After finishing talking about Li Xiangjian, Li Xiangping suddenly spoke up again: "Mother, you deserve the most credit for the last disaster relief effort."

But why hasn't the emperor bestowed any rewards yet?

Even the magistrate of Ling County was promoted to the rank of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue (a third-rank official) for his meritorious service in disaster relief.

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Mother didn't donate her family property recklessly back then for the Emperor's reward."

As a member of the Great Yan, one must understand the principle of mutual dependence and shared vulnerability.

However, you are right. Although I am not doing this for the Emperor's reward, I do not deny that I still look forward to it.

Perhaps the emperor felt that the previous two rewards were too much, so it's possible that he won't reward anyone this time.

Of course, it's also possible that the emperor had other ideas.

Anyway, no matter what, we just need to do our best.

It would be impossible for Yan Qingqing to say that she didn't expect any reward from the emperor.

Moreover, Magistrate Ling said before he left that the emperor would surely reward him.

Li Xiangping nodded again; in fact, he had been keeping this matter to himself for a long time.

He's now in government, so he's quite well-informed.

He had heard about Magistrate Ling's promotion long ago, but he hadn't heard anything about the Emperor bestowing any honors upon his mother, so he had always felt somewhat uncomfortable about it.

He always suspected that his mother might have been a stepmother, but he didn't dare to ask.

Li Xiangping wasn't stupid. Xiao Mochen had lived in their house for so long, and Yan Qingqing's affection for him was tinged with respect. Li Xiangping already had some doubts about his identity.

Furthermore, the newly appointed Prince Chen in the court also has the character "Chen" in his name. The reason for his promotion was again his meritorious service to the soldiers in the northern border.

He was already certain that this Prince Chen was Xiao Mochen.

However, since Xiao Mochen had lived in the Li family for so long, Li Xiangping was unwilling to believe that Xiao Mochen would rise to power by stepping on his mother.

Yan Qingqing was unaware of Li Xiangping's thoughts, and even if she did, she wouldn't say anything.

After all, the most unpredictable thing is people's hearts. Even if Xiao Mochen remembers his feelings for the Li family now, he may not remember them in the future.

There is a type of person who makes countless promises when they are down on their luck, but when they become successful, they will only find their former acquaintances an eyesore.

Because his old friend knew all his unbearable misfortunes.

Yan Qingqing only wished that Xiao Mochen wasn't that kind of person.

Neither mother nor son mentioned the matter again. However, Yan Qingqing could sense that Li Xiangping had made progress in understanding matters of officialdom.

The Li family's wheat grew better, so they were the first to start harvesting.

Because the Li family owned a lot of land, in addition to the long-term laborers, Li Xiangping also hired a group of temporary workers, and soon the wheat on the four thousand mu of land was almost harvested.

After being hulled and dried, the average yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres) reaches 600 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 300 kg).

This number was unexpected not only by others, but even by Li Xiangping himself.

It's important to understand that production in ancient times was extremely low, often due to pests or natural disasters, and technology was also underdeveloped.

All ordinary people can do is resign themselves to fate.

In years of major disasters, there may be no harvest at all.

Even in favorable weather, a yield of two or three hundred catties of grain per mu is considered quite good.

The Li family's estate now produces a staggering 600 jin of grain, more than double that of other families.

This is real grain; how can it not be awe-inspiring?

Upon hearing the news, Li Kaishan was overjoyed and eagerly went to find Li Xiangping.

However, Li Xiangping was so busy leaving early and returning late that he never saw him.

Left with no other option, Li Kaishan could only turn to Yan Qingqing. When Yan Qingqing heard that Li Kaishan had come to see Li Xiangping, she smiled and asked, "Uncle Mayor, did you come to see Xiangping to ask about the wheat yield in the fields?"

Li Kaishan nodded and replied, "That's right. To be honest, I've lived to be this old and farmed all my life, and I've never seen wheat with such a high yield per mu."

Of course, this excludes the sweet potatoes and potatoes you found.

However, in Li Kaishan's mind, the high yield of sweet potatoes and potatoes was not as impressive as the yield of wheat of 600 jin per mu.

Although the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes cannot compare to that of wheat, ultimately these things cannot be considered a proper meal.

Especially the sweet potato, it is indeed soft, sweet and delicious at first taste, but eating it every day will make you feel heartburn, especially for the elderly with poor digestion, this feeling will be more serious.

Of course, Li Kaishan wouldn't be so picky if there were years of disaster or famine, mainly because life in Canghe Town is different now.

Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "I'll tell Xiang Ping when he gets back."

Actually, compared to the town mayor, Uncle Xiangping is far less experienced.

The reason my family's land has such a high yield per acre is due to fertilizer and irrigation.

He has already reported this matter to the Emperor, but due to the great disaster and plague last year, the Emperor has not yet had time to implement it.

This is the first year our family has actually implemented this method. We'll have Xiangping share these methods with everyone later.

We hope that the people of Canghe Town and even Chengyang County can benefit from this.

Li Kaishan was very pleased to hear this, knowing that Yan Qingqing was generous. She would never refuse something that benefited the people.

Finally, Li Kaishan revealed a piece of news to Yan Qingqing: they were going to a meeting in the county town, and the new county magistrate would be taking office in the next few days.

Yan Qingqing nodded in agreement. Ling Ziyuan had already left Chengyang County, and the new county magistrate should have taken office a few days ago. It was already late for him to arrive now.

I just don't know what kind of person the new magistrate is. Will they be able to get along peacefully?

However, Yan Qingqing was not worried about this matter. His rank was what it was, and if anyone should be worried, it should be the newly arrived county magistrate.

When Li Xiangping returned home that evening, Yan Qingqing told him about Li Kaishan's visit to him earlier that day.

Li Xiangping smiled and said, "Mother, don't worry, I understand."

I'll find some time later and have the village chief organize some of the best farmers in our town so I can share my high-yield methods with them.

I also took the opportunity to exchange experiences with them.

Regarding farming, my son is still young and has many shortcomings; he needs to learn from them.

It was rare that Li Xiangping, as an agricultural official, remained humble and did not look down on the common people who toiled in the fields. Yan Qingqing was very gratified by this. After all, one should not forget one's roots.

Yan Qingqing nodded and smiled, "Farming is different from other things; it's always a bit harder than other jobs."

Especially with the recent bumper harvest, although I'm happy, it's been harder than ever before.

You need to know how to balance work and rest.

Li Xiangping is now busy from dawn till dusk every day, working in the fields under the sun and wind.

Especially recently, in addition to being busy with government affairs, I also have to take care of things on my own land.

Li Xiangping's skin was tanned dark, and although he was only twenty years old, he looked like he was thirty.

Walking next to Yan Qingqing, an outsider would never think they were mother and son.

Li Xiangping knew that Yan Qingqing was concerned about him, and said with a smile, "I originally planned to organize the village chiefs of each village to study after the new county magistrate arrived."

But we don't know when the new magistrate will arrive, and besides, we don't know what kind of character he is.

Since Grandpa Mayor is in such a hurry, let's start learning first. We can talk about the rest later.