sbdcsierra Chapter 236 The Mountain Boss's Scheme
Chapter 236 The Mountain Boss's Scheme
The eldest aunt took the winter clothes that Gao Mengli handed back, frowned, and looked troubled.
Jiang Yue understood what her cousin-in-law meant and quickly asked, "Does your cousin-in-law have any other good ideas?"
Gao Mengli smiled and nodded. Although she couldn't sew, she had seen countless styles.
"Aunt, cousin, winter clothes can be made with linings."
The cotton fabric used for filling with duck down is sewn into small squares and then stuffed with duck down.
Make another layer of clothing over it, with hidden buttons.
With the lining tucked inside, if it gets dirty, just untuck the snaps and wash the outer garment.
This way, the down won't get dirty, and you won't need to wash the down jacket frequently, which would damage its warmth, thus extending its lifespan.
Aunt and Jiang Yue's eyes lit up when they heard Gao Mengli's idea.
The eldest aunt gently patted her thigh, her face beaming with joy:
"Oh my, Mengli, how come you're so quick-witted! How come we didn't think of that before?"
This method is good; it's practical and saves time.
This way, the soldiers won't have to worry about the heavy winter clothes being difficult to wash, saving them a lot of time!
Gao Mengli was a little embarrassed by the praise, after all, it wasn't her idea, but rather a "borrowing"!
Having obtained the final pattern for the winter clothes, Aunt and Jiang Yue didn't linger and hurried back to the garment workshop to start working hard with the ladies in the village.
Seeing their high enthusiasm, Gao Mengli felt that entrusting the garment workshop to them was the right thing to do.
She didn't plan to make money from the garment workshop at first.
After deducting the cost of each winter garment, she only earned Dou Wei a meager ten-coin reward for her hard work.
All the money earned was used to pay the aunties in the village for their garment-making work.
In other words, for every winter garment made, eight coins were given to the aunties in the village as a reward for their hard work.
The remaining two coins were given to the villagers who went to collect duck down from various villages and households.
Besides one piece of down for each household and each person, all the rest were reserved for the soldiers guarding the border.
The preserved egg business has now become the main part of the business.
Nan Chang'an and Nan Sheng divided the escort agency into five groups.
Each group went to different places, which greatly improved efficiency.
In addition to transporting preserved eggs to various places for sale, they also brought along earthenware and bone china from the pottery village.
This has allowed bone china to gain a foothold in the white porcelain market.
Bone ceramics are not difficult to produce; the key is to target the low-price market and reach ordinary households. They are not expensive, but the large consumer base allows for high sales volume with low profit margins, resulting in substantial profits.
Bone ceramic dolls were also selling extremely well, and after the profit sharing, Gao Mengli received nearly a thousand taels of silver.
Li Doudou's tofu workshop was built upstream of the river and began to bustle with activity.
Horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts from outside the village came and went in an endless stream.
Lin Xi asked Lin Yong to order a lot of wooden frames, and also ordered half a winnowing basket from the village chief's house.
So now, no matter what the village chief is doing, he's always weaving with a winnowing basket in his hand!
After all, if Lin Xi wants to make gray tofu, a winnowing basket is a necessity, so she has to prepare it in advance.
All that's missing is wood ash.
However, the autumn harvest has also come, and a lot of straw has been harvested.
Gao Mengli bought all the straw stacks in the village, 15 coins per stack.
The ashes left over from burning firewood in the villagers' homes were also purchased at a price of three catties for one coin!
The two of them were covered in dust every day at home. They would cut the ten boxes of tofu that Li Doudou brought every day into cubes, coat them with a layer of wood ash, and then put them in a winnowing basket.
Place the gray tofu blocks on a well-ventilated, dry wooden rack to ferment; they will be ready in three to five days.
Fermented tofu blocks become firmer and turn slightly yellow on the surface.
When you want to eat it, just wash off the wood ash from the tofu.
It can be used in soups or stir-fries!
Taking advantage of the good weather, the two also ordered a lot of large vats in Tutao Village to ferment soy sauce.
Apart from the dining area, the entire courtyard of the siheyuan was filled with large vats!
Because sometimes villagers would come to buy soy sauce, Lin Xi sold it for 20 coins per pound.
Now every household can eat noodles. Since we're eating noodles anyway, mixing them with soy sauce makes them taste absolutely delicious!
Besides, everyone is very busy, so when they have money, they will definitely improve their lives first!
This also made Linxi's soy sauce sell extremely well!
However, the output is not high, after all, Lin Xi and Gao Mengli have been very busy lately and have not had time to do it.
In addition, the weather is gradually getting cooler, and without the sun, not much soy sauce can be dried.
Therefore, each time Qian Yunlai transported oil, he could only transport one vat of soy sauce.
She only gets four vats of soy sauce each month, which is not enough for her to sell at all!
Instead of selling to the surrounding prefectures, they transported the goods directly to the capital to earn money from the wealthy!
It sells for 350 coins a can, which is about one jin (500 grams).
When paired with bone ceramics, it instantly becomes much more luxurious, and demand exceeds supply.
Seeing how booming the business was, Lin Xi and Gao Mengli discussed it and decided to start by collecting Spicy Grass this year and making several large vats of yeast.
Next spring, we can significantly expand soy sauce production!
At that time, wealth will flow into their hands from all directions in Pingyao County!
They could lend money to Dou Weiyi—no, I mean, lend money to Dou Weiyi.
Let him recruit soldiers and horses; once he succeeds, he can pay back the money!
While things were bustling about here, the bandits had also successfully arrived in Pingyao!
The leader of the mountain gang, along with a few others, disguised themselves as villagers from other villages and wandered around Wangyue Village.
"My God, boss, this village looks really rich!"
And look at those stilted houses halfway up the mountain, row upon row, floor upon floor.
"I wouldn't trade living here for anything, not even the gods!"
A henchman followed behind the mountain leader, his eyes wide open, smacking his lips incessantly, his expression full of greed and envy.
The "minions" were referring to the newly built houses of the outlaws, since the weather was getting cold.
Many of the Lotus Sect members who lived in tents fell ill from the cold. Doctor Li recently moved into the village with his two apprentices, keeping them quite busy.
There wasn't much land in the village to begin with, so they simply had the bandits move out of their dormitories and build stilted houses at the foot of the mountain!
So, rows and rows of stilted houses were built on the mountains to the south.
Anyway, the heroes of the greenwood are all good at light footwork and martial arts, so climbing mountains is not difficult for them, and they are not afraid of snakes, rats and insects, so they can live in the mountains.
The dormitories are for six people per room.
Those who perform well in the Lotus Sect can be given priority for early check-in.
The struggle for houses has caused the Lotus Sect members to become extremely competitive.
Of course, except for the two guardians on the left and right, who are completely unyielding.
They are still living in tents at the foot of the mountain, shivering with cold every night, waiting for their leader to come and save them from their predicament!
The mountain leader, listening to his subordinate's words, had a sinister look in his eyes, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth, and he cursed under his breath:
"Hmph, the people in this village certainly know how to enjoy life. But soon all of this will be ours."
It is said that the magistrate of Pingyao County was away from the county on business.
This is truly a perfect storm of timing, location, and people—everything has come together for him!
Moreover, it is said that Magistrate Dou was very poor.
The government office only had about ten officials, but if he faced a hundred or so of them, he wouldn't be afraid at all!
At worst, Magistrate Dou can share some of the benefits he receives.
After all, there is no county magistrate who is not corrupt!