In the blink of an eye, it was time for spring plowing. The emperor wanted to do the plowing himself, not only taking the princes with him, but also a group of ministers. They were away for two days and stayed in a prepared farm.
As Zhulan packed her luggage, she kept muttering, "Spring ploughing is the most tiring time. I don't know if you can endure it these two days."
Zhou Shuren was not worried. "I am old now, so I won't be doing any hard work. Don't worry."
Moreover, he had experience in farming with the retired emperor, so he was not afraid of farming.
Zhulan, "The purpose of this spring ploughing is to make the ministers save money and cherish food in the future. Do you think the meals prepared by the emperor will be coarse grains?"
Zhou Shuren was no longer idle. "Hurry up and ask the kitchen to prepare some more dried meat for me. Yes, and some meat floss as well."
Zhulan, "When you reported back this morning, I had someone prepare some food. There's not only dried meat, but also some pickles to go with the rice. I also cooked some eggs for you."
Zhou Shuren lay back down again. "That's enough. It's only two days. Hey, the emperor's mind is on food this year. Today I saw the memorial I wrote on the emperor's desk. There were traces of scratches on the edge of the memorial. The emperor must have studied it a lot."
"The root cause of food shortages is still production. There were no high-yield grain varieties in ancient times. In fact, we can do more research on fertilizers."
Zhou Shuren tilted his head and said, "You think I haven't done any research. Fertilizer research is not easy because there are few livestock and not much manure. Anyway, I don't understand it."
Zhulan didn't understand either. "Well, speaking of livestock, there is no large-scale breeding near the capital."
Zhou Shuren narrowed his eyes. "The tribes on the grasslands have rich experience in raising cattle and sheep in groups. It would be a waste for them to be idle in the capital."
Zhu Lan knows Shu Ren very well, "You still remember Prince Oger's plan, you want to return it."
"My wife understands me. Wen Li was sent to the farm. This prince can't be ignored. It's better to send this ambitious man to the suburbs where he won't have the chance to make money. Farming is suitable for him."
I will talk to the Emperor tomorrow and open up a breeding farm in the far suburbs near the grassland. This prince will not be able to return to Beijing easily.
The next morning, Chang Yi also wore coarse cloth clothes. Among the officials in the entire capital, only a few people were left in each department to keep an eye on the work, and the rest had to go to do spring ploughing.
Mingyun from the Hanlin Academy was lucky to stay, and Changzhi was also going with him.
The father and his two sons were sitting in a carriage. Chang Zhi said, "It is true that clothes make the man. Now that you are wearing coarse clothes, father and second brother really don't look like court officials."
Zhou Shuren had already looked in the mirror this morning. The only difference between him and the rural old man was that his face was paler. "If you have nothing to say, just shut up."
Chang Yi said nothing. He didn't look like an official without his official uniform.
Changzhi touched his nose and the old man was unhappy.
When they arrived at the city gate, they saw a long line of carriages. Zhou Shuren opened the carriage window and took a look. If there were hot weapons, they could have been wiped out in one fell swoop. Only now that there was no danger did the emperor dare to bring so many officials out of the capital.
The spring ploughing site is at the imperial farm. The grain grown this year will be donated to the people. The imperial farm is not far away. When they arrive, they get off the carriages one after another. The emperor did not arrange residences according to their official positions. Those who have sons can live with their sons. After all, filial piety is more important than anything else, and there is nothing wrong with sons serving their fathers.
Zhou Shuren has two sons, and Wang Ju is very envious of them. His eldest son is an official in another place, and his younger son is still young and has no one to take care of him.
Lord Yu’s eldest son has arrived, and Lord Liu’s eldest son has stayed in Beijing.
Zhou Shuren had a lot of people on his side, and because they were relatives, they chose a small courtyard.
At this time, the power of the court can be seen, and they are basically sticking together.
As soon as everyone was assigned their places to live, a eunuch came to pass on a message, "Everyone needs to prepare their own meals every day. Food is divided according to the number of people, so please go and collect it yourself."
Zhou Shuren and others, "..."
It’s so cruel that they didn’t even give them food.
Wang Ju waited for the eunuch to leave, then said with a smile, "Fortunately he brought a servant with him, otherwise I would have to cook by myself."
Zhou Shuren chuckled, "You talk as if you've cooked before."
Wang Ju, "... "
A gentleman stays away from the kitchen, so he has never been into the kitchen.
Young Master Liu is a junior, "I'll go get the food."
Lord Liu, "Go ahead."
Chang Yi had already checked the kitchen, "Fortunately the firewood is fully stocked."
Zhou Shuren, "I need to go back and rest for a while. I still have to work after lunch."
Chang Yi said to Chang Zhi, "Help Dad to rest. I'll go take a walk around the area."
Changzhi: "Okay."
Zhou Shuren returned to the house and sat down. Changzhi and Jinyan had laid out the luggage. Zhou Shuren took a rest, Jinyan went to light the fire and make tea, and Changzhi took the servant to clean up.
Zhou Shuren didn't sleep either. He closed his eyes and rested, feeling that it was better to have his son by his side.
Chang Yi came in quickly, and knowing that his father was still awake, he said, "Dad, what we brought back were all stored grains, not many vegetables, and the only meat was a piece of meat. Dad, I'm going to go see if I can hunt some rabbits nearby."
Zhou Shuren opened his eyes, "Don't go. The emperor doesn't care what we bring. But the emperor won't allow us to go out hunting now. Your mother has made all the preparations. Just be quiet for the next two days and don't make any trouble."
Chang Yi felt sorry for his father, as he was the thinnest in the family. "Then, son, go prepare lunch."
"Well, tell your Uncle Wang to put everything you brought together so that we can eat together later."
"good."
Chang Yi told everyone in the courtyard about his father's proposal, and everyone agreed. Wang Ju brought all snacks, and so did the Yu and Liu families. The Liu family was lucky enough to stay in the capital and did not come.
In the end, the Zhou family brought the most things, and Changyi watched the servant prepare lunch.
Wang Ju took a bite of the jerky and said, "The beef jerky from your house is still the best. Next time if I get some beef, ask your cook to make some for me."
Zhou Shuren, "Wait until you can get some beef."
The beef his family eats now is sent by Rongchuan. There is no way to send it in the future because the temperature is rising and the meat will spoil easily.
Wang Ju remained silent. Not to mention beef, even mutton was scarce. It was the spring plowing season and no one dared to touch the cows. In the past, when food was not so scarce, if one or two cows died in the farm, no one would hold a grudge as long as there was a legitimate reason. But that was no longer the case now.
They went down to the fields without rest. The emperor and the prince stood in front and divided the work according to their ages. Zhou Shuren was assigned the job of scattering seeds, which was not an easy job.
The emperor was digging the pit seriously, and the ministers had no choice but to work hard.
Zhou Shuren had no sons to help him. His two young sons went to dig holes and do manual labor. After working for a while, Zhou Shuren drooped his back, really missing modern mechanization.
He glanced around and thought, wow, he was actually quite fast. His eyes fell on Old Master Wen, who was already sweating profusely.
Looking up at the emperor in front of him, Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows. The emperor and the prince were still working hard and were not pretending.
Zhou Shuren continued to work. After a while, he heard some noise behind him. He turned around and saw that Old Master Wen had fainted. Zhou Shuren walked over quickly and said, "Why did Old Master faint? Come on, let me see."
Everyone, "..."