"pleasant?"
Li Lanzhen didn't understand what this meant, but she realized it was an honorary title.
She was also rewarded with a hundred taels of gold, as well as jewelry, calligraphy, paintings, and ornaments, but she wasn't interested.
What interested her was that the emperor had actually given her an estate of more than 300 acres.
This is amazing!
She loves the land!
Li Lanzhen smiled and quickly bowed her head to express her gratitude, "Li Lanzhen thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness. Long live the Emperor!"
He rose, accepted the imperial edict with both hands, and stood up.
"Father-in-law, you've worked hard. Please come in and have a seat."
"No, we're going back to the palace." Eunuch Li smiled at Li Lanzhen and the children.
Li Lanzhen took a bulging purse from Granny Hua and handed it to Eunuch Li.
Li Lanzhen, along with a group of people, saw off the eunuch from the palace.
A group of people escorted Li Lanzhen back to the main room.
The imperial edict was placed respectfully on the shelf of the offering table.
Li Lanzhen finally sat down and breathed a sigh of relief.
Han Mingxiang pulled Han Shulan to sit on the chair next to them.
He smiled as he looked at his mother, Li Lanzhen.
He felt very proud from the bottom of his heart. Whether it was her breadth of mind, her knowledge, or her insights, his mother was different from other women in this dynasty. She was exceptionally outstanding!
“Mother, this Yiren is one rank higher than the magistrate of a small county town.”
Li Lanzhen's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Great! I've become a lowly seventh-rank official!"
Seeing her expression, everyone burst into laughter.
The tension that had been building up when they received the imperial edict eased.
Han Yinan looked up with immense pride, feeling like a lowly seventh-rank official.
"Grandma, you are the best grandma!"
Tomorrow when I go to the academy, I'm going to tell everyone that I have a grandmother who's a low-ranking official (a minor official of the seventh rank).
Li Lanzhen's initially happy face fell, and she looked at Han Yinan seriously.
“Children, the Emperor saw what I did and rewarded me.”
This is because the Emperor and the court have been kind to me.
But we must never become arrogant and complacent!
Grandma did these things because she felt she should do them, not because she wanted to gain anything from them.
If you think about what you want to get before doing a good deed, you might as well not do it at all.
Did you all hear that? You must be down-to-earth in your studies, and you must be down-to-earth in your conduct!
Han Yinan then realized that she had said the wrong thing and was extremely annoyed. She quickly stood up and apologized to Li Lanzhen.
"Grandma, I was wrong. I will be an honest person and study hard."
Don't worry, I won't go around telling everyone that I have a grandmother who's a low-ranking official.
It was supposed to be a very serious topic, but when he said his last sentence, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
...
Since the grain shop had already received its first shipment of grain, Erniu and Han Youliang, along with their spouse, went to stay there.
The shopkeeper assigned them the task of working the night shift.
For the next five days, Li Lanzhen was extremely busy.
Xuan Shen knew she was going to visit the estates to check on things, so he accompanied her every day.
They first went to the estate that Han Minghai had bought.
About 200 li southwest of the capital, we arrived at this village.
This estate covers more than 100 acres of land. It's not a large estate, but it has mountains and a stream.
Zhuangzi's original master managed this place very well.
The entire area around Zhuangzi was enclosed by earthen walls.
They first went to a courtyard of the owner of the estate.
The courtyard is not large, with a front and back yard. There are three main rooms with two side rooms, two east wing rooms, two west wing rooms, and a woodshed.
There is also a well in the yard, and a vegetable garden in the front yard.
When they arrived, the village head, surnamed Lei, brought his wife to see Li Lanzhen.
Li Lanzhen observed that Lei Zhuangtou was not very tall, but he seemed quite simple and honest.
She had heard Han Minghai say that Manager Hua had investigated this Lei Zhuangtou.
He is a very easy person and gets things done quickly and efficiently.
The couple knelt down to greet Li Lanzhen.
"I have met the master."
Li Lanzhen saw that Lei Zhuangtou's wife was also a straightforward and decisive person. She was clean and tidy from head to toe, and her eyes were clear. She did not look around aimlessly.
She was very satisfied with the two of them.
"You two get up. My eldest son has told me about you two; you are both kind and capable people."
Therefore, from now on, this estate will still be managed by you.
How did your former employer distribute the harvest from this estate in previous years?
“Returning to the owner, there has been a famine for the past three years, and the original owner took 70% of the harvest from this estate.”
They only left us 10% of the profits.
Li Lanzhen was shocked. How could they be so heartless? They were already starving during the famine, and they had only left them 10% of their grain.
"So how did you survive this famine? You must have been starving!"
Lei Zhuangtou shook his head, looking pained, his hands clenching tightly and then loosening.
“When we returned to our employer, we were indeed starving. Everything edible in the fields and on the hill behind the mountain had been eaten, and even the bark on the trees on the mountain had been stripped off.”
Moreover, many people died..."
Li Lanzhen didn't want to ask any more questions.
"Lei Zhuangtou, from now on, the 32 households and more than 100 people under your command should farm the land properly."
I have a high-yield grain here. When spring comes, the head manager will bring the seeds and teach you how to plant it.
As long as you are hardworking and don't cause trouble, I will only take 60% of the grain and leave 40% for your livelihood.
Upon hearing this, Lei Zhuangtou was stunned, then blinked hard and immediately knelt down on the ground.
He clasped his hands together, raised them above his head, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times, saying something as he did so.
"Thank you so much, sir! On behalf of all the farmers in the village, I thank you!"
"Don't worry, boss, we'll work hard. As long as we have enough to eat, who would want to cause trouble?"
After learning all this, Li Lanzhen asked Lei Zhuangtou and his wife to prepare lunch.
She and Xuan Shen left the courtyard and walked around the entire estate.
The river is quite wide, but not deep, more than enough for irrigation and daily life.
The small hills behind connect to the distant mountains.
Li Lanzhen did not go up the mountain, but only passed by the foot of the mountain, where she saw fruit trees and medicinal herbs planted on the mountain.
She thought it would be a good opportunity for Wu to bring Han Yuemei to plant medicinal herbs on this mountain.
As they walked, the two talked, "Xuanshen, how is Xue Bao? Has anyone bullied him since he came here?"
"Don't worry, Auntie. Everyone knows that Xue Bao is the Emperor's man. No one is so foolish as to deliberately offend him."
Li Lanzhen nodded, "That's good. I was just worried that he would be bullied after he came here."
I wonder how things went for Han Mingjiang and his team at the southwestern border?
I'm a little worried about that place; military households in villages aren't exactly easy places to stay.
If we can't establish a separate agricultural base specifically for the garrison, it would be better to withdraw them all.
Let Han Mingjiang be left to fend for himself in the border army!
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