They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 434 Acquisition
Xu Zhichun also felt regretful. If things were normal, the sweet potatoes and potatoes would already be in the workshop by now, and small-scale trials of sweet potato flour and potato flour would have begun. But now, nothing could be done. They could only wait.

Fortunately, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

When it was time to harvest cotton in Zhuangzi, Qingyang County, Xu Zhichun was worried and specially took Chunfen and others to go there.

Fortunately, Steward Wu was experienced in his job and everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

He Biao and his men did not dare to slack off and took turns guarding the area day and night.

With them around, Xu Zhichun felt much more at ease.

She thought to herself that hiring them back then was definitely the right decision.

Who could have imagined this twist of fate?

The cotton bolls in the cotton field were picked, the seeds removed, and dried. They were piled up like small mountains on the ground. Not only was Xu Zhichun, the owner, happy, but everyone in the village was also delighted.

A bountiful harvest always puts people in a good mood, making them feel grounded and full of hope.

More importantly, everyone was busy harvesting cotton from dawn till dusk every day. Although it was very tiring, the wages were also very generous.

The lady also said that after the harvest, each household would receive cotton as a gift per person, with at least five catties per person. If everyone did their best, they would receive even more.

Cotton is a good thing, but it's expensive, and even if you have money, it's hard to buy good quality cotton.

Everyone can see that the cotton produced in the village is of very high quality.

Just as they were collecting the cotton, Prefect Yang from the provincial capital sent someone to say that he wanted to buy all the cotton and send it to the front lines of the war.

Prefect Yang sent his personal advisor, Master Mo, to come in person.

"We've heard that Madam Xu has planted a lot of cotton this year, and we'll take it all, no matter how much. However, Madam Xu might be at a disadvantage in terms of price. As Madam Xu knows, the government simply doesn't have much money to spare right now."

"These cotton will be sold at fifty coins per pound. Would Madam Xu be willing?"

If Xu Zhichun were just an ordinary lady from a local gentry family, Prefect Yang wouldn't have been so polite. But now that Prefect Yang knew Liang Minglang's identity, how could he dare to act recklessly?

He was just tentatively asking for fifty coins for a pound of cotton. If Xu Zhichun was unwilling, he wouldn't dare to force him and would have to grit his teeth and accept it.

Xu Zhichun, unaware of the situation, was taken aback upon hearing this.

If she remembered correctly, the market price of cotton last year was fifty to sixty wen per jin. She was prepared for Magistrate Yang to give her twenty or thirty wen per jin, but she didn't expect it to be the same as last year's market price.

Yes, cotton has now risen to a market price of 100 wen per jin, but in times of emergency, it is a crucial military supply. Even if the imperial court were to requisition it for free, no one would dare to object.

Prefect Yang is truly a good official!

Xu Zhichun sighed inwardly, filled with awe!

Seeing that she remained silent, Master Mo assumed she was unwilling and hurriedly added, "This price is indeed a bit low, and it's normal for Madam Xu to be unwilling. How about this, sixty or seventy coins per catty? I'm afraid the yamen can't afford that much silver right now. I'll write Madam Xu an IOU, and once this war is over, Madam Xu can simply go to the yamen to cash it."

“Master, you’ve misunderstood,” Xu Zhichun quickly said with a smile. “Fifty coins is already a lot. I know the court has it tough, so let’s make it forty coins.”

"Okay, okay—how much!"

Master Mo's eyes widened, completely stunned, as did Steward Mao. Xu Zhichun smiled: "Forty coins, not much, is it?"

"Not many, not many, not many!"

Master Mo, regaining his senses, hurriedly shook his head, both excited and admiring, and sighed, "No wonder everyone praises Madam Xu. Madam Xu is indeed noble and righteous. I shamelessly agreed. In that case, if we can scrape together the money, we can pay Madam immediately. Please prepare the cotton as soon as possible. If needed, I will inform the county government to send more people to help."

Xu Zhichun was overjoyed and nodded quickly, saying with a smile, "That would be perfect, as it would also speed things up. The warehouse has already received more than half of the goods, so Lord Yang can send people and carts to transport them away."

"Very well, very well," Master Mo said with a broad smile, bowing to Xu Zhichun. "I'll make the arrangements right away. By the way, how many kilograms of cotton are there in this warehouse?"

Xu Zhichun knew the answer in his mind and didn't need to look at the ledger. "It's probably around 100,000 jin."

"well!"

Master Mo was even happier. Winter was fast approaching, and cotton was a scarce commodity. The more the better, and it had to be sent away immediately after the purchase, the sooner the better.

Manager Wu secretly regretted it, feeling extremely distressed. Forty coins a pound! Forty coins! Hearing this price, he even considered becoming a middleman.

Even if you borrow money to do this business, you're guaranteed to make a fortune.

Ten thousand catties of cotton cost forty wen per catty, which is only four thousand taels of silver. But if we follow the current market price, we can make at least eight thousand taels.

The lady is truly generous.
Despite the pain of the expense, Manager Wu and his team continued harvesting cotton with even greater urgency.

This is to be sent to the front lines; no one dares to neglect it.

For no apparent reason, a sense of pride welled up inside them: This was serving the imperial court, and if the court won a battle in the future, they would also have a share of the credit!

Xu Zhichun then casually asked Master Mo, "I have some medicinal herbs, including nux vomica, turmeric, notoginseng, ephedra, asarum, cinnamon twig, and angelica dahurica. Do you need them?"

Master Mo's voice trembled with surprise, and his face beamed with a wide smile: "Yes, yes, yes! No matter how many Madam has, we'll take them all. These medicinal herbs are in high demand these days."

Acquisitions are happening everywhere. Master Mo, who originally knew nothing about these things, has now been forced to learn quite a bit. The names of the medicinal herbs that Xu Zhichun read out were either for treating external injuries or for treating colds, which are precisely the categories with very high demand.

Xu Zhichun smiled thoughtfully and said, "It's not that much. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was probably around 60,000 to 70,000 jin in total."

She wasn't sure how much to say, so she weighed the options and gave this number.

Actually, it wasn't much, but she couldn't take out too much; taking out too much would seem too abnormal.

Even so, it was enough to make Master Mo happy.

"Good, good, that's wonderful! Madam Xu, thank you so much! But I'm afraid I'll have to write an IOU for the money first."

There wasn't a single penny left.

Master Mo was also suffering. The yamen was truly poor, and everyone was tightening their belts to make ends meet. Fortunately, the autumn harvest was good, and this year was a bumper year; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to survive.

Xijiang Province unfortunately borders the fiefdom of King Yuchang, and the manpower, material resources, and financial resources spent on its defense are enormous.

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "That's alright. If I want to buy land in the future, the government can just give me a discount."