 30 medicine shops are located here. The largest medicine shop, He Shande, even occupies half of the street.
Zhufeng spent a whole day shopping in the medicine shop, and felt that he was about the same, so he and Qingyu went to Zhengtian Debao's house in Pingpo Village. However, when they arrived, they were told that he was busy with farm work in the fields, so the two chased him to the field again.
.
Tian Debao was harvesting turnips with his son. When he saw Zhufeng, he said hello symbolically and went about his business without any intention of paying attention to him.
Zhufeng was not upset and let Qingyu sit and play on the ridge of the field, and then went to the ground by himself.
When Tian Debao saw him coming, he reminded him: "Boss Zhu, please be careful where you step. Don't step on my turnip. This thing is very valuable now."
Zhufeng didn't care at all about his pickiness, "Hey, I was watching."
When he came to Tian Debao, Zhufeng put down his backpack and took out a herbaceous plant from it, "This is Buddha's hand yam. The growth cycle is three months. It can be sown with leftover seeds in April and can be planted in large fields."
The Bergamot yam medicinal field should choose a sunny, flat, dry, low water level plot that has not been planted with yam for more than three years. The soil should be sandy soil or sandy loam.
This herbal medicine sells for 20 copper coins per plant. One acre of land can plant 2,500 plants, totaling 50 taels. It can be harvested twice a year, totaling 100 taels. After removing the cost, you can earn at least 60 taels.
A family of five, if they are more diligent, can cultivate ten acres of land, a total of 600 taels a year. I give them 2/10, and they can get 120 taels a year, which is equal to their income for more than ten or twenty years.
.”
Tian Debao put down his hoe, his face full of surprise and disbelief, "How can this thing be so expensive?"
Zhufeng smiled and took out another herbal medicine from the basket on his back.
"This is Atractylodes. It can be planted on slopes, mountains, and wasteland. It is drought-tolerant and avoids water. Ten kilograms of seeds can be planted in one acre. The yield of crude medicine can reach nine to ten stones per mu. The dry medicine can be harvested four to five stones. Each kilogram of dry medicine can be harvested.
Selling it for ten copper coins, you can get anywhere from forty to fifty taels per acre."
Now not only Tian Debao, but also the surrounding farmers heard this and gathered around.
Zhufeng took out a few more medicinal plants from the basket on his back and introduced them one by one, how to plant them, when to plant them, how to care for them, how to fertilize them, how to repel insects, all in detail, which made everyone around him speechless and shocked.
Finally, someone couldn't help but ask: "Can you really collect so much in a year? Will anyone buy it?"
Zhufeng smiled and said, "Now that the feudal lords are quarreling all over the place, there will be a small dozen every three days and a big dozen every five days. Why worry about not being able to sell the medicinal materials? The supply exceeds the demand."
"Really choose two out of ten? You can't be bluffing, right?"
Zhufeng said again: "With the evidence as evidence, there is nothing to be afraid of."
The farmers were talking about it. Such a thing was unheard of. Let alone earning a hundred taels a year, they would have to kowtow and bow to each other even if they were earning a hundred taels a year. For a hundred taels, they didn't even dare to think about it.
Tian Debao looked serious, "Do you really get money for growing medicinal materials?"
"At least it's much better than guarding these dry crops." Zhufeng affirmed.
Tian Debao pondered for a while and then said: "Boss Zhui is far-sighted. I am a farmer. Maybe my vision is a little short-sighted, but now that I hear you say this, I seem to have some hope.
However, it is an innovation and unprecedented. If it is planted and no one buys it, then... that's all.
If you want to gather the tenant farmers, okay, I can call you some people. How about tomorrow? I’ll be in my yard at a quarter past noon tomorrow and I’ll call everyone here for you. What you do then depends on you."
Zhufeng cupped his hands and said, "At that time, I would also like to ask Li Zhengneng to help me by saying a few good words and planting medicinal materials, not only for myself, but also for the suffering tenant farmers."
When Tian Debao heard this, his expression softened a lot. He hummed and continued his farm work.
After Zhufeng and Qingyu left, the surrounding farmers gathered in front of Tian Debao and started talking.
"Is there really such a good thing? One hundred taels a year, I can't even dream of it."
"If I could really earn so much in a year, why would I be farming? I would have gone to the city to buy a house and enjoy it."
"I haven't heard of anyone growing medicinal herbs around here, but there are quite a few herb farmers in the mountains. Is this really feasible?"
Tian Debao held the hoe handle with both hands and kicked the thin and small turnips at his feet. "I don't know whether it will succeed, but it is obvious that this boss is determined."
"This makes me want to plant. Who rented his land?" someone asked curiously.
Everyone looked at Tian Debao again, and Tian Debao thought for a while, "If you are free tomorrow, you might as well come and listen. I think this boss is not evil-minded. Listening to it is better than not knowing anything at all." "
Everyone nodded and went back to their work in the fields while discussing.
...
The next day, before noon, Tian Debao called thirteen households of tenant farmers to his home. Those who were free in the village also called over. In the end, there were more than fifty people sitting in the yard. The originally spacious yard was suddenly crowded. I can't put my foot down.
Everyone who came at this time had heard about growing medicinal materials, and the neighbors started talking about it. There was a lot of noise in the yard. Tian Debao shouted several times before suppressing all the noise, and then said:
"You may have heard about this medicinal material. Let me remind you, don't be fooled by the so-called annual income of a hundred taels. You have to put this aside to see more problems."
Everyone nodded. One hundred taels a year sounded like a fantasy, so how could one be gullible? So they started discussing the problem with each other, so much so that when Zhufeng and Qingyu arrived, they almost thought they had gone to the wrong door.
Li Li walked through the crowd to the front of the main room. Zhufeng first bowed to Tian Debao, and then saw that Old Liu Tou was also there. After the two greeted each other, Tian Debao invited Zhufeng and Qingyu to sit down.
"I've told everyone the general story of the matter. Originally there were only about a dozen tenant farmers, but other people in the village also heard about it and wanted to come over and have a listen. Boss Zhu doesn't mind, right?"
Zhufeng smiled, "It doesn't matter."
Tian Debao said again: "Okay, Boss Zhu can tell everyone your ideas and plans. Although they are tenant farmers, if there are no them in the land, then the land will be useless."
"Understood." Zhufeng stood up and looked at everyone in the courtyard seriously, "Everyone, there is a severe drought this year. Many crops in the fields have dried up, and the harvest is even more uncertain.
But we have to find a way to survive in a desperate situation, and I plan to use the Hezi land you are renting to grow medicinal materials..."
"But there are still crops growing on the land, what should we do?" someone asked eagerly.
"Hoe them all. In addition, the land must be plowed over three times." Zhufeng said.
Hoe them all down?! The crowd immediately exploded, with some people shouting dissatisfiedly, "How can we just hoe down something like this? How can we calculate this loss?"
"I think, considering the greater interests, this small loss is not worth mentioning." Zhufeng looked at everyone, with a tone that was unquestionable.
"Or do you want to continue living the same life of paying 80% of the rent? With the situation this year, you may not even be able to pay the rent."