Chapter 522 The Prodigal Son
One of the two manor houses costs 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver, and the value of more than 100 shops is more than 300,000 taels of silver. Together, it is enough for 400,000 taels of silver.
The remaining eight manor houses are enough for the daily needs of this large family, and they can also save some money to buy some dowry for her two unmarried daughters.
The head of the farm was a little disappointed that he couldn't buy more manors, but two were better than none.
The next step was to negotiate the price, and Mrs. Ma said, "Since you have gone to see it, you know that our Ma family's land is the best and the flattest, and the annual harvest is the highest within a hundred miles. Now, I sell it to you at the market price. To be honest, it is our Ma family that has lost money. But a loss is a loss. The Ma family has suffered. We are willing to go through this hurdle, but we can’t lose too much. This price cannot be less than a penny. If you are willing, I will personally take you to the manor. Take a look, if you don’t want to, then send the guest off.”
This tone gave Xia Zihan no room for bargaining.
However, Xia Zihan came here not to pick up bargains, but to get this opportunity. As long as the Ma family is willing to sell, it is an opportunity.
After agreeing on the price, Xia Zihan followed Mrs. Ma to the manor.
Ma's Manor is on the outskirts of the city, ten miles away from Huaihe City. The carriage left the city and walked for half an hour.
The people in the manor were notified in advance. When they arrived, the long-term workers and village heads of the two manors, as well as the general steward, stood at the door of the manor to greet them.
It is said to be the entrance of the manor, but in fact, it is the entrance of a three-entry house. The sign hanging on the house says Ma's Manor, and there are two small characters next to it, which says No. 9.
This should be the ninth manor of the Ma family.
Behind the house, there is endless land. This land is exactly what the head of the farm said. It is very flat and there is no slope at all. At a glance, you can tell that it is good land.
Such a good land would only suffer for the Ma family. Otherwise, the Ma family would not be willing to sell it easily.
There are large courtyards at regular intervals along the road. According to the manager of the Ma family, each large manor here is divided into ten small villages. The courtyard is the courtyard of each village. The village heads and long-term workers of each village lived in it.
The people who farm the land in the Ma family hire long-term workers. They have been farming for decades and are very familiar with farming. They are all old farmers. Moreover, all of these old farmers have been with the Ma family for more than ten years. , a person who has been working for decades, is a long-term worker of the Ma family and is loyal to the Ma family.
A group of people entered the manor. The head of the farm lowered his head from time to time, twisting some geographical soil to check the soil quality.
The steward of the manor pointed to a large pond in the distance covering an area of three or four acres. "That is a water storage pond. One is built on every farm and is connected to the ditch at the head of the paddy field. Whenever there is a drought in the summer, , by opening the gate on the edge of the pond, the food in the paddy field can be saved. There are also many fish and shrimps in the pond, and there is a lot of profit throughout the year. ”
"This is well built." The head of the farm nodded and praised, "The ancestor of the Ma family is a smart farmer. When building this pond, he thought of everything." The land of an ordinary farmer's family, They are reluctant to waste land digging ditches on their own land. For farmers, it is better to plant more rice and produce food than to waste water in ditches. And if the ditches are not dry, it is a waste.
Therefore, there are basically no ditches on farmers' land, but the land here is very flat and neat. Ditches have been dug at both ends of each piece of land, and reservoirs have also been built. You know, here In each large manor, there are ten small villages, which means that in a large manor, ten water storage ponds must be built, which is not a small area.
Adding up the ponds and ditches, a village would have to waste at least ten acres of land.
But the ancestors of the Ma family knew how to sacrifice the small for the big, and were willing to implement it. For this reason, the head of the farm, who had been farming all his life, admired him very much.
The steward led the head of the farm and Steward Cui Er to look at the villages one by one, while Xia Zihan stood at the edge of the field and looked into the distance.
Mrs. Ma stayed by her side and told her, "The Ma family used to be big landowners. Most of the land in Huaihe City is owned by people named Ma. There are more than forty or fifty such large estates, and the streets It can be said that most of the shops on the street were built by people named Ma.”
Mrs. Ma said slowly.
"Later, a prodigal ancestor appeared in the Ma family who was fond of gambling. In just two years, he lost nearly half of the Ma family's property."
"The old ancestor was imprisoned in the cellar by his father. He didn't leave the cellar for half a year. After he came out, he was kicked out of the house. His father only gave him ten taels of silver as payment and let him go out and work for three years. Within three years, , not allowed to go home.”
"This ancestor later quit gambling and became obedient. When he came back three years later, he brought back a young wife."
"I thought that the Ma family's life would be as prosperous as before. Who knew that this old ancestor had been obedient for decades, but when he got old, he fell in love with a little girl. That little girl was the child of the neighbor next door. , she is more than enough to be his granddaughter... But he fell in love with her, so much that he would never give the little girl the moon when she asked for stars. He wished he could tie the little girl to his belt when he walked..."
"When I went to the little girl's house to propose marriage, her parents asked for half of the Ma family's property. My ancestor didn't even hesitate. He gave half of the Ma family's property to the girl's family as a betrothal gift."
"When he was young, he lost half of the Ma family's property in gambling, and when he was old, he lost half of the other half. Later, the Ma family became like this."
"After that, there was no powerful figure in the Ma family, and the number of heirs was getting smaller and smaller year by year. When it came to these three generations, they were all passed down by a single generation. My master's generation almost had no descendants... At least we have one. But something like this happened to a son. Now it's better. Half of the Ma family's property has been lost again. Alas... Now that the Ma family is in this situation, I don't know that in two generations, the descendants of the Ma family will be like this. , can we still eat?”
Mrs. Ma sighed for a while, but she didn't look sad. Maybe it was because she didn't give birth to a son, right?
She didn't give birth to a son, so it has nothing to do with her how much property the Ma family will have left in the future. What she wants is to have a good life while she is alive, and that is enough. As for the Ma family's sons, they are not hers. Yes, it's none of her business, so she happily agreed to County Magistrate Guo and spent a huge sum of 400,000 taels of silver to redeem Master Ma, right?
(End of chapter)