latelenovela Chapter 172 What exactly is Baishi County?
Chapter 172 What exactly is Baishi County?
That evening, Li Huaiyuan hosted a banquet for the three prefects at the Fulai Restaurant.
“Your Excellency, although Miss Tian is a merchant, she is not registered as one.” Li Huaiyuan ordered wine and poured it for the Prefect.
The prefect was so surprised that he stood up abruptly, holding the wine cup with both hands, and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Lord Li."
"She is also different from other businesswomen."
"He is a benevolent businessman who cares about the people."
"Her business... is destined to grow bigger and bigger."
Li Huaiyuan slowly began, "Perhaps we'll open shops in other counties, or even the prefectural city."
"At that time, you'll have to... lend a hand."
Without hesitation, the prefect replied, "Of course."
"Don't worry, Lord Li..." He glanced at Ling Yao, "If Miss Tian Er can open a branch shop in the prefectural city, it will be an honor for the people of the prefectural city."
"You have no idea how many people crave the food from Baishi County."
"hehe."
"Your Excellency, please come and try our novel vegetables from Baishi County while they're still hot."
"These dishes can't be found anywhere else."
*
That evening, Ling Yao sent a letter out from Baishi County...
In the letter, he told his mother, the wise empress whom the prefect had mentioned, about Li Huaiyuan's plans.
She was also Li Huaiyuan's aunt, Li Ruoyun, the Empress Li.
In his letter, he said that next year, Li Huaiyuan would promote high-yield rice varieties to the entire Yunzhou Prefecture. As the Crown Prince of Daqi, he was familiar with rice cultivation methods and solutions to various problems, so he wanted to stay in Yunzhou Prefecture for another year and hoped that his mother would agree.
*
"That brat!!" Empress Li slammed the letter onto the desk.
"Letters were sent back to Beijing one after another, with one reason or another."
"In short, they just don't want to go back to Beijing!!"
"I really don't understand what is there in Baishi County besides Huaiyuan that makes him want to stay there."
Zhu, the nanny beside Empress Li, put the letter away. "Your Majesty, didn't His Highness say it was for the high-yield rice seeds?"
"1200 catties! If it's true... then the people of Daqi are truly blessed."
"I just don't know if this 1,200 jin... is real."
No wonder she didn't believe it.
Who would believe something like that?
Leaving aside Yunzhou Prefecture, even in Qingzhou Prefecture, which has the highest yield per mu, the rice yield per mu is only about 380 jin.
1,200 jin, that's more than three times the yield per mu in Qingzhou.
Farming is no easy task.
"I'm afraid Your Highness might be misled."
Empress Li pressed her temples and shook her head. "No."
"Although Heming is a bit simple-minded, he is not so easily deceived."
"Besides, there's still Huaiyuan in Baishi County."
Even if Heming is deceived, Huaiyuan wouldn't be.
Empress Li clicked her tongue and said, "The claim about high-yield rice varieties is most likely true."
"However... Huaiyuan is cautious in his actions. Seeing that Heming valued this matter, he went along with it and let Heming focus on this matter in Baishi County."
"Judging by the days, the second crop of rice should be ready for harvest soon."
"Heming is sending this message now because he's afraid I'll urge him to return to the capital."
She shook her head, the phoenix hairpin in her hair swaying, "But..."
"I still don't believe that Heming isn't returning to the capital just because of the high-yield rice variety."
"I have a feeling... there's another reason."
Empress Li suddenly slammed her hand on the table, "How could I have forgotten about this?"
“Granny Zhu, go to the Li residence immediately and invite my sister-in-law to the palace. Make sure she brings the letters Huaiyuan and Weiyue wrote to her.”
*
Lady Li entered the palace carrying a black box.
The box contained letters written by Li Huaiyuan and his wife after they went to Baishi County.
"These were all written in the last year or so?" Empress Li looked at the pile of letters and felt a strange pang of jealousy.
Heming has been in Baishi County for almost a year, and has only sent five or six letters.
Moreover, every letter contained an excuse to avoid returning to Beijing.
Madam Li nodded, "Huaiyuan wrote less, Weiyue wrote more, and there's also... Yi'er's letter."
Empress Li was surprised, "Yi'er also wrote a letter to his sister-in-law?"
Madam Li took out several letters from the top, "Here, these are them."
“This child did not neglect his calligraphy practice even after going to Baishi County; his handwriting has become more and more stable.”
When children first start practicing calligraphy, their handwriting is always crooked because they don't use enough force.
When I get older, I'll be able to write steadily.
Empress Li opened Li Yi's letter...
The child's letter was very simple; besides expressing his longing for his grandparents, he shared what he had seen and heard with them.
In Li Yi's letter, he mentioned food several times.
What... shrimp dumplings are delicious, shumai are delicious, but he can't eat them often. Fortunately, Sister Tian Er often sends him meal gift boxes, so he can eat these meals often.
They even said... tomato and egg stir-fry is delicious, sweet and sour, tomatoes are also delicious raw, even better than the fruits in Beijing.
French fries and potato chips...dipped in ketchup...taste even better.
Sister Tian Er would have tomatoes delivered to the county government every few days, and Uncle Taizi would always try to snatch them from her.
What's the best hot pot lately...? He likes tomato-flavored hot pot the most, Dad likes spicy, Mom likes tomato, and Uncle Prince likes them all.
They also said...Grandmother would definitely like clear soup, Grandfather would definitely like spicy food, Great-Auntie the Empress would like sour and spicy food, and Great-Auntie the Emperor would like spicy food...
"What are all these things..." Empress Li muttered.
Madam Li leaned closer for a look and said, "These are all novel foods from Baishi County."
"Look, this Miss Tian is the one who makes these novel foods."
"Wei Yue wrote that this Miss Tian is a very young girl, but she is very mature and extremely interesting."
Madam Li had already learned about Tian Tian from Su Weiyue's letter.
"I heard that there are four people in their family: the mother and the eldest and second eldest sons. They are all widows, so they have a bad reputation."
"The family was kicked out by the grandparents and lived with a woman surnamed Liu."
"The two families came up with a lot of novelties and opened several shops, and all of them were doing very well."
"What Wei Yue admires most is that after this Miss Tian Er figured out how to grow high-yield rice, she directly presented it to the county government, and Huai Yuan led the people of the county to cultivate it."
Empress Li nodded, "That's something Heming also mentioned."
Miss Tian Er...
Empress Li suddenly became curious about this Miss Tian.
After all, Heming, Huaiyuan, Weiyue, and even Xiaoyier frequently mentioned her in their letters.
"Once the high-yield rice variety is promoted throughout Daqi, Your Majesty, as the Empress, you must reward this Miss Tian Er well."
Those men...had rendered meritorious service to the Great Qi and were rewarded by the Emperor.
If that woman has rendered meritorious service to Daqi, she should naturally be rewarded by the Empress.