The Red Mansion Big Liar

Zhang Yun逸 was quite interested and secretly thought about how to talk to Wang Xifeng.

But he did not forget to remind her: "She is still in the dark about this matter, so don't let her mouth slip!"

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 267 Harvest

The next day, it was June 12th.

The East Suburbs Field Festival was already crowded with people. The huge crowds were packed three layers deep inside and three layers deep outside, giving people the illusion that there were more people there than the wheat in the fields.

At the edge of the field, Zhang Yun逸 watched under the stars and the moon, the bundles of wheat being harvested and sent to the adjacent threshing ground.

Usually, the wheat that has just been harvested needs to be turned over and dried, and then crushed to separate the ears of wheat from the wheat.

Now, the emperor and a group of high-ranking officials are still waiting for news, and naturally they cannot wait that long.

Fortunately, in this era, the thing that is least lacking is labor.

There is no fully automatic, so it is naturally fully manual.

“Sir! Sir!” On the threshing floor, Gu Wenhui shouted at Zhang Yunyi at the top of his lungs, “Seven hundred kilograms! A full seven hundred kilograms, Sir!”

"Congratulations, sir! Your contribution to the country will benefit future generations!"

Zhou Xiangui, a eunuch dressed in a red robe, was the first to congratulate.

He came here on behalf of Emperor Zhengqing so that he could receive the news as soon as possible.

Jia Yucun also echoed: "Compared with the best fields, the yield is nearly 200 kilograms more, converted to the inferior poor fields..."

"If this law is implemented, in three years, there will be no more hunger in the world!"

Faced with everyone's praise, Zhang Yun逸 remained quite clear-headed.

These days, land annexation is on the rise.

Most of the good farmland is in the hands of the gentry and prominent families. Even if ordinary people still have a few acres of small land, it is not easy to support their families and pay taxes.

On the contrary, it remains to be seen whether taxes will rise as farmland productivity increases.

For the lower class people, whether it is a blessing or a curse is still unclear. How is it possible that there will be no more hunger in the world?

The land owned by princes and nobles accounts for most of the land in the country, and they are not subject to taxes. The land of the common people, which accounts for less than half of the land in the country, is still subject to the taxes of the rest of the country.

Although the Great Xia Dynasty is not the Ming Dynasty, there is nothing wrong with applying Hai Rui's words.

Any prince, noble, or person with meritorious service could be exempted from taxes, which also contributed to land annexation in ancient times.

It is for this reason that at the end of each dynasty, taxes were greatly reduced, resulting in an empty treasury.

Zhang Yun逸 knew very well that seeing a good grain harvest would not only not benefit the livelihood of the lower-class people, but would most likely accelerate annexation.

Those officials who kept saying that there would be no more hunger in the world would turn around and take advantage of the information gap to seize the land and even increase the burden on their own tenant farmers.

"My Lords, this is too serious. The sacrificial fields are being taken care of by someone working day and night. The grains have not yet been turned over and dried. This yield is still quite high."

He paused, and then said, "Planting requires fertility every year, and the price of the bird droppings is not included in it."

The laws of our ancestors cannot be abolished; even the emperor dare not make changes easily.

All he could do was pour a bucket of cold water on them.

"Such an unprecedented achievement that benefits the country and the people, why should you be so modest..."

"It means that you are a man of high moral character..."

His cold water did not dampen everyone's enthusiasm, but instead brought about another round of praise.

Looking at ancient dynasties, even without the factor of guano, land annexation was a historical norm.

Now, he just speeded up a bit.

As for the consequences, he had considered them from the beginning.

If we want to shift to industry, in addition to the corresponding basic science and technology, we also need a large amount of labor.

If the tillers owned the land, where would the surplus labor be?

After all, all he did was to covet beauty, power, and live a more comfortable life.

If I were to travel through time and space and be reborn as a lower-class citizen, I might consider changing the world.

Now, as a vested interest, surrounded by beautiful women all the time, where is the courage and determination to give it all up and change the world?

However, he had only been traveling through time for more than a year and had not yet completely gotten rid of the simple moral concepts of his previous life. When the time came, he could not help but feel a little sad.

However, he is not a person who hesitates, and there are some things that he can only say briefly.

Since we don’t have the ability to change the rules, we should first adapt to the rules, and then slowly accumulate strength to become bigger and stronger.

Thinking of becoming bigger and stronger, he couldn't help but speculate about the emperor's reward this time.

Unlike sugar and glass, agriculture has always been the foundation of a country. Not to mention increasing food production, even developing an agricultural tool is a great achievement.

Although he had prepared a batch of bird droppings in advance, it was just a drop in the bucket compared to the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

Among the officials in the court, which family does not have thousands of acres of fertile land? Who does not want to have the right of first refusal?

No one would be so blind as to put obstacles in his way of rewarding him.

In addition, at the instruction of King Qin, he also had contact with King Ning. With their support, there would be no constraints.

If the court used to be a zero-sum game, then what Zhang Yun逸 did was to make the pie bigger.

This is also the reason why he was able to get along with everyone even though he was not from an imperial examination or a military background.

While accepting the flattery of the crowd and thinking about the emperor's reward.

A howling voice came from the back: "Master! Auntie...Auntie is about to give birth!"

This morning, Xiangling already showed signs of going into labor.

However, he couldn't let personal matters take precedence over official duties, so he could only ask his family to come and report if anything happened.

He quickly turned around and saw Yu Lu being blocked outside, jumping and waving at this place.

After Jia Jing's death, he became the most senior person in Ningguo Mansion, so naturally the title had to be changed.

"Whose servant are you? How dare you make noise here!"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

Before Zhang Yunyi could speak, Jia Yucun shouted, "Hurry up and let him in. He's the housekeeper of Master Zhang's house!"

Jiao Xing is the adopted daughter of the Zhen family and is also a sister of Xiang Ling.

She often went to Ningguo Mansion, and these days she even lived in the pavilion on the hillside without any hesitation, staying by his side. Jia Yucun naturally knew that Xiangling was about to give birth.

When he shouted, the crowd immediately made way for a passage with a roar.

Yu Lu looked around and saw a group of officials, some of whom were even wearing red robes and scarlet clothes. He was frightened for a moment and didn't know whether to advance or retreat.

"Thank you for your help, my Lords!"

Zhang Yunyi bowed to the people around him.

"Congratulations, sir, on your double happiness!" Zhou Xiangui was the first to congratulate.

He arrived on behalf of the emperor, and as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone immediately echoed, "Yes! Yes! Congratulations!"

In full view of everyone, Zhang Yun逸 quickly came up to Yu Lu.

"how's it going?"

"Master! Mr. Zhen and the midwife have arrived. Please let me come forward..."

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Please...please go back, Master!"

When Zhang Yun逸 gave the instructions in the morning, he didn't know about such a big commotion.

Now, seeing the huge crowd of officials and even eunuchs in the palace, it is inevitable that he feels scared.

Zhang Yunyi was about to confess his crime to the crowd, but Zhou Xiangui, who was accompanying him, spoke first: "Master, please go back and take a look! Today's sacrificial field has a great harvest, and your child was born at this time. It shows that this child is blessed with great fortune!"

Being able to serve the emperor, Eunuch Zhou is naturally very versatile.

They actually linked the unborn child to today's harvest.

After two lives, this was his first time being a father. Zhang Yunyi didn’t act pretentiously. He bowed to everyone again and said, “In that case, I’ll trouble you all to help keep an eye on this!”

As soon as he got on the carriage, Zhou Xiangui instructed the eunuch beside him: "You! Follow Master Zhang back, and when the baby is born, whether it's a boy or a girl, remember to report the news as soon as possible!"

As a close attendant to the emperor, he knew very well that Emperor Zhengqing was also worried about rewards.

It would be fine if Zhang Yun逸’s only contribution was to increase per mu yield.

But he also has the credit for the guano business.

Taking the two into consideration, although his official position and title were not high, so he would not be destitute of rewards, but considering his young age, it was really difficult to make a decision.

Now, this child came at the right time and solved the emperor's problem.

This was also the reason why he was in a hurry to speak up and do Zhang Yunyi a favor.

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 268: Adding a Child (Part )

We rode back as fast as we could, but the pavilion on the mountain was already crowded with people.

Although the child was adopted by the Zhen family, the son's status is determined by the father's.

Everyone in the Rongguo Mansion is eyeing him, so how could he give up on joining in the fun?

There are many girls who have had interactions with Xiangling, not to mention Wang Xifeng and Li Wan, the two ladies who covet Zhang Yunyi.

Even Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang came in person.

Although Grandmother Jia did not come in person, she sent her most capable maid Yuanyang to come.

Everyone brought their maids and old women with them, plus the people from the Ning Mansion. How could the small pavilion on the mountain accommodate so many people?

Even the outer area was packed with people.

In Ningguo Mansion, no one needed to be told. Seeing him walking quickly, everyone had already made way for him.

Zhang Yunyi drove straight in. As soon as he entered the yard, he simply greeted everyone who came out of the hall, and then shouted loudly to the delivery room: "Tell them that if anything goes wrong, they must make sure Xiangling is safe first!"

On the way here, he was thinking about how to make his character more complete in front of all the beautiful girls.

The ancients valued offspring very much, and many of them disregarded the lives of their wives and concubines. When it comes to the issue of protecting the adult or the young, it is inevitable that we can empathize with them.

Sure enough, this shout made everyone look sideways.

However, since people knew that Xiangling had already been adopted by the Zhen family, there were some people who had other ideas.

How could Zhang Yun逸 not consider these?

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned to You Erjie and others in the courtyard and said without question: "From now on, no matter who it is, we will treat them equally. Even if the master cannot come back, you must remember that protecting the emperor is always the most important thing!"

The four words "treat everyone equally" were like a heavy hammer hitting Yuanyang's heart.

She subconsciously glanced at Mrs. Xing in front of her and pursed her lips unconsciously.

When You Erjie and the others heard this, their eyes sparkled and they could not hide their excitement.

These days, having a child is undoubtedly a journey to the gates of hell, and protecting the adult or the child is an unavoidable topic.

If it is a baby girl, it is easy to deal with, but if it is a boy, it is basically a consensus to keep the baby small.

People like Zhang Yun逸, who wanted to save the emperor without asking any questions, are rare, if not unique.

Not to mention, his words also included concubines and maids.

Not only those who had experience like Lady Wang and Li Wan were shocked.

Even the girls and young ladies looked at him sideways.

After all, even if you haven't eaten pork, you have seen a pig walk.