When it cos to farming, Old Zhou moved his gaze from the house and walked over with Chief Zhou Dalang and others to take a look.
The land where the pond was to be dug was quite large, about two acres or so, and judging by the direction Zhou Lijun was pointing, they planned to dig this piece first, and then continue digging along the woods towards the road, which would almost encircle the house halfway.
Zhou Lijun said, "Aunt said it’s difficult to grow anything on this land, so it would be better to dig it up, store water, and raise so fish and ducks. Over there, it’s connected to the ditches, so it’s considered running water. If possible, we can dig a covert ditch from this end to that end, connecting it with the ditches over there, which would link the water on both sides."
Old Zhou murmured, "How much money will this cost? The land isn’t even ours..."
Zhou Lijun said, "Don’t worry, Grandpa, the manor is ours."
"This manor was built to oversee the official fields, and if those fields are gone, what’s the use of this manor?"
Zhou Lijun didn’t reply, secretly thinking that once the manor was completed, even if they didn’t live in it, they could sell it.
Having done quite a bit of business with the noblewon of the capital, she had a vague sense that the nobles of the capital were quite strange—they were frugal in so matters, but never neglected their own comfort.
This place wasn’t far from the capital or Longzhou, so selling the manor wouldn’t be difficult.
So Zhou Lijun perked up and said to Old Zhou, "Grandpa, once the foundation is laid, I’ll personally oversee them building the house. Rest assured, I’ll make sure this manor is built beautifully."
Old Zhou asked, "Why build it so beautifully?"
Zhou Lijun hadn’t answered before Old Zhou answered his own question, "It should be built nicely, otherwise the money would be wasted, right? But also spend the money sparingly, don’t surpass the funding your aunt’s family provided."
Zhou Lijun swallowed her words and obediently agreed.
Old Zhou and the others registered the horses and then drove their cart to the Bai Family’s manor. They would temporarily live there since the manor would take so ti to be completed.
The chief said it would take two months, although it actually wouldn’t take that long. The craftspeople hired by the Bai Family were quite skilled, and the village’s young n could also be employed, though initially, it took ti to lay the foundation and gather stones.
Once the foundation was laid, building the house would be much easier. As long as they had money, bricks could be delivered promptly, and wood beams were also not hard to find, so the speed would increase day by day.
However, Old Zhou rely checked daily, focusing more on farming.
Liu Gui brought people over from Longzhou with wheat seeds, and only then did Old Zhou realize that their family even covered the seed cost, so he was even more determined not to let the tenant farrs cut corners and to ensure they fard carefully.
Otherwise, with such large expenses, wouldn’t it all go to waste?
So, he checked daily on people weeding, composting, and plowing. Knowing that Pu Village lacked fertilizers, he had people gather soil and dead leaves from the mountains to make compost.
He was quite dissatisfied and complained to Ms. Qian, "It’s not even as good as our village. Don’t ntion pigs, they don’t even raise chickens or ducks, so there’s no manure for compost. Thankfully, Four brought over a hundred cows, so they gather so manure every day, but it’s still not enough for such vast land."
Not to ntion, this area has few mountains and forests, requiring long walks to reach any. Unlike our place, where we step out and see mountains, with abundant decaying leaves and silt on them, all rich in nutrients.
But this place isn’t without its advantages either.
The first plow touched the ground, and as the ox pulled and turned up the soil, exposing blackish-brown dirt, Old Zhou grabbed a handful and only with effort could he crumble the clods in his hand. He sighed to Zhou Dalang, "It’s good land, but there’s a lack of water."
Zhou Dalang nodded too, "It’s still too dry. A couple of rains would do. This soil is sowhat better than our Qili Village’s."
It’s not just slightly better. In terms of land productivity, it’s only a bit stronger, but the land in Qili Village varied greatly, with good and bad mixed, generally having less mature land and more raw land.
But here, it was a continuous stretch of mature land.
And the terrain was flat, with acres upon acres distinctly rectangular, unlike their Qili Village where the land was uneven and winding.
Old Zhou, complaining verbally but secretly envious, beca even more vigilant, ensuring tenant farrs were cultivating properly.
The tenant farrs: ...
Even though once cultivated, they owned sixty percent of the land, it all felt strange to them, especially since many of Old Zhou’s techniques differed from theirs.
Not to ntion composting, where they hadn’t considered going so far to gather soil and decaying leaves from the forest to compost.
But thinking of the contract with Lord Zhou, although skeptical of Old Zhou’s decisions, they silently complied.
Zhou SiLang stayed at the manor only on the twenty-first day and then started running back and forth to the capital. He needed to label the cattle before selling them, but it wasn’t urgent since he still had herbs.
He would first sell the herbs and then think about selling the cattle since the official fields needed the cattle to plow the land.
Zhou Lijun was running back and forth between two places, occasionally helping her older brother manage Fourth Uncle’s accounts, and also selling the ointnts made by Fourth Aunt and the others to the noble households; anwhile, she’d supervise the construction speed of the manor at the estate, check the disbursent of funds, and assist her grandparents with bookkeeping, ensuring each family received the right amount of wheat seeds, with no surplus or impersonation.
She was so busy that her feet didn’t touch the ground. By the ti Manbao had a break from palace duties, she was darker and thinner but was full of vigor and spirit.
Zhou SiLang ca out of her room looking dejected and imdiately bead upon seeing Manbao, who had just returned from the palace, "Manbao, you’re back..."
Manbao instinctively hugged her dicine box tighter and asked, "Fourth Brother, don’t do that, it scares a bit."
Zhou SiLang restrained his smile, looked back, then pulled her aside and quietly said, "Manbao, Fourth Brother is a bit short on cash, can you lend so money?"
Manbao looked at him suspiciously, "What do you need the money for?"
Seeing the look in her eyes, Zhou SiLang imdiately understood and said, speechless, "It’s not for gambling, I only went once and have long quit that. I have my eye on a business venture, but Lijun won’t agree and won’t give money."
The family’s accounts were managed by Zhou Lijun. Since opening the restaurant, she handled the accounts and naturally kept the money too. Every ti Zhou Wulang needed to purchase sothing, he had to get money from her.
Initially, it was for the convenience of bookkeeping, but at so point Zhou SiLang got used to handing over the books to her to review and calculate after doing business, and thus the money ended up with her too.
Just a few days ago he added the money from selling herbs to the account, aning he had given it to Zhou Lijun, and now he found he couldn’t take it out.
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