Shuse Jinjia

"Sister, I understand!"

Although Xie Yan is young, he is not brainless. He can tell how capable Xie Zhaotang is as soon as he gives him a hint.

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Sister, there's something else I wanted to tell you. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, our school has a batch of spots for an exchange program to Jiangnan. I'd like to go, is that alright?"

Xie Zhaotang's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "How long will it take?"

Xie Yan pursed his lips: "There are half-year and three-year options. I want to choose the three-year option. If I can pass the imperial examinations in Jiangnan until I become a Xiucai, I will be able to participate in the spring imperial examinations without my father's restrictions."

"Of course, if you don't have a good marriage, I'll give up staying in the capital to help you!"

Xie Zhaotang shook his head: "No need, you go. We can save as many as we can! If I can help Aunt and Tiantian get out of this predicament, sending them to you is also a way out."

Xie Yan thought the same thing, and nodded upon hearing this: "Then I'll go back and sign up. Sister, I'll work hard. If you marry the wrong person in the future, get a divorce and come to Jiangnan to find me. I'll definitely support you."

Xie Zhaotang nodded with satisfaction. As long as the family was united, she was not afraid of any difficulties.

……

The next day.

After Xie Zhaotang waited for Xie Tiantian to get up, he took her back to Aunt Shen's place and then went out to wait for Tao Niangzi by the roadside.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Madam Tao arrived with the two stewards that Duan Chengyu had found.

Tao Niangzi introduced Xie Zhaotang to two stewards: one was Steward Huang, who was around fifty years old, and the other was Steward Zhang, who was around forty years old.

Steward Huang was the old steward of Prince Chen's mansion. This time, Duan Chengyu wanted to set up a pharmaceutical factory, and seeing that he was shrewd and capable, he transferred him to take charge.

Tao Niangzi led the three to the end of the village and pointed to a plot of land near the mountain, saying, "Fourth Miss, the young marquis said this land fits the regulations you wrote and will allocate it to us to build a medicine factory. What do you think, is it suitable?"

Xie Zhaotang looked over and saw that the land was backed by mountains and forests and adjacent to the river where the village was located, so there was still plenty of room for future development.

It seems that Huo Beiyu carefully studied the charter he wrote and specifically chose this piece of land.

"This place is great!"

Xie Zhaotang casually asked, "Is the mountain behind also the young marquis's property?"

Tao Niangzi proudly said, "It belongs to the young marquis. However, there are wolves around here. The young marquis said that if you decide to choose this place, you can organize a group of people to wipe out the wolves, and then there will be no worries!"

Xie Zhaotang didn't say anything. Baohua Village was home to many remnants of the army, not ordinary people. Exterminating the wolves shouldn't be too difficult!

"Let's build the pharmaceutical factory here!"

"Steward Huang, the young master should have given you the blueprints for the pharmaceutical factory. Could you estimate how long it will take to build the factory?"

Manager Huang had already calculated it, and upon hearing this, he said, "Now that the busy farming season is over, it's easy to hire workers, and it can be completed in about twenty days."

Xie Zhaotang pondered for a moment and then said, "Then let's do it both ways. First, build the warehouse, and then we can collect medicinal herbs while building the factory. As for collecting medicinal herbs, Manager Huang also needs to find two people who understand medicinal herbs to oversee the process."

Steward Zhang chuckled, "The young marquis has already made arrangements. Once we've confirmed the start of construction, we'll begin recruiting workers. Fourth Miss, you mentioned pre-job training; will you be the one to conduct the training?"

Xie Zhaotang didn't want to be so high-profile, so he said, "I'll find someone to train you on this later."

Xie Zhaotang then discussed the packaging of the finished medicine with Tao Niangzi, asking her to contact a paper mill to order it.

Xie Zhaotang hesitated for a moment before asking, "Madam Tao, why don't you go back and ask the young marquis if he can find a paper-making master? Let's open our own paper mill!"

"Pharmaceutical factories of this size have a huge demand for packaging paper. Building our own paper mill can reduce costs and also help solve the labor shortage in Baohua Village. Once the paper mill is built, we can also take orders from outside."

Xie Zhaotang was thinking of Duan You's Juxiangzhai, whose pastry packaging was very unattractive, and the packaging of other pastry shops and stores was also very simple.

If this paper mill can be built, these will be all potential customers.

Tao Niangzi never expected that Xie Zhaotang would think of building a paper mill just by looking at the pharmaceutical factory. She just thought that Xie Zhaotang was impulsive and thought things were just a whim.

But Steward Huang's eyes lit up after hearing Xie Zhaotang's brief explanation.

He nodded and said, "Fourth Miss's idea is good. Baohua Village has a lot of labor force. During the off-season, they also have to go out to find work. There is no shortage of labor force, but there is a lack of opportunities. If we can build a paper mill, we can be self-sufficient and make money. It is feasible."

Seeing that Steward Huang agreed, Madam Tao had no choice but to say, "Then, Fourth Miss, tell me, where would be a suitable place to build the paper mill? I'll go back and ask the young master for his permission."

Manager Zhang suddenly laughed and said, "No need to go back, they're here!"

The group looked up and followed Steward Zhang's gaze, only to see Huo Beiyu, Duan Chengyu, Zhu Feng, and Pei Song arriving on horseback with several attendants. The group was dressed in close-fitting clothes and carried bows and arrows.

"Fourth Miss, I heard from Beiyu that there are wolves around here. We have nothing to do today, so let's go into the mountains and investigate."

Duan Chengyu smiled and waved when he saw Xie Zhaotang.

Huo Beiyu looked at Xie Zhaotang and raised an eyebrow: "What do you need to ask me about?"

He has good hearing and has already heard what Madam Tao said.

Tao Niangzi nudged Xie Zhaotang, who then had no choice but to step forward and express his thoughts.

Before Huo Beiyu could speak, Zhu Feng laughed and said, "We have masters who know how to make paper in Baohua Village!"

"Young Master, the Liang family used to have a paper mill. After Old Liang's eldest son died in battle, his wife fell seriously ill and couldn't take it anymore, so they closed the paper mill. If we invite him to help, we can rebuild the paper mill."

Zhu Feng was unaware of Xie Zhaotang's partnership with Huo Beiyu; Huo Beiyu only mentioned hiring Xie Zhaotang to help set up a pharmaceutical factory.

He thought that supporting Xie Zhaotang's idea would also make Huo Beiyu value Xie Zhaotang, so he spoke up.

Huo Beiyu stared intently at Xie Zhaotang, wondering how she could come up with the idea of ​​building a paper mill just by looking at the factory site. He wondered how this girl could be so clever, always coming up with one lucrative business after another.

Hearing this from the side, Duan Chengyu thought for a moment and said, "Beiyu, I think it's feasible. Building a pharmaceutical factory won't cost us that much money, and building a paper mill will allow us to be self-sufficient and make money. Let's do it together!"

Seeing that both partners agreed, Huo Beiyu nodded: "Okay, let's build it then. Zhu Feng, you stay here and work with Fourth Sister to come up with the specifics of the plan. The factory site will be decided by Fourth Sister and Manager Huang. We'll discuss the rest when we get back."

Huo Beiyu and his group left.

Zhu Feng was delighted to have the opportunity to spend time with Xie Zhaotang and asked solicitously, "Fourth Miss, shall I go and fetch Old Liang so we can talk about this together?"

Xie Zhaotang also wanted to know Old Liang's skill level, so he nodded.

Zhu Feng then rode back.

Xie Zhaotang and Steward Huang took a walk around the area and decided to build the paper mill a mile away from the pharmaceutical factory. This way, once the road was repaired, the products produced by the pharmaceutical factory and the paper mill would be easier to transport.

At first, Tao Niangzi looked down on Xie Zhaotang, thinking that she might have persuaded the young marquis with sweet words.

But after following her around, I saw her chatting fluently with the two managers. No matter what they asked, she could answer eloquently, showing that she was knowledgeable.

Her attitude also made a complete 180-degree turn, and she became closer to Xie Zhaotang.

When the group got tired and sat down to wait for Zhu Feng, Madam Tao asked in a low voice, "Fourth Miss, I noticed that Zhu Feng is very attentive to you. Are you two getting engaged?"