Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 627 Opportunity to Make a Merit

Kunning Palace.

Zhang Yu sat sideways in the armchair, squinting her eyes, looking very lazy. Zhang Yanling sat next to her, pressing his thumb on the pulse of Zhang Yu's right hand, carefully feeling the slight changes in it.

"Second brother, I feel much better recently and I walk briskly."

Zhang Yu said with great joy, "The blood circulation is smooth, the complexion is also very good, and even your brother-in-law seems to have become much stronger. Hey, your medicine is quite effective... Speaking of which, your medical skills are really amazing!"

Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly and said casually, "What's that? I am still helpless against stubborn diseases."

The traditional Chinese medicine he was adhering to had become a niche medicine in later generations. It had fallen behind in the treatment of serious diseases and could even be said to be not worth mentioning in many cases. However, it had formed a complete system in regulating the body.

Regardless of whether it is useful or not, it will definitely be very useful to those who have tried it.

If you can't even do this, you will basically be eliminated by the times.

As a result, his sister clearly felt that his prescription was very effective and was ready to make further adjustments.

Zhang Yanling asked: "Sister, recently between you and your brother-in-law... um..."

Zhang Yu frowned and asked, "Just say whatever you want to say. Why are you still hiding it?"

“It’s not possible without covering it up.”

Zhang Yanling looked a little embarrassed, and said with embarrassment, "Even though I am a doctor now, I still have to take many things into consideration, especially since my brother-in-law is of such a noble status.

"Forget it, let me put it another way. Is your relationship with your brother-in-law... harmonious?"

Zhang Yu nodded: "Not bad, pretty good!"

Zhang Yanling tilted his head and asked, "Sister, do you know what I'm talking about?"

Zhang Yu smiled and pointed at his brother's forehead: "You are not very old, and in my eyes you are just a child. In fact, I am afraid that you don't understand these things."

Zhang Yanling couldn't help but feel suspicious.

From what my sister said, it seems that my brother-in-law is not as frail as imagined. Then why was Zhu Youtang so weak in history that he didn't even have a concubine, and his offspring were extremely few? In the end, because his son Zhu Houzhao was not ambitious enough, his lineage was completely cut off?
Hey, just break up if you want. What’s the point of cheating my Zhang family?
"Sis, since the effect is good, let's follow the previous prescription to treat it for a while."

Zhang Yanling instructed, "Brother-in-law must use milder medicine. We should take our time and not use strong medicine. Also, give brother-in-law more nutritional supplements on a daily basis. I mean food supplements, not medicine supplements."

Zhang Yu asked, "Can you make up for it by eating something?"

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling nodded, "Remember to drink less rice soup and eat more eggs, goat milk, beef and other things. I have a list of ingredients here, all of which are warming and nourishing... I don't know what my brother-in-law's appetite is like, so you can choose the ingredients he likes and say hello to the kitchen."

"Can not be done."

Zhang Yu took the list from Zhang Yanling, took a closer look, and said helplessly, "Your brother-in-law doesn't like fish, meat, eggs, milk, etc. He has a very light taste and likes to eat pickled vegetables with rice porridge. Sometimes when I dine with him, I feel like I have no appetite, so I can only cook a few dishes for him."

Zhang Yanling said, "It may be related to the environment in which my brother-in-law grew up and his eating habits since he was a child. You have to correct him gradually. In the future, try to eat less kimchi and eat less pickled and smoked meat. The more vegetables, meat, eggs and milk, the better. Try to have more dishes. In this way, your majesty can eat only one chopstick of the same dish, which can also improve his health."

"Ah? These hobbies are basically set by the time your brother-in-law reaches his age. It must be difficult to change them, right?" Zhang Yu asked.

“It has to change.”

Zhang Yanling picked up the pen and wrote and drew on the white paper brought by the palace maid. "It's too plain and elegant. There's no problem in the short term, but if it continues like this for a long time, it will lead to physical weakness and inability to have children. Sister, you are the closest person to my brother-in-law, you have to pay attention to this matter."

Zhang Yu said, "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, isn't that enough? I really don't know if you understand him or I do... But Yanling, I quite like the tonic ingredients you wrote, but I'm afraid I'll get fat."

Zhang Yanling said: "Then sister, you should eat less normally."

"Isn't that unfair to myself? The good stuff is right in front of me, how can I bear it?"

Zhang Yu pouted and spoke like a lively little girl.

Zhang Yanling said helplessly: "If you don't want to keep your mouth shut, then you have to move more. Sister, you don't seem to be so concerned about the weaving workshop recently. I see you haven't been there to supervise for several days."

Zhang Yu said, "The weather is so cold, and the New Year is coming soon. Who wants to go to the East Palace and suffer? Besides, everything has been settled and is going smoothly. The daily production is also of guaranteed quality and quantity. There is no need for me to keep an eye on it, right?"

"Ah."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Everything is difficult at the beginning, but it will be much easier once it is on track. Sister, the next step is to gradually transfer the production capacity of the weaving workshop outside the palace and expand the scale of production."

Zhang Yu suddenly thought of something and asked, "Second brother, your brother-in-law said before that we could open a textile factory in the northwest and produce locally to meet the needs of the soldiers on the front line. Wouldn't that be better?"

"not too good."

Zhang Yanling said, "We have not yet planted cotton and linen on a large scale in the northwest, so the raw materials for production still have to be transported from the Jianghuai area.

"In fact, it is most convenient to produce in the vicinity of the capital, because whether it is transporting cloth or cotton and linen, a large amount of manpower and material resources are required. It is better to produce in the vicinity of the capital so that we can supervise closely to avoid uncontrollable situations." Zhang Yu said: "You mean, if it is placed in the northwest, various changes will occur due to the distance, which is not good?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "When the production capacity is increased in the future, there will be textile workshops like this all over the world, so it doesn't matter where the production is done. But for now, it's better to stay in the capital area, which is easier to control. In addition, I told my brother-in-law that we should increase the production of cotton and linen in various places, otherwise..."

"I see."

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "In the past, not so much cloth was woven, and the scale of cotton and linen cultivation in various places was quite limited. But now the supply of cotton and linen obviously cannot keep up with the progress of our weaving, so naturally we have to expand the planting area.

"But second brother, Huai En seems to have mentioned to your brother-in-law that if the amount of cotton and linen planting is increased disorderly, it may not be effective for a while, and it will also reduce food production. Once a disaster year occurs, large-scale famine is likely to occur."

Zhang Yanling said: "Growing grain is growing grain, and growing cotton and linen is growing cotton and linen. Some places are not suitable for growing grain, so they can be used to grow cotton and linen to form cash crop production areas.

"As for the shortage of food, we need to strengthen trade. With the increase in cotton and linen production, the people will have money in their hands. If we transport low-priced grain from grain-producing areas, the people will benefit."

Zhang Yu said, "What you said is too outrageous. Who doesn't grow food? It is said that storing grain can prevent famine. In the past, even if our family rented out most of the land, we still kept a small part of it in our hands to grow food, so that we would not be afraid of starvation in years of famine."

Zhang Yanling said with emotion: "This requires changing people's ideas. We must first let them see the benefits and advantages, let some people who grow cotton and linen get rich first, let them make a lot of money, and naturally more people will give up their original small peasant ideas and respond to the development of the times.

"At the same time, cotton and linen cultivation must start from the areas surrounding the capital, which will save a lot of transportation costs in the early stage."

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "When you have time, go talk to your brother-in-law. I don't want to know too much about this. It's too tiring."

Before, Zhang Yu was very enthusiastic about running a textile workshop.

But now even Zhang Yanling has realized that his sister is used to a life of luxury, so it is okay to let her weave occasionally as a pastime.

If she were asked to go every day, she wouldn't have the time to do so.

From Zhang Luan to his children, the Zhang family all have one common shortcoming, which is laziness.

Even Zhang Yu is no exception when it comes to being lazy.

……

……

Inside the Silijian.

Huai En went to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor. When he came back, he called Qin Ji aside and said solemnly, as if he was entrusting him with an important task: "Your Majesty has been worried about one thing. Today, he told me that I want to give you this opportunity to make a contribution, Hou Fang."

"..."

Qin Ji found it unbelievable after hearing this.

How could such a good thing as meritorious service fall upon me?
Huai En said: "Your Majesty lost his mother when he was young, and he has always been worried about her. In addition to burying the Queen Mother and the late Emperor together, there is another very important thing to do, which is to find the Queen Mother's relatives."

Qin Ji shook his head and said, "It's been so many years, how can I find it?"

"If you don't try, how do you know it's hard to find?"

Huai En patted Qin Ji on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Now that you are the governor of the East Factory, you haven't made many achievements, and the people below are still not convinced by you, and there are many people who pretend to obey you but actually disobey you.

"If you can find the Queen Mother's relatives, it will be a great achievement, and you will be able to do more for His Majesty."

Qin Ji thought to himself, I was born in the Eastern Palace and have taken care of the prince since he was a child until he ascended the throne. I don’t need the emperor’s trust at all, nor do I need to make many contributions.

Now I just want to do my job well, retire peacefully one day in the future, and enjoy my old age at home.

As for your disputes, especially the attacks and disputes among the three factions of foreign relatives, alchemists, and Confucian officials, it is best not to have anything to do with me.

Huai En said with some jealousy: "Speaking of which, that Zhang Guozhang is very considerate of Your Majesty. Previously, he was only asked to be responsible for the funeral of the late emperor's coffin. He keenly realized that Your Majesty wanted to gain some benefits for his mother's family, and immediately asked Xu Qiong and others to make a memorial to highlight Your Majesty's biological mother, and quoted scriptures to verify its rationality.

"Now, people in the court have no objection to the Empress Dowager Ji being buried together with the late emperor. This is all thanks to Zhang Guozhang's careful consideration."

"is it?"

Tan Ji disagreed.

He is the father-in-law of the emperor. Helping the emperor's mother to gain status and the right to be buried with the late emperor are all his own family affairs.

What are we envious of here?
We shouldn't discuss this matter at all.

Huai En said: "I have actually prepared for this matter a long time ago. During the time of the previous emperor, it was not that no one investigated the background of Empress Dowager Ji, especially after Your Majesty was appointed as the Crown Prince.

"Well, I will provide you with some clues and find the person who went to investigate at the beginning to help you complete the further investigation. This task falls on you, which can be regarded as a relief for His Majesty.

"Loyalty to the emperor and the country is our responsibility!"

(End of this chapter)