Harem Daily Life

Chapter 254: Opening up new ways to make money

When seeing Xiangcao again, Tao Yanyan was a little hesitant to recognize her.

"Who... who scratched your face like this?"

Although Vanilla looks average, she definitely doesn't have scars on her face.

Xiangcao immediately explained: "I scratched it myself. In order to avoid being recognized and causing trouble for you, I scratched my face and changed my name. Now I am called Taoxiang."

Tao Yanyan held her hand: "You, why are you so stupid? Since I can rescue you, I naturally have the ability to protect you." She looked at Tao Xiang's face carefully. Fortunately, the wound was not deep. She didn't know if asking Doctor Liu to prescribe some high-quality scar cream would be effective. Tao Yanyan decided to go back and ask first, and then tell this silly girl when she was sure.

Seeing her look of pity, Tao Xiang comforted her: "Don't worry, my lady. It doesn't matter if my appearance is ruined. Compared with staying in the cold palace all my life, my life now is really better than ever. By the way, I have accepted Aunt Zhao as my stepmother. She treats me like her own daughter. Everything is good here. Manager Yu also takes good care of me and assigned me work in the workshop. I can get one or two taels of silver a month, which is already very good."

Seeing that she was content, Tao Yanyan didn't say anything else. He just told her not to do stupid things in the future, and then started asking about the recruitment and training of staff in the workshop.

After all, Tao Xiang had worked in the palace. Compared with the tenants who could only farm, she could speak and write, which immediately made her superior. Especially in front of a nobleman like Tao Yanyan who came out of the palace, Tao Xiang's performance was even better. Manager Yu had a smile on his face and glanced at Tao Xiang from time to time with eyes full of admiration.

After Tao Xiang finished speaking, Tao Yanyan said, "There are several workshops. One is an oil press workshop. The oil yield is probably less than 20%, at most 15%. You can make compost out of the waste from oil presses and put it back into the field. The soil will be fertile. A noodle workshop is mainly about air drying and air drying. You need to find people who are clean and refreshing. Another one is a bean product workshop. It needs to be fresh every day. The management must be in place and there must be no food safety issues."

Everyone listened to what Concubine Tao said. Although some of the words were very new, they could still understand them by half guessing and half guessing, so they all nodded in agreement.

"You guys work hard, and I won't treat you unfairly by the end of this year." He ended with an encouraging tone and a big promise, saying that Tao Yanyan's trip was a complete success.

After bringing Manager Li back to the city, Manager Li also took a carriage to make it easier to discuss things.

"Tao Zhaoyi, we have already counted the grain yesterday, and the Ministry of Revenue has also written a note. So far, we have sold 30,000 taels of grain, which is neither a loss nor a profit. If we want to increase our income compared to last year, I'm afraid we have to think of a way. In addition, the remaining grain is only enough for three months, which means we will run out of food in April. What should we do before the first batch of new grain arrives in September?"

Manager Li was really worried. He was panicking because he had no food!

Tao Yanyan said: "Don't touch the food prepared for the palace. The imperial farm is to provide these grains for the royal family. When the output is high, it will be a business. Don't put the cart before the horse. Today I looked at the construction progress of this workshop. It is estimated that it will be completed by the end of February. The staff have been trained in advance, and they can be put into production as soon as it is completed. The processed grain products can make much more money than simply selling grain."

Tao Yanyan is confident that as long as the products are produced, they will be able to sell for a good price.

Manager Li was relieved and listened to Tao Yanyan's words: "Besides, we have adjusted the crops we plant this year, and are planning to plant fruit trees and increase breeding. I believe that our income will be able to increase."

Manager Li nodded: "What Tao Zhaoyi said makes sense. Your words are like a reassurance to me. It really works!"

Li Zongguan's eyes sparkled, and he was filled with passion. Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "I'll have to trouble Li Zongguan to arrange everything carefully. When the year-end settlement is over 200,000 taels, His Majesty will be pleased and there will definitely be a reward."

Li Zongguan smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed and his eyes were not visible: "Oh, serving the master is what I should do, I dare not take credit for it."

Tao Yanyan did not continue this topic, but talked about other imperial farms. Some needed to develop breeding according to local conditions, and some needed to change crops to achieve high yields and good prices.

The two chatted all the way, and the more they talked, the happier Li became. He always felt that he was lucky. Otherwise, how could he meet a master like Tao Zhaoyi who was so smart, capable, and knew everything?

Working for a master like this is so smooth.

When she returned to Changle Palace, the two children had been brought back, and the imperial edict to confer the title of concubine had also arrived.

"It was Eunuch Zhang who came in person to announce the decree and also gave the queen a pair of jade ruyi. I have already put them away." Mingyue said.

Tao Yanyan read the contents of the imperial edict and smiled: "Keep it well. Tomorrow you will give out rewards to everyone, two taels each, so that everyone can share in the joy."

Mingyue happily agreed, and then she talked about the message sent by Concubine De: "You were away during the day, and Yongxing Palace sent someone to ask you to come over this morning. Concubine De has something to ask. I asked around for a long time, and the eunuch who delivered the message said that it might be about the expenditure of the palace. Concubine De asked several people from the palace to come over to discuss it together."

Tao Yanyan was stunned: "She wants to touch this? Oh, how can she be so desperate that she wants to take on this hard bone."

Each person in the harem has a standard expenditure. Tao Yanyan converted it and took her previous Zhaoyi as an example. The monthly silver of 25 taels is equivalent to a monthly salary of 25,000 in the future. Add some materials received, and the monthly amount is about 30,000. The servants around are assigned according to the regulations, and each person is given a monthly allowance. Therefore, the monthly expenditure of a palace is about 60,000, which is converted into 60 taels of silver per month, more than 700 taels a year.

He Linzhang had so many people to support, and the annual expenses for his wives and concubines alone were almost 20,000 taels.

"As a new official, Concubine De is bound to start some fires. I don't know what these fires will burn and whether they will be strong." After Tao Yanyan finished speaking, he stretched and said, "I'll go there after sending the two children off tomorrow. I have to go to bed early today. I need a massage after a tiring day."

Mingyue helped her to the room and massaged her arms and legs. She accidentally saw a mark on her neck and shyly looked away.

The next day, as usual, she sent her two children to elementary school, and then Tao Yanyan went directly to Yongxing Palace. As soon as she entered, she met Wang Zhaoyi and Zhou Jieyu who had arrived earlier.

"Greetings to Concubine Tao." Although the two had been in the palace for a long time, their current positions were lower than Tao Yanyan, and they both looked a little reluctant.