Zhang Ling's wedding was said to be a grand affair, but in the end it wasn't very exaggerated. He had no local party members, no relatives, and only a few friends here, so he couldn't invite many relatives and friends. If he really invites people indiscriminately, it will become an opportunity to make money. Not to mention whether he thinks about it or not, this is Qiongzhou Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Shorthair!
Doing this under the nose of that "Mr. Zhao"? Even if Zhang Ling belonged to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he would not have the courage.
Although the scale was small, the ceremony was still very grand. Zhang Ling specially hired a "wedding company" that had just emerged in Qiongzhou Prefecture to take care of everything. He didn't have to worry about anything except paying for it. Those people were indeed professionals. At least they fully achieved the kind of attention and pampering that Zhang Ling expected for the bride. Some appropriate little games and little noises at the wedding also perfectly exaggerated the festive atmosphere.
It’s just that Zhang Xiaomei is a little dissatisfied. She keeps trying to persuade her sister-in-law to wear that Western-style white wedding dress, which is also available for rent at the wedding company. Her sister-in-law was indeed very moved. She tried it on several times privately and spent money to rent it back. But when it came time to actually attend the ceremony, he still didn't have the nerve to wear it out, so he still changed into the traditional red Jifu, which made Zhang Ling's suit rent for nothing.
Of course, Zhang Ling has been here for several years. Although there are not many local relatives, he has still made a few friends. If others don't tell me, those officials of the Ming Dynasty on Hainan Island will definitely want to show their respect. The theory of separate paths for civil and military affairs is no longer popular here. They are all loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty here, and it is natural for them to have close contact with each other.
So on the day of Zhang Ling’s wedding, all the Ming Dynasty civil servants and military generals on Hainan Island were present, and several tables were filled. The main reason is that many people came from the civil service system headed by the prefect Cheng Yegao, but the number of military ministers was not large. After all, Short Hair allowed the Ming Dynasty to send civil servants to the island, but military generals were strictly restricted. In addition to Zhang Ling himself, there is only one local Jinyi Guard Commander Zhou Sheng here, and they have always had a close relationship. Especially Zhou Sheng's wife, she quickly became best friends with Mrs. Zhang, and played a great role in helping her adapt to the local area and quickly integrate into the unique living atmosphere of Hainan Island.
But the most eye-catching thing in the wedding banquet hall that day was the table number 1 of friends and family. The people sitting on this table were all real shorthairs, and there were quite a few of them. Not only Zhao Lide, but also Chi Zhengjie and others who were originally in Qiongzhou Prefecture, including Beiwei, the most famous general of the Qiong Navy, also made a special trip from Lingao to attend Zhang Ling's wedding, and at the same time brought congratulations from friends there.
Zhang Ruheng has a good relationship with short-haired people. Many people have heard of this. It is precisely because of this that he can continue to lead troops on Hainan Island as a general. But how good this relationship really is can only be seen at times like this.
"Say thank you to Boss Xie for me."
During the toast, Zhang Ling whispered to Bei Wei. The latter didn't know what Jie Xi had talked about with him, but he still smiled and nodded in agreement. After that, Zhao Lide, Chi Zhengjie and others came up one after another to toast and congratulate. After the drinking session was over and everyone sat down at the table again, under Chi Zhengjie's gaze, Beiwei took out a paper bag and handed it to Zhang Ling.
"Lao Zhang, it's a great wedding. Brothers have joined forces to help you get involved. It can be regarded as everyone's support."
Zhang Ling took it, thanked him, and was about to hand it to Zhang Xiaomei next to him to put it away. She is responsible for collecting red envelopes today. Zhao Lide motioned for him to open it and take a look. Zhang Ling was stunned. Chinese people are not used to receiving gifts and then opening them in person, but Bei Lai also let him open them. So Zhang Ling opened the paper bag, and inside was a set of documents, including house deeds, land deeds, and a booklet with a list of real estate properties.
Zhang Ling was suddenly a little surprised that this gift was a bit heavy.
"A manor, or a plantation. It is just fifty miles east of Qiongzhou Mansion. It is the first batch of commercial real estate we launched. There is already a ready-made house there and fifty acres of cultivated land. But the manor The land area is 500 acres, and the rest is still wasteland. You have to find people to cultivate it yourself, and you will definitely have to arrange for manpower to manage it."
Chi Zhengjie briefly introduced the essence of the gift, but Zhang Ling hesitated and said:
"But there are not many people in our family here, and it is impossible for me to go to the countryside to work in farming."
"Of course you don't need to take care of it yourself, just arrange for management personnel, such as Mrs. Sister-in-law. We provide a full set of services. What we sell to customers is not only the land and houses, but also the subsequent care of the business: including how the plantation should be In terms of business operations, which agricultural products will be the best-selling ones, there will be corresponding farm teams to provide services for you no matter how you grow them.”
"The service fees for the first three years are included in the real estate sales price. Generally speaking, within three years, the farmers recruited by your family should be able to take over, right?"If that doesn't work, you can still hire those work teams to continue working, but of course you have to pay. Or you can rent the land directly to the farm and let them pay you rent regularly. "
Chi Zhengjie obviously talked about this with people a lot during this time, and he spoke very well. And Zhang Ling was indeed like those customers. His eyes lit up at first. The conditions were indeed very good, not to mention that he didn't have to pay for it himself.
After just a moment, Zhang Ling sighed in a low voice:
"I am the eldest son in the family. If I settle down here, how will my parents fulfill their filial piety?"
Anyone else would have no hesitation in the face of such good things, but after all, Zhang Ling was a very traditional Ming Dynasty person. He accepted the new ideas of short hair here, but the concept of loyalty, filial piety, and justice that he had cultivated since childhood would not change. He is the eldest son and the heir to the entire family. Responsible for the family, and the roots of the Baoji Zhang family are in Shaanxi.
"Didn't I say that you have been expelled from the family? Last time you got your brothers up to drink in the middle of the night and made a fuss most of the night. It seems that it was because you received a letter from home saying that your father personally threw your name tag out of the ancestral hall?"
Beiwei is really quite straightforward. He said this without any concealment. Zhang Ling smiled bitterly and said in a low voice:
"This time I put it back quietly."
Next to her, Zhang Xiaomei also raised her hand:
“I just sneaked in and released it in the middle of the night!”
"Well"
Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment, but after a while, Zhao Lide smiled and said:
"It's not really a trouble. Just because you have an industry here doesn't mean you won't go back to your hometown in the future. Let's go and have a look in a few days. That place is really nice."
A few days later, at the invitation of Chi Zhengjie and others, Zhang Ling took his newlywed wife, younger brothers and sisters and other people to visit the new manor that belonged to him. The group of people traveled on horseback and headed east along the newly built road, which was very smooth. But half a day later we arrived at the end of the field.
The scale of Zhuangzi is indeed not large. It is very large and beautiful in the picture book. In fact, what is actually developed is only a core residential area and the surrounding forty or fifty acres of land.
But just this is enough to make Zhang Ling and others feel relaxed and happy. The house is a standard wooden house with assembled structure like Qiong Haijun's. It is simple, lightweight and very practical. Moreover, the layout is very delicate and reasonable, and you will feel attracted to staying there at first sight.
Around the residential area, there are ponds, fruit trees, chicken and duck sheds, pig pens and other facilities distributed in order. Chickens and ducks are running around in the yard, and piglets are chirping in the pigpen. There are farm staff taking care of them, creating an idyllic scene in a farmhouse.
Zhang Ling has been involved in the military in recent years and has never been exposed to farm work. But his brother Zhang Lu and those relatives who just came from Shaanxi are different. They are said to be from a general family, but in fact they still deal with land most of the time. But how can the cultivated land in Shaanxi be the same as here? compared to? At this time, seeing such a small and exquisite farmhouse, but well-equipped with everything, which was far beyond the imagination of these Shaanxi farmers in every aspect, all of them couldn't help but cheer. Then he ran over like a child, looking here and there, looking even more innocent than Zhang Xiaomei.
Zhang Ling was quite calm. He looked around and suddenly asked:
"Why not grow food?"
The nearby fields are all planted with sugar cane, and the green stalks are being harvested. And this question also made Chi Zhengjie couldn't help laughing. Almost all the customers he has received recently will ask this question. The Chinese people's habit of storing grain is really engraved in their bones.
"Because grain is not valuable. Others don't know it. Lao Zhang, you who directly manage the dock don't you know? How much grain do we import from those places in Annan and Siam every year! The best Siamese rice on the market only costs one dollar a stone. , equivalent to five taels of silver, the land in Hainan Island is barren and is not suitable for growing food, and we cannot sell it at a good price. Even if the weather is good and there are no accidents, we still can’t make a profit after taking into account labor, taxes and various costs. How much, if there is a natural disaster, we might lose money."
"But growing sugar cane is different. The cane sugar business here is very prosperous. You who manage the dock must know it well. Every thousand kilograms of sugar cane can produce one hundred to one hundred and twenty kilograms of raw sugar. There is a lot of sugar cane on the market." A load of cane sugar costs nearly seven yuan, which is about three and a half taels of silver. The climate in Hainan is the most suitable for growing sugar cane, and the yield per mu here can reach 8,000 kilograms. Even if the sugar factory makes half of it, after deducting taxes and fees, It’s no problem that one acre of land can produce five or six taels of silver every year. Fifty acres of land here can earn 300 taels of silver every year. And Lao Zhang, don’t forget, these fifty acres are just a demonstration area. As long as you find We have enough manpower to cultivate all these 500 acres of land. The market price of this manor is 5,000 yuan.?If the business is well run, it will only take one or two years to recover the capital. "