Chapter 275

“Huh? Three or four? Why do you suddenly want to buy so many carriages?”

Guarantor Liu gave him a strange look. Given their family situation, they shouldn’t need so many carriages, right? Didn’t Xinyuan in the town send their own carriages to go to their place to fetch the goods?

“Hehe… to tell you the truth, yesterday I went to the county, I bought all the wasteland in the inland sea basin of Qingyang County. Guarantor Liu, don’t say that I didn’t buy it through you. The main thing is I want to see the lord magistrate in person and ask him to exempt me from a few years’ taxes, you know, so, I hope you don’t put it in heart.”

Anyhow, he was a businessman in this circle, if not necessary, Ling Jingxuan didn’t want to turn hostile with him.

“Look what you say. I know what you mean. It’s just…why did you buy so much at a time? For so many years, I have never heard anyone could grow things out of it. Are you sure you can?”

He was lying if he said he totally wouldn’t mind, but as shrewd as Guarantor Liu was, he was crystal clear what was favorable to him and what was unfavorable to him. He could read the situation, so he could never offend Ling Jingxuan. Besides, behind him stood a Yan Shengrui who always looked so unfathomable. Every time he saw him, he felt blue fear.

“Not so sure. Before, my shifu who taught me some medical skills also taught me how to raise fish using medicinal herbs and how to improve the earth’s conditions. As you see, I raised some fish, and I can say it’s a success now. So, I am thinking maybe it’d be workable about the earth-improving method. As the saying goes, encourage makes miracles and weakness brings poverty. If I don’t take my chances when I am young, I’d have no strength even if I want to struggle after I get old. Plus, the price the lord magistrate offered is within my budget, so, as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb, I bought it all.”

Using the excuse to fool lord magistrate on him again! Actually he didn’t have to say that. Anyhow, Guarantor Liu wasn’t bad, although kind of too calculation like other businessmen, he never calculated him. Besides, in the future, there were a lot of places they’d cooperate with each other.

“I see. Brother ling, if you can really grow things on those wastelands, maybe even His Majesty will issue a decree to award you, and Prince Sheng in our Cangzhou Prefecture. By then, you’d be really famous. For the record, don’t forget about me.”

It was already not a secret that he could raise fish using medicinal herbs. So, Guarantor Liu totally didn’t suspect his words. Ling Jingxuan gambled it right. The small Datong Town was no longer big enough for him.

“Haha…Guarantor Liu, what are you talking about? Whether I can grow things out of it all depends on whether you’d lend me a land.”

Smiling, having an eye contact with Yan Shengrui, Ling Jingxuan found a chance to drag the topic back. Guarantor Liu pretended to look confused, “Oh?”

“Overs 50,000 mu of land needs a lot of people to open up, and I still plan to finish it all before the end of the month, so the number of workers needed is not small. I have to rely on you to support me in this aspect.”

For his always narrow-minded behavior, Ling Jingxuan’s OS was it doesn’t matter, anyhow, he would say this sooner or later.

“Brother Ling, can you give me an accurate number?”

Hearing that, Guarantor Liu, touching his chin, asked solemnly after a short meditation. He had guessed he came today for hiring people, but didn’t expect that there was a fixed time limit for a project, fortunately, the busy season was almost over, many people were out looking for some odd jobs, as long as the number he needed was not too big, he could take this business.

“At least a thousand, besides, I want over fifty farm cattle, your normal price here, and those workers have to follow the rules. I’ll take care of the lunch at noon, that kind of cheating and skulking ones, no. I want more than just finishing it within the time limit, I want them to do it well.”

Ling Jingxuan became a little more serious. He hired people on a day-by-day basis, and he didn’t want to hire the kind of people who were juggling their time. Although he had plenty of ways to deal with them, he’d better avoid them if he could, because he didn’t have time to watch them all the time.

“One thousand is no problem, now is the slack season, many come out looking for a job, and the wages are slightly cheaper, one person about 25 copper coins a day. As for the 50 heads of cattle, that’s a little difficult. I can only rent them from those rich families in Qingyang County. As for the specific number, I also don’t know. Brother Ling, I guess you should have a backup plan.”

After pondering for a moment, Guarantor Liu raised his head and said so. Workers were not a problem. Giving his connections, even two thousand wasn’t a problem. The real problem was the cattle thing.

“Hmm. If you can’t enough, maybe you can buy some for me, at least buy fifty, fifty thousand mu of land is not small number, only relying on the workers is impossible, the cattle is a mist. Guarantor Liu, I’ll count on you this time.”

One farm cattle cost ten to twelve taesl of silver, fifty was about five to six hundred taels. After a simple assessment in the heart, Ling Jingxuan decisively made the decision. Anyway, sooner or later he had to buy them. What difference does it make to buy them now and in the future? He could only blame that in this ear, farmers could only reply on them. But if so, he had to prepare relevant tools, which would mean another sum of money.

“Buying them is also a problem, but the distance between 50,000 mu of land is too large. If you pull them back and forth every day, I’m afraid it will waste time. I’ll try to rent enough for you.”

For someone else, Guarantor Liu wouldn’t be so thoughtful, but this was Ling Jingxuan!