Border Cook

Chapter 654: Cultivation Program Gift (Large Chapter)
It starts with New Year's greetings and visiting relatives and friends, then talks about hanging lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, and setting off fireworks on the 15th day of the first lunar month, going out for fun on the 16th day of the first lunar month, and then traditional festivals such as the 2nd day of the second lunar month, Qingming Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival.

Once you start talking, you can never stop.

The Queen and her daughter listened with great interest. Even Fan Jinglan, who had lived at the border for some time, was still very interested when she heard about some folk customs again.

Occasional questions and answers increased interaction, reduced the boredom of Xia Mingyue's narration, and made her more motivated to talk about these things.

This lecture ended when the sun was setting.

No matter how reluctant the three of them were, the time had come for Xia Mingyue to leave the palace and return home.

Xiao Yufei held onto Xia Mingyue's hand and refused to let go, asking, "When will Sister Xia have the chance to come back to the palace?"

"The day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve. The Lady of An Ning will come to the palace again for the New Year's Eve banquet." The Queen said with a smile.

"But there are many people attending the New Year's Eve banquet in the palace, and the seats are arranged according to their ranks. Even if you deliberately arrange to sit close to each other, I'm afraid you can't be too casual at the banquet."

Xiao Yufei frowned, "I'm afraid we'll have to wait until after the New Year."

After the New Year, it is unknown how long Xia Mingyue can stay in the capital. It will be inconvenient for her to enter the palace if she has other things to do.

She wanted to visit Xia Mingyue's home, but she was afraid that her father and mother would not allow it...

Quite depressing!

"Why not..." Fan Jinglan said, "Xiaowu, you can come to my house when the time comes, and I'll invite Sister Xia to be our guest, so we can talk together again."

"That's a good idea!" Xiao Yufei clapped her hands happily, "Let's do this, what do you think, mother?"

Queen, "..."

Knowing that Xiao Yufei couldn't go anywhere else, they would definitely allow her to visit the Fan family, so they came up with this idea. This little cleverness really has endless uses.

"You all have your ideas. If I don't allow it, won't it spoil your fun and make you hate me?" The queen said with a smile, "But Madam Xia will have to trouble you to make a trip."

"You are too polite, Queen." Xia Mingyue said, "The Fifth Princess is lively and Madam Fan is straightforward. I feel like I have known them for a long time. It is a pleasure to be able to talk and chat with them."

I am speaking from my heart.

Whether it's Xiao Yufei or Fan Jinglan, they are both straightforward and sincere people. They don't care about status. It's very comfortable and natural to get along with them.

Hearing Xia Mingyue say this, the Queen felt relieved and only arranged for someone to send Xia Mingyue out of the palace.

When they arrived at the palace gate, Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji were waiting.

"Could it be that you just came out too?" Xia Mingyue asked with a smile.

"I'm a little earlier than you, so I'll wait here for a while." Lu Qi Yan said with a smile.

Xia Yunji touched his nose.

It was indeed only a moment, but only a little over an hour.

"Sister, my brother-in-law was promoted to deputy wing commander and was awarded the title of Dingyuan Marquis, which can be inherited for three generations. I was officially appointed as the commander of the White Tiger Army and was awarded the title of Divine Tiger General. In addition, I was rewarded with gold, cloth, fertile land, etc."

Xia Yunji was so happy that his face was full of smiles. "I heard that the Queen Mother issued an imperial decree to confer the title of Lord of Anle Township on my sister. These things should be the rewards from the Queen Mother and the Empress. So, can we be considered as a family of three celebrating together today?"

"Of course I do." Xia Mingyue smiled with her eyes curved.

It is rare for a family of three to receive commendations and rewards at the same time in the Great Zhou Kingdom. I am afraid that after today, their family will be the focus of attention in the entire capital.

What is even more rare is that the emperor rewarded Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji with hundreds of acres of fertile land, and these fertile lands are not far from the Changzhou city, making them easy to manage.

In this way, as the industry increases, we can plan the types of planting well.

Good farmland has flat and fertile land, and wells or water sources can basically meet the demand. No matter what is planted on the land, it can grow smoothly and easily produce a good harvest.

No matter what you plant in such fields, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment when the harvest comes.

There is plenty of sunshine near the city of Changzhou, so we can grow some watermelons, which will definitely be sweeter than those produced in other places. We can also grow some cotton and introduce textile technology from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This will not only enable us to make profits from the source to the final sale, but will also provide employment for many people. In addition to the vinegar workshop and the Wufu workshop, it will become another large workshop that provides employment for refugees.

Speaking of this kind of cotton, many cotton growers at this time, when sowing in spring, all sow cotton seeds directly in the fields. The germination rate of such cotton is not high. Replanting will not only use more cotton seeds and cause certain waste, but also delay the growth time of cotton seedlings, and ultimately affect the final yield.

It would be better to adopt the seedling cultivation method used in modern society when growing cotton. First, build a small greenhouse, use cotton seeds to grow seedlings, and then plant the seedlings in the soil.

The growth ability of cotton seedlings is much stronger than that of cotton seeds, which can ensure the survival rate and growth cycle of cotton and increase yield!

The more Xia Mingyue thought about it, the more she felt that this method was feasible, and she became more and more interested in calculating how much of the 600 acres of fertile land to allocate first to try growing cotton.

Cotton needs to be planted at the end of March in spring, and the cotton seedlings must be cultivated as quickly as possible.

Just do it!

On the way, Xia Mingyue asked Lu Qiyan to help her buy some cotton seeds from the newly harvested cotton this year.

"Although the New Year is coming soon, it shouldn't be difficult to buy some if you go to a farmer's house and look for them specifically."

It's just a matter of spending a little more money.

And now they have received many rewards, money and such are not a problem!
At this time, the wealthy Xia Yunji also nodded vigorously, "Yes, I will take care of this matter!"

"But sister, you need to tell me first, what are these cotton seeds used for? This is the first time I heard that cotton seeds can be eaten. Such a rare thing must be cooked in a rare way. Will it taste especially good after it is cooked?"

Xia Mingyue, "..."

Reaching out and tapping Xia Yunji's forehead hard, Xia Mingyue said unhappily, "Sometimes I really want to crack your head open to see what's inside. How can you be so greedy and think about eating all the time?"

"Cotton seeds are not for eating. I am going to use them as cotton seeds and try the seedling method to see if I can increase the cotton yield. If the cotton harvest is good, I will try to open a weaving workshop. I can make money and employ more people, so that people without jobs can also make more money. Isn't that good?"

"That's true." Xia Yunji nodded repeatedly and said, "No wonder the Queen Mother named my sister the Lord of Anle Township. The word Anle is really a great use of the word!"

Not only is it in line with the facts and brings great luck, but it also has immediate results!
"Not only that, if you can really increase cotton production by raising seedlings, I'm afraid Lord Fan from the Ministry of Revenue will be very happy." Lu Qiyan said with a smile, "When the time comes, it will be promoted to other cotton-growing areas, which will be a good thing for the people. You will definitely do a great deed by then."

Xia Mingyue, "..."

I just came up with an idea and haven't implemented it yet, but I'm already looking forward to it, and suddenly I feel a lot of pressure.

But having said that, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. It is precisely because a thing involves a lot of things and the achievement to be gained is huge that it is more worth doing.

Xia Mingyue secretly made a great decision.

The carriage went back and soon arrived home.

Manager Su had been waiting at the door. When he saw Xia Mingyue and the other two coming back, he hurriedly reported what had happened at home.

"Since noon today, people have come to deliver gifts. I dare not neglect them. I have personally led people to welcome and entertain them. I have accepted the gifts and registered them in the register so that the Marquis, the village master and the general can check them."

Steward Su said, "In addition to those who came to send gifts, there were also those who attached invitations. However, I checked and found that they were all invitations to banquets in the back house, and they all invited the village master to attend the banquet."

As he spoke, Manager Su handed the registered booklet and the received invitations to Xia Mingyue and the other two.

All the gift books were recorded in great detail, mostly cloth, medicinal supplements, porcelain, ornaments, etc. The prices were reasonable and not out of the ordinary, and they were all normal social interactions.

The reasons stated in the invitation to Xia Mingyue to attend the banquet were all common ones, such as birthday banquet, flower-viewing banquet, daytime banquet, wedding banquet, etc.

It can be said that it was just normal interpersonal communication between officials in the capital, and there was nothing wrong with it.

The three of them entered the palace early in the morning, and it was already 9:00 p.m. when they were rewarded. However, just after noon, the dignitaries in the capital took action. Their efficiency was extremely high.

But then again, their family of three all received honors and were extremely glorious. They were favorites of the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress. Naturally, those in officialdom were also willing to make friends with them.

"Manager Su has done a great job. If anyone else comes to give gifts, just deal with it in the same way. Check the gifts one by one. If there is anything wrong, just refuse to accept them."

Interpersonal communication is a common thing, but if someone takes the opportunity to give something inappropriate and causes a lot of gossip, it is not worth it.

"Yes." Steward Su responded, "I will remember this."

I had been in the palace for most of the day. Although I had not stood for a long time or walked back and forth, my nerves were tense all the time and I felt extremely tired.

After simply packing up the various rewards given by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor and the Empress, he instructed Steward Su to take people to pack, register and put them into storage. Xia Mingyue and the other two had a simple dinner.

The cook at home has exquisite cooking skills. The Dongpo pork, pearl meatballs, pork ribs with lotus root, braised catfish and other dishes she makes are all very delicious.

After dinner, the three of them played in the warm room to kill time and help digest the food.

The board and pieces used were from Go, but the way of playing was Gobang proposed by Xia Mingyue.

No matter which line, horizontally, vertically or diagonally, has five chess pieces first, you win.

This way of playing is novel and simple, and a game does not take much time, making it easier to play. It quickly attracted the interest of Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji.

However, the two of them had learned how to play Go since childhood, and were used to layout and formation, and long-term thinking. They were not quite used to playing the simple game of Gobang, so they were no match for Xia Mingyue at all.

But after a few games, the situation where Xia Mingyue could easily beat two people turned into Xia Mingyue being defeated by Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji.

Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji were equally matched and it was difficult to tell who was the winner.

Watching the two people fighting, Xia Mingyue was quietly drinking tea and eating fruit on the side.

Manager Su came over at this time and handed Xia Mingyue the list of gifts and invitations received in the evening and night so that she could look at it.

As usual in the afternoon, most of the gifts and invitations were normal, but two of them were quite different.

It’s not the gift itself that’s different, but the identity of the person giving the gift.

One was sent by the Wen family, and the other was sent by the Cui family.

Xia Mingyue showed the booklet to Lu Qiyan.

Lu Qiyan glanced at them and smiled, "The Wen family and the Cui family are going to attend the New Year's Eve banquet. They are both in the capital at this time, which makes sense. I just don't know how these two families feel now."

Regarding the Meiling case, although the Third Prince and the culprit Ruan Zhiheng were on their way back to the capital, and there had not yet been a final conclusion, the capital was already abuzz with discussions.

Many people believed that Ruan Zhiheng's actions were instructed by the Wen family. The reason why Ruan Zhiheng dared to privately manufacture weapons was because the Wen family was in collusion with foreign enemies and instructed him to do so.

Some people also said that they had seen the second son of the Wen family, Wen Yixuan, appear in Changzhou City before, and his purpose was to secretly transport weapons to the border and conduct private transactions with Jin Weiguo.

Some even said that the Third Prince had traveled to various places and encountered an assassination attempt while writing his travel notes, which was also done by the Wen family...

There were many rumors, and they sounded very plausible.

This naturally made the Wen family feel a little uneasy. Even when Wen Yongze brought Wen Liyan and others to the capital, they were busy all day, asking Wen Liyan to make arrangements everywhere so that more people could exonerate the Wen family.

However, even if there are people in the court speaking for it, the public opinion cannot be manipulated at will.

The rumors are still continuing and are showing signs of getting more intense.

One can imagine how everyone in the Wen family felt at this moment.

The Cui family was naturally happy to see such a situation, but because they had deliberately instructed the post station to slow down the speed of memorials entering the capital so that the emperor could see the Wen family's defense first and let the emperor vent his anger on the Wen family first, the emperor noticed this and held the Cui family accountable, and gave the Cui family a severe warning.

Because of this incident, some people say that the current rumors about the Wen family are fanned by the Cui family behind the scenes in order to take the opportunity to bring down the Wen family.

The fight between the two families should have nothing to do with others, but faced with such a situation, some people have raised questions.

The Wen family is arrogant, and the Cui family is not a pushover either. When the two families are fighting, they seem to not take the imperial power seriously. So, do they still have the emperor and the court in their eyes?

Or have they never cared and never had the word loyalty in their hearts?
Such questions naturally made the Cui family unable to laugh. Even the head of the Cui family had been claiming to be sick and avoiding going out since arriving in Beijing.