Dieyi Palace.
The candles have been lit, and the bright red light dims the countless stars.
A table full of hot and delicious dishes had been served. Emperor Xuan sat at the top, Empress Shang sat on his left, and Fu Xiaoguan sat on his right.
His three wives sat next to him, and there was plenty of space for the six of them around the big round table.
Emperor Xuan looked at Fu Xiaoguan with a smile on his face. He didn't ask what he thought after seeing those people at the Dali Temple. Instead, he said, "This is a family banquet, a welcome dinner for you. I still remember that you first came to the capital at the end of September in the eighth year of the Xuanli reign. A year and a half has passed in the blink of an eye, and you... have also risen from a small landowner in Linjiang to the current Ding'an Earl."
"You earned this with your own ability, and I'm very pleased. But I still want you to stay in the Yu Dynasty and earn another first-class duke for your descendants. What do you think?"
Fu Xiaoguan chuckled, "Your Majesty, you think highly of me. Let's not talk about this for now. I want to ask you, are you ready for the 100 million silver?"
The smile on Emperor Xuan's face slowly faded. He glared at Fu Xiaoguan, "You only knew you wanted money! I don't have 100 million, so I can only give you 50 million. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself! Let's not discuss this tonight. Come on, let's drink and eat."
Fu Xiaoguan felt terrible, his eyes full of resentment.
Wasn't it one hundred million that we agreed on? How come after I went out and fought a battle, I got half of it back?
Where did the money go?
No, I have to ask Minister Dong and his father-in-law tomorrow to find out.
Fu Xiaoguan turned his grief and anger into appetite. He ate without hesitation, "Good food! Delicious! It must be the Queen's masterpiece!"
Empress Shang chuckled, "You're flattering the wrong person. This table of dishes was prepared by the master chef from Sifanglou and the imperial kitchen staff. I only cooked a bowl of soup."
Fu Xiaoguan remained calm as he picked up a piece of food for each of the three ladies and said with a smile, "The Sifang Building is like my family's back kitchen. I can tell by the smell of the dishes their chefs cook. This dish today is noticeably more delicious, so I think it must have been personally instructed by the Empress."
"I haven't even been to the kitchen, so where does my advice come from?"
"Ah...ha, I see. The Empress sent someone to invite them. This is a great honor for them. It's also a great honor for their ancestral graves. They received the Empress's grace and suddenly realized the art of cooking. That's why they can make such delicious food. That must be the case. Tomorrow I will go to Sifanglou to try it myself."
Empress Shang covered her mouth and laughed, "You're such a chatterbox...just let me eat more. I've been gone for two or three months and I've become as thin as a monkey."
Emperor Xuan glanced at Fu Xiaoguan. This kid was so thick-skinned and shameless. He really was amazing!
"Come, have a couple of drinks with me."
Yu Wenyun and the other two squinted at Fu Xiaoguan, thinking that this man was really shameless to say such words.
Fu Xiaoguan raised his glass and clinked it with Emperor Xuan. Suddenly, he turned to Dong Shulan and said, "The market for this wine is huge. Shulan, remember to write a letter to Lu Yihui, who is in charge of the Yuxi District, and ask him to find a good place in Yibin, Rongzhou, Jiannan West Road, to build a large winery."
"Why is it built so far away?" Queen Shang asked curiously.
"Shu is a good place. The grain production there is good, and the climate is particularly suitable for winemaking, especially in Yibin. To be honest..."
Fu Xiaoguan put down his wine glass. "In Jianmen City, General Fei and I drank a glass of wine that was around 30% alcohol. Shu is a basin-shaped land with a rather cold climate. The Shu people love wine, but they don't have good wine. So, if we build a distillery in Yibin and take the recipe for Xishan Tianchun over there, and improve it to suit the local climate, we can definitely brew a stronger liquor that's even tastier than Xishan Tianchun..."
He looked at Dong Shulan again and said, "Tell Lu Yihui that the name of that wine is... Siliangye!"
"Siliangye? You've already picked out a name before the eight characters are even written?" Emperor Xuan asked in astonishment.
"Hehe, I'm afraid someone else has registered this name."
Dong Shulan was a little confused, but she still remembered what Fu Xiaoguan said.
Emperor Xuan didn't understand what preemptive registration meant. He didn't care about this matter, but instead asked about the people's livelihood in Jiannan.
"This time you've only reached Jianmen City. Actually, there are still many impoverished counties in Jiannan, such as Yunlai County and Wenshui County. I've considered including Yunlai and Wenshui counties in this year's pilot commercial counties. However, I currently don't have any suitable candidates to serve as county magistrates in these two places. We have to wait until the imperial examination is over."
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly remembered the files he had read in the Ministry of Personnel today. He didn't pay attention to Wenshui County, but wasn't the county magistrate of Yunlai County Zhuo Liuyun?
"Your Majesty, do you wish to replace the current county magistrate?"
"The magistrate of Wenshui County is already in his fifties and frail. At the end of last year, he submitted his resignation to the prefect of Maozhou, and it has been delayed until now. I remember that the magistrate of Yunlai County was a Jinshi in the eighth year of the Xuanli reign, but his evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel was not good. He has been in office for over a year and has not achieved any outstanding achievements. I am not confident that such a person can lead the new policy."
Fu Xiaoguan did not express his opinion on this matter. He did not know Yunlai County or Zhuo Liuyun, but since the Ministry of Personnel's evaluation was only good, this guy probably didn't take it seriously.
At this moment, Zhuo Liuyun, who they only mentioned briefly, was busy and exhausted in the county government office of Yunlai County.
Several oil lamps were lit.
There are eight heads sitting around an eight-immortal table.
In the middle of the table was a map of Yunlai County, and around it were many messy papers.
One of the teachers was concentrating on using an abacus, classifying the data on the papers one by one.
An hour later, he wrote down the last number and handed the summary to Zhuo Liuyun:
"Sir, throughout Yunlai County, across the three towns and sixteen townships, there are a total of over 8.2 million mu of uncultivated land."
Zhuo Liuyun gasped in shock, then carefully read the paper in the dim light. He then put it down, pondered for a moment, and slammed his fist on the paper.
"The total population of Yunlai County is over 78,000 households, totaling 386,422 people, of whom only over 100,000 are adults."
"Tomorrow, all the village and township heads will come here. I will take all of these lands, regardless of who owned them before. They will all belong to Yunlai County."
"I will deal with these old guys. You go and count how many people are willing to settle in Yunlai County. On the first day of May, according to my plan, all 8.2 million acres of land will be divided equally!"
County Magistrate Yan Gao looked at Zhuo Liuyun and said, "Your Excellency, this matter is of great importance. We must report it to the Ministry of Personnel and present it to the Emperor for approval."
"..." Zhuo Liuyun was silent for a moment, "Do it first, and report to the Ministry of Personnel at the same time! This will take at least two months to go back and forth. By the time we get a reply, the spring plowing will be completely delayed!"
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