Chapter 195: I wish Zhao Yunjing were dead.
Because they needed to rush to plant autumn rice, the team was divided into three large groups before the plan was finalized. Each large group was further divided into dozens of smaller groups, and each group was responsible for a specific county along the route.
In addition to the imperial troops led by Zhao Yunjing, Zhou Mujiao also dispatched a considerable number of people to assist. In order to gain Zhao Yunjing's praise, the sons of the imperial nobles did not dare to travel with a large entourage as usual, and only brought two guards. Even these two guards were used as escorts. Together with the twenty or so guards sent by the imperial court, if nothing unexpected happens along the way, they should be able to reach their destination in about twenty days.
Three days have passed since we left the capital. We were divided into ten groups and sent out. In addition to completing the autumn planting tasks in their respective areas, these groups also had to promote the project in the direction set by Zhao Yunjing. According to Zhao Yunjing's route, these dozens of groups would eventually meet in Lingnan.
At first, everyone was confused. It was said that the promotion was only going to Jiangnan, so why did it turn into a nationwide promotion? Moreover, not every place can grow rice, so they had to figure out what to grow and how to grow it themselves. Who knew how long this process would take? Maybe year after year, year after year. When would it be possible for all the people of Daliang to no longer go hungry?
Many of the noble sons who signed up thought they could follow Zhao Yunjing for half a year and return to their original positions. After the meeting, they were dumbfounded. However, they had already signed up and the list had been submitted to the emperor. Each of the six ministries of the court had a copy. If they backed down at the last minute, not only would they be ridiculed, but their entire families would also be looked down upon. More importantly, once they backed down, the emperor would definitely remove them from the list, making it even more difficult for them to enter the court again in the future.
For a time, these people hated Zhao Yunjing to the extreme. From the moment they set out, they wished that Zhao Yunjing would be kidnapped or assassinated, because if the leader was gone, the project would definitely not be able to continue.
On the third day, Zhao Yunjing produced an imperial edict, which stated that even if only one person remained in the project team, they would crawl to complete the project!
There were more people complaining than in the previous three days, but they were moving faster. Once they reached the town they were in charge of, they didn't need to be urged anymore. They would grab their brochures and run, afraid that if they were even a little slow, they would become the last one left, the unlucky one who would have to crawl and spend a lifetime trying to get back to the capital.
"Is there really such an imperial edict?" Mei Xijie leaned closer. "Lord Zhao, let me see it!"
Zhao Yunjing slammed the imperial edict shut and glanced at him sideways: "Lord Mei, the next stop is your area of responsibility. Have you made any plans? Where to start? Who to start with? Do you have a clear strategy in mind?"
Mei Xijie was speechless: "Lord Zhao is really stingy. If it is an imperial edict, it won't hurt you to take a look. If it is not an imperial edict, then it is even less important. Anyway, I will not go around saying that you are forging an imperial edict."
Zhao Yunjing said expressionlessly, "In the past few days, I have heard people say more than once that you grind your teeth and talk in your sleep, Lord Mei. Everyone says that you must not let Lord Mei know any secrets. Once Lord Mei knows, there will be no secrets in the world. No matter how big the secret is, it will be known to everyone."
"Who? Who spread rumors about me? Step forward! I want to argue with them!"
He spoke fiercely, but then secretly went to find the accompanying doctor, Zhou Mujiao.
Zhou Mujiao brought with her two female physicians, Physician Xu, Lin Xi'er and Lin Le'er, Princess Jinling, two doctors from Huichuntang, and an eighteenth-year-old. Although this medical team was an accompanying medical team, it was not under the command of the main team. Apart from Physician Liu, who was stationed in the team, the rest of them followed Zhou Mujiao and provided free medical services along the way.
However, a diagnosis cannot be completed in one visit; it requires at least half a day. Fortunately, Zhou Mujiao had previously led a team to provide free medical services in the area surrounding the capital, so they mainly provided follow-up consultations. Since the doctors were very familiar with the situation of each village and each patient, the follow-up consultations were extremely efficient and earned them a very high reputation among the villagers.
When Mei Xijie arrived, Zhou Mujiao and Princess Jinling had just helped a peasant woman deliver twin daughters. The family disliked the daughters and kicked the peasant woman and her two daughters out, which infuriated Princess Jinling, who immediately revealed her identity.
Unfortunately, that family didn't believe she was a princess, let alone that a princess would come to care about the common people. As a result, Princess Jinling was scolded severely and chased by their dogs. At this moment, she had just finished crying to Zhou Mujiao—and that was all she could do. She didn't bring any guards, nor did she have any identification badge. Her words were unreliable, so it was no wonder that they didn't believe her.
The two were thinking about how to help the peasant woman when Mei Xijie arrived, dressed in official robes!
This is a ready-made tool.
Zhou Mujiao immediately went to greet him: "Lord Mei, you've come at the right time! There's a grievance here that needs your help to seek justice!"
Although Mei Xijie was a bit short, when he wore his official robes and remained silent with a serious expression, his aura of authority was so overwhelming that people couldn't even lift their heads. As soon as he stood in front of the farmer's house, before he even spoke, the entire family was so frightened that they knelt down. The farmer's wife's mother-in-law even carried her back on her own back and swore in front of Mei Xijie that she would take good care of her two granddaughters and find them good husbands in the future.
Zhou Mujiao then asked, "Aunt Wang, what kind of husbands do you plan to find for Yingying and Xiaoxiao?"
Aunt Wang was speechless. She had wanted to strangle that slut as soon as she gave birth to those two worthless children. She was thinking that after these officials left in a few days, she would find a way to kill the mother and her two daughters and then say that she had eloped with another man with the children. She had never seriously considered the two children.
That was just something that slipped out casually to fool the authorities.
Seeing this, Zhou Mujiao knew that Wang Dasao's future days would be difficult, and the two children probably wouldn't survive more than seven days in the Wang family. She said, "Since I brought Yingying and Xiaoxiao into this world, I will keep an eye on their husbands' families. Aunt Wang, this is my waist token. After the two children turn three, they can use this token to attend Baihua Academy. We are leaving soon, and I will send someone to check on Yingying and Xiaoxiao every now and then. I believe you are a good grandmother, Aunt Wang, and will take good care of the two children."
Aunt Wang choked again.
Mei Xijie then said, "This is Madam Zhao, the wife of this year's top scholar, and this is Princess Jinling, the emperor's most beloved daughter. Madam Zhao and Princess Jinling personally delivered Yingying and Xiaoxiao, so they will definitely be extremely noble in the future."
Princess Jinling glanced at Mei Xijie.
Is it acceptable to casually use the phrase "incredibly noble"? Generally, when people say "incredibly noble," they are referring to the Empress Dowager! How dare he use these four words to describe the children born to these two village women? Doesn't he worry that the children can't bear it? But she also knows that Mei Xijie is a smooth talker, and not a single word he says is true. He can't be trusted.
She knows she can't trust anyone, so surely God knows too, right?
Aunt Wang was uneasy when she heard Mei Xijie say that Zhou Mujiao was the wife of the top scholar. As soon as she heard him call her Princess Jinling, she knelt down on the spot.
Just now, she doubted the person's identity and chased them out of the house with a broom—that's a capital offense!
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