Chapter 404: Waiting for her here

Shen Huazheng thanked him with a lot of questions in her mind, sat down on the stool that An Desheng brought, and waited quietly for Emperor Jingning's next words.

But Emperor Jingning did not play by the rules. He said in a gentle tone: "Mr. Chen, please try the snacks here."

Chen Huazheng: →_→

Was she summoned to the palace just to let her taste snacks?

These people in the palace would give her rewards from time to time, but rarely gave her food.

For so long, she was usually the one who delivered food to this person, either paid or free of charge.

Why is it the other way around today?

When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.

But why is that? ?

Li Fu placed the plate of snacks in front of Shen Huazheng and then stepped back.

Almost at the same time, the palace maid also presented Shen Huazheng with freshly brewed tea.

A few slices of golden donkey rolls and delicate mung bean cakes were neatly arranged on the porcelain plate.

Shen Huazheng looked at the snacks and steaming tea in front of her, her mind full of question marks.

Could it be that she was summoned to the palace just to be invited to have afternoon tea?

Emperor Jingning: "Qing Shen, please try it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Although she didn't understand what Emperor Jingning was up to, Shen Huazheng still suppressed her thoughts, picked up a piece of donkey rolls, and brought it to her mouth.

The freshly made donkey rolls are still warm. When you take a bite, you can taste the sweetness of the soybean flour on the tip of your tongue.

When the soybean powder was fried, it seemed that sesame seeds and walnut kernels were also added, which made it taste more crispy and oily, and brought out the aroma of the beans to the greatest extent.

The outer skin is soft and delicious, and the red bean paste filling inside is mixed with osmanthus honey, which is sweet and refreshing.

The sweetness of donkey rolls is just right and not cloying.

As you chew, a pleasant floral scent flows between your lips and teeth.

To show her support, Chen Huazheng ate a piece of donkey rolls, drank a few sips of tea, and then tried a piece of mung bean cake.

Compared with donkey rolls, mung bean cake tastes a little worse.

But she still praised both cakes without changing her expression and once again expressed her sincere gratitude to Emperor Jingning.

The food His Majesty bestows upon us must be eaten with great gratitude, and no one should see that we are being reluctant.

What's more, the taste of donkey rolls is really good.

Much better than the takeaway food.

The compliment she gave just now was not insincere.

Emperor Jingning smiled even more: "If you like it, Mr. Chen, I will have someone pack some for you to take back and enjoy slowly."

Shen Huazheng thanked her verbally, but she was even more confused in her heart.

Really just letting her come to the palace for afternoon tea? ?

And eating and taking? ?

Emperor Jingning: "When you first arrived at the Shanglin Office, Huang Qing and I were worried that you were still young and would have trouble winning the support of the people. But now it seems that our worries were unnecessary."

He paused, and then said, "I heard that when they were on duty today, all the officials of the Shanglin Office exchanged gifts with Mr. Shen. I am very pleased to see that you get along well with each other."

Shen Huazheng suddenly realized that he was waiting for her here.

"It's not a gift, just some food. Your Majesty, I have nothing to do at home, so I made some dried fruits. If Your Majesty doesn't mind, I'll have someone send them to you."

It seems that the emperor has quite a lot of spies, and the news is quite timely.

He immediately knew what happened in Shanglin Office in the morning.

I don’t know if Emperor Jingning has spies in every government office.

Only at this moment did Chen Huazheng truly realize what it meant to serve the emperor like serving a tiger. It was true that the emperor's mind was unfathomable.

Emperor Jingning was very satisfied with Shen Huazheng's approach: "Okay."

The delicious food is about to be obtained, and it’s time to get down to business.

"Chen Qing, actually I called you here for an important matter."

As early as last year, Emperor Jingning had people count the places in Daliang that were suitable for developing greenhouses, and cities near the capital had already sent people to provide guidance on planting.

As the weather gets warmer, greenhouses will no longer be needed, which will provide a good opportunity to promote potato cultivation across the country.

Emperor Jingning was in a good mood when he thought of the per-acre yield of potatoes and various vegetables and fruits reported by the Ministry of Agriculture.

If the promotion of potato cultivation goes smoothly, famine may never happen again in Daliang.

This is a major event that will last for hundreds of years and benefit all people.

Emperor Jingning was suddenly excited when he thought that there would be no more people starving to death in Daliang under his rule in the future.

Even if he is no longer around, his achievements will leave a profound mark in history books and he will be respected by future generations.

"The Sino-Agricultural Ministry will send some officials out of Beijing to help promote potato planting in various places. I want you to follow the Northwest Army to the Northwest to help promote and supervise the implementation of potato planting."

*

Shen Huazheng was still a little dazed when she walked out of the palace carrying the cakes bestowed by the emperor.

She is going on a business trip.

I'd better go on a business trip to the northwest.

During the meeting today, Lord Huang did say that Yuanxiao would send some officials to various places to assist local officials in potato planting.

But Shen Huazheng clearly remembered that she was not on those lists.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Jingning would personally summon her into the palace and let her follow the Northwest Army to the Northwest to guide and promote planting.

Before entering the Shanglin Administration, Chen Huazheng had agreed with General Xie to go to the northwest with them in the spring.

Originally, she was thinking that if she couldn't leave because of the matter at the Forestry Bureau, she would let her cousin Ying and Aning go on her behalf.

Unexpectedly, the task of traveling to the northwest suddenly fell on her. What a coincidence.

Emperor Jingning said that General Xie and his entourage would set off for the Northwest after the Lantern Festival, and asked her to go back and prepare all her luggage so that she could set off with the Northwest Army.

No wonder she was summoned to the palace so urgently, the Lantern Festival is only a few days away.

In addition to packing, matters at the Forestry Bureau also had to be arranged before leaving.

After getting on the carriage, Shen Huazheng looked at the snacks that Emperor Jingning had people pack for her and couldn't help but smile.

She said, Emperor Jingning summoned her to the palace during working hours, how could it be possible that he just wanted to invite her for afternoon tea?

If that's the case, it's a bit weird.

Although some time was wasted in the palace, Shen Huazheng still went to the garden in the suburbs of Beijing with Lord Yu.

Due to time constraints, they only looked at a few plots of land and then made a brief summary.

The rest will have to wait until tomorrow.

Chen Huazheng and Lord Yu did not stay in the garden for too long. Before it got dark, they got on their respective carriages and went home.

It was originally thought that Emperor Jingning only intended to give her a verbal order regarding the trip to the northwest, and then have someone convey it to the Sino-Agricultural Ministry.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Shen Huazheng's carriage returned to the Shen Mansion, An Desheng came with several eunuchs to announce the decree.

Shen Zhaonian led everyone in the Shen family to kneel down and listen to An Desheng read the imperial edict.

"By the order of the Emperor Tian Cheng Yun, I have inherited the care of my ancestors and devoted myself to the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people. Chen Huazheng is talented, familiar with farming, and has made many outstanding achievements. I am hereby appointed as an imperial envoy to go to the northwest to guide the local potato planting. I decree this!"

Everyone in the Shen family was stunned. His Majesty actually appointed Zheng'er as the imperial envoy and asked her to go to the northwest to guide potato planting.

Shen Huazheng was the first to react. She stood up and took the imperial edict from An Desheng.

"Thank you, father-in-law."

Andersen: "You're welcome, Mr. Shen."

In addition to the imperial edict, Emperor Jingning also asked An Desheng to bring a lot of rewards to Shen Huazheng.

An Desheng's smile never stopped: "Your Majesty knows that Master Shen has never been out of the capital before, and this trip to the northwest is rather hasty, so he asked me to bring back things that might be useful there."

This was of course just a superficial statement. Even if Chen Huazheng had never been out of the capital, she didn't know what to bring with her to the northwest.

But the other members of the Shen family and the Zhou family must know about it, and they are not short of these things.

However, Emperor Jingning felt a little guilty about suddenly sending Grand Tutor Zhou's precious granddaughter to such a far place in the northwest to work for him.

It is better to arrange things properly so that Grand Tutor Zhou won't blame him later.

Furthermore, Emperor Jingning still expected Shen Huazheng to work well for the court in the future, so naturally he couldn't be stingy.

After An Desheng finished his work, he said goodbye to the Shen family and boarded the carriage back to the palace.

When he returned to the palace, Emperor Jingning was reading memorials.

Emperor Jingning looked at the things the palace servant brought in and put down the memorial in his hand.

“Is this what Shen Huazheng asked you to bring back?”

An Desheng smiled and said, "Your Majesty is really a master of foresight. These are what Master Shen asked me to bring back."

Even though he only went to the Shen Mansion once, he accomplished several things.

In addition to announcing the decree, Andesheng also had another task, which was to bring back the dried fruits that Emperor Jingning wanted.

When leaving the Shen Mansion, in addition to the purse given by the Shen family, An Desheng also took away a lot of food given by Shen Huazheng.

There were several bags filled with dried fruits, and several food boxes filled with various snacks, candied fruits, and even jerky.

When he saw these foods at that time, An Desheng felt in his heart that Shen Huazheng was smart.

Know to prepare these foods and let him take them into the palace.

Emperor Jingning first looked at the dried fruits in the bag and the snacks in the food box, then sat aside with interest and watched the palace servants test the poison.

After finally waiting until the poison test was finished, Emperor Jingning picked up a piece of banana chip and put it into his mouth.

The banana chips are golden in color, probably because they were dried and then baked.

Put it in your mouth and chew it, it is crispy, sweet and delicious.

After swallowing, the fresh fragrance of banana fills your lips and teeth.

Emperor Jingning ate several banana chips in a row and asked: "What were the expressions of the Shen family when you went to announce the decree?"

It is no wonder that both the Shen and Zhou families treat Shen Huazheng as a treasure. If he also had a daughter like this, he would be so proud.

An Desheng: "The news came suddenly, so the Shen family was naturally surprised. But Miss Shen was very calm. I think when she goes to the northwest, she should be able to adapt to life there quickly."

Emperor Jingning picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.

It is still unknown whether Shen Huazheng can adapt to the life there.

But by then, there will probably be many people in the capital who will not be able to adapt to life without her.