Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 1035 General's Mansion 3

Take a spoon and mix the crab paste and porridge in the bowl. After scooping a spoonful, the bland white porridge instantly becomes different.

He took a few bites and said, "I can eat half a pot of this porridge by myself!"

Zhou Guo laughed, "Yeah, I love it too, and I love to eat it with porridge or noodles. When you leave, I'll bring you a few more jars, but these crab sauces were made last year, and this year's ones haven't come out yet. I'll make new ones in the fall, and then I'll give them to you."

"Okay, okay. I'm waiting." Xu Sibei smiled. With this thing, he could eat a few more bowls of rice.

Xu Xiaobei didn't refuse. Who wouldn't want to eat good food?

After dinner, they started walking around the general's mansion.

Choose a yard for Zhou Guo.

The two asked Zhou Guo what kind of yard he wanted.

Zhou Guo looked at these courtyards that all looked almost the same and said, "As long as I have a place to live, it's fine. Anywhere will do."

After choosing for a long time, I found one in the southeast corner of Xu Sibei. There was a bluestone road in the middle, and pine, cypress, magnolia and osmanthus were planted on the road.

The flowers and trees in this house are all planted in such aisles, and there are very few in the yard.

Of course, the most common ones are evergreen trees such as pine and cypress.

There is also a row of Metasequoia and Ginkgo trees.

Zhou Guo looked at the Metasequoia and Ginkgo trees and said enviously, "This place must be very beautiful in autumn. The ground is covered with thick yellow fallen leaves, which make a crunching sound when you step on them, which is quite a sight."

Xu Xiaobei had a smile on his face.

Xu Sibei laughed and said, "You are just like our old lady. She said the same thing. She likes this thing very much. She won't allow people to sweep it in autumn. She has to wait until all the leaves on the trees have fallen and the yellow leaves on the ground are no longer beautiful before allowing the servants to sweep it clean. If the old lady heard what you said, she would be very happy."

Xu Xiaobei smiled and said, "She often complains that we are just boys who have no love for beauty and have not picked up any good from her."

The general's mansion was bare, but with these flowers and trees it was no longer monotonous and empty.

Zhou Guo said happily, "Really? Then it seems that the general's wife and I are really destined to be together."

Xu Xiaobei said: "You are not only destined to be with her, but also to our entire family."

Zhou Guo selected the yard and his personal soldiers began to clean it up.

Xu Sibei was running in and out of her yard. "When the time comes, we can build a rockery here and raise some fish. It would also be nice to plant some flowers on the mountain. Or we can raise some water lilies and plant some crabapples. I just don't know if they will wither. Crabapples are not easy to grow here."

Xu Xiaobei looked at the empty house and said, "I'll have someone decorate it and buy some things. This will be like a courtyard for a girl to live in."

Zhou Guo was very satisfied. This yard was good. She didn't need those rockery gardens since she wouldn't see them many times anyway.

The main attractions are the tall ginkgo trees outside the yard. In autumn, you can see the golden leaves by opening the window. It is also a pleasure to drink tea and read books here.

He said, "No need, big brother. I don't live here. Without you, I dare not live in this empty general's mansion. It would be a waste if I buy things and someone steals them later."

Xu Xiaobei’s smile paused.

"Who is so blind as to dare to break into the general's mansion and steal things?" Xu Sibei rushed out from the backyard, "I think magnolia flowers are more beautiful, and osmanthus flowers are also fragrant. Plant two of each. Plant two ginkgo trees that you like, and move two big ones over here."

Xu Xiaobei nodded and said seriously: "If you plant trees, ordinary people can't steal them. They will grow bigger and bigger, and the better they are."

Zhou Guo did not refuse this time, she still liked these trees very much.

After one morning, I had finished half of my tour of the General's Mansion and it was time for lunch.

A few people walked to Xu Xiaobei's yard and saw a basket of big red crabs on the table.

Zhou Guo was delighted and turned back to look for Xiaoshu.

Xiaoshu nodded, "Master, this was just delivered this morning."

The letter I sent yesterday arrived this morning.

"Oh my, there are crabs to eat here at this time!" Xu Sibei almost drooled when he saw the basket of crabs.

Baoyue Tower has been selling crabs for a long time.

But it is only sold in autumn every year. It is not available at other times. I haven’t eaten it for several years.

Xu Xiaobei also raised his eyebrows. Crabs in the north are not very common.

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Although the crabs at this time don't have much roe, they have a lot of meat. The meat is sweet and tender, and it's worth eating. I haven't raised anything else in the past few years, but you can have as many crabs as you want."

Cangshan Village has two ponds this year, one in the village and one in the mountain, with a total of 170,000 to 180,000 crabs.

However, the village was not suitable for further expansion, so she decided to build a pond in Song County, where water conservancy was already available and it was closer to Yunzhou than Cangshan Village.

We started raising the first wave this year, but we didn’t raise many fish. I guess it was due to the water quality, and many of them died. I guess we will be able to expand by next year.

Xu Sibei was peeling crabs and asked curiously, "How many do you have?"

Zhou Guo said: "There are five prefectures in the north, and each prefecture has them. After each pond is expanded this year, the largest pond will have more than 200,000."

Xu Sibei's eyes widened. "More than 200,000?"

Look into the basket, how many are there?

Xu Xiaobei stretched out his hand towards the crabs and asked, "There are so many in each city, can you sell them all? No one else is competing with you?"

Zhou Guo also took one and said with a smile, "Yes, Baoyue Tower started selling this, didn't they? It was the only one there. I used a recipe and exchanged a thousand crab seedlings from them, and we raised them with these thousand crab seedlings. Last year, Baoyue Tower also sold crabs to outsiders, and we started selling them after they sold all of them, and we made more money than in previous years."

They hadn’t sold it in the city in the past few years.

After Baoyue Tower was sold, the price was also set.

It's higher than what they set. We made a lot last year, and this year will only be more than last year. Even though the price has come down, there are so many crabs, so if you calculate it all, the profit will still be more than in previous years.

Xu Sibei was very curious, "What did you use to exchange it with him? You know, crabs are the most important business for Baoyue Tower in the north. How could he be willing to give you the crab seedlings?"

Zhou Guo said: "I exchanged it for a tofu recipe."

She gave a brief account of the conversation she had had with Shopkeeper Yang, though of course she didn't remember the details.

Xu Sibei said admiringly: "You are amazing. These thousand crabs are only a few years old. They are everywhere in the north. With your tofu recipe in hand, I estimate that you can't earn back the money you earn from one year's crabs in ten years. It's worth it."

Xu Xiaobei didn't think so. He looked at the crab legs in his hand and said, "This crab is worthless if it leaves the North. On the contrary, the tofu recipe is unique no matter where it is. Although it is not as expensive as crab, it is still a unique business. Baoyue Tower is not stupid."

Xu Sibei looked at him speechlessly. Wasn't he just trying to comfort people?