Zhou An had just poured the tea, but who would have thought that when he came out, he found that Uncle Tian had already gone away.
So I had to put the tea in front of my father and said, "Father, why did Uncle Tian come here?"
"Is it possible that you are planning to lend food to me?"
Listening to his son's innocent thoughts, Zhou Huai smiled bitterly and said, "On the contrary, my father decided to lend all the remaining grain reserves at home to your Uncle Tian to help him be elected as an imperial merchant."
"What!" As soon as these words came out, Zhou An frowned and said in surprise: "Father, that is an imperial merchant, how can you give up to him!"
"Although Uncle Tian has a close relationship with our family, the two grain merchants in Zhou and Tian are somewhat indifferent to each other."
"But this is not a family after all. My father must think twice before making this decision."
Hearing this, Zhou Huai smiled happily and said, "My son has really grown up when he can think of this."
"It's just that as a father, I have thought carefully about it and it's not just a matter of impulse."
"Do you know why our fields were infested with locusts?"
Hearing this, Zhou An's pupils shrank instantly, his eyes widened, and he said: "Could it be that...this locust is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster?"
"Yes, your Uncle Tian came here just to tell me. A few days ago, I saw people from the Jiangnan An family doing sneaky things in my Zhouji field."
"So this matter is probably the work of Mr. An."
"Isn't it just for the selection of the imperial businessman that he did such a shameful thing?"
"If that's the case, then I can't fulfill his wish!"
"I would rather give this imperial merchant to Tian Ji than fall into the hands of his An family."
"Besides, your Uncle Tian and I have always had a close relationship. His election as the Imperial Merchant is already the best result. I think he will be able to remember the past friendship in the future and not treat Zhou Ji badly."
When Zhou An heard this, instead of relaxing, his brows furrowed even tighter.
He didn't understand the relationship between his father and Tian Yuanwai, but... what his father said just now seemed to be just one-sided words from Tian Yuanwai.
If we conclude that the locust incident was caused by An, would it be inappropriate to take such revenge?
However, my father has a stubborn temperament and rarely looks back on things he has decided on.
Even if he wanted to persuade, he would have to provide evidence first.
While Zhou An was thinking, there was another voice coming from outside the door.
"Sir, Gu Shijun from Huainan is here to visit."
Hearing this, Zhou An was stunned and wondered why the teacher was here.
Zhou Huai was also stunned. He admired Gu Beichuan's literary talent very much, otherwise he would not have given up half of his family property just to let Zhou An join his family.
It's just that now is the critical moment for the selection of imperial merchants, and the Zhou family has suffered another disaster, and he is really not in the mood to deal with it.
But the other party has a distinguished talent and is Zhou An's mentor. He should be treated well both emotionally and rationally.
So I had to suppress the emotion on my face and squeeze out a smile.
After Gu Beichuan came in, he immediately noticed that the atmosphere seemed a bit strange.
Although everyone has a smile on their face, this smile really seems...pretended.
Gu Beichuan was stunned for a moment, and then asked himself in his mind, could he have offended the other party? Why aren't you welcome?
But then, he saw the same smile on his student Zhou An's face, and he suddenly understood.
It's not that I don't want to see myself, it's just that I'm afraid that something will happen to me, so I'm forcing myself to smile here.
After Gu Beichuan figured it out, he immediately said:
"I dare to ask Mr. Zhou, but what happened? Why don't you ask Gu to listen, maybe I can come up with some ideas."
Zhou Huai was also stunned when he heard this.
He hid it well at his own expense, but who would have thought that Gu Shijun would see through it at a glance, he was really a wise man.
It's just that Gu Shijun is a literary figure, so it's inevitable that he doesn't understand business matters.
After saying it, if you can't think of a way, wouldn't it be embarrassing for nothing?
So Zhou Huai just laughed and said with a smile: "What Gu Shijun said is true. Something happened, but I have already dealt with it properly."
"That's good." Seeing that the other party didn't want to say anything, Gu Beichuan stopped being persistent and started talking about the purpose of today's visit.
"Zhou Yuanwai is the largest grain merchant in Huainan, and my workshop in Nanshan has recently produced a hybrid rice."
"I did the math and found that the yield per mu is close to 400 kilograms. I plan to sell it to Zhou Ji, but I don't know what happens if Zhou Ji has an accident."
boom!
As soon as these words came out, it was like thunder rolling to the ground. It was like a burning fire cooking oil, causing an uproar in Zhou Yuanwai's heart.
"How much is the yield per mu?" At this moment, his tone was slightly trembling.
"Four...four hundred kilograms." Gu Beichuan was also stunned, and then told the truth.
"Gu Shijun, please don't joke with me." After hearing this, Zhou Huai stepped forward and grabbed Gu Beichuan's arm.
And this also made Gu Beichuan feel the excitement of the old man in front of him.
"There may be some deviations in the specific value, but generally speaking, it should be stable at around 400 kilograms."
"But the annual output?"
"Not bad, yield per mu every year."
"Where is that kind of thing now? Can I let me have a look?"
"Of course, the seeds are outside the house, and Zhou Yuan can move there."
After hearing this, Zhou Huai rushed out the door like crazy, with ecstasy that was about to solidify in his eyes.
It is true that there is no way out of the mountains and rivers, and there is another village with dark flowers and bright flowers!
What is the concept of yielding 400 kilograms per mu per year?
As a grain merchant, he also owned many fields in the countryside around Huainan and raised many tenants.
But even so, the best farmland can only produce about 200 kilograms per mu per year.
And this is the result of careful care. The rest of the fields are only a little over a hundred kilograms at most.
Where does the grain merchant's grain come from?
Two aspects, one is collected, which relies on the respective channels of grain merchants.
If you can receive high-quality and low-priced food, you will naturally be an expert in it.
If you spend money but receive rotten food, you can only break your teeth and swallow it.
On the other hand, it is food grown in one’s own land.
So how many acres of land does the Zhou family have?
Close to a hundred acres, it doesn’t look like much, but it’s actually quite a lot.
After all, the Zhou family's main business is collecting and selling grain, and they have many channels at their disposal.
What is the annual output of a hundred acres of land?
Based on the average yield of 150 kilograms per mu, it is only 15,000 kilograms.
Including the harvested grain, it is close to 25,000 kilograms, which is 50,000 kilograms of grain.
During marching and fighting, an ordinary soldier would eat about two kilograms of grain every day.
Fifty thousand kilograms is only enough for 10,000 people to eat for two or three days.
It may not seem like much, but know that this is just the annual production!
Food grows every year, but wars are not fought every year.
That’s why there is the saying of “harvesting grain”.
Based on the annual output of 50,000 jins, it will be 150,000 jins in three years.
This is just the Zhou Huai family. If it were the entire Huainan family, it would probably weigh one million catties.
If Jiangnan County is included, it would probably be two million jins.
Of course, this is far from the truth.
The top priority now is if Zhou Ji's hundreds of acres of fertile land can be planted with the hybrid rice Gu Beichuan mentioned.
Then the annual output is at least 40,000 kilograms, which is 80,000 kilograms!
In addition to the harvested grain, it is a hundred thousand catties, which is exactly double the amount of fifty thousand catties!
If there is such an annual output, what will happen even if the existing grain reserves are not enough?
Zhou Ji can still compete for the imperial business!
Thinking of this, Zhou Huai felt an uncontrollable ecstasy in his heart, called the ecstasy of hope!
