At the Xu family in the prefectural capital, Madam Xu had never expected Liu Yulian to be named a princess. She had thought that was it, after all, the emperor had already named Liu Yulian a county princess.
"She deserves it." General Xu believed the emperor was right. He was generous with his rewards to those who hadn't made significant contributions. So, it wouldn't matter if the emperor rewarded Liu Yulian more. Liu Yulian had done quite a bit.
The culture medium allowed the people to harvest a lot of food, and the establishment of the wool mill reduced the number of wars on the border.
General Xu wanted the emperor to do that in order to encourage Princess Rongning to study more. The more Princess Rongning studied, the more rewards the emperor would give her. This cyclical relationship would continue, and Princess Rongning would be even more willing to do those things.
If others see it, they will also work hard.
However, General Xu knew that there were not so many people in the world who could easily research so many things.
When General Xu was out on patrol, he discovered that some tribes on the grassland had also bought culture medium. They used the culture medium on their grasslands, which made the grass grow faster. Faster growth made grazing much easier.
Nomads are quite clever; they can't stay in one place forever, so they'll take advantage of things. It's just that the culture medium isn't easy to prepare; it requires a lot of ingredients, and they can't figure out what's in it right away. Plus, the culture medium isn't particularly expensive, so they'll probably buy it.
Even if they knew the formula of the culture medium, it would not be easy for them to prepare it. It would be better to buy it, so they did not think of capturing Princess Rongning.
The culture medium is not particularly expensive, and wool and goat milk can be sold for a lot of money.
If you don't buy culture medium, go to other places to graze more.
Those people didn't think there was anything wrong with this, and the tribes didn't start a war over it. They just felt that their current lives were much more comfortable, and they wanted to raise better sheep, produce more wool, and produce goat milk, hoping to earn money to exchange for food.
They had not known before that raising sheep could be so beneficial, but now that they had discovered it, they felt that sheep were a treasure. They were also worried that the people of Daliang would see the benefits of sheep and attack their tribe.
Grassland is their precious resource, and they need to raise sheep well. God has given them many riches, but they just haven't discovered them before.
General Xu felt a lot more relaxed after those tribes reduced their sneak attacks on Daliang.
"Down jackets are warm." General Xu's family also bought down jackets, and he even wore them when he went out. It was really warm.
"If you want to keep warm, buy two more." Mrs. Xu said with a smile, "It's filled with duck down, a type of duck feather. I didn't know you could make clothes like this before."
Few wealthy families would bother to collect duck feathers; they could simply buy them ready-made from shops. Unless merchants were collecting duck feathers to make clothes, no one would bother.
Mrs. Xu thought that more and more people would raise ducks in the future. Ducks can lay eggs, their duck feathers can be used, and their duck meat can be sold.
"People only think about buying these when they're full," General Xu said. "There will probably be more and more of them in the future."
The people have more food, are better fed, and can do more.
At present, the wheat and rice that people grow are basically the seeds they have saved from their own homes, and they are not particularly good seeds. These seeds do not produce that much yield on their own, and even after doubling, they are still not as much as those high-yield seeds.
The emperor did not stop people from researching high-yield seeds just because he had the culture medium. On the contrary, he asked those people to continue the research and increased the investment.
"Do you think Rongning was thinking about it after he had eaten his fill?" Mrs. Xu felt that there was something wrong with what her husband said.
"No." General Xu didn't mean that. "What I mean is... I mean... everyone is different... If someone is always busy filling their stomach, they don't have time to think about anything else."
General Xu was a little afraid of his wife and didn't dare to say anything else.
"The concubine of the lieutenant general next door seems to have given birth to a child. Do you want to go and see?" General Xu asked.
"Let's talk about it tomorrow." Madam Xu was helpless. Many men took concubines outside. Their wives were in their hometowns or in the capital, and they didn't come with them. Their wives at home would ask them to take concubines, or take the initiative to help them do so.
After those concubines returned home with their husbands, the wife still had to respect them. Because those concubines had been with the men for many years and had suffered for many years outside, the men would definitely treat them better. This kind of kindness could not be said to be favoring concubines over wives, and no one would say much about it.
Mrs. Xu sometimes felt that women were quite pathetic. If she had not come, General Xu would most likely have taken a concubine and let the concubine do the work of the mistress of the house.
In the difficult areas of the frontier, some generals' families are headed by concubines. When the wife is not around, the concubines are the ones who make the decisions.
Madam Xu was the wife of the principal wife, but she had to deal with these people sometimes. She couldn't ignore them just because they were concubines. They were concubines, and they were treated as the principal wife here.
"You men just can't stand the cold." Mrs. Xu said.
A woman can only have one man. If the man goes to another woman, the woman will have to stay alone in the empty house. If a man is away from home and there is no woman around, he can still find another woman.
"..." General Xu didn't say anything. If he didn't do anything about it, others would do it. What could he do?
In the town, when the people of the Third House learned that Liu Yulian had become a princess, Aunt Chai really felt that God had been too kind to the First House. Their Third House could only work hard to earn this little money, and their business was not as good as when the Second House was in the town.
"How come they've taken all the benefits?" The more Aunt Chai thought about it, the more her heart ached. No, she had to talk to someone. She couldn't stand it anymore and didn't want to work in the shop anymore.
When Liu Yanyuan's wife saw Aunt Chai running out, she didn't chase after her. Her mother-in-law was unwilling to do more work, so what could she, as a daughter-in-law, do?
Feng Guanjing was the name of Liu Yanyuan's wife. She wasn't as powerful as Su Qiuya, nor as forceful as Lin Xiaowan. She basically did whatever her husband asked her to do. Her biggest struggle came during the family division.
"Mom is out." Feng Guanjing said to her husband.
"She might just want to talk to someone." Liu Yanyuan understood that his mother was someone who couldn't keep secrets, and she was feeling uncomfortable, so she had to talk to someone.
How can sons stop their mother from venting her emotions? As long as her mother doesn't lose her temper in front of them, they should just say less.
"Where are you going?" Feng Guanjing asked, "To the fourth room, or to my sister's?"
The sister Feng Guanjing was talking about was Liu Fang. After Liu Fang married Zhen Wen Ze, Zhen Wen Ze bought a house in the town and came to stay from time to time.
Zhen Wenze knew that the shop on the Third House's side had few rooms, and that Concubine Chai wasn't a particularly good person. He had some money, and since houses in town were not expensive, he bought a house. He did this not to establish a good relationship with the Third House, but to slowly win over the First House.
When Aunt Chai arrived at Liu Fang's place, she started to criticize the eldest wife again.
"They have long thought about getting up, so they tricked us into dividing the family." Aunt Chai believed that the eldest wife was black-hearted and had long wanted to get rid of them.
Concubine Chai didn't think too much about it. If the eldest wife was really that capable, she would have taken out those things in the capital long ago. Why wait until the northwest? Concubine Chai didn't care about these things. Anyway, she just felt that the eldest wife was not good.
"They are not good people to begin with." Liu Fang felt angry when she thought about her small dowry and that the people in the Zhen family thought she was useless.
Why doesn't the emperor confer the title of county lady on himself, but always confer the title on Liu Yulian? What's so good about Liu Yulian?
When Zhen Wen Ze returned home, he heard that Aunt Chai had come. As soon as he came, before he entered the house, he stood outside and heard the mother and daughter talking bad about the eldest wife of the Liu family.
Zhen Wen Ze frowned. He didn't want Aunt Chai to come over more often, nor did he want her to always say these things to Liu Fang.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhen Wenzhe didn't let them continue talking. He walked in directly. He turned to look at Aunt Chai, "Aunt, you'd better go back early. Third brother-in-law's shop is very busy and needs help."
Zhen Wen Ze looked at Aunt Chai coldly. As soon as Aunt Chai saw Zhen Wen Ze's eyes, she knew that the man in front of her would never let her stay.
When Aunt Chai went out, she was still cursing and saying bad things about her son-in-law.
Zhen Wen Ze didn't care what Aunt Chai said. Aunt Chai was just a concubine and not his mother-in-law.
"Why do you treat my mother like this?" Liu Fang was dissatisfied.
"She's just a concubine." Zhen Wenze reminded Liu Fang, "Even if she follows Third Brother-in-law, she's still a concubine. You're all getting together to criticize the eldest wife. Don't you think you hate them enough to dislike you?"
Zhen Wenze felt that Liu Fang was a brainless person. She didn't know how to build good relationships with these people. Liu Fang only kept complaining about how others treated her badly. Zhen Wenze didn't think that the eldest wife of the Liu family treated these people badly.
After the Liu family's eldest branch rose to prominence, these people began to think of taking advantage of it. However, there is no such great thing in the world.
The main reason Zhen Wen Ze wanted to take his time was that Liu Fang was a daughter of the Liu family. A woman had no right to say whether to divide the family or not, and it would cause less trouble. Zhen Wen Ze wanted to let the people in the first house know that he was not such a fool, nor such a bad person.
"What's wrong with talking about it?" Liu Fang was dissatisfied. "Why are you not allowed to talk about it?"
"With your behavior, how can you expect the eldest wife to treat you well?" Zhen Wenze sneered, "When I'm not watching, you get together with your aunt and talk nonsense."
"It was like this before, and nothing happened. Those words are not nonsense. People in the first house are not good people." Liu Fang said loudly.
Seeing this, Zhen Wenze really wanted to slap her. Such a wife was not a good and virtuous wife at all. Why didn't he ask more questions in the beginning, thinking that he could make Liu Fang more obedient and sensible.
"Take good care of Madam and don't let her go out." Zhen Wen Ze ordered the servants, "She is also asked to see her concubine all the time. If you can't do it well, let someone who can do it."
The indentures of these people were all in Zhen Wenze's hands. If it weren't for Zhen Wenze, Liu Fang would have no one to serve her. Of course, the maids and servants listened to Zhen Wenze more and they would definitely keep an eye on Liu Fang.
"You want to imprison me?" Liu Fang opened her eyes wide.
"No, I just want you to be quiet." Zhen Wenze said, "Read more books, such as Women's Rings and Women's Rules."
Zhen Wenzhe thought that Liu Fang had no rules at all, and he had to find a more powerful maid to stay by Liu Fang's side to prevent Liu Fang from doing stupid things.
Liu Fang was clearly the Marquis's daughter, but she had behaved like this, making the Marquis unwilling to see her. Zhen Wenze thought, if it were him, he would never do such a stupid thing.
Princess Zhaoyang of the Liu family sent a lot of gifts to Liu Yulian, saying that it was to congratulate Liu Yulian on becoming a princess.
"Princess." Liu Yulian felt a little embarrassed because she had accepted a lot of things from Princess Zhaoyang.
"Don't be polite to me." Princess Zhaoyang said with a smile, "I just want to talk to you more."
Princess Zhaoyang had been in the town for a long time, and some people in the capital knew she was there. Some people even came to visit her, and she met those people, but she found them boring.
When she was in the capital, Princess Zhaoyang often hosted flower-viewing banquets and the like. She didn't like meeting those people all the time. Some of them had calculating eyes, while others were trying to curry favor with the powerful...
"What are you going to do now?" Princess Zhaoyang asked, "Every time I see you, you're doing these things, and also tending to the flowers and plants."
"Make a rabbit," Liu Yulian said. "Stuff some cotton inside. It will be a fat rabbit for the kids to play with."
Liu Yulian started by making and selling stuffed backpacks featuring the twelve zodiac animals, but she hasn't made many of these items since. Her creations are all very cartoon-like, not human-like. She can't make human-shaped dolls, as they're easily mistaken for witchcraft.
There's nothing wrong with making some changes to the cartoon animal puppets.
"There are some strawberries planted in pots in the yard," Liu Yulian said. "If the princess likes them, you can have a few pots moved over. After a while, they'll grow a lot of strawberries."
"I knew you had planted quite a few strawberries, but I didn't expect you to plant them in the yard," Princess Zhaoyang said. "Then I'll have someone bring a few pots back and see how many strawberries grow."
"A lot can grow." Liu Yulian had seen those strawberry plants before. Those strawberry plants were not moved to a far place. They were in the same town. As long as Princess Zhaoyang's men took good care of the strawberry plants, a lot of strawberries could grow.
"I'll hold a banquet in a few days, and you can come too." Princess Zhaoyang hadn't originally planned to hold a banquet, but there were always bad people coming to see her. It would be better to just hold a banquet directly, but those people would have to come from the capital earlier.
Fortunately, the provincial capital is not far from this town. They can just set off early and stay here for one night, or go back early.
Princess Zhaoyang was a member of the imperial family. She didn't need to accommodate those people. She could hold a banquet wherever she wanted. There was no need to go to the capital specifically for those people.
"Bring your little niece over to play with her." Princess Zhaoyang thought of little Liu Jia, who was a very well-behaved child.
On the other side, Aunt Chai returned to the third room's shop with a very unhappy look on her face.
"Your brother-in-law only wants to recognize the eldest wife and not us," Aunt Chai said, "I was only gone for a while, and they sent me back."
When Liu Yanyuan heard this, he decided that he couldn't possibly go looking for trouble with Zhen Wenze. Their family wasn't as wealthy as the Zhen family, and they couldn't afford to buy things as freely as the Zhen family did.
"Auntie..." Auntie Chai didn't want others to call her Auntie at all. Didn't they see that after the concubines followed their sons, their sons called them mothers? Auntie Chai believed that Zhen Wen Ze was not a person without tact, but that Zhen Wen Ze looked down on her.
"Mom, please sit down and rest first." Liu Yanyuan poured tea for Aunt Chai.
"Why are you drinking tea? I'm so angry." Aunt Chai said, "How can such a useless person like him look down on me and dare to speak to me like that?"
Aunt Chai was angry, but she didn't dare to say those words in front of Zhen Wenzhe, so she could only run back home and tell him.
"..." Liu Yanyuan didn't say much. What else could he do? They couldn't say anything to Zhen Wen Ze.
Liu Yanyuan knew that his mother must have said something to Liu Fang that made Zhen Wenze unhappy. Zhen Wenze didn't like them to talk too much about the eldest wife's faults. If they did, Zhen Wenze would interrupt them.
Although Zhen Wen Ze did not say much fault about the third room openly, Liu Yanyuan could also see that Zhen Wen Ze was not very satisfied with the performance of the third room.
"You are useless too." Aunt Chai said, "If you were any useful, would your brother-in-law dare to speak like that?"
"Mom, we're going to open the shop." Liu Yanyuan still had a rag in his hand. "You should go inside first and tell me later, okay?"
"Open a shop, open a shop, that's all you know how to do." Aunt Chai got up and left.
Chai Yi Niang knew that they had to open the shop. They had not yet earned back the money they spent on buying the shop, so they had to work hard. Chai Yi Niang thought about when she was in the Marquis' Mansion, she had maids to serve her, and she didn't have to do these things at all, and her hands were not so rough.
We still have to blame Liu's mother for not having any courage. Why didn't she calm these people down in the first place?
"Mom, you should rest first." Liu Yanyuan said, "Would you like some noodles? I'll make you a bowl of noodles."
"No more." Aunt Chai was not in the mood to eat noodles.
When the people from the fourth house learned that Liu Yulian was named a princess, Liu Yanqing was a little tempted.
"Tell me, can I buy the bicycle on credit first? My younger sister has become a princess. It's such a big happy event, we should celebrate it." Liu Yanqing said.
"What does my younger sister becoming a princess have to do with you buying a bicycle?" Lin Xiaowan asked, "You just want to buy a bicycle yourself, and you're thinking that if my younger sister gets married, she might not want your money."
"..." Liu Yanqing really had this idea. His younger sister was not short of money and could afford to give her a bicycle.
"Don't go and embarrass yourself." Lin Xiaowan said, "No one would be like you. You're clearly trying to coerce others into giving you things."
"No, I also said it was on credit, not as a gift." Liu Yanqing said quickly.
"But that's what you meant." Lin Xiaowan said, "Do you think others can't understand the meaning of your words? If you are stupid, don't think others are as stupid as you."
"Really not." Liu Yanqing muttered softly.
"If you really don't have any, go irrigate the strawberry field." Lin Xiaowan walked to the well and prepared to draw water. "When the strawberries are ready, you can eat fewer and sell more, and you can save some money."
How much money can be saved from this... Liu Yanqing doesn't want to eat less, he just wants to eat more.
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