"Madam has been taken away by the general. Does Miss Yu have something to discuss with Madam?" Uncle Chen frowned as he looked at her.

Who dresses so provocatively while doing something? Even if you're just watching from the sidelines, you shouldn't dress like Yu Hanyan, right?

Uncle Chen suspected that she wore a veil to prevent others from seeing her pale face and purple lips.

Yu Hanyan frowned. "Didn't Madam say she was going to teach you how to do things? With her not here, how can this be accomplished?"

"There's no need for Miss Yu to worry about that; Madam has already made arrangements," Chen Bo said coldly, giving her a sidelong glance.

Ru Hua stepped forward and said with a smile, "Uncle Chen, our young lady is just worried that Madam's absence will delay the progress of things. If it's something important, wouldn't this ruin things?"

Uncle Chen had lost his patience and waved his hand impatiently, "If you have nothing else to do, you should go back now. You don't need to worry about things here."

It seems these two have been idling around in the manor all day. When the general returns, he'll have to persuade them to do something, so they don't just keep looking for trouble and become a nuisance.

With Jiang Qinyu gone, there was naturally no need for Yu Hanyan and Ruhua to stay.

Moreover, it was freezing cold outside. Yu Hanyan was dressed lightly to show her most beautiful side, and Ruhua was also dressed lightly so as not to contrast with her. The two of them lost their motivation to stay and quickly returned to their own courtyard.

"What exactly did Madam send these people here for? And why in Uncle Chen's room?" Yu Hanyan asked, warming herself by the fire in her room.

Ru Hua wasn't entirely sure either, but she had gleaned some information from Xiao Wu: "I heard it's for keeping warm, but I don't know the specifics."

"Keep warm? Besides laying down floor heating, building fire walls, or lighting charcoal fires, what else can you do inside the house?" Yu Hanyan asked, puzzled.

Ru Hua shrugged, "I don't know, we'll find out when they're done."

Yu Hanyan seemed to be deep in thought, but did not speak again.

...

Jiang Qinyu is currently in the city, with Lu Yanzheng standing beside her.

"You called me out just to watch them collect cotton?" Jiang Qinyu glanced at Lu Yanzheng speechlessly.

Lu Yanzheng nodded, "Yes."

Jiang Qinyu couldn't help but complain in her heart, "What's so interesting about this? It's not like the people will receive any more things just because she's here."

But then, Jiang Qinyu overheard someone discussing something with the people distributing the cotton.

"Sir, you see, I'm the only able-bodied man in my family, but there are two elderly people and two children. If I'm the only one who works to earn cotton, someone in my family will have to suffer from the cold. Do you have any suggestions on this?"

The person distributing the cotton glanced at his household registration information, looked up and said, "The General said that in your case, you can have your wife and elderly relatives go to the army to find work."

"There's still work to be done in the army?" The man's eyes lit up immediately.

The person distributing the cotton nodded and said, "It's just simple sewing work. The cotton you're receiving now is also available in the army, but the soldiers have to train and guard the city every day, so they don't have much time to make clothes."

“We can do this job! Sir, please register me, I’ll go check it out over there in a bit!” the man said, overjoyed.

Jiang Qinyu turned to look at Lu Yanzheng, "You want me to see this?"

“Yes, after all, you provided the materials.” Lu Yanzheng nodded again.

Jiang Qinyu understood now, and stopped talking, standing there for a while longer.

It must be said that Lu Yanzheng was very clever. He used this opportunity to not only keep the army and the people from freezing, but also recruit a wave of new soldiers.

The first policy Lu Yanzheng proposed was that all new recruits who registered today would receive six catties of cotton!

But cotton isn't something you can just take away casually. Like the first person who asked, if you have no skills or other special talents and can only do manual labor, then you have to reinforce the city wall and work for three months to pay off the debt of three catties of cotton.

In this way, Jiang Qinyu felt at ease about the future development and planting of the border town.

After all, after such a screening process, those who are lazy or cheat will be directly eliminated.

“Once Uncle Chen and the others have finished setting up the kang beds, I will have someone promote the technology in the city. At the latest, within half a month, all the households in the border town should have kang beds installed,” Lu Yanzheng suddenly said.

Jiang Qinyu nodded, "Then you can also boost the brick kiln's income, since this stuff still needs some bricks."

“Madam is right,” Lu Yanzheng chuckled, “I’ve already spoken to Qin Shen about it.”

Jiang Qinyu looked at him strangely, "Why do I feel like you have to go to Qin Shen for everything?"

“He is my deputy general,” Lu Yanzheng looked at her, somewhat helplessly, “and the brick kiln is a military property, so he should be in charge of this matter.”

Jiang Qinyu finally understood. It turned out that Qin Shen was not only a military officer, but also Lu Yanzheng's secretary.

It seems Qin Shen is quite capable, considering he has to remember so much information and is always by Lu Yanzheng's side.

Seeing that it was almost time, Lu Yanzheng had someone send Jiang Qinyu back.

It was too cold outside, and he didn't want Jiang Qinyu to suffer from the cold. However, since Jiang Qinyu would be receiving 20% ​​of the border town's grain tax for the next three years, he couldn't very well prevent her from seeing the situation for herself.

Jiang Qinyu returned to the mansion and had just stepped through the gates of the General's Mansion when Uncle Chen rushed out and was startled by her excited expression.

"Uncle Chen, what's wrong?" Jiang Qinyu quickly asked.

Uncle Chen looked at her with admiration, "Madam, the kang (heated brick bed) is finished! It's burning inside, and even before it's completely dry, this old servant can already tell just how good it is! Thank you, Madam!"

As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Jiang Qinyu.

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