She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 391 - 390: Plan for the Year

Chapter 391: Chapter 390: Plan for the Year

This year, many places in Yuyuan Prefecture emerged from many years of silence, beginning to buzz with noise and vitality.

After the weather warmed up, many places in Qingyuan County started road construction work. There’s no need to talk about Clear Water Village here, as the construction was based on the original road foundation, expanded and solidified. The funding came from the cow farm and the dairy products store, and although the silver was provided by Jiang Yifan and Jinrong, it didn’t involve the government office.

As for the road construction in Qingyuan County, because it was the county’s road, it needed to connect two existing official roads and also pass through relatively dense villages and towns, so the cost was quite high.

But it was precisely because of these factors, with the incentives previously outlined by Jiang Yifan, that some of the gentry and merchants, enticed by the beautiful blueprint sketched out by Lord Jiang, were moved to invest, and there were actually quite a few interested parties.

It’s not known if it was related to his early years of traveling with his master, but despite his youth, Jiang Yifan was a capable official, well-versed in civil affairs.

Since the end of last year, when the road construction planning began, Jiang Yifan not only offered a variety of priority conveniences to attract investment from merchants and gentry but also sent out minor Yamen officials in charge of engineering and government officials, along with the minor officials lent by Jinrong, to complete the road construction survey and site selection before the end of the year.

Furthermore, with the road construction documents thoroughly prepared by the minor officials from Jinrong Residence and Ye Xinyan, the county government office began fundraising for money as soon as it opened this year, including various discounts, and even sold and bartered the shops along the road. When construction began in mid-February, all the materials, goods, and labor were in place, and the roads were constructed in sections according to the previous plans. The bustling activities ignited Qingyuan County with unprecedented liveliness.

In this, the minor officials from Jinrong Residence played a significant role. After all, these individuals had experience working in formal government departments, and their preparatory work and survey tasks were very accurate, so much so that when the various road sections were connected according to the plan, there were hardly any discrepancies in the end.

Over at Clear Water Village, with Qi Younian and Wong Qiao off to Yuyuan City to work on courtyards, it was left to Cheung Wusi to stay behind, leading the expansion of the cow farm and dairy product workshop. The cowsheds and cow pens were being built and put into use simultaneously, and by the time the second phase of expansion was completed in the autumn, the scale of the cow farm had more than doubled. Correspondingly, the dairy product workshop also expanded with two more workshops and two fermentation cellars.

The location of Qingyuan County is on the northern side of Yuyuan Prefecture. Shortly after the start of spring, Jinrong and Jiang Yifan once again joint ventured and selected a piece of wasteland on the southern side of Yuyuan Prefecture. With the completed construction documents of the cow farm and dairy product workshop provided by Ye Xinyan, they began construction on his second dairy base at that location.

Additionally, Jinrong sent five managers to Ye Xinyan’s place, each following Zhang Baokui, Xie Chun, Fan Zhengyuan, Cui Chengxi, and respectfully calling them master, learning the trade from them.

There’s no need to mention Xie Chun, as he was originally a capable manager under Jinrong, indifferent to the respect shown by those around him. Even for Zhang Baokui, though not a manager of Prince Yu’s Mansion when he arrived, he was still a family servant of the mansion, and while pleased with his promotion and envied by others, he regarded it as normal.

On the other hand, the situation was different for Fan Zhengyuan and Cui Chengxi. Fan Zhengyuan used to follow merchant caravans, peddling small items and conducting modest business, and Cui Chengxi’s past was even more modest, specifically responsible for feeding livestock under other managers, with hardly any status to speak of. Both were initially recommended by Steward Yang to work with Ye Xinyan, seeking merely to earn a living.

At the time, they couldn’t dare to dream that they were actually working for the prince, let alone imagine their current prominence. In less than a year, both became chief managers overseeing more than a hundred cattle and dozens of workers, and most importantly, they were free men with authority.

Now, when they went to the county or dealt with county government office affairs, or even when they returned home, no matter what the previous noble status of those they encountered, they had to respectfully address them: Manager Fan, Manager Cui.

Now, being treated with the same respect by the official Prince Household’s Steward as if he were a master, he felt an incredible sense of satisfaction and fortune—an experience he had never even dreamt of in the past several decades.

Even Steward Yang, who had recommended them, had completely changed his status. Nowadays in the county middleman circles, Steward Yang was essentially the top broker.

Whenever the Qi family needed to hire staff, they turned to Steward Yang. Lady Qi, currently in charge of numerous thriving enterprises, often needed to increase her workforce. Working for the Qi family was strict, but it indeed provided opportunities to earn money. Thus, there were plenty of people who wanted to work for the Qi family, and all of them came through Steward Yang’s hands.

The abundant business that came his way kept Steward Yang on his feet all day, and he now had many more connections and associates than before.

Steward Yang was not only a mediator for Qingyuan County but had also established contacts with his peers in Yuyuan City. The workers needed for the Qi Family Construction Business in Yuyuan City and the waiters and helpers hired for Nanny Jin’s snack shop were all arranged through a Yuyuan City broker that Steward Yang had contacted. Setting aside everything else, they were at least reliable.

Qi family’s main branch also had a good year. The Qi family’s old residence may not have enjoyed a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner, but Lady Li and Meizi’s pastry shop did not face any hurdles. With Ye Xinyan’s strong support, and Old Madam Wang from the main branch feeling obliged—since it wouldn’t be proper to touch another family member’s Silver Coin while having silver of their own—the shop thrived.

Old Madam had long realized that relying on farming to lead a good life was too difficult. If her daughter-in-law and granddaughter could really get the pastry shop running, and with Chengzi’s children operating their own stores, and turning the rice tofu stall into a full-fledged eatery, the Qi family’s main branch would have effectively established themselves. Although they couldn’t compare with the genuine gentry, they were more than sufficient to be considered a wealthy local family.

Lady Wang was quite decisive in her business dealings. She didn’t let Lady Li borrow silver from Ye Xinyan but also didn’t want to give away the family’s money for nothing. What the Old Madam offered was a loan, which came with not only interest but also collateral.

The silver lent to Lady Li and Meizi was secured against the lands and properties that Qi Dazhu’s family was to receive in the future division of the family assets. If they could repay the principal and interest before the division, all would be well. However, if they failed to repay, Qi Dazhu’s family would have to settle the borrowed silver with interest at the time of division. Whatever was left would go to Qi Dazhu’s family. If nothing was left, Qi Dazhu’s family would be turned out with nothing.

These were not idle words; they were written into documents, with the endorsement of the Lizheng and the local official in charge, He Quantai, as guarantors.

Upon seeing such terms, Lady Han, who had been tempted to get involved, immediately backed off. With business, who knew whether it would make a profit or loss. The county had a snack shop owned by the Second Branch family; their shop offered confections and even a wider variety of products. Could their business compete with Qi Ye’s?

At the time, Lady Han even hoped that Lady Li and her sister-in-law would fail in their business endeavor—if Qi Dazhu’s family couldn’t repay the money, with interest piling up, perhaps when the time came for the family division, their portion of the family assets would all go to Lady Han’s own family.

However, the reality was that Lady Li and Meizi’s pastry shop was doing well. After the first three months without visible profits, the shop started to steadily bring in income.

By the end of the year, the sisters-in-law had repaid all the silver borrowed from the family. This meant that apart from following the normal process of family separation, Qi Dagen’s family had essentially gained a pastry shop for free.