Chapter 72 [VIP]
"What are you doing here? You didn't even bring Xiao Yuanbao with you," Liang Boqing said as he walked with his hands behind his back.
"I came to deliver a letter to you and to check on the crops. I'll definitely bring the gold ingots to show you next time."
Liang Boqing snorted, took the letter from his hand, and raised his eyebrows instantly upon seeing the handwriting. He quickly took it to his study to read it.
Wang Ying peeked through the window into the house and saw Qingyan and her two younger brothers writing furiously, so she didn't go in to disturb them. Instead, she took a walk around the yard first.
In fact, the people inside had heard Wang Ying's voice long ago, but they didn't dare to make a sound and instead focused on answering the questions.
Since returning after the New Year, Old Liang has set a rule for the three of them: a small test every month, with three sessions conducted according to the time and format of the county examination, each lasting half a day. Today happens to be the day of the monthly test.
The little yellow dog in the yard had grown into a big yellow dog. When it first saw Wang Ying, it barked a few times, but immediately quieted down after being scolded by Uncle Chen, and tilted its head to look at him.
Wang Ying said, "Don't you recognize me?"
The dog sniffed around, then suddenly seemed to remember something, wagging its tail rapidly and circling around Wang Ying's legs.
"You remembered? It wasn't for nothing that I fed you so many bones."
"Meow~" A cat's meow came from the roof. Wang Ying looked up and saw the little orange cat she had hired earlier lying on the eaves of the storeroom, sunbathing.
As expected, oranges are the most important thing; I haven't seen them for half a year and they've gained a lot of weight.
"Little Orange, come here."
The cat lazily stood up, yawned, stretched, bent over, glanced at Wang Ying in the yard, flicked its tail, changed its position, and lay down again.
"Tsk, this lazy cat."
Wang Ying went to the kitchen again. It was very clean inside. Last time in the experimental field, Qingyan told her that Dunzi's wife helped cook for them without asking for wages.
There was nothing else we could do but ask her to cook more each time, and if she couldn't finish it, we'd have Dunzi take it home, as a way to improve the meals for the children in the family.
Wang Ying felt this was inappropriate; how could someone always help for free? This trip was a good opportunity to explain things clearly to her, and from now on, cooking would also be paid 100 coins a month.
I tidied up the kitchen a bit, washed the pots, picked some fresh vegetables from the backyard, kneaded some dough, and cooked a pot of thin noodles.
A little while later, Old Liang came out after reading the letter. Smelling the aroma, he strolled into the kitchen. "Do you still have soup noodles?"
"Yes." Wang Ying quickly got up and served him a bowl as well, thankfully she had cooked enough.
The two sat on the steps with their bowls and slurped the noodles, which were thinly cut and chewy, topped with scallions, leafy greens, and two poached eggs. The simple bowl of noodles was very appetizing.
After finishing his meal, the old man wiped the vegetable soup off his beard and asked, "Did anyone from the county town come a few days ago?"
"You're incredibly insightful! Someone's coming!"
"Stop joking with me, did I give you a reward?"
"A reward of one hundred taels of silver was given."
"Tsk, that's stingy enough. Did they say anything else?"
Wang Ying lowered her voice and said, "It was about helping Qingyan thoroughly investigate the matter of cheating in the imperial examinations."
"That's good. It seems this old man has some ability after all. He didn't make me waste my breath."
"Does this mean Qingyan has a chance at passing the imperial examination? I didn't dare tell him, for fear of getting another false alarm."
"Don't rush to tell him. Let's wait for the official documents to come down."
"Hey!" Wang Ying knew from his words that it was pretty much the truth! Excitedly, she picked up the old man's bowl and went to the stream behind to wash it.
Liang Boqing stood up and sighed as he watched his retreating figure. But Wang Yingxi was a boy; otherwise, he could have helped him obtain some official position.
My old friend wrote that the method for preventing a late spring cold snap had helped him a lot.
The Grand Minister of Agriculture not only oversaw agriculture, animal husbandry, and aquaculture throughout the country, but also managed the royal tribute fields within a hundred li radius of the capital.
There was a quota for the grain produced by the imperial tribute fields each year, and failure to meet this quota would certainly result in punishment, possibly even demotion. Although the Grand Minister of Agriculture was only a fourth-rank official, he still had to attend court with the emperor daily, and many people wanted to climb over him to get a position.
Last winter was a mild one, and looking at past records, we usually encounter a cold snap in the spring.
Every time there is a cold snap in spring, grain production is severely reduced. Even if two harvests become one, it is a good thing. If replanting is not done in time, there is also the possibility of total crop failure.
Just when he was at his wit's end, Liang Boqing's letter arrived, containing detailed methods for preventing the late spring cold snap. With nothing to lose, he immediately sent people to roll all the hundreds of acres of tribute fields with stone rollers and irrigate them, following the details in the letter.
Unexpectedly, this spring did not affect the growth of winter wheat at all. Moreover, the wheat seeds sent from Jizhou last year grew much better than the surrounding fields. The wheat ears were large and full and very drought-resistant, which shows that it is a good variety!
Before long, various prefectures and counties sent reports of reduced production caused by the late spring cold snap, and Wen Yanping, as the Grand Minister of Agriculture, inevitably had to summon him to the palace for questioning.
Once inside the palace, he explained the methods for preventing and treating the late spring cold snap.
"Since this is the first time using it, I dare not promote it without authorization. I only tried it in the tribute fields on the outskirts of the capital, and the effect was quite good!"
The Emperor's expression softened slightly. "Who came up with this idea?"
"Your Majesty, the idea came from the student husband of an old classmate of mine, and Your Majesty knows this friend."
The emperor became interested upon hearing this, "Oh? Tell me about it."
"Liang Liufang, a talented scholar from Yangzhou."
The Emperor sat up straight. "When the late Emperor was alive, he mentioned this man many times, saying that it was a pity that he was arrogant and could not be used by the Emperor. Wasn't he a talented man? Why is he studying agronomy?"
"This method was not taught by him, but was developed by his student's husband."
That man is skilled in agriculture; he not only devised methods to prevent late spring frosts but also cultivated high-yield, drought-resistant wheat. The seeds he sent this year have grown exceptionally well. I plan to send someone to collect another batch after the spring harvest so that the entire tribute field can be planted with new winter wheat, and then gradually expand to other regions.”
"Food is the most important thing for the people, and grain is the foundation of a country. Make sure this matter is implemented well, and I will reward you handsomely if you do it well."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I have another matter..."
The Emperor was in a good mood and waved his hand, saying, "Get up and speak."
"Liang Liufang's apprentice was in a similar situation to him. He was also falsely accused of cheating in the imperial examination. Liang Liufang valued his talent and took him in as a disciple, but he was unable to participate in the imperial examination and be employed by the court..."
The prince knew what he meant. "Go find the Vice Minister of Rites and explain the situation to him."
Wen Yanping quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude.
When he came out of the main hall, his back was soaked with sweat. Fortunately, his classmate had sent him a letter, which saved him from being scolded. He felt he had to help him in return.
Unfortunately, the Emperor did not inquire about the young man who cultivated the seeds. Such a talented person would surely have achieved great things if he were promoted to the position of Minister of Agriculture.
Upon returning, he went to the Ministry of Rites and told them about the matter. With the Emperor's edict, the Ministry of Rites dared not neglect it and immediately sent someone to deliver the message to Jizhou Prefecture.
After receiving the news, the governor of Jizhou sent someone to Longquan County, and then the magistrate of Longquan County came in person. It is said that the reward money was paid by the county government, so it was not much.
Wang Ying was unaware of these matters; he had been busy recruiting people to process popsicles these past few days.
With the weather getting warmer, the vegetables in the shop are not selling well, and many people have been asking him when he will start selling popsicles. Fortunately, he came back this time and made arrangements.
Besides the few acquaintances I hired last year, I also called in a few more quick-witted women to help. The recipe remains the same: maltose and goat milk.
Wang Ying also plans to make some fruit popsicles. There are ripe cherries and raspberries in the experimental field, and she also planted a grape trellis. The grapes have ripened after being grown at accelerated speed. Since she can't finish eating them all, she can take them out and make them into popsicles.
Fruit-flavored popsicles are a bit more expensive than regular ones, costing five coins each. This price is a bit high for ordinary people, but not expensive for the wealthy families in town. Moreover, fruit popsicles are limited in quantity, with a maximum of one hundred made each day, and once they're sold out, that's it.
Unexpectedly, it was well received upon its release, and a popsicle craze suddenly swept through the town. Eating fruit popsicles became a trend in wealthy households.
The guy who went to Wang Ying to buy popsicles last year also came. He learned that his boss had started selling popsicles again, so he brought two baskets of eggs early in the morning.
Wang Ying still remembered him, "Strychnos nux-vomica, right? You've come to buy more again. Oh, you even bought a mule cart."
With a broad smile, Ma Qianzi said, "Last year, I made some money thanks to my employer."
"Great job, keep up the good work this year."
"Why!"
Don't underestimate the low profit margin of popsicles; you can make a lot of money if you sell a lot. Last year, strychnine earned more than three strings of cash by selling popsicles for three months, which is more than an average family can earn in a year.
He didn't squander the money. He borrowed some more from relatives and friends, and scraped together ten strings of cash to buy a mule and a wooden cart in town. When he went to the market, he would take people to town and charge each person five coins for the journey. He could earn over a hundred coins for a round trip, and he saved up quite a bit of money over the course of a year.
With the mule cart this year, selling popsicles has become much more convenient; I no longer have to carry a bamboo basket back and forth.
Knowing that his employer was selling business in the town, he didn't dare to go there to steal business. Instead, he leased out all the surrounding villages and hired four men from the same village to work with him.
On peak days, they can sell four or five hundred popsicles, almost matching the sales volume in the town.
After making arrangements for the popsicle makers, Wang Ying returned home after two days, as she couldn't bear missing Yuanbao any longer.
During the day, I'm too busy to think about it, but when I lie in bed with Chen Qingyan at night and we talk about the children, I can't stand it anymore, and we both feel like we could burst into tears.
"You think he's so young, and he can't see his father or his dad every day, won't he miss them and cry?"
Wang Ying felt a lump in her throat; the thought of her child crying because he couldn't find her made her heart ache.
Chen Qingyan's eyes also reddened a little. "Let's go back... Hang in there for another year, and bring Yuanbao to the manor when he can walk."
"Um."
The next day, when Wang Ying returned to town, she learned from her mother-in-law that the brat was eating and sleeping well, and had not only stopped crying but had also gained weight.
Back in the backyard, looking at the baby sleeping in his swaddling clothes, Wang Ying tapped his little nose and said, "You little ungrateful thing, your father and father miss you so much that they cry, but you don't miss me at all."
The old woman who was looking after the child said, "Young master, you have wronged the young master. These past few days, although he did not cry or fuss while you were away, he kept looking for you when he went to sleep. He was so anxious that his eyes turned red when he couldn't find you. In the end, he was only able to fall asleep by hugging your coat and smelling your scent."
Wang Ying lifted the blanket and saw his chubby little hands clutching one of her clothes, the fabric all crumpled but he still wouldn't let go. Her heart softened instantly, and she bent down to kiss his little face.
"Father has misunderstood you."
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
