Chapter 244 - 246: The Feeling of Having a Brother, Quite Nice
Lady Lai saw that she could not retain Feng Bailing, so she had the villagers prepare an ox cart and packed several large bags of rice, intending for Feng Bailing to take them back.
"Princess Feng, this is the rice you asked us to plant last time; it’s all ripened now. We haven’t even tasted it yet, but we wanted to send it to you first. And the pigs, cattle, and sheep you told us to rear have grown quickly and are now quite robust. My father says they can be butchered in three or four days, and then I’ll arrange for them to be sent to you and the Drunken Immortal Inn."
Lady Lai’s face glowed with delight.
The villagers of Xinqi Village all felt that their lives had gotten better by the day since they followed Feng Bailing.
With the locust infestation gone, having land and homes, and soon even cattle, sheep, and pigs, it was as if they had fallen into a honey pot of good fortune.
"Keep the oxen for tilling the fields; don’t slaughter them just yet. Horses are needed for transporting goods and pulling carts, so take good care of them. Reserve some pork and mutton for the elderly and children to nourish their bodies."
Feng Bailing said this with a smile.
Xinqi Village’s productivity was commendable; both Xinglin Spring and Zuixian Inn were stocked full.
Unfortunately, these were just simple agricultural products, not convenient for transportation and not selling for high prices. Feng Bailing had calculated that after deducting the villagers’ expenses, Xinqi Village could bring in about five hundred taels of income for herself each day.
If the Zuixian Inn could operate steadily, it could bring in about two hundred taels a day, amounting to tens of thousands over a month. But compared to the several hundred thousand taels she owed in taxes, this still left a huge shortfall.
Feng Bailing pondered that if only she could transport the grain and wine abroad.