The transport fee was only ten taels. Of course, traveling from Hetou Village to Jizhou by horse-drawn carriage would take at least four or five days. Including food and drink along the way, the few hundred coins earned from selling cabbage would likely all be spent. However, ten taels of silver would definitely be pure profit.
Unfortunately, even with this calculation, not much money would be spent. Fifty cartloads of cabbage, ten thousand plants, the transport fee would only be five hundred taels, and buying the cabbage would be merely twenty taels. To Tian Wenhao, this was pocket change.
However, if a few hundred taels could repay Liu Rumei a great favor, Tian Wenhao would be more than happy.
Besides, if Chen Xiaobei and his men delivered the cabbage to Jizhou, and then Tian Wenhao sent soldiers to transport it to the border, Chen Xiaobei and his men would not face any danger.
Of course, Chen Xiaobei was well aware of Tian Wenhao's good intentions. At this point, there was no point in refusing. He bowed to Tian Wenhao.
"Then everything will be as Lord Tian arranges. Thank you, Lord Tian."
Tian Wenhao downed his tea and stood up with a smile, "No problem, no problem. There is a military supply station in Jizhou City. You just need to deliver it there."
As he spoke, Tian Wenhao took out a tiger-head waist token from his sleeve and placed it on the table. "Two hundred plants per cart. Someone will be here to count them into the inventory. Please arrange it properly."
With that, Tian Wenhao turned and left.
After seeing Tian Wenhao off, Chen Xiaobei immediately made arrangements.
He first called Chen Xiaowen over. He explained in detail about transporting the cabbage to Jizhou.
"Xiaowen, then this matter is entrusted to you."
Chen Xiaowen's eyes flickered with hesitation. He tentatively said, "Brother Xiaobei, why don't you accompany me the first time? I'm a little scared..."
Chen Xiaobei smiled calmly and stuffed the tiger-head token into his hand. "You are the transport captain, what are you afraid of? You know how many eyes are watching you. Think about Mudan, are you still afraid?"
Hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, Chen Xiaowen puffed out his chest, and the hesitation in his eyes turned into determination. "Brother Xiaobei is right. I'm not afraid. I told Mudan that I am the transport captain now, and I am in charge of this delivery."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "Yes, that's right. Plan your journey carefully. Set off at dawn, and find an inn to stay before sunset. We don't need to rush by a day or half a day. The key is to deliver the cabbage safely."
Chen Xiaowen nodded, "Brother Xiaobei, I understand. Besides their three meals a day, the people transporting the cabbage will get an extra fifty coins in wages. What do you think?"
Fifty coins was perfectly acceptable to Chen Xiaobei, especially since they would earn ten taels of silver in transport fees for this trip.
Chen Xiaowen bid farewell to Chen Xiaobei and went down the mountain to the cabbage field. The members of the transport team were all busy harvesting cabbage at this time.
Xiaobei clapped his hands and shouted to everyone, "Everyone, stop for a moment. I have something to say."
Soon, everyone stopped their work and gathered around.
"Listen to me, everyone. We need to deliver some cabbage to Jizhou. Each cart will carry two hundred plants."
"We will deliver it all the way to Jizhou. The daily wage is fifty coins, and food and lodging will be provided by the village."
Upon hearing this, everyone responded enthusiastically, "No problem, no problem. Captain Xiaowen, I'll go, I'll go."
Seeing everyone's eager response, Chen Xiaowen nodded, "Okay, then it's settled. Let's load the cabbage first, then go home to pack, and we'll set off."
There were six horse-drawn carts and over a dozen people on site. Chen Xiaowen didn't have a clear idea and simply called everyone to prepare for departure.
Chen Xiaobei didn't really mind. In his opinion, it didn't make much difference whether there was one more person or one less, nor would it cost much more money.
However, after these people set off, Liu Rumei came to find him.
"Brother Xiaobei, there are six carts of cabbage in total, why did over a dozen people go? This won't do."
Chen Xiaobei smiled, "It's nothing. Lord Tian gave ten taels as a reward anyway. They won't each get much."
Liu Rumei's expression turned serious, "Brother Xiaobei, you can't say that."
"Haven't you heard that idle people are lazy?"
Chen Xiaobei was taken aback. He had often heard this saying in his past life, and he didn't expect Liu Rumei to know it too.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei's stunned look, Liu Rumei continued, "Brother Xiaobei, look, over a dozen people driving six carts. There are always a few people with idle jobs. Going along for a day is fifty coins, and working hard to drive is also fifty coins. If this happens once or twice, people won't feel anything, but over time, some people will naturally feel unbalanced."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "Yes, you're right. I didn't think it through enough. How about this, next time, only a few of them will go."
Seeing that Chen Xiaobei had accepted her suggestion, Liu Rumei was also very happy.
Then she handed him a piece of paper with a smile. "This is a list of Liu Tie and Liu Ce, a total of twenty-eight people. Can you arrange some work for them? They can't just eat for free every day, that would deplete their resources."
Chen Xiaobei was troubled by this.
"Rumei, you know the situation in the village. In winter, it's mainly Dayong who leads them to burn charcoal."
"As for other things, the village temporarily..."
Liu Rumei smiled slightly, "That's good. Burning charcoal is also good, at least there's something to do. Also, from what I know, wealthy families in the county town burn charcoal for heating in winter."
Chen Xiaobei smiled, "Someone is already doing it in the county town. If you want to burn it, we'll have to sell it to farther places."
"Okay, okay, that can be arranged too. I'll contact the prefectures and counties later. Don't worry, I'll handle the charcoal sales."
Seeing Liu Rumei's excited look, Chen Xiaobei knew that given Liu Rumei's status, many people would give her face. Short-term sales would be no problem, at least for this winter. As for next year, it was hard to say, so they would have to find other industries after spring.
But that was a matter for the future. They should focus on the present.
"Alright, then ask Steward Liu and the others later. If they are willing to burn charcoal, I will have Dayong arrange for more kilns to be built."
Liu Rumei returned to her residence and called Liu Tie and Liu Ce over to tell them her plan.
Liu Ce and Liu Tie exchanged glances, full of surprise.
"Miss, you really want us to burn charcoal? I think it would be better to go back to the county town. There are many businesses there. We could trade in cloth and silk, or cosmetics."
"Exactly, exactly. Even opening a general store would be less strenuous than burning charcoal."
Hearing their discussion, Liu Rumei shook her head slightly.
"You two still don't understand my intention. As the saying goes, 'marry a chicken, follow a chicken; marry a dog, follow a dog.' If we go to the county town and start a business, people will gossip."
Only then did Liu Tie and Liu Ce understand Liu Rumei's thoughts.
"Miss is right. We didn't consider it thoroughly. Now that His Majesty's suspicion towards our Liu family has just subsided, if there are any more disturbances, we might arouse suspicion again."