In the afternoon, Chen Yuyuan stayed with the farmers in the greenhouse. He only came out of the greenhouse when they were almost finished eating. He picked a few vegetables that were ready to eat and asked the kitchen to cook them.
There was really not enough green vegetables, so the kitchen staff simply used the leafy greens to make a vegetable and egg soup. When Xu Zhi saw the bright green leafy greens in the bowl, she gave Chen Yuyuan a thumbs up and said, "Yuan, you're really amazing."
Chen Yuyuan smiled shyly. Wu Muyue picked up a spoon, took a sip of soup, nodded, put down the spoon, and said to Chen Yuyuan, "Yuyuan, you planted these vegetables one seed at a time and took care of them until now. The vegetables are ripe and we can taste the flavor of the vegetables you grew. Tell your husband what you think about them?"
Chen Yuyuan thought for a moment, then straightened up and said to Wu Muyue, “Sir, farming is a very hard job. Whether it’s sowing seeds here in the spring or growing vegetables after the greenhouse is built, we have people around us to help us. I’ve met a few friends in the village. Their farm work is all done by the labor force in their families. Families with more labor force can cultivate more land and harvest more grain in the fall. For those families that lack labor force, the harvest is just enough to fill their stomachs, or even not enough to satisfy their hunger.”
Upon hearing Chen Yuyuan's words, Wu Muyue's expression turned serious, and he looked at Chen Yuyuan expectantly, signaling him to continue.
Chen Yuyuan thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, I think what Abo said is very true. No matter what time it is, tools are very important. If you want to do a good job, you must first have the right tools. The same is true for farming. If you have good tools, can you plow more acres of land? If you have handy tools, can you easily harvest the grain from the field and bring it home?"
Wu Muyue was slightly taken aback by Chen Yuyuan's focus and asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"
Chen Yuyuan looked excited and said, "Sir, when I talked to Abo about this last time, Abo said that we could design some tools ourselves, like plows and harvesters. If we put our minds to it, how could we not make them? Once these tools are made, when it comes to farming, what would require ten people to do, one person can do. The extra people can then cultivate some farmland, and we can produce more grain. Why would we worry about our Great Liang not becoming strong?"
Xu Zhi nodded in agreement and said, "That's really true, Uncle. Abo helped us make some tools, which made it much easier for us when we made cakes and pastries. My chefs especially love the thing Abo made that you can stir milk with your foot. Stirring it by hand would be so tiring for your arms."
Wu Muyue actually wanted Chen Yuyuan to experience the hardships of farming from the perspective of farmers, and then to seriously consider whether some of the country's systems were reasonable and where there was room for improvement.
Chen Yuyuan nodded and said, "Abo always says that a technologically advanced country is not just about farmers making tools that save manpower, but also about improving the weapons in the military. With advanced weapons, why worry about unrest on the border?"
In the end, Chen Yuyuan spoke with excitement, while Wu Muyue carefully considered the idea of a technologically advanced nation, and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
After dinner, it was already quite late. Wu Muyue told Xu Zhi and Chen Yuyuan to go back and rest, while he sat in his study, picked up a pen, and wanted to write down what Chen Yuyuan had said. For a moment, he didn't know where to begin, so he simply put down the pen, went out of the study, and stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back.
It wasn't even the dead of winter yet, but the nights were already quite cold. Ah Jin was carrying a thick cloak, but Wu Muyue waved his hand and said, "I'm just strolling around in the yard, I don't need this."
Wu Muyue walked around in the courtyard until the second watch of the night before returning to his room. He picked up a pen and quickly wrote a letter, handing it to A Jin, who was serving him, and said, "Send someone to deliver this to His Majesty."
Ah Jin agreed, took the letter, and walked out. Wu Muyue and Liang Chengdi had a special communication channel. As Chen Yuyuan's teacher, Wu Muyue needed to communicate with Liang Chengdi, the student's parent, about the student's learning progress frequently.
After sending the letter, Wu Muyue felt extremely tired. He was already old, and after a long day of hard work, he spent more than an hour wandering around the courtyard before returning to write the letter. It was already past 4 a.m.
Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he heard a noise coming from the front door. He struggled to get up and see what was going on, but then he saw Ah Jin come in from outside and say to Wu Muyue, "Master, Miss Shen, the friend of Miss Biao, has been brought over. Miss Biao is already at the front door."
Wu Muyue thought for a moment, but did not get up. He simply said to A Jin, "Go and ask Xiao Jiu what he needs. Just bring out anything that we have in our village."
Ah Jin agreed, and seeing that Wu Muyue lay down to sleep again, he got up and went to the backyard.
Xu Zhi was surprised to be woken up by Hong Gu in the middle of the night. Knowing that something had happened to Shen Mingwan, she immediately woke up, grabbed her clothes and got off the kang. Hong Gu quickly stopped her, saying, "My good girl, it's very cold outside. Lord Jia San and the others are here. What is there to worry about? The messenger came first and said that Lord Jia San and the others are escorting Miss Shen this way."
Xu Zhi had already dressed in a few quick movements. She grabbed the cloak that was placed by the kang (a heated brick bed), nodded, and said, "I know that with Lord Jia and the others there, Sister Mingwan will be fine. I'm just worried that Sister Mingwan might be frightened. Hong Gu, let's go to the gate to meet them."
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