Chapter 5

"Really can't tell, this unknown jewelry shop actually managed to gather over 700,000 silver dollars in just half a day... It seems this place is indeed wealthy..."

Wen Desi looked at the thick stack of banknotes and several large boxes of silver ingots and silver dollars on the table, and sighed slightly.

The place where Wen Desi and his group were now was a courtyard they had just bought today. The original owner of this courtyard was Cheng Donghe, the owner of the Da Si Xi Jewelry Shop. Mr. Cheng had several residences in Neijiang, and upon hearing that Wen Desi was looking to buy a residence, he immediately offered one of his idle houses.

This courtyard was about 800 square meters in size, with a traditional siheyuan structure. It was originally for Mr. Cheng's youngest son, but after his son went to study in Japan, the house had been left idle. Although it was idle, the servants were still there, and the daily cleaning and maintenance had not been neglected. All kinds of furniture and items were complete, though modern things were naturally absent.

Wen Desi and his group moved in directly with empty hands.

This was a medium-sized siheyuan with two courtyards. The north house had five rooms, with three main rooms and two side rooms, and the east and west wings each had four rooms. There were corridors in front of the rooms to protect against wind and rain. The courtyard was divided into a front yard (outer yard) and a back yard (inner yard) by a wall, connected by a moon gate. The front yard was shallow, with one or two rooms serving as a gatehouse, while the back yard was the living area, with well-constructed buildings and a brick-paved courtyard, and stone steps.

Although this courtyard lacked modern high-tech facilities, Wen Desi was quite satisfied with such a traditional house. In the era he came from, such authentic classical architecture was very valuable.

The gems sold this time, of course, were not natural gems, but artificial gems that Gu Xiaolv had found from the decorations in the office building. To the people of this time, these artificial gems were as genuine as it gets. With the background of the "foreigners," the jewelry shop did not dare to haggle too much and offered a relatively fair price.

The batch of artificial gems sold for 750,000 silver dollars, equivalent to about 540,000 taels of silver, 75,000 pounds, and 370,000 US dollars. The courtyard, land, and all the furniture and items inside were valued at 3,000 silver dollars. Wen Desi also allocated 20,000 silver dollars to have the owner of Da Si Xi help purchase some items and hire staff. Now, Wen Desi had 650,000 banknotes and 77,000 cash (ingots and silver dollars).

After thinking for a while, Wen Desi said, "Xiaolv, have Cromie and the others finished?"

Gu Xiaolv looked at her watch and said, "Yes, they should be done with the knowledge infusion in about 2 hours..."

"Once they're done, have them come over immediately..." Wen Desi nodded.

Cromie and the few attendants he brought were all newly created bio-androids. The bio-android production equipment he brought with him had 40 medium-sized cultivation tanks, capable of producing 40 bio-androids or other medium-sized organisms at once. The production time for ordinary bio-androids was 48 hours, and for advanced bio-androids, it was 96 hours.

The production equipment was basically intact after the穿越, and it could still be used, but there were only 30 units of stored nutrient solution, enough to produce 30 bio-androids. Of course, even without the ready-made nutrient solution, other materials could be used. The system's bio-material converter could transform external nutrients (such as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and other organic materials) and minerals into the nutrient solution needed for production. Although the efficiency was lower, it did not affect the use.

However, this required sufficient materials. Among the supplies Mr. Cheng was asked to purchase, there were large quantities of grain and livestock like pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks. Besides being used for food, they were mainly for the production of bio-androids.

...

In the evening.

Kafu, who had been sent to the county office, returned.

Kafu said, "Mr. Wen, the county magistrate here has agreed to our land purchase request. He said he will call the landowners tomorrow to help us finalize the deal... Official land can be processed at any time."

"Good, what's the land price like there?" Wen Desi nodded.

Kafu said, "According to my understanding, the farmland there is not very good, about 30 to 40 silver dollars per mu, and the hills, wasteland, and tidal flats are about 10 to 15 silver dollars per mu..."

Wen Desi thought for a moment and said, "Alright, our funds are not very sufficient right now. Let's buy the land near the base first, and then buy the peninsula later. Let's start with 3,000 mu, and make sure it has a riverbank. This place is inconvenient for transportation, and a lot of supplies will have to rely on water transport in the future..."

"Yes, I'll start negotiations with them tomorrow..."

The place where Wen Desi had arrived was near Baima Town in the west of Neijiang, called Menkan Beach. It was a small peninsula surrounded by the Tuo River on three sides, about 4 kilometers north to south and 1.5 kilometers east to west, with a total area of about 6 square kilometers, or about 10,000 mu. If all of it were bought, it would cost about 300,000 silver dollars. Although the current funds were sufficient, Wen Desi had many other expenses, so he could only buy part of it first.

To be honest, Sichuan was not a good place for farming and development. Although most resources were not lacking and the population was sufficient, the transportation was really terrible. "The difficulty of the Shu Road" was not just a saying; in this era, Sichuan did not have railways, and the roads were so poor that they were laughable.

If the office building base could be moved, Wen Desi would never have chosen to farm here. Who would have thought that his landing point was not in a coastal area? There was no choice. However, he should be grateful that he did not end up in the desert, the polar regions, or the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

However, although Sichuan had the disadvantage of inconvenient transportation, it also had many advantages. It was located in the southwest, a relatively remote area, where the influence of the Qing government and foreign powers was relatively weak, and the interference during development was much less than in coastal areas. Moreover, the resources needed for development were relatively complete, and the labor force was sufficient.

...

Three days later, Baima Town, Menkan Beach.

Since yesterday, the 3,000 mu of land here had changed hands.

It must be said that while the officials of the Qing Dynasty were incompetent in dealing with foreigners, they were quite skilled in dealing with their own people. Less than 60% of this land belonged to the government, including hills, tidal flats, and wasteland. The remaining land involved over a dozen landowners of various sizes. If this were in the future, it would take months to settle with so many people, and it could easily take years to deal with stubborn holdouts.

But now, it was different. With the strong support and care of the Neijiang government, everything was settled in less than two days. Of course, this was also because the land was being bought by "foreigners," and they were paying half more than the market price. Who would dare to refuse such a face-saving offer?

This land purchase cost a total of 95,500 silver dollars, plus a few artificial gems to grease the palms of the county magistrate, chief clerk, and other officials.

At this moment, Wen Desi and his group were standing by the Tuo River, looking at their new territory.

"Mr. Wen, if we could pay for the land with artificial gems, that would be great!" Gu Xiaolv said, still somewhat unsatisfied.

Wen Desi shook his head and laughed, "Ha ha ha, don't dream. The landowners here are not very wealthy, and most of them need cash. Gems are luxury items that they are reluctant to spend."

Then he continued, "Xiaolv, take note. Build a dock on this riverbank and construct a road..."

After Wen Desi finished speaking, Gu Xiaolv said, "Mr. Wen, it's almost the New Year, and there's no one available on the market. These projects can only start after the New Year."

"Of course not now. Prepare the plans first, and start recruiting and construction after the Lantern Festival. Yes, the internal construction will be your responsibility, and Kafu will handle external negotiations. I need to go to Shanghai, so I'll leave everything to you for a few days..."

"Yes, please rest assured! We'll take care of it here..."

After arranging the basic construction at home, Wen Desi turned and said, "Cromie, you'll come with me to Shanghai this time. In the future, you'll stay in Shanghai as the company's representative."

"Yes, Mr. Wen..."

Cromie was a cute girl with European features, but she was currently dressed as a man. She was skilled in finance and business.