Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 473: The matter of the oil mill

When Su Jing He and Fang Qing found out that she had opened an oil mill, they complained about her being too skilled and immediately ordered 2,000 catties for the Su family each month.
They would have ordered more but knowing that her oil mill couldn’t produce that much in a month, they asked for less.

Fang Qing also joked with Lian Fang Zhou that so many of their friends had praised them for the cotton seeds, she could have opened near their home and never worried about sales.

Lian Fang Zhou was moved.
As soon as her oil mill in Yuhe county was complete, she promoted Li San He and asked him to go to Shuangliu County to build a larger oil mill.

When Fang Qing found out, she took the initative to send an experienced steward to help Li San He with operations.
After spending time in Shuangliu county, Li San He learned a lot from the Su family’s shopkeeper.
He quickly had full authority over Lianji and everything was left to him to manage.

In less than a year, five more oil mills would open up in the neighboring counties.
In two years, they spread out over the southwest, reaching a total of 60 mills!

By that time, Li San He had already become the chief steward of the 60 mills and even owned shares.
Wang Wu, Wang Si, and Li Si were division managers and their annual dividends were very generous.

But this was a later story.

At present, the three other oil businesses were just starting to feel the effects.
Their own businesses were starting to be affected and it was difficult not to pay attention to Lianji.

Lianji didn’t play any tricks or lower their prices but this was because they didn’t lack a few catties.
In fact, this was them being considerate.
If they wanted to, they could have lowered their prices easily.

However, the other stewards did not see this.
All at once, the other three businesses suddenly announced price cuts at the same time, clearly trying to use a price war to bring Lianji down.

Lianji was completely passive.
Their prices dropped as well but they didn’t change the weight and they did not stop adding an extra spoonful or two.

Riding a tiger was difficult to get off.
When the leader of the three saw this, he clenched his teeth and lowered the price again, vowing not to give up until he had broken Lianji! As a result, the lowest preforming of the three suffered heavy losses and could not continue operation, eventually closing their doors.

The remaining two had no choice but to give in and go to the door with gifts, wanting to make peace.

Li San He honestly told them that Lianji had never taken the initiative to fight, he was just following the trend.
As long as they stopped this vicious competition, Lianji would immediately adjust their prices to normal.

The two shopkeepers smiled wryly, secretly ashamed.
They could see things clearly.
Even if they gave up, they were not far from closing their doors.

They were losing money every day and every day they had to grit their teeth and get through it.
The number of customers coming to their door to ask for oil was decreasing by the day, they needed to sell!

In fact, Lianji’s strategy of adding two scoops was only for individual customers, not for big orders.
Wealthy families and businesses did not care about an extra spoonful.

As long as these three businesses had honestly managed their business, it would have been impossible for Lianji to rob their customers completely.

But after such turmoil, one business had closed and the remaining two were severely damaged.
Lianji had miraculously jumped to the top of the list at an incredible speed and had become the leader of the oil industry.

~

At the same time that Lianji Oil Mill opened, the renovations on Luozhi mountain were completed.
The swampy wetlands, which had been covered with deep and shallow clumps of weeds, had completely changed.

Four sparkling fish ponds covered an area of about five to six acres.
There was a wide pond foundation between the ponds and tree pits were built around the area, filled with poplars, willows, and bamboo.
These would absorb the waste from the ponds.

At each counter of the fish pond, there was a warehouse filled with fish feed and a courtyard for the workers was build on the east side.

Below the ponds, a large area had been reclaimed as farm land to grow vegetables.
These would be used to feed the fish, ducks, and chickens in the valley.

The ravines of the valley had been widened and a total of twelve broad shoals were dug, loaded with reeds and water plants.

Scattered around the mountain side, there was also a duck coop and five new chicken coops.
The bare slopes were now covered with tree pits, which would be planted next year.
Only the tops of the mountains still had some large, lush trees which made the mountains seem like a mushroom umbrella.
It was very eye-catching.

The houses at the top of the mountain were still being built.
After they were finished, they would be treated and painted on the inside, to prevent leaks from the wind and rain.
They would look very unique.

After everything was completely, Lian Fang Zhou planned to surround the entire mountain, including the fish ponds and vegetable fields, with a sharp, iron fence.
She had been planning this for a long time and was already hiring people for the work.
She planned to hand over management to Li Wu and buy another six or seven people.
If these were not enough, she would hire people from the nearby villages to help out.

Most importantly, the house in the village was finished.
The courtyard was very spacious, with a front and rear entrance.
There was also an east gate and a small garden.

The house had a total of five rooms and two entrances, with a first and second floor.
The wing and main rooms were all fully furnished.

Lian Fang Zhou had specially designed a clean and convenient toilet and bathroom.
With Su Zi Ji’s help, a lot of things had been accomplished.

The west courtyard would be used as a guestroom and for storing sundries.
The east courtyard would be Lian Che’s study.
Not only was it very large and well-liet, it also had a small rockery in the yard with plum trees and bamboo.
Two waist high porcelain tanks were placed in the yard, fillwed with brightly colored koi fish.

The layout of the study room was bright and clean, with an elegant feeling.
Lian Che liked it very much, the smile on his face was as bright as the sun and he didn’t know how many times he had thanked his sister.

On the day of the move, it was custom to set up a few tables of food to entertain the neighbors and everyone in the village came over.
Seeing the yard and the house was perfectly arranged, everyone was envious and full of praises.

At this time, the ancestral hall and school were still under construction.
Lian Fang Zhou had not only covered the expenses, she also said that she would hire a teacher and that the village children could study for free.

In addition, the top three scorers of the exam each year would receive a gift of books, ink, paper, and inkstones from her.

The villagers were thrilled! Grateful for her kindness, though they were envious, it wasn’t as much as before.

Occasionally someone said a few sour words but before they reached Lian Fang Zhou, someone would already refute it.
Even Madam Qiao couldn’t get a word out.

As Lian Fang Zhou’s family got better and better, everyone started to realize that the better off her family was, the better off the village was.
She was never cruel and had even promised that in the future, whenever her family needed to recruit workers, she would give priority to the people in Dafang village.

This is why, in addition to Li San He, many of the workers at the oil mill were from the village.

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