At the Xu family, after Miss Xu returned home, she was still thinking about Su Qiuya.
"Did you go to the Liu family's shop?" asked Mrs. Xu.
"Yeah." Miss Xu nodded slightly. "That's about it. Not much more."
"It's not easy for her to open a shop and expand her business to the county town." Mrs. Xu didn't want her daughter to just focus on Liu Yanbo. As a mother, for her daughter's sake, she didn't want her daughter to marry a man who divorced his wife and remarried.
"Then she is just a country woman." said Miss Xu.
"A country woman?" Madam Xu shook her head. "She doesn't sound uneducated. Her words are well-reasoned and well-reasoned. Don't forget, there are quite a few exiles in this area."
"Since he is an exile, there is nothing good about him." Miss Xu said.
"When women follow their husbands into exile, it's their in-laws' fault, not their own families'," Madam Xu said. "This woman also opened a shop to support her husband's education, which can be considered as her loyalty. If that's the case, I'm afraid you can't think about Liu Yanbo anymore."
Mrs. Xu just wanted her daughter to give up Liu Yanbo. There was really nothing good about Liu Yanbo.
"Mother, can't you consider your daughter?" Miss Xu was unhappy. "With my daughter's condition, how can she marry into such a good family?"
"That's no reason for you to give up on yourself," Madam Xu said. "If it doesn't work out, then in two years, go live somewhere else. Then you can remarry as a widow. That way, your husband will know you're not innocent."
Mrs. Xu thought this was the best way. Otherwise, she would have to hide the fact from her daughter on her wedding night. If she couldn't, her son-in-law would definitely think her daughter was not good.
By that time, Miss Xu should forget about finding a better family.
It is not necessarily impossible for a widow to remarry and marry a better woman. Even if some people say that a widow is unlucky for her husband, it is better than being considered unclean by her husband and being despised by him.
When a woman gets married, it's a lifelong commitment. If she doesn't choose the right man, her life will be miserable.
"You were just too ambitious before, trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful," Mrs. Xu said bluntly. "It's also my fault. I didn't keep a close eye on you. Seeing that your father didn't say anything, I just let you do what you wanted."
Mrs. Xu knew that her husband wanted to use some connections, but a family like theirs didn't have many connections, and it was hard to tell who those people were. She thought they were high-ranking officials, but it turned out they were not high-ranking officials at all, and they even deceived her daughter's innocence.
"Liu Yanbo, no," Madam Xu said, "Think about it. Do you want to sow discord between them just to prove that he's a cold-hearted man, or do you want to find a better family for yourself and live a stable life in the future?"
"Mom..." Miss Xu was a little unwilling.
"You've been deceived once, and you still want to fall for a man? It's not like you like her that much." Madam Xu said, "It's not easy to see if Liu Yanbo is sincere to his wife. You are just a teacher's daughter. When he passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, and becomes an official in the future, he will meet more women."
Mrs. Xu believes that her daughter doesn't need to spend much time with Liu Yanbo, as he will face more temptations in the future. Whether Liu Yanbo is cold and indifferent doesn't need her daughter to prove it; time will tell.
Miss Xu was silent. She needed to think about it again.
Liu Yulian woke up early in the morning and made some cakes for Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan to take with them on the road.
"Father." Xiao Liujia was reluctant to leave her father as he was leaving so soon.
Xiao Liujia knew that her father was leaving today, so she didn't dare to sleep too deeply last night, hoping to get up and see her father today.
"Be a good boy at home." Liu Yanjing was about to leave.
"Okay." Xiao Liujia nodded.
He Xiyuan looked at Liu Yulian and said, "If I don't achieve any merit in two years, I will go back and take the imperial examination."
"Okay." Liu Yulian thought it was a good idea for He Xiyuan to have such an idea. There was no need to stick to one place. If it could lead to success, then sticking to it was fine. The key was that He Xiyuan had other options.
The Liu family also sent someone to bring an ox cart and put a lot of things on it, just to make Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan live better in the military camp.
Fortunately, Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan were not the kind of people who would refuse to accept things prepared by their family just to hide their identities. These things were carefully prepared by their family, and if they refused, it would be so heartbreaking for their family.
Besides, their identities couldn't be concealed forever. A while ago, there had been numerous border conflicts, which Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan had both dealt with. Without major battles, they relied on these smaller engagements to gain experience and accumulate merit.
Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan were promoted from soldiers to centurions, and they planned to work harder. In fact, they didn't need great achievements. For children from powerful families like them, a little merit would give the royal family more reasons to reward them.
Not everyone was admitted to the imperial court through the imperial examinations. For example, some children of powerful families who did not take the imperial examinations or join the army were also asked by the emperor to do some work. If the emperor saw that they did a good job, he would promote them.
However, if the sons of powerful families take part in the imperial examinations or join the army, they can go further in the future. After all, not everyone has the opportunity to follow the emperor.
For example, He Xiyuan's elder brother He Xichen didn't need to think about joining the army or taking the imperial examinations. He Xichen did so much for Prince Su. When Prince Su became emperor in the future, he would definitely use He Xichen.
Liu Yulian doesn't like farewells very much, as she gets sad too easily.
Liu Yulian's book, "From Wool to Wool Yarn Production Technology," was printed in large quantities, and many merchants and wealthy families bought it. Some people also sent the book to other places to sell it. Liu Yulian didn't care where the book was sold, she just took the money.
She didn't make much money from wool, so why isn't she allowed to earn some royalties?
Liu Yulian wasn't such a naive person that she couldn't live without money. She didn't make money from the recipes for the pills because ordinary people would have to pay a lot for medical treatment. If she collected money for the prescriptions, the doctors in the clinic would have to charge more for their treatment and medicine.
She didn't charge for the prescription, so the clinic didn't have to spend extra money on it.
As for wool, not everyone needs to buy wool yarn.
"County Lady, your book is really selling well." The owner of the library sent Liu Yulian's book to the capital and also sent it to other places to sell, making a lot of money. "Those merchants bought several copies at a time, and some wealthy families also bought one copy."
Although this kind of book did not sell as well as the books used for the imperial examinations, the owner thought it was already very good.
Before, those people didn't know wool could be made into yarn. Now, they know it can be made into yarn, and they just want to know. Those businessmen like to see if there are any business opportunities, and the money for a book is not much for them.
In these one or two months, after deducting the costs, we made several hundred taels of silver.
The boss gave him the money first, but he didn't dare to swallow it.
When Liu Yulian asked a library to print her book, she directly used the title given to her by the emperor on it, and her pen name was Rongning.
Rongning is much nicer than Yulian. Liu Yulian sometimes feels that her name is a bit delicate. Also, Yulian sounds rather feminine, and this is a patriarchal society. If men don't buy a book because they think it was written by a woman, that would be a shame.
Therefore, Liu Yulian directly used her identity as the Rongning County Master to cooperate with the owner of the library. This owner opened a library in the capital, not in the town. The library in the town could not do such a big business. The library in the town mainly imported books from outside, and the students in the academy copied books. They basically did not print books themselves.
"As long as they sell well." Liu Yulian took a look at the banknotes. She finally had a lot of income.
"If the county lady has other books, she can sell them in our library," the host said. "Books of this kind are also excellent."
"It's about farming," Liu Yulian said, "but I don't think anyone would buy it. Besides, I hired people to farm, so I don't think anyone would buy the book I wrote."
Liu Yulian thought that many farmers had not learned any agricultural knowledge and relied on the experience of their ancestors to farm.
What was she going to say to those people, about pruning the chestnut trees and thinning the grapes?
In later generations, science and technology commissioners went to the countryside to teach farmers how to plant fruit trees. For example, if you want a bamboo forest to produce more bamboo shoots, you have to fertilize the forest and not let the bamboo be too dense.
Liu Yulian thought it would be fine if she wrote a book about grape cultivation methods, but it would be impossible to cover every type of fruit tree. She had never planted all the fruit trees and didn't know how to plant them all.
"Let's just give it a try and write about grapes," Liu Yulian said. "Ordinary people probably won't understand it and might find it hard to accept. But after they try it, they'll understand."
A large bunch of grapes with many grapes requires more nutrients. If there are too many grapes, they will not grow big and need to be thinned.
"There are few people who can read in those farmers' families. They still need someone to teach them before they can understand." Liu Yulian thought about it and decided to send this book to Beijing. The court also has a Minister of Agriculture.
After the relevant departments of the imperial court have conducted experiments and confirmed that it is useful, perhaps the imperial court will send people to teach the people how to grow grapes.
"Just write it, my lady," said the host. "How many copies you print and how many you sell are all up to us."
The owner believed that the books published by Rongning County Master were valuable. Food was the primary need of the people, and even if they weren't farmers of wheat or rice, but rather fruit growers, there would still be people willing to read them. Even if not many people bought them, if a few did, it would still be a success.
The boss was not a money-minded person. He thought that if their library did a good job in this regard and sold more books that were beneficial to the people, the government might even think they were good.
"Okay." Liu Yulian agreed with the owner of the library, and the method of making the invulnerable silk thread could also be taken out.
There was no need for this kind of thing to be a secret; wealthy merchants could also make it. Merchants often encountered bandits while traveling, and if they had armor, they might be able to save their lives.
If the wealthy merchants had the money, they would have made it. If they didn't make armor, they would have spent their money on other things. Not every wealthy merchant would build bridges and roads, and not every merchant was keen on charity.
The emperor did not ask Liu Yulian to keep it secret, which meant that Liu Yulian could print the contents into a book and sell it.
If the imperial court were to undertake large-scale construction projects, the cost would be even greater. Not everyone needed invulnerable armor, so Liu Yulian considered whether to sell it.
But otherwise, forget it.
Armor requires too much money. What if a corrupt official is afraid of being assassinated and spends a lot of money just to make a piece of armor?
It would be better to let the court master the production of invulnerable armor. If the court wants to make money, it will sell the armor. If a piece of armor can be sold at a high price, that would be good too.
"It's just some manufacturing and agricultural ones." Liu Yulian had no intention of making the formula of the culture medium public. It would be better to let the court do this kind of thing.
Perhaps in the future someone will privately research the imperial court's culture medium, and this is not something Liu Yulian can control.
"No problem." The host said, "There are people in the library who are good at talking. We can have them study it someday. It would also be good to try it out in the fields."
The owner's idea was to get the book into the hands of prefects, county magistrates, and others, hoping some would be willing to promote it. The book he was selling had been tested by the Rongning County Lady, and if she had succeeded, then perhaps others, if they followed the book's instructions, would also be successful.
Everyone studied under the same teacher, but some achieved the top spot in the imperial examination, while others failed to even pass the examination. This isn't the teacher's fault; it depends on individual talent. Everyone might interpret a book differently.
After the boss had reached an agreement with Liu Yulian, he left the Liu family and returned to the provincial capital.
The owner was a middle-aged man who looked quite honest. He had run a library in the city for many years and had helped many down-and-out scholars. He was a man of good character.
Otherwise, if it were someone else, they would probably think that the books published by Liu Yulian would not make much money and would not publish them.
Liu Yulian had never considered writing a novel. She had indeed read many novels in later life, but it was difficult for her to write one herself. She was not good at describing things in a flowery way or describing the surroundings. What she wrote was just dry, plain language.
This kind of boring vernacular novels were not popular in this era. In later generations, the popular vernacular novels also had their own characteristics.
Liu Yulian didn't think her writing would be inherently popular. If it were, it would likely be due to some opportunistic practice, repurposing the works of masters. When Liu Yulian wrote about wool production, she used the pen name Rongning, avoiding writing about unknown people or those from later generations, mainly because the name of the Rongning County Master was more famous.
She also plans to use the two words Rong Ning to write books of this kind in the future so that more people can learn from them.
To be honest, she is a shameless plagiarist. She didn't research those things, but she used her own title to promote them.
So it’s still written on the cover of the book as compiled by Rong Ning, rather than written by Rong Ning.
The last book published by Liu Yulian was written by Rong Ning. She still felt a little guilty and didn't want to do anything that would take away other people's achievements.
"Has everything been agreed upon?" Liu's mother came to the living room.
"Yes." Liu Yulian said, "Write about growing watermelons and grapes at home, and you can also write about strawberries."
"..." Liu's mother originally thought her daughter would only write about how to make wool yarn, but she never expected her daughter to also write about how to grow watermelons and grapes...
Mother Liu thought that her daughter didn't work in the fields every day, but since she had visited the fields, it should be okay... Anyway, not many people would buy books about farming. Those people had been working in the fields for so many years, so why would they need to buy books to learn how to farm?
In Shiyuan Village, Widow Zhang was counting the money at home. In just over six months, their family had earned a lot of money and had quite a bit left over.
Widow Zhang planned to have a new house built. Her eldest grandson was married, and she would have great-grandchildren soon. The house at home was too small to accommodate them. She had previously told Zuncheng that she wanted land for the house, but she had been too busy recently and hadn't started.
They have to build the house quickly, otherwise they will be busy again after a while.
Widow Zhang's grape cultivation followed the example of the eldest wife of the Liu family. Liu Yulian had people thin out the grapes, and Widow Zhang also had her family thin out her own grapes. When she saw the grapes growing very well, each one very large, she was very pleased. It turned out that the Rongning County Master had some skills.
Farmers should also farm scientifically, as Lady Rongning said. Scientific farming can increase the yield of crops in the fields.
"Have you read the book I gave you?" Widow Zhang put away all the silver and then called her eldest grandson's wife over. "Those of you who can read should read it more and give it to me after you've finished. We don't make wool yarn at home, so you have to keep it here, just in case someone of yours does."
Widow Zhang thought that if her children and grandchildren were too stupid to make a living, she might still try to make wool. She still needed to teach them to read. If they couldn't read and couldn't understand books, there was no point in making a fortune.
"I've read it," Shi said. "I've also copied a copy. This is the one you should keep in your closet. You can pass it on to anyone in the future. I'll also keep it for my granddaughter-in-law; maybe she'll need it in the future."
When Widow Zhang heard what Shi said, she nodded slightly, knowing that she had not chosen the wrong grandson to marry her daughter-in-law.
"I heard from my husband that grapes need to be thinned out. I have never learned this before, and I don't know if the county lady has published a book. If she has, I will learn from her." Shi knew that Widow Zhang admired County Lady Rongning very much, even though she was not very old.
"That's right." Widow Zhang said, "Don't look down on the Rongning County Master because she's young. She's a truly powerful person. It's nothing if she's a little young."
I didn’t realize how much money I made. These people have become a lot fatter.
Widow Zhang thought that she was smart and quick-witted, and had caught up early. The family had plenty of food, and they had cleared the land to plant grapes, so the family could make more money.
"If your family wants to grow it, they can give it a try," Widow Zhang said. "You just have to learn a little bit and buy the culture medium when it's time."
Widow Zhang didn't believe that her granddaughter-in-law didn't think about bringing her parents' home, and she didn't mind her granddaughter-in-law doing so. After all, her granddaughter-in-law's family was doing well, and it wouldn't have a bad impact on their family.
"Your family should know about farming. Sometimes you can't expect a good harvest just by taking good care of the land," Widow Zhang said. "If the crops don't turn out well, don't blame others."
"My grandson's wife understands everything." Shi was thinking about letting her parents learn a little bit. If her husband's family could make a lot of money, it would mean they followed the right person. Shi believed that Widow Zhang was very smart and that following her would generally not go wrong.
Liu Yulian didn't know that someone wanted to follow her to farm. They would farm the same way she did. If she knew, she wouldn't have tried to stop them. She might even have thought it was a good idea.
Isn't that what happens in later generations? Science and technology commissioners go to a town or a county and ask the people there to plant a certain fruit tree or mushroom. If more people learn to farm scientifically, then the people in that area will become much richer.
This should also be what the emperor wants.
In the palace, the emperor was looking at the book "The Production Technology from Wool to Wool Yarn". He really didn't expect that Liu Yulian would actually write a book on how to make wool yarn.
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