Chapter 3201: Doing Something
Back at the Zhou residence, it was almost dark. Zhou Lizhong was surrounded by the Zhou family members, talking about the grand court meeting. When they saw Zhou Man coming back, they immediately surrounded him and said, "Are you tired? Go wash up and rest."
"Do you want to eat first? I heard from Li Zhong that you guys have been in meetings all day."
Zhou Man waved his hand to indicate that everything was fine. He went back to his room to change into casual clothes, and then went to see Old Lady Liu and told her about her selling the new grain seeds from Longzhou to the Ministry of Revenue.
Old Madam Liu is not obsessed with money. If she can use money to exchange for a career in officialdom, it would be a very cost-effective thing for her.
So she just asked, "Can't we leave even a single seed behind?"
"No, we can keep the rice seeds for ourselves," Zhou Man said. "Please choose more when you select the seeds. Grandmother, I have been granted some more land in Liyang. Although I only collect taxes and don't directly manage it, I also benefit from the good life of the people under the land. So I plan to distribute some grain for planting next spring."
Madam Liu understood and asked, "How do you plan to take care of it over there?"
She said, "Before, you were the village head and county head, and your fiefdom was not very large, so you could give it all to the county government. But now that your fiefdom has expanded so much, I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to give it all to the county government."
The county government will not be able to collect financial revenue from the fiefdom, so it may not pay much attention to it. At that time, it will not only be Zhou Man who suffers the loss, but also the people in the fiefdom, and Zhou Man's reputation will not be good either.
Zhou Man thought for a moment and said, "My brothers and sisters-in-law are not suitable for dealing with the county government. Li Jun is already very busy, and I don't want to trouble her with everything. Grandmother, do you think there is anyone suitable from the Bai family?"
Madam Liu raised the corner of her mouth slightly and said to her, "If you trust me, leave this matter to me. I will choose the person for you."
Zhou Man smiled and said, "Of course I trust Grandma. I'll leave everything to her."
There will never be anyone more suitable than Madam Liu.
Zhou Man stood up and said, "I'll go tell my parents that I need to leave enough seeds at home, and the rest will be sold to the Ministry of Revenue."
She paused and lowered her voice, "Grandma, I only sold grain from my mother's family and our family. As for my cousin..."
Madam Liu raised her eyebrows slightly and said with a smile, "I will write to him."
Zhou Man left happily.
Let’s hoard the grain seeds in Mr. Bai’s hands, as well as those in Li Jun’s hands.
With Brother Yang around, these grain seeds will be distributed fairly to each state when they are in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue. Some well-informed wealthy families will definitely find ways to buy them from other places, and that is when the batch of rice seeds in Mr. Bai's hands will come in handy.
The Zhou family had no objection to Zhou Man selling grain to the Ministry of Revenue. It was great that so much grain was sold at the normal price.
Except for Zhou Lijun and Zhou Silang, no one in the Zhou family could have imagined the price of the new wheat seeds that year.
After everyone had left, Zhou Man asked Zhou Lizhong to go to the study to discuss matters. Zhou Lijun and Zhou Silang were already there.
Zhou Lizhong glanced outside and asked, "Aunt, why did you only call us?"
Zhou Man said: "The four of us are enough. Too many people will make too much noise."
She turned to look at Zhou Lijun, "How's the harvest at the Xiang family farm?"
“The output is no less than that in the village.”
Zhou Man nodded and said to her, "Xiaoxiong Yang has always been fair and considerate. He will definitely issue a decree to crack down on fake new rice seeds and their prices. You should be aware of this. You can make money, but don't lose your duty."
Zhou Lijun agreed, "Don't worry, aunt, I know."
Zhou Man nodded, then said to Zhou Silang, "The new rice seeds cannot leave the border. They have not been tested in the Jiangnan area, and they cannot be circulated there. You can only sell them in the Central Plains."
Zhou Silang, "Can they still block the route to Jiangnan?"
"No need to block it, just prevent it from flowing in large quantities, to avoid disasters caused by the new rice varieties not adapting to Jiangnan. If anyone wants to try planting them, we won't stop them," Zhou Man said. "The Sinong Temple will select experimental plots in various locations to test the new rice varieties. By next autumn, we'll know whether Jiangnan is suitable for these new rice varieties. I don't want you to get involved in this mess."
Zhou Silang touched his nose and said, "Okay."
Zhou Man reached out and patted Zhou Lizhong on the shoulder and said, "Tomorrow I will take you to the Sinong Temple to report. His Majesty has appointed you as the Sinong Temple Secretary. I'm afraid you won't be used to it."
She said, "Even after years of service in the court, I still find some things difficult to get used to. So, there's no need to be too accommodating. Although we serve in the court, we don't do so for a bright future. If you look at the immediate situation, this is just a job to make a living. So, just as we were in the manor before, we are still the same now."
She said, "I can't stay in the capital for long. Once the new rice seeds and the medical department are finalized, I will return to Qingzhou. If you have any questions, please consult Mr. Zhuang."
Zhou Li nodded.
Zhou Silang asked her, "When are you going to Qingzhou?"
Zhou Man shook his head, "I don't know either. Let's see how quickly the court discusses matters."
She and the Imperial Medical Bureau have been working on the reform of the medical bureau for more than half a year, but it has not been completely finalized. Although they have obtained the emperor's consent this time, who knows how slow the officials in the court will be?
After discussing the matter, Zhou Man asked them to leave. She sat in a chair and thought for a moment, then took out a piece of letter paper to write a letter to Bai Shan.
After seeing the letter, he complained aggrievedly, "Your Majesty, I have sold all our new rice seeds to the Ministry of Revenue at the normal price for grain. We had hoped to make a fortune from it like we did with the new wheat seeds last year, but that hasn't happened. I think you should receive an official letter soon..."
In Beihai County, the new rice seeds were basically used by Bai Shan in government fields.
Except for the share of official land that belonged to him, the rest of the harvest belonged to the county government.
If the imperial court wanted to forcibly levy the tax, it wouldn't even have to pay any money.
Zhou Man wrote a letter asking Bai Shan to be mentally prepared.
It was late at night when Zhou Man finished writing the envelope. She stretched and sealed the envelope before going back to her room to sleep. She decided to sleep in tomorrow!
As a recalled official from outside the capital, she did not have to report to the yamen, and even the Chongwenguan did not make any requirements.
So Zhou Man slept until dawn, and if Xibing hadn't woken her up, she would have slept until noon.
She forced her eyes open and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Madam, someone has come from the palace and said that you should go to court."
Zhou Man pulled the thin blanket over his head, turned over and wrapped the blanket around him, and said in a muffled voice, "You've been deceived. You just attended the grand court meeting yesterday. How could you possibly attend it again today?"
"It's not a big court meeting, it's a small court meeting. Madam, please get up quickly. The eunuchs are still waiting outside."
Zhou Man threw off the quilt and sat up, looking confused. "Small court meeting? I don't need to attend small court meetings."
Having said that, she still hurriedly got up, washed her face in a hurry, changed into her official uniform, put on her boots, and ran out. "Madam, the old lady has prepared some food for you, please take it with you."
(End of this chapter)
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