Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

Using oxen to pull the millstone instead of manual labor, their family could buy a large stone mill this time. After all, oxen are very strong and cannot be matched by human labor. But both oxen and stone millstones are not cheap, and they are not something that ordinary farmers can afford.

The old Sheng family had no cattle. According to Sheng Xuan, when the Sheng family was the richest, they had more land than they do now. At that time, they couldn't farm all the land themselves, so they rented it out to others. Later, due to high expenses, Grandpa Sheng started selling the land and took it back to farm himself.

As for why the expenses were so high, Sheng Xuan didn't say much. Xiao Lan could more or less guess that it was because the eldest and second sons had to go to private schools, which cost a lot. It costs a lot to train a scholar, and ordinary families can't afford it, let alone two people. Education in this era was not universal, and the annual tuition, book fees, pens, ink, paper and inkstone were all very expensive. So she had to earn more money and send Xiaowen to a private school in the spring of next year. It's not okay for the whole family to be blind, they all have to learn to read and write.

"Xiao Lan, have you figured it out? Do you have enough money?" Zhang asked. Zhang had some silver in her hand, which she had saved for emergencies, and Xiao Lan didn't want to touch it.

Zhang let her keep all the money she earned from chestnuts and tofu. Even Xiao Lan admired Zhang's generosity. This was equivalent to her controlling the family's financial resources. She was very moved by this trust. After all, she was just a child. "Mom, I have more than 56 taels in my hand. Prices have dropped a lot now. Buying a cow shouldn't be a problem."

"My family has never bought a cow, and I don't know anything about it. We need to find someone who knows the business to help us take a look." Sheng Xuan said.

"My mother's family has horses and cows, both bought by my father. How about I send a message home and ask them to come and buy some for us?"

Zhang Shanfeng's family has horses and cows. He once took his son to the grassland to trade horses. The men in his family are very familiar with cattle, horses, mules and other livestock. If Xiaolan's family wants to buy a cow, it would be best to ask them for help.

A few people were discussing the purchase of a cow when the sound of people calling the animals was heard outside her house.

Xiao Lan hurried to open the door, and it turned out that it was her grandfather and uncle.

After a brief exchange of greetings, they learned that they had received the tofu last night, and the old couple were worried about their daughter and son-in-law, and they were worried that they were short of manpower as they had just started their business, so they came to ask if they needed help. They were also worried that the family might think too much and wanted to learn how to make it, so they hesitated and came at this time.

Her grandparents are like ten fingers to her family. It is easy to add icing on the cake, but difficult to provide timely assistance. Her grandparents have been so kind to them that even when they wanted to learn how to make tofu, Xiao Lan taught them step by step without any hesitation.

When they knew her family wanted to buy a cow, Zhang Shanfeng and Zhang Qingnian took a basket of salted duck eggs, a basket of frozen pears, a basket of dried mushrooms, two bags of brown sugar, and two bags of white sugar from the carriage, and took Sheng Xuan, Xiao Lan, and Xiao Wen to the town. Before leaving, Zhang stuffed fifty taels of silver into Xiao Lan's hand, and Xiao Lan thought that she could make up for Zhang with the silver the day after tomorrow, so she accepted it.

There was a mule and horse market in the town, where new goods usually arrived in the afternoon and people were waiting to pick them the next morning. Zhang Shanfeng was a frequent visitor here, and he often came to help people choose animals and act as a middleman. So even in the afternoon, the shopkeeper warmly welcomed them.

Zhang Shanfeng picked a bull that had just reached adulthood and was at the working age. The price was fifty taels of silver, and this was the purchase price given to him because he came to buy it. If it were someone else, it would probably be even more expensive. This price also included the rope, belly band and whip. The boss gave it to Zhang Shanfeng at a half-sale price just to save his face.

Fifty taels of silver made Xiao Lan feel painful for a while, but thinking about the current prices, she accepted it calmly. If she had bought a cow last month, the price would have doubled. Although the prices in the town are more stable than before, they are still much higher than before.

The father and daughter happily walked around the cow, and then went to pay the silver.

After leaving the mule and horse market, Zhang Shanfeng said to Sheng Xuan, "Now that you've bought the cow, it's time for your family to buy a cart. It will be convenient for you to go to the market or town to buy something."

Xiaolan's family has a flatbed truck, which they use to go to town to sell game and buy food. But they have to walk to and from town, which is not only laborious but also time-consuming.

Now that the family is running a tofu business, they are already short of manpower and can’t waste time on the road. Both father and daughter think that her grandfather is right and it’s time to buy a big car.

The load capacity of a cart pulled by livestock is much greater than that of a flatbed truck. Cows generally cannot walk fast, but they are strong and have good endurance, which makes them very suitable for Xiaolan's family.

Xiao Lan looked at her grandfather's carriage and drooled. The carriage had a large load capacity and ran very fast. It could carry both goods and people, but her family couldn't afford it now. She would buy one when she made more money in the future.

Action is worse than thought. Of course, we should buy the ox cart when there is an experienced person like Zhang Shanfeng. Several people went directly to the shop selling carts. Zhang Shanfeng helped to choose one, including the harness for pulling the cart. After putting the ox on the cart and testing it, they decided to buy it.

A car and the necessary accessories cost a total of six taels of silver.

The family got on the ox cart, which was easier to drive, and Sheng Xuan learned how to do it in no time.

Passing by the grain store, Xiao Lan pulled Sheng Xuan's sleeve and said, "Dad, shall we buy some beans to take back?"

Sheng Xuan thought about the consumption of the family in the past few days and nodded in agreement. This time he bought a lot, a full 1,000 kilograms. Seeing that Xiao Lan's family wanted a large amount, the shopkeeper promised to deliver the beans to her home tomorrow and sold them for a penny cheaper than before.

Xiao Lan paid a deposit of five taels and left the grain shop.

Afterwards, they went to the place where they bought the stone mill last time. This time they picked a large stone mill pulled by an ox. The guy knew the way to her house and said he would load it on the car and deliver it to her. The price of the stone mill was twenty taels of silver, and Xiao Lan paid a deposit of five taels.

Zhang Shanfeng and Zhang Qingfeng were secretly astonished. This was a big deal. It seemed that their son-in-law's tofu business would be very big.

It was already evening when they got home. The two did not go back to Xishan Village. They sent a message back saying that they would stay for a few days. First, his son-in-law's family had never raised livestock before, and Sheng Xuan was a novice and needed to be taught; second, they learned from Xiao Lan that there was a lot of work at home now, and they bought the cow to free up some labor. The two thought that there was not much work to do in the orchard now, so they might as well stay at Xiao Lan's house for a few more days, so that they could help them with the work and teach Sheng Xuan how to raise cattle.

Xiaolan's family certainly understood their good intentions and were deeply touched.

After a while, the millstone was delivered. Fortunately, Zhang Shanfeng and Zhang Qingfeng were there, otherwise Xiaolan's family would not have been able to move it.

In the evening, Zhang and Xiaoting prepared a table of delicious dishes, including braised rabbit meat, stewed fish pieces, cabbage and tofu, and stir-fried shredded radish. The staple food was steamed buns made of three-grain flour mixed with bean dregs.

Buying an ox cart is a big event for farmers. When they bought the land, Old Master Sheng lived in the town, far away, and the world was in turmoil at that time, so her family did not invite guests. This time was different. Sheng Xuan went to the upper room to invite Old Master Sheng.