The Emperor: "What kind of little brush is that? Let me see it."
Qin Fang was a little embarrassed: "This... My luggage is on the horse's back at the city gate, and everything is over there."
The emperor waved his hand and said, "That's convenient. Let Du Er get it." Thinking of something, the emperor said, "A small pond."
Chief Steward Chi responded from outside: "The servant is here."
The emperor: "Prepare a room in the side hall for General Qin to live in." After saying that, he turned to Qin Fang, "Qin Fang, during this time, I will take you to see a good show." Regardless of who the other party is, what their purpose is, and their motive is, now that the truth has been revealed, it won't be long before the fox's tail is exposed. In this case, Qin Fang is not suitable to be out in the open. After all, although no one in the capital has seen Qin Fang, people who had been to Yunxiang County have seen Qin Fang.
When the emperor said this, Qin Fang was a little happy: "As you wish."
The emperor looked at his happy little brother and was in a good mood: "Next, tell me about the horse farm." He put the plan aside and was too lazy to read it. Based on Qin Fang's verbosity, he could imagine that Qin Fang's plan would be even more verbose.
Then, Qin Fang told the emperor about the horse farm. He started with the land requisition. The local land was the land of the court and the country. These lands could be requisitioned without money, but the emperor had to give him an imperial edict, otherwise County Magistrate Yang could not requisition the land for Qin Fang.
At that time, it costs a lot to raise war horses, but we can let each soldier in the barracks adopt one. There is no war in Yunxiang County, and the soldiers are busy with training on weekdays. They will go to the fields when they are busy, but the fields do not need so many people, so we can let them join the ranks of horse breeding. If each person successfully raises five ponies, then this person can be promoted from infantry to cavalry, that is to say, he can have a horse.
This is what Qin Fang learned from the soldiers raising poultry. They ate the eggs laid by the poultry they raised themselves, so the same principle applies to raising horses.
Qin Fang said a lot, and he was very confident when he said these things. Even though he was out of tune with the capital in many ways, no one in the capital was as serious as he was when it came to being pragmatic.
From Qin Fang's plan, the emperor could see that he had considered all aspects very seriously, so he came to ask for his opinion.
The country has a lot of vacant land. In other words, there are a lot of mountains that can be used. These mountains are not valued by the people who can afford them, and the people who can't afford them won't buy them, so a lot of them are just vacant. It is indeed a good idea for Qin Fang to requisition them to build a horse farm.
However, the emperor had thought of something else in Qin Fang's plan.
Because Qin Fang requisitioned the mountainous land for the imperial court, he didn't have to pay rent. But what if these lands were rented by ordinary people who couldn't afford to buy land? For the country, wouldn't it be an additional source of income? The rent for one person might not be noticeable, but what about the rent for the whole country
Suddenly, the emperor thought of a business opportunity.
The IQ of an emperor is not comparable to that of ordinary people. In modern times, he must be a top student. Therefore, the emperor thought of the business opportunity of making money to enrich the national treasury.
Looking at the whole country, who is the biggest landlord? It must be the emperor. Those local landlords can make money by renting the land to the people, so why can't he do the same
Du Xingran, who was talking about Qin Fang, took the gift back.
Qin Fang took out a toothbrush and toothpaste from his gift. Both toothbrushes and toothpaste were made when he was at the border. The toothbrush was made of wool, from sheep raised at the border to make snacks, and the toothpaste was made by Yang Haiyan herself. As Qin Fang got promoted, the number of people in his family gradually increased, and Yang Haiyan no longer used the platform's toothpaste and toothbrush.
The emperor looked at two wooden boxes. One was square and contained toothpaste, and the other was rectangular and was used to hold toothbrushes.
"Is this the teeth brush and toothpaste?" The emperor looked at it curiously. This little thing was quite interesting.
Qin Fang said: "Yes, my wife named this one because she said it's not good to call it a small brush. Since it's used to brush teeth, it's called a toothbrush. And this one is used to wash teeth, and it's in paste form, so it's called toothpaste."
Emperor: "Toothpaste and toothbrush are appropriate, but how do you use this?"
Qin Fang: "Let me demonstrate for you."
Qin Fang took a little toothpaste with a clean wooden spoon and put it on the toothbrush, then began to brush his teeth. After brushing, he rinsed his mouth with water: "Okay." Qin Fang thought for a while and said, "Why don't I send someone to send my wife a letter and ask her to bring a new set of toiletries for Your Majesty to try? This time, because of my business, I came in a hurry. Originally, I planned to send several gifts to Your Majesty."
The emperor thought that it was his share, but it was ruined. However, as an emperor, could he directly ask his subjects to bring gifts? He could only say, "No need for the gifts, but... you came out in such a hurry, it will make Bingyun Xiangjun worried. Why don't you send a letter home to reassure her." Smart you, just send the toiletries in the letter home.
Qin Fang was shocked, and quickly knelt down to express his gratitude, saying gratefully: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding."
The emperor added: "It's just that you don't have anyone in the capital, and you can't show up now. Please send the letter, and I will find someone to deliver it for you."
Du Xingran rolled his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to serve you." He promised to go to Yunxiang County, and he could ask Bingyun Township for a set of toiletries. Du Xingran, who had looked at the whole body, was very tempted by this thing.
The emperor glanced at him. How could he not know what this young man was thinking? However, it was indeed appropriate to let Du Xingran send him off. After all, the Du family and the Qin family had such a relationship, so it was convenient to talk. He nodded and said, "Gao, please take sick leave."
Although Du Xingran was a lieutenant, in fact, for a rich kid like him, it was common to take three days off for work or play. However, Du Xingran could not tell the real reason for his leave this time, so he took a sick leave.
Come to think of it, every time the rich kids take leave, isn’t it sick leave
Du Xingran came out of the palace with Qin Fang's letter from home. After coming out, he immediately returned to the Du Mansion and went directly to see Mr. Du.
After discussing with Master Du, the servants of the Du family asked Du Xingran to take leave the next morning. At 12:00, Du Xingran left the capital in his wife's carriage.
Du Xingran was sick, and his wife went to the temple to pray for peace and blessings, so Du Xingran hid in the carriage and left.
Three days later, Du Xingran, who had been on a life-and-death journey with Tao Shan, finally arrived in Yunxiang County.
When he arrived at Yunxiang County, he was shocked. This Yunxiang County was different from what he had imagined. Many people were busy at the gate of the county town. What were they busy about
At this time, it had been five or six days since Qin Fang left Yunxiang County, and Yunxiang County was already building roads.
Du Xingran got off his horse and looked at the bustling gate of Yunxiang County in a daze. This is... a remote place? How can a remote place be so bustling
Du Xingran walked up to an old man and asked, "Old man, what are all these people doing here? They seem to be busy."
The old man glanced at Du Xingran and asked, "You are not from Yunxiang County, are you? Are you from outside?" If you are from Yunxiang County, everyone in the county would know about it. The General's Mansion is building roads in Yunxiang County, using the emperor's money. Although there is no monthly allowance, everyone is provided with meals, so some idle people, whether to fill their stomachs or for the emperor, have come to help. The only people who don't know about this are outsiders.
Du Xingran nodded: "No, I'm from another place, visiting my relatives in Yunxiang County. My sister is married to a man from Yunxiang County. Oh, by the way, my sister's name is Yang Haiyan, and she married the general who guards the city here. Do you know how to get to the general's service?"
The old man seemed to be a relative of the general's mansion, and he immediately started talking nonstop.
To be honest, Du Xingran was a little confused, especially when he saw the road construction in the General's Mansion. He was completely stunned. This kind of thing had nothing to do with a rich kid from the capital like him.
Yang Haiyan naturally didn't know that there were guests at home. She was busy at the moment, busy making sculptures in the woodworking workshop.
The carpenter in the carpentry workshop is the most famous and skilled carpenter in Yunxiang County. He is now carving for free from Yang Haiyan and has been carving for several days. The statue he carved is nine feet high, which is three meters. It is impossible for him to carve such a high statue alone, so he has other skilled carving masters in Yunxiang County to work with him.
Why did they all ask Yang Haiyan to carve for free? It was not because of Yang Haiyan's status, but because the sculpture was for the current emperor. Who would charge money for carving the emperor's statue
All the carving masters in Yunxiang County gathered together and spent five days and nights to finally carve the statue of the emperor, but then a problem arose.
The sculptor Lao Xu said, "Madam, are we not going to carve the emperor's face?"
Yang Haiyan didn't know what the emperor looked like, so there was no way she could carve him. She said, "No need to carve. The emperor is the true emperor, how can he be looked down upon?" This reason made sense.
Lao Xu was surprised and thought it made sense: "Then..."
"Madam... Madam..." At this time, someone called out from outside. "General's wife, you have a guest." The one who spoke was the old man who was repairing the road at the gate of the county town. The guest he brought was naturally Du Xingran. He took Du Xingran to the general's mansion, but the people in the general's mansion said that the general's wife was in the carpentry workshop, so she brought someone else.
guest
Yang Haiyan went out to look, and saw Du Xingran, a man from a noble family, beside the old man, but... Yang Haiyan didn't recognize him.
As soon as Yang Haiyan started talking, Du Xingran spoke first: "Is this Sister Bingyun? She is the second son of the Du family, Du Xingran."