farming female castellan

Chapter 208 Rice Enters Beijing, The Emperor Inquires

Everyone looked at Zhongshuling, and Zhongshuling glanced at Tang Chaoying.

Tang Chaoying stretched out his left hand and snapped his fingers: "Thanks to God, it was sunny those few days. Harvesting began on the fourth day of the lunar new year. The first few batches of threshed rice were well exposed to the sun for three or four days. In the early morning of the eleventh, the rice It has been six days since we transported the rice out. We should go to the Huai River through Hangou, then Yingshui and Jishui, and we should almost reach the capital."

"No risk?" Wu Zhongsu blurted out, and then slapped himself lightly.

Everyone looked at Yan Shoulu.

"Why are you looking at me? Go ask General Qi." Yan Shoulu spread his hands with a smile.

Zhang Jiuyan was a little serious: "As long as no news is leaked, General Qi should be able to escort him safely."

"People outside here don't seem to know that there is General Qi in the barracks, and people outside are not sure."

"There should be news tonight." Zhong Shuling said.

Chen Fan and the others ran around twice, then went to the field to watch the goats.

"The bellies of these two ewes are very big. How many months have they been pregnant?" Wang Sangluo asked.

"I'm not sure, I don't know how to judge the month by looking at my stomach."Her memory of raising pigs and sheep is still stuck in many years ago.Pigs and sheep are not allowed to be raised in the countryside these years, and her impressions have faded away.

Eight-year-old Wang Keyue gently touched Yang'er's belly. After a while, she said, "This one is four months pregnant, and this one is three months old."

A group of children looked at her with admiration and suspicion.Wang Keyue raised her head: "I feel the belly of the sheep every day for several years."

"You are only eight years old, how many years can you touch?"

"Even if it's from the age of five, it's been four years, okay?" Wang Keyue was not convinced.

"I often touch sheep's bellies too, why didn't I know?" Hei Wa was not convinced either.

"You just touch them to see if they are full. It's fun to touch them. How can I be so careful?"

Hei Wa couldn't argue with her, so she asked a question: "Is this sheep pregnant with a lamb? Its belly is not big at all."

Wang Keyue touched it for a while and said, "It's only been two months."

The children said "Hey -" and continued to watch the sheep grazing.

Chen Fan looked at the group of children with great interest.They also like to watch goats grazing and chickens eating, just like when they were young.Surrounded by a group of children like this, she really wanted to draw this scene.

Capital City, Jishui Wharf.More than [-] ships lined up, the escort soldiers had already changed into uniform uniforms, and the soldiers from the City Patrol Battalion also lined up on the pier.The people who heard the news all watched curiously.

Longwei General Qi Zhenqun stepped off the boat, and Xu Zhangyun, the school captain of Xunchengying, saluted: "General Qi has worked hard."

Qi Zhenqun returned a salute: "Thank you Captain Xu for coming to meet us, we will enter the city right away."

One by one, the heavy bags were loaded onto the truck. One thousand bags filled fifty trucks.The eyes of the people were all wide open, watching the long convoy go.

"What's in it?"

"Rice, right? Only rice can harvest so much at this time of year."

Some people are well-informed: "I heard that someone in Gyeongju has grown high-yield rice. There are five or six stones per mu of land."

"So much? If everyone can collect so much, there will be enough food."

The common people were discussing excitedly, but they didn't notice that there were a few pairs of vicious eyes in the crowd, staring at the convoy going away with hatred.

The granary in the west of the imperial city.Hubu Shangshu and the servant waited respectfully, and standing in front of them was the second prince Wei Chaokang.

A team of Imperial Forest Army stood ready.Every time they moved a sack, they would open it, pour it back into the sack prepared by the Imperial Forest Army, weigh it, record it, and transport it into the warehouse.

There are many people, and the movement is fast.Yu Wenshan, Minister of the Household Department, put down the pen in his hand and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, there is a slight surplus in each bag of rice, and the weight is sufficient if the bags are re-turned." Yu Shangshu solemnly reported.

The second prince nodded: "Everyone has worked hard. I will report your hard work to the emperor."

All the officials thanked in unison.

The second prince left with his troops and a thousand catties of grain.Yu Shangshu breathed a long sigh of relief again, smiled, and looked at Su Shilang who was beside him: "It's really a blessing from the heavens, the emperor's grace is so great, all the food has been delivered back safely and without damage."

Su Shilang just smiled faintly: "That is to say, this trip came suddenly. Even if someone wanted to sabotage it, it would be too late to prepare well. If there is a second trip, it will not be so smooth."

Yu Shangshu shook his head with a smile: "Where will there be a second trip? No matter how much food is collected there, it will be distributed to the southern states and counties on the spot."

"These rice seeds are really interesting. They are plump and shiny, and they make me happy just looking at them." Su Shilang sighed.

"I really want to grab a handful and take it back, because there are so many eyes staring at it." Yu Shangshu whispered.

"Next year there will be more high-yielding rice seeds." Su Shilang showed a bright future, and Yu Shangshu smiled.

It was already dark when we entered the palace.The second prince and his party met the emperor.

The rice presented to the emperor was packed in delicate little bags.The emperor grabbed it, but he couldn't look away.

After a while, he crushed the husks of a few rice, and saw the shiny rice grains inside.His eyes grew more and more excited.

"It really is a good breed! Haha!" He laughed loudly.All the people in the hall knelt down one after another, congratulating Daxiang on the good weather and good seed.

The second prince presented the rice seed record sheet, and General Qi also presented the memorial.The emperor smiled: "Qi Aiqing has worked hard, and I have wronged you, either running around, or hiding her identity in that tent."

General Qi bowed his head and saluted: "I will not be wronged in the end if I am on a mission for the Holy Majesty, fortunately I will not disgrace my life."

The emperor pointed to a pile of memorials on the table: "These are all records about Shengping County. Zhongshu ordered them to report every day. Have sweet potatoes been found in other places in Shengping County and Yuanfeng County?"

General Qi nodded resolutely: "Yes. After seeing the sweet potatoes, people in many places found that there were such crops in the fields around the village. They dug them out and found that they were exactly like that. Yes. It’s just that except for a few big ones, the wild sweet potatoes are almost all small, and some are even as big as a finger, which is far less uniform than the grown sweet potatoes.”

"What about the corn?"

"Many places have them, but not many. People don't know what they are. Some people don't care, some people dare not eat them, and some just peel them off and feed them to chickens."

"Are you willing to poison the chicken?"

"Give it to someone else's chicken."

The second prince puffed up his cheeks, but he still held back and didn't laugh.

"Why didn't anyone find out before?"

"The corn leaves are very pungent. If you don't wear thicker clothes, your arms will be scratched. Before the corn ears grow up, the people lose interest."

The emperor looked at the second prince: "What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)