Chapter 626 Zhao Dashan's Burden
The prefect of Huzhou came in person, and Zhao Dashan dared not slack off.
He put down his chopsticks and immediately went to the reception room. It took him about an hour to finally return to the flower hall to eat.
After he finished his meal, Cheng Wanwan came over to ask what had happened.
“There’s a problem with cotton promotion,” Zhao Dashan said. “Nanyang and Huzhou are both in the middle of the country, with similar climates and soils. Nanyang is just a little further west, so it shouldn’t have a big impact. But the prefect of Nanyang wrote that eight or nine out of ten cotton seedlings cultivated by farmers won’t survive more than ten days. I have to go to Nanyang myself to see what’s going on.”
Although Cheng Wanwan was the one who brought the cotton here, in fact, she knew less about cotton than Zhao Dashan, and she couldn't offer any good suggestions.
Now that Da Shan is in charge of cotton, all matters related to cotton are on his shoulders, so naturally he has to go there.
She said, "Have those two ninth-rank officials from the Ministry of Revenue go with you. Also, take Zhou Yong with you."
The two ninth-rank officials in charge of agriculture were the same two officials who came with Eunuch Ming when he came to deliver the imperial decree last time. They have been living in Huzhou to assist in the promotion of cotton.
Zhou Yong was one of the servants selected last time, specifically to follow Zhao Dashan around and do errands. He was a very clever 15 or 16-year-old boy.
Zhao Dashan nodded and went back to his bedroom to pack his luggage.
He quickly packed a few clothes and took his notebook containing notes on cotton cultivation, which made up a single bundle.
He turned around and saw Wu Huiniang take two pairs of shoes, wrap them up, and stuff them into his bundle: "You work in the fields every day, your shoes are always dirty, they won't look good after wearing them a couple of times. You're a seventh-rank official now, you should pay more attention to your attire..."
As she spoke, she reached out and straightened his collar. "Are you leaving tonight, or tomorrow morning?"
Zhao Dashan planned to go to Huzhou tonight and board the ship to Nanyang with the two adults tomorrow morning. However, when he saw his wife, his baby daughter sleeping in her swaddling clothes, and his eldest daughter playing in the yard, he felt reluctant to leave.
He said, "Let's get up early tomorrow before we leave."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Zhenzhen burst into tears on the bed.
Wu Huiniang hurriedly picked up her youngest daughter and breastfed her: "Little Zhenzhen is reluctant to leave her father. By the way, how long will you be gone this time?"
Zhao Dashan shook his head: "I don't know what the situation is in Nanyang, nor do I know if there are similar problems in other places. I estimate it will take at least half a month."
Wu Huiniang nodded and said nothing more.
After her husband was granted an official position, she knew that his world was no longer limited to Dahe Village; he would go to far-off places.
The next day, before dawn, with only two maids sweeping the courtyard, Zhao Dashan was already up.
Cheng Wanwan, who always loved to sleep in, also got up early. She saw Zhao Dashan off at the village entrance and instructed him, "After you go to Nanyang, just do your job well. Don't ask questions or meddle in other things. If there are important matters you can't decide, just write home. Nanyang isn't far away. You can get the letter there in half a day by fast horse..."
She went on and on, giving a long list of instructions.
Zhao Dashan listened patiently: "Mother, I know everything. It's still early, Mother, go back to sleep for a while."
He climbed into the carriage, and Zhou Yong followed. Cheng Jia was in charge of driving the carriage to take the two of them to Huzhou to meet up with the other two officials.
It's already mid-to-late March, spring is in full bloom, temperatures are rising, and we're wearing lighter and lighter clothes.
Cheng Wanwan finally received the imperial court's approval, allowing the people of Dahe Town to have priority in cultivating new species. They were required to record the process in detail and report to the imperial court at any time.
She smiled broadly and immediately ordered people to plant apple trees and cultivate strawberries in a simulated greenhouse.
There are also potatoes and tomatoes. You can buy seeds directly from the system and plant them. Both of these are very easy to grow, especially potatoes. They not only taste good, but also have a high yield. The yield per mu can reach three to four thousand jin, which is many times more than grain. If there is a famine year, with potatoes, there is no need to worry about famine.
However, since it was her first year of planting, she didn't dare to plant too much: one acre each of tomatoes and potatoes, and three acres each of apples and strawberries.
Meanwhile, Wu Xiaochui's pond project also made progress. He directly bought a public pond in Lijia Gou, covering an area of 30 mu, and then bought more than 20 mu of land next to it, asking local villagers to dig a pond. Finally, he connected it with the original public pond to create a super large pond of 50 to 60 mu.
March and April are the perfect season for releasing crayfish larvae, and Cheng Wanwan released two to three thousand kilograms of larvae at once.
This thing is extremely adaptable and grows very quickly in late spring and early summer. It can be caught and served around June or July, at which time a few new dishes can be added to the menu of the Great River Banquet.
Of course, there are only a few restaurants serving crayfish in Dahe Town, so they can't possibly consume that many. She could make crayfish a specialty of Dahe Town...
Cheng Wanwan handed over the crayfish matter entirely to Wu Xiaochui.
She focused her attention on skincare products.
The original glycerin workshop only produced three products: a lotion and cream set mainly made of glycerin and aloe vera.
Now the flowers in the nursery have all grown up. The peach blossoms are in full bloom, the jasmine is fragrant, the peony is beautiful, and the peony is enchanting... These are all top-quality ingredients for skincare products.
She focused all her energy on researching new products, this time planning to create mid-to-high-end skincare products targeting wealthy socialites.
She had the recipes from the system's shop, so it wasn't actually that difficult to make them...
Wu Huiniang sat on the side helping to grind the flower petals when it suddenly started to drizzle outside.
"There's been a lot of rain this year," she said casually. "Last April, the water in the lotus pond only reached my calves, but these past few days, with the continuous rain, the water is over my knees. I wonder if this will affect the growth of the lotus flowers."
Cheng Wanwan raised her somewhat stiff head and looked at the rain and mist falling from the eaves. She belatedly realized that it seemed to have been raining continuously since the beginning of spring.
Although spring rain is as precious as oil, it doesn't seem right for it to keep raining like this.
She frowned and said, "The rice hasn't been planted yet, has it?"
Granny Qi, standing to the side, said, "There's been too much rain, and the paddy fields are all flooded, making it difficult to plant crops."
The original Granny Qi had no idea about these things, but after staying in Dahe Village for so long and dealing with farmers every day, she gradually learned a little bit.
Cheng Wanwan stood up.
She wasn't really sure what the situation was, so she opened an umbrella and planned to go to Tiezhu's house to ask him about it.
Ever since Lao Lizheng became the county magistrate, he had to go to Ping'an County every day, and the affairs of Dahe Town were all handed over to Zhao Tiezhu.
When Cheng Wanwan arrived, Zhao Tiezhu was holding a meeting with several experienced farmers in the village, and they were talking about the current weather.
After half a month of continuous rain, most of the cabbages, beans, and eggplants planted in the spring have been drowned, and the villagers dare not plant rice for the time being.
Although rice grows in water, the amount of water cannot be too much. If the water submerges the rice seedlings, the rice will die due to lack of oxygen. This is a crop that ordinary people value most, so villagers dare not plant it blindly.
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