I played as an assistant in ancient times

Shen Xiaoye thought of the price of a mature blue-and-white mule in the mule and horse market, which was five taels. The mule in front of her was obviously still very young. She said, "Four taels?"

"Seven taels of silver for two mules. It just so happened that when your great grandfather went to Tangjia Market to ask the middleman about the market, he had a ready-made blue-and-white mule.

It's a rare opportunity to come across two mules that are almost ready to be sold at the same price. When I was still paying 328 cents for one, your great-grandfather said he wanted one, too, so I saved another 3 cents.

Why are Geng'er and his wife collecting the cooling cloth racks? Where's your fourth uncle? "Old man Shen Shanyou still supported his granddaughter's small workshop, but he swept the yard in the daylight and didn't see his youngest son busy until the end, so he frowned.

Shen Changsui's voice came from the kitchen. He stuck his head out of the door with a shovel in his hand and asked, "Dad, what's going on?"

"No, you're busy." The old man muttered in his heart, it's okay for a young man to try to do business, but I don't know if he was very hungry two years ago, he actually put his effort into cooking.

"Grandma picked out an old hen for you to stew!" Shen Xiaoye took off the long cloth with splashed colors, walked closer to touch her own "good horse", and said with a sigh, "You are still very respectable. We went to ask the price before harvesting wheat. An eight-year-old must be five taels of silver. Is this one four years old?"

She also opened the mule's mouth to check the condition of its teeth. Generally, a mule can be trained to work at the age of two.

The old man said, "Three and a half years old."

"Dad, it's not that much cheaper, right?" A child is considered fully grown at the age of five, and is still young at over three years old. Moreover, he still needs daily training. Shen Changshou feels that saving a few ounces of silver is a waste of effort and it is not really worth it.

The old man grabbed his purse and handed it to his eldest son: "There are three taels in it. Take it and buy me an identical head."

"Okay, okay, forget it. I didn't say anything." Shen Changshou was frightened by his father's words and went to collect firewood and straw to build a shed for the mule to live in temporarily.

He even complained: "You must have ordered a cart and saddle from the middleman, so they gave you a discount."

On this side, Shen Shanyou naturally didn't hear anything. He saw his old wife coming out of the kitchen with a bowl, leaving his granddaughter who wanted to ask more questions, and went to help move the table and chairs.

Not long after, the family, who had been busy all day, sat together in the yard and had dinner by torchlight under the summer breeze and crescent moon.

There wasn't much of a dish, just shredded eggplant, minced meat, smashed cucumber, dried tofu, celery, and stewed hen.

The old man didn't expect that there was good Jinhua wine at home. "Where did it come from?"

Lin poured a glass for him and his eldest son, "The children and others saved a young boy on the road, and this is a thank you gift from the family for helping.

Don't drink too much, take a nice bath and go to bed early, because there's still a lot of work to do tomorrow."

"Grandpa, how much is the label cloth you bought? How about we dye it and sell it?" Shen Xiaoye gave half of the chicken leg that grandma brought to him to his cousin.

Shen Shanyou took a sip of wine and said, "No, I bought it for seventy cents and made it myself."

"Seventy cents?!" Except for the uncle Shen Changshou, everyone else present asked the question in unison.

Shen Xiaoye even put down the pure white steamed bun that he had rarely eaten, and said, "Grandpa, why didn't you buy more? Not to mention a hundred, fifty will do!

We bought a piece of coarse cloth four feet wide in the village for 1.5 cents a piece."

"Others have taken all the goods. If you want more, you have to go to Suning, which is more than a hundred miles away." Shen Shanyou repeated the old tune, "With fewer people, it's not safe."

"What a pity." Shen Xiaoye bit the steamed bun hard, and after finishing it, he said softly, "Why not sell it? Yue's cloth is worth six taels, minus the raw materials and labor, and ten jars worth a hundred coins, so we can make a net profit of twenty-four taels. Brother Erniu and the villagers will bring in six taels.

With this money, I can ask my cousin Lin to weave some more fine cotton cloth for my clothes."

Uncle Shen Changshou was so shocked that the chicken claws almost slipped from his hands onto the table, "So much? I make five taels a month outside, and you earned that in just a few days!"

"It takes about twelve or thirteen years from cutting the indigo to dyeing it and delivering it. This is after giving Master Yue a discount of six taels. Otherwise, I could have earned thirty-six taels in this half month." Shen Xiaoye finally fulfilled Yue Jinxuan's wish and took an integer amount of silver.

Of course, she would not mention the wages they earned at the ferry at this moment, lest her grandfather scold her uncle for not caring about their young age.

Shen Changsui knew the price best, but he ate his meal in silence, not wanting to attract the old man's "special attention."

There was also a calmer Huang. She had carefully calculated with Xiaoye yesterday and knew the answer would make the meal more enjoyable. She even picked up some food for her son and niece from time to time.

Shen Cungeng had never calculated it, but he was also surprised and said, "If I can still buy the cloth at the same price as my grandfather bought it, and dye it at home, I will go to Lingshan Temple on the 28th and sell it for 300 coins a piece. The buyers will be crazy about it.

Besides selling the goods, the cost is almost gone, and I can earn more than 20 taels for 100 horses."

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were focused on old man Shen Shanyou's face again. He was holding the chicken neck, not wanting to eat it but feeling hungry.

It was Lin who came to his rescue, saying, "Half of it is for dyeing red cloth, 300 kilograms of sumac money, Xiaoye is not included."

Shen Xiaoye had a complete plan: "Purchase a batch of cloth prints and make the money back by reselling them.

Grandma, can we bring the sumac back as soon as possible? And collect some cloth along the way? "

"The capital and so on, is it enough this time, right?" After all the talk, the real purpose is finally revealed, oh no, this is called telling everything.

Lin hesitated for a moment, knowing that Xiaoye wanted to use the money from selling the house and land as capital, but that was not the way to go.

If you want to maintain long-term harmony, you must be clear about finances. She said, "After dinner, go to the main hall to check the accounts.

I know all of Xiaoye's things, as well as your two brothers' things."

Everyone agreed in unison, but they never expected that after closing the door, the old lady took out sixty-four gold pages that were 80% color.

Nowadays, one tael of pure gold is exchanged for six taels of silver, but usually the gold on the market is eighty percent pure. A piece of gold leaf weighing about one tael can be exchanged for five taels of silver.

Shen Xiaoye had just calculated in his mind that there were three hundred and twenty taels of silver when he saw his grandmother take out four ten-tael silver ingots, four silver bracelets, and several hairpins, rings, and jade pendants.

"Mother, here are two tickets for two hundred taels and one for one hundred and eighty-eight taels. My brother-in-law's house was bought for fifty-eight taels and is now sold for eighty taels. My sister's field has increased in value to four taels per mu and is worth one hundred and twenty taels of silver, making a total of exactly two hundred taels." Shen Changshou handed over two tickets with various stamps on them.

Lin took it and handed the two hundred taels to Shen Xiaoye, "This is what your parents left for you."

He put the other one together with the gold and silver on the table, and gave Huang a pair of silver bracelets, hairpins, rings and jade pendants. "Take them. On the way back, all your jewelry was pawned. These were buried at home in case of an emergency. You can find someone to melt them or just exchange them for new ones."

"mother……"

"You must not."

"Thank you, mother."

"Silly, you deserve it." Lin said, "Don't touch the gold leaf, and the 40 taels of silver and 188 taels of banknotes will be divided equally between the eldest brother and Sui Ge'er.

The jade pendant was taken by Sui Ge'er and Geng Ge'er to be selected, and it would be best to exchange it with someone else.

The remaining two bracelets and the hairpin ring are my personal belongings, Xiaoye will take half."

Shen Xiaoye was still concentrating on studying ancient tickets and didn't pay attention to what his grandmother said next. The main reason was that his mother took away more than half of the land when she got married, and his father's scholar status was also supported by his grandfather.

As a granddaughter, she has no right to participate in her grandfather's property.

"Mom, do you want to divide the family property?" Shen Changshou pushed the things back. How could he divide the family property while his parents were still alive?

The old man coughed twice and said, "Sui'er, talk to the boss."

Shen Changsui understood what he meant and took the lead, "Yes. Big brother, Dad and Mom didn't split up the family. They wanted us to have some cash to spend, or we could choose to keep it with Mom.

Furthermore, it would be best to find an opportunity to build the house with bricks and tiles next year so that you can make money with the money you have.

Geng Ge'er and I both went to school, so we had to prepare all the writing materials and books we needed for daily use.

But more importantly, if the small dyeing workshop at home can survive, everyone can invest together and earn dividends.

Sister-in-law can also make a separate account book to calculate whether we should expand our business after being busy for a year or so."

"You've grown up, but you haven't even learned how to walk yet, and you want to run away?" The old man was unhappy.

Shen Xiaoye immediately said: "Grandpa, there is a lot to be done.

We can buy the woad from Lingshan Temple again. It can be used for a long time after being made into dye and dried. It is very cheap.

As for red, there are many varieties of madder and safflower, so you can have both."

"Where is the land? There is no land in Jiuli Village." The old man didn't want to run to Wuli Village, more than ten miles away, to buy land to grow grass. The fields are for growing grain.

Shen Xiaoye sat on a low stool next to him: "Rent it. Our family's forest land is full of trees, but Uncle Qian Wu's 20 acres of forest don't have many big trees. Let's open up some land..."

The old man rubbed her head. The young girl was ignorant and had never experienced the hardship of land reclamation. "You little girl, land reclamation is not just talk. It's not like you can just throw a handful of grass and it will grow. You have to tidy up the land and take care of it.

Instead of using the money for land reclamation, it would be better to rent some ready-made sloping land in Xiatian Village, or rent a piece of farmland in Tangjiaji for two or three years.

You know, after three years of reclamation, you have to pay summer and autumn taxes, which is basically free work."

"Then rent some land. The middle field that Grandpa mentioned is very good. One or two acres will be enough." Before Grandpa could say anything else, she quickly listed a string of numbers:

"One mu of land can yield about 3, 4, or 5,000 catties of indigo. One thousand catties of indigo can yield 350 catties of indigo, which can be used to dye 1,600 bolts of standard cloth. Even if you only make one cent per bolt, you can still make 160 taels of silver.

Three thousand catties of indigo means three times the profit of four hundred and eighty taels, and five thousand catties means eight hundred taels.

Grandpa, can you earn three taels of silver by planting one acre of land and harvesting it twice?"

"Xiao Ye, we'll rent you our land to grow blue grass." Shen Cungeng made the decision without hesitation, but his parents pinched his arms on his left and right to tell him to be quiet. He didn't dare to cry out in pain, it was painful.

Looking at the old man again, he was stunned. After a long time, he came to his senses and said, "You planted an acre of grass and it's like picking up gold."

"Dad, she is calculating under the best conditions. Planting grass is the same as growing crops. It depends on the weather." Fertilizers must be applied, pests and diseases must be prevented, etc. Shen Changsui signaled to Xiaoye with his eyes, telling him not to fool the old man anymore.

He said, "I'll give her ten taels to buy her sumac first."

"We'll also contribute ten taels." Huang thought to herself, but she didn't dare let the little girl continue talking. The salary she would get from planting ten acres of grass would probably be higher than the salary of being a county magistrate for ten years.

Shen Xiaoye sighed, her empty promises failed to work, so she borrowed one of the silver ingots that her fourth uncle had allocated to her and added it to the capital.

Lin nodded. She was not fooled by her granddaughter and said, "Your father and I will help you.

When you make money, you should each hand over 50% to the public for household use."

"My parents need to share the dividends, and it should be divided equally into four parts." Huang would not go through her parents-in-law.

Lin: “We are old.”

"No way." Shen Xiaoye came over to act coquettishly, and gave the two hundred taels of bills to her grandmother for safekeeping. She had thirty taels of cash, which she didn't need at the moment. "Grandpa and grandma are still young! I agree with what my aunt said, otherwise, you can take 30% of the shares.

There are five of us, and each of us gets 10% and 40%."

"How can anyone be so generous as you in giving money?" Lin laughed at her for being a spendthrift.

But in the end, everyone was willing to coax the old couple into sharing the dividends. Shen Changsui and the eldest brother stayed until the last to leave, and gave the membership tickets to my mother for safekeeping, which made the old man groan.

Let’s not talk about tonight for now. Early the next morning, Little Black Cat urged Shen Xiaoye to get up: “Shen Changsui has gone to teach, and your grandfather has also borrowed a cart and said he wants to hitch it to a mule.

Today, we are going to Wuzhong Mountain to find me."

"I have to see how the dye is precipitating first. You have to know that I can only come back tomorrow if I go today." Shen Xiaoye did not say last night that he would definitely set off today. After all, it still depended on the arrangements of Taoist Hengxi.

Little Black Cat remembered it clearly: "The last time you drew the blue water, you said it would take seven days to settle. Don't think I forgot."

"What a great memory!" Actually, it's sometimes good and sometimes bad. Shen Xiaoye won't expose it.

The little black cat jumped back and forth proudly on the seat. After a moment, it saw its uncle coming back on a mule, "Go ask him!"

Shen Xiaoye had no choice but to spit out a mouthful of salt water and asked, "Uncle, is Taoist Hengxi free to come today?"

"Yes, he said it's ready anytime. You should finish your standing and eat soon, I'll go and make some bean cakes for the mule to eat on the way." My uncle takes his mount seriously and raises it according to the way he raises horses.

The old man was disgusted by his extravagant behavior, but he did not stop him.

There wasn't much cargo this time, but we had to go with my two uncles, Shen Xiaoye, and Taoist Priest Hengxi, so we borrowed the donkey cart from my great-grandfather's house.

Shen Cungeng really wanted to go, but the safflower flowers on the slope and in the east courtyard were already in full bloom, so he had to make safflower dye at home.

What made him feel balanced was that his grandfather did not go because of his grandmother's strong suppression, or rather, persuasion.

How could he know that it was Shen Xiaoye who specifically asked the old lady and her son for it, under the pretext of letting his grandfather, who had been running around for days, rest at home.

At the beginning of the morning, two cars arrived at the foot of Lingshan Mountain to pick up Taoist Master Hengxi, but he unexpectedly brought many bags with him, just like he was moving house.

Shen Xiaoye asked curiously, "Did you also bring so much luggage when you came here?"

"No, these are special products for my fellow brothers and nephews." Taoist Master Hengxi opened a bamboo box and showed it to her, which was full of food.

Shen Xiaoye couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "The Taoist priests know how to live."

"Hahaha." Taoist Master Hengxi agreed with it.

They walked quite fast, and every thirty miles there was a post station or tea stall where they could rest for a while.

Mainly donkeys and mules, they cannot move continuously, and there is plenty of time for a journey of less than 100 miles.

At dusk, when they were about to reach the border of Wuzhong Mountain, several fine horses suddenly came galloping on the official road. Shen Xiaoye only heard the people on the horses shouting as they flew by: "Great victory, great victory, ... the guards killed 800 enemies."

She asked her uncle, "Where is it?"