Chapter 454 - Leaving the Capital to Suppress Bandits (1/2)

“Congratulations Young Miss! You’ve added another money-making venture to your collection!” Yingtao finished greeting her young miss and sat down on the small embroidered stool. She grinned broadly as she looked at her master. It had been a few months since she last saw her young miss and the fact that time passed so quickly made her head spin.

Although Yu Xiaocao had spent almost a month at Tanggu, she spent all of her time at the farmstead on the outskirts of Tanggu Town to keep an eye on the workers constructing the greenhouse pavilions. Furthermore, she personally trained the employed farmers how to sow seeds, water the plants, and fertilize the soil in the greenhouse...by the time the work on the greenhouse pavilions was about done, the capital needed her to come back. She didn’t even have the time to visit Dongshan Village to see her family’s newly built home.

Argh! She hadn’t even reached the age of thirteen yet. In her past life, at this age, she was still wearing a backpack going to school every day. Why was she as busy as a dog now?

Yu Xiaocao let out a sigh and then smiled at Yingtao, “Big Boss Yingtao is a very busy person! How come you have the time to come to the capital ah?”

Yingtao’s lips twitched and she said in a scolding tone, “Young Miss, you only know how to make a joke out of me! If this servant wasn’t busy, then I’d be afraid that you’d accuse me of not taking my responsibilities at the pharmaceutical workshop seriously!”

“I know you’re a responsible helper, I consider you to be my right arm. Tell me, you can’t have traveled to the capital just because you missed me, right?” The subordinates under her were all hard-working and knew what they should and should not do. Consequently, Yu Xiaocao didn’t have any airs when she interacted with them. In fact, their interactions seemed more akin to a sisterly relationship.

The smile on Yingtao’s face deepened, “Young Miss, I heard you’re preparing to open a flower blossom tea shop and are also planning on selling some skin cosmetics there too. Then have you thought about where to build the workshop for it ah? Are you planning on building the place yourself or buying a building from other people? Don’t just think about finding a place for your new venture. You should also remember to think of more ideas for our pharmaceutical business too.”

Yu Xiaocao raised an eyebrow and remarked in surprise, “What’s going on? Does my head manager want to move the pharmaceutical workshop to the capital?”

“I don’t want to move the workshop over! Instead, I want to open another workshop here in the capital!” They had chosen a good location in Dongshan Village to build the pharmaceutical workshop. Now that the harbor was about done, it was quite convenient to ship their goods either via the water or by land.

Tongren Medicine Hall had opened quite a few branches in Jiangnan so their need for medicinal pills and tinctures also increased. The pharmaceutical workshop at Dongshan Village had expanded compared to the past but it would be hard-pressed to supply all of the medications needed in Jiangnan and in the north!

Currently, the piggery had already been moved to the young miss’s maternal relatives at Xishan Village and it was under the management of her eldest maternal aunt. With that transferred over, the young miss’s older sister had more time on her hands. Yingtao wanted to propose to the young miss that they open a new pharmaceutical workshop in the capital and have the products from that place be responsible for supplying the north. Dongshan Village was close to the new harbor so it could be in charge of the products sent to the south.

Recently, Miss Xiaolian had already started helping at the pharmaceutical workshop. Once she was familiar with the methods and management of the place, Yingtao wanted to hand that one over to Miss Xiaolian to manage. Then, she could head to the capital to build and establish a new pharmaceutical workshop. Once the new facility in the capital was up and running, Miss Xiaolian could decide to stay at Dongshan Village or come to the capital. Both of them were trusted by the young miss. With one of them managing one workshop each, it was also a good working situation.

Yu Xiaocao fell silent for a moment after hearing Yingtao’s proposal. Only after Yingtao finished her cup of tea did she finally raise her head. She gave a look full of praise towards Yingtao, who had started to feel nervous, and then said in a voice full of admiration, “Yingtao, I didn’t expect you to mature so quickly and come up with innovative ideas on your own! I will hand over the pharmaceutical business for you to handle alone! With you managing things, I can rest easy!”

“Thank you, Young Miss, for believing in me!” Ideas rushed through Yingtao’s head. She was first going to find a good location for the new workshop as it couldn’t be too far away from the capital. The best scenario would be to have it located in a place close to the young miss so she could visit the young miss often. The young miss was her backer. With her around, she always felt calm no matter what she was doing.

“Yingtao, for the capital’s pharmaceutical workshop, I plan on discussing it with Royal Prince Yang and see if we can build it on his farmstead. At most, we could just give him a percent of the profits! That farmstead is very close to the Imperial Plantation and also has imperial soldiers patrolling nearby. This will prevent any small bandits or thieves from getting close. Furthermore, I'm currently managing all of the affairs at the Imperial Plantation. That way, I can also find some time to help you with some issues. It will be quite convenient!”

Yu Xiaocao thought that this idea was quite good. In fact, the best scenario would be that the flower blossom workshop could also be built on the small hill behind the farmstead. Royal Prince Yang’s farmstead had a small hill in the back. In future years, she was planning on planting a lot of flowers and trees in the area. Flowers were the raw ingredients for both the flower teas and skin cosmetics, so having their workshops near the sources were a good thing.

The more she thought about this, the more Yu Xiaocao thought that Royal Prince Yang's farmstead was the best location for all of this. She started mumbling to herself, “I'm not sure whether Royal Prince Young would be willing to part with his farmstead and allow us to buy it from him…”

Yingtao’s eyes flickered as she silently thought, ‘My mistress, with how much Royal Prince Yang likes you, I'm pretty sure he would even happily give this farmstead to you, let alone allow you to buy it from him. Didn’t he readily give you his farmstead in Tanggu Town? And that had around 800 mu of land. Isn't this an example of the saying, ‘spending thousands of taels of gold to obtain a smile from a beauty’?’