Du Ke had read the memorial, so he knew the content of the memorial, but compared to the memorial, his letter added some other content. For example, regarding the management of the land in the military camp, Qin Fang asked someone from his family to manage the fields.
In Du Ke's view, this was just a small matter. Even in the capital city, it was normal to let family members do things that were beneficial. What's more, Qin Fang only gave a monthly salary of 500 coins, which was really low.
However, this also shows Qin Fang's prudence and modesty.
"Husband." Mrs. Du's voice rang at the door.
"Son..." This was the voice of Old Lady Du.
Mr. Du, Old Lady Du and Mrs. Du came together.
Grandpa Du asked, "Why did you suddenly send someone to call us? Did something happen?" Grandpa Du saw that his son had called his wife and daughter-in-law, and thought that the matter was not serious, but might be related to the family.
Du Ke stood up and welcomed Mr. Du, Mrs. Du and Mrs. Du into the study. After they sat down, Du Ke said, "Father, do you still remember Qin Fang, whom I mentioned to you some time ago?"
Mr. Du said, "Of course I remember. I said that he was a lucky man. Why? You asked us to come here today because of this person?"
Du Ke said, "Indeed, my son..." He talked about what happened in the study, "The emperor said that Qin Fang is my disciple, so he must be my disciple. Speaking of it, although Qin Fang and I have a predestined relationship and can be called a master-disciple relationship, if the emperor hadn't said so, I would not have accepted him as a disciple."
Mrs. Du said, "This is strange. Logically speaking, the emperor doesn't like civil officials and military generals to have relationships, But now she has taken the initiative to let Qin Fang recognize her husband as his teacher. "Mrs. Du is a gentle woman. She doesn't look outstanding, but her voice is very nice. She speaks slowly, and she doesn't seem to be on the same page as the strict Du Ke. However, they have been married for more than 20 years and have a very good relationship.
Mr. Du said, "The emperor asked Qin Fang to recognize you as his teacher. I'm afraid he has a very good impression of Qin Fang. Recognizing you as a teacher is like having one foot in the capital. The emperor is looking for a backer for Qin Fang. Moreover, Qin Fang comes from a poor family and has no foundation. Even if he recognizes you as his teacher, his foundation and his relationships are also your foundation and your relationships. Therefore, it does not expand your power, and it has no impact on the emperor."
Du Ke said, "I can't guess what the emperor is thinking, but the emperor The impression of Qin Fang is indeed very good. "
Old Lady Du said: "I think Qin Fang's wife is a smart girl. She has military camp land, saltpeter to make ice, and now potato flour and sweet potato flour. The girl gave such a big gift to the emperor, and it is reasonable for the emperor to consider Qin Fang. If the franchise is finalized, the emperor can make millions of silver without any effort. "This is still the least. If the franchise fee is high, it will add up to tens of millions of silver in a blink of an eye. Such a large sum of money, Mrs. Du was shocked when she heard it.
Old Master Du said: "You can only say this at home. If it spreads outside, watch out for your head." Can the emperor make money without any effort? Although this is a fact, there are some things that everyone should know in their hearts.
Mrs. Du smiled indifferently: "I only say this at home. Can you spread it? Or can our son and daughter-in-law spread it?"
Mr. Du couldn't argue with her, so he turned to Du Ke: "Then why did you ask us to come together today? If you want to accept Qin Fang as a student, the emperor has spoken, and this is already a settled matter. There is no need to discuss it with us."
Du Ke said: "Although this is the case, I still need to tell you about this. Qin Fang is only twenty-two now. When he reaches my age, his future will definitely be better than mine. As my father said, sometimes luck is indeed very important. When Qin Fang went from a seventh-rank thousand-household head to a fifth-rank General Wude was just a casual decision of the emperor. He promoted people from Yongzhou, so he promoted Qin Fang who proposed the plan of breaking up the whole into parts.
Qin Fang was a farmer's son and was not involved in any power. Besides, he was going to Yunxiang County in Renzhou, a remote place. Therefore, no one objected in the court. But how could he know that there would be sulfur and saltpeter mines in Yunxiang County? So, this is luck, this is luck. "
Old Master Du said: "Don't worry, since you accepted Qin Fang as a student, he must be like our Du family."
Du Ke said: "In fact, I am also very curious about Qin Fang's wife."
As soon as he said this, Old Lady Du and Mrs. Du stared at him closely.
Du Ke didn't think much about it. He continued, "Qin Fang's wife Yang Haiyan was originally a maid in the family of Master Yang. Her luck is not worse than Qin Fang's."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Du said, "It's true. If Master Yang hadn't participated in the fight for the throne, the Yang family wouldn't have been... Then this Mrs. Qin is still a maid. It's probably not that easy to change from a slave to a good family. More importantly, she is just a maid, but she can think of military fields, saltpeter making ice, and now potato flour and sweet potato flour. If this was one of the pearls of the capital back then, and Miss Yang came up with it, I wouldn't have thought of it. I feel strange. But it is the maidservant beside Miss Yang that really makes people curious. "
Old Lady Du said: "Mrs. Qin follows Miss Yang. As the head maidservant beside her, everything she learns is the same as Miss Yang. Miss Yang can become the pearl of the capital. If Mrs. Qin is smart enough, it is not impossible for her to become another pearl. It's just that she was a maidservant at that time, so no one knew her, and she also needed to hide her shortcomings." As the head maidservant, she followed the young lady since she was a child, studied together, and learned needlework together. This is a common thing in their family.
So in the eyes of Old Lady Du, this is how Yang Haiyan is outstanding.
Mrs. Du: "Mother, when Qin Fang gets higher in the future, won't it be a bit unpleasant for Mrs. Qin to be born a maid?" Even if she had an imperial decree and was named a lady of the countryside by the emperor, she was still... an outstanding maid. Aristocratic families pay much attention to background. With Mrs. Qin's status, even if she was a princess, it would not be good enough.
Old Madam Du smiled and shook her head: "I don't think so. Everything depends on the emperor's opinion. If the emperor values you, even if you are a maid, everyone has to respect you. If the emperor does not value you, for example, those imprisoned royal family members, even those of princes and princes, are not even as good as maids? In terms of intelligence, that Madam Qin is not comparable to ordinary people. Would such a person let herself end up being looked down upon? Besides, even if they don't care about her, so what? Don't those who are not as good as her still have to pay respect to her?
As the saying goes, a woman's confidence comes from her man, but I think that a woman's confidence, real confidence, comes from herself."
Madam Du: "What you said is right, mother, and you see it clearly. I still need to learn more from you."
Du Ke and Old Master Du looked at each other. They didn't want to get involved in the compliments between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. Du Ke said hello to his family, and the matter was made public. When he and Shen Lixian went to Yunxiang County, the first thing they would do was to accept Qin Fang as their apprentice.
But now, Du Ke pointed to the potato flour and sweet potato flour and said, "Madam, please refer to the recipe above and ask the kitchen to make a few delicious dishes with this potato flour and sweet potato flour."
For lunch today, not only the Du family's table was filled with delicious dishes made with potato flour and sweet potato flour, but also the emperor's table was filled with delicious dishes made with potato flour and sweet potato flour.
Yang Haiyan wrote a lot of recipes about potato flour and sweet potato flour. The chefs of the Du Mansion and the chef of the Yu Study made them according to the recipes and adjusted the flavors. It must be said that the taste is much better than noodles. Everyone is used to steamed buns and noodles made of flour, so they can't taste anything special. But the taste of potato flour and sweet potato flour is different from that of flour. The noodles, steamed dumplings, etc. made from them are chewy.
The emperor and the Du Mansion agreed that potato flour and sweet potato flour must be a good business.
Although Du Ke and Shen Lixian were going to Yunxiang County, they were not so fast. They had things to deal with, so Tao Shan took Du Ke's letter and returned to Yunxiang County first.
Yunxiang County
The ten managers of the military camp fields have all been implemented. Except for Niu Er, Qin's father, and Qin Sanshu, the rest are locals. The selected people are all experienced old farmers with good relationships in the local area and are highly regarded by the villagers. However, the kitchen chefs did not recruit ten people. Niu Er's wife, Qin's mother, and Qin San's aunt discussed it and felt that they could each take on thirty people and divide the monthly allowances of other kitchens among them.
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan discussed it and felt that it was okay. Therefore, Niu Er's wife was assigned forty people, Qin's mother was assigned thirty people, and Qin San's aunt was also assigned thirty people. As for the monthly allowance, Niu Er's wife received 800 wen per month, while Qin's mother and Qin's third aunt received 600 wen per month.
For this, the three women were very happy for a while.
It was also very tiring to cook for 30 people a day, after all, it was three meals a day. Qin's mother and Qin's third aunt hired a woman to help them locally, and paid her 100 wen per month. With the help of Qin's father and Qin's third uncle, they were able to handle the work.
Yang Haiyan really didn't want Qin's mother to be so tired. Besides, Qin's mother was a person with an imperial decree and had a salary every month, so she sent another maid to help Qin's mother. In fact, Qin's mother and Qin's third aunt now gave Yang Haiyan the feeling that they were modern women who were working hard for their careers.
At noon that day, Yang Haiyan was eating hot and sour vermicelli soup when Uncle Hong suddenly rushed in: "My lord... My lord, there are two beggars at the door. They say they are relatives of our general."
Yang Haiyan held the chopsticks and seemed to be on pause: "Ridiculous, how can a general have beggar relatives? Did they tell me their names?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
