Chapter 492: Corn Harvest

Chapter 492: Corn Harvest

Currently, the Mo clan is not stable yet, and there will be many unpredictable crises to face in the future.

There are still some business plans that haven't been initiated, and the weather is getting colder. Making money with ice blocks won't be sustainable in the long run.

Therefore, He Zhiran decided that the ice blocks they produced would first be used to help Tang Mingrui store fresh corn, and they would think about other uses later.

"Dear, although the method of making ice is simple, we've only made a small amount. If Brother Tang wants to build an ice room, he will need a considerable quantity of ice blocks."

"I’ll handle the ice-making. As long as we have enough nitre, it won’t be a problem." With so many trusted soldiers at our disposal,

Mo Jiuya thought that when it came to large-scale ice-making, he could just call on some soldiers to help.

Especially since he had already figured out how to keep the key steps secret, making it impossible for others to copy the method.

"Tomorrow, after arranging the corn harvesting, you can take people to Brother Tang's place.

He needs a large quantity of ice blocks, and it won’t be very convenient to transport them if we make them here in Xiling Village," He Zhiran pointed out.

"Alright, I'll take care of this."

Nitre could be bought from city pharmacies, though it’s a bit pricey, it’s not hard to find.

So, even if He Zhiran buys a large amount, no one would suspect anything.

Besides, Mo Jiuya wanted to keep the ice-making method secret, so he planned to avoid drawing attention to nitre as the key ingredient. He also knew that Tang Mingrui was a reasonable person and wouldn’t pry into other people's secrets.

In short, He Zhiran was completely at ease leaving this matter to Mo Jiuya.

……

In the days that followed, without He Zhiran having to worry much, Mo Jiuya arranged for people to classify all the corn except for two acres that were kept for calculating the yield per acre.

The fresher corn was set aside for Tang Mingrui’s supply, while the older corn was dried for seed, which would be provided to the government.

He Zhiran also drew a simple diagram of a hand-cranked thresher and asked Hu Cong to urgently help manufacture it.

At Tang Mingrui's place, with Mo Jiuya's arrangement of manpower to make ice blocks, it took two days to complete the ice storage room. Although it looked a bit shabby on the outside, the interior was surprisingly impressive.

If a person stayed inside for just a short while, they would be freezing and running out, hugging themselves. The temperature didn’t need to be measured with a thermometer to know that the corn would freeze quickly once placed inside.

Tang Mingrui was thrilled when the ice storage room was completed, nearly shouting with excitement.

He actually owned a storage ice room in this season.

Of course, the raw materials for making the ice blocks in the ice room and the workers were all provided by Mo Jiuya. Even if he didn’t say anything, Tang Mingrui wouldn’t let him contribute for nothing.

After negotiation, the two decided that the income from the fresh corn would be divided in a 60-40 split between the two families, with the Mo Family taking 60% and Tang Mingrui getting 40%.

Mo Jiuya had no objections at all. Although ice blocks were rare in this season, for him and He Zhiran, they could have as much as they wanted without worrying about high costs.

He Zhiran just spent a few hundred dollars on nitre from Taobao to create an ice room. Even if they needed to continue adding ice blocks later, only a small amount of nitre would be used, which wouldn’t be much of a cost at all.

Gaining an extra 10% profit from this was very profitable.

Since it was a partnership, the fresh corn delivered to Tang Mingrui didn’t require him to pay upfront. He just needed to send the profits to the Mo Family according to the agreed split.

Although no payment was required upfront, Mo Jiuya wasn’t taking this arrangement lightly.

He estimated that the size of Tang Mingrui's cold storage could hold more than 50,000 jin of fresh corn.

Over the course of two days, Tang Mingrui sent cars to the Mo Family to transport the fresh corn. Sure enough, they managed to transport a total of 50,000 jin.

The rest of the corn, after drying in the sun, was ready to be threshed.

At the same time, Hu Cong had also helped to build two hand-cranked corn shellers.

Mo Jiuya and his team started threshing the corn they had set aside for weighing. After threshing and weighing, the corn yield per mu hit an impressive 1,200 jin, almost exactly what He Zhiran had predicted.

Meng Huaining was also present and was so excited he became somewhat incoherent as he held Mo Jiuya's arm.

"Ninth Brother, the people of City Yun are so lucky..."

Mo Jiuya patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, next winter, the people of City Yun won’t have to worry about going hungry."

There are many cultivated lands in the Northwest, but due to the soil quality, no matter what was planted, the yield was always low.

The corn they grew in their special environment, however, was different. It didn’t depend on soil quality and was unaffected by climate. As long as it wasn’t a year of severe flood or drought, a bountiful harvest was guaranteed.

When the Mo Family planted crops in early spring, corn was their main crop.

Initially, they hadn’t expected the government to purchase corn for use as seeds for the next year. He Zhiran and Mo Jiuya had only thought of corn's high yield, making it an excellent raw material for staple food. Living in the Northwest, they couldn’t just enjoy a good life while watching their neighbors go hungry.

So they chose to plant a lot of corn, intending to help the poor folks.

Now, with Meng Huaining, a local official, arranging this matter, it was more appropriate than them taking the credit.

They had planted a total of 60 mu of corn. The weight of the fresh corn that Tang Mingrui transported away was several times the weight of the corn seeds. Therefore, the Mo Family still had a lot of corn left.

After keeping some corn for their own consumption, the Mo Family sold the rest to the government to be used as seeds for the next year.

After weighing, Meng Huaining purchased a total of 50,000 jin of corn seeds from the Mo Family, which was enough for the people of City Yun to plant next year.

Mo Jiuya and He Zhiran had planted the corn to help the surrounding people, so they didn’t plan on charging Meng Huaining too much.

However, Meng Huaining insisted on giving Mo Jiuya the cash that Tang Mingrui had sponsored.

"Ninth Brother, I know the corn is worth a lot. This is all I have, and it was sponsored by Tang Boss. If it’s not enough, I’ll make up the difference next year when the government has more tax money."

Meng Huaining spoke quickly, as if he was afraid the deal might slip away at any moment.

Mo Jiuya couldn’t help but feel that Meng Huaining was terrified someone might try to undo the deal.