dognovel Chapter 51 It's not that I'm afraid of my wife, it's just that I follow my heart!
Chapter 51 It's not that I'm afraid of my wife, it's just that I follow my heart!
When Empress Ma returned with a bowl of hot stir-fried noodles, the emperor couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks.
While peeling garlic for Zhu Chongba with a smile, Empress Ma asked with a smile, "What do you plan to do with that Magistrate Yang?"
Emperor Zhu swallowed his noodles, took another bite of garlic, and then mumbled, "I'm an emperor, after all. He's just a seventh-rank county magistrate. What good can we possibly do?"
Empress Ma hummed in agreement. Zhu Chongba took another bite of noodles, swallowed it, and continued, "Our Biao'er said to observe a person's words and actions, and we think Biao'er is right."
While slurping his noodles, Emperor Zhu mumbled, "If he is truly loyal to our Great Ming and can uphold his principles and treat the people well, then we will make good use of him. Whether he is after fame, money, or women, we can give him what he wants. We will also leave him to our Biao'er in the future."
“If he becomes corrupt and harms the people in the future, he should still be executed. Especially someone as talented as him, he can be even more wicked than ordinary corrupt officials, and the suffering of the people will be even greater. We cannot leave such a scourge to our son.”
"As for this time," Emperor Zhu took a bite of garlic, slurped the noodles in his mouth, and then continued, "Biao'er said that it would be better to reward him with a few silver ingots and a few books, and issue an edict to encourage the people of Ningyang County to cultivate the land. We think Biao'er's idea is good."
"However, Biao'er is still young after all, and he may not have thought things through thoroughly enough."
"Take the people of Ningyang County for example. Do they need an imperial edict from the emperor to persuade them to farm properly? Forget it! The Mongol emperors also issued edicts to encourage agriculture and sericulture, and what happened? Didn't they ever think about it? Which common people in this world need an imperial edict to farm properly?"
“We plan to have someone distribute a batch of seeds and farming tools to the people of Ningyang County in the name of the 'Biao'er,' such as wheat seeds, bean seeds, vegetable seeds, as well as hoes, rakes, shovels, and plows. These are the things that the people really need. With these things, even if the emperor doesn't issue an edict, the people will still honestly cultivate the land.”
At this point, Zhu Chongba suddenly put down his chopsticks, glared at Empress Ma, and said, "You mustn't tell your son, that good-for-nothing! He dared to talk back to us today! He's really gone too far!"
Empress Ma, who was fanning Zhu Chongba with a round fan, chuckled. After laughing, she rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, fine, I won't tell Biao'er, okay? Look at you, when things are good, you're 'our son,' and when things are bad, you're 'your son.' You're always right, aren't you?"
Zhu Chongba didn't dare to retort. He chuckled and continued slurping down his noodles.
In Zhu Chongba's eyes, the most delicious food in the world was the pancakes made by Empress Ma, and the second most delicious food was the stir-fried noodles made by Empress Ma. Everything else was just for filling one's stomach, and whether it tasted good or not was not important at all.
As for not daring to retort after being rebuked by Empress Ma... Is our Old Zhu a man who is afraid of his wife? No, it's because he genuinely cares for his sister!
……
Magistrate Yang's mood has been fluctuating like a rollercoaster lately.
The wheat harvest was faster than Yang Shaofeng had originally estimated. After Magistrate Yang said that the harvest should be completed as soon as possible, the people of the eight communities and sixteen villages of Ningyang County had finished harvesting all the wheat in just two days.
However, the rapid harvesting also means a low wheat yield.
The wheat harvested from the eight communities and sixteen villages of Ningyang County was barely enough to feed the people until the autumn harvest, and that was after accounting for all the wheat bran and chaff.
Wheat bran is a little better. It's a thin film left over after wheat grains are cut and crushed by a mill. No matter how bad the taste is, it's still part of the wheat grain itself, so it can still be considered a grain to some extent.
But wheat chaff is the outer layer that covers the wheat grains; its properties are similar to grass, and it's normally used to feed livestock and chickens. Now, because of the poor wheat harvest, people have to include wheat chaff in their grain count, and then dry it, grind it into fine powder, and mix it into their flour later!
This led to a problem that wasn't really a problem—the wheat bran that was supposed to be stored and mixed with soybean cake and silage to feed livestock, pigs, chickens, and ducks in the fall was ground into fine powder by the people and eaten as food, so there wasn't enough wheat bran to feed the livestock in the fall.
In fact, a large part of the reason why few people in Ningyang County raise chickens and ducks is because of poor harvests and excessive exploitation by the government, forcing people to compete with livestock for wheat bran as their food.
To solve this problem, the first step is to find enough grain for the people, so that they can save the wheat bran for livestock such as chickens and ducks. Secondly, we need to find ways to purchase a batch of wheat bran and rice husks from other places so that we can ensure that all kinds of livestock have enough feed to eat after winter.
After pondering for a long time, Yang Shaofeng simply had someone summon Limpy Five.
Yang Shaofeng got straight to the point: "After the Grain in Ear season, I'll have to trouble Brother Limpy Fifth to take a few of the new brothers to Yanzhou Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture to try to buy more grain, wheat bran, and wheat chaff, especially wheat bran and wheat chaff. We need to buy at least enough for the livestock from our chicken farm, pig farm, and livestock farm. The more we can buy, the better."
After thinking for a moment, Yang Shaofeng simply went back into the house and took out all the silver ingots that Chang Yuchun and Xu Da had given him, stuffing them into the lame Wu's hand: "This is seventy taels of silver. Use fifty taels to buy grain and the remaining twenty taels to buy bran. With this, we should be able to last until the fall."
The lame man looked at the silver ingots in his hand, then at Yang Shaofeng: "Your Excellency, this silver was given to you by Minister Xu and Chang Pingzhang. You are using it to buy grain for the people?"
Yang Shaofeng grunted and said, "Silver is a useless thing that can't be eaten or drunk. There's nowhere to spend money in Ningyang County. Even if you save up a lot, it's just a pile of dead stuff."
“But it’s different for ordinary people. Without grain and bran, they can’t survive until autumn. Even if they manage to survive, they can’t raise chickens or pigs in the fall. They can only endure the hardship as before.”
"The people are dirt poor, so where am I, the magistrate of Ningyang County, supposed to collect taxes? And who will I sell the chicks from that chicken farm and the pork from that pig farm to? Don't forget, I set up both the chicken farm and the pig farm myself."
"If you want to make money, you have to make the people rich first, so that they have some money in their hands before you can make money from them."
Limpy Wu sensed something was amiss, but he didn't argue further. He simply accepted the silver ingots obediently: "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will definitely buy back the grain and bran!"
Yang Shaofeng nodded, then suddenly changed the subject, asking, "How are things going with Brother Limpy Fifth and Liu? Have they set a date for the banquet?"
Limpy Wu blushed deeply, rubbing his large, fan-like hands on his clothes as he stammered, "Well, well... none of the brothers are married yet, so it's not appropriate for me to set one up directly."
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Limpy Wu with disdain and mocked, "Are you guys really that cowardly? You keep calling yourselves men who fought on the battlefield, it's utterly shameful."
However, Yang Shaofeng's sarcasm was of no use.
The dozen or so constables led by Limpy Five were incredibly skilled at killing people, but when it came to picking up girls, they were all cowards. They were all good at bragging, but when they saw a young widow, they would stammer and not be able to utter a word for a long time.
This won't do. If these idiots keep dragging this out, how will I, the dignified magistrate of Ningyang County, ever be able to enjoy their banquets again?
After pondering for a while, Yang Shaofeng simply said to Limpy Five, "There's still some time before the Grain in Ear season, and the people of Yanzhou Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture may not have started harvesting wheat yet. Buying grain and bran will also be delayed for a couple of days. I happen to have nothing to do these days, so Limpy Five, please accompany me for a stroll around the county town."