bookrebus Chapter 81 Preparing to Start Construction
Chapter 81 Preparing to Start Construction
Each of the Wen brothers received a ten-tael gold ingot. Since it was the academy's break, Wen Yuxia gave the brothers a few days off to take the gold ingot back to Xinghua Village.
Lu Zhigang and Lu Xiaosong each drove a mule cart to take the Wen brothers back to the village. Wen Yunhong wanted to go along, but Wen Yuxia refused.
As for Fu Bao, he returns to Nanzhou Prefecture every month during his time off. Yesterday afternoon, Manager Du sent a coachman to pick him up directly at the academy gate and head to Nanzhou Prefecture overnight.
"Sister, why won't you let me go to Xinghua Village?" Wen Yunhong pouted and asked, watching the mule drive away into the distance.
Wen Yuxia calmly told him about the plan to build a horse farm. Wen Yunhong's eyes lit up as he listened. With a horse farm, wouldn't he have plenty of horses to ride?
"Sister, why don't we just fence off both of our fields and build a low wall in the middle? That way, we can have both a horse ranch and a racetrack," Wen Yunhong said. Despite his young age, he had learned a lot of business acumen from Wen Yuxia over the years.
A racetrack—that's a good idea. The local horses of the Great Xia Dynasty are shorter than warhorses, and their speed, stamina, and explosive power are inferior.
These local horses varied in price, ranging from approximately 70 to 120 taels of silver each. Wealthy young men would use them to practice riding and archery.
Poor students without money could only focus on the twice-monthly riding and archery classes at the academy. For example, Wen Yunhong's academy had several old horses specifically for students to practice riding and archery.
In Nanzhou Prefecture—no, in the entire Great Xia Dynasty—aside from the royal racecourse where warhorses were used, there were no other places where people could practice riding warhorses.
Wen Yuxia believes that once the racetrack is completed, many students and sons of wealthy families will come here to practice riding and archery.
The warhorses were provided by Xia Yichen, she was responsible for the cost of building the venue, the land belonged to Wen Yunhong, and the idea of building the racetrack also came from Wen Yunhong.
Wen Yuxia believed that even the closest siblings should discuss business matters openly and honestly, so she began by saying:
"Hong'er, you proposed the racetrack, and the land where it was built is also yours... After the racetrack is completed, you will own 40%, and the Crown Prince and I will each own 30%. Do you have any objections?"
Business matters, even between siblings, must be discussed openly and honestly. The warhorses were provided by Xia Yichen, the cost of building the venue was borne by her, the land belonged to Wen Yunhong, and the idea of building the racetrack also came from Wen Yunhong.
"I own 40%?" Wen Yunhong was taken aback. He had no shares in the business so far. The shops under his name were run by Wen Yuxia, and he only collected rent each month.
Wen Yunhong consistently maintained that the businesses selling ceramics, charcoal pencils, and pastries were entirely unrelated to him and belonged solely to Wen Yuxia.
Since acquiring farms, fertile land, shops, and residences, Wen Yunhong resolutely refused to allow Wen Yuxia to acquire any more property for him, and gave half of the annual harvest from his farms and fertile land to Wen Yuxia for household expenses.
Wen Yuxia had long been considering how to increase Wen Yunhong's assets without him refusing. The racetrack was a business that would allow Wen Yunhong to participate in legitimately.
"Not enough?" Wen Yuxia jokingly retorted.
Wen Yunhong quickly waved his hand, "Sister, I just think you've given too much. I only offered an idea and provided a piece of land. You can just pay me the rent."
Wen Yuxia gently patted his shoulder. "Hong'er, the idea came from you, so you deserve this share. Besides, you and the Crown Prince are business partners. If you ever enter officialdom, I'm at ease knowing he'll protect you."
Wen Yuxia always considered his needs, which deeply moved Wen Yunhong. "Sister is right. I'll take the shares in the racetrack. If there's anything you need me to do at the racetrack, just let me know."
Wen Yunhong secretly made a decision: when Wen Yuxia got married, he would give her 90% of his assets as her dowry.
Wen Yuxia was unaware that her nine-year-old brother was already planning a dowry for his eleven-year-old sister.
Fearing that Wen Yunhong's studies would be affected by the racetrack incident, Wen Yuxia said earnestly, "Hong'er, I'll keep an eye on the racetrack. You just need to focus on your studies."
After discussing it, Wen Yuxia called on Bei San and Bei Si to drive a mule cart to the brick factory to order bricks. Afterwards, she went to the tenant farmers to explain the matter of reclaiming the land.
The crops in the fields had been harvested, and Wen Yuxia generously provided compensation. Not only did the tenants not cause trouble, but they also eagerly signed up to participate in the construction of the horse farm and racetrack.
The next day, Wen Yuxia led the most famous construction team in the county to Nanping Village, which was separated from her fields by a river.
Two thousand acres of farmland stretched as far as the eye could see. The mule cart swayed and lurched off the official road and stopped on Wen Yuxia's farmland. Wen Yuxia pointed into the distance and said:
"Master He, Nanping Village is separated from my fields by a river. There's another river at the end of my fields, and Niutou Village is on the other side. Oh, and there's a row of bungalows at the end of my fields; remember, they're enclosed within a wall."
Master He laughed when he heard this, "Those row of bungalows might be inhabited?"
The construction team has more than 30 people, and it's impractical for them to travel to the county town every day. If there are existing houses to stay in, there's no need to go through the trouble of building temporary accommodations.
"Yes," Wen Yuxia nodded affirmatively.
Because Wang Ping and others settled in Niutou Village, Wen Yuxia rented all her farmland to villagers in Nanping Village.
To prevent the villagers of Niutou Village from stealing their grain, the tenant farmers spontaneously built ten houses at the end of the fields, where they would stay during the harvest season.
Yesterday, while compensating the tenants for their losses, she had the house appraised. The house was built of adobe bricks, but each room was spacious, bright, and very clean.
Master He laughed and said, "Miss Wen, your land is in a really good location. There are rivers on both sides, an official road in front, and a cliff behind. The land is also 280 mu more than what is registered with the government."
Wen Yuxia glanced at Master He in surprise. The officials who had surveyed the land back then found it troublesome and didn't bother to measure it; they simply transferred the land according to the old deed, and neither the seller nor she had any objections.
Finally, the village head of Nanping Village, who was in charge of registering her tenants, told her that in addition to 2,000 mu of fertile land, there were also 200 mu of sandy land and 80 mu of mountain land.
"Master He, how do you know so much?"
"Hehe, the seller is my distant cousin," Master He said frankly.
This land belonged to his great-uncle's ancestors. The sandy land on the riverbank and the mountainous land on the cliff were all reclaimed by his great-uncle's generation.