The divine physician Sikong took out a new prescription and handed it to Liu Wumo: "If you want to thank someone, thank Lili."
Liu Wumo naturally understood the reason behind it; if it weren't for Lili, why would Doctor Sikong have come here?
He had no other way to repay her, so he could only keep Grandpa Yang's secret for Lili and do his best to promote Shen Lao Er's carpentry.
"A trend has recently swept through Beijing, are you aware of it?"
Lili guessed, "Could it be my second uncle's carpenter?"
Liu Wumo smiled and said, "Nanjin has always valued literature. I mentioned it casually in the lecture hall, and the gentry in Liucheng have already taken notice of it. Now, it is said that the young nobles in the capital are fond of custom-made wooden beds, and many people have asked the students of the academy to come to me to inquire about who made them."
"Really?" Lili smiled. "That's great, let's keep it hanging."
Liu Wumo hesitated: "As the saying goes, 'Hesitating to speak makes one's heart itch with anticipation.' But wouldn't it be... to keep people in suspense for too long..."
"No way," Lili waved her hand.
At first, the wealthy gentlemen were curious simply because it was something that scholars had mentioned in casual conversation.
They are curious now because the nobles in the capital are using it.
No matter how wealthy the local gentry are, they can only have a certain status in Liucheng. Naturally, they flock to the things that are popular among the nobles in the capital.
Moreover, the young ladies in the capital liked it not only because Shen Lao Er's things were novel, but also because of the word "custom-made".
Therefore, ordering custom-made items for the young ladies of the capital became the top priority.
If others want the same "customization", they have to wait patiently.
Upon hearing this, Liu Wumo couldn't help but admire the wisdom of the Shen family.
This is even more powerful than that so-called "hunger marketing".
Having finished his digression, Liu Wumo returned to the main topic.
“Your father came out on top. According to the laws of Southern Jin, candidates who rank in the top three in the exam can continue to take the exam the following year. Next year’s provincial exam is very important for your father. Although I have given him a break and allowed him to come back after the new year, you still need to keep a close eye on him.”
Lili readily agreed: "Uncle Liu, don't worry. Although we're busy building our new house, Daddy studies every night."
Liu Wumo nodded in satisfaction: "That's very good. Your father is a promising talent. Since he's currently resting at home, why not let him accompany your mother back to her parents' home more often and listen to the elders' teachings?"
Lili: "..."
Physician Sikong: "..."
Is this blatant hint that Shen Laosan should seek tutoring from Old Master Yang...?
Lili and Doctor Sikong understood his unspoken meaning, but Old Madam Liu did not: "Why are you meddling in other people's children's affairs? You'd be better off using this time to teach Lili to read!"
Liu Wumo said awkwardly, "How could it be my place to teach you this?"
With Old Master Yang still a formidable figure, how could he possibly teach?
Lili chuckled to herself as Doctor Sikong asked her, "How's it going? How's your fourth brother's memorization of the medical book?"
“I’ve finished memorizing it!” Lili enthusiastically helped Shen Jiaqing express his longing. “Fourth Brother said he has memorized the medical book perfectly and can have it checked by him anytime.”
The divine physician Sikong smiled with satisfaction and wrote down an address for her: "In that case, come find me when you have time to get the new medical book."
When Lili picked it up, she realized it was the address of the residence of the divine physician Sikong.
Fourth Brother must be very excited.
"Great! Grandpa Sikong, Fourth Brother will be very happy."
It was getting late, so Lili sat for a while longer, chatted with Old Madam Liu, and then said goodbye and went home.
The group returned to Xinghua Village, and the potatoes they had brought back also arrived.
To Lili's surprise, many villagers volunteered to help carry the potatoes at their doorsteps.
When Lili returned, everyone gathered around her: "Lili, we all agree with your method!"
In the morning, Village Chief Ma had already spoken to Lili about it. Lili wasn't too surprised and simply said, "Don't worry, everyone. Lili won't lie to you. Come to my house tonight to register and you'll receive a certain share of seeds. Once you have the seeds, try your best to plant the potatoes as soon as possible. We've found Ruigutang in Liucheng, who is willing to cooperate with Xinghua Village for a long time. Their purchase price is seven coins per pound. Let's do our best!"
"Seven coins!"
"So much! We can make a lot of money!"
"Yeah yeah!"
If I earn money early, I can buy some good wine and meat before the New Year and have a good holiday.
The villagers of Xinghua Village were speechless. Lili was willing to lead everyone to make money; what a great act of kindness!
Before everyone could express their gratitude again, Lili said, "Everyone, please stop talking. I need to go home and deal with the seeds."
So the villagers, filled with gratitude, took the initiative to help deliver the potatoes to the Shen family.
That evening, Village Chief Ma came to find Lili. A commune had been established in the village, with Village Chief Ma serving as its head. The commune was responsible for recording the amount of grain seeds received by the villagers, as well as the subsequent harvest.
All subsequent sales and profit sharing were handled through the commune.
Lili smiled and said, "Uncle Village Chief is so efficient. He'll be distributing the seeds to everyone soon, so you can start taking notes now."
"Okay, I'll go home and get a booklet first, and I'll be right back."
After Village Chief Ma left, Lili sat in the yard, her eyes darting around, and whispered to the potatoes, "Potatoes, potatoes, you'd better keep up the good work!"
I don't know if it was just my imagination, but a flash of light appeared briefly at the top of Potato Mountain.
Lili chuckled softly, perhaps the Earth God heard her.
"Lili, come here and have a bowl of ginger tea to warm yourself up."
The weather was starting to get cooler, and Mrs. Yang was worried that Lili would catch a cold if she got tired.
Pear hates the taste of ginger, but she still obediently pinched her nose and drank it.
Looking at Lili's scrunched-up little face, Yang chuckled, "Even our fearless Lili has something she's afraid of?"
Pear pouted: "It's not that Pear is afraid, it's just that the ginger tastes too spicy, but Pear is sweet, so naturally the two want to clash."
Yang was amused and pinched her cheek: "You're so eloquent."
Yang wiped her mouth, glanced at the mountain of potatoes beside her, and sighed, "You, don't tire yourself out, okay?"
"Don't worry, Mother, Lili is very smart! Mother, you should still urge Father to study hard."
"Alright, Mother will go and supervise your father now." Madam Yang stood up. "If anyone needs help here, just come in and call Mother."
Lili nodded obediently: "Mmm!"
As soon as Yang entered the house, several of the younger children ran out and said they wanted to help her distribute potatoes.
Shen Jialuo draped a small blanket over her: "Little sister, it's chilly at night, don't catch a cold."
"Thank you, brother." Lili smiled. "Big brother, are you tired?"
Shen Jiahao now goes to work at the new house every day. According to Yang, Shen Jialu wasn't there today, so Shen Jiahao even did the work of two people by himself.
But looking at Shen Jiahao, he seemed so energetic and didn't look tired at all.
Shen Jiahao grinned and said, "I'm not tired at all! I wish I could work twelve hours a day so that Lili can move into her new house as soon as possible!"
"Yeah, Lili, you have no idea how amazing Big Brother is. He can carry two bags of mud by himself!"
"Big brother, you've worked hard. Let me give you a shoulder massage."
When Lili stood up, she was just tall enough for Shen Jiahao to sit down.
Pear Pear (囧)
Shen Jiahao laughed heartily: "Lili, how come you haven't grown at all in so long? Your brother has grown quite a bit!"
Shen Jiahao has just turned fourteen. In the past six months, he has been eating and drinking well, and has not only grown taller but also bigger.
Lili crossed her arms and turned her head away: "Lili has grown taller too!"
After a burst of laughter, Lili remembered the address that Doctor Sikong had given her during the day, and quickly took it out and handed it to Shen Jiaqing: "Fourth Brother, this is from Grandpa Sikong. He wants you to go to him to get the medical book!"
"real!"
Shen Jiaqing looked at the address several times, overjoyed: "Great! I've memorized this book so many times, I can finally go find my master."
These past few days everyone has just started planting potatoes on a large scale, so they'll definitely be busy. After thinking about it, Lili decided to go in five days.
Upon hearing that they were going to such a far place, Shen Jiahao was very worried and insisted on going with them.
Lili refused, saying, "It's okay, big brother, someone will come later."
"ah?"
*
A few days later, after inspecting the fields early in the morning, Lili happened to arrive at the Li family's land.
The Li family's land was in a mess, looking like it hadn't been tended to for a long time, overgrown with weeds and with withered vegetable leaves.
Aunt Li had already been sentenced to exile. That day, Li Dacheng brought his father to the Shen family and knelt down to apologize without saying a word. After that, there was no further news of them.
I heard that she has already been exiled with Aunt Li.
The Li family's house has become an empty shell, and no one cares about the land anymore.
Lili paused for a moment, then started walking home.
When they got home, surprisingly, no one went to work in the new house or tended to the sprouting potatoes.
Only after asking did I learn that the county magistrate was coming to collect grain taxes today.
Speaking of grain tax, the Shen family was quite proud, after all, the eldest son of the Shen family had also participated in the matter of the eldest prince, which could be considered as indirectly preventing Zhou Wukui from raising taxes.
"We were just handling the details; the real credit goes to Lili and His Highness the Crown Prince," Elder Shen said with a smile.
As Liu helped Shen Laoda pack the rice, she said, "Everyone is the same; we've all done good deeds."
This is unusual; apart from these people, practically no one knows about it.
The common people were completely unaware of the hidden secrets behind it all. They only knew that Zhou Wukui, the prefect of Nanlin County, had intended to raise taxes, but was captured by His Highness the Crown Prince.
This undoubtedly won Gu Ziyi a huge wave of public support.
The Shen family rarely mentions these things.
Mrs. Chen joked, "Following Lili, not only has our life improved, but we've also seen more of the world."
"Bang Bang Bang!"
A drumbeat came from outside the door; it was the drumbeat that the government would use every year when they came to collect taxes.
The Shen family packed up the 20% of rice they needed to hand over and went to the village entrance.
The village entrance was bustling with activity, and a long line of people had already formed.
The registrar sat at a small table taking notes, and Village Chief Ma handed him a booklet containing records of Xinghua Village's harvest.
Lili saw Master Huang, and another familiar person, Zhuifeng.
When Master Huang saw the Shen family, he immediately came over with a smile and greeted them.
Lili smiled and said, "Uncle Master."
Master Huang hadn't seen the little dumpling in a long time, and when he saw her bright smile, he felt incredibly fond of her: "Miss Lili, it's been a long time."
"Why is Uncle Clerk here? Did Uncle Clerk get punished by Uncle Magistrate to be a registrar for a day?" Lili joked.
Master Huang pretended to be angry and tugged at the bow in her hair: "You little rascal, how dare you tease people like that?"
Lili giggled and dodged away.
Master Huang: "I came to Xinghua Village on the orders of the county magistrate. Lord Zhuifeng is the same; he was ordered by His Highness the Crown Prince."
Lili looked at Zhuifeng beside her, and Zhuifeng nodded: "Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince is very concerned about the harvest in Xinghua Village."
Lili wondered to herself, "Could it be that these two are up to something?"
For example, if it's confirmed that the harvest in Xinghua Village is good, they could capture her and send her to farm all over the country.
Lili casually made a few complaints, then beckoned Zhuifeng over with her finger.
Zhui Feng hesitated for a moment before coming closer to listen to Li Li speak.
The more he listened, the more shocked he became.
Zhui Feng glanced at the noisy crowd around him, picked up Li Li, and brought her to the side.
Zhui Feng lowered his voice, his face serious: "Do you know what you're saying? Cultivating informants is no small matter, nor is it something that can be done overnight. It requires meticulous planning and rigorous training. It's not as easy as you make it out to be. Moreover, while it's common for various forces to cultivate spies, combining them with caravans, while having its advantages, can have far-reaching consequences if discovered."
“I know,” Lili blinked. “Lili is just providing a framework; how it is implemented is up to His Highness to decide.”
After thinking for a long time, Zhui Feng asked her, "Why are you helping His Highness so much?"
Pear tilts her head.
Why?
She naturally has her own desires.
Lili knew exactly what she wanted to do, and she also knew exactly what the Shen family would do in the future.
Lili wants to ensure that everyone in the world has enough to eat and wants to do what she wants.
She is still young and can only use her skills in Xinghua Village.
The Shen family's life is getting better and better. The brothers are all ambitious men, and the Shen family will definitely not be confined to this small village.
Old Master Yang was the emperor's tutor. The emperor's suspicion and the pressure from his political enemies forced him to hide here.
What Lili wants is to do what she wants without any worries.
What is most important: soldiers marching and fighting, people living in peace and prosperity, and the country becoming strong and stable?
It's grain.
If you can't get enough to eat or wear, everything else is meaningless.
A person who can double the growth of crops is bound to cause great chaos.
Lili knew that she would mostly encounter good people in Xinghua Village nowadays, and her skills might not amount to much.
But she didn't just want to stay in Xinghua Village.
She didn't want Xinghua Village to become the most powerful village in Southern Jin, and then she wanted to stay in Xinghua Village and be a happy little rich woman.
No, there are too many people in the world who are starving. The neighboring Xixiang County is still suffering from famine.
Lili wants everyone in the world to be well-fed.
Otherwise, what would be the point of her having this lucky destiny to live another life?
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