Free Web NovelChapter 377: Chapter 148: Buying People and Planting Medicinal Herbs
While the rest of the Zhao Village frantically planted corn and potatoes and cleared land on Xiaoao Mountain to grow huangqi, Chen Wanqing also hired people to prepare her thirteen mu of fields.
When some people saw she’d prepared the fields but hadn’t sown any seeds, they offered some concerned advice. They told her to plant quickly, otherwise it would stunt the growth and affect the harvest.
Chen Wanqing replied, "All the aunties have gone to plant huangqi, so I thought I’d try growing some medicinal herbs too. If I do well, the aunties can buy seeds and plant them on their own land in the future. If I don’t, then it’s just a test run. Everyone can learn from my mistake and not bother with such foolish experiments."
"So you know you’re just messing around! Goodness, Wanqing, you can’t just start dabbling in medicinal herbs because you’ve read a couple of medical texts. We’re planting huangqi because the County Magistrate hired a senior physician to give us regular guidance. What you’re doing is just fooling around on your own."
Someone, with good intentions, told Zhao Jing and Mrs. Zhao about this.
Zhao Jing gave a mischievous smile. "I’m just living off my wife. She can do whatever she wants. I’m not getting involved."
Mrs. Zhao, however, said, "My health is failing. Wanqing handles everything in the house now, big and small. She’s very capable, and I trust that she’ll do a good job no matter what she undertakes."
"Sigh. You two... I don’t know what to say."
Frustrated by their complacency, the clansman stomped his foot and turned to leave.
In just one day, everyone in the Zhao Village knew that Chen Wanqing had stopped focusing on her incense business and had started dabbling in growing medicinal herbs.
Mr. Zhao heard about it too and made a special trip to ask.
Mr. Zhao hadn’t appeared when the clansmen were raising a ruckus about not making incense for Chen Wanqing. Nor had he, at his wife’s insistence, stepped in to publicly defend Chen Wanqing. The reason was that he was old and shrewd; he’d seen long ago that the whole affair was unusual.
’If his intervention was truly needed, Jing would have come to talk to him. Since Jing hadn’t shown up, it meant the young couple had their own plans. Perhaps the clansmen’s ruckus was actually just what they wanted.’
And just as he’d expected, once the situation blew up, the couple immediately went to the county seat and bought people to bring back.
’Hired maids and servants were so much easier to manage.’
’The young couple held their servitude contracts. They wouldn’t dare go west if told to go east. Wasn’t that much more convenient than dealing with their own clansmen?’
’Besides, they were their servants. The couple could pay them a monthly wage if they felt like it, or not. Just providing three meals a day was enough. That would save a lot of money.’
What Mr. Zhao didn’t know was that Chen Wanqing deeply understood the principle: "If you want the horse to run, you have to let it eat."
She had bought these people with the intention of having them work for her wholeheartedly. Furthermore, she was kind-hearted; how could she bear to exploit them like animals?
She also paid them wages. And if they did their jobs well, they could not only earn more money but could even be promoted.
She even told them plainly that if they saved enough silver, they could buy back their freedom.
Using a carrot and stick, a two-pronged approach, the workers were outwardly obedient, no matter what they truly thought. No one even complained about the working hours—sleeping at the third watch and rising at the fifth.
After all, the more they worked, the more they earned, and the silver they made was their own.
Mr. Zhao didn’t know any of this, nor did he want to. He was old and conservative, unwilling to try new things.
If it weren’t for the fact that clearing land to plant huangqi was a project pushed single-handedly by County Magistrate Cheng, Mr. Zhao would have wanted to pour cold water on the whole idea.
’No one has ever grown it before. Can they really do it well?’
’The soil on Xiaoao Mountain is decent, but it’s still uncultivated wilderness. Retaining water and fertilizer won’t be easy. What if they plant everything and it all dies halfway through?’
’The wilderness is full of wild animals. What if something comes down from the mountain and ruins all the huangqi they’ve planted?’
You couldn’t say Mr. Zhao was pessimistic, only that as people get older and experience more, they start to worry that the more they stir things up, the poorer they’ll become, especially when they finally have a stable life.
Their conservatism wasn’t entirely a bad thing, however.
One good thing about Mr. Zhao was that he was willing to listen. And he didn’t use his age and experience to force young people to obey his every command and do things his way.
No matter how old he was, he was still just an old farmer. Jing, in contrast, was a scholar. He had read many books and seen much of the world. He had even been to the Prefecture, where he could drink and chat cheerfully with the Magistrate, who clearly favored and trusted him.
Since Zhao Jing was taking a hands-off approach, clearly feeling the venture was feasible, Mr. Zhao ultimately left the Zhao Family home with a heart full of worry.
’Jing is a man with a plan. His hands-off attitude must mean he’s confident this will succeed.’
’If Wanqing really succeeds in growing those medicinal herbs, the villagers can follow her lead next year. With that source of income, the clan would surely prosper.’
