That evening, Li Lanzhen also prepared gifts for the emperor and empress in her private space.
The sweet potatoes and potatoes produced in the space are a must-have, but we only put about 100 jin of each in.
The space was filled with some of the vegetables and fruits stored there.
Two baskets each of smoked chicken, duck, and goose, and salted duck eggs were given, along with 1,000 jin of vermicelli.
The rest are all dried mountain products.
She packed all these things into wicker baskets.
We can leave it in the yard tomorrow morning and have our sons transport it to the small dock by car to board the boat.
After having breakfast, Du Yanqing and the others left.
Not many people came to see him off.
The children went to school, and everyone else went to do their own work.
The village committee members, along with Prince Li Lanzhen, Xuan Shen, and Bai Houpu, escorted them to the dock.
Manager Hua walked up to Li Lanzhen and whispered something to her.
"Madam Li, I still need to go to the capital this time. I'd like to take Minghai with me when we pass through Youzhou City. What do you think?"
Li Lanzhen was slightly taken aback, but immediately realized that the Crown Prince must have something to take to the palace, so he asked her to make the trip.
"Okay, then let him go with you."
"Madam Li, don't worry about the matter you asked Han Minghai to handle. It's already making progress, and it should be almost finished by the time we return from the capital."
"Okay, thank you very much. I'll be troubling you again this time."
Li Lanzhen was very happy that Han Minghai could go out with Manager Hua.
You can only learn skills by traveling to more places and experiencing more things.
When Han Minghai left home, he took a change of clothes and personal belongings with him, so the only difference between going to Youzhou City and going to the capital was the distance.
In this way, she handed over the items intended for the Emperor and Empress to Manager Hua.
Shopkeeper Hua smiled happily when he saw so many baskets.
"Madam Li, please rest assured, I will definitely pass on the message."
Li Lanzhen saw that Bai Houpu had also brought over three boxes of things, which she guessed were medicinal herbs.
The crown prince stood to the side without saying a word.
Li Lanzhen knew that, at present, the Crown Prince should not be able to leave Peach Blossom Spring.
The official explanation should be that the Crown Prince is unwell and is receiving treatment outside the palace.
After seeing them off, they immediately began preparations to hand over taxes and grain to Youzhou Prefecture.
There was only one boat in Peach Blossom Spring, so Xuan Shen asked Xiao Wu and Shi Tou to go to Sifang Restaurant and borrow two more boats.
It took the three boats two trips to transport the sweet potatoes and potatoes to Moon Bay Wharf.
Li Lanzhen built three large warehouses here, each more than 200 square meters.
When they went to pay the taxes, Han Shunde was accompanied by Xue Laohu, Zhang Deshui, Han Dazhong, and Xuan Shen, along with ten guards from the training camp.
Li Lanzhen naturally went along as well.
She also brought some local specialties from Peach Blossom Spring for Prefect Wu.
They were given 200 jin each of sweet potatoes and potatoes, as well as vegetables produced in the space, salted duck eggs, and fresh chicken eggs—all products of the space.
They gave us two smoked chickens, two ducks, and two geese. Of course, the vermicelli from the vermicelli factory was indispensable; they filled two bags, weighing about 50 jin (25 catties).
Standing on the deck of the ship, Li Lanzhen said to Xuan Shen, who was following behind her.
"I brought some local specialties for the prefect. When we arrive at the prefectural government office, you can take them in."
Xuan Shen smiled and said, "Auntie, why don't you go and deliver it to the prefect yourself?"
Prefect Wu said he wanted to see you last time.
He originally came to Peach Blossom Spring to see the sweet potatoes and potatoes we grow.
You wouldn't believe it, but when he learned that there was a type of grain in Peach Blossom Spring that not only had a high yield per acre, but also didn't have high requirements for its growing environment.
He really wanted to come, but unfortunately, there were too many eyes watching Youzhou City, so he dared not move around casually. Besides, he also knew that the Crown Prince was in Peach Blossom Spring.
So I kept enduring it. Every time I met him, he would always ask about the growth of the sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Li Lanzhen smiled. As a qualified local official, this was the right reaction for him.
"How about this, Xuan Shen, I'll also give him a copy of the blueprints for the iron plowshare, rice transplanter, and rice threshing machine."
Xuan Shen nodded, "Great, Auntie, Prefect Wu will be very happy now."
The batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes that Vice Minister Du took away as seeds will probably not be given to Youzhou Prefecture next spring.
Upon hearing this, Li Lanzhen immediately understood his meaning; the emperor had calculated things very clearly.
He knew that since he was in Youzhou Prefecture, he would definitely provide a batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes from Youzhou Prefecture as seeds.
Nodding, he said, "The batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes we handed over this time can be used as seeds for next year. It's up to the prefect to decide how to use them."
Li Lanzhen knew that Youzhou Prefecture had a vast area and fertile land.
If each county and town receives a batch, these sweet potatoes and potatoes will definitely not be enough as seeds.
However, if you concentrate the planting in one or two counties or towns and harvest twice, you should have enough seeds.
These are things she cannot inform others of.
Your Excellency, the Prefect, should have already considered these matters.
All she had to do was hand over the sweet potato and potato seeds.
After the three ships made two trips to gather all the taxes and grain to be handed over at Moon Bay Wharf, they hired a batch of oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages to deliver them to Youzhou Prefecture City.
They were not the first to pay their taxes.
In fact, taxes in various places are collected by government officials who go down to collect them.
Some people even brought their own grain to hand over.
Their carriages arrived one after another, taking most of the day to deliver the sweet potatoes and potatoes to the government office.
The yamen runners in Youzhou Prefecture had already calculated in advance the amount of taxes and grain that each household in the counties, towns, and villages under their jurisdiction needed to pay.
The exact number of people and the amount of tax to be paid are already clearly stated.
Three years of natural disasters and man-made calamities left the land barren and resulted in poor harvests everywhere.
And everyone was so hungry that they wanted to keep any food they had at home.
Therefore, most of the money came from collecting mountain products or selling them through other means to earn money.
Then half of the grain and half of the silver were used to pay taxes to each household.
This was under the premise that Prefect Wu of Youzhou Prefecture, understanding the hardships of the three years of disaster and the difficult lives of the people, did not forcibly demand the handover of silver or grain.
Villages like Lishu Village, which completely hand over their grain and taxes, are relatively rare.
Therefore, the grain brought by Lihua Village, which was grain they had never seen before, immediately caused a sensation.
The people in the government office were the first to know that sweet potatoes and potatoes were grown in Lishu Village.
Some people who have eaten at Sifang Restaurant still fondly remember the deliciousness of sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Today they witnessed firsthand what sweet potatoes and potatoes look like.
They were all happy all day.
They treated Han Shunde and his group very well. After calculating the total population and the amount of taxes they needed to pay, the next step was to weigh and verify the figures.
Prefect Wu already knew that Li Lanzhen and her group were coming to pay taxes today.
I sat in the service hall early and waited.
Han Shunde and his team watched as truckloads of sweet potatoes and potatoes were brought over, weighed, and recorded for accounting purposes.
Li Lanzhen followed Xuan Shen, and several guards carried the local specialties that Li Lanzhen had prepared for Prefect Wu to see him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com