Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 713 Sky-high Price

After a pause, he remembered something and said, "I could hold Jinnian and Jinshi with one hand. If Lei'er gives birth to a third child, I can hold all three of them at the same time."

Madam Pei looked at her husband and said to him, "You should go to Yuanying Manor for a stroll and help the brothers in Xiaofu keep an eye on things.

Once the lychees are sold out, have them send the banknotes over as soon as possible. Lei'er must have paid a large sum herself, and I'm worried that she's short of money."

"Okay, I'll go right away and raise the price of lychees immediately so that I can get more money for Lei'er." Old Marquis Pei stood up and rushed to Yuanying Manor in a hurry.

Watching her husband disappear at the door, Mrs. Pei called Butler Pei over and asked him to arrange some manpower and prepare to go to Xichang.

Three months later, the silver note for selling litchi was delivered to Hualei, who immediately sent it to Xiang Tongzhi of Changliang Prefecture.

The amount of the banknotes stunned him. He thought he could make money, but he didn't expect to make so much. Especially the fresh lychees sent to Shangjing City.

The price of lychees, which were only a few or a dozen wen locally, was sold at three taels of silver per pound in the capital city, which was simply a sky-high price.

After deducting all the raw materials, labor, and transportation costs, they still made a lot of money. So, everyone got dividends according to the supplementary agreement.

Xiang Tongzhi's family also received their own profits and worked more diligently.

Changliang Prefecture received 20% of the profits in the name of the prefecture, and the huge sum of money was delivered to the households in the prefecture, while Xichang Prefecture also received extra tax silver. Everyone was happy.

At this time, the collection of tax grain in various states was almost complete. This time, because of timely irrigation, the people could not say that it was a bumper harvest.

However, compared with the occasional droughts and crop failures in previous years, this year's harvest was much better. Therefore, the tax grain was paid very quickly.

In addition, Hualei's explicit prohibition of the practice of "leaning on the tip of the sword and kicking the sword" made the people more motivated to pay. Although during the collection process, there were still a few places where hangers-on "leaning on the tip of the sword and kicking the sword" occurred.

After Hua Lei had those hangers-on locked up with iron chains directly in the place where taxes were collected, using the method of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys so that other hangers-on would not dare to have any improper thoughts, the subsequent tax collection became smoother.

Of course, Hualei's reputation for integrity and honesty spread among the people unknowingly.

After receiving the extra tax silver and collecting a lot more tax grain, the Ministry of Revenue warehouse in Xichang Prefecture began to be filled with rice and silver.

So, Hualei began to pay out the salaries for the second half of the year. The salaries were supposed to be paid in July, but because the government office was busy, they had to be postponed until now.

Therefore, in addition to the salary, Hualei also took out some extra tax silver and distributed rewards to the officials, which made the officials happy after working hard for several months.

In addition, after Hua Lei paid out the salaries prescribed by the court, she also gave each official half to two pieces of fine silk cloth according to their merits.

These silk fabrics are soft, smooth and delicate to the touch, and have good breathability, making them very suitable for wearing in such a hot season in Xichang.

Hua Lei specifically asked Liang Xiangyi to buy it. While taking care of her sister's business, she also made the officials under her happy. Such good fabrics had never been distributed before by the prefects.

Moreover, the fabrics distributed by Hualei are also beautiful in color, and many of them are designed for the women in the family, which makes these grown men proud.

After the tax grain was collected, Hualei had also returned all the corn seeds she had lent out. So, Hualei had the corn loaded onto a horse-drawn carriage and sent it directly to the military camp to Bailiyun.

The fact that Xichang Prefecture was able to survive the drought so smoothly this time was largely due to the contribution of the Nufang Office in the military camp, and also because Bai Liyun had taken the initiative to transfer some soldiers to help the government office.

Therefore, Hualei also remembered this favor. Now that all the corn seeds have been collected, they will be sent to Bailiyun as soon as possible so that he can make arrangements in advance.

Bai Liyun was indeed very happy that Hualei took the initiative to deliver corn seeds to his door, although the production of the waterwheel could be put on hold for the time being.

However, threshers still needed to be made. Therefore, the Nufang Office began to produce a large number of threshers. In addition, square rakes and plows were also produced. And Hualei finally had some free time.

So, he sorted out all the affairs, big and small, that had happened since he arrived in Xichang Prefecture, wrote a detailed memorial, and submitted it through the official post station.

During the Great Sheng Dynasty, the court had certain regulations on the submission of memorials by local officials. Except for emergencies, daily affairs were generally submitted once every six months. At the end of each year, an annual summary was submitted.

Hualei had already submitted the tax once in early July. However, the rice and corn had not been harvested yet, so the amount of tax silver and tax grain was uncertain.

So they only reported the growth of some crops such as corn and rice, as well as some information about the production of water wheels. But this time, Hualei put all the data in.

When doing things, work hard, and after getting results, you should also actively let your superiors know about your hard work. This is the method that Master Pei taught me a few years ago, and it has always been very useful.

Therefore, Hua Lei, who originally did not need to submit a memorial, still wrote a detailed memorial, in which he also submitted the method of making a thresher.

After submitting the memorial, Hualei began to think about the next planting in Xichang Prefecture. Rapeseed had never been planted in Xichang Prefecture. According to the temperature here, it was actually quite suitable for planting rapeseed. It was just that the land was a little barren.

In recent years, rapeseed has been widely planted in Shangjing City and several prefectures in Jiangnan. During the three years in Mobei, Minister Zhang also planted a lot.

However, the imperial court still had control over rapeseed. Except for the seeds kept locally to promote planting, the rest of the rapeseed was collected by local government offices.

Part of it was used to extract oil and sold back to local people. The remaining rapeseed was reported to the Ministry of Revenue, which dispatched it and promoted it to other prefectures.

Each link is strictly controlled and approved, and the people cannot squeeze and sell oil privately. Xichang is located in a remote area with poor land, so the cultivation has not been promoted.

However, after Hua Lei became the prefect of Xichang, he was able to apply to the court for a certain number of rapeseed seeds to be allocated to Xichang Prefecture for planting.

Therefore, before leaving Shangjing City, Hualei wrote a memorial to apply for rapeseed seeds and submitted it. When Tian Xiaofu came over, he happened to bring the newly produced rapeseed seeds this year, but the quantity was not much.