I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 42: Attentiveness

Qiuyu took advantage of her status as a princess and was generous, so she got the green light from the prefectural government and the formalities were completed in less than an incense stick of time. In addition to the agency fee, she also gave Mei Guanya a lot of tips.

"I don't want to trouble two masters for one thing. I also want Mei Guanya to introduce a reliable person to repair the shop and select some reliable servants," Qiuyu said with a smile, "The price is negotiable."

Mei Guanya agreed quickly and started to make arrangements when he returned.

Song Kai, who had rushed back to Lanzhou City, heard that the princess had returned home, and hurriedly washed off the dust on his body and rushed to reply.

He carefully presented the layout of Mingxia Manor, "Mingxia Manor has 500 acres of forest, which provides the owner and tenants with daily hunting, firewood, and picking wild vegetables and fruits."

"Of the 450 mu of thin land, 300 mu was planted with soybeans, yielding about 500 catties per mu. The remaining 150 mu was planted with millet and sorghum, yielding about 230 catties per mu. The 50 mu of good land was planted with wheat. Because it is close to a water source, the yield can reach 350 catties per mu."

Tang Zhao recalled the advertising slogan of "yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu" in his previous life and sighed deeply.

The sigh was like a hammer hitting his eardrums. Song Kai bravely argued, "My princess, you don't know that the northwest not only has low fertility, but also lacks water. Crops don't get enough water and fertilizer, so naturally they grow poorly. This is not just the case in Mingxia Manor."

"I understand." Tang Zhao started working in the fields with her parents at the age of five. She went to the Agricultural College to attend classes every day when she was in college. It is no exaggeration to say that her farming experience, both in theory and practice, is no worse than that of an old hand like Song Kai.

However, faced with the backward agricultural production conditions in Dayu, she didn't know where to start.

Water conservancy, agricultural tools, seeds, and fertilizer all need to be transformed and upgraded, which requires a lot of money.

But what she lacks most is money!

Tang Zhao's desire to make money reached its peak. "Did you bring the grain from this autumn's harvest?"

Song Kai nodded. Song Dalang and Song Erlang, who were waiting outside, heard the summons and came in carrying a large sack in each hand.

Song Kai opened the tightly tied hemp rope, took the porcelain bowl brought by Chunfeng, and scooped half a bowl of grain from four sacks in turn and presented it to the princess.

Tang Zhao looked at them carefully one by one and nodded with satisfaction. Although the output was insufficient, the quality was good.

Without the blessing of technology and hard work, it exudes the fragrance unique to the grain itself.

Tang Zhao was very generous to his subordinates who completed the task excellently. He gave them two taels of silver as a reward and ordered Song Kai to go to Mingxiazhuang again to escort 30,000 kilograms of soybeans back to Lanzhou after the autumn harvest.

Song Kai was puzzled and didn't understand what the princess meant, but completing the task assigned by his master was a mission engraved in his bones, so he solemnly agreed and took his two sons to Mingxia Manor that day.

"Is the stone mill I want ready?" Tang Zhao asked.

"It's ready," Xia Mo said, "and the materials that the young lady asked me to prepare before, I have also prepared them."

Tang Zhao had the remaining three bags of grain sent to the small kitchen. He pointed at the remaining soybeans and said, "Wash them and soak them in water." Then he went to the left side room and said, "Let's make the brine first."

Xia Mo rolled up his sleeves and followed the steps the girl said: first remove the excess impurities and chemicals in the salt lake water, then heat the remaining salt lake water to evaporate, remove the charcoal fire and cool it to precipitate large pieces of brine. Xia Mo held his breath and put the brine blocks that took a whole hour to make into the jar.

Tang Zhao dipped some of the remaining powder with chopsticks and tasted it. It was astringent and bitter, but the flavor was very good.

"That's the smell. Steam out all the remaining salt lake water!"

The summer was busy at the end of the day, and the lights in the side room were not turned off until late at night.

Tang Zhao slept with a heavy heart that night.

The next morning, Tang Zhao randomly grabbed a strong man from the yard and ground the soybeans that had been soaked overnight into soy milk.

Dongmei puts the soy milk upside down in the pot and cooks it. Xiamo pours the cooked soy milk into white gauze to filter out the bean dregs. She takes out a small spoonful of brine from the jar prepared yesterday, dissolves it in water, and adds it to the remaining soy milk while stirring to form tofu pudding.

Chunfeng spread gauze on the wooden box, and Tang Zhao instructed Xia Mo to put the tofu pudding into the tofu mold box, wrap it with gauze and cover it with a wooden lid.

Water trickled out of the wooden box. Half an hour later, the tofu was formed. Xia Mo opened the gauze, revealing the white, tender, and square tofu. Xia Mo cut the tofu with a knife, dividing it into small pieces and placing them in a bowl. Tang Zhao tasted a piece first and found it delicious.

“Try them all!”

As soon as he finished speaking, several pairs of chopsticks reached into the bowl. Dongmei was strong and stared at the tofu that was broken into pieces with wide eyes.

Why is this thing called tofu so fragile?
Xia Mo cut another piece for her. Dong Mei tried very hard and almost missed it. After finally taking a bite, she said in surprise, "Girl, this tofu is delicious!"

Those who had tasted it nodded and looked at Tang Zhao eagerly.

Tang Zhao waved his hand and said, "It's all done. Eat as much as you want!"

Three iron pots were lit at the same time, and the cook, under Tang Zhao's command, swung the iron shovel with great vigor.

There are a hundred ways to cook tofu, including fried tofu, stewed tofu, boiled tofu, mapo tofu, and bean curd cakes made from tofu dregs mixed with wheat flour.

Tang Zhao picked out some of each and ordered them to be sent to the princess and each room for tasting.

Half an hour later, Tang Zhao invited the hungry Gu Ci to the dining hall, where he saw a table full of tofu feast.

Tang Zhao picked up a piece of bean curd cake and placed it on the plate in front of him, "Husband, try it."

Gu Ci didn't use chopsticks, he just reached out and picked it up, brought it to his mouth and took a bite.

It does not have the bitterness or fishy smell of soybeans, but the bean fragrance mixed with a light salty taste, which is unexpectedly delicious.

Gu Ci took another big bite.

Tang Zhao, like a salesman, picked up the dishes on the table and put them into Gu Ci's bowl one by one, asking him to taste them.

Gu Ci was being attentive for no reason, and he remained calm and slow, but had a huge appetite. After Tang Zhao put down his chopsticks, he finished all the remaining dishes on the table.

Tang Zhao blinked. If all the Northwest Army soldiers were as gluttonous as Gu Ci, how much money would she have to earn to feed them?

How much!
Tang Zhao looked at the task of supporting the three armies on the system interface and felt that he had a long way to go.

However, this is the ultimate mission, and there is plenty of time to complete it. She is not in a hurry. The most urgent task now is another one - to obtain the military books and maps from the Song Family Ancestral Hall.

The ancestors of the Song family were enshrined in the ancestral hall of the Song family's old house, which was later converted into the residence of the General of Protecting the Country.

The problem is that the General's Mansion is in Wuwei City, not far from Lanzhou City and even closer to Fuxing Pass.

How close is it? It is so close that when the Turks captured Fuxing Pass, their cavalry reached the city of Wuwei in less than half an hour.

It is so close that it is only a hundred miles away from the Northwest Army’s base.

Tang Zhao has died once, so she cherishes this hard-earned second life. To put it simply, she is afraid of death, extremely afraid.

She didn't want to go to Wuwei City, but she had to go to Wuwei City, so there was only one way.

Tang Zhao stared at Gu Ci with sharp eyes.

Gu Ci put down the handkerchief that he had used to wipe the corner of his mouth, ignored her gaze, stood up and left, like a scumbag who put on his pants and ignored her.

Zhao Zhao: (holding out Erkang's hand) Don't go

Gu Ci: Oh
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(End of this chapter)