Chapter 117: A Yield of Five Hundred Jin per Mu

"Rest assured," Xiao Moting smiled slightly. "Xuancheng is a major commercial hub, and all the large merchant firms have shops there. Jia Shun usually takes quite a few benefits from these shops; it won't be a problem for him to have them buy a few crates of soap and laundry detergent."

"Once the shops get the soap and laundry detergent, they will surely find a way to sell the goods. As long as everyone tries them, we can open up the market, and after that, we won't have to worry about them not selling."

He is the Fourth Prince of Daliang and cannot do business openly, or it would arouse suspicion.

Therefore, Xiao Moting let Jia Shun do it on his behalf.

Jia Shun is the most cowardly and afraid of death, and he has been wavering back and forth between De Guifei and the Beijiang Army.

He has a dual identity, so he absolutely does not dare to reveal the origin of this batch of laundry detergent and soap.

Qin Zhan admired this, "Instead of us going to great lengths to open up the market, it's better to let Jia Shun do it. The Prince is truly thoughtful!"

Just as Xiao Moting was heading to Xuancheng to order Jia Shun to sell the soap.

Bai Wei was standing in the office of a porcelain factory, buying porcelain from the factory manager.

She pointed to a sample of a porcelain wine bottle.

"... Manager, can this kind of antique-style porcelain wine bottle be fired? I want to order one hundred thousand of them."

In the picture was a white-based, blue-patterned porcelain wine bottle with a small mouth and a large belly, simple and elegant.

The manager squinted his eyes and looked for a while, "It can be done. Just have the master make a mold."

"I also need a few characters fired onto it."

"What characters?"

"Wuliang Divine Brew. Don't use yellow characters; red font will do. I need it to hold wine."

In ancient Daliang, bright yellow is a color reserved for the Emperor; if anyone else uses it, it is a crime punishable by beheading.

Bai Wei wants to sell wine to Daliang, so naturally, she cannot commit a taboo.

She finalized the details with the manager and paid a deposit of one hundred thousand.

Each empty porcelain wine bottle cost five yuan, so this batch alone cost five hundred thousand.

In the porcelain factory's warehouse, there was still an inventory of over two thousand ready-made porcelain wine bottles.

Bai Wei bought this batch of porcelain wine bottles first at the price of three yuan each, preparing to fill them with wine and transport them to Daliang to see how much they could sell for.

She walked out of the porcelain factory and called Li Shu.

"Li Shu, what is the current stock of grain wine in the brewery?"

"There are already over ten tons stored in the cellar."

"Good, I am transporting a batch of wine bottles over now. Hire twenty workers to fill the bottles with wine, pack them into crates, and seal them."

Bai Wei had tasted Daliang's wine; it was bland and tasteless, with no strong wine flavor.

Last time, when Xiao Moting defeated Wanyan Yi, he sent her a cup of victory wine from Heyuan County.

Ancient brewing technology is limited, and grain is scarce, so the wine produced is far less fragrant and rich than modern wine.

Fighting a war burns money, and the Beijiang Army is still short on silver; even the soldiers' military pay has not been issued for two months.

She is selling wine to Daliang to help the Beijiang Army earn military funds.

The wine from Qingshan Village is so fragrant and rich, it will surely sell for a good price.

Beijiang Camp.

Xiao Moting stood at the edge of the wasteland, inspecting the soldiers and civilians reclaiming the land.

In just two days, this piece of wasteland had changed drastically, turning into neat patches of farmland.

The farmers were pushing tillers and seeders... sweating like rain in the fields, working with great enthusiasm.

Wu Da and the farmers of Yanbei were planting crops.

Wu Er led a team of laborers, digging irrigation ditches to divert water from the river to irrigate the rice paddies.

This piece of wasteland was very wide.

Xiao Moting had discussed it with Bai Wei and prepared to cultivate two thousand mu of land for rice, five hundred mu for corn, and use the remaining few hundred mu to plant cold-resistant Chinese cabbage and radishes.

As for the vegetables the Beijiang Army needed to eat, Bai Wei told him not to worry, saying that she was also building a Vegetable Base on her side and would provide them on time in the future.

In this way, he could use all manpower and resources entirely for growing grain.

Three thousand mu of land, larger in scale than the grain stores of Yannan, could completely solve the Beijiang Army's food problem.

Wu Da was sowing seeds in the field, his legs bare and stepping in the mud, when he looked up and asked.

"Prince, everyone is curious, how much grain can the seeds sent by Shennü Daren produce?"

Xiao Moting said, "The seeds from Shennü Daren are improved seeds researched by a Yuan Master on her side, called Hybrid Rice."

"The yield of this rice is exceptionally high; one mu of land can produce about five hundred jin of grain."

"What? One mu of land can actually produce five hundred jin?" Wu Da was stunned.

The surrounding farmers also looked up in shock, their faces filled with expressions of disbelief.

You must know that the rice they grew in the Yannan territory, even in a good year, would yield at most about one hundred jin per mu.

Yet the grain seeds sent by Shennü Daren had actually increased the yield fivefold in one go!

Wouldn't the two thousand mu of rice in the Beijiang be able to harvest one million jin of grain?

Xiao Moting said, "Shennü Daren also said that five hundred jin is still considered low, because the experimental field planted by Yuan Master himself can produce one thousand jin per mu! But the Beijiang is limited by climate and rainfall, so it can only harvest this much."

Wu Da sighed sincerely with an expression of worship.

"One thousand jin per mu, how many people can this feed."

"The Yuan Master on Shennü Daren's side is truly a god who saves the suffering!"

At this moment, Qin Zhan came over to report.

"Prince, Prefect Jia has arrived, saying he has an urgent matter to report."

Xiao Moting frowned.

Could it be that the soap isn't selling?

He turned around, vaulted onto his horse, and galloped toward the main camp.

Jia Shun was waiting at the entrance of the military camp, and as soon as he saw Xiao Moting approaching, he hurried forward to meet him.

He wore a bitter expression, his face flushed with anxiety.

"Prince, Prince... I beg you to help your subordinate."

After saying this, he fell to his knees with a thud.

Xiao Moting dismounted and shouted in a deep voice.

"What is the matter? Get up and speak!"

Jia Shun hurriedly stood up.

"The soap and laundry powder you sent two days ago were originally not selling, so your subordinate had no choice but to order the merchants to pay and buy them."

"But unexpectedly, early this morning, the merchants crowded in front of the Taishou Mansion, scrambling and fighting to buy the soap and laundry powder."

"They even... they even placed a pile of large orders with me, crying and begging to buy more."

Having finished, he respectfully presented a stack of silver banknotes.

"Prince, this is the four thousand taels of silver from the sale of the soap and laundry powder; your subordinate did not dare to pocket a single cent."

Xiao Moting narrowed his eyes, a wave of joy in his heart.

He had not expected the soap and laundry powder to be snapped up so quickly.

"Someone, give Prefect Jia two hundred taels of silver as a commission."

"Thank you, Prince." Jia Shun was overjoyed.

This time, the Prince of Northern Suppression was not stingy; he gave him two hundred taels of commission at once, which was quite generous.

He took the silver and squeezed out a fawning smile.

"Prince, do you have any more soap and laundry powder? The merchants have placed orders for tens of thousands of taels of silver more; I will continue to sell them for you."

Xiao Moting raised an eyebrow, assuming the posture of someone discussing business.

"Prefect Jia, since that is the case, you shall help this Prince sell goods from now on."

"For the goods you sell, this Prince will let you take a ten-thousandths commission as a hardship fee."

"But if you dare to leak even half a word, this Prince will execute you."