979 Buying the mountain Her family's expression if possible only became even more puzzled, seeing this Yu Dong sighed and then said seriously, " Grandma, everyone…have you forgotten? The last time we were attacked by the Big Stone Village—— they used the barren mountain to cross over to our village?"
Grandma Yu's eyes narrowed as she said in an annoyed voice, " How can we forget that, those people almost killed us all. They even tried to harm a few mers and children when their wives were taken away by Magistrate Li!"
After the New Year, Yu Dong went to the town and handed her testimony to the Yamen officer and because this matter was much bigger than the one that the head of the Yamen could suppress, she could only ignore the pleading of her sister-in-law who was the head of the Big Stone Village.
Once the matter was settled the women who joined their hands in cannibalistic activities in the Big Stone Village were taken away by the yamen officers, ever since then the mers and the elderlies of that village would try to attack their village something that annoyed the villagers of the Big River Village a lot.
But the barren mountains were not under the governance of anyone, not even Yu Dong who owned the entire land of their village. Which gave the villagers of the Big Stone Village a lot of courage and advantage while attacking their villagers!
"That's exactly what I am trying to say," Yu Dong had a serious expression on her face as she continued speaking, " And the situation in the upcoming days will become even worse. As you already know because of the untimely flood, the crops of many villages were destroyed…some even lost their lands and had to move to another village. At the current moment when the imperial family is in turmoil, there is no way they will come to our aid, the situation if possible is going to become even worse."
Her words caused the entire family to turn serious because what Yu Dong said was indeed right, the imperial city had yet to send any help to the villages who lost their livelihood. Because of the sudden onslaught of tragedies, many villagers had to move to another place and yet they were not allocated any land as the officials were busy in their own duties.
Though some honest officers like Magistrate Li tried to help the villagers who left their lands, it was a situation of trying to quench one's thirst by drinking the morning dew.
" I have taken a look around the forest and mountain after the snow started to melt and unfortunately for us, I found a lot of locust larvae buried under the small holes of trees or under the ground," Yu Dong had indeed taken a look at the forest because she did not wish for the locust larvae to hatch in the mountains when they were not paying attention. " The heavy rainfall together with the flood had hitched up the numbers of the locust larvae found in the summers, if we are not prepared then I am afraid that we will have nothing when the locust plague arrives."
" What a locust plague ?" Old Madam Fang was stunned as she turned to look at Fang Chi in shock but when she saw that the mer was as calm as a cucumber she understood that Yu Dong had told her husbands about the locust plague long ago.
Even Old Madam Yu and Yu Tong's hearts couldn't help but shudder, A locust plague..doesn't it mean that the summers of this year were going to be extra hot? What if the temperature rises another notch and drought happens?
No wonder Yu Dong was asking the workers to dig as many wells in the village as possible it was because she wanted to make sure that there would be no lack of water in the summer.
"If a locust plague happens then I am afraid that the villagers of the other villages wouldn't sit still, especially the people from the Big Stone Village. They hate us a bit too much," Grandma Yu considered the problems that might arise once the locust plague happens. " Once the plague hits no matter how much we try to hold them back they will try to attack our village and God forbids if a drought was to take place then our village will be the first to be attacked as we not only have streams but also the ocean."
Shen Li nodded as he worriedly hugged Shen Jin and then said, " Grandmother is right. Once the locust plague takes place …. We will become the target of many people. However, if we buy the barren mountains, how will it help us? That place is not fertile and no one will be willing to farm on that place… it will remain abandoned —— in that case wouldn't it still allow others to enter our village as they wanted?"
Hearing his question Yu Dong smiled politely and then shook her head as she replied, " I know what you are worried about which is why I am thinking of turning that barren land into a mountain to raise livestock. Since we are going to start selling meat in our shop as well—— then it will not be enough to raise our livestock on farms alone." Her eyes were filled with determination and seriousness as she continued, "As long as we maintain the same quality for everything I am sure we will have trouble in selling our animal-based products either. The restaurants in the town often come to buy our vegetables in bulk, don't they? I am sure they will come to buy the meat and milk that we are going to start selling in our shop."
Yu Dong tapped her fingers on the armrest of the chair on which she was sitting then said in a confident voice, " If we are raising livestock there, then we can arrange for some women to guard the barren mountains. If there is nothing then no one will be willing to guard that place but in case we were to start raising our livestock there, I am sure the guards hired by us would pay extra attention to the animals and whats more if we use that mountain to raise our livestock…then in case someone tries to infiltrate our village, the animals will alert us by making noises."
Shen Li and the rest frowned while Old Madam Yu and Yu Tong thought of this matter seriously.
A moment later, Ye Liu opened his mouth and then asked, " I am not against raising our livestock on that mountain but even if that mountain is not as big as the one behind our house. It's not that small either, If we raise a mountain worth of animals then how will we take care of those livestock? And what's more, once we start selling our animals and plant products at such a large scale then we will end up standing out too much. What if someone eyes our business and tries to create problems for us?"
Ye Liu knew that there was something fishy going on, Yu Dong had closed the shop in the capital and never once brought up the matter of opening that shop again. She had completely pulled herself back from the capital and what's more, Ye Liu had heard from the villagers that someone in the town was asking about the inventor of the rice bran oil. Because everyone's benefits were attached to the mill that was running in their village no one dared to give out Yu Dong's name but it was enough to let others know that Yu Dong was being targeted and thus Ye Liu did not wish for his wife to attract any more attention.
Yu Dong had indeed thought of this matter before but she had come up with a way to handle the matter which was why she calmly smiled and then replied, " There is no need for you to worry about this, I have already told Magistrate Li about my plans and she has agreed to help me in hiding my identity. The shop though under my name will now be shown as a property that is owned by Marquis Qiao, I am sure even those who are trying to pry into our lives would think twice before trying to attack us."
When the mers heard Yu Dong's response they were still a bit worried but they knew that buying the barren mountain and making use of it was important and thus they softly sighed before Shen Li agreed with a gentle nod, " If you have thought everything through then go ahead, Dong Dong. I will not stop you from buying that mountain."
Ye Liu also nodded after carefully thinking and then said, "You have my support too but what are we going to do about butchers?"
At that moment, Chen Mi raised his hand and then said hurriedly, " Ooh, Ooh! I can ask my mother to come with my sisters and start living in our village. You might not know this but my elder sister is very good with her butchering skills !"
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Tomorrow is my birthday and I will be taking two days off hehe.
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