Chapter 293: Chapter 293 A Treat (2)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The rich aroma of the mutton giblet soup drew in all the residents of the manor.
Zhou Ying wasn’t stingy. She gave each family a large bowl, including the people that Manager Liu and the others brought.
She then gave Qian Zhuang and the other long-term workers a bowl each.
There wasn’t much left, but it was enough for each of them to have a bowl.
After the skewers started cooking, Zhou Ying asked someone to bring Chang Shun and Uncle Nian over. They sat together to roast the mutton.
Of course, after it was cooked, she gave five skewers to each long-term worker.
When they were almost done eating, Zhou Huaiming rubbed his stomach and said, “This is the most filling meal I’ve had in the past six months. I’m certainly not used to it.”
“No way, you don’t have enough to eat in the military camp?” Gu Chengrui asked in surprise.
In his opinion, although the food in the military camp during this bad year wasn’t good, it wasn’t to the extent of being unable to eat enough.
Zhou Huaiming nodded. “It’s always half full, just enough to make sure I can lift my sword.”
Gu Chengrui nodded his head in understanding, and he didn’t know what to say for a moment.
Zhou Ying quickly thought of the cattle and sheep the village could not afford to raise and asked, “Does the military camp accept cattle and sheep?”
Zhou Huaiming’s eyes lit up. “Of course, I’ll take as much as you have. But are you sure you want to sell it? It isn’t worth the round trip if it’s just a small amount.”
“I’m selling them. I’m afraid my restaurant won’t be able to open for a while. The problem is that if they continue to reproduce, I won’t be able to afford to raise them.”
“How much can you sell it for now?”
Zhou Ying didn’t reply but looked at Uncle Nian.
The older man was stunned for a moment. After he understood what Zhou Ying wanted, he quickly chewed the meat in his mouth a few times and swallowed it, then said, “General Zhou, we can spare about 200 cows and 1,000 sheep.”
“We should be able to produce 100 cows and 500 sheep from our farm, too,” Manager Liu replied.
“Good, great! The camp will have no problem holding on with the addition of these cows and sheep until the new year.” Zhou Huaiming nodded.
“But they’re all living beings,” he worriedly added. “I’m afraid it won’t be easy to ship them.”
“It’s the same as human traffickers transporting people. Other than when they need to eat, we’ll just drug them all the time.” Gu Chengrui replied.
Zhou Huaiming shook his head. “There are too many refugees now. The road isn’t safe.”
After thinking for a moment, he said, “How about this? Give me three days. Three days later, you’ll hand over the cattle and sheep, and we’ll pass you the money. We’ll pay the price we agreed on before.”
“Alright, then we’ll talk about it in three days.” Zhou Ying nodded.
After Zhou Huaiming finished speaking, he looked at Chang Shun, who was sitting to the side, and asked, “Chang Shun, right? How many people in the manor know how to plant white sweet potatoes from the beginning to the end?”
Chang Shun paused for a moment before he hurriedly sat up straight to reply, “General Zhou, most of the elderly in the manor know, and there are about ten of us.”
“That’s great. Inform them that they should come with me on a long trip after the white sweet potatoes are harvested in a month.” General Zhou stated.
“You mean we are planting the sweet potatoes in the south?” Gu Chengrui asked.
“That’s right. Now, the entire Ming Dynasty is short of food, so we must plant them as soon as possible. Otherwise, the people will starve and might do something terrible.”
“It’s best to find sandy soil with a water source nearby. Also, there are many kinds of insects in the south, so the land must be deeply plowed, and the people must be prepared to kill the insects. Otherwise, the white sweet potatoes will all be eaten by insects.” Zhou Ying reminded him.
“So troublesome?”
“It’s not too much trouble. I think the old local farmers will definitely know. You can ask the local people when the time comes.”
“That’s true. Every place has its own climate. We do have to pay attention to this..” Zhou Huaiming nodded in agreement, then asked curiously, “Then why did you suggest choosing a place with sandy soil?”
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