Suppressing his excitement, Xu Huaiqian signed the contract with Manager Qi and the others without changing his expression.
Since it wasn't harvest time yet, after signing the contract, Manager Qi and the others prepared to return. They would send people to harvest in November.
There were at least several thousand catties of ginger in the field. Sending people to harvest would mean passing through Yong'an Prefecture, and Xu Huaiqian was extremely disgusted by the prefect of Yong'an.
Seeing the Yongxing Escort Agency people who had come back with Chen Jinhu, he had an idea and stopped Qi Boren: "Manager Qi, rather than sending people back and forth to harvest, which wastes time, how about we harvest it ourselves and have an escort agency deliver it north to you?"
Qi Boren pondered: "An escort agency?"
"My younger brother used to work with an escort agency." Xu Huaiqian pulled Chen Jinhu forward, speaking weakly. "It's precisely because he worked there that I was able to connect with you, Manager Qi."
"Mhmm." Chen Jinhu, who had been prepped by Xu Huaiqian earlier, wasn't smiling now. "My Second Brother was afraid we grew too much to sell, so he specifically asked me to inquire at medical clinics in other places."
He was telling the truth, and as a half-grown, underage child, seeing this family with the sick and the young was truly pitiful.
Qi Boren thought about it—they had already signed a five-year contract. Unless they didn't want to make my in the next five years, there was no reason to cheat him on such a small matter.
"Alright." Then he also signed an escort contract with the Yongxing Escort Agency, who had been following them.
The Yongxing Escort Agency had followed them all the way from Shengbei to Xinghua Village. Qi Boren had a good impression of Bing Xingda—a cheerful man who loved making friends—and was willing to work with them.
Bing Xingda hadn't expected that coming to Xinghua Village with Chen Jinhu just to see what his "Second Brother" looked like would lead to landing a big business deal.
He heard them signing the contract—a five-year deal! If they delivered the ginger well for Manager Qi this winter, this business would be theirs for the next five years!
Moreover, ginger wasn't like other fragile, hard-to-escort goods. This was basically a free my-making job for them.
"Amazing! Incredible!" After Manager Qi and the others left, Bing Xingda circled Xu Huaiqian, praising him over and over. "The husband Chen Liejiu married is truly incredible!"
"Good looks! Sharp mind!" Bing Xingda couldn't praise Xu Huaiqian enough. "And a good heart!"
Bing Xingda felt ashamed of his earlier doubts about Chen Liejiu's boasting. For Chen Liejiu to marry a husband like Xu Huaiqian, he must have accumulated good karma in his past life!
Xu Huaiqian was almost embarrassed by the praise. Actually, he had heard from both Chen Liejiu and Chen Jinhu about how much Bing Xingda had taken care of them.
When Chen Liejiu started escorting at just ten years old, without the care of this agency head, who knew how much suffering he would have endured.
Xu Huaiqian was that kind of person—if some was good to his family, he would repay them.
"Please take good care of my younger brother in the future, Head Bing." Despite his embarrassment, Xu Huaiqian didn't forget important matters.
He had gotten them business; surely they could take extra care of Xiao Hu at the agency from now on.
"Naturally." Bing Xingda nodded. "You don't even need to say it, Scholar Xu. Every at the agency will have Xiao Hu in their hearts."
"Look, these are all people coming to do business with Xiao Hu." Bing Xingda pointed to a few men peeking in from outside.
Every had seen how much my Chen Jinhu had earned over the past six months using his escort trips.
Many people, including Bing Xingda, regretted not accepting Chen Jinhu's proposal to partner up back then.
Why did they come to Xinghua Village with him? Besides wanting to see Xu Huaiqian, of course, they also hoped Chen Jinhu would bring them along too.
Of course, when others were willing to include them initially, they firmly refused. Now that they saw he had made my, they came asking to cooperate—it did seem a bit... you know.
But what could they do? Every had a family to support. Wasn't it just a matter of swallowing their pride? As long as Chen Jinhu was willing to bring them along, they'd gladly let him use their faces to shine his shoes.
Hearing this, Xu Huaiqian understood. He smiled and didn't interfere: "Head Bing, you'll have to discuss that with Xiao Hu himself."
He wasn't going to be their advocate.
"How could we trouble Scholar Xu?" Even if Xu Huaiqian was willing, Bing Xingda didn't have the face for it. Seeing Xu Huaiqian lift his handkerchief to cough again, he tactfully excused himself: "I'll go talk to Xiao Hu. Scholar Xu, you should rest well and not overexert yourself."
Scholar Xu was perfect in every way except for his health. Bing Xingda remembered his first sight of Xu Huaiqian—he was utterly stunned.
So Chen Liejiu had truly kept his promise and found an incredibly handsome husband. No wonder he had praised Xu Huaiqian so much in the prefectural city. If they had such a capable and beautiful son-in-law, they'd boast everywhere too.
But the second glance brought him back to reality with Xu Huaiqian's pale face.
He was just too sickly. Could some so sickly make Chen Liejiu happy?
When Bing Xingda went to find Chen Jinhu, he thought about what the ginger-buying managers said—Xu Huaiqian's illness was a rich man's sickness that required a lot of my to maintain.
No wonder Chen Jinhu came up with the idea of doing business during escort trips. With such a high-maintenance Second Brother at home, they had no choice but to earn more.
In that case, if Chen Jinhu was willing to bring them along, they should also take less profit—they couldn't let Scholar Xu run out of medicine my.
Xu Huaiqian had no idea about Bing Xingda's thoughts. As soon as he left, Xu Huaiqian coughed a few times, finally releasing the excitement he had held back for so long.
Then he hurried back to his room, took out his good clothes to put on, wiped off the powder he had used to cover his rosy complexion, and was satisfied only when a refreshed, noble young master appeared in the silver mirror.
Since he was sickly anyway, he might as well play the part thoroughly—every bit of sympathy counted.
In November, the official ginger harvest season arrived. After two extra months of growth, the ginger had gained more weight.
The final yield per mu was around fifteen hundred catties. On the spot when weighed, Old Man Meng's legs went weak with shock.
Xu Huaiqian had previously sent word that he found merchants to buy ginger—they would buy as much as available at hundred coins per catty.
Fifteen hundred catties of ginger at hundred coins each would be...
Old Man Meng couldn't calculate the amount and turned to Meng Fangxun: "Son, how much is that?!"
"One hundred and fifty taels!" Meng Fangxun gave a definite answer.
"Oh heavens!" Old Man Meng's legs gave way, and he sat on the ground. "I've farmed all my life and never seen land that could earn hundred and fifty taels!"
"To be precise, a hundred and twenty taels!" Meng Fangxun remembered better than his father. "We spent thirty taels on ginger seeds."
But those thirty taels were borrowed from Xu Huaiqian.
"Right, right, a hundred and twenty taels!" Old Man Meng remembered. "One hundred and twenty taels is no small sum either!"
"How could a mu of farmland ever yield a hundred and twenty taels?!" Old Man Meng was so excited he cried. "I feel like I've wasted my life farming! If we had listened to you back then and planted all thirty mu with—"
Then their family would be rich beyond measure now.
"If we had planted thirty mu, it might not be at this price anymore." Having studied current affairs, Meng Fangxun knew that everything had its limits. If his family planted thirty mu of ginger, forty-five thousand catties would be impossible to sell.
But the fact that mu could truly yield over a hundred taels still shocked him deeply. He wondered: what was the use of all his years of study and essay writing?
It couldn't compare to Xu Huaiqian's casual suggestion to plant ginger.
Current affairs, current affairs—this was true current affairs! Leveraging local soil quality, focusing on agriculture, expanding sales channels!
If all officials under heaven could see through the essence of the land like Xu Huaiqian and let farmers earn my from the soil instead of just scraping for food, would there be any poor people left?!
How could he have worried about not being able to study as a child?!
Meng Fangxun's eyes were bloodshot. As if experiencing sudden enlightenment, he immediately returned to his room, grabbed a brush, and wrote an agricultural essay.
The more he wrote, the more passionate he became; the more he wrote, the more moved he felt; the more he wrote, the more clear his mind became. He seemed to understand what current affairs truly meant!
While Meng Fangxun was excited, Duan Youyan, Pei Wangshu, and Zhang Bingwen were equally thrilled.
Last year, when they heard Xu Huaiqian wanted to grow ginger, they didn't think much of it. After all, there were only so many medical clinics in Changnan; selling a few dozen or hundred catties would be good enough.
But now it was all sold! One mu, after deducting seed and fertilizer costs, could earn at least a hundred taels!
What did that mean?!
Houses in the county town cost only fifty to a hundred taels. It was equivalent to buying a house in the county with a year of farming.
In the past, farming for a lifetime would never achieve that, but Xu Huaiqian did it!
They all reflected: besides ginger, what else? Could other things work too?!
Especially Duan Youyan, who went to Magistrate Sheng and asked: "Father, what if we promoted medicinal herb cultivation in the county?!"
"The current agricultural tax is -tenth. Even if we grow crops perfectly, we can only collect one-tenth as tax— dou of grain per dan, and how much is a dou worth?"
"If we grow ginger like Xu Huaiqian and tax -tenth, that's fifteen hundred catties—fifteen taels in tax al!"
"If all the people in the county, not asking for much, just used one or half a mu to grow herbs of similar value, think how much tax that would be, Father?!"
If Magistrate Sheng collected taxes far exceeding Yong'an Prefecture, or even the whole of Changnan, wouldn't that shock the world? Would he still worry about promotion?!
Why bother teaching scholars at the academy, hoping they would advance and get promoted? Better to hope the farmers swing their hoes more!
Magistrate Sheng was also stunned by Duan Youyan's words. He became lost in thought: "Let me think, let me think, let me think!"
Magistrate Sheng was shocked by the scenario Duan Youyan described—a line of thinking he had never considered. It was bold, but undoubtedly useful!
The Jin Dynasty had only been established for over forty years. The national treasury was empty, and funds couldn't be allocated to many places. If a county's taxes could surpass those of an entire administration commission, not only would he be promoted back to the capital, he could likely be appointed as a cabinet minister.
Duan Youyan was equally excited. After switching from poetry to current affairs, he had been wondering what to study.
Now he knew—continue studying medicine!
Xu Huaiqian had gained huge profits just by growing ginger, which was related to medicine! There were many things in the world related to medicine. If people's land could be used reasonably to grow these, would the Huayin plague be a worry?!
He had seen the exam question and knew the problem was too many infected, too few imperial physicians, and insufficient medicine that led to helplessness.
But if there were enough medicines? If every under his governance knew a little medicine? Not necessarily to cure, but to care for themselves? To avoid burdening the imperial physicians?!
The more Duan Youyan thought, the clearer and broader his thinking became. He felt his vision and perspective had instantly expanded.
If he became an official, he would promote medicine!
Pei Wangshu was also shocked. He always thought that among the five of them, if not the best at studies, he would be top-notch in business. But Xu Huaiqian had defeated him with just ginger.
His family's silk shop earned at most five hundred to a thousand taels a year—that was Yunmeng County's limit; it couldn't go much higher.
Now Xu Huaiqian's idea of selling ginger externally had opened his perspective. What if he and his mother went out to see?!
Would any buy their silk if transported elsewhere?!
Zhang Bingwen was also shocked—farming could be so profitable?! But farming was so hard!
If there were tools to make farming less laborious, wouldn't it be even more profitable?!
And wasn't that also a path in current affairs?!
No matter how shocked these scholars were, the villagers of Xinghua were even more stunned!
Seven hundred and fifty taels! Seven hundred and fifty taels! Seven hundred and fifty taels!
Five mu of land sold for seven hundred and fifty taels! They hadn't seen the clinic managers give Xu Huaiqian the my, but Xu Huaiqian sold all the ginger—they could do the math!
So much my from five mu, and no tax! The villagers trembled just thinking about it—they would have g mad with joy!
But alas, it belonged to some else!
Blinded by wealth, the villagers daily went to dig in Xu Huaiqian's completely harvested ginger field, hoping to find a piece to plant themselves. This wasn't ginger—it was my!
No matter how crazed the villagers of Xinghua became, Xu Huaiqian knew that as a sickly person, he couldn't protect such wealth. He simply locked his door and took his younger siblings to Taoyuan County to pick up Chen Liejiu.
It was almost December; his heat flush period was coming soon. Shouldn't he be back by now?!