Chapter 1457 Taking a Concubine

Three days passed in a flash, and Zhulan received a thick letter from her youngest son. Zhou Laoda happened to be there, and he asked, "Are you not coming back for the New Year this year?"

"Wu Ming was worried about him leaving on his own and he won't be coming back this year."

Boss Zhou misses his younger brother. Without his younger brother around, there will be no one to take care of Minghui.

Zhulan flipped through the letter with a frown on her face. There was a lot of information written in the letter. It said that Huaizhou was a grain-producing continent and there was no shortage of food.

Boss Zhou asked, "Mom, what did I write?"

Zhulan put down the letter, "Wu Ming took a concubine, and Changzhong was puzzled. He thought Wu Ming and Song had a good relationship, and he didn't understand why he wanted to take a concubine. He thought more and wrote more."

Boss Zhou was surprised, "Wu Ming took a concubine?"

The two families had a close relationship, and although he didn't say it, he thought in his heart that Wu Ming would never take a concubine.

Zhulan took out a piece of letter paper, "Changzhong wrote to Wu Ming and told him that not everyone can do what they want, which shows that taking a concubine was not his original intention, but he couldn't refuse."

Zhou Lao Da is no longer the honest and straightforward person he used to be. He understood what his mother meant. "Is this concubine spying on him?"

"I don't know about that. This is Wu Ming's own business. He will handle it."

After all, Wu Ming is not a member of the Zhou family, and the Zhou family has no power to interfere in Wu Ming's backyard, let alone a big shot like Wu Ming. Every step Wu Ming takes is weighed, and he knows what he wants.

Boss Zhou sighed, "The reason why we brothers can live comfortably is all thanks to Dad's protection."

There is no need to talk about the capital city, let’s just talk about the third brother, Chang Lian. He avoided a lot of local dirt because of his father.

Zhulan asked, "How are the vegetables in the greenhouse growing?"

Boss Zhou smiled even more. "It's growing well. We'll be able to eat fresh vegetables in a few days."

"That's great. We'll kill a sheep in a few days and have a lamb hotpot in the winter."

Zhou Laoda nodded in agreement and said, "Mom, Dad donated the breeding sheep on our farm. Now there is only one breeding sheep on the farm."

Beef and mutton are scarce in Beijing now. The beef that was available before is no longer available. He treasures the breeding sheep on his own farm and was thinking of breeding more next year. However, his father donated the breeding sheep in the blink of an eye.

Zhulan, "The court is in need of breeding sheep. The breeding sheep of our farm are of good quality purchased at a high price. Although your father is stingy, he is the most generous when it comes to big things."

Boss Zhou felt ashamed, "My son is selfish."

"Don't say that. You're just feeling sorry for them. You're the one who takes care of all the livestock on the farm. I understand how you feel."

Boss Zhou asked, "Mother, where is the court going to raise sheep?"

Zhulan knew, "In the south, once the chicks have grown, they will be sent to the grasslands for breeding. Most of the people on the grasslands live on animal husbandry. Without livestock, they cannot survive. The court will only have to endure hardships for a year or two. Now the grasslands belong to the court, and everything will be fine once they grow."

In the Hanlin Academy, Liu Song stopped Wen Rong and said, "Donating grain was your idea, right?"

Wen Rong, "What did you say?"

"Don't pretend, this must have been your idea."

Changzhi missed the best opportunity to leave and could only continue to hide behind the bookshelf, but his ears were honestly erected.

Wen Rong held the book and looked directly into Liu Song's eyes. "So what if it's me? So what if it's not me?"

Liu Song chuckled, "If it was you who said you wanted to change the Wen family and had already taken action, then it's not you. It only means that I overestimated you."

If it was the former, Wen Rong was ahead of him, and he would not admit that he was worse than Wen Rong.

Wen Rong smiled, took the book and left without saying a word.

Liu Song felt heavy in his heart, because it was indeed Wen Rong's idea, and he still had no say in the Liu family, and a feeling of frustration lingered in his heart.

Chang Zhi came out after the other two left, holding a book and falling into deep thought. If it was Wen Rong who influenced the Wen family and Wen Rong completely controlled the Wen family, would the Wen family and the Zhou family not have to confront each other? Then he fell silent again. The emperor hoped for balance. Even if Wen Rong controlled the Wen family, the Wen family and the Zhou family would still be relative.

In Zhangzhou, Changyi came back from outside, his nose was red from the cold, Yushuang handed his father a cup of hot tea, "Dad, the weather is so cold, don't go out with Liufeng."

Changyi drank some hot water to warm himself up, "I want to go see the people here in person."

These days, whenever his son-in-law goes to the village, he follows him. The lives of the people here are harder than he imagined. Many families have run out of food, and the children have no strength and can only lie on the kang.

Some families had hay cooking in their pots and the children drank hay soup, as if they were craving something delicious.

The son-in-law delivered some sweet potatoes and dried seaweed to each household. The people did not dare to eat too much after receiving the food. A family of six shared a sweet potato and used some seaweed to cook a large pot of soup. This meal was very satisfying for both adults and children.

Yu Shuang listened to her father talking about the hardships of the people and sighed, "Liu Feng took the lead in donating food, but the county is not rich, and the food we received is not much. The fine grains donated by our family were exchanged for coarse grains by the grain merchants, and we don't know how long the county government's food can last."

Chang Yi asked, "Didn't get the fish cake?"

"There are too many impoverished areas in Zhangzhou. Our county government has some food to support it, but some counties have nothing at all. Now we can provide relief to the most impoverished counties."

Chang Yi frowned, "I'll go talk to Liu Feng."

You have to fight for what you need to fight for. Don't think you can just let the higher-ups get used to ignoring Liu Feng. That won't work.

Liu Feng was stunned after hearing what his father-in-law said, "Dad, I understand."

"Well, you have good intentions, but you should also plan more. Don't wait until you are really short of food and the higher-ups think you can still hold on. Then it will be the people who suffer."

Liu Feng's younger brother broke out in a cold sweat and bowed, saying, "I am grateful for your advice."

Chang Yi was satisfied with his son-in-law's attitude. "Don't do everything by yourself. Only those who cry hard can get food. Of course, I must also praise your actions. You have done a lot of practical things this year. Dad is very pleased."

Liu Feng was embarrassed, "My son-in-law didn't do much."

"Don't be modest. Your idea of ​​letting the people grow medicinal herbs is a good one. As long as it develops, the county will definitely be out of poverty."

The corners of Liu Feng's mouth curled up uncontrollably. He had gained recognition from his father-in-law. His recent worries about the people's food shortage were gone, and he was filled with energy.

At night, Zhou Shuren learned that Wu Ming had taken a concubine. "It's not easy for Wu Ming to be outside. He can indeed rely on me, but the emperor wants to see Wu Ming's own ability. Moreover, Wu Ming is a pure ancient man. He has no objection to taking a concubine."

Zhulan, "I just feel sorry for the Song family."

Zhou Shuren laughed, "Wu Ming knows what he wants. He won't let his backyard mess up. His heart is more powerful than his emotions."

Zhulan didn't want to continue the conversation, so she asked, "Did the King of Qi collect the livestock smoothly?"

Zhou Shuren shook his head, "It's not smooth. Now that we have just donated food, we can't help but feel resistance. The court uses silver to buy livestock, who would really want silver? The King of Qi looked for a few places, but they didn't donate much. Some people killed all their livestock after hearing the news."

Zhu Lan sneered, "Oh, they only care about themselves, how could they care about the lives of the people."

Zhou Shuren has seen a lot. "It's not worth it for you to be angry with them. They think they are being very careful, but they don't know that the emperor knows everything."

"I was wondering how you knew this. Did the Emperor tell you?"

Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes."

Zhulan saw that Shuren looked confused and asked, "What else?"

Zhou Shuren said, "The Emperor asked about Yuyi's age today."

Zhu Lan stared, "Does this mean you have any idea about Yu Yi's marriage?"