Actually, before preparing to open the furniture workshop, Yang Ruxin had already discussed with her great-uncle the issue that others might become jealous, after all, everyone’s life was not affluent, and everyone wanted to make money.
Of course, not only the people of the Yang Family would be jealous, but the villagers would be jealous too.
The elder Yang also realized this, but it was unavoidable; surely not everyone could use it, could they?
However, Yang Ruxin had a different idea. Furniture making was a skilled craft, not something everyone could do, but there were other things to do. Her goal was to drive the whole village to prosperity. Only if the villagers were all wealthy could her business grow larger. Otherwise, if only a few people quietly got rich, it certainly wouldn’t go far. The villagers themselves could trip you up.
She had previously considered the people from her great-uncle’s family. Blacksmithing was not an option, because iron was too precious and controlled by the Imperial Court. How could ordinary civilians easily get their hands on a lot of iron? Each county’s iron supply was strictly regulated each year, and only a few blacksmith shops were recorded for the purpose of repairing farm tools. There would be a surplus, but it definitely wouldn’t be too much - at most, it could produce another scythe or hoe or something.
So, she thought of a transportation team.
Goods from this area needed to be shipped out. So, she thought about creating a mule cart team. In the future, whether it was furniture or crops from the fields, if you wanted to exchange them for silver, they had to be shipped out.
This required no special skills, just physical strength and a willingness to endure hardships.
In fact, Yang Ruxin wanted to buy horses, but, regrettably, in this era, horses were not something just anybody could own. Those sold in the market were often old, weak, sickly, or retired from the battlefield, while the truly good horses were generally requisitioned by the Imperial Court.
Therefore, she could only consider mules or donkeys.
Setting up a mule cart team would require more hands; at the very least, a dozen. In this way, not only would the people of the Yang Family have work to do, but the villagers would have work as well. Only if everyone benefitted could they protect her, and only then could the business continue to develop stably.
The elder Yang, after all, had seen more of the world. As soon as Ruxin explained, he instantly understood, and immediately consulted with the village head and her great-uncle, finding the plan feasible and deserving of strong support.
However, buying livestock was no small matter, nor was it cheap, so for the time being, there was no great fanfare. It was noteworthy that in a village, having a single head of livestock was already good. In a village like Dapu East Village, having two households with cattle and one with a mule already belonged to a prosperous village.
And now Yang Ruxin wanted to buy a dozen livestock all at once, which was definitely a significant matter.
But at the moment, it was still in the preparation phase, so there was no fanfare about the purchase. She planned to wait until the first batch of mules was bought.
Moreover, now her own mountain was not yet ready; most people were busy there, and by the time it was finished, it would already be entering November. By then, the weather would be even colder and no longer suitable for tidying up the mountain, which would free up hands to establish the transportation team.
Yang Guowei believed his son would surely have work to do, but Chen Yingzi did not believe it. She felt the family was biased towards the elder sister-in-law, and her heart was suddenly filled with immense resentment. Of course, she loathed Yang Ruxin too, but she was helpless to do anything, so for the time being, she could only harbor her hatred silently.