In addition, he also had to consider the sweet potato business that would be left behind. After weighing things from both sides, Mo Jiuye and his wife decided that as long as the yield reached 3,000 catties per mu, they would set the price at 20 wen per catty for the government.
Don't look down on the price of just 20 wen per catty. 100,000 catties of sweet potatoes was still a considerable income in the eyes of the farmers.
You have to know that the most expensive pork in this era only cost seventeen or eighteen wen per catty.
This was also only when selling to the government. Ordinary commoners still could not afford it.
"Brother-in-law, my wife and I have already discussed the sweet potato seeds. Since this is the first year of production, we still need to take care of our family's sweet potato business, so the price can't be less than 20 wen per catty."
100,000 catties of sweet potatoes was 2,000 taels of silver.
This amount of silver was nothing to Mo Jiuye and his wife. They didn't expect to make much money from farming in the first place.
But it looked very different in the eyes of others.
Especially those villagers who had been toiling in the fields their whole lives. Although they were slow at calculating, after discussing together, they also understood the value of these sweet potatoes.
Before Meng Huaining could react, those villagers were no longer composed.
"If I didn't miscalculate, the sweet potatoes collected by the government are worth 2,000 taels, right?"
"My calculations are the same as yours, also 2,000 taels."
"Oh my god, the Mo family is going to strike it rich!"
"The crops from thirty mu of land can sell for so much silver. If this farmland was in our hands, forget about 2,000 taels, we'd have to thank the heavens if we had 20 taels of silver left!"
"We were too timid back then. We were hesitant about everything. With Old Nine's boldness, if we had asked to buy some seeds from him and planted even just three mu of land, wouldn't we also have an income of 200 taels?"
For ordinary commoners, what did 200 taels represent?
It was something they could not attain in their entire lifetime...
Mo Jiuye did not pay any attention to the villagers' discussions. After all, he and He Zhiran had already contributed the sweet potatoes.
Whether they could plant them next spring was something the county magistrate Meng Huaining had to worry about.
After Mo Jiuye announced the price of the sweet potatoes, Meng Huaining was silent for a long time without responding. Mo Jiuye thought he was having difficulties with the silver payment.
"Brother-in-law, does the yamen not have enough silver? Don't worry if you don't have enough for now. You can owe it to me first."
Yunchang County yamen was indeed poor. Fortunately, Meng Huaining was not a corrupt official. He would never embezzle a cent of the tax silver.
Because of this, Yunchang still had enough tax silver to buy these sweet potato seeds.
After all, he was the Mo family's son-in-law. Although he stayed out of many matters, it did not mean he was unaware of things.
For any crops produced on the Mo family's land, which would not be sold at an exorbitant price when they reached Tang Mingrui's hands?
Meng Huaining felt that although the Mo family's sweet potato yield was higher and they were selling to the government, the price would still be slightly cheaper. He had already prepared to be shameless. If the sweet potato price exceeded the amount of tax silver, he would thicken his skin to discuss with his ninth older brother, whether it was owing money or something else, in short he had to try his best to buy these sweet potato seeds.
As a result, the price per catty set by Mo Jiuye turned out to be only 20 wen. This was completely unexpected by Meng Huaining.
Before Mo Jiuye announced the price, Meng Huaining had also guessed it in his mind.
He felt the sweet potatoes would be priced at least 50 wen per catty by his ninth older brother.
"Ninth older brother, is this price workable?"
What he meant was, did Mo Jiuye purposely set the price so low in order to accommodate him?
Mo Jiuye knew what Meng Huaining was trying to express. He laughed and patted the latter on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, this price was set by your sister-in-law."
Meng Huaining was not the sentimental type either. He knew this was his ninth older brother and sister-in-law's way of supporting him.
"If that's the case, I will thank ninth older brother and sister-in-law on behalf of Yunchang's commoners."
Having said that, he turned around to face the yamen runners again.
"Why are you still dawdling? Hurry back and prepare oxcarts!"
Although the yamen runners did not know the exact value of the sweet potatoes, they could tell from their superior's expression that the government had gotten a good deal this time.
They looked longingly at the half-eaten baked sweet potatoes in people's hands, reluctantly turning around to quickly leave and take care of things.
Meng Huaining did not stay any longer either. With the sweet potatoes priced so low by his ninth older brother, he had to adhere to taking money in one hand and goods in the other. Only then could his heart be at ease.
Following the footsteps of those yamen runners, Meng Huaining also headed back to Yunchang.
The Mo family did not conceal from the villagers who had helped with the labor that they were selling sweet potatoes to the government. As a result, news that the Mo family had earned 2,000 taels from sweet potatoes quickly spread through the village.
Not only that, there were also exaggerated praises about the delicious taste of the sweet potatoes.
At the same time, Mo Jiuye also sent someone to the city to bring Tang Mingrui over.
He and He Zhiran still adhered to their previous profit-making principle, keeping a low profile and only acting as the suppliers in the background.
Tang Mingrui had never resisted anything produced by the Mo family. Even though it was already dark when he received the message, he still rushed over urgently.
Mo Jiuye understood Tang Mingrui the most. He was a business fanatic. As long as it was related to business, he was more enthusiastic than anyone.
Although it was a bit late when he sent someone to notify Tang Mingrui, he could be certain that the latter would still come to the Mo family no matter how late it was.
Indeed, when the Mo family was just starting dinner, Tang Mingrui arrived.
Because Mo Jiuye had anticipated Tang Mingrui's arrival, he had specifically instructed Yu'er to cook several dishes using sweet potatoes as ingredients tonight.
Tang Mingrui was familiar with the Mo family. He would certainly join in for dinner without any hesitation, moreover the Mo family's meals were the most delicious he had eaten in his life. Even the large restaurant he owned could not compare.
After greeting the Mo family elders and older brothers, Tang Mingrui sat next to Mo Jiuye.
Although he had tasted sweet potatoes at the Mo family before, this was still his first time seeing so many foods made from sweet potatoes.
The most eye-catching dish was shredded sweet potatoes.
Mo Jiuye personally demonstrated for him.
He was seen picking up a shred of shredded sweet potato, pulling out long fine strands, then dipping it in cold water before putting it in his mouth.
This was Tang Mingrui's first time seeing a dish that could be pulled into strands and had to be dipped in cold water before eating. He became even more curious about this dish.
On his rushed way here, the person who had invited him had already said that the Mo family's sweet potatoes were mature today and he was invited to come discuss sweet potato business. So he could ascertain that Mo Jiuye specially introduced this dish to emphasize it was made from sweet potatoes.
In any case, try it first before saying anything else.
Tang Mingrui imitated Mo Jiuye's actions and ate a shred of shredded sweet potato.
