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Chapter 386 Going to the Northwest

"First, open the trade between Da Zhou and Western Liao. If the effect is significant, then open the trade between Da Zhou and other countries."

Xiao Yichen is a smart guy who understands everything. He is worthy of being the one she likes. Shen Jia's eyes were filled with smiles as she thought arrogantly.

"Yes! Just like Ba City, the arrival of caravans from all over the Great Zhou will quickly boost Ba City's economy. The same goes for opening up trade with other countries..."

Xiao Yichen agreed: "Before the expedition, I gave orders to the Governor-General and the Provincial Governor of the Northwest, asking them to repair the official road in the Northwest, add more post stations, and wipe out the bandits along the way. It should be enough in more than a year..."

Shen Jia was impatient. Now that he had thought of it, he wanted to implement it as soon as possible: "Let's go back and make a plan now."

Xiao Yichen smiled dotingly and said, "As you wish."

Shen Jia asked Zhou Rui, Ling Yunsu, Shen Hao and Zhou Sizheng to discuss the matter together.

Shen Hao and Zhou Sizheng were supposed to return to Beijing to study at the Imperial College after the war, but they both refused. In their words, Shen Jia, Xiao Yichen and Zhou Rui were building the Mengwu Province, and they could learn much more from them than in the Imperial College.

Shen Jia and Zhou Rui were speechless and just let them do as they pleased.

After all, Menggu Province had to build four cities and faced many problems. What they learned from it would be enough for them to thrive in their future careers.

After discussing for two hours, they finally worked out the detailed rules.

Xiao Yichen immediately sent a pigeon letter to the emperor, briefly explaining to him the importance of opening up trade in the northwest.

The next day, they left Ba and headed for the next city, Qi.

With Ba City as a reference, Qi City's policies were quickly implemented and got on the right track without any obstacles.

The emperor wrote back to Xiao Yichen, saying that he strongly supported the opening of trade in the northwest, and asked Xiao Yichen and Shen Jia to go to the northwest in person to investigate and formulate regulations with the officials of the northwest.

Xiao Yichen and Shen Jia handed over all matters related to the construction of Mengwu Province to Zhou Rui, with assistance from Shen Hao, Zhou Sizheng and Ling Yunsu.

Then they rode at full speed towards the northwest, and it took them only ten days to enter the northwest territory.

Because the emperor and Xiao Yichen worked hard to govern the northwest, the entire official road was built large and smooth, the post stations were built spacious and bright, and the bandits along the way were mostly cleared out by the Northwest Governor's troops. Xiao Yichen was very satisfied with this.

The topography of the Northwest is relatively complex, with vast deserts, desolate Gobi Desert, the Tianshan Mountains covered with snow all year round, plains, basins... The grain production here is much lower than other places, which is also the main reason for the widespread poverty in the Northwest.

The Northwest Provincial Administration and the Governor-General's Office were both in Fanzhou.

After Shen Jia and Xiao Yichen arrived in Fanzhou, they did not go directly to the Provincial Administration Office, but went to the largest inn in Fanzhou City.

As soon as they entered the inn, the sharp-eyed waiter came up to them and asked, "Dear guests, would you like to stay overnight or have a meal?"

Xiao Yichen glanced at the noisy diners in the lobby. Because Fanzhou was the central city in the northwest, caravans from all over the Great Zhou gathered here, so there were people of all nationalities in the lobby.

"Bring up two rooms, and send up two servings of your restaurant's best meals and two buckets of hot water."

"Sir, this is a desert area, water is very precious, a bucket of hot water costs ten taels of silver."

The waiter looked conflicted. With his many years of experience as a waiter, he knew that these two young masters must be of high status. He wondered if they would hit him hard when they heard about the high water bill. Shen Jia handed him a fifty-liang silver note and said, "It's okay. We understand."

Seeing that they did not blame him, the waiter immediately gave him fifty taels of silver notes and happily took them upstairs. He opened the two doors of the right room and invited them in. "Please wait a moment, guests. The food and hot water will be served soon." After saying that, he quickly went downstairs and ordered the food and hot water.

Shen Jia looked around the room in the inn. Although it was a bit simple, it was still clean. He nodded with satisfaction.

After traveling for days, both of them were very tired, so they ate, washed, and went to sleep.

It is now mid-September, the autumn harvest season, and Shen Jia and Xiao Yichen decided to visit the villages outside Fanzhou City.

This village is ten miles away from Fanzhou City. There are about twenty households in the village, and most people live in yellow mud and thatched houses.

Villagers are harvesting wheat in the fields.

Their figures shuttled through the golden wheat fields, their sweat dripped onto the wheat ears and merged with the grains. Occasionally, little children would pick up the wheat ears that had fallen in the fields. Although there were not many, it still made them smile.

"Gentlemen, who are you looking for?" An old man with a white beard stepped forward and asked curiously.

Shen Jia's eyes sparkled, and he bowed and saluted: "How are you, old man? My two brothers were traveling and passed by your place. We saw that the wheat you were harvesting was worse than the wheat in other inland provinces. Out of curiosity, I watched for a while."

The old man's eyes darkened: "Little brother, you don't know that the land in our northwest is barren, and the per-acre yield is far less than that of other provinces. But last year we reclaimed a lot of barren hills and wastelands, and planted high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and corn distributed by the court. Now we can have enough food to eat..."

The old man's tone was full of gratitude towards the imperial court and the Great Zhou royal family, which made Xiao Yichen and Shen Jia very happy and felt that their efforts were not in vain.

Shen Jia recalled that in his previous life, grapes were first planted here, and then slowly spread to all parts of the country. If this place was like in his previous life, would there be a lot of grapes?
“Does anyone grow grapes here?” she asked.

The old man smiled kindly and said, "Of course there are. Life is not easy for everyone, and almost every household will plant a few grape trees for children to eat as snacks. Come with me, I will take you to pick a few bunches of grapes."

Shen Jia and Xiao Yichen clasped their fists and bowed: "Thank you very much, old man! We would be disrespectful to refuse this."

The old man was very enthusiastic and said as he walked: "You are a little late. If you come in July or August, there will be grapes everywhere, enough..."

They soon arrived at their destination. The old man pointed to a field of grapes and said, "All these grapes belong to my family. At the end of last year, I wanted to cut them down and plant corn and sweet potatoes, but my children strongly opposed it, so I left them there."

The two looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a large area of ​​grape vines. Under the grape racks were dozens of bunches of grapes of different varieties hanging scattered around.

They strolled under the grape trellis and found that different varieties had different shapes of fruits, including spherical, oval, elliptical, etc.

Some grapes are as crystal clear as pearls, some are as bright as agate, and some are as emerald green as jade, making people salivate.

The old man picked two bunches of grapes and handed them to them: "Please try some, gentlemen."

"Thank you!" They gladly accepted it.

Shen Jia picked a grape and peeled off the skin. The crystal clear flesh was like a soft pearl. She took a light bite. The plump and soft flesh swirled on the tip of her tongue. The sweet juice filled her mouth, slid into her throat, and then spread to her whole body.

The two of them ate more than a dozen grapes in succession before they stopped. A hint of embarrassment flashed in Xiao Yichen's eyes.

Shen Jia was so thick-skinned that he didn't think it was a big deal. He smiled and praised, "Old man, your grapes are seedless, thin-skinned, tender and juicy. Have you ever taken them to the city to sell?"