Wen Yuanbai chuckled, "Hmm, do you think everyone is like you, barely literate and unable to even hold a pen properly?"
Xiao You Ran: ……
That hurts again.
But she quickly puffed out her little chest again, "I'm only five years old! Who says a five-year-old has to know how to read, hold a pen, and be familiar with the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty?!"
Wen Yuanbai's lips twitched. He didn't believe that she was only five years old and couldn't recognize many words. Even he couldn't recognize many of the words on the medicine box she had taken out of her sleeve earlier.
Madam Su pushed them both towards the door, saying, "Go and play, your mother will handle things here!"
After saying that, she stood in front of Zhang Mama and the others, "The Crown Prince of Xuan is absolutely right! I will go to the Jingzhao Prefecture to request that the children's surnames be changed to my surname! You may all leave now!"
Jiang Mingyi, inside the carriage, could no longer contain himself and roared, "Su family, how dare you!"
Wen Yuanbai, who had just stepped one foot across the threshold, couldn't help but step back upon hearing this. "With me here, Aunt Su, please go ahead! I'll see who dares to stop me!"
Little Youran nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, anyway, the Jiang family abandoned me first, so I don't want to go back! Mother, from now on my name will be Su Youran! My brother's name will be Su Youchen, yes, it sounds nice!"
Jiang Mingyi suddenly remembered something Zhao Mama said when she brought Yun Ni to the Jiang residence that day. Zhao Mama said that perhaps the child in her belly was his only son.
So, Mr. Su must have wanted to change his children's surname to Su for a long time, right?
Just then, a young maid came running up, panting, "Second Master, something terrible has happened! Concubine Yunni has been captured by the First Madam and taken to the Princess's residence!"
The person who came was the little maid that Zhao Mama had given to Yun Ni that day.
Jiang Mingyi's eyes widened suddenly, and he couldn't hold back the mouthful of blood, spitting it out.
The child she is carrying may indeed be his only son!
"Let's go! To the Princess's residence!" he shouted coldly.
Mother Zhang angrily flung her hand away, ordering the servants to lift Lady Yong'an into the carriage and leave.
Over there, Xiao Youran happily said to Madam Su, "Mother, I will take your surname from now on! Su Youran, Su Youran, it sounds so nice!"
She turned to Wen Yuanbai, "Senior Brother Da Bai, what do you think? Does it sound good?"
Wen Yuanbai nodded, "Su Youran, it sounds very nice."
For some reason, seeing the mother and daughter so happy, he hesitated for a moment.
Should we talk about the matter concerning Marquis Yun, or not?
At this moment, Nan Zhuo ran up and whispered something in his ear.
His expression changed slightly, and then he said to Madam Su and Xiao Youran, "Aunt Su, Junior Sister, I have something urgent to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."
After saying that, he hurriedly got into the carriage. After thinking for a moment, he took out a pen and paper from the small table next to the carriage, wrote two lines, put them in an envelope, and handed it out the window to Nan Zhuo, saying, "Send this to the young county princess."
"yes."
Nan Zhuo delivered the envelope to Xiao Youran as instructed, then hurriedly returned to the carriage and sped away.
Xiao Youran was in high spirits when she saw her senior brother's letter. She pursed her lips, didn't pay any attention to it, and simply stuffed it into her sleeve.
Su asked curiously, "What did your senior brother write to you? Why don't you open it and take a look?"
Xiao Youran pouted again, "What else could it be? It must be that daily post!"
Her hand slipped discreetly into her sleeve and then tossed the letter into her spatial storage.
There were already no fewer than twenty posts lying inside.
After arriving in Kyoto, Wen Yuanbai's daily post became her nightmare.
She would only slowly take out her copy when her senior brother was coming to check.
Seeing that Xiao Youran didn't care at all, Madam Su naturally didn't care either, and excitedly changed into her court dress and went to the Jingzhao Prefecture.
She's going to change her son and daughter's surnames to her mother's surname!
What a glorious thing this is!
If her elder brother and father in Dingzhou knew, they would be proud of her!
Xiao Youran was also very happy, and together they went to the Jingzhao Prefecture government office to meet Lu Ning, the Jingzhao Prefecture Governor, whom they had not seen for a long time.
Upon seeing the Su mother and daughter, Lu Ning happily shared his achievements of the past few months: "Our comprehensive trade market is expected to be fully completed in three months after the New Year. In these past few months, the workers at this construction site, who received their wages and rations through a work-for-relief program, were initially reluctant to spend their money. But as the year drew to a close, the weather turned cold, and the New Year and other holidays approached, some people even came to ask if there would be another project after this one was completed. After I gave them an affirmative answer, the workers started spending money lavishly, buying food, clothes, and other necessities. Hey, there are more small merchants around here now. The West Market, which used to be a mess, has actually become prosperous! Su Yiren, Xiao Youran, I now truly understand why you wanted to build this comprehensive trade market!"
Xiao Youran asked with a smile, "Does Lord Lu know why?"
Lu Ning looked at the two gods of wealth in front of him, his eyebrows almost flying up. "Of course, it's about making more money and spending more money! As long as there's a continuous source of income, who wouldn't want to spend money? Where there's spending, there's earning, so won't people's lives get better and better?! People always look down on merchants, but who knows that the path of commerce can also truly make people rich!"
Su nodded with a smile. It was truly fortunate that the Prefect of Jingzhao had such awareness!
Xiao Youran continued, "So, Uncle Lu, have you thought it through? Where will the next construction site be after this trade market is completed?"
Lu Ning's face fell again. "The money raised by the Jingzhao Prefecture has all been spent! We can only wait until next year to raise more."
Xiao Youran smiled and said, "The Crown Prince of Xuan has a large piece of land in the eastern suburbs. We plan to build a food factory there. Once it's built, if there are any clever and skillful women, well, as long as people don't adhere to the strict separation of men and women, we can hire both men and women. That's how we'll employ people day after day, year after year."
Lu Ning's eyes widened, and she suddenly remembered the instant noodles that the Ministry of War had been talking about for a long time. She gasped, "Does the young princess intend to build the same instant noodle factory as Taizhou?"
Xiao Youran nodded, "Instant noodles are fine, as are potato noodles and sweet potato noodles..."
Lu Ning was so surprised that he stood up again. "Potato flour? Is it made from potatoes that yield more than 500 jin per mu?"
"Yes! If Lord Lu can promote potato cultivation in the suburbs of Beijing, we can also collect raw materials."
Lu Ning walked around excitedly, observing how farmers planted the crops, workshops purchased them, processed them into food, and then sold them to various places.
Farmers have money, so they can spend it. Workers earn money, so they naturally need to spend it too. Merchants sell their goods, have money in hand, and then they need to buy clothes, grain, and food. Doesn't this money ultimately return to the hands of the farmers and artisans?
When the people's strategy is in place, things naturally come alive!
Absolutely amazing!
Who says that scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants should be ranked last?
In his view, the scholar is the most useless one!
Those who don't engage in production will only squander their wealth!
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