In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

200 taels each?

Wei Jing's heart skipped a beat, realizing that Manager Wang was not buying the Blood Feather Chicken for his own sake, but for the person behind him, or rather... for the business of the person behind him.

After a moment's thought, Wei Jing nodded and said, "Okay!"

"Then thank you very much, Chief Escort Wei!"

Shopkeeper Wang, having achieved his goal, smiled and began chatting with Wei Jing.

…………

…………

"What? You earned 1960 taels?"

In Taiping County, Li Hu stared in disbelief at Zhang He and the others who had just returned, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

When Xu Zhiwen asked him how much money he thought Zhang He and the others could earn, he replied that it was one or two hundred taels.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang He delivered such an amazing result, earning a profit of 10 times, nearly 2000 taels!

Not only Li Hu, but also Xu Zhiwen and Li Ying were stunned by the numbers Zhang He reported!

Zhang He's journey from departure to return took less than five days, yet he earned 2000 taels of silver—a figure that even Xu Zhiwen and Li Ying, who had seen much of the world, were astonished by.

"Not bad!"

Zhang He said with no small amount of pride, "Those yellow-feathered chickens sell very well in Ding'an City. A yellow-feathered chicken with a purchase price of 400 wen can be sold for a high price of 700 wen in the county town. I made a total of 120 taels of silver from 300 yellow-feathered chickens!"

Of course, the bulk of the profit came from the yellow-feathered chickens. Twenty yellow-feathered chickens sold for 2240 taels of silver, bringing the total profit to 2450 taels!

hiss!

Li Hu and his two companions gasped in shock, exchanging bewildered glances.

When Zhang He set off for Chenjia Village, he took a total of 500 taels of silver with him, but when he returned from Ding'an City, he brought back 2450 taels of silver, nearly five times the amount!

They knew that doing business could make money, but they didn't know they could make money this way. In just five days, their initial investment had increased fivefold...

"Good good!"

Li Hu laughed heartily, patted Zhang He on the shoulder and said, "Brother Zhang, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. You really are a man who can accomplish great things!"

Xu Zhiwen also cast an admiring glance at Zhang He. Although he never embezzled, it did not mean that he did not love money. No one in this world does not love money, and Xu Zhiwen was no exception.

However, a gentleman loves money but earns it in a proper way. He disdains money earned through corruption, but he can accept money earned through business without any psychological burden!

after all……

The laws of the Xia Kingdom do not include a provision prohibiting officials from engaging in commerce.

Even if it did exist, it wouldn't matter.

Take those high-ranking officials in the capital, for example, which one of them doesn't have relatives in business?

On the one hand, they outwardly appear virtuous and disdainful of merchants, while on the other hand, they secretly use their power to make money through business. This is the norm for officials in the Xia Kingdom.

According to the previously agreed profit-sharing ratio, Li Hu, as the person who invested the most money, can get 40% of the profits, Zhang Hezuo, as the leader, can get 30%, and Xu Zhiwen can also get 30%!

Based on this ratio, of the 1960 taels of profit, Xu Zhiwen could receive 588 taels, nearly 600 taels of silver...

A smile unconsciously crept onto Xu Zhiwen's lips.

"Master Li, County Magistrate."

Just as the two were getting excited, Zhang He said, "I don't plan to take a cut of this money. Instead, I intend to reinvest it to expand the business. I wonder..."

"no problem!"

Before Zhang He could finish speaking, Li Hu waved his hand and said generously, "I'm not in a hurry to divide the money. Brother Zhang, you can handle it as you see fit!"

Li Hu wasn't stupid; he knew very well that instead of distributing dividends early, it was better to reinvest the money and expand the business.

500 taels of silver can earn you 2450 taels, 2450 taels, that's more than you can earn, if this cycle continues...

Li Hu could almost picture his warehouse overflowing with gold and silver.

"Brother Zhang, I've prepared a celebration feast for you. Let's drink and eat meat today!"

Soon, tables were set up in Li Hu's house, and fine wine and dishes were served to entertain Zhang He and his party.

Meanwhile, in Chenjia Village, Chen Dao is cultivating new plants.

Fast-growing cabbage.

Features: Heat-resistant, fast-growing.

This is a new vegetable variety that Chen Dao has just cultivated using Chinese cabbage from the Xia Kingdom.

The average growing temperature for ordinary Chinese cabbage is around 10 to 22 degrees Celsius. However, the fast-growing Chinese cabbage cultivated by Chen Dao is heat-resistant. According to Chen Dao's own estimation, it can adapt to temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius and has the characteristic of rapid growth. It should not be a problem to meet the vegetable needs of Chenjia Village.

As we all know, if people only eat staple foods and meat, they will often lack vitamins, leading to various health problems. Therefore, Chen Dao specially cultivated this type of cabbage and plans to plant it together with high-yield wheat.

As for rice, a common staple food...

The fields in Chenjia Village and Xiaohe Village are dry fields, which are not suitable for planting, so there is no plan to cultivate Chen rice.

"Cheng-ge'er".

Chen Dao turned his gaze away from the fast-growing cabbage seeds and said to Chen Cheng, "Get ready, we're going to the county town tomorrow."

"okay."

…………

…………

The following day, in Taiping County, at the Fuhu Boxing Gym.

Li Hu and Xu Zhiwen, who were chatting over tea, saw Chen Dao arrive.

"Young friend Chen, it's been a long time!"

Xu Zhiwen greeted Chen Dao with a smile.

Li Hu then stood up enthusiastically, pulled Chen Dao to sit down on a chair next to him, and said with a big smile, "Young friend Chen, did you bring any new breeds of chickens with you this time?"

"without!"

Chen Dao shook his head and replied, "This time I brought the Crimson Blood Chicken again."

"Red Blood Chicken is also good!"

Li Hu wasn't disappointed. Although he could no longer use the Crimson Blood Chicken, Li Ying and Han Meng could. Besides...

He could also resell the Crimson Chicken to the owners of two other martial arts schools, earning a considerable profit from the difference.

Chen Dao nodded, picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and then said calmly, "Your Excellency, Master Li, how is the matter of the martial arts technique progressing?"

This was the matter that Chen Dao was most concerned about when he came to the county town.

His martial arts realm had reached the peak of the seventh rank, but due to the lack of cultivation techniques, he was stuck at the peak of the seventh rank and could not break through, which made Chen Dao somewhat anxious.

"The matter of cultivation techniques is not easy to handle!"

Xu Zhiwen put down his teacup and sighed softly, saying, "According to the information I have gathered, there are only three families in the county town that possess mid-grade martial arts techniques: the Zheng family, where the county magistrate resides; the Wang family; and the Suiyue Martial Arts School, the largest martial arts school in the county town. The people I sent have all personally visited them to request the techniques, but they have all been refused."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dao frowned and said, "May the county magistrate explain in detail?"

"Of course it's no problem."

Xu Zhiwen paused, organized his thoughts, and then slowly said, "The Zheng family, the family of the Taicang Prefect, is the most powerful force in the entire Taicang Prefecture."