The next day, Shi Qingluo went to talk to Old Lady Xiao.
The time to go to North City was postponed again because Xiao Dalang’s injury was still not conducive to the journey.
The people of the Xiao Family didn’t doubt her, after all, Xiao Dalang’s injury was serious time.
And they also wanted to make Ge Chunru suffer more, so they had no objection.
Then Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong went out to find rubber grass, and Liang Youxiao took Xi Rui to build a workshop.
While dealing with the problems left by the previous county magistrate, Xiao Hanzheng also built a workshop with the little public funds left in the county government.
He asked people to buy a lot of food from everywhere and recruit workers to build workshops throughout the county.
Not only did they pay wages, but they also provided food, which made many people tempted.
So many people from nearby villages and towns came to sign up for work.
Everyone thought that if the county magistrate refused to pay the money, at least they could have two full meals a day and save some food for their families.
The originally deserted county town gradually became lively.
A few days later, Shi Qingluo finally found rubber grass in a wilderness, and there was quite a lot of it.
She moved all of it and took it back to the plant.
There were few people and a lot of land here. A lot of wasteland in each village, which can be reclaimed to plant rubber grass.
Shi Qingluo selected several nearby villages that were more suitable for planting, and Xiao Hanzheng asked people to invite the village chiefs of several villages to the county government.
Several village chiefs sat there nervously.
Xiao Hanzheng walked in with Shi Qingluo with a gentle smile.
After introducing Shi Qingluo to everyone, he said: “You should have heard about corn, which was donated by my wife.”
“This time, I asked you to come here because my wife wants to try to grow a plant in your villages.”
Of course, the village chiefs have heard of corn and heard that it was a high-yield variety, but it has not yet been spread to them.
They don’t know when it will be spread. They didn’t expect that Magistrate Xiao’s wife was the one who donated the seeds.
Now, when they heard that she wanted to try to grow plants, they couldn’t help but feel curious.
A village chief asked: “What kind of plants do you want to plant, Madam? What should we do?”
Shi Qingluo said: “I want to plant a plant called rubber grass. You just need to let the villagers plant it in the wasteland. When the harvest comes, the county government will buy it directly from you.”
“If the county government can’t take it all, my friend will take it all.”
“We can sign a contract to guarantee that as long as you grow it, we will pay for it.”
“You can’t sell it to others within three years, and we will buy it at this price.”
She took out the prepared contract and handed it to the village chief, who spoke.
The village chief carefully took the paper and asked the only literate village chief among them to read it.
After listening, they all couldn’t believe that there would be such a good thing.
And in the first three years of the wasteland reclamation, the county government was completely tax-free.
As long as everyone worked hard to grow things, they could sell them for money.
According to the price set in the contract, a pound of rubber grass was three times the price of a pound of grain.
If it works, everyone can make a lot of money.
A somewhat shrewd village chief asked: “Is this rubber grass difficult to grow? If it doesn’t grow, do we have to compensate?”
Shi Qingluo smiled and said: “As long as you plant it according to what I said, the possibility of it not growing is very small.”
“If the seedlings really can’t grow due to no human factors, then naturally there is no need to compensate, and we will bear this risk.”
“But if someone deliberately doesn’t plant well, doesn’t fertilize when it should, and doesn’t do it according to my requirements, they will have to compensate if they die.”
“I will tell you how to plant rubber grass. It’s not difficult to plant. As long as you plant it carefully, your income next year will not be bad.”
It was not uncommon for poor mountains and bad waters to produce unruly people. You have to be prepared first and make the responsibilities and risks of both parties clear.
Hearing her words, the village chief was not completely relieved.
He was really afraid that the new county magistrate would use a new name to make money, and then ask the villagers to pay a high price if the rubber grass didn’t grow.
Or if the villagers buy the seedlings at a high price now, but find all kinds of excuses not to buy them when the harvest comes, that would be a huge loss.
Everyone was poor, how could they afford it?
So he asked again: “We would like to plant, but we just paid taxes not long ago, and the villagers have no money, so we can’t buy seedlings from you at all.”
Shi Qingluo agreed with his caution, probably because he was scared by the previous county magistrates.
“You don’t have to spend money to buy from us, just record how many seedlings each household has received, and after the harvest next year, you can directly deduct this money.”
“The money for buying seedlings should also be determined first. This is the first year, so the county government will provide support.”
“The price of one kilogram of seedlings is only half of one kilogram of rubber grass after the harvest.”
Hearing this, the several village heads present were a little excited.
Since it doesn’t cost money at the beginning, and the price of seedlings is so low.
They can try it. Anyway, they only need to put an effort into opening up the wasteland and take care of it.
Their village has a lot of people, which means strength.
So he discussed it with Shi Qingluo again, and gradually he was not so nervous.
When leaving, everyone had a smile on their face.
If this was really like what Magistrate Xiao and his wife promised, they can’t help but look forward to next year.
Next, Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo were busy with the rubber grass planting.
*
In the North City.
Xiao Yuanshi was not surprised to see that Ge Chunru had not been released yet, so he sent the confidant to Heyang County to talk to Xiao Hanzheng.
*
In the North City, Prince Jin Mansion.
Prince Jin was drinking tea and listening to music in the yard.
His attendant walked in and whispered: “Your Highness, there is news from Heyang County.”
Prince Jin, who had his eyes closed, opened his eyes: “What news?”
“Shi Qingluo has organized some kind of cooperative planting with the county government in several villages in Heyang County, and wants to plant something called rubber grass.”
Prince Jin sat up straight when he heard it: “Rubber grass? What is it used for?”
The attendant replied: “Shi Qingluo did not mention the specific usage.”
Prince Jin thought for a while: “Could it be related to the rubber that is now popular in the capital?”
He was now wearing rubber-soled leather shoes, and there were several bicycles in the warehouse.
This rubber was indeed a good thing.
It’s a pity that the Emperor and the three major dukes’ mansions have sent people to southern Fujian and other places to look for rubber, and enclosed land to plant rubber trees.
So it’s not easy to start with his people.
It’s hard not to think of rubber when you hear this name.
The attendant replied respectfully: “I also think it may be related to rubber.”
“Your Highness, should we also plant some?”
Prince Jin shook his head: “We don’t know how to plant it now, how to tap the rubber after it is planted, etc., so don’t rush.”
“This Shi Qingluo didn’t disappoint me. She started to take action as soon as she came to the Northern Frontier.”
He curled his lips and said: “The concubine will hold a flower viewing banquet in half a month, let her send an invitation to Shi Qingluo as well.”
He wanted to meet the so-called disciple of the Old Immortal Priest.
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