Chapter 20 Changping Matters
As peace gradually returned to the capital, Zhu Yuhuan personally went to Changping to check on the new imperial farm granted to Zhu Qizhen. Of course, his main purpose was to look after Zhu Qizhen's fields.
If it were before, Zhu Qizhen would definitely want to go together, but since Empress Dowager Zhang had punished Wang Zhen in person, Zhu Qizhen couldn't make any requests casually, for fear of being scolded by his grandmother again.
Zhu Yuhuan promoted the tenants who were originally in Xihe Huangzhuang to be managers and moved them to Changping Huangzhuang to carry out unified management of the farmers in Changping Huangzhuang. The model and team were almost exactly the same, and they soon became proficient in it, which was much faster than starting from scratch in Xihe Huangzhuang.
Even though Zhu Yuhuan did not put as much effort into managing Changping Imperial Farm as he did Xihe Imperial Farm, the harvest in the past two years was still good.
Before the eldest princess' carriage arrived at the imperial farm, someone came out to greet her. By the time Zhu Yuhuan entered, the food had been prepared and all kinds of books had been organized and categorized, waiting for Zhu Yuhuan to check.
Zhu Yuhuan was treated with great care. He was not in a hurry to check the records, but instead took Han Guilan to tour the imperial manor first.
Data on paper is one thing, and seeing it with your own eyes is another.
Han Guilan looked at the wheat seedlings in the field and couldn't help but sigh, "How beautiful..."
No matter how many times she sees this vast and vibrant scenery, Han Guilan can't help but sigh with emotion.
Zhu Yuhuan squatted down to estimate the height of the wheat seedlings and said, "We heard from Fengrun earlier that the wheat harvest is better than last year, and the grains are fuller. This shows that the seedling breeding is finally showing some results. Once we have enough seeds, we'll send some to Dong'an and here to see if there's any impact."
"Yes." Han Guilan sighed as she spoke of this. "Madam Huang said that thanks to Your Highness's reminder to keep them warm with gauze, the rice has been somewhat frozen, and the rotation of crops has been somewhat forced. The harvest is much worse than in Zhili, but it's not a complete loss. The rice subsidies from Xihe Huangzhuang have also arrived on time, which finally puts the working tenant farmers at ease."
Zhu Yuhuan stood up, raised his hand to block the glaring sunlight, and said, "Seeds cultivated in different places have different characteristics, just like people's personalities. I asked Huang Niangzi to collect some seeds from the local area and plant them together with our seeds. I don't know how effective it will be."
"I think there will be news during the autumn harvest."
As the two were talking, they heard the laughter of children not far away. Looking into the distance, they saw several girls and their children doing farm work together, each holding a farm tool for turning over hay.
Seeing Zhu Yuhuan and Han Guilan, the girls hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings to Princess Shunde."
"Hurry up and get up." Zhu Yuhuan said with a smile: "Why are you the only ones here?"
Seeing Zhu Yuhuan for the first time, everyone was so nervous that they couldn't speak. Only one of the youngest girls spoke up boldly and replied, "Uncle and dad are all going to fertilize the land, so we'll go along and help turn the materials."
The older girl next to her couldn't help but remind her, "Zhou girl, you should call yourself 'commoner' in front of the princess."
Zhu Yuhuan saw that she was about the same age as Zhu Qiyu, and her round, lively eyes reminded him of his younger sister when she was little. She waved her hand and said, "It's okay. We're not in the capital now, so there's no need to be so reserved." She looked at the little girl from the Zhou family and joked, "You're still young, aren't you afraid of hard work?"
"Of course I'm not afraid," the little girl said proudly. "I'm really good at mowing the lawn. Daddy and Mommy have both praised me. Even if I can't do it anymore, I can still sing for everyone, so that they'll have more energy to work!"
Even Han Guilan was amused by her arrogant appearance and said to Zhu Yuhuan, "Your Highness, this little girl is very brave and careful, and very diligent."
Zhu Yuhuan also smiled and said, "Then I'll go with you, okay?"
"Okay." The little girl nodded and said, "I'll sing a song for the princess. It's a song from our hometown. The princess has definitely never heard it before."
Zhu Yuhuan responded with a smile and said, "What's your name?"
"We don't have any names..." Someone said with a hint of embarrassment, "We're all called Second Sister, Sister Jin, Xiulian, Xiulan..."
The little girl, with her chest puffed out and her head held high, said, "I'm different from everyone else. My name is Yingying. My father told me that I was born on the fifteenth day of the full moon and that I would have a great future. So he asked a literate teacher to give me a name. It's a poem: 'Yingying across the water, my heart is filled with affection but cannot be expressed in words.'"
"Yingying." Zhu Yuhuan touched her head and said, "There's no such thing as a high or low name. Each one has its own beauty. What matters is what kind of person you become."
Zhou Yingying uttered a confused "hmm" and just muttered to herself.
Everyone says that the eldest princess is very powerful, and what powerful people say should be true.
Compared to what Zhu Yuhuan said, Zhou Yingying's attention was quickly drawn to Zhu Yuhuan's dress. She couldn't help but exclaimed, "The princess's dress is so beautiful..."
Seeing her reaching out to touch him, the people around her were about to stop her, but Zhu Yuhuan had already shaken his head.
Zhou Yingying touched the fabric carefully. The skirt was not only brightly colored, but also soft and light to the touch, with faint ripples.
She had never seen such a beautiful skirt before, and after touching it, she only felt that the clothes on her body were rough and uncomfortable.
Seeing her cautious look, Zhu Yuhuan said to Zhou Yingying, "Is she pretty?"
Zhou Yingying was extremely envious and looked up at Zhu Yuhuan. She saw that she was looking at her, but there was no contempt in her eyes, but tenderness instead.
Zhou Yingying blushed a little and nodded, "Beautiful!"
"After I've reviewed the account books, I'll have Guilan come up with a standard. If your family needs to convert some of their grain into cloth, you can use the cotton from Chengping Cloth Shop." Zhu Yuhuan patted her pomegranate-red, pleated skirt. "This fabric is all made by my Chengping Cloth Shop. The quality shouldn't be bad. It's enough to make some clothes for the holidays."
Han Guilan saw the surprised expressions on the faces of the girls, who were Zhu Yuhuan's age or even younger. She continued, "Your Highness has given the same treatment to the imperial estates in Fengrun and Dong'an. You don't have to be surprised. From now on, if the daughters of the tenant farmers are skillful, they can help out in cloth shops and garment stores and earn their own living."
What Han Guilan said was something they had never heard of before, and the girls immediately showed longing expressions on their faces.
Zhou Yingying immediately responded, "I want to go too! I want to help out too! I want to wear a dress like the princess' in the future!"
The older sister next to him said, "You are still young, how can you help?"
"I can help with the yarn sorting and the cloth cutting." Zhou Yingying emphasized seriously, "Whatever the princess asks me to do, I'll do it! Even if I don't know how, I can learn!"
Everyone around her thought she was just talking as a child and started laughing.
Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "That will have to wait until you are older. After that, I will have someone hire a teacher at the imperial farm to teach you how to read and write. Even if you want to help, you need to have some literary talent."
Zhou Yingying groaned and muttered, "Reading... but I don't recognize a single word..."
Zhu Yuhuan noticed their embarrassment and said gently, "It doesn't matter if you can't read. You can learn slowly in the future. If you want to help in the shop, you can't be completely illiterate."
Zhou Yingying clenched her fists when she heard her say that.
Isn't it just learning to read? As long as she can wear the same beautiful dresses as the eldest princess, she doesn't mind reading any more books!
Zhu Yuhuan followed the girls to the composting area. The tenants were busy working. Zhou Yingying was the first to run over and said, "Dad, we're here!"
"You little rascal, why are you here so late—" Zhou Neng hadn't finished his words when he saw Zhu Yuhuan following behind him. Although her clothes were simple, they were obviously different from those of the peasants. He was slightly startled, but soon understood what was going on. He knelt down and saluted, saying, "Your humble servant greets the princess!"
The farmers who were busy working around all knelt down when they heard this.
Zhu Yuhuan quickly asked them to get up and said, "This is not a good place to compost. I'll have the steward bring you some clothes later."
"I bow to thank the Princess."
Zhu Yuhuan glanced at them and saw that they were all strong and healthy, with normal complexions and hard work. He already had an estimate of the management level of Changping Huangzhuang.
After all, the current managers were all transferred from Xihehuangzhuang and had nothing to do with the local tenants. Even if they worked diligently, there was no guarantee that no one would profit from it. Zhu Yuhuan naturally had to confirm it with his own eyes.
However, with the presence of the eldest princess Zhu Yuhuan, the tenants who were working felt a little uncomfortable.
Seeing that they were all a little nervous, Zhu Yuhuan knew that he couldn't stay for long, so he left on the pretext that he had other things to do.
Zhou Neng caught a glimpse of Zhu Yuhuan's figure gradually disappearing from the corner of his eye, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Someone next to him said, "Zhou Neng, my daughter said that your girl touched the eldest princess's skirt."
Zhou Neng was startled when he heard this and quickly grabbed his daughter and asked, "What happened? Did you talk to the princess?"
Unlike Zhou Neng's panic, Zhou Yingying was very proud and said, "Yes, not only did I talk to the princess, I even touched her skirt. The princess said that we can also help out in the shops in the capital in the future, so that we can wear beautiful clothes like the princess."
Zhou Neng looked at his daughter with a helpless expression, and scolded her, "The eldest princess is the emperor's eldest sister. How can you be compared to her? If it weren't for the princess's kindness, she would have chopped off your head long ago!"
Zhou Yingying was quite unconvinced and said, "The eldest princess is very gentle when she speaks. She won't take my head off."
"The princess has been on the battlefield..."
Seeing Zhou Neng about to teach his daughter a lesson, the people around him said, "I've heard from the officials at the imperial farm that the princess is surrounded by many female officials. Isn't that the girl next to her just now one of them? Who knows, maybe your girl will be able to follow the princess in the future."
Before Zhou Neng could say anything, Zhou Yingying spoke first, "I don't want to follow behind others."
Zhou Neng had originally felt somewhat comforted, but upon hearing his daughter say this, he felt even more troubled. He scolded her, "Why can't you stop talking like that? You're going to get into trouble sooner or later!"
Zhou Yingying just made a face at her father and ran away.
"Brother Zhou, please stop nagging your daughter. Even if she has a lot on her mind, it's not easy for her to tell you directly as her father. You should find her a mother as soon as possible so that someone can take good care of her and your two boys."
Zhou Neng's wife Zhen died just one year after giving birth to their youngest son Zhou Shou. Zhou Yingying was left without a mother. In addition, her father Zhou Neng was busy with farm work and not only did he not have time to teach his daughter, he even asked her to take care of his two younger brothers.
As a result, Zhou Yingying became more independent-minded and it was common for her to "disobey discipline". Even if Zhou Neng wanted to teach her, he could not say anything harsh when he thought of the hardships his daughter had suffered since childhood.
Zhou Neng couldn't help but sigh and said, "There is some truth to that..."
If I am so free and undisciplined now, what will I do if I get married in the future?
Zhu Yuhuan went back to check the books and found that there were no major problems with the income and expenditure. She and Han Guilan worked out a method for exchanging cloth. She watched Han Guilan copy the draft again and said, "This method is similar to the mutual trade, except that we are exchanging treasure notes for cloth instead of cloth."
As Han Guilan copied, she said, "Cloth is much more valuable than banknotes. At least I can take it home and make a couple of sets of clothes."
Zhu Yuhuan sat beside her and ground ink for her, saying, "Otherwise, Madam Huang's business in the north wouldn't be so successful."
Today is still an era of barter. Not to mention transactions between ordinary people, even when the court pays monthly salaries to officials, it will also convert official salaries into rice, spices, cloth, etc., which is extremely difficult to distribute.
However, ever since Zhu Zhanji discussed converting official salaries into banknotes, officials no longer had to worry about having difficulty receiving their salaries. The rice they received was exchanged for the even less valuable Ming treasure notes. If they wanted to exchange it back to rice, the amount would be greatly discounted, making the officials' already not-so-generous salaries even worse.
Especially for low-level officials, after all the trouble, their salaries are getting lower and lower. If there are more people in the family, they will be even more stretched.
Therefore, compared with trading in treasure notes, most people believe in bartering, not to mention ethnic minorities like the Uriankhai, who only use pastoral products for trading.
For someone as "generous" as Zhu Yuhuan, who controls hard currency like cloth, it is hard for his business not to be successful.
Speaking of the north, Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but sigh, "This time she's going to Shaanxi and Gansu. Bandits are always likely to appear there, and this is her first time going there, so she doesn't know what the situation is like."
Han Guilan heard the worry in her words and said comfortingly, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Madam Huang is alert and adaptable. She has already done business alone several times. Plus, with the help of the people left by Master Shen San, nothing will happen."
Zhu Yuhuan saw Han Guilan finished copying, took it and looked at it carefully, and said, "I just hope she can bring back news of her safety soon."
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