Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 604: "Shameless" Minister Zhang

In the extra quarter of an hour, everyone would chop firewood, pull weeds, and exchange with Hualei. Hualei would follow a similar model to the Ministry of Revenue, providing steamed buns and vegetable soup to the people.

Try to balance income and expenditure and stick to it. As for the steamed buns and vegetable soup, Lord Li did not make any specific requirements.

After all, the zea mays and buds in Baiweilou were given to the prisoners for free. After the snowstorm, Hualei also gave steamed buns and brown rice to the people for free.

Lord Li felt that based on these two points, Hua Lei was not a stingy person. As long as there was no loss, Hua Lei would not deduct the people's money.

When Hua Lei heard this, she thought about it for a moment and agreed. However, she still pretended to be embarrassed and nodded with difficulty.

Although wild grass and firewood are not valuable, they are indeed needed. A few years ago, I acted like a "hero" in front of Minister Zhang.

Although he received numerous praises from Minister Zhang, he was also honest and took away all the fodder that Hualei had saved, except for the necessary surplus left for the rabbit farm.

Even the fodder stored in Pei Jingyang's house, Minister Zhang was "shameless" and went all out and took it all away.

Although Minister Zhang said that the Ministry of Revenue would provide the money for the purchase, the money has not been received so far, and the memorial has probably just arrived on the desk of Emperor Shengwu in the capital.

Minister Zhang’s “shamelessness” not only saved all the Ministry of Revenue’s oxen, but also allowed the other oxen and sheep in the village to survive by relying on Hua Lei’s fodder.

Although many sheep were barely surviving for a while and could only eat half-starved food every day, they finally survived. Now that there is green grass, these cattle and sheep are full of energy again.

Therefore, there is no more leftover fodder in Hualei's rabbit farm. Recently, Uncle Zhongsheng has been personally leading a group of people to the wasteland to harvest grass to feed the rabbits.

There was a lot of firewood originally stored, but because Baiweilou had to cook porridge and hot soup for the victims, and used a wood stove to boil water for the people to keep warm, and also provided some firewood to two other restaurants, so it was almost used up.

Since Minister Li was now "begging" her to do the exchange business, she would not suffer any loss, but would instead gain a reputation for loving the people. Therefore, Hua Lei did not argue and readily agreed.

As a result, Hualei's replacement business was passively expanded again. After discussing the replacement business with Hualei, Minister Li went out happily.

Moreover, he immediately announced that the Ministry of Works had also launched a replacement business. Then, he and Minister Zhang divided the newly arrived people equally and took people to the construction site of the provincial capital.

Hualei pulled out some people and asked Tian Changjin and Pei Feiyang to help lead this matter in the early stage because they both had experience.

The place where the state capital was built was three days away from the small town in Mobei, and it was impossible to go back and forth every day. Many pots and pans, rice, flour, grain, oil, etc. also had to be transported there.

Moreover, Hua Lei, who was very shrewd, pretended to be very embarrassed when talking to Minister Li, and said that she had no place to do this business in Xinzhou Prefecture.

Minister Li, who was aware of the elegant intention, immediately gave Hualei three of the best shops near the state capital that he would sell in the future. He also gave a few in other places.

Although the house has not been fully built yet, the main walls have been built and the frame is already there, except for the roof, doors and windows.

That’s okay. Hualei immediately said obediently that she could build a thatched roof for the house first, and also install the doors and windows herself temporarily.

As long as I can lock up the rice, flour, and iron pots, it will be enough. It is my honor to work for the Ministry of Industry.

In this way, Hualei secretly occupied the best shops and gained benefits for himself.

From now on, when the Ministry of Industry sells these shops, I can take the initiative. It’s such a pleasant surprise.

I heard that recently the officials and their families in the town have been looking for fertile fields and shops in good locations. Now, I have hit the jackpot and taken the lead.

After finishing the replacement business with the Ministry of Industry, Hualei began to tinker with the farm she had obtained. Because it was a wasteland and there were no ridges, she had to build ridges to divide the area.

However, there has been a shortage of manpower in Mobei recently. Both the reclamation of official fields and the construction of provincial capitals require manpower. Most of the men in the common people's families have gone to apply for the job and get paid.

Therefore, it is not easy to find people to help him open up wasteland and cultivate the land. In addition, he is also short of management personnel like village heads and shopkeepers.

Just when Hualei was at a loss, her family's ship arrived in Mobei again. The village manager and a group of servants selected by Mrs. Pei also arrived on the ship.

Looking at the people who suddenly appeared, Hua Lei smiled happily. Her grandmother was very reliable in her work. Before she even opened her mouth, she had already thought of everything for her.

So, the buds were roughly divided. The smaller ones went to the rabbit farm to help raise rabbits. The more skillful ones went to the exchange point to help knead the steamed buns. The strong ones went to the farm to start reclaiming the land.

The newly grown grass on the wasteland cannot be burned directly, so Uncle Zhongsheng took a group of people to pick some of it and take it back as fodder.

Some of the rabbit manure from the rabbit farm was brought over to start fermenting and composting. The rest of the people started building ridges and turning the soil.

Hualei had already decided what to plant first in the fields. She decided to follow the Ministry of Revenue's lead and plant corn first.

When the corn stalks are harvested, they can be used as feed for rabbits. They can also be used in Pei Jingyang's horse farm.

Corn has not yet been planted on a large scale in the north, and Emperor Shengwu clearly told Minister Zhang this in the imperial edict that recently arrived in Mobei.

This year, 80% of the land reclaimed will be planted with corn, 10% with rice, and 10% with rapeseed. So, if you follow the general direction, there will be no problem.

I'll plant 200 acres of corn on my own 500 acres of land, and then plant 100 acres of rice. Hualei likes rice more than noodles, so I can't let myself lose out.

Plant another 100 mu of rapeseed. Rapeseed is the new favorite of Emperor Shengwu and cannot be forgotten. As for the remaining 100 mu of land, Hualei thought about it and decided to plant beets, a special economic crop in the north.

There was a planting plan and a capable farm manager, but there were still not enough people to plant. Hualei was in a dilemma.

That day, Hua Lei returned home from the county government office to have lunch at noon. Pei, the shopkeeper of Baiweilou, came hurriedly and said that more than 300 women had come to the restaurant and wanted to talk to Hua Lei.

It turned out that these hundreds of women were the people who lived in their own tarpaulin sheds during the last snowstorm.