Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 960 The Zhuangzi I Like

Zhou Guo also laughed.

After the discussion, she stayed for lunch.

It was hard to refuse such a kind invitation and since they refused to let me go, I had no choice but to stay.

At that time, the food in the government office was not as good as the food in her home.

There was a braised fish, a stewed meat, two stir-fried side dishes, a plate of peanuts, and a pumpkin soup on the table.

The adult said cheerfully: "You are from the north, I don't know if you can get used to the food here."

Zhou Guo said: "I am used to it. Actually, I am also from the south. I also fled there a few years ago."

"Oh? Are you from the south? Were you brought there by your ancestors?"

"No, my family moved to the north when I was seven or eight years old. It's only been a few years, and our family's habits haven't changed. They're the same as those in the south."

The Lord of the Mansion was extremely surprised. He looked her up and down and said, "I can't tell. Then your family must be very wealthy and your ancestors must have been very capable, right?"

Zhou Guo's temperament is really not like that of an ordinary refugee.

Zhou Guo said: "I don't know whether our ancestors have the ability, but we can come to the north safely, which is also the blessing of our ancestors."

The Lord of the Mansion nodded and sighed, "It is true that heroes emerge in troubled times, and heroes emerge in youth. Compared to you, we are old and useless."

Zhou Guo said: "Sir, you are still so young, how can you be old? If you can live to be over 80, you can still live for another 40 years, and you still have 40 years of official career, which is very promising!"

The Lord of the Mansion said with a smile: "I am already fifty-two years old, how can I live forty more years? You are really good at talking, and you make me look ten years younger when you open your mouth."

"You can't tell. Doesn't this just show that you are young and healthy, sir? You are in your prime!"

The prince was so coaxed that his face was filled with laughter. He said to Zhou Guo, "Come, eat some food."

Pointing to a dish of braised wild rice stem in the middle, he said, "Try this. I'm afraid it's not available in the north."

Zhou Guo smiled, "Really? There aren't any fresh vegetables in the fields in the north at this time. The vegetables in the fields have all been stored in the cellars. They will be eaten in March or April next year. They grow a lot in winter."

The Lord of the Mansion asked, "How many vegetables do we need to plant to be able to eat them by then? And can they be stored for that long without rotting?"

"So the people in the north would take advantage of the summer and autumn to dry more vegetables and make more pickled vegetables, which can be kept for a long time without going bad. They would still have vegetables to eat in the winter, and life would be miserable without vegetables to eat."

The South does not have this worry.

Even in winter, there are vegetables in the fields. After the snow, the vegetables are sweeter.

The Lord of the Mansion laughed and said, "Come, come, eat some food. The fish our chef cooked is pretty good. You should try it."

Zhou Guo took a bite and nodded repeatedly, "It's delicious. My Lord, you are in for a treat! This braised wild rice stem is also good!"

"Yeah, it's delicious, eat more!"

Zhou Guo restrained himself and only ate three bowls of rice, which was just enough to make him half full.

After finishing the meal, I took Erpang out and said goodbye.

After they walked away, Erpang asked, "How is it, did he agree?"

Zhou Guo said, "Is there any harm in this for him? If the fertilizer is sold, everyone will have a good harvest, the people will live a better life, and the tax revenue will increase. Aren't they all his achievements? Why wouldn't he agree? He didn't have to pay a penny. At most, he would be given some farm tools or something. Maybe many families would do that."

But farm tools are not cheap. Except for the plow, rake and hoe, they have to be taken with you even when fleeing.

When they escaped, they took a few hoes and machetes with them, which came in handy on the road.

Now that she thought about it, she felt that not all families were short of it, and most families should have some.

The gaps were found and filled, and the Lord did not bleed much.

Er Pang muttered, "Some families were left with nothing when they fled. They sold everything they could, such as hoes, and threw away anything they couldn't take with them. Not all families are so far-sighted."

Zhou Guo waved his hand and said, "Anyway, this job can't fall on us. I provided the fertilizer and seeds, and you can't ask us to take over the work of farm tools as well. What do we need the government for then? Just let me do it."

When we returned to the inn, the old man was not there, and Qian Duo was not there either.

It was not until the afternoon when they were having dinner that the two of them came back with their people, smiling widely.

She asked curiously, "What are you two doing?"

The old man said, "Didn't you let him choose the farm himself? I followed him to see the farm."

Qian Duo said excitedly, "I've seen a ready-made farm. It's not big, only about ten hectares. The key is that there are mountains, ponds, and lakes next to it. It can be used to raise ducks and geese. The farm has great potential. Boss, you should buy it. I like it."

Zhou Guo didn't expect that he would fall in love with the manor after being out for a while, so he asked, "Where is this manor? It's so good, will the owner of the manor sell it?"

"Sell it. You don't know. The owner of the manor said that the manor is not profitable. Most of the family property was lost during the war. Now he wants to sell the manor and get some money back. The whole manor is worth more than 8,000 taels. Those mountains and lakes are given away."

"More than eight thousand taels?" Erpang and the others exclaimed. They had never encountered such a huge expense this time. The first farm only cost three thousand taels. This farm costs nine thousand taels?

You can afford three such farms.

Qian Duo explained, "This farm is close to the city. Think about it. There are mountains and ponds. It will be convenient for us to sell fish, crabs, or fruits. To make fertilizer, we need to go to the city to buy night fragrance, right? It's so close. The city alone is equivalent to more than ten county towns. How much fertilizer can be made? It's cost-effective no matter how you look at it."

Zhou Guo didn't rush to agree, but just said, "Let's go and have a look together tomorrow."

This city is big and covers a wide area, so it is cost-effective to build a farm around it.

The old man said, "Except that it's a bit expensive, the manor is fine. Everything is ready-made and there's no need to spend money to build it."

Zhou Guo became curious, and didn't know what was so good that even the old man thought it was good.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, the group left the city.

It took more than an hour to drive the carriage to the destination.

When Zhou Guo heard that they had arrived, he lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage. He found that this was a valley area surrounded by mountains on several sides. The land was not particularly flat, but relatively speaking, it was still good.

Qian Duo said: "Look, big boss, this is the farm. As far as you can see, it's all our land. This farm, I guess they haven't taken care of it. The land is not fertile. There's nothing to do with the hills except raising chickens. It's a mess. It's useless in their hands, but it's different in my hands."

In his opinion, the resources of this manor are extremely good, but in the eyes of people who don’t know the value of them, they are just dispensable.

Zhou Guo rode his horse around the boundary of the land, and then went to the mountains to have a look. He found that several mountains were very barren, with poor terrain and some were steep. It would cost money to open them up.