Chapter 76: Harvest, Big Customer
March brings the joy of harvest.

Jinmao is very busy.

First, craftsmen from all counties arrived, and large trees from various places were also delivered.

Oil pressing workshops will be built in Wushang, Taimo, Zhuji and Shanxian, and the size of the workshops will be adapted to local conditions.

In addition, a seedling base should also be built.

Five hundred skilled workers from Jinyun Mountain have already enrolled in school and will be sent to various counties to provide guidance on spring planting at the end of the month.

All aspects were progressing rapidly, but they came to a standstill due to iron deficiency.

Jinmao had no choice but to send people to buy it from Zhu Fu, but time waits for no one and iron is needed to make the wood press.

I had no choice but to melt down some broken weapons and use them temporarily.

It was already mid-March in such a busy manner.

"Start squeezing!"

Amid the shouts, four oil pressing workshops in Wushang and Taimo started working at the same time.

There is one workshop in Taimo County, and the other three are located in Dongxiang, Jinyun Mountain and Yaoxiang of Wushang County.

Countless rapeseeds enter the workshop and come out as translucent rapeseed oil.

The daily rapeseed oil output exceeds 100 hu, and during peak hours, the output even reaches several hundred hu per day.

Except for the share that goes to the villagers, the rest of the rapeseed oil is all gathered in the Dongxiang Township of Wushang County.

Soon, Jinmao faced a new problem: the warehouse was not big enough and could no longer hold the rapeseed oil.

What a happy trouble.

Jinmao immediately gave the order to start building more warehouses.

Before the warehouse is built, it can only be stored in the temporary commandery's mansion.

Fortunately, Tang Mao’s caravan finally arrived.

There was also a mysterious person traveling with them.

Little eunuch Zhang Tie!
The regular appointment letter has arrived!
Without waiting for Jin Mao to express his gratitude, Zhang Tie said with some embarrassment: "Captain, my father is a little short of money recently. How about this money..."

That is the money that is spent on empty-handed salaries.

"Are you in such a hurry?"

Jinmao is also poor, where does it get so much money?

The warehouse was full, so Jin Mao asked, "I don't have that much money, can I use something else to pay for it first?"

Zhang Tie was overjoyed: "Okay! Why not!"

"Captain, please show me the things."

Jin Mao took Zhang Tie into the mansion, where the eaves were filled with sealed wooden barrels.

"How much is this oil worth?" Jin Mao lifted the lid of a wooden barrel and handed Zhang Tie a wooden ladle, saying, "This barrel is two hu."

Zhang Tie carefully scooped up a ladle, looked at it carefully, and took a sip. His eyes sparkled as he asked, "Captain, how much of this oil is there?"

From the sound of it, it seems like you have a big appetite.

Jin Mao pointed to the entire yard and said, "There are several hundred barrels here, and there are two warehouses, totaling about fifteen thousand."

"I want them all!" Zhang Tie said excitedly, "The captain will have everyone send them to the capital. My father will definitely reward them handsomely!"

Well, it turns out that he was just getting something for nothing.

"Isn't this bad?" Jin Mao said, "My oil is top quality, the market price is one gold coin per hu, and you asked me for three thousand gold coins, isn't that too much?"

Zhang Tie apologized repeatedly: "It's all my fault for being so stupid! The captain misunderstood."

Now that Jin Mao has Tang Mao's support, how could Zhang Tie dare to offend him easily? You have to know that when Tang Heng was alive, Zhang Gong was still playing in the mud.

"The annual allowance is only 500 gold. I want to help the captain pay for a few more years, so that I don't have to make the trip every year."

Isn’t this the same idea?
However, Zhang Tie did not mean to cause trouble, but the transportation was really inconvenient. It would cost Jinmao a lot of money just to transport it once a year.

Jin Mao doesn’t care about that. In his eyes, I have been converted to a regular employee, so what use do I have for you?

But it was not Jin Mao's intention to offend the eunuchs head on.

Zhu Jun is so difficult to deal with. If you offend the eunuchs, you will really have no idea how to write the word death.
When in doubt, ask a counselor.

It just so happened that Xizhi came back to take some time off a few days ago, so why not wait any longer?

Jin Mao tried to delay the conversation and said, "There is no rush. You haven't eaten yet, right? Try the unique flavor of Kuaiji first."

…Xi Zhicai has become darker and stronger.

I ride the donkey cart at full speed every day, and sometimes I have to go down to the fields to help. It would be strange if there was no change.

I don't drink anymore, and I don't take drugs anymore.

I used to get up earlier than the chickens and sleep later than the dogs, but I was still full of energy every day.

Once, after taking drugs and feeling excited all night, Xi Zhicai felt listless the next day and it took him several days to adjust.

He has not taken drugs since then.

In two months, Xi Zhicai learned a lot from Jin Yun and expressed the same sigh as Yu Fan.

However, Jin Yun's talent was limited after all, and he had to do everything himself. Managing a county with less than 10,000 households was already difficult for him, and he was bogged down in trivial matters every day.

In this regard, Xi Zhicai and Yu Fan agreed that if one could use talented people to govern, why waste time?

You will be successful if you can bring out the best in yourself.

However, there are also benefits to being in touch with people's livelihood.

At least Xi Zhicai's thinking is more mature and down-to-earth, and no longer a castle in the air.

He believed that if he was given another chance, Jinmao would not have to take risks again to overcome the difficulties.

In March, Taimo County also entered into the joy of harvest.

Xi Zhicai had just finished the preliminary version of the performance appraisal, and took this opportunity to return to Wushang County to report to Jin Mao.

Jin Yun did not stop him. Xi Zhicai was here, but he couldn't help much. This talented person was just like Yu Fan. If he really did it himself, he would be a waste.

...

When Jin Mao found Xi Zhicai, the guy was lying on the couch in a dissolute state, not in a sleepy posture.

"Get up!" Jin Mao was furious, thinking that he had returned to his old ways, and said, "The master is working, how can you be lazy?"

Xi Zhicai stood up quickly and tied his belt skillfully, leaving only a little skin on his chest. He no longer looked like a playboy.

"Ming Gong, hehe."

As soon as Xi Zhicai saw Jin Mao's expression, he knew what he was thinking, because Jin Yun was the same and had misunderstood him many times.

"I didn't drink alcohol or take Wu Shi San. Please don't wrongly accuse a good person."

Then Xi Zhicai started to act and pretended to cry, "Do you know how I spent the past March?"

Jin Mao's nostrils flared, and there was indeed no smell of alcohol. His expression did not seem like he was on drugs, so he knew there was a misunderstanding. However, he was much thicker-skinned than Jin Yun, so there was no way he would apologize.

"You are talking nonsense! It's only been two months, how can it be three months?"

"Two months and eighteen days, rounded up to three months."

"Haha!" Jin Mao laughed: "Do I still have to pay you half a year's salary?"

Xi Zhicai climbed up the pole and said, "Thank you for the reward, sir!"

Damn, he has two weird advisers under him, one is vicious, and the other is even more shameless than him.

Jin Mao admitted defeat: "Okay! I'll give you ten jars of good wine, which is equivalent to half a year's salary, right?"

Xi Zhicai could not help but hear the hidden meaning in the words. He rolled his eyes and said, "Why not exchange it for ten barrels of oil? I haven't been home for more than half a year, and my wife is living in poverty..."

This time, Jin Mao softened his heart again: "You still have a wife? I'll give you a hundred barrels!"

Xi Zhicai smiled happily: "Thank you very much, sir! I thank you on behalf of my future wife!"

Jin Mao pointed at the grinning Xi Zhicai and remained speechless for a long time.

"One hundred barrels is one hundred barrels." Jin Mao turned the tables: "Then you have to pay for the shipping yourself."

Xi Zhicai's face turned bitter in an instant.

Freight was too expensive in that era, not to mention that Yingchuan was a thousand kilometers away, so a hundred barrels became ten barrels in seconds.

“Hahaha,” Jin Mao laughed, “I was just teasing you. I have something to discuss with you.”

"One hundred barrels of oil is not so easy to get. We need to do things."

When Jin Mao told Xi Zhicai about Zhang Tie, he immediately had an idea, but he still thought about it carefully before saying, "Mingsir, you can give it to him."

"But fifteen hundred barrels of oil is not so easy to get."

Xi Zhicai imitated Jin Mao's demeanor and said, "We need to do something!"

(End of this chapter)