When Zhang Hulan turned around to look, the yamen runner had already trotted up to her and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Madam!"

Ye Hongyun nodded to the yamen runner and asked, "I heard you said you wanted to see the master, what's the matter?"

The bailiff waved to Zhang Hulan, "Come here, this is the county magistrate's wife."

Zhang Hulan stepped forward and bowed, "I greet the county magistrate's wife."

Ye Hongyun nodded slightly, his eyes fell on Zhang Hulan, and after looking her up and down, he asked, "What do you want to see my master for?"

Zhang Hulan said, "I have thought of a way to increase rice production this year, but I am not sure whether this method will work. So I came here to tell Magistrate Wu about this method and ask him to make a judgment."

"How can we increase rice production?" Ye Hongyun pondered for a moment and asked, "What is the method? If it is convenient, you can tell me first, and I will tell him when the master comes back."

There was nothing to hide, so Zhang Hulan told Ye Hongyun about the regenerated rice.

Ye Hongyun was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhang Hulan again with a puzzled look, "Are you talking about regenerated rice?"

Zhang Hulan nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

“How do you know about ratoon rice?”

Now it was Zhang Hulan's turn to be puzzled, "Madam, do you know about regenerated rice?"

Ye Hongyun said: "I haven't heard of it before, but my master received a notice from the government office the day before yesterday. He went to the government office to discuss the matter of regenerated rice."

Ye Hongyun asked Zhang Hulan again, "Where did you know about regenerated rice? I heard from my master that the imperial court only started researching regenerated rice in the past two years, and it has not yet been promoted among the people. How did you know about this regenerated rice?"

Zhang Hulan was stunned for a moment before she replied, "I just saw that after the millet is harvested every year, the rice stubbles in the field will grow again soon. I didn't think much about it before, but this year due to the drought, many people have no harvest; now it has rained, if the roots are still alive, I can cut off the dead rice ears on top and leave the rice stubbles, maybe millet can grow again."

Ye Hongyun showed admiration in his eyes and nodded slightly, saying, "You are a thoughtful person. If this regenerated rice can really succeed, it will be a great thing for the people. Especially at this time, if we can harvest another crop of millet, the people will have a much better life in the second half of the year."

Ye Hongyun then asked Zhang Hulan, "How much do you know about regenerated rice?"

Zhang Hulan said, "I don't know much, but I found that rice stalks that are too short don't grow well, and rice stalks that are too long don't grow well. Only rice stalks that are about one foot long can grow better rice ears."

"Come on, come on, write down everything you know and I'll have someone deliver it to the master. Maybe what you know will be useful to the master and his men."

Zhang Hulan was dragged into the backyard of the county government office by Ye Hongyun, who then asked the servants to bring paper and pen to Zhang Hulan.

Zhang Hulan was a little troubled. She could write characters, but she couldn't write calligraphy.

It’s not that it’s not possible to write the characters with a brush, but the characters probably won’t be readable.

Besides, the original body couldn't write, so it was better for her not to write, so as to avoid being exposed later.

Zhang Hulan said, "Madam, I can't write."

Ye Hongyun covered her mouth and smiled: "It's okay, it's okay. You talk and I'll write."

Zhang Hulan then told Ye Hongyun what she knew about regenerated rice, and Ye Hongyun wrote it down. Then Ye Hongyun sent someone to deliver it to the capital immediately.

Zhang Hulan came to the county town for just this matter, and after finishing it, she prepared to go home.

As she was almost out of the city gate, she saw an old man pulling a donkey and hawking his wares.

The price was not expensive, only five taels of silver, and he also brought a donkey cart.

There were two middle-aged men bargaining with the old man, and they were only willing to offer three taels of silver.

It was obvious that the two middle-aged men saw that the old man was in a hurry to sell and deliberately lowered the price.

Zhang Hulan took a fancy to the donkey. She would need to do business in the future, so she couldn't always rely on her own two legs to walk, nor could she always borrow Zhao Guoliang's ox cart. So it was appropriate for her to buy the donkey and the donkey back.

Zhang Hulan stepped forward and asked, "Old man, how much can you sell this donkey and donkey cart for?"

The old man looked distressed. "Sister-in-law, I would not want to be less than this. Normally, a donkey costs five taels of silver, and a donkey cart costs one or two taels of silver. The whole set costs at least six or seven taels of silver. I was in a hurry to use the money to save people, so I sold it at a low price. Five taels of silver cannot be less."

Seeing the old man's wrinkled face and sad expression, Zhang Hulan did not bargain with him and directly paid him five taels of silver. "Okay, I'll buy the donkey and the donkey cart."

"I want to ask you, do you follow the rules?" one of the middle-aged men shouted at Zhang Hulan.

Zhang Hulan looked at the man and said, "Fair trade, what are the rules you want to talk about?"

The middle-aged man was speechless for a moment, but another middle-aged man next to him said, "We negotiated the price first, so we should buy first. What are you doing here?"

Zhang Hulan sneered, "It is true that first come first served is the truth, but buying and selling requires mutual consent. The old man did not agree to your price, and I can afford the price he wants, so it is natural that I should buy it. If you really want to buy it, you shouldn't maliciously lower the price from the beginning."

The man continued, "It is natural to negotiate a deal by bargaining. He makes an offer and we counter. This is the natural process of doing business. You are raising the price now. You are maliciously raising the price to steal the business."

Zhang Hulan said, "It's fine to offer a bargain, but the old man clearly said that he would not sell it for less than five taels of silver. I offered five taels of silver, and the old man sold the donkey to me. What's the problem? Besides, there is a rule in business, that is, the highest bidder wins. Haven't you heard of it?"

Zhang Hulan then snorted and said, "Humph, you are not bargaining properly. You just see that the old man is in urgent need of money, so you are maliciously lowering the price."

After saying this, Zhang Hulan ignored the two middle-aged men and turned to the old man and said, "Old man, keep the silver. The donkey and the donkey cart belong to me now."

"Okay, okay!" The old man nodded gratefully and handed the donkey's reins to Zhang Hulan.

Zhang Hulan jumped onto the donkey cart and walked out of the city without looking back.

The two men looked at each other and followed.

If she dared to steal their business, they would have to teach this woman a lesson. And they thought Zhang Hulan was pretty, so if they caught her, they would...

There was a lewd smile in both of their eyes.

Zhang Hulan looked back and a sneer flashed in her eyes.

If it were a bullock cart, she wouldn't dare leave the city like this.

But donkeys run much faster than cows, so I have to teach these two shameless guys a lesson later.