Chapter 444: Doubt
Editor: Atlas Studios
In order to build the farmstead, she spent money like water. Even though she knew that this was for the backup plan, her heart couldn’t help but ache.
The Emperor, who had originally thought that they were just buying assets, couldn’t help but think after receiving the list of their expenses. “They’re spending more than 2,600 taels on just a small farmstead?”
“Yes, they built many houses in the farmstead to house the servants and long-term workers. In addition to the development of the three hills, a total of nearly 500 taels of silver was gone. Including the farmstead that’s under construction, they spent roughly that amount.”
“How much do they make in a year?”
The secret guard thought for a moment and replied, “Based on the yield per acre and grain prices last year, 180 acres of land can only earn 800 taels of silver. This doesn’t include the cost of farming.”
The Emperor knocked on the table. “So this is a loss-making business?”
The secret guard lowered his head. “Unless the Qi family has other uses for it, this business is not worth it.”
The Emperor sneered. “Why don’t you ask Qi Haoran what they think? These few days, Qi Xiuyuan has been writing to me every few days, wanting me to return Qi Haoran to the north.”
The secret guard remained silent.
“How’s the Yuan family?”
“There’s no movement from the Yuan family at all. Although they’re closer to Madam Li, they’re not particularly close. They’re both from military families, so there’s nothing abnormal.”
“Then continue to keep an eye on them.” The Emperor waved his hand and dismissed the secret guard. Then, he summoned the emissary and asked him to summon Qi Haoran for an audience.
Surprised that the Emperor would ask him about the farmstead, Qi Haoran tried his best to suppress it so that he wouldn’t reveal any abnormalities.
The Emperor asked with a smile, “Everyone says that you’ll lose money on that piece of land. Why did you buy it? Even if you want to apologize to Minister Qin, there’s no need to do it in such a roundabout manner, right?”
Qi Haoran, who was still thinking of a plan, was stunned. He asked, “Your Majesty, why should I apologize to Minister Qin?”
“Didn’t you anger Minister Qin when you rejected the marriage last time? Geez, even if you wanted to apologize, you didn’t have to buy his slave’s land. Couldn’t you just send some gifts over?”
Qi Haoran looked at the gossipy Emperor and said, “You can’t wrong me. I’m a very unyielding person. Your Majesty, marriage requires mutual consent. I’ve never shown any intention of marrying his daughter, much less abandoning her after having an affair. What’s there to apologize for? I really bought that piece of land because I liked it.”
“Oh? What’s so good about that piece of land that you had to spend so much money to buy it?”
Qi Haoran blurted out, “Your Majesty, that’s a treasure land.”
The Emperor looked at him with bright eyes. “But I heard that the hills and riverside depression alone take up 300 acres of land. How can it be a treasure land?”
Qi Haoran could only brace himself and say, “Although the riverside depressions can’t be farmed, we can rear fish there. Also, we can plant fruit trees on the hills. In the end, those benefits might not be less than what we can reap from farming.”
The Emperor looked at him suspiciously. Did he think he was a fool?
Qi Haoran could only blush and say, “Your Majesty, if you don’t believe me, just wait. When winter comes, you can see that the benefits of these hills and riverside depressions will definitely exceed that from farming.”
Seeing that he couldn’t get anything out of him, the Emperor could only nod and say, “I’m just asking. However, it’s also possible that you have capable people under you who can generate income.”
Qi Haoran immediately retorted, “I don’t have any capable people under me. I only listen to Madam Mu in such farming matters. She’s very good at farming.”
Seeing that the Emperor was smiling and not saying anything, Qi Haoran knew that he did not believe him. He could only emphasize it again and again. In the end, the Emperor was already sure that there was something fishy about their farmstead. Since Qi Haoran refused to reveal anything, he could only get someone to keep an eye on it. Hence, he waved his hand and asked Qi Haoran to leave.
Qi Haoran left the palace dejectedly. His backup route had been exposed before it was even completed. What was going on?
Qi Haoran was furious. Why was the Emperor watching him so intently?
Wasn’t it just a farmstead? There were so many ministers who bought property every year. There were even many who embezzled and bribed. Why didn’t the Emperor keep an eye on those people instead?
Qi Haoran returned home dejectedly and said to Mu Yangling, “The Emperor has discovered that there’s something wrong with our farmstead.”
Mu Yangling was stunned. “We didn’t do anything.”
Although they planned to use this farmstead as a backup plan, they really hadn’t done anything at this moment. They were only investing normally to construct the farmstead.
Qi Haoran lay on the couch and said, “How is that doing nothing? We’ve spent so much money. The Emperor felt that it was strange, so he called me in to ask.”
Mu Yangling said anxiously, “Then did you admit it? Master, why were you so silly?”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and said, “If I had admitted it, will I still be alive?”
Qi Haoran said weakly, “I lied to him that that piece of land is a treasure land. In the future, the profits from the hills and riverside depressions will be even greater than the profits from the arable fields. I don’t believe this myself, let alone him. However, at least he didn’t manage to find out why we bought this piece of land. Still, I think we should forget about using this as our backup route. In the future, I’m afraid he’ll keep an eye on this farmstead.”
However, Mu Yangling sat beside him and pondered. Then, she suddenly patted his back. “Who said that the benefits of the riverside depressions and hills can’t exceed the profits from farming?” Mu Yangling’s eyes lit up. “We can try to develop a three-dimensional agriculture industry!”
Qi Haoran almost jumped up from being patted on the back. Hearing this, he was stunned and asked, “What is three-dimensional agriculture?”
Mu Yangling pulled out a piece of paper, dipped her brush in ink, and drew a few circles on it. She said, “We can plant fruit trees on the hills. Of course, the profits from fruit trees might take two to three years, but the spacing between fruit trees is big. In the first two years, we can plant some soybeans, peanuts, and so on between them.”
“As for the riverside depression, we can place a net in our section of the river and raise fish there. The riverside depression occupies more than 120 acres. Even if we can’t develop that land for farming purposes, we can use it to raise ducks. Duck eggs and duck meat are also profitable. Don’t we have more than 50 servants and many long-term workers? Let them do this during off-peak farming season.”
Qi Haoran asked hesitatingly, “Can ducks be raised in the riverside depression?”
“Of course. With such a big meadow, there’s no need to even cover the nest. We can just raise free-range ducks. When the time comes, we can just go straight to look for duck eggs. Ducks are raised in the water.”
“What about chickens? Can you raise chickens?”
Mu Yangling looked down on Qi Haoran. “Don’t you know chickens are raised on land? When have you ever seen chickens raised in the water?”
“Then can we raise chickens on the hills?” Qi Haoran asked casually.
Mu Yangling was stunned for a moment. Then, she smiled and praised, “You’re really smart. Not bad. We can even raise chickens on the hills. This way, we can collect chicken eggs and use the chicken feces as fertilizer. However, since raising chickens requires a lot of grains, we can’t raise too many. Perhaps we can plant some vegetables between the fruit trees. Considering this place is so close to Lin’an City, it’ll be easy to sell the vegetables…”
The more Mu Yangling thought about it, the more ideas came to mind. In the end, she ignored Qi Haoran and leaned on the table to write down her thoughts. She only finished it when it was time for dinner. After blowing dry the ink on the paper, she smiled and said, “If we can turn this land into a treasure land, will the Emperor still keep an eye on us?”
Qi Haoran thought for a moment and said, “Unless the benefits of this treasure land are so considerable that the Emperor thinks that we’re after this piece of land itself, he will still suspect us.”
Mu Yangling said ambitiously, “Just you wait. One day, I’ll make everyone believe that this land is a treasure land.”
Qi Haoran didn’t hold much hope, but he didn’t stop her. He just started to look for another backup route.