Chapter 46 Quyuanli
Emperor Xuanwen saw the jar of chili sauce on the table, which had not been opened yet, and said with a smile: "You naughty monkey, what have you used to deceive Chun'er?"
Concubine Chun smiled and said, "How dare he? Doesn't Your Majesty support me? Just beat him with a stick."
Zhou Shaoyu opened the buckle of the jar in front of Emperor Xuanwen, and a spicy aroma instantly filled the room. That smell had never been smelled before, but it was so tempting.
Taking a silver spoon and scooping out a few spoonfuls of liquid into a dish, Zhou Shaoyu asked Zhou Huaiyu to taste it first. This was not about the aunt tasting it first and then the emperor, but the aunt tasting it first so that the emperor would know that there was no poison in it.
Zhou Huaiyu ate it and found it fragrant and spicy. The taste was indescribable. The granular texture of the beef and the chewy texture of the diced mushrooms were simply magical.
It’s spicy, but not BT spicy.
I just took a bite and felt my tongue a little hot. I stopped for a moment, but couldn't help but take it again.
I can't stop anymore.
He even called the palace maid to bring food.
When the rice was served, Concubine Chun directly scooped some chili sauce and mixed it with the rice, and ate it with great joy.
"It's delicious, so delicious, Your Majesty, please try it." Concubine Chun immediately took a spoon and served some more to the emperor.
The eunuch brought rice to Emperor Xuanwen and two white flour pancakes spread with beef chili sauce. Emperor Xuanwen took a bite, and Concubine Chun and Zhou Shaoyu both looked at him.
One more bite.
Faster and faster.
After finishing a pancake in one breath, Emperor Xuanwen's appetite was whetted, so he called out to the eunuch, "Bring me another pancake and put more beef chili sauce on it."
"Jingchen, where did you get this?" asked Emperor Xuanwen. He wanted to eat it for a long time.
Zhou Shaoyu immediately shook his head: "I made this myself when I met a few merchants from the Western Regions in Nanyang City. This is all I have. If I want more, I'll run out."
Emperor Xuanwen began to feel greedy and asked, "How much space do you have? Bring me two more jars."
Zhou Shaoyu said there was only a little bit.
“How much is a little?”
"A small jar," Zhou Shaoyu gestured, a small jar.
Emperor Xuanwen immediately decided: Give them all to me, I have had a poor appetite for many days and this is very appetizing.
Zhou Shaoyu quickly diverted Emperor Xuanwen's attention, showed him the soap, and tested its cleaning effect on the spot.
Emperor Xuanwen didn't take it seriously. No matter how useful it was, it was just an object.
Zhou Shaoyu said: "Do you know how much this soap costs?"
"How many?"
"This box costs 16 taels of silver." Zhou Shaoyu looked at Emperor Xuanwen and added fuel to the fire. "Miss Xie San developed this soap and made more than 1,000 pieces. Some of them were used for experiments, and the response was good. She asked me to give the remaining 1,000 pieces to Your Majesty."
Emperor Xuanwen was surprised: "Which Third Miss Xie?"
"She is the legitimate daughter of Xie Anfeng who was exiled to Lingnan."
Emperor Xuanwen thought about it for a long time but had no impression.
Zhou Shaoyu introduced her in detail, and Emperor Xuanwen said, "Since she is the daughter of the former Marquis's mansion and has such a kind heart, why did the Marquis's mansion hide her so tightly?"
Zhou Shaoyu told Emperor Xuanwen everything that Xie Jinrong and Old Shen had done, which made Emperor Xuanwen extremely angry.
"This old man is a scoundrel. I have given him too light a punishment. He will never be pardoned in this lifetime. Don't even think about coming back."
Emperor Xuanwen nailed Xie Jinrong, Xie Anhuai and Xie Qingmu together with just one sentence, and he had a very bad impression of Xie Xiangxiang.
Prince Xi was ready to make a move, and Xie Xiangxiang was not a good person either. Fortunately, the two of them did not get together, otherwise the entire royal family would be in chaos.
Zhou Shaoyu calmly praised Xie Xiangxiang, Concubine Baogui and Prince Xi, and then said that Miss Xie San had a treasure to present to His Majesty.
Emperor Xuanwen did not ask what it was, and Zhou Shaoyu did not say anything. Concubine Chun's Palace was not the court, and there was no need for people in the harem to know.
Emperor Xuanwen instructed Zhou Shaoyu to be sent to the court early tomorrow morning.
When Zhou Shaoyu was seventeen, the emperor only allowed him to be a "crouching tiger", an inspector to supervise the capital and surrounding areas, but he did not actually give him real power. Usually, Emperor Xuanwen had some things that he was not convenient to do, so he asked him to do it. Zhou Shaoyu was just a scapegoat.
Don't make any demands when you go to court. Come and take a look if there is something going on, but don't come to cause trouble if there is nothing going on.
The next day, Zhou Shaoyu came to the court in a serious manner and presented the drawings and samples of the curved plow to Emperor Xuanwen.
Throughout the court, most officials had never seen a curved-beam plow, let alone a straight-beam plow. Some officials had never even seen one.
However, Emperor Xuanwen had lived in the countryside before he ascended the throne and was very familiar with farming. As soon as he saw the curved plow, he understood a lot and immediately thought of its far-reaching value.
"Miss Xie San is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and cares about the suffering of the people. Unfortunately, she was implicated by the bastard Xie Jinrong. Does she blame me?" Emperor Xuanwen looked at Zhou Shaoyu and asked.
This is a life-threatening question. Zhou Shaoyu absolutely cannot say how good his relationship with Xie Yanyan is.
"I never heard of it when I was here."
He said that he happened to meet a group of exiles in the inn, and saw that the prisoners were working during their rest time. He felt strange and went to ask about it.
“After asking, I found out that they were making soap.”
"The soap was invented by Third Miss Xie. We all worked together. Third Miss Xie said that if the prisoners could work to support themselves, the court would save some money and they would understand your majesty's painstaking efforts. This is called labor reform."
"I found it strange, so I asked a few more questions. Miss Xie had heard of my name, so she asked me to bring the blueprints and the curved plow back to Your Majesty."
Miss Xie is not seeking credit on purpose.
It’s normal that someone can invent soap and then the curved plow, isn’t it?
Emperor Xuanwen smiled and said, "You are so famous that she dared to entrust such an important and ingenious craft to you!"
"I asked her why she wanted to give it to me to take back. She said..."
He paused here and looked at Emperor Xuanwen. Zhou Shaoyu blushed, but said confidently, "Miss San said that I am the least likely to be a greedy person, because I am a lazy person who just wants to get by."
The whole court was amused.
Emperor Xuanwen laughed and scolded: "Look, even the ladies in the boudoir know that you are not striving for progress. I will assign you some work to do. You can't mess around any more."
Everyone laughed for a while, and Zhou Shaoyu suddenly remembered something. He took out a letter from his arms and presented it to Emperor Xuanwen.
It is said that this was given to His Majesty by Miss Xie San.
Emperor Xuanwen immediately asked the eunuch to hand it to him. After opening it and looking at it for a while, he couldn't hide the smile on his face.
The letter was very simple, but the emperor read it over and over again and became happier and happier each time.
The Prime Minister could not help but ask, "What did the Third Miss say? Can I share in your majesty's joy?"
Emperor Xuanwen gave the letter to the prime minister and said, "Read it yourself!"
The prime minister held it in his hand, and the prince felt a little itchy standing next to him, but he didn't dare to go over and take a look without permission.
"Your Majesty, the wise and mighty Emperor, I am a guilty subject in exile, but I am grateful to Your Majesty in my heart. The thunder and rain are all grace from heaven.
The curved plow will definitely improve farmers' efficiency, grow more food, and no one will go hungry anymore.
I, a guilty minister, have been so tired from thinking of these ideas that my head has become bald. Your Majesty will surely give me something in return, right?
I have heard of the name of Prince Zhou before. It would be best to ask him to bring the curved plow to Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, please give him something on behalf of your humble servant. I am so poor that I can’t even afford to eat, and I don’t have the money to pay for his journey…”
The Prime Minister couldn't help but laugh: "Miss Xie is smart and wise. At such a young age, she always puts His Majesty first. I think she deserves a reward!"
(End of this chapter)
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