The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

Sun Dingnan quickly ushered Sun Bomin into the bird droppings fertilizer workshop.

Sun Dalang and Sun Erjie acted as tour guides, leading Sun Bomin and Dege on a tour.

The village chief and Grandpa Xiaoyazi accompanied them, providing supplementary explanations as tour guides.

Wang Ganhua quickly took out the workshop's account book and respectfully handed it to Sun Shan: "Sir, please take a look."

Sun Shan didn't rush to look, but instead asked, "The villagers haven't been at the workshop lately, has anything happened here?"

Sun Dingnan nodded and said, "Master, several groups of people have come recently, wanting to visit our workshop."

Sun Shan asked in confusion, "A visit?"

Wang Ganhua added, "Sir, they're from the next county. They heard we have a fertilizer here that makes crops grow better. They came here specifically to find out more."

Sun Shan asked in surprise, "What? The neighboring county also knows that we have bird droppings fertilizer here?"

Yuanlu County is located in a remote area, and information is often delayed. But it seems they are quite up-to-date now; bird guano fertilizer has only been widely used for one season, and the neighboring county already knows they have it here.

You're really well-informed.

Wang Ganhua continued, "Sir, we found out by chance. That person said they came to visit relatives, and their relatives happened to use bird droppings as fertilizer. They were very surprised to see the millet growing in clusters, dense and abundant. Later, they learned that there was a workshop here."

Sun Shan blinked and asked, "They came here to buy fertilizer?"

Sun Dingnan nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, they just want to buy fertilizer to use. They live near us, just one hill away. They saw their relatives using fertilizer and wanted to use it when they were farming."

At first, they simply came to visit relatives, but then they learned about bird droppings fertilizer and witnessed firsthand how it could indeed increase crop yields. Anyone with half a brain would want to use it.

This group of people is quite bold; they even came specifically to gather information.

Sun Shan thought for a moment and said, "Is there any business going on here?"

Wang Gan's eyes flashed, and she said in surprise, "Sir, how did you know? These families are merchants, and they even asked us if they could help us sell fertilizer."

Sun Shan knew that only businessmen could be so keen to spot business opportunities.

Ordinary people are already finding it difficult to travel, let alone make a special trip to check on the situation.

Sun Shan then asked, "What's your response?"

Sun Dingnan said, "Sir, we definitely can't sell bird droppings fertilizer outside this year, so we can only supply Yuanlu County with enough."

Wang Ganhua nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Sir, let's just say that we can't do business this year. If we want to sell outside, we'll have to wait until next year at the earliest." Those people were quite disappointed and went home with their heads hanging low.

Speaking of selling bird droppings fertilizer, the business is currently losing money hand over fist. There are many customers on credit, but few who actually receive payment. The workshop is operating at a loss and has to borrow from Peter to pay Paul just to keep going.

A while ago, the workers' wages were still owed and couldn't be paid.

Fortunately, Lord Sun later managed to get the money, which allowed him to settle the wages.

Thinking of this, Wang Ganhua said with a heavy heart, "Sir, the summer harvest should be over in a couple of days. We need to hurry up and collect the debts. Alas, the workshop only has a few copper coins left. If we don't collect the debts soon, we'll owe the workers money again."

Wang Ganhua thought that if he were to collect debts, the first stop would be Da Niao Village.

Hehe, every month when I'm handed out huge sums of money, it hurts so much. I have to get back the money I owe for the fertilizer as soon as possible. I can't just give and receive nothing.

The food cooked by Grandpa and Grandma is so bad, and we can't replace them, plus we have to pay them.

It's like paying money to suffer; just thinking about it makes me feel terrible.

When it came to collecting debts, Sun Dingnan was supportive: "Sir, we should indeed collect the debts. But should we take the grain or the copper coins?"

People certainly don't have money in their pockets. If they did, there wouldn't be a 98% rate of credit sales.

If we go early in the morning, we'll only be able to collect grain. Perhaps we'll have to wait until the people have sold their grain before we can collect the money.

Sun Shan had already thought of this problem and said directly, "Let's just ask for grain."

He then added, "If someone offers money, we accept it. But food comes first."

Originally, we were going to buy and sell grain, but it would have been better to just buy grain directly.

Moreover, we must buy at a low price, not a high price, otherwise we won't be able to sell it at a good price and make any money.

With the question of doubling the grain supply, will it lead to oversupply and overproduction?

Sun Shan was initially worried about this problem and tried to use an invisible hand to regulate it. Then he thought that Yuanlu County was very small and insignificant compared to the outside market.

As long as prices are controlled in Yuanlu County to ensure that low grain prices do not harm farmers, it's fine.

Yuanlu County has abundant grain, and unscrupulous merchants like the Wang family will definitely buy it at a low price. Since small-scale farmers cannot travel far to sell their grain, they will inevitably have to sell it cheaply.

At this point, the government would definitely step in as the "government office" to purchase grain normally and ensure that farmers would not sell their grain at a low price.

Haha, how can we not take some protective measures?

The government is currently short of funds, but it has bird droppings fertilizer. Farmers have tasted the benefits of the summer harvest, and they will definitely buy bird droppings fertilizer for the summer planting season.

The government then used bird droppings as fertilizer to offset the grain price, ensuring stable grain prices and absolutely preventing unscrupulous merchants from succeeding.

After discussing the matter, Sun Shan, Sun Dingnan, and Manager Wang decided to send someone to collect the debts immediately after the summer harvest.

Sun Shan then asked, "Is the fertilizer for summer plowing ready?"

Sun Dingnan nodded and said, "Master, everything is ready and in the warehouse."

He then added, "In a couple of days, when the villagers come to work, we can produce several more batches of fertilizer. We've already calculated that it's enough to supply all the farmland in the county."

The farmland in this county consists only of paddy fields; the mountainous areas are not included in the calculation.

Of course, cases like the Wang family's tax evasion, including unregistered paddy fields, are also excluded.

Haha, if you want to buy fertilizer, you'd better come to the government office and register.

Thinking of this, Sun Shan chuckled to himself.

I wonder what Magistrate Wang and Inspector Liang will do?

Is it a matter of proactively stamping the fields with "official certification," or continuing to evade taxes?

Or perhaps they're cultivating an inside job in the bird droppings workshop, colluding with outsiders to secretly sell bird droppings?

Sun Shan felt it was necessary to strengthen precautions, develop more spies, and establish a supervisory department.

The village chief of Da Niao Village is one of Sun Shan's key informants.

This time, we must also include Grandpa Xiaoyazi. We must ensure that we have our own people around the bird droppings fertilizer workshop, both in front and behind, and on both sides.

Of course, Wang Ganhua is a key target for prevention and must be closely monitored. We must not allow him to collude with County Magistrate Wang to steal fertilizer from the workshop.

Sun Shan put the ledger aside and checked it with Sun Dingnan one by one when it was quiet and late at night.

As I walked out of the workshop and headed towards the large warehouse, I saw sack after sack of fertilizer piled up like mountains. My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, sank heavily. Summer plowing was ready.