Du Ke had read the memorial and knew its contents, but compared to the memorial, his letter added some other contents. For example, regarding the land management of the military camp, Qin Fang asked someone in his family to be the manager of the fields.
In Du Ke's opinion, this was just a small matter. Even in the capital city, it was common to let family members go to do something beneficial. What's more, Qin Fang only received a monthly salary of 500 coins, which was very low.
However, this also shows Qin Fang's caution and lack of greed.
"Husband." Mrs. Du's voice sounded at the door.
"Son..." This was the voice of Old Mrs. Du.
Mr. Du, Mrs. Du and Mrs. Du came together.
Mr. Du asked, "Why did someone suddenly come to call us? Did something happen?" Mr. Du's son called his wife and daughter-in-law over, thinking that the matter was not serious, but it might be related to the family.
Du Ke stood up and welcomed Mr. Du, Mrs. Du and Mrs. Du into the study. After they sat down, Du Ke said, "Father, do you remember Qin Fang whom I mentioned to you some time ago?"
Master Du said, "Of course I remember. I said he was a lucky man. Why? Is it because of this man that you asked us to come here today?"
Du Ke said: "Indeed, my son..." He told the story in the imperial study, "The emperor said that Qin Fang is my disciple, so he must be my disciple. Although Qin Fang and I have a predestined relationship and can be called a master-disciple relationship, if the emperor hadn't said so, I would not have accepted him as a disciple."
Mrs. Du said, "This is rare. Normally, the emperor doesn't like relationships between civil officials and military generals, but now he has taken the initiative to let Qin Fang recognize his husband as his teacher." Mrs. Du was a gentle woman. She didn't look outstanding, but her voice was very nice. She spoke slowly and seemed like a different person from the strict Du Ke. However, they have been married for more than 20 years and have a very good relationship.
Master Du said, "The Emperor asked Qin Fang to recognize you as his teacher. I'm afraid he has a very good impression of Qin Fang. If he recognizes you as his teacher, he will have one foot in the capital. The Emperor is looking for Qin Fang to have a backer. Moreover, Qin Fang comes from a poor family and has no foundation. Even if he recognizes you as his teacher, his foundation and his connections are all your foundation and your connections. It doesn't expand your power, and it has no impact on the Emperor."
Du Ke said: "I can't guess what the emperor is thinking, but the emperor does have a good impression of Qin Fang."
Mrs. Du said, "I think Qin Fang's wife is a smart girl. She has military camp land, saltpeter to make ice, and now potato flour and sweet potato flour. The girl gave such a big gift to the emperor, and it is reasonable for the emperor to consider Qin Fang. If the franchise is settled, the emperor will make millions of silver without any effort." This is the minimum. If the franchise fee is high, it will add up to tens of millions of silver. Mrs. Du was shocked when she heard such a large sum of money.
Master Du said, "You should just say this at home. If it gets out, be careful of your head." Getting something for nothing, is that a way to describe the emperor? Although this is a fact, it's better for everyone to be clear about some things.
Mrs. Du smiled indifferently: "I only said this at home. Can you tell others? Only our son and daughter-in-law can tell others."
Master Du couldn't argue with her, so he could only turn to Du Ke and say, "So why did you ask us to come here today? If you really want to accept Qin Fang as your student, the emperor has already spoken, so it's already been decided, and there's no need to discuss it with us."
Du Ke said: "Although this is the case, I still need to tell you about this matter. Qin Fang is only 22 years old now. When he reaches my age, his future will definitely be better than mine. My father said that sometimes luck is indeed very important. At the beginning, Qin Fang was promoted from a seventh-rank Qianhu to a fifth-rank Wude General. It was just a casual decision of the emperor. He promoted people from Yongzhou, and promoted Qin Fang who proposed the plan of breaking the whole into parts.
Qin Fang was a farmer's son, not involved in any power, and he was going to Yunxiang County, Renzhou, a remote place. Therefore, no one objected in the court. But how could he know that there would be sulfur and saltpeter mines in Yunxiang County? He said, this is luck, this is destiny. "
Mr. Du said: "Don't worry, since you have accepted Qin Fang as your student, he must be the same as our Du family."
Du Ke said: "Actually, I am quite curious about Qin Fang's wife."
As soon as he said this, Old Lady Du and Mrs. Du stared at him.
Du Ke didn't think much about it. He continued, "Qin Fang's wife Yang Haiyan was originally a maid in Taifu Yang's family. Her luck is not worse than Qin Fang's."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Du said, "That's true. If Taifu Yang had not participated in the fight for the throne, the Yang family would not have... Then this Mrs. Qin is just a maid, and it would not be so easy to change from a slave to a good family. More importantly, she is just a maid, but she can think of military camp fields, saltpeter making ice, and now potato flour and sweet potato flour. If this was one of the pearls of the capital back then, and Miss Yang came up with it, I wouldn't find it strange. But it happened to be a maid next to Miss Yang, which really makes people curious."
Old Madam Du said, "Mrs. Qin followed Miss Yang. As the head maid beside her, she learned the same things as Miss Yang. Miss Yang was able to become a pearl in the capital, so if Mrs. Qin was smart enough, it would not be impossible for her to become another pearl. It was just that she was a maid at the time, so no one knew her, and she had to hide her incompetence." As the head maid, she followed the young lady since childhood, studying and learning needlework together. This was a common occurrence in a family like theirs.
This is how Mrs. Du thinks Yang Haiyan is outstanding.
Mrs. Du: "Mother, when Qin Fang gets higher in the future, won't it be a bit unpleasant for Mrs. Qin to be born a maid?" Even if there is an imperial decree and the emperor conferred the title of Xiangjun on her, after all... she is an outstanding maid. Aristocratic families pay much attention to background. Mrs. Qin's status is that of a princess, which is not good enough.
Old Madam Du smiled and shook her head: "I don't think so. Everything depends on the emperor's opinion. If the emperor values you, even if you are a maid, everyone has to respect you. If the emperor doesn't value you, then compare yourself to those imprisoned royal family members, the princes and princes, don't they even treat maids as good? In terms of intelligence, that Madam Qin is incomparable to ordinary people. Would such a person let herself fall to the point where others don't look down on her? Besides, even if she doesn't care, doesn't it matter? Those who are not as good as her still have to pay respect to her, right
It is often said that a woman's confidence comes from her man, but I feel that a woman's confidence, her true confidence, comes from herself."
Mrs. Du: "Mom is right. I see things clearly. I need to learn more from you."
Du Ke and Master Du looked at each other. They didn't want to participate in the compliments of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Du Ke said hello to his family, and the matter was over. Then he and Shen Lixian went to Yunxiang County, and the first thing they did was to accept Qin Fang as their apprentice.
But now, Du Ke pointed to the potato flour and sweet potato flour and said, "Madam, please refer to the recipe above and ask the kitchen to make some delicious dishes with this potato flour and sweet potato flour."
For lunch today, not only was the Du family’s table served with delicacies made from potato flour and sweet potato flour, but the emperor’s table was also served with delicacies made from potato flour and sweet potato flour.
Yang Haiyan wrote many recipes about potato flour and sweet potato flour. The chefs of the Du family and the imperial chef of the imperial study made them according to the recipes and adjusted the taste. It must be said that the taste is better than noodles. Everyone is used to steamed buns and noodles made of flour, and they can't taste anything else. But the taste of potato flour and sweet potato flour is different from that of flour. The noodles and steamed dumplings made from them are chewy.
The emperor and the Du family agreed that potato flour and sweet potato flour would definitely be a good business.
Although Du Ke and Shen Lixian were about to set off for Yunxiang County, they did not leave so quickly as they had things on hand to deal with. So Tao Shan took Du Ke's letter and returned to Yunxiang County first.
Yunxiang County
The ten managers of the military camp fields have all been appointed. Except for Niu Er, Qin's father, and Qin Sanshu, the rest are locals. The selected people are experienced old farmers with good relationships in the local area, and the villagers have a very high opinion of him. However, the kitchen cooks did not hire ten. Niu Er's wife, Qin's mother, and Qin San's aunt discussed it and decided that they should each take on thirty people and divide the monthly allowance of other kitchens among them.
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan discussed it and felt that it was appropriate. So, Niu Er's wife was assigned 40 people, Qin's mother was assigned 30 people, and Qin San's aunt was assigned 30 people. As for the monthly salary, Niu Er's wife received 800 wen per month, and Qin's mother and Qin San's aunt received 600 wen per month.
For this reason, the three women were happy for a long time.
Cooking for thirty people a day is very tiring, after all, it's three meals a day. Qin's mother and Aunt Qin hired a local woman to help, paying her a monthly salary of 100 coins. With the help of Qin's father and Uncle Qin, they were able to handle the work.
Yang Haiyan didn't want Qin's mother to be so tired. Besides, Qin's mother was a person with an imperial decree and had a salary every month. So, she asked Qin's mother to send a maid to help. In addition, Qin's mother and Aunt Qin San now felt to Yang Haiyan like modern women who were working hard for their careers.
At noon that day, Yang Haiyan was eating hot and sour vermicelli soup when Uncle Hong suddenly ran in hurriedly: "County lord...County lord, there are two beggars at the door, saying they are relatives of our general's family."
Yang Haiyan held the chopsticks, and the whole person seemed to have pressed the pause button: "Ridiculous, how could a general's family have a beggar relative? Did the other party tell me his surname?"