Even if Chai Shiqin was no longer favored by him, he was still his biological son. Emperor Jianning nodded with satisfaction and said, "Let the Shaofu find a few people for you. Then you can go to Anzhou for me."
Chai Shiqin was surprised and delighted, and kowtowed to express his gratitude, "Thank you, father. I will definitely live up to your expectations."
Let’s go to Anzhou! Chu Yun also stood up and knelt in the middle, “Your Majesty, I am willing to protect the Eighth Prince and go to Anzhou together.”
Chu Yungui, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, was frightened by his son Chu Yun and quickly apologized, "Your Majesty, I was arrogant and ignorant. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
Chu Yun was dissatisfied with his father's sabotage, but he didn't dare to complain or refute at this time, and his face immediately wrinkled into a bitter melon.
Chai Shibo also wanted to go, but he was Chai Shiqin's brother. If he proposed to go, it would be tantamount to stealing Chai Shiqin's job.
He couldn't go, and neither could Chu Yun! "Father, Chu Yun is already in his twenties. It's really not good for him to be idle all the time."
Chu Yun was overjoyed and turned to look at Chai Shibo, expressing his gratitude with his eyes. What a good brother!
But Chai Shibo didn't even look at him, and continued, "Why don't you, Father, find a marriage for Chu Yun? With a wife to look after him, he'll be more restrained."
Chu Yun was so angry that his face turned red and his neck was thick. If Emperor Jianning hadn't been there, he would have gone to fight Chai Shibo! "Your Majesty, I..."
Chu Yungui agreed and was about to interrupt Chu Yun, but Duke Lu got there first. "Your Majesty, Prince Ning is right. I have a daughter in my family and I would like to marry her to Chu Yun. Do you approve?"
The position of the chief academic officer of the Imperial College is very important, and the Chu family is a century-old scholarly family with a profound heritage, far surpassing the ordinary dignitaries in the capital.
This foundation is not only about money, but also about connections. Chu Yun is the eldest grandson of the Chu family's direct branch, and if nothing unexpected happens, he will also be the head of the Chu family.
His marriage involved many aspects, and Emperor Jianning had always been unclear about it. This was also the reason why Chu Yungui had been indulging him until he was in his twenties and had not arranged a marriage for him.
In the past, the Chu family had always been neutral. Duke Lu knew that he could not win over the Chu family, so he always maintained an attitude of not offending them.
But Chu Yun obviously had a good impression of Kang Yueran. He couldn't bear to see the Chu family become Chai Shijing's helper, so he asked to test Emperor Jianning.
Chu Yungui saw the inner conflict of Emperor Jianning and said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to inform you that before my teacher passed away, I had already arranged a marriage between Yun'er and his second granddaughter. We will only wait until the three-year mourning period is over, and then we will perform the six rituals."
Emperor Jianning couldn't explain his feelings. He seemed relieved, yet also felt regretful. He just hummed casually.
Chai Shirong exchanged glances with Duke Lu and said, "Father, my eighth brother has reached the age where he should consider marriage. In my humble opinion, how about letting him marry Duke Lu's daughter?"
Duke Lu only had one legitimate daughter, so it wasn't surprising that he was interested in Chu Yun. So why would he choose Chai Shiqin, who had no background at all? Emperor Jianning couldn't understand. "This time we came to Dongqi Mountain for the spring hunt, not for our children's marriage. Let's discuss it after we return to the palace!"
There are two reasons why Emperor Jianning could not see through it. First, this matter was proposed by Chai Shirong, and second, he never thought Chai Shirong was stupid.
Chai Shijing sneered in his heart, thinking that Duke Lu had a good plan.
After Emperor Jianning spoke, no one dared to refute him. Some people who were eloquent quickly changed the topic and the scene soon became lively again.
Chu Yun returned to his seat and looked at Chai Shibo with a fierce look in his eyes and a grin on his face.
Chai Shibo felt guilty and didn't dare to look at Chu Yun. He just said it casually. He really didn't expect that Duke Lu would propose to marry his daughter to Chu Yun.
But Chu Yun's resentment was too deep, making Chai Shibo feel very uncomfortable and at a loss. Oh, he had to think carefully about how to appease his good brother.
Anzhou
Looking at the two thousand acres of tea garden, Kang Yueran felt refreshed and at ease.
An Yuan, the tea garden's head steward, reported the progress to Kang Yueran. "All the tea seedlings have been planted. The tea planter told me to gather some dead grass or wheat straw in early July and spread it around the garden around September, pressing it down with soil to keep the tea tree roots warm."
The first winter is definitely the hardest for tea seedlings. "Okay, as long as the seedlings can survive the winter, spending a little money is nothing."
"I have been keeping an eye on the villagers I hired to plant the tea seedlings. After the seedlings were planted, I selected 100 people who worked hard and signed long-term employment contracts with them.
Each person received eight hundred coins per month, two festival gifts, double wages in November, three days off, and was allowed an extra half month's leave during busy farming seasons.
After the tea garden was planted, tea production would have to follow. An Yuan had also thought about this. He pointed to a vacant lot and said, "Look, girl, I asked someone to reserve a piece of vacant land next to the tea garden. I plan to build a tea workshop."
Kang Yueran was very satisfied and deliberately asked, "When do you plan to build it? What will happen after it's built?"
"I asked a tea grower, and he said the tea seedlings the girl brought were relatively large, and if they could survive this winter, we might be able to pick some next year.
So I want to hire people to build a workshop after the villagers have finished their busy farming season. Once the workshop is built, we need manpower. Girl, should we buy or hire some people?
"Just hire someone! Don't tell the villagers about this yet. Keep an eye out for a group of loyal people. Then I'll come over and teach them how to make tea."
Tea making is a craft, better than burying oneself in the fields, so there must be many people willing to learn. "I understand."
"You guys did a great job, I'm very satisfied. I'll have the accountant send ten taels of silver to each of your homes as a reward!"
Once you sign a death contract, you become a servant and can no longer contact your family, but blood ties cannot be severed.
So Kang Yueran had made it clear in advance that all the servants would keep their monthly wages themselves, and she would give the extra rewards to their families. However, they were strictly forbidden to contact their families privately.
It is an honor to be able to receive the reward, and it can also benefit the family, so the servants are very satisfied with this! "Thank you, young lady!"
An Yuan didn't say anything, but he was calculating in his mind. His elder sister is fifteen years old this year, and it's time for her to find a husband. With these ten taels of silver, her dowry will be better.
The tea gardens are thriving, but the kiln workers at the Paektu Mountain kilns are not feeling safe.
The reason was simple. Six porcelain merchants from Shengzhou had sent apprentices here to learn how to make porcelain. All of them studied very seriously, with the exception of Wang Zhuzi from Yin Hai's family.
He spent the whole day lounging about, wandering around, looking around, as if he were on a tour. Wang Hai, because he was not his own servant, only warned him twice, but to little avail.
That day, Wang Zhuzi sneaked into the porcelain painter's room to chat with him.
"Hey, Brother Li Tie, your painting of the lady is so vivid."
Li Tie kept his hands busy, "I'm not drawing a monkey, it doesn't need to be lifelike."
Lu Tian, who was standing next to him, said with a stern face, "Li Tie, even though Manager Wang's words were inappropriate, he was still praising you. What's with your attitude?"
"I don't need praise from others. Don't bring me up when you talk. I just want to paint porcelain at the kilns of Mount Paektu for the rest of my life. I won't go anywhere else."
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