The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 362

Aji brought the account books.

"In just over a year, the ledgers have become so thick."

What are swallows afraid of?

The worst thing is managing the household affairs.

I've never really taken care of anyone properly in my life.

Although her mother had given her special training before she got married, well... she was just lazy, not incapable.

Therefore, you should still take on the responsibilities that you are supposed to shoulder yourself.

"Ling'er, please check the accounts and see if they are correct."

"Yes, ma'am."

Watching Ling'er frantically moving the abacus beads, Qiu Yan thought how fortunate she was to have the foresight to have brought Ling'er, who knew how to use an abacus, along with the meticulous Qing'er among the maids.

"Qing'er, from now on you will take care of the affairs of the manor."

"Madam, isn't there Aji?"

It feels like I've taken away his power the moment I arrived. Is that really a good idea?

“I’ve already spoken to the adults. Aji is in charge of the outside world, and you are in charge of the inside world.”

"Yes, ma'am."

So, Qing'er is the housekeeper, and Aji is the external steward.

“Madam, the accounts are correct.” Ling’er finished the calculations. “However, Madam, although there are few people in the household, the expenses seem quite high. You see, the daily price of meat and vegetables is quite high, unlike in the capital…”

"Do you know why?"

"why?"

“Because in the capital, the meat, vegetables, chicken, duck and fish we eat in the manor are all sent from the estate.” Qiu Yan also took a long time to realize a truth: “Although these seem like small amounts of money and don’t cost much, in fact, if you keep paying for it, it adds up to a lot over time.”

"Moreover, Madam, the prices of vegetables here are much higher than in the capital."

Ling'er was shocked. What kind of family was this? They spent two taels of silver every day on vegetables. Two taels of silver could feed an ordinary family for a year!

Could it be that the manager named Aji profited from this?
“It’s normal.” Qiu Yan could understand. Zhao Minglang wasn’t stupid. Aji was one of his men. It would be strange to keep someone who was greedy for petty gains by his side. “After the flood last year, everything here had to be rebuilt. Farming and raising livestock were very difficult. Things are scarce, so they are expensive. You see, the price of vegetables has dropped in the last two months.”

"That's true."

Ling'er blushed slightly, realizing she had judged him by her own petty standards.

She's too narrow-minded.

“However, Ling’er, what you said has reminded me that we should buy a couple of estates here.”

For no other reason than to be able to supply the household with vegetables.

What Qiu Yan didn't expect was that there were no estates available for sale in the Hubei and Hunan regions at the moment.

“The estates of wealthy families are still under repair and reconstruction, and the land cultivated by ordinary people cannot be bought or sold,” Zhao Minglang said. “They have a three-year tax exemption period, after which they only need to pay taxes. Therefore, everyone values ​​their land very much and will definitely not buy or sell it. Moreover, even if they do sell, the government will not issue a deed. A sale without a deed is invalid, and the money is wasted.”

"What should I do?"

It's so difficult to even have a farm to grow some vegetables.

Moreover, more servants will likely be added to the household over time, and with more people, food will become a significant expense.

"Why don't we go and cultivate the wasteland too?"

What?
Qiu Yan felt like she had misheard.

"It's really possible. Many families in the government office have gone to cultivate the land." Of course, there are restrictions. It's counted based on the number of masters on the household register. Servants are not counted. Otherwise, all the land would be concentrated in the hands of these powerful and wealthy people.

"How much land can we cultivate?" "Currently, I'm the only registered resident here, which means we can only cultivate one mu (approximately 0.16 acres)."

"How much is one acre? Is that enough to grow vegetables?"

Qiu Yan had absolutely no idea.

"One mu is not a small amount; the backyard of the governor's mansion is about one mu."

"Speaking of which, this governor's mansion is very luxurious and looks very wealthy."

"Hehe, greed knows no bounds. If Governor Sun hadn't been so greedy for disaster relief grain, he wouldn't be in such a miserable state."

The mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole is behind.

He wanted food; he wanted everything he had.

"Fortunately, Governor Sun is very wealthy, which allowed me to handle this disaster relief effort with ease."

Lord Xia caught Governor Sun stealing disaster relief grain. In order to give his family a chance to survive, Governor Sun agreed to donate all his family's wealth.

Zhao Minglang once again seized upon this tactic, directly requesting the proceeds from the Emperor to offset post-disaster expenses.

The emperor was naturally pleased with this outcome.

Sometimes I think, if every imperial envoy I sent out was like me, finding their own way to solve the problem of providing food and silver for disaster relief, wouldn't I, as the emperor, be very happy?

Zhao Minglang talked for a long time, especially about Xiao Chunnuan's family farming in Changzhou, and Qiu Yan also decided to go and reclaim the wasteland.

“Madam, how can we let you do this kind of thing? Just leave it to us servants; we have plenty of strength.”

Several women followed Qiuyan to clear the wasteland, especially the cook who even took a machete.

Of course, Qiuyan also specifically instructed the cook to bring some food so that they could set up a fire on the mountain to cook meat and vegetables.

In Beijing, this is called "treading on the spring"!
So, the people clearing the land discovered a family that consisted entirely of women... No, no, it was more like they were playing house than clearing land.

They spent half a day clearing the land, but only managed to dig out less than an acre. Yet they sat there, enjoying a hearty barbecue and vegetables.

Well, these days, families who can afford to eat meat are definitely rich.

They all inquired about whose family member it was.

Persistence pays off, and it was soon discovered that it was Governor Zhao's wife who had come out to reclaim wasteland with her children and servants.

"Oh dear, these wealthy people are just putting on an act when they go out. Don't take it seriously, or you'll lose."

"However, considering that they have managed to clear some land, it's not bad."

"Yes, it's not easy to grow plants in such fertile water and grass."

They talked back and forth, and eventually the matter got out.

The governor's wife was clearing land and farming.

The story then spread that the governor's wife was a rural woman who reclaimed wasteland and farmed the land.

This made the officials in the Hubei and Hunan regions restless again. If Lord Zhao doesn't even look down on rural women, how could he not like his own daughter?
If your own daughter won't do, then send your goddaughter. If all else fails, find a few alluring women on a pleasure boat and send them up.

Moreover, instead of sending it to Lord Zhao, it was delivered directly to Madam Zhao, so that she would know that even a village woman could not stop the Governor-General's happiness.

"Madam, this is my youngest daughter. She has no other skills, but she plays the zither very well. I hope she can stay and play a piece for you from time to time to relieve your boredom."

"How can this be? Miss Zhang is a young lady from a wealthy family. How can we keep her in our mansion for our amusement? This is not right. We cannot do this."

Qiu Yan watched Madam Zhang's performance with a cold laugh. These women really can't stand seeing others happier than them!

Why do women make things difficult for each other?
Since it's been delivered right to our door, how can we refuse it?

If she doesn't accept it, people will say she's jealous.