Lady of the Lord From the East - Chapter 148

The bumper sweet potato harvest caused another tornado in Sardinson.

Just as Wei Wei expected, nearly 20 million catties, or 10,000 tons of sweet potatoes, were harvested from more than 500 acres of land. This yield is enough for everyone in Sardinson County to eat for half a year. .

And if all those sweet potatoes were exchanged for money, that would be an astronomical sum for most.

Today’s grain prices, taking wheat as an example, the price of a pound of unhusked wheat is 4 large copper coins, and if it is replaced with a good seed, the price of the same weight is doubled, and a silver coin per pound is not an exaggeration. higher.

The price of sweet potatoes is calculated according to the price of good seeds, and it is three times the price of wheat seeds, that is to say, a pound of sweet potatoes can be sold for three silver coins.

That is to say, if the 20 million catties of sweet potatoes are sold, they will get 5 million gold coins.

Five million gold coins, this is definitely a huge sum of money that will be tempted by anyone who hears it, I am afraid it is the king, excluding others, the field tax that can be obtained in a year is only so much.

Even Wei Wei, who had already regarded money as a number, had an urge to sell all the sweet potatoes for money when she first calculated this number.

With this amount of money, let alone just repairing part of the new city, even if they built the new city in one go, they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of money.

Although they were not worried about money in the first place, just from the various industries they operated, after deducting taxes every year, the rest was no less than these.

Moreover, as a lord, it is a crop grown on his own plot. Felix doesn’t need to pay taxes to anyone, so even the king just obediently sent someone to buy seeds from him. This income can be said to be completely owned by them. of.

Of course, she just thought about it for a moment. In fact, of course, it is impossible to sell all of them, but it is almost the same as selling all.

Wei Wei and Felix decided early on that after harvesting this batch of sweet potatoes, half of them could be sold to the nobles and merchants, and the remaining half, except for the part they kept, was reserved for those interested in Purchased by the natives.

And they only plan to keep about 100,000 catties of sweet potatoes this year.

In fact, in the planting plan of the manor next year, the proportion of sweet potatoes is only 100 acres, because more fields need to be used for other new crops that already have a certain scale, such as peanuts and sesame.

With so many seeds Wei Wei brought, it may not be many that will eventually become common varieties of Sardinson, but at least in the past few years, she will plant as much as possible to ensure that these plants can reproduce smoothly before they degenerate. Enrich everyone’s life.

Only 60,000 catties of sweet potatoes are needed for planting 100 acres of land, leaving 100,000 catties. In addition to preventing possible losses of seed potatoes due to improper storage, a portion is also prepared to be eaten.

They have been planting sweet potatoes for three years, and this year’s production is enough. Naturally, they want to eat happily. Wei Wei has prepared a series of menus to show off her cooking skills.

In the same way, they won’t leave too much corn, about 10,000 catties are enough.

So in the end, most of these sweet potatoes will still be exchanged for money. If there is no five million gold coins, there are still four million.

Of course, this is also a one-time transaction that can only be done this year. When there are more sweet potatoes in the future, the price will only drop again and again, and finally stop at a price that everyone can afford.

For the next few days, Felix was busy doing business. Ten million catties of sweet potatoes, along with two million catties of corn, were bought in just a few days. The corn and sweet potatoes of the car were pulled out of the manor, and after they were delivered to various places, they were exchanged for money orders that could be exchanged for a lot of gold coins, and they made a lot of money.

And Wei Wei is also not idle, not only those aristocratic merchants from outside, but also a wave of territorial people, they heard that the earl was selling these high-yield crops in large quantities. Now, they sent representatives to the castle one by one, requesting to buy some seeds to go back.

It’s not a problem for these people to always go to the castle. Wei Wei simply let people rent a shop in Dingle temporarily, and hired a carriage to pull a batch of sweet potatoes there. The corn and sweet potatoes in this shop are only sold to the people who want to buy them. The person who wants to buy must have the identity certificate of Sardinson or Slot, and the colleague who is restricted to purchase must also ensure that it is grown by his own family, and try to ensure that the people who want it can buy it.

Of course, this news can be said to be bad news for non-local people, but there is no way, they have to take care of their own citizens first. If their own citizens are not enough, how can they share their share with others.

If the serfs wanted to buy it, they had to register with the steward directly. Even if they had no money, they could receive it directly. The price was to pay a portion of the land tax in proportion to the annual harvest, or to directly increase the time of labor.

As for the knights, they basically didn’t buy them. Their fiefs are not big. After registering last year, they brought seeds and seed potatoes back to plant them this year. Although the number is not large, the harvest is not bad. , is completely sufficient.

A large number of harvests have been sent away, and the people in the castle finally don’t have to worry about running out of cellars, and Felix doesn’t have to worry that his wine cellar will continue to become a fruit and vegetable storage room. God knows he has always been worried about the wine stored in it. It will be “contaminated” by those vegetables and fruits, especially this year Wei Wei has also started to study something like soy sauce pickles. Although it is not directly placed in the wine cellar, it is also placed in the storage room next to the wine cellar. There is only one door between them, and for some reason, the taste of the things she made are still a bit heavy.

The soybeans were harvested not long before the sweet potatoes. They were originally interplanted in the cornfields. On the day they were harvested, Wei Wei had someone soak them in soy milk to make tofu, and they ate authentic tofu for a few days. Some people plan to try making soy sauce. Of course, they still need to keep the seeds. Although the yield of soybeans is not high, it is almost the same as that of wheat, but the amount of seeds used is similar to that of corn. The same is true for other legumes.

When this wave of buying sprees passed, there were millions of gold coins in the castle’s vault, but the reserved sweet potato inventory was unexpectedly larger, about 300,000 catties, and even corn was left with 50,000. catty.

Although it is said that a continuous businessman can easily sell these excess parts, but the weight is not too much anyway, the two of them stopped tossing and put everything in the cellar for storage, if there is more next year If the lead people return and want to plant, they will sell it, otherwise they will keep it for themselves.

After buying what they wanted, it was time for the guests to leave.

Among the people who were about to leave home, there were naturally Sarina and Adonis, but before leaving, Adonis finally did what Sarina expected him to do.

In the beautiful garden, under a flower gallery made of rose trellises, Adonis proposed to Dolores with a gemstone ring handed down from the family.

“Will you marry me?” The handsome face of the young earl who was kneeling alone was serious, and his eyes were filled with inseparable tenderness.

Aristocratic marriages always have to consider all aspects. It is impossible to be together just because they like them. Lucky people like Felix are actually rare.

But Adonis felt that he should also be lucky. The person he liked was right in line with him, and there were not many obstacles between them.

It is true that his feelings for Dolores may not be as strong as Felix’s for Wei Wei, and may not even be to the point of love, but he is very clear that he likes the girl in front of him, and the more he gets along, The deeper this love becomes, he believes that sooner or later this love will turn into true love.

Moreover, Adonis felt that if he missed this one, it would be difficult for him to find another object that he liked.

Therefore, although Adonis, who originally did not intend to propose so early, still under the command of his mother Erti, brought forward the time of the proposal.

Before being invited, Dolores originally had a faint expectation in her heart, but now that the expectation has become reality, Dolores can’t believe it.

She couldn’t help covering her mouth to keep herself from exclaiming, but her blue eyes glowed with excitement, making her even more charming.

Of course Dolores would, she had been looking forward to this day long ago.

Ignoring the lady’s restraint, Dolores answered eagerly, “Of course I would.”

Adonis smiled because of her real reaction, kept kneeling on one knee, took her hand, put the ring on her middle finger, and gently dropped a kiss on it.

The girl who had just made a marriage contract also had a happy smile on her face.

When the news of Adonis’s successful marriage proposal came, everyone felt that the dust had settled. Then, Salina couldn’t wait to go to Felix again to discuss the suggestion of engagement.

An engagement banquet was necessary, and it had to be held at the Aldrich family’s castle, and she needed to ask Felix when she was free.

If possible, Salina even hopes that when she goes back this time, she will directly invite their family to Aldridge as a guest, and by the way, she will organize the engagement banquet.

But Felix had to reject what he saw as a hasty decision: “I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until winter to find time.”

As September is approaching, and the autumn sowing is about to begin, Felix has a lot of things to do, and even Wei Wei has no time to spare. It is impossible for the two of them to leave Satinson together at this time, and they will not be the only one. People go to Dolores’ engagement party.

Therefore, it must be in the winter when there are not too many things and time can be spared.

“Then how about the end of November? It won’t be too cold at that time, and it’s very convenient to travel.” Salina calculated that Aldridge is an inland county, and the temperature is similar to that around Sardinson Castle, even colder in winter. A little bit, but in November, before it snows, it will be cold and cold, but it will not hinder travel.

And if she can’t prepare the engagement banquet now, then in October, she needs to go to the royal capital to attend her daughter’s wedding, so she arranges the engagement at the end of November, which will be more sufficient.

Although their family married their daughter to Prince Andrew out of helplessness, her daughter did not show resistance, but accepted her marriage peacefully, but because of this, Salina and Adonis had feelings for her instead. Guilt.

If possible, Salina also hopes to invite Prince Andrew to Aldridge for the engagement party after her daughter’s wedding, so that she can keep her daughter and son-in-law in Aldridge for a while, preferably Live until next spring.

Felix thought about his schedule that had been scheduled for more than half a year, and determined that there was nothing major to be busy in November, so he nodded and agreed with her arrangement, and then the two sides confirmed the specific date, and finally chose ten. January 21st.

After the specific time was finalized, Salina couldn’t wait to go back to prepare. This was her son’s engagement banquet. She had to do it beautifully, strive for perfection, and leave no regrets.

The separation of two people who have just established a relationship is very sad, but it is also necessary.

Dolores’ eyes were red as she sent Adonis away, but she quickly cheered up after receiving the biography from the flying pigeons, and began to prepare for her engagement.

She wanted to make the best-looking engagement dress by herself, so she specially contacted the castle’s exclusive tailor, the old tailor who had prospered because of them in recent years.

Wei Wei thought that it was time to start preparing new winter clothes for the castle, so she asked the old tailor to bring some more fabric samples, preferably all kinds.

As soon as they heard the call of the castle, the old tailor from the tailor shop immediately brought a bunch of apprentices and pulled two carts of fabrics to the castle for them to choose.

The servants of the nobles and the knights who serve the nobles, during their work, the masters need to buy clothes for them, but usually they buy fabrics and let the maids who can sew to do them. In the past, Sardinsonburg spent about two or three years a year. Hundred gold coins buy fabrics for everyone, and this cost has skyrocketed after Wei Wei became a countess, from two sets of fabrics a year to two sets a season, and the fabrics are much better than before, and because the maids also Getting busier and busier, I don’t have so much time to make clothes for everyone, so now Wei Wei has chosen the fabrics and let the tailors directly make ready-made clothes according to their size and send them, which will naturally cost more. But the wealthy countess said she could still afford it.

Dolores carefully chooses the fabric she wants. Usually she doesn’t spend much money, she uses whatever fabric Wei Wei buys to make clothes, but this time she chooses to make an engagement dress. The fabric, of course, should be chosen from those bright and expensive fabrics.

Wei Wei is choosing winter clothes for the knights and the castle servants, but she doesn’t plan to buy fur. There are sheep and rabbits in the manor, and there is no shortage of sheepskin and rabbit skins. In the past, everyone’s winter clothes were basically used. It’s sheepskin, but this year rabbitskin may become mainstream.

The rabbits on the hillside have been raised very well this year. Since the first few were caught last year, a lot of them have been added one after another. Those female rabbits basically give birth to one baby every month, seven or eight per baby. In a few months, these little rabbits will grow up again, and then start to reproduce in large numbers again. Now there are rabbits all over the hillside, there are not thousands or hundreds, so it is naturally impossible for so many rabbits to raise them for the winter. The oldest A batch of rabbits have been killed one after another. Rabbit meat is a kind of meat that everyone likes very much, and the peeled skin can be tanned directly into leather. The fluffy, soft and warm rabbit skin is also a good wool material. The slightly messy gray coat of the hare is not very popular, and ordinary nobles do not like to wear it, but for ordinary civilians, it is not so particular.

Wei Wei is mainly turning over linen and cotton. These days, both men and women have to wear petticoats under their clothes. This is because the fabrics of many outerwear are relatively heavy and difficult to clean. Add a petticoat. The fabrics of the petticoats are fine linen and cotton fabrics that are relatively breathable. However, petticoats are very personal items like underwear, so basically everyone buys fabrics and makes them at home.

“Madam, take a look at this year’s cotton fabrics. This batch is the latest. It is absolutely soft and breathable, but the price is lower than last year.” The old tailor knew that Wei Wei likes cotton fabrics and used to buy them in large quantities. Into this type of fabric, these are naturally the main push now.

Wei Wei’s eyes fell on one of the black cotton cloths, and she was a little surprised. Black cloth is not common at this time, because it is said that it is very difficult to dye, and even if there is, it is easy to fade. In addition, this color of cloth is almost only Men will choose, and most nobles, both men and women, prefer bright colors. Black fabrics are not very easy to sell, so they are rare.

And if you look closely at the batch of fabrics sent by the old tailor, in addition to this piece of cotton, there are also black linen and woolen cloth, which is very rare.

However, Wei Wei likes black very much. She touched the black cotton cloth, which felt delicate and smooth: “Is this cloth faded?”

When the old tailor saw her interest, the smile on his face deepened: “You know, dark fabrics are always fading, but please rest assured, these fabrics are dyed by myself, only slightly faded. The fabrics of other houses are much better, and I have to thank you, Madam. If you hadn’t told me that oak leather can also be used to dye black fabrics, and how to prevent the fabrics from fading, my cloth workshop would not be able to dye them. Such a good black cloth, and these kinds, are also dyed with the plants and minerals you mentioned.” He pointed to the other pieces of red, blue and purple cloth, all of which were very pure in color.

Did she say this? Wei Wei recalled, oh, it seems that once, the old tailor who delivered the cloth said that he opened a cloth workshop and hired workers to weave, dye and sell cloth by himself. She said a few words casually, unexpectedly. He really tried it, and it looked like it turned out to be a success.

Seeing the black fabric, Wei Wei’s mind flashed a black and white skirt, followed by a black and white uniform.

If there is anything that matches the castle best, it is of course a group of servants dressed in maid and deacon outfits.

Wei Wei became interested, and she asked the apprentice to show herself all the black fabrics with great interest. After touching them in batches, they felt very good, and there were cotton and woolen fabrics, which were also suitable for wearing in winter.

“Do you have a lot of these black cloths?”

As soon as the old tailor heard it, he knew that the business was coming, and it was not a small business. He immediately smiled and said, “For the time being, I have only prepared a few pieces, but don’t worry, the materials are already woven, and we can directly ask for any color you want. dyed for you.”

Wei Wei nodded: “How long does it take to dye it?”

The old tailor asked cautiously, “I don’t know how much you want?”

Wei Wei calculated, and now the number of servants in the castle plus those little serfs has increased to almost 400 people. Counting the 120 knights and 120 knight attendants of the Knights, the total number is seven. Hundreds of people.

“I need enough fabric for 700 people, all of which are made of black wool. How long will it take to make it?”

grunt.

The old tailor swallowed. The castle’s demand for fabrics has increased this year.

“One month at most. If you need it urgently, I will ask the workers to work overtime, and it can be done in half a month.”

I’m not in a hurry. This time I prepared clothes for when the weather is cold in autumn and winter. It’s still summer, and there are still several months before the weather changes.

“In addition to these, I also need a batch of white cotton cloth, the number is similar to this one, pure white, do you have it?”

“Yes!” The primary color of the cotton is a little yellow, but they have the bleaching technology. Be as white as you want.

Because Wei Wei wanted a lot of fabrics this time, the old tailor once again gave her a very good discount. For this reason, the cost of fabrics alone would cost about 500 gold coins.

Not only that, the work of making is naturally taught to the tailors in the old tailor shop.

Wei Wei took a pen and paper, and drew four different styles of clothing in detail on it, all in black and white, one skirt and three uniforms. In order to make the old tailor see clearly, she also took detailed explanations and pictures. Then I spread it out a little bit and explained to the old tailor what these are, and finally asked him: “Can these be made?”

From the beginning, the old tailor was open to seeing money and now he is happy to see the hunt. He took a few clothes drawings that he had never seen before and looked at them, and then said: “Give me some time to study it, this is a bit difficult, but It should be able to be made, but the production cost is likely to increase a lot.”

Wei Wei nodded understandingly. The production of these clothes is much more complicated than before, and it is purely handmade. The price increase is natural: “Of course, as long as you can do it well, you will not be treated badly.”

Hearing her assurance, the old tailor was relieved. He knew how generous the countess was with her money. She was the biggest customer service in his hands.

In the end, he couldn’t help pointing to three of the men’s clothes and asked Wei Wei, “I heard that Lord Earl wore a suit called a suit at the wedding, with a top and bottom pants. The style is very special, isn’t that the case?”

Wei Wei shook her head: “It’s similar clothes, but the style is not like this.”

The suit Felix wore at the time was a formal dress, which was somewhat different from the three models on the current drawings.

He pointed to one of the men’s uniforms and said, “We make two sets of this style. After I count the number and size of the others, I will send someone to count them for you.”

In the past, ready-to-wear clothes were made according to specific sizes of large, medium and small. Whoever wears what size is registered, so as long as the clothes are prepared and delivered according to their own registration, you can pick up clothes of the right size. , but this year there are a number of teenagers and girls, their bodies have not fully developed, and the size of the clothes is naturally different from that of adults. It needs to be measured and then determined.

“Good lady!”

The old tailor calculated the account in his heart, and was immediately happy.