kingnovel Chapter 753 Going South
Chapter 753 Going South
Zhou Guo was happy. She felt that the world would soon be at peace. Then she would be able to expand her business all over the country, and it would be easier to find her father then.
Seeing her so happy, Zhou Dacang poured cold water on her, "Don't be too happy. This is a huge matter. It can't be accomplished overnight. It may take several years, or even more than ten years. It's all unknown."
Zhou Guo waved his hand, "I know, but at least there is hope. When the world is at peace, I will go find my father."
Zhou Dacang was silent for a moment and said, "Don't worry about finding your father. I will go with you when you go to the north this time. I am in the army, so it is relatively easy for me to find someone."
Zhou Guo was shocked. "You want to go to the king's defense? Is that possible? Isn't there war going on everywhere in the south?"
Zhou Dacang touched her head and said, "There are wars in the south, and there have been many battles in the north over the years. Besides, the fighting power of the various mountain kings, including the imperial court's army, cannot be compared with that of the Hu people. Compared with the Hu people, they are much easier to fight."
Zhou Guo also thought it made sense, "Didn't you say that there wasn't enough food? Do you have so much food?"
This year’s autumn harvest has not yet arrived, and what was harvested last year is of little use, just that much.
Zhou Dacang said, "We are going to serve the king. We can't be asked to prepare the food and fodder ourselves. The court will take care of it."
"Is that enough? Do you believe them?"
If I don't prepare something, won't I starve to death?
Zhou Dacang said with a smile: "So, we have just started recruiting soldiers. It will take until next year for these soldiers to be trained. Let them fight for a while until the water is muddy and invisible."
It is easy to fish in muddy water.
Zhou Guo pondered, next year.
This autumn harvest, the tax revenue of the entire Yunzhou state will increase significantly, and next year...
The taxation in the entire North is estimated to be high, so the food and fodder should be barely enough to supply the needs by then, right?
She thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you occupy some land near Huaiyang? I'll sell the fertilizer there next year, and then the tax revenue will be much higher!"
Zhou Dacang touched his chin and waved his hand after a while, saying, "You go out first, I'll think about it."
Zhou Guo went out and lay on the kang table and started writing a letter.
Before noon, someone from the Zhao family came.
Several horse-drawn carriages stopped at the gate of the courtyard, and all the members of the Zhao family were on the carriages, from the old to the young.
Li had just returned from the mountains. She had just changed her clothes and came out with her family to greet them. She said with a smile, "Oh, the old man and the old lady are here too, and my father-in-law and mother-in-law are here too. Come in and sit down."
The old man looked at Zhou Dacang, who was dressed in an imposing manner, and said, "Oh, this must be the young uncle of the Zhou family. He is truly a talent, amazing. He doesn't look much older than my brother Yang, so how come he is so promising?!"
Zhou Dacang said with a smile, "Hello, old man and old lady, I'm so sorry. I was not at home when the two children got married. I originally wanted to visit you today, but I didn't expect you to come."
Then he said to Mr. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao behind him, "Father-in-law and mother-in-law, please come in."
Finally, he smiled at Zhao Yang and Zhou Xing and said, "Sit inside."
Zhou Guo took the child from Zhou Xing's arms and showed it to Zhou Dacang, "Uncle, look, this is Yuan Ge'er, is he fat?"
Zhou Dacang stretched out a finger and touched the child's face, and the child smiled with his toothless mouth.
A group of people is extremely rare.
Zhou Xingxi said happily: "Brother Yuan likes his uncle."
Zhao Yang also laughed and said, "Yeah, this kid rarely laughs."
The old man said cheerfully, "After all, it's blood relationship, needless to say, I must like her."
The old man wouldn't let Zhou Da Cang go. He knew this young man was something serious, so he had to build good relationships with the family. In the future, with this relative, Brother Yuan would be able to go further.
Zhou Dacang felt relieved when he saw Zhou Xing’s rosy face.
The Zhao family stayed at home for the whole afternoon and returned home after dinner.
Zhou Dacang looked at Zhou Guo and said with a smile: "Zhou Xing's marriage is good. You have chosen a good in-law family for your sister."
Zhou Guo was very proud, "Of course, how could my vision be so bad?"
Li said, "If you have such a good eye, go find one for your uncle."
The old man was sitting in the carriage whispering to the old lady, "Uncle Zhou is really a great man. It's a pity that we don't have a daughter."
The old lady spat at him, "What are you talking about? Isn't this a marriage exchange? What does this look like?"
The old man glared, "You put it so harshly, what do you mean by exchange marriage? This is a marriage between relatives!"
The old lady said calmly: "No matter how nice it sounds, it's useless if you don't have a granddaughter."
Old Master: “…”
Zhou Dacang stayed at home for twenty days. He went up and down the mountains and fields, and also went to the mountains with Zhou Guo to catch shadowless fish. They caught three big ones and ate a full meal. He had eaten all the delicious food at home.
Calculating it, there are still ten days left before we return to the camp.
Zhou Guo took him to Song County, showed him the farm that was under construction, and took him on horseback for a tour of the hundreds of hectares of saline-alkali land that he had bought.
He said proudly: "Uncle, look, our family now has so much land! In time, I don't know how much food we can harvest every year and how many people we can feed!"
Zhou Dacang had been frowning since the beginning. Hearing this, he said, "Can this land grow anything? No one wants this thing if you give it to them. Why did you spend more than 10,000 taels of silver on it?"
Zhou Guo took him to see her experimental fields. "Look, I just started planting this spring. I washed, drained, and fertilized the fields. The grass is growing. This land is doing well. Sooner or later, these hundreds of hectares of land will grow something. Everything depends on human effort."
Zhou Dacang looked at the endless salty land and shook his head, "This land is hundreds of hectares, not just a few acres. How much effort and cost will it take? Can it be done?"
Zhou Guo said, "Didn't you say that this is not something that can be fixed overnight? Just take your time, change it little by little. If one year doesn't work, I'll spend five years. If five years doesn't work, I'll spend twenty years. It will eventually work."
She also has to cultivate seeds and plant forage grass that is tolerant to salt and alkali soil, so that she can feed cattle, sheep and horses, which also brings in a considerable income.
Zhou Dacang was still not optimistic. "Such a large project would be fine if the imperial court took the lead. Our family doesn't have the strength to do it. If it really doesn't work, you should just wait and see what happens."
Zhou Guo was speechless. "Even if that person did something, can he still spend money to fix this for me? Unless I give him half of these lands. That won't work. These are all bought with my real money. I spent so much effort to fix them, now they belong to me."
Zhou Da Cang waved his hand and said, "It's up to you. I don't know how to manage this anyway. But if these lands can be managed, it will be amazing. I remember there is such a piece of land outside the Great Wall. It's very big. If we can fight outside the Great Wall and take that land, if you buy it and manage it well, I guess you will be the largest landlord in the north."