Zhu sneered coldly: "What are you looking at? My elder brother has already seen me, how can you not be my elder brother?"
Blind Zhu's eldest cousin brother didn't say anything then. He happily helped load the stuff onto the carriage and told them to go slowly on the road.
When the carriage turned at the corner of the road, Blind Zhu shouted "Cui Niang!" and then shouted "Sister!" Zhu's expression on her face didn't change at all.
Blind Zhu shouted again "Brother-in-law", and Jiang Wenxi then ordered the coachman: "Go faster!" and ignored him completely.
Some people really don't deserve it!
Last year, thanks to Zhu's help, Uncle Zhu became one of the only two sweet potato growing families in the village. The other was Jiang Wenxi's master's family.
Because Uncle Zhu's sweet potatoes were well taken care of and had a high yield, in addition to keeping some for seed, the rest were sold for more than twenty taels of silver, which made the whole family very happy.
For this reason, at the beginning of the year Uncle Zhu specifically asked his son to buy a slab of pork and send it to the Jiang family to show his gratitude.
Zhu helped Uncle make a fortune, but refused to help her brother-in-law and sister-in-law at all.
Blind Zhu and Luo angrily went around the village telling bad things about Zhu, saying she was a white-eyed wolf.
This remark happened to be heard by Jiang Wenxi's master's wife.
This old lady was also fierce, and had a high status in Zhu's clan.
She put her hands on her hips, raised her eyebrows, pointed at Luo's nose and started cursing: "What a shameless young whore. Now you are saying bad things about Cui Niang everywhere, what were you doing at the beginning?
If your brain doesn't work well, granny will press you into the night soil bucket to remember clearly.
In the past when Cui Niang was at home, in the fields, on the ground, in and out of the house, what didn't she do?
She desperately struggled to feed all of you bloodsuckers, how did you treat her?
It was either beating or scolding, not even letting her eat enough.
At that time, how could you not remember she was your sister, and later you wanted to sell her to a fifty or sixty year old man as a concubine.
It was hard to say it to the Jiang family, not to mention taking the betrothal gift money, when she left home you didn't even give her a decent outfit.
What you did, how can that be considered human affairs? Conscienceless things!
If your parents knew about this under the spring, I'm afraid even the coffin boards wouldn't be able to hold them down.
Now when you see Cui Niang is living better, you just want to take advantage. Where in the world is there such a good thing?
If I were Cui Niang, the first thing I would do is kill all of you.
It's good enough she doesn't bother you, and you still have the nerve to jump around here.
If granny hears you say one more bad thing about Cui Niang, granny will tear you apart alive..."
Hitting was impossible, scolding was useless.
Blind Zhu and Luo were scolded till their faces were black, and could only slip away home in defeat. It also made the villagers laugh.
Today was the second day, the couple figured out Zhu would be returning to Uncle Zhu's house, so they wanted to ask in person about the high yielding crops.
Would Zhu give them a chance?
Of course not!
As for Old Scholar Lu in Xiushui Bay, things were going smoothly.
Filial children and successful grandchildren. The family of his daughter was especially so.
His son-in-law was enfeoffed as a marquis, his daughter was granted the title of formal second rank imperial consort, his eldest grandson was titled Heir Apparent to the marquisate, and his granddaughter was titled Village Mistress. Each was richer than the last.
And there were no annoying relatives with crooked ways. Life was truly smooth and satisfying.
From the fifth day on, officials, merchants, and famous people began coming to pay new year visits in large numbers.
Most were here for the high yielding crops.
All kinds of flattering, making connections, and some even offering heavy money. Jiang Wenyuan declined them all.
Some families even brought 14-15 year old girls as beautiful as flowers, hinting in speech about the marriage affairs of the Jiang's grandchildren.
The goal of these people was also very clear, they wanted to form marriage ties.
The Jiang boys were all under 14 years old, it was too early to be discussing marriage.
Besides, when the matchmaker first came to propose marriage last year, the children had already clearly told their elders. At least wait until they are 18 years old before considering this matter.
It made sense. Now the Jiang family had three officials, one even enfeoffed as a marquis, hereditary for three generations before degrading.
Even the youngest granddaughter was titled Village Mistress.
With this status in the capital city crowded with powerful and noble people, they would still be the object of flattery and favor currying.
Let alone in Qingzhou, naturally they had become the top choices for marriage ties among the officials and gentry of the provincial administration.
The grandchildren had no way to deal with this, the rear courtyards of the Jiang men were all empty except for the legal wives.
Besides, what man doesn't have affairs, finding an opportunity to sneak some women in is not difficult.
And so, some shameless families openly brought their illegitimate daughters to the door, volunteering them as concubines, saying it was to expand the branches and leaves of the Jiang family.
This made Old Lady Hu so angry she immediately threw the people out with their belongings,
cursing loudly: "What kind of trash dares to try and push its way into my marquis manor, do you think my manor is a junkyard? My family has good daughters-in-law, we definitely don't lack grandsons! Disgusting things!"
The people who came got nothing but a laughable scene, and could only slip away in defeat.
After Old Lady Hu's outburst, when her sons returned home she earnestly instructed them again. Say no matter how prosperous the family becomes, do not take concubines.
It made no sense for the daughters-in-law who shared hardship with you for half a lifetime to finally get ahead, then bring in some enchanting little foxes to torment them.
If any of you have this idea, get out of this house immediately.
The Jiang brothers all quickly claimed not to dare, and would never do so.
They were all honest people, they only wanted to live peacefully with their wives and children. Concubines were sources of family chaos that must be avoided.
With grandmother's words, the Jiang daughters-in-law were even more emboldened.
No matter where they went, they held their heads high. Not just because they had sons, but also because they had a good mother-in-law, and even more so because their husbands did not take concubines.
This matter also served as a wakeup call to the Jiang family.
After instructing her sons, Old Lady Hu still felt uneasy. She thought for a bit then pulled out her grandsons to instruct and warn them as well.
In summary there were a few key points:
1. When out and about, if you see someone drop a handkerchief or purse, don't rush to pick it up, as it is very likely deliberately arranged "chance encounters".
2. When visiting someone else's estate, if you see a girl fall into the water, you can call for help but absolutely do not rescue her yourself.
Because it's very possible that after you rescue her, no matter if you're willing or not, the girl will be yours.
3. When visiting, be extremely careful not to be "accidentally" splashed with tea, because it is very likely a trap.
Look at these forward-thinking ideas and transcendent awareness.
If she didn't know Old Lady Hu was born and raised in ancient times, Jiang Yuqing would have thought she was also a modern person who crossed over.
Her eldest cousin Jiang Yujiang gaped in shock and asked grandma: "How do you know so clearly?"
Old Lady Hu proudly said: "The street storytellers in the city tell it, I've listened to several times.
It's also written in the storybooks, I can't read, but can still have the literate servant girls read it to me, can't I?"
Goodness, granny was quite learned.
After showing off, Old Lady Hu did not forget to continue lecturing her grandsons: "Did you all hear clearly? Although these are things in storybooks, nothing happens without cause.
If these things didn't happen in reality, how could the storybooks write them so vividly? I don't believe it! Besides, these scams don't go out of style, they work that's why they're used.
You bunch of pups, in some people's eyes you are just fat sheep ready to be slaughtered. Catch one, and that family's prosperity for the next half of their lives need not be worried about."
The description was...although indelicate, it really made sense.
Jiang Yuqing felt that with such a clear-headed grandmother, her brothers would be fine in the future.
On the eighth, the county office opened for business. Jiang Wenkang and Jiang Wenxi each rushed off to their own duties.
The general direction for promoting high yield crops had already been decided at the end of last year.
Jiang Wenyuan discussed and formulated specific implementation details with several of his staff scholars, then officially posted notices and simultaneously issued orders to each village.
1. Sweet potato seedlings 500 wen per mu, 3000 per mu. High yield cereal seeds 30 wen per jin, 6-8 jin per mu.
2. Because there is a limited amount of seeds, priority is given to purchase by the county's commoners.
All county commoners, must bring household registration books and land deeds, register and sign up with the village chief or elder according to the number of mu needed. Do not falsely report higher amounts, or transfer and resell.
Upon discovery of the above behaviors, severe punishment will be enforced. Registration deadline is the fifteenth day of the second month.
As soon as the notice came out, the whole Qingzhou prefecture immediately exploded.
The people's lives depend on food, and the commoners were most concerned about grain issues.
In years past, the suddenly emerged sweet potato that yielded thousands of catties per mu, and the high-yielding rice of last year that yielded 780 catties per mu, had pulled at the heartstrings of the commoners.
This year, the government had finally amassed enough seeds and promoted them across the entire county, making the commoners even happier than New Year.
It was a matter of their stomachs. Upon hearing the news, the commoners continuously surrounded the Village Heads and Village Chiefs of their respective villages in droves.
The statistics and verification of fields in each village was proceeding in full swing.
Those with money immediately paid for the seeds, and those without money borrowed money to pay so as not to come late and miss out.
After each village had tallied the number of fields and amount of funds, everything was handed over to the county government in a unified manner. After the county government verified without error, they would issue receipts stamped with a seal.
The Village Heads and Village Chiefs took the stamped receipts and directly led people to the Xijin ferry warehouse to find Master Lu to collect the grains.
For a time, every single person in the yamen was busy flying about, working overtime until very late every day, without even time to return home.
Seeing their hard work, Master Lu had the rooms near the front of the yamen tidied up and clean beddings and bed curtains laid out for the staff to rest.
Moreover, every day he personally had people prepare sumptuous and delicious meals to be delivered to the front of the yamen.
While those below were busy, the county magistrate Jiang Wenyuan was even busier. Often he would only return to his room past midnight, tired to the point of falling straight asleep.
The next morning after waking up, he would hastily wash his face, gulp down two mouthfuls of thin congee, then hurriedly rush off to the yamen again.
In just seven or eight days, he had visibly lost a whole circle around his waist.
Seeing this, Master Lu was anxious but could do nothing. In the end, he could only run back to the Xijin ferry to find his daughter for ideas.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuqing immediately trotted to the pharmacy and brought out a big bottle of ginseng invigorating elixir that she had just refined to give to her mother.
As it was her first time independently refining medicine, the exterior was still a bit imperfect, but the medicinal effects were powerful.
The raw ingredients were all Spiritual Realm products, made under the guidance of Doctor Qiu, so the quality was guaranteed.
She had originally intended to take it for her family members' health preservation, so this worked out perfectly.
She also took two baskets of fruits produced in the Spiritual Realm, like apples, oranges, persimmons, dates, etc., common fruits. She had not yet obtained seeds to grow other types.
She also took out some rice, recalling that there was not much rice left in the vat. The rice from the Spiritual Realm was much tastier and healthier than rice from outside.
After so long, her family members had been spoiled by the food at home. After eating the rice from home, when they ate meals made with rice from outside, they always felt it did not taste right.
She also brought a pile of small snacks like beef jerky and milk candies, so they could fill their stomachs at any time when busy, preventing low blood sugar from skipping meals.
After Master Lu left, Baby Dumpling looked at the emptied boxes, thinking to take the time to refine some more invigorating pills for the other elders, and practice her skills at the same time.
The result of the officials and common people of Qingzhou working together wholeheartedly was that by the 22nd day of the first month, all field acreages had been verified without error, all grain seeds had been distributed, without a single mistake.
When taking stock of the warehouse in the end, excluding kept seeds and those prepared to bring to the Pingyang Marquis Mansion and Duke of Protector's Mansion in the capital, there was less than 2,000 catties of sweet potato seeds left, and less than 1,000 catties of grain seeds.
Of course these could not simply be eaten. Jiang Wenyuan had them packed up and sent over in one go to the neighboring Jiangzhou County.
This made the magistrate of Jiangzhou, Little Mustache, very happy, and he sent word to invite Jiang Wenyuan over for a meal.
This period of time had truly exhausted them.
Taking advantage of the rest days, as a superior who cared for his subordinates, Jiang Wenyuan held a banquet with two tables of the best food and wine at Dingfu Building, the best restaurant in the city, to treat his staff.
Among them were also two small casks of "Immortal Brew" Maotai, specially sponsored by his beloved daughter.
The taste made everyone repeatedly cry out in surprise, "This wine is only fit for the heavens, how could the mortal realm get to sample its scent a few times!"
