The heat of summer makes the birds in the forest stop singing.
Zhang Yang looked up at the sky. The sky was blue and cloudless. The scorching sun made the ground very hot. He wore straw sandals and stepped on the ground for a long time until his feet were burned.
It is the most important time to harvest wheat. Lishan harvests wheat earlier than other counties. It is necessary to plant rice before autumn.
The villagers did not dare to have any delay in the grain harvest. Everyone braved the scorching sun and harvested the bundles of wheat in time.
Looking for ears of wheat among the finely chopped wheat stalks, uncovering them with both hands, and gently shaking them off, the ears of wheat are falling away. This scene is soothing just to watch.
On this day, a big deal was negotiated on the grassland, and 13,000 hectares of pasture on the grassland were purchased for 8,000 guan.
Li Yue and her two aunts sat under the shade of the tree, looking at the harvest scenery in front of them.
Zhang Yang sat on the edge of the field and listened to Li Tai's story.
"Brother-in-law, there will be a lot of sheep and horses coming later. We are going to make a fortune."
For the herdsmen on the grasslands, the quality of their pastures can only depend on the weather. If their cattle and sheep freeze to death in any year, most of their profits will be lost at any time. This is too risky for them.
By contracting to Lishan, they can get a stable income and avoid risks. At the same time, they can use the cattle and sheep on the grassland to increase Lishan's income.
The information asymmetry prevents them from knowing how valuable wool is.
Sure enough, reading more is beneficial.
According to the current scale, the ranch contracted by Lishan is large enough.
Zhang Yang looked at the map handed over by Li Tai and found out that some of the most fertile pastures in the east of Monan were also obtained.
"All these things were done by people in the hands of King Wei?"
"How's it going? Isn't it beautifully done?"
"It's really beautiful, a little too beautiful."
Listening to his brother-in-law's words, Li Tai lowered his head again, "I knew I couldn't hide it from my brother-in-law. When did I start to doubt him?"
Zhang Yang put away the map and said, "Start with the milk powder business."
Simply sitting down cross-legged by the river, Li Tai said melancholy: "To be honest with my brother-in-law, in fact, in addition to the people of the Wei Palace, there are also several relatives of the clan who are involved in the grassland affairs. They were working in the father's Qin Palace many years ago. They have been taking care of the members of the clan since my father ascended the throne."
"Ever since the soap business was discovered by my father, my father gave these people to me, and I arranged them in the grassland."
Li Tai whispered, "When the soap business started, the people who follow me are all trustworthy people in the Palace of Prince Wei. They grew up with me. I treat them like family members. These people are all trustworthy, but I I don’t know how much my father knows about things on the grassland.”
Li Yue took the account and looked at it carefully, "Even if my father knows it, as long as there is nothing wrong with the account books in our hands, we don't have to worry too much and just do our jobs well."
Zhang Yang thought about it, "Leave the grassland to your people to take care of it. The loss is our family's business. As long as you feel that there will be no loss, just go ahead and do it as much as possible. If something happens, you can only bear the loss yourself." , just take it as a lesson, we can still afford to pay this little money."
Li Tai smiled and nodded, "Brother-in-law, please don't worry, Sister Huang."
Li Tai controls tens of thousands of dollars in business a year, and his business skills need to be gradually improved. Now Lishan is taking care of these businesses and can help him complete them.
The future transactions will only get bigger and bigger, and then it will not just be a transaction of thousands of dollars.
Seeing Li Tai leave, Zhang Yang looked at his wife, "Our family will have to pay a lot of costs to train King Wei."
"Qingque has been very intelligent since he was a child. Now he is really high-spirited. He will learn a lesson in the future."
Li Yue confirmed the accounts and handed them to Aunt Yang, "Auntie, please go to the warehouse to get eight thousand coins and give them to His Highness King Wei."
"Here."
"More than half of the family's money has been spent, and the profits from the cotton business in the past six months have been spent." Li Yue sat on the ground with her back against the tree, stroking her belly and squinting to enjoy the leisure and coolness at this time.
Noticing her husband's gaze, Li Yue hugged Zhang Yang's arm and put her weight on her husband's shoulders, "Why are you looking at me like this?"
"If you had to take out eight thousand strings in the past, your temper would make you fall out."
Li Yue whispered, "We have so much property, and we will definitely spend more money in the future."
Zhang Yang held her back. His wife's back was actually very beautiful. She had been taught how to sit and walk upright since she was a child. She usually walked and sat upright with her back straight.
This makes her back look good, her back is very straight, and her shoulder blades and delicate oblique muscles are very straight.
The sitting and standing postures she has been taught since childhood have given her an almost perfect posture over the years.
This is also a living habit taught in the palace.
Especially when she ties up her hair, her dignified temperament is very comfortable.
"My wife is so open-minded."
Feeling her husband's movements, Li Yue grabbed his hand and hurriedly stopped the inappropriate behavior.
Zhang Yang cleared his throat, "Well, since we will have to spend a lot of money in the future, can my pocket money also be increased in the future? For example, twenty cash a day."
Li Yue immediately made a serious face, "No!"
Zhang Yang thought, "There is no salt at home. I plan to buy it. Give me the money."
"I asked my aunt to buy it. I don't need my husband to worry about it. The family's money has to be taken care of for the children. Besides, a new home also costs money. It costs money to buy furniture. It costs money to hire a maid. And the wood in our house is not good. , if you want to make furniture, you have to buy good purple wood.”
Li Yue was thinking and talking, "Save all the money first, and then my husband and I will spend it slowly."
Zhang Yang kept waving the fan in his hand. Bargaining with his wife was a very unpleasant thing.
Once she had enough money in her account to get more money, it would be even harder than reaching the sky.
The couple sat by the river for a long time, until the fish bit the hook and put the caught fish into the fish basket, the couple left.
On the other side of the village, Li Yuan is now in good physical condition. He plays Tai Chi with Sun Simiao and the others every morning, plays with the children from time to time, and chats with the elderly in the village.
As an old man who has sat on the throne, Li Yuan has successfully become the backbone of the old people in the village.
Whether it is physical condition or mental condition, everything is developing for the better since arriving in the village.
At this moment, Li Yuan was facing the torture of his granddaughter, "Grandpa Huang, just drink this bowl of wort."
I drank this wort once last year, and Li Yuan kept waving his hands.
"If Grandpa Huang doesn't drink, I won't bring Zhinu and Xiaowu to see Grandpa." Li Lizhi threatened.
Li Zhi has also grown a lot in the past two years. Although her eyes and cheeks are still childish, she has grown taller very quickly, and her conversation is almost as charming as Li Shimin's.
Upon hearing this threat, Li Yuan sighed, picked up the bowl of green wort, closed his eyes, raised his head and drank it down.
Li Lizhi took the empty bowl and said happily: "This is good."
She took Zhinu's hand and left with the bowl.
After drinking a bowl of wort, Li Yuan rinsed his mouth with boiled water to remove the grassy smell from his mouth.
Zhang Gongjin sat aside and said with a smile: "This is the only time of year to drink, so don't let down the wishes of the juniors."
Li Yuan sighed: "I want to drink some ale right now, but I don't know how much I will brew this year."
Zhang Gongjin looked at the tea in his cup again, "This tea is really boring to drink."
On the other side of the village, Li Shimin watched with his own eyes as Li Tai ordered people to move out boxes of copper coins.
Just looking at these coins made the emperor feel sad, and the palace was so nervous about expenses.
The expenses of the concubines in the palace depended on the financial support of their natal families.
Seeing Qingque asking people to move away the money, it sounds like eight thousand guan is really not much. Seeing is believing, which is really scary.
Aunt Yang and Li Tai finished checking, "Then I will hand it over to His Highness King Wei."
Li Tai also held a book of accounts in his hand, "Don't worry, Auntie."
After handing over to his aunt, Li Tai shouted to his guards: "If you send it to the grassland, if you lose a penny, I will chop off your hands!"
"Here!" a group of guards shouted back.
Boxes of copper coins filled two carriages. Li Shimin watched this scene silently. If I had been Admiral Tiance before, I would have given this box of coins half a disaster.
Escorted by twenty guards, the two carriages left.
When Li Tai came back, Li Shimin asked again: "Zhang Yang is so confident that you can transport the money out."
Li Tai put away the accounts and lifted up his belt, looking naive, "Father, don't worry, this is not the first time."
Li Shimin raised his head and looked at the soldiers and horses going away, "I think it's too much for 20 guards to escort 8,000 Guan. Do you think there are really no bandits in the Tang Dynasty who can stay open at night, or do you think Zhang Yang is lost?" Even these eight thousand strings won’t hurt me.”
Li Tai smiled awkwardly, "Nothing has happened so far. The more money Lishan can earn, the more taxes my father will pay."
This is true. The more money there is in Lishan, the more taxes the court will receive. They already tasted this sweetness last year and are waiting for another tax calculation after autumn.
"I have made ale first, and I have specially prepared more this year. It will not be too late for my father to drink the ale and return to the palace, and stay in Lishan for a few more days."
Li Shimin nodded slightly.
Holding the account book in his arms, Li Tai walked quickly towards the village. What he didn't say to his father was that of course it wasn't just the twenty guards who escorted the money. Every time the money was sent out, there were also Cheng Chumo's men protecting it in the dark.
Just follow from a distance, so that if an accident occurs, you can be rescued in time. There are people protecting you in front and behind. It seems that they are far apart, but as long as the people in front notice something is wrong, they can also inform the rear in time.
Most of the strong men who were escorted were rangers, and they were also paid. There was also Mian Mian in the Western Regions who was escorted by the King of Hejian County.
With Chang'an City as the center, on the east and west sides are Chumo's Braised Pork Gang and the old tribe of Hejian County Prince.
I don’t know what the transportation industry is like as my brother-in-law said.
Li Tai walked very quickly, gathering wheat at this time of year to make ale.
The woolen cotton cloth in the village was made for the second time. The women handed the cotton cloth to Aunt Wang. The women in the village also listened to the arrangements of the two aunts.
At night, this foot of cloth came into Li Yue's hands.
Zhang Yang listened to Aunt Yang's story while eating. Xiao Wu has been living at home these days, and Little Bear has followed her, which makes him feel a lot cleaner.
】
Aunt Wang whispered, "The knitting thread made with wool as the velvet before seems to be very thick. If it is thinner, the knitting thread made of wool is thinner than silk and easy to break. They use cotton thread as the core." Wool is used as down, and wool and cotton thread are mixed together, so that it has the softness of wool and the toughness of cotton thread."
Li Yue looked at the piece of cloth, "Well, the cloth does look more comfortable than cotton. Give those women a reward. In the future, anyone who can improve their craftsmanship and weaving methods will be rewarded with silver."
After saying this, Li Yue added: "Let them make the best formula for mixing wool and cotton thread, and we will weave cloth according to this method."
"Here."
Li Yue was satisfied and handed over the ruler.
Zhang Yang took the woolen cotton cloth and felt carefully that the cloth was indeed much smoother. The cotton cloth was not so smooth. "Actually, technically we still need to solve the spinning process. These are all made by hand."
"Well, it's not easy for them to reach this point." Li Yue poured a pot of tea.
These two pieces of cloth were inferior to later fabrics, more like handkerchiefs and rougher.
Zhang Yang thought about it, "The spinning stage needs to be adjusted again. It seems that another weaving factory will be built. The equipment used for cotton cloth is not suitable for wool. I will go to the factory early tomorrow morning to have a look."
Li Yue nodded while holding the tea cup.
The meals at home are also very simple, just a plate of stir-fried vegetables and a bowl of fish soup.
After eating, the couple sat at home, each holding a book in their hands and reading.
Li Yue has been reading books related to astronomy these days. What she is looking at now is a volume of astronomical numbers, written by Zhang Heng, who was famous in the Han Dynasty. Such books are difficult to find in the market, and they may be unique.
It can only be found in the treasury of the former Sui Dynasty.
Zhang Yang looked at a box in the corner of his home. He had read most of the books in this box, and when he finished, he would go to the palace to find suitable books.
"It is said that you can tell the calendar by observing the stars. When Zhang Heng compiled the calendar, how did he guess it based on the celestial phenomena?"
Zhang Yang put down the book in his hand, "This requires understanding the movement patterns of the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the awareness of the changes in the four seasons every day and night. This is a very large recording project, which usually takes several years to record in one day, such as a solar year. For how many solar terms, compare it with the second year, year after year."
Li Yue sat upright and looked at the scroll in his hand, in awe of Zhang Heng.
Recently, my daughter-in-law no longer specializes in derivatives. Questions such as derivatives are inherently difficult to understand, and it is difficult for Li Yue to guess and understand them at her current level.
It's like being one step away from the realm of Dacheng, but just can't take the last step.
Zhang Yang frowned and thought. It is said that the first half of his wife's calculation steps were correct, but the second half was wrong. Did she understand it wrong somewhere, or did she make the wrong question?
It's not right even if I think about it again. I clearly calculated it when I came up with the question.
