"The Farmer's Fat Wife" - Fat men are all potential gems (Chapter 21...)
Three years after three years, Ye Xiqing led a group of people on a spring outing, even though she looked like a brave warrior who could hold off ten thousand men.
However, he never intended to challenge assassins alone; he always brought a group of people with him wherever he went, which made him feel safe.
Others also liked to go out with her, not only because they could eat and drink at public expense, but also because they could receive the admiring gaze of the people.
Everyone in Huaizhou knew Ye Xiqing. Upon seeing her, they cheered excitedly, just like modern people visiting a zoo to see gorillas. They warmly invited the Heavenly King to sit down.
When Ye Xiqing got tired of playing, she casually found a teahouse to sit down and asked the tea lady for a bowl of tea to quench her thirst.
The terrain of Huaizhou is quite complex, so when dividing the land, different methods of land division were used depending on the region and geographical environment.
In coastal areas where fertile land is scarce, salt pans are used to supplement it; in mountainous areas, each household is allocated a small plot of mountain land.
All fertile, well-irrigated flat land should be used to grow grain, and abandonment and land sales are prohibited.
The mountains don't matter; it doesn't matter whether you grow grain, tea, mulberry, fruit trees, or charcoal.
With so much fertile land to grow grain, very few people actually cultivate the mountainous areas for grain; they usually grow cash crops instead.
Tea trees are a crop that thrives in sunlight. High-mountain tea is of very high quality and is very popular outside the region. Now that trade has been opened up to foreign markets, the demand is extremely high, and a great deal of tea is being grown.
Besides being a beverage, tea also had a very important function in ancient times: boiling water.
In an era when firewood was also a form of hard currency, drinking tea was not only a pleasure but also a natural disinfectant.
In times of peace and prosperity, even ordinary people could drink tea; now, it's considered good if they can get hot water.
The number of people outside the area who can afford to drink tea has increased, but tea stalls are everywhere in Huaizhou. The people of Huaizhou are rich.
Not only were they guaranteed a minimum income from their own businesses, but the government also set high wages for the workers. It was common for them to take out a few coins and order a bowl of tea when passing by a tea stall.
So much so that you can find all kinds of tea anywhere—in the fields, in the city, on the mountains, and on the shore. As long as you have money, you can drink all kinds of tea anytime, anywhere.
Upon seeing Ye Xiqing and her group, the tea lady immediately wiped the table clean and selected the best tea to serve them.
Ye Xiqing and her friends were tired from playing, so they drank tea and pretended to ask about prices, acting as if they cared a lot about people's livelihoods, which made the tea lady very happy.
After drinking a bowl, Ye Xiqing sincerely suggested, "Next time you brew tea, add some sugar and let it cool down."
She wanted to drink iced tea.
Tea Girl: Huh?
Huaizhou does not yet have this way of tasting tea. In fact, at this time, refined people prefer to taste the pure flavor of tea, and the more original the tea flavor can be brewed, the more high-end it is.
But no one would say that Aoki Tenno wasn't high-end, and Cha Niang immediately agreed, promising to change it right away!
Ye Xiqing waved her hand, saying she didn't need it and would come again next time.
She beckoned her men to give her money, but the tea lady repeatedly said no, yet her men threw down the silver and left.
That's why everyone likes to entertain them; it not only enhances the tea stall's reputation, but they're also very generous!
In Huaizhou, employees with official positions receive a fixed monthly allowance. Different levels have different allowances, and as long as it's within the allowance, all expenses are reimbursed upon presentation of receipts.
Therefore, officials have very rich daily expenses, and it would be a waste not to spend them. Since they spend money, private merchants also welcome officials.
As the saying goes, "What the superiors like, the inferiors will follow even more closely." As soon as the news spread that Ye Xiqing liked to drink sweet tea, the people lined up instantly to taste the emperor's favorite tea stall, which he had visited twice.
Sweetness has a primal appeal, and with the added boost of the superstar's aura, the tea stall instantly became a hit.
Once she became popular, others would definitely follow suit, and sweet tea quickly became a hot tea product. Tea houses and tea stalls all followed suit, and the sugar market skyrocketed.
This forced Ye Xiqing to take responsibility for the health of the people of Huaizhou, and he had the medical department announce that although sugar is delicious, it should not be consumed in excess.
If you control your sugar intake, drinking tea regularly can still be a healthy and natural option.
That's why it's said that emperors shouldn't easily reveal their tastes. After the common people realized her preferences, they worked hard to develop new tea products, evolving from sweetened tea with added sugar to all-natural sweet tea.
Those who are clever make pastries sweeter, and those who are even cleverer make dishes sweeter.
Ye Xiqing was speechless. Just because she likes to drink sweet water doesn't mean she likes to eat sweet vegetables. Can't she be normal for once?
Huaizhou is a vast and resource-rich land, with abundant produce. Now, with foreign trade, the people are very wealthy, but many are also sick.
To prevent the people from knowing that she liked sweets and making everything sweet, Ye Xiqing personally tasted the food from all walks of life and offered her honest opinions, making the Heavenly King's palate increasingly diverse.
Whenever she goes out, those in the food industry would chase after her for miles to let her taste their cooking, promising that it would immediately become a new trend.
Later on, even if they hadn't tasted it themselves, the merchants would still insist that the superstar had tried it.
The Heavenly King has tasted so many foods that he has no idea whether he has actually tasted them or not. Even if he makes up a story, he won't be exposed. After all, Ye Xiqing tastes so many things every day that she can't remember them all.
However, this situation raises a problem: the public's pursuit of the king's taste is merely a gimmick.
Ye Xiqing opened up the Heavenly King mark to make it easier to filter; those marked with the Heavenly King mark are naturally the flavors she likes to eat.
When Ye Xiqing faced a difficult choice, she would simply go to the restaurant stalls displaying the banner of the Heavenly King, and she would never make a mistake.
But by sheer coincidence, she ended up eating the fake Heavenly King.
Upon tasting the first bite of the dish, Ye Xiqing didn't doubt the cook who served her, but rather doubted herself: "Did I really say it was delicious?"
On her very first day of opening her stall, Fan Qiaojie, who had boldly branded herself as a superstar, immediately turned around and said with a sincere expression, "I did say that! I did say that!"
Her sincere demeanor almost made Ye Xiqing doubt herself again. Fortunately, Ye Xiqing never did anything against her conscience. She might not remember whether she had eaten something or not, but she was clear about whether she would praise it or not.
The utensils at Fan Qiaojie's stall were too novel, making it easy to guess the truth of the matter.
He put down his rice bowl and sneered, "Then I take back what I said before. It's really awful. I must have been bewitched when I thought it was delicious last time."
Fan Qiaojie: ...
Ye Xiqing felt very relieved after saying those words, but then felt it wasn't quite right when she got back.
In her current position, praise is fine, but negative comments could cause big trouble for the vendors.
After much deliberation, Ye Xiqing returned the next day, intending to retract her previous statement and, against her conscience, point out some merits.
The next day, when I went there, the stall was not only unaffected, but the flow of people was even greater than before, showing signs of becoming a huge success.
Upon closer inspection, the original signboard had changed from "Certified by a Heavenly King" to "Bewitched by Ghosts".
The Heavenly King said that her stall was haunted. The food she made tasted delicious when the ghost had bewitched her, but tasted terrible when the ghost wasn't. Isn't that amazing?
Such a thing was so outrageous that people flocked to try this miraculous "ghostly eye-blinding" treatment.
Ye Xiqing fell silent. "You're quite skilled, aren't you?"
Fan Qiaojie gained another wave of attention, grinning from ear to ear. Kuku, who was collecting money, was reminded by those around her that the Heavenly King had arrived.
Upon seeing the Heavenly King and his large entourage, Fan Qiaojie instantly turned displeased, becoming obedient and respectfully greeting him: "Heavenly King..."
Ye Xiqing smiled and said, "I'll promote it if I say it's delicious, and I'll also promote it if I say it's not delicious."
Fan Qiaojie: ...
For some unknown reason, Fan Qiaojie was struck by a striking resemblance to a superstar twice in a row, leaving her utterly bewildered.
However, she was quick-witted, and in a flash, she came up with a reply: "Your Majesty, those who are skillful can earn money through their crafts, while those of us who are not skillful can only rely on Your Majesty's blessings for a living."
“I know that none of the customers who come to my stall are there for my lousy skills, but only because they admire the Heavenly King.”
"Under the rule of the Heavenly King, people live in peace and prosperity, and the country is at peace. Both the skillful and the clumsy have a way to make a living. It is truly a blessing for the humble!"
Ye Xiqing remained noncommittal.
She remained silent for a long time, which made Fan Qiaojie anxious. Although she could come up with a solution quickly, this was, after all, King Aoki. Trying to reason with a group of people wielding knives was a matter of whether the people wielding knives would agree to it.
Ye Xiqing stared at her for a long time before letting out a cold laugh: "Alright, you're not cut out to be a cook, but you're cut out to be an official."
"Don't sell your blinded skills anymore. Come back with me and give her a horse."
Everyone accompanying her was fully armored, but Lin Xiaofu, traveling light, immediately responded, "I'll go! I'll go!"
Fan Qiaojie was stunned for a moment before realizing what Ye Xiqing was talking about. This was really a stroke of luck!
She happily followed Ye Xiqing back, and Ye Xiqing told Zhu Niangzi what had happened.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Niangzi smiled at the woman's cleverness, glanced at the personnel register, and assigned her a position.
The government is now flourishing in all aspects, and the public service workforce is enormous.
However, there was no other way. With the resettled people being given new land and the city accepting refugees from outside the famine, the population of Huaizhou reached nearly 300,000.
People with land will re-register as residents, and those who had previously abandoned their household registration will return. Refugees who have nowhere to settle outside will also abandon their old registration and become Huai people.
No matter how many public service positions there are, it can't withstand the competition from so many people. Taking the civil service exam is not as easy as it used to be. Fan Qiaojie was immediately overjoyed. Luck is also part of ability!
Fan Qiaojie was so clever and had the potential to be a good businesswoman, so Zhu Niangzi arranged for her to work in the foreign trade department.
Huaizhou is now not only a major exporting prefecture, but also a major consuming prefecture. A steady stream of goods sails from the port to other places, and then swallows up goods from other places from the port.
Their "good money drives out bad money" plan finally worked. Among all the government troops and rebels, the common people from outside the country preferred to accept the Aoki Coin over all sorts of other currencies.
But where did Aoki coins come from? They were produced by themselves in secret.
Using the method of producing bad money to resolve a fiscal crisis may be a viable solution in a closed environment, but it would be undesirable if there were competition from good money.
Money is ultimately currency, not a resource. Real money is the money that can be exchanged for resources.
The result was that they used the money from their own production and sales to plunder actual resources. Who says plunder can only be done through war?
Unfortunately, people in other states weren't fools either. Even if they couldn't understand the specific details, they could realize that the rampant use of Huaizhou currency in their states was a problem and immediately reacted.
The use of Huaizhou currency by residents of the prefecture is prohibited! Local women are prohibited from illegally crossing into Huaizhou!
Furthermore, they began arresting Huai merchants and barring them from entering the country!
Huaizhou had enjoyed six good years in total, and this was the first time it had faced such a crisis. Ye Xiqing picked up the report to see who was behind it, and to his surprise, it turned out to be the neighbor of the Heavenly King, who had started the uprising together.
Good grief, her enemies haven't even dealt with her yet, but her comrades have already done it. She deserves some kind of explanation.
A month later, Aoki Tenshin led an army of 30,000 and marched straight for Feizhou. Three months later, Feizhou changed hands.
By preventing her coins from passing through, are you trying to make them pass through?
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Author's note: Qingqing: Since that's the case, I'll have to go myself.
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