Last year, Lin's family came back to escort the spirit, and Zhou, the governor, accidentally did something foolish, and has been regretful ever since. Today, he finally found an opportunity to make amends in front of Lin Qingwan, so he immediately came over after inquiring about the news from the official who delivered the documents.

  Lin Qing is currently the most prestigious person in Suzhou, although she has no real power, she can still reach the emperor's ears directly. Looking at today's official documents, the emperor is still being very lenient towards the Lin family, so it's still necessary to maintain a good relationship with them.

  Lin Qingwan had no intention of offending Prefect Zhou, after all he was the father official of Suzhou, so she accepted his friendly gesture, invited him to stay for dinner and even gave him a jar of Lin Jiang's collected bamboo leaf green tea.

  Literati and elegant scholars all love wine, and Zhou Xianshi is no exception. Bamboo leaf green not only has a clear and sweet taste but also has health benefits, and the flavor that Lin Jiang collects can't be too bad.

  Zhou Zhi Shi immediately understood that last year's welcoming of the spirits was already over.

  The knot that had been stuck in his heart for nearly half a year was finally untied. Zhou Cishi let out a long sigh of relief, and only then did he have the mind to pay attention to his surroundings.

  At this time, Lin's family was busy with their farm work, and out of curiosity, they asked, "Miss Lin, are you fertilizing the land at this time?"

  Lin Qingyan nodded as she sent him out, "One last time, chasing after fat."

  Zhou Zhi Shi narrowed his eyes and looked at him for a while before asking, "How much did Jue Tian open up?"

  Lin Qingyuan smiled and said, "Human power is limited, there aren't many that were planted this year, maybe next year there will be more."

  Zhou Shi nodded in understanding. This land was once a wasteland, with some areas being barren for longer periods than others. The Lin family had done well to reclaim so much of it in such a short time.

  "I see that there are fewer livestock in the fields, human power is limited, can't we buy more livestock?" Zhou Cishi hinted: "One head of livestock is equivalent to two strong laborers, and it's even more capable than humans."

  Lin Qingwan was young and also a wealthy young lady, so she might not know these internal matters. She might be deceived by the servants, so Zhou Cishi sold well, so he just reminded her.

  But Lin Qingyuan frowned and said, "Unfortunately, it's hard to buy. Since I returned to Suzhou last year, the Lin family steward has been sending people to buy cattle, but so far they have only bought twelve heads. There are few people selling cattle in the market, and the Lin family cannot monopolize the market. Often, as soon as the cattle come out, before the Lin family can rush over, they have already been bought by others."

  Zhou Zhi was shocked and became even more serious, the Lin family now looked glorious, but in fact, their foundation was not much different from that of Lin Jiang's time, like a boat floating on the water surface, one instability could capsize.

  The stability of the boat depends on whether Lin Qingyan, who is holding the helm, can steady it. I thought that as a clever 15- or 16-year-old girl, she would be proud to suddenly become the mistress of a county and the head of a household.

  Who would have thought that she wouldn't even fight with Min Qiang over buying cattle, such a clever and cautious person with good character is probably the only one who can really pass on the prosperity of the Lin family's main branch.

  Zhou Zhi thought Lin Qingwan's weight in his heart was even heavier, but Lin Qingwan didn't know he had thought so much in an instant, and her mind was still on the cow.

  There are really too few cows in this era, after spending a lot of effort to buy twelve heads, four were distributed to the tenant farmers, and only eight could be used on the farm side. Fortunately, there were still five cows on the small farm before, otherwise it would be even more scarce.

  It was like this, during the busy farming season, the fields mainly relied on people pulling carts, which was very hard work.

  Zhou Zhi saw her worried look and couldn't help but stroke his beard, hinting: "Livestock is hard to come by, and business is indeed scarce, but it's not nonexistent."

  Lin Qingwan's heart was filled with joy, "Please instruct me, Governor Zhou."

  Zhou Zishi laughed and said, "The southern provinces have a shortage of livestock, so they are always in short supply. Therefore, when merchants from the north come south, they often bring some livestock with them. However, as soon as they arrive in Suzhou, they are usually snatched up by various families before they even have a chance to be taken to the market. So if you want to buy, you still need to find those big merchants who come from the north."

  "We don't have familiar customers, I'm afraid they will be sold out before we can find them."

  Zhou Zhi shook his head slightly and said, "These merchants are all very astute, no matter whether the goods are scarce or not, they will always leave some to build relationships. If the county master's daughter comes to them, they will definitely give her some."

  That's the convenience of her identity.

  Lin Qingwan smiled and thanked Zhou Cishi.

  After sending people away, he called Lin Guan Jia and Zhong Da Guan Shi to discuss.

  Buying livestock is a big expense, but this time both of them did not object. The farm is very large and both livestock and people have to be bought.

  But the old lady was more inclined to hire long workers and tenants, and was not willing to buy a large number of slaves. Lin's housekeeper calculated the expenditure on buying people, and also defaulted to hiring long workers.

  But the cost of livestock cannot be saved. Now opening up is still mainly relying on manpower, which is not only tiring but also consumes a lot of manpower.

  But with livestock, it's different, one cow is equivalent to two strong laborers, and cows are much cheaper than humans.

  "How many cows does Grandma want to buy?"

  "The more you buy, the more you get."

  "Miss, we need livestock, but there's no need to buy too many, just enough will do."

  Lin Qingwan turned around and brought over the map, pointing to the ten hectares of land on the other side of the mountain and asked, "When can we plant this land as well?"

  Lin Guanjia and Zhong Daguanshi fell silent.

  Lin Qingwan sighed, "I thought that after forty years of peace in Jiangnan, renting out the land or hiring long-term labor to cultivate it wouldn't be difficult. But from what we've seen in the past half year, we were too optimistic. With the labor force we can currently hire, not to mention three years, even five years won't be enough to work on that large piece of land, and it will just lie there idle?"

  "So Auntie is thinking..."

  "I want to raise livestock there, not just cattle, but also sheep. I'll have someone bring some pasture seeds from the north and scatter them around to scale up the breeding," said Lin Qingwen, pointing at the map.

  Zhong Daguanshi was surprised, "Does the pasture still have seeds?"

  Lin Guanjia also looked at Lin Qingwan in surprise and hesitated to ask: "What kind of grass is the lady talking about?"

  Lin Qingwan blinked, thinking that the grasslands were still nomadic, and it seemed that no one had ever planted pasture. She coughed lightly and said: "Rice has rice seeds, wheat has wheat seeds, so I thought pasture also has seeds, how come there isn't?"

  Zhong Daguanshi and Lin Guanjia: ……

  "It doesn't matter, we can collect some," Lin Qingyan said casually: "The grass that cattle and sheep on the prairie love to eat the most, the easiest to make them grow fat, pay attention to it, wait for them to produce seeds and then pick some, bring them back to plant."

  Lin Guan's family seemed to be thinking, "It's not difficult, I'll go see the merchants and mention it to them, let them ask the herders on that side to help collect, and we'll pay for it when the time comes."

  "In that case, let's reserve some more cattle and sheep. When the time comes, we'll put aside the matter of opening up new land for now and first build a cowshed and sheep shed over there." Lin Qingyan hesitated for a moment before saying: "But will our household have enough money?"

  Lin Guan's family, who had always been stingy, smiled and comforted her: "Don't worry, miss. The merchants will be gone for three or four months, and by the time they return, the autumn harvest will have arrived, and we can hire laborers with grain. As for the money to buy cattle and sheep, don't worry about it. Those merchants love silk fabrics more than money. This year our Lin family produced a lot of silk, let the weaving girls rush to make a batch."

  In this way, they hardly use cash anymore.

  Lin Qingwan let out a long sigh and smiled: "Still, Uncle Lin and Uncle Zhong have their own plans."

  No wonder you suddenly became generous, it turns out you didn't have to spend your own money.

  Lin Guan went in person to discuss business. He was unfamiliar with Suzhou and didn't know where those merchants were, but Lao Zhongbo did.

  Lao Zhongbo guarded the old mansion, and every year the grain, cloth and other products produced by the old mansion, except for a part of the inventory, were also sold out, so he was familiar with the merchants in Suzhou.

  Lin Guanjia went to the old mansion and took away one of Lao Zhongbo's deputies, then slipped into the inn where those merchants were staying.

  As soon as the letter was handed over, someone came out to greet him.

  The transaction was completed quickly, and Lin Guan returned with fifteen heads of cattle in exchange for some cloth stored in the warehouse at home, including three-year-old cows, one-year-old calves, and two mother cows.

  This batch of goods was jointly contributed by four businessmen. They were originally reserved for their own use, but when Lin's steward came to ask for them, they handed them over without hesitation.

  The Lin family is the number one family in Jiangnan. Even though Lin Jiang is no longer around and their status has declined somewhat, no one dares to pull them down from their first place position.

  In the past, they wanted to see him but couldn't get in, now that it's easy to have an opportunity, of course, they won't let it go.

  So they not only took out all the cattle in stock, but also promised that when they came back in autumn, they would bring more cattle and sheep, and even pasture seeds were guaranteed with a pat on the chest.

  Lin Guan's family was delighted and said that they had planted a lot of mulberry trees in the Lin family, and next year there might be a large batch of silk fabrics coming out. If the price they offered was suitable, the Lin family could consider cooperating with them first.

  The four merchants were even more delighted when they heard this, and they quickly cleared their goods and ran back to the north. Next year was too far away for them, but they had inquired about it before - the Lin family's newly added fields would not be ready in time, but the two old farms they had previously owned still had a lot of mulberry trees planted, and the output of silkworms would definitely not be small.

  The weaving and embroidery of the Lin family are renowned for their excellence; if they could get a piece of top-quality satin, it would be worth it this year.

  In Jiangnan, there is a weaving and manufacturing bureau, which is located in Suzhou, specializing in weaving and manufacturing. The weavers inside are all of high quality, and the tribute products given to the palace mostly come from their hands.

  There is also a small half from various big families. As the first family in Jiangnan, Lin's family naturally also raised a batch of weaving girls and embroidery girls.

  As a technical worker, Lin Jiang has always been treated with courtesy and given the most relaxed treatment, if not the best in the whole Daliang.

  Last year was a good harvest, except for a small number of people who chose to leave, most people chose to stay.

  Because they knew that after changing their household registration, they would also be artisan households, and the country's management of artisans was very strict. Not to mention restrictions on coming and going, just the annual labor service made them unbearable.

  For example, as for carpenters, once the imperial court recruits them, they have to leave their homes and go far away. Although the law stipulates that they only serve three months of labor per year, if there is a major event, the imperial court can continuously recruit them.

  At that time, don't say you can come back, even life and death are not in your hands. Since it's like this, it's better to just stay at the Lin family. At least the master is kind and the treatment is not low.

  The more exquisite the craftsmanship, the more it should be kept behind. Otherwise, once separated from the Lin family, who knows who will snatch it away?