A few days later, the weather suddenly became hot and humid, and then it started to drizzle.
The rain got heavier and heavier and lasted for three days before it stopped.
Most families in the village have dried the golden ear and white ear fungus at home, packed them in cloth bags, and stored them in baskets.
It was already November at this time, and the township guards rang the gong to notify each village that each household must send one man to do labor.
This time the work is to repair the county wall and clear the river flowing through the county, which is estimated to take about a month.
Jiang Sanlang organized a meeting for all households in Nanpo and said to the villagers, "Manager Zhou will come to collect mushrooms in the next few days. You should prepare the golden ears for sale and weigh them properly. Don't mix the moldy ones in, so as to avoid any disputes."
The last time golden ears were sold, a few businesses mixed black and moldy ones in, which was discovered by Zhou Mao, and both parties were unhappy.
If it weren't for his mediation, Zhou Mao would not have planned to purchase the mushrooms from those companies.
Chen Yin said, "Don't worry, Third Brother. We have carefully selected all the golden ears. There is definitely not a single bad one among them."
Chen Zhu also said: "My family's is fine too."
The rest of the villagers assured that that would not happen this time.
After talking about Jin Er, Jiang Sanlang talked about cotton seeds and cotton.
"Keep enough cotton and cotton seeds for your own use, and sell some to the county government. Then Sun Lizheng will come to our village to weigh and purchase them."
This year, their Dong Village became the focus of the county magistrate. When harvesting cotton, the Ming government sent his confidant Mr. Liao to inspect it and reserved 20,000 kilograms of cotton seeds and cotton.
These cotton seeds and cotton must be sent to the provincial capital, and then handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, so the quantity must not be small.
"But for 20,000 kilograms of cotton seeds, it would only take a few hundred kilograms for each household in our village to contribute."
"That's right, don't worry, Sanlang. Nothing will go wrong without your telling me."
"I have reserved cotton seeds and cotton and am ready to sell 800 kilograms to the county government."
"Yes, yes! It's the same in our family." The villagers expressed their opinions one after another.
This year's cotton and cotton seeds are not as tight as last year, and every household has planted more than 20 acres.
Jiang Sanlang and his two brothers planted more, each planting 40 acres of land on the south slope. The cotton they harvested was enough to fill several rooms.
Fortunately, Yingbao gave Jiang Sanlang the design of the cotton gin, and he went to the town to ask a carpenter with excellent craftsmanship to make it. It was quick and convenient to use.
Jiang Sanlang did not keep his cotton gin to himself and shared it with other villagers, freeing them from the tedious work of manually plucking cotton seeds.
So this time Jiang Sanlang asked them to sell part of the cotton seeds and cotton to the county government, and the villagers agreed without hesitation.
After all, the price given by the county government is not as high as that given by outside merchants. If the villagers sell one more kilogram, they will lose one kilogram of money.
After explaining the matters concerning cotton seeds and cotton, Jiang Sanlang began to register the names of each household for labor service, and then handed the list of laborers to Sun Lizheng, who reported it to the county government.
The next day, Jiang Sanlang carried tools and led a group of villagers towards the county town.
Chuanhe Town is more than a hundred miles away from the county seat. It would take them two days to get there on foot.
Although Yingbao felt sorry for her father, there was nothing she could do but give him some pills and two bottles of strengthening potion for him to drink when he felt tired.
The day after the villagers went to work, Zhou Mao came to Dongchen Village with two horse-drawn carriages.
As usual, I went to Jiang Sanlang's house first and sat in the main room to chat with old man Jiang.
When he saw the fine golden ears that the Jiang family brought out, he was a little surprised: "Why is it only 20 kilograms?"
Old man Jiang stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Isn't it more than 20 kilograms every time?"
"But I clearly heard you say last time that the amount you planted this time is more than usual." Zhou Mao stared at Old Man Jiang suspiciously: "Could it be that you are selling it to others again?"
Old man Jiang coughed awkwardly and said, "To be honest, Mr. Xiao from the Xiao family in the prefecture ordered ten kilograms, and Doctor Li in the town also bought ten kilograms. This is all my family has paid for, and the rest is left to you."
"Mr. Xiao from the provincial capital?" Zhou Mao frowned.
Could it be that he is from the Xiao family, the provincial governor’s militia commander
That is an existence that should not be provoked.
Zhou Mao said nothing more and weighed Jin Er.
At this time, villagers came over one after another to bring golden ear and white ear.
Zhou Mao asked two assistants to inspect the quality of the goods, while he had someone lift the loom off the carriage.
"The loom you ordered is the latest model brought from Wuzhou."
Zhou Mao pointed at the loom and asked, "Where are you going to put it? I'll have someone assemble it for you."
Chunniang was extremely happy when she heard this, and immediately asked someone to put the loom in a bright side room, "Let's put it here, thank you for your help."
It is a bit cramped to put two looms in this room, but they can still be placed and will not be affected when in use.
This time, Zhou Mao not only brought two looms, but also invited a master to teach Chunniang how to arrange the threads and weave.
After assembling it, Chunniang immediately took the spun thread ball and installed it on the loom, and began to weave tentatively.
It is indeed very useful, and the cloth width is much wider than the one I own.
"How much do these two looms cost in total?" Chunniang asked.
Zhou Mao: "Including our shipping fee, the two looms cost a total of 230 taels."
"Ah?" So expensive
Chunniang turned her gaze to the little girl, seeking advice.
Yingbao nodded at her.
There must not be so many in Wu Yue, but they brought the things intact from thousands of miles away, so it must be worth the price.
Moreover, there were no such looms locally. What Zhou Mao brought was not only two looms, but also the latest technology.
As long as he could sell the drawings of this loom, he might be able to earn back more than two hundred taels.
When Chunniang saw the little girl nodded, she stopped hesitating and took out the silver and gave it to Zhou Mao.
Fortunately, Chunniang had the money given by Doctor Li and Mr. Xiao to buy the golden ears, otherwise she would not have that much money to pay the bill.
Suddenly, there was a fierce quarrel outside.
Han Miaoniang was seen holding the backpack and shouting angrily, "You are bullying me! Why do you accept theirs and not mine?"
The young man said, "Your golden ears are all moldy. Of course we won't accept them."
"Moldy? Where is it moldy?" Han Miaoniang shouted, "Don't go too far!"
The young man was also angry, pointing at the golden ears in her basket and said: "Do you think we can't see the mold if you wipe it off? No one is stupid. The color of the golden ears has changed. You still say where the mold is? The whole thing is moldy, and it's sticky. Who wants this stuff!"
Han Miaoniang sat down on the scale, slapped her thigh and started crying: "Oh! You city people are bullying me. You have to choose the right mushrooms before you can pick them. You think I'm easy to bully, don't you? Oh my God, I won't live anymore..."
The young man was so angry that his face turned red. He was about to push Han Miaoniang away to take back the scale bar when he saw Manager Zhou coming over and saying, "That's it. We won't take it anymore. Let's go."
Anyway, the top-quality golden ears have been weighed, so the rest are not important and it doesn’t matter whether you accept them or not.
The young man was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and quickly loaded the weighed items onto the truck, preparing to leave.
The villagers at the back of the line were not happy and started blaming Han Miaoniang.
Two women came up and grabbed her, saying sarcastically, "Han, who can you blame for your mushrooms getting moldy? Don't get in the way and delay our business. If you want to make a scene, go home and tell your husband. No one will tolerate you here."