Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 716 Mud Bean

In addition to Jinnian and Jinshi, Hualei also brought several managers from the Dumu Cao under the Hufang Department to buy donkeys, as there were still too few donkeys raised in the government office.

Originally, they wanted to let the donkeys become pregnant and give birth on their own, but the speed was too slow. After half a year, only a few donkeys were born, and even the number of pregnant female donkeys was very small.

It seems that the donkeys in the government office are too old and have passed the best period for pregnancy and childbirth.

Since receiving the silver note from Lizhi, Hualei got back all the silver notes she had paid in advance. So now Hualei has some money in her hands again. She decided that it would be best to buy a few dozen donkeys.

The price of a donkey is much cheaper than that of a cow. Generally, a donkey of about one year old can be called an adult donkey, but the selling price is only about four to five taels, which is very cheap compared to the expensive cow.

Because we were traveling with children, Hualei arranged a relatively leisurely itinerary. One day in advance, we found an inn near the border market and stayed there.

After a night's rest, I took my two children to wander around the border market early the next morning.

It's called a market, but it's actually just a large open space with straw roofs and seven or eight thatched huts. There aren't any stalls, but the types of goods sold in each aisle are roughly divided.

Whoever came would choose a seat, hand over a few copper coins to the clerk in charge, put their own things on the stall, and start selling them.

However, because business is good, many people are selling their own products in the open space without huts nearby.

Hua Lei and Rong Jin took their two children to wander around the various stalls. Although the market looked simple, there were still quite a lot of things.

Before long, Jinnian and Jinshi had a lot of gadgets in their hands.

Because she was thinking about buying a donkey, Hua Lei used some small toys to calm the two children, and then came to the passage of the straw shed where livestock was sold.

This passage is at the very edge, near the west, and there is a large open space behind it. The land is fenced off with wooden fences and is used to graze livestock for sale.

There were cows, horses, donkeys, and mules, all from one family to another, and there were quite a few of them. There were eight or nine stalls selling donkeys alone.

However, judging from their appearance, they did not seem to be civilians from Dasheng, but rather merchants from neighboring countries, where many donkeys were raised.

Hualei came to one of the stalls. There were thirty or forty donkeys in the open space behind. Hualei didn't know whether the donkeys were good or bad. Today, she was only responsible for paying the money.

Several managers of Du Mucao began to look at each other's donkeys, looking at their body shape, age, legs and feet, and fetal coat. Gradually, more than 20 donkeys were pulled aside.

So, Hualei started to bargain with the other party, starting with an offer of seven taels and then slowly lowering it to five taels. Both parties felt that it was about right.

After counting the donkeys, there were twenty-three in total, which originally cost one hundred and fifteen taels of silver. In the end, Hua Lei won the prize for one hundred and ten taels of silver.

It’s really cheap, even less than the price of the two horses Pei Jingyang bought when Mobei built his own horse farm. Hualei must be quite wealthy.

The other boss sold more than twenty donkeys at once, and was very happy. Seeing Hua Lei's wealth, he recommended a merchant a few stalls away to Hua Lei. The other party came with him.

So, they went through another round of looking at the donkeys and selected quite a few. After paying the silver, Hua Lei now had more than forty donkeys in her hands.

It is still not enough. Even though there are a lot now, there are ten states under Xichang Prefecture, and each state has ten counties. There will not be enough for rent by then.

Hualei continued to choose a seller. Seeing that Hualei wanted to continue buying, the owners of several other shops came over and tried to sell their donkeys to Hualei.

So, after some more looking around and bargaining, Hua Lei bought nearly 120 donkeys in one go and asked the steward and the guards to drive the donkeys back to the inn first.

I and Rong Jin took the child to another passage. Here, passing merchants set up stalls. The things sold in this passage were varied.

From fabrics to porcelain, from food to daily necessities, they have almost everything. Hualei also saw their own soaps, toothbrushes, etc. at one of the stalls.

After asking carefully, I found out that it was the manager and the waiter under Bai Yunhe who were selling it. It turned out that they already had a stable position here.

Every time there is a market, we will bring goods to sell at this market. If customers need large quantities, they can also go to nearby stores to transfer goods.

After a few years, there are already many stable customers, and the business is very good. Looking at the endless stream of customers in front of the stall, Hualei is a little envious.

I was thinking, should I let Qingxia and Qingqiu find a place here as well? I have a lot of other good things at home. Well, I'll go back and ask Qingxia and Qingqiu first.

Earlier, Madam Pei sent him a group of people, including managers and waiters. Now, he had sufficient manpower in Xichang.

Hualei continued to wander around the stalls while thinking. There were so many things, and the two children were curious about everything and liked everything.

Unconsciously, Rong Jin bought them a lot of gadgets. But for Hua Lei, they didn't seem to be very attractive.

She glanced at the stalls one by one, and was not interested in the relatively monotonous cloth. She also looked at the nice-looking porcelain, but forget it, it was inconvenient to carry, so she was not interested.

Suddenly, a half-open sack caught Hualei's attention. It was filled with something yellowish and shorter than a little finger. Peanuts???

When he got closer, he saw that they were peanuts, still in their shells with a little dried mud on them. Hualei was pleasantly surprised.

Peanuts were not grown during the Great Sheng Dynasty. However, in many atlases, especially jewelry, there are images of peanuts in shells, also known as longevity nuts.

Adults often make a few golden peanuts for their children to hang on their wrists, which means health and longevity. In the past, Hualei made a few golden peanuts as gifts for Ruyi's children.

However, as far as Hualei knew, peanuts had never been grown in the Great Sheng Dynasty. She was really lucky.

"Uncle, how much is this?" Hua Lei suppressed her surprise and asked the middle-aged man who was taking a nap in the back. His skin color was obviously several shades darker than that of the locals, so he was definitely not from Dasheng.

The boss, who was wearing a linen waistcoat with his belly exposed, was startled and sat up straight. Seeing that Hualei was a woman, he tightened his open collar and said, "Oh, ask Nidou, the total is five taels of silver."

Mud beans? Aren't they peanuts? Hualei squatted down, picked up a handful, and took a closer look. They looked exactly like peanuts.