"This humble subject greets Your Excellency the Prefect."
Li Lanzhen stepped forward and bowed.
Prefect Wu extended his hands in a gesture of support and chuckled.
"Madam Li, please rise quickly! Our Youzhou City is greatly honored to have you!"
The thought that the Emperor had sent him three letters in a row made Prefect Wu very happy.
Li Lanzhen waved her hand modestly.
"It is thanks to the prefect that we, the common people, were able to settle down here after fleeing famine."
Li Lanzhen didn't want to continue this tug-of-war, so she pointed to the baskets behind her and said...
"Your Excellency, these are sweet potatoes, potatoes, vermicelli, and some other mountain produce. Please have a taste."
Prefect Wu stared intently at the basket of vermicelli that Li Lanzhen was pointing to.
He strode over, yanked off the cover, and saw what Li Lanzhen had been talking about: "vermicelli".
They really do come in bundles like noodles, only the color is different.
"So this is vermicelli made from sweet potatoes and potatoes?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, you see, this whitish color is potato starch made from potatoes, and this darker color is sweet potato starch."
After the water boils, put the glass noodles into the pot. Don't cook them for too long; they're just right when they break easily with chopsticks.
Cooked glass noodles and wild vegetables, or cold bok choy salad, or stewed glass noodles, cabbage, pork, and tofu—both are very delicious.
Prefect Wu swallowed hard, clapped his hands, and shouted, "Good! Excellent!"
These rice noodles are convenient to carry and store well; they're really a great product!
They sat down to drink tea and discuss issues related to sweet potato and potato cultivation.
Then the clerk in charge of tax collection came over.
He handed the account books to Prefect Wu and whispered to him.
"Your Excellency, the village of Lishu has handed over 5,000 catties each of sweet potatoes and potatoes."
This amount far exceeds the amount of taxes they should have paid.
Because Han Mingxiang was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, he was exempted from tax on ten mu of land. Two other scholars from the village who had passed the preliminary examinations also received a tax reduction of three mu of land.
After hearing this, Prefect Wu turned to look at Li Lanzhen, knowing that this was a perk she was giving him.
Stand up, stand up respectfully, clench your fists, cup your hands in a respectful bow, and say to Li Lanzhen.
"Thank you, Madam Li. Madam Li is so righteous. On behalf of the people of Youzhou Prefecture, I thank you!"
Li Lanzhen knew he understood her feelings, and she smiled as she looked at him.
“Our household registration is in Youzhou Prefecture. We can’t let the people of Youzhou Prefecture see the people of other prefectures growing sweet potatoes and potatoes and filling their stomachs.”
But we have nothing.
"Hahaha, well said! Thank you, Madam Li!"
Li Lianzhen took out several blueprints from her bosom.
"Your Excellency, I have some blueprints of improved agricultural tools here. Could you please take a look and see if they can be promoted?"
Prefect Wu quickly got up and took the drawings from Li Lanzhen.
He had heard of this before and had always wanted to ask for it, but Xuan Shen stopped him.
He said he didn't need to ask; Li Lanzhen would give it to him in the fall.
Li Lanzhen can be described as a woman of great righteousness!
Look, here it is!
Prefect Wu happily flipped through the several blueprints in his hand, saying repeatedly.
"Great! Great, that's wonderful. After the agricultural tax is paid, during the off-season, I will gather the heads of various counties and towns here and give them a proper explanation."
"Let them go back and build this improved farming tool themselves according to the blueprints."
After speaking, he handed the blueprints in his hand to the clerk.
"Find someone to make several copies strictly according to this blueprint."
Seeing that Prefect Wu was so overjoyed that he couldn't contain his happiness, Li Lanzhen was also happy.
It seems that Prefect Wu is truly a good official who cares about the people and serves them well!
If that's the case, she wouldn't mind sending the good stuff here.
"Your Excellency, next spring, I can send you another 5,000 catties of sweet potato vines."
You can send them to nearby counties or towns and plant them directly in the ground. With proper care, the survival rate is very high.
Prefect Wu was bombarded with one piece of good news after another by Li Lanzhen, leaving him completely bewildered and only able to laugh heartily.
After paying their taxes, Li Lanzhen and her group went to Sifang Restaurant, had a meal, and then took a boat back to Peach Blossom Spring.
After a long day, Li Lanzhen ate in the canteen, returned to the courtyard, washed up, and lay down on the bed.
Just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard a "thump".
She opened her eyes; someone had climbed over the wall and come in.
Although Peach Blossom Spring is currently safe, how can we guard against unknown dangers?
Quickly putting on her coat, Li Lanzhen, carrying a stun gun, slowly crept into the room.
As soon as she reached the door, she heard a voice calling her softly from outside.
"Mother, Mother, open the door quickly, I have good news to tell you!"
"It's Han Mingjiang."
"Yes, Mother, open the door quickly!"
Li Lanzhou pulled off the bolt and opened the door.
Han Mingjiang stepped into the house.
"It's pitch black, and you came up here so late, even climbing over the wall. Who are you trying to scare to death?"
As Li Lanzhen spoke, she lit the half-burnt candle on the kang table.
Sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), she turned to look at Han Mingjiang, who was grinning foolishly.
Li Lanzhen sniffed. "What's that smell? It smells like burnt hair."
"Did you roast pheasant outside?"
Li Lanzhen looked at Han Mingjiang in confusion, only to find that all the hair on his forehead was burnt, forming a clump of curly hair on his head.
Upon closer inspection, even the two thick, dark eyebrows had been singed off by the fire.
His entire face was black, with only the whites of his large eyes showing when they moved and a big white tooth showing when he grinned, making him recognizable as a human.
Li Lanzhen burst into laughter, "My son, what's wrong with you? The roast chicken wasn't cooked through, and you roasted yourself to eat it? Hahaha!"
Han Mingjiang was not angry when he heard Li Lanzhen's joke.
Suddenly, he brought his large, dark face close to Li Lanzhen's, and in a low voice, he said excitedly.
"Mom, the bomb test was a success!!"
Li Lanzhen's face hardened, she stood up abruptly, and asked in a low voice.
"What?"
Then I slapped his arm hard with my hand.
"You audacious, reckless bastard, do you want your mother to outlive you, the white-haired one?"
"Look, look! If you'd gotten even a fraction closer, you'd be dead!"
When Han Mingjiang saw Li Lanzhen's nervous expression, he kept muttering to himself and patting her.
Knowing that she was worried about him, he comforted her.
"Mom, it's alright. We've tried it several times already, and this is the most successful one yet."
Seeing his smug look with his head held high, Li Lanzhen asked again.
"What happened to you, honey? Did you get burned?"
Han Mingjiang dared not tell Li Lanzhen that it was because, after the bomb was thrown, there was no movement for a long time, and he himself was too anxious to wait and rush up to check.
Unexpectedly, it suddenly exploded after only a few steps.
That's why I've become like this.
If Xuan Shen hadn't rushed over and pinned him down, the flying pebbles would have injured him.
Afterwards, he was a little scared, but the joy of the successful bomb test overshadowed his lingering fear.
"It's alright, Mother. It was just that the bomb ignited the weeds nearby."
"We were rushing to put out the fire when we accidentally got burned."
Li Lanzhen carefully examined his body again. His clothes had large and small holes burned by the fire, but he was not injured, so she was relieved.
She pulled him to sit on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and poured him a bowl of spiritual spring water.
"Have some water, and tell your mother about it."
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