In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 331 More money is needed

The reason Zheng Qiuyan and Manager Wang brought a large caravan to Chenjia Village this time was because they planned to open a Zheng Bao Lou shop in Taiping County. The goods carried by the caravan would become the first batch of goods for Zheng Bao Lou.

Zheng Baolou often chose to open stores in densely populated cities because only cities had sufficient purchasing power to afford his goods.

As for those located in villages...

"Miss."

Manager Wang pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid this is not a good idea. The total population of Chenjia Village is probably less than 1000, and even with the neighboring Xiaohe Village, the population is less than 3,000. I'm afraid Zheng Baolou will not be able to make a profit by opening a shop here."

"not necessarily!"

Zheng Qiuyan, however, held the opposite opinion: "Although Chenjia Village has a small population, it is growing extremely fast. In just a few months, the population has increased from 500 to 1000, and its development potential is huge."

"But……"

Shopkeeper Wang frowned and said, "The villagers of Chenjia Village are not wealthy. I have inquired about the income of the villagers of Chenjia Village. Apart from a small number of people, the vast majority of them earn only 500 copper coins a month. Even those with larger families earn only two or three taels of silver a month. After filling their stomachs, they probably don't have much left!"

Zheng Baolou primarily targets wealthy urban residents, such as landlords and martial artists, whose families are rich and can provide Zheng Baolou with sufficient income.

But if it were opened in Chenjia Village...

The villagers of Chenjia Village had just finished eating; where would they get the money to buy Zheng Baolou's things?

Of course, Zheng Baolou also sold daily necessities such as grain and salt, but the population of Chenjia Village meant that these goods could not be sold in large quantities.

"Currently, the villagers of Chenjia Village do not have much spare money, but what about the future?"

Zheng Qiuyan countered, "Chenjia Village currently has over a dozen martial artists, and that number will continue to increase in the future. These martial artists alone can bring Zheng Baolou a considerable income. In addition, the villagers of Chenjia Village currently only have an income of five hundred coins a month. But does Manager Wang think their income will always be five hundred coins?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Wang fell into deep thought.

Having been inquiring about Chenjia Village for some time, he knew very well that the situation in Chenjia Village was not static. Several months ago, the villagers of Chenjia Village could not even fill their stomachs, but after the rice sprouted, the villagers of Chenjia Village were able to eat their fill. After that, in addition to eating their fill, they could also receive an extra 500 coins a month.

Following this line of reasoning, the income of the villagers in Chenjia Village would certainly not be limited to 500 coins.

Because anyone who understands the situation in Chenjia Village will find that Chen Dao has been consciously leading the villagers to prosperity, and it can be inferred that the income of the villagers in Chenjia Village will inevitably continue to rise.

after all……

With his possession of yellow-feathered chickens, blood-feathered chickens, and crimson-blooded chickens, and possessing all sorts of magical abilities, making money would be an easy thing for Chen Dao.

"Miss."

After a moment of contemplation, Manager Wang nodded emphatically: "I think this is feasible."

"Then it's decided."

Zheng Qiuyan said, "Tomorrow, the caravan will split into two groups. One group will return to the county town with me, while the rest will stay in Taiping County to help you build Zheng Baolou."

"it is good."

So, the next day, Zheng Qiuyan took Qingying back to Taiping County and left half of the people and goods that had come with her behind, so that they could assist Manager Wang in building Zheng Baolou, which was to be opened in Chenjia Village.

Zheng Qiuyan herself led half of her men to escort the Blood Feather Chicken and Crimson Blood Chicken back to the county town.

"Brother Dao, Manager Wang wants to see you."

"Let him in."

At Chen Dao's home, Manager Wang, upon meeting Chen Dao, went straight to the point: "Mr. Chen, my Zheng Family Trading Company plans to open a Zheng Bao Lou restaurant in Chen Family Village. I wonder if Mr. Chen could allocate a piece of land for us?"

Chen Dao was slightly taken aback. He knew Zheng Baolou; he had overheard other customers discussing Zheng Baolou in the restaurant when they were in the county town.

According to Chen Dao's understanding, Zheng Baolou was a department store of this era, with everything from necessities like grain and salt to medicinal materials used by martial artists, as well as all kinds of rare pearls and treasures.

As is well known, these department stores often need to be located in bustling cities, because only bustling cities can attract enough customers to make the store profitable.

At this very moment, Manager Wang told him that the Zheng family was going to open Zheng Bao Lou in Chenjia Village, which surprised Chen Dao greatly.

The entire Chen family and Xiahe Village together have a population of less than three thousand. Wouldn't Zheng Baolou lose money if he opened a shop here?

"why?"

Chen Dao asked curiously.

Manager Wang didn't hide anything and said directly, "Miss and I are quite optimistic about the development prospects of Chenjia Village."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dao gave Manager Wang a deep look, and couldn't help but be surprised by his and Zheng Qiuyan's vision. Chenjia Village and Xiaohe Village together only have a little over two thousand people at present, but as the reputation of Chenjia Village spreads wider and wider, more and more people will definitely gather in Chenjia Village.

Furthermore, under Chen Dao's leadership, the villagers of Chenjia Village will become increasingly wealthy. Currently, Chenjia Village and Xiaohe Village together cannot support the existence of Zheng Baolou, but that may not be the case in the future.

With his golden touch, Chen Dao can definitely lead the villagers of Chenjia Village to prosperity; it just takes some time.

"I can give you a piece of land, but..."

Chen Dao drew out the last syllable, "It costs more."

Shopkeeper Wang didn't seem surprised by Chen Dao's request for more money. After telling Chen Dao about the size of the plot, he said, "Please give me a suitable price, Mr. Chen."

"Well."

Chen Dao pondered for a moment. The plot of land that Manager Wang needed was roughly a square with a length and width of 30 meters, which is 900 square meters, or less than one and a half acres.

"I'll give you 1000 taels of silver then."

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Dao offered what he considered a reasonable price.

In Taiping County today, the price of one mu of farmland is about 20-30 taels of silver. It is quite expensive to buy less than one and a half mu of land for 1000 taels of silver.

However, Manager Wang did not hesitate at all and nodded in agreement: "1000 taels it is. Please have Mr. Chen mark out the land as soon as possible to facilitate our construction."

"no problem."

Chen Dao, who had successfully sold one and a half acres of land for a thousand taels of silver, nodded with delight. "I will mark out the land today, and you can start work tomorrow."

"Then I'll take my leave first."

After Manager Wang left, a smile unconsciously appeared on Chen Dao's face. The land in the Chenjia Village commercial district was previously worthless, since it was unsuitable for farming, but now it could be sold for 1000 taels of silver, which was truly a pleasant surprise.

"It seems that we can't just allocate land in this commercial area to others anymore; we'll have to pay extra."