amaotonovel Chapter 324 Emperor Zhu: Let's go back to being old farmers and farm the land.
Chapter 324 Emperor Zhu: Let's go back to being old farmers and farm the land.
A recliner, a small table, a small clay stove, a kettle, and a small dragon ball (a type of rice dumpling).
The usual five-piece set was arranged in a carriage. His two incredibly beautiful wives and maids rode in the carriage, while Yang Shaofeng rode a horse, leisurely driving around all eight villages outside Ningyang County.
The two communities in the east of the city have the fewest people among the eight communities, and the iron mine in the east of the city also needs a lot of manpower. Therefore, after the immigrants from Jiangnan and Shanxi arrive, more people can be assigned to the east of the city.
The people in the south of the city are lucky, after all, they are next to the first cement road in the Ming Dynasty and even the world, and a brick kiln and a honeycomb briquette workshop have just been built. In the future, as more and more vehicles travel between Yanzhou Prefecture and Ningyang County, the people in the south of the city will have more and more opportunities to make money.
There's not much to say about the west side of the city, but the three largest brick kilns in Ningyang County are all located there, as are the honeycomb briquette workshops. Just working at the brick kilns and honeycomb briquette workshops is enough to make the people in the west side of the city earn a living.
Although there are no brick kilns or honeycomb briquette workshops in the north of the city, there are lime kilns and cement kilns, as well as a coal mine, so there are countless job opportunities.
Most importantly, the north side of the city is very close to the Dawen River, so in addition to farming and working, the people can also fish in the Dawen River and sell the catch to workshops in the county.
Of course, these developments were all within Yang Shaofeng's expectations. After all, he had gone to great lengths for more than two years. If they were still as poor as they were two years ago, that would be the most abnormal thing.
What Yang Shaofeng didn't expect was that the people of the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods inside and outside Ningyang County had spontaneously started raising silkworms, harvesting silkworm pupae, and selling silkworm moths.
The specific method involves carefully cutting open the cocoon after the silkworm spins its cocoon but before it transforms into a moth. The silkworm pupa is then removed, ensuring the cocoon can be boiled and the silk extracted. The still-living pupa is placed in a suitable environment to continue incubating until it becomes a moth and lays its eggs. These moths are then sold to the clinic and pharmacy of Yang Qing and his apprentice Wang Hu, where they are processed into "Xu Jin Huan" by Wang Hu's apprentices.
It's tiring, after all, you have to remove the silkworm pupae before they hatch into moths, and at the same time, you have to make sure you can boil the cocoons and extract the silk. If you're not careful when removing the silkworm pupae, you can easily break the silk. It requires a lot of skill and patience, and it's very mentally taxing. Most people just can't do it.
But this business is very profitable.
After all, it was "produced by imperial physicians" and had the added gimmick of "a secret recipe from the Song Dynasty court." "Xu Jin Huan" was very popular in the pleasure quarters of Jiangnan. To say that it was in short supply was a bit of a lie, but it was an undeniable fact that it was more expensive than other similar products.
Having tasted success, Yang Qing and his apprentice Wang Hu naturally didn't mind making more money.
The only downside is that this business is very time-sensitive; you can only make money during the few months of silkworm farming each year, and you can't rely on it for the rest of the year.
……
Just as Yang Shaofeng, accompanied by his two beautiful wives and a maid, had toured the entire Ningyang County and was planning to spend a few comfortable days with his wives in the county government office, the Zhu Emperor, far away in the capital, received a message from the Dengzhou Prefecture Inspectorate and became increasingly envious as he read it.
Zhu Chongba was indeed the emperor, wasn't he?
We're working ourselves to the bone in the capital every day, dealing with official business like slaves, while some bastard has his wife keeping him company and relaxing in Dengzhou Prefecture.
Alright, that scoundrel is Zhu Chongba's son-in-law, and we can't do anything about him for the time being, so let's just leave it at that.
But why do the magistrates of the ten counties in Dengzhou Prefecture have more than twenty students from Ningyang County School at their beck and call?
The ten were only relatively honest and obedient, but in reality, they were more capable of maintaining the status quo than making progress. Otherwise, they would not have been transferred to Dengzhou as county magistrates. With the help of those twenty or so students from Ningyang County, they actually handled official duties such as allocating land, registering households and land property books very clearly.
Some incompetent county magistrates even went so far as to abdicate and leave the actual official duties to the students of Ningyang County.
What the hell is going on here?!
Is this how we pay you your salaries so you can enjoy yourself?
That's not right either. Any twenty or so students from a county school could easily handle the affairs of a prefecture or more than ten counties.
What about the students in the Imperial Academy?
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the more unhappy he became. In his frustration, he went to the Kunning Palace to complain to Empress Ma.
"Look at your good son-in-law! Do you think what he did is acceptable?!"
"Last time, our Biao went to Ningyang County to ask for a few students but returned empty-handed. This time, however, he managed to get over twenty to Dengzhou Prefecture to help those ten county magistrates with their official duties!"
Emperor Zhu was so angry that his mustache twitched: "Sister, tell me, what on earth is this scoundrel thinking?"
Empress Ma was somewhat reluctant to engage with Zhu Chongba.
Are you angry?
Your beard is practically standing on end in anger, isn't it?
But why are the corners of your mouth turning up like that?
How childish you are!
Empress Ma rolled her eyes slightly and said, "I don't know what your good son-in-law is thinking, but I know you're not just here to complain to me, but also to show off. Show off your keen eye for finding such a capable son-in-law for Jin'er and Yu'er, and show off your foresight in finding such a good brother-in-law for Biao'er."
Upon hearing Empress Ma's words, Emperor Zhu chuckled twice, put down the secret letter from the inspector, and then reached out to grab Empress Ma's hand, saying, "How can we not show off? These are more than twenty promising talents. With a little training, they are a hundred times better than those ten county magistrates."
Empress Ma hummed in agreement and asked, "So, you intend to bring all twenty or so students to the capital?"
Emperor Zhu chuckled again and said, "I do have that idea. Think about it, if we bring them to study at the Imperial Academy, they'll be proper Imperial Academy students. Once they start serving in the government, that bastard won't be fighting alone anymore. By then, Biao'er will be all grown up. We can hand the throne over to Biao'er, and the two of us can go back to our hometown and farm. Isn't that better than being this damn emperor?"
Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu and snorted softly, saying, "You want students from Ningyang County to come to the capital? That's simple. As long as you're not afraid of your good son-in-law causing trouble later, just issue an edict ordering each prefecture, state, and county school in the country to select one or two relatively good students to send to the capital, and then select the best ones to study at the Imperial Academy."
"Remember, it's an imperial edict. If it were just a matter of sending someone like Biao'er did last time to Ningyang County, it definitely wouldn't work. But if you have an imperial edict, he will definitely send the person to you obediently, and he will even send the best one."
"Your son-in-law..."
Empress Ma snorted again: "You'd better write him another letter, with a similar reason. Use both methods together, and it will definitely work."