Lonely non-good minister

Chapter 306 She also has a day short of money

"50 catties? Are you sure? Isn't it 40 catties?" This is great news. Not to mention [-] catties more than Zhou Shixian's estimate, even an extra [-] catties is enough for her to negotiate with those generals .

One hundred thousand catties, that is [-] cotton-padded clothes, this confidence is not ordinary enough.

An Zhoushi nodded affirmatively: "If your Highness has visited places like Xiping and Wuwei, you will know that after the field reform, although the water conservancy in these places can't keep up, but the large fields, I know that the demand for water for cotton is not high, and it can be planted all over the mountains and plains." All the places have been planted. The common people planted in the fields rented out by the imperial court, and planted in front of and behind their houses. The seeds are free of charge, so they are very willing. His Highness probably listened to the official report and calculated the result, but the official reported it. It will not go to the common people in detail, what they report should only be the harvest of the land rented out by the imperial court."

This news was simply the first good news Song Yuan heard after she came to the Northwest. After a long pause, she murmured: "I really should take the time to go around the Northwest." What she knows so far All the news is told by others, which is extremely wrong, it is too easy to misjudgment due to others' exaggeration.

"Your Highness, don't work too hard." An Zhoushi noticed her broken hair on her forehead that was soaked in cold sweat: "You should pay attention to your body, Your Highness has lost weight."

He hasn't seen Song Yuan for a long time, and he can see her changes at a glance. Her eyes are not as clear and bright as they were three years ago, and she hides a lot of thoughts. Although she is stable, she doesn't look as spiritual as before.

Hearing this, Wei Yan next to him looked at Song Yuan many times, but he couldn't see any major changes in Song Yuan. He had been with Song Yuan for a long time, and he had already lost awareness of her changes.

"Okay." Song Yuan led him with kind concern: "I'm going to discuss a very important matter in the future, which is related to my future. If the negotiation fails and there is a big disturbance in the Northwest, I have a great responsibility. All my efforts will be in vain, so I dare not be careless."

An Zhoushi nodded heavily: "Although I don't know what it is, it must not be a simple matter for His Highness to attach so much importance to it. It is normal to be under pressure. What does Your Highness need me to do?"

"I would like to ask you to draw up a detailed document on cotton yield and quality." Since cotton is divided into grades and yields are much higher than the information she received, she naturally wants to make good use of them.

An Zhoushi immediately agreed: "Okay, tomorrow evening, I will hand it over to Your Highness."

He was reliable in his work, and Song Yuan believed in him, so he couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. After An Zhoushi left, she could sleep peacefully for a while.

The next day she got up a little later, but she was still in good spirits. When she was washing in the corridor, Wei Yan brought food, and she could smell the aroma as soon as she passed by Song Yuan.

"What are you eating this morning? Is it so delicious?" She wiped her face and hurried into the room.

Wei Yan put the things down: "Mr. An said that His Highness has lost weight, and his subordinates didn't notice it before, so this morning, he specially asked the kitchen to cook His Highness's favorite food. Your Highness, taste it quickly."

"Japonic rice and green vegetables are very precious here." Song Yuan became a little stingy. Before coming to Northwest, her basic necessities were reimbursed by the mansion, and she didn't need to spend a penny. , can still hold the salary that she used to be the county magistrate in Leping, and Xiao Shen will help her a lot every month. Now that her salary is gone, not only does she have to support herself, Wei Yan and the others have to be allocated monthly money from her salary, and she also has to save some to support An Zhou, which is really not enough to spend if you don't worry about it.

Wei Yan smiled: "Your Highness, do you now understand why some people are greedy for money? Because it's really not enough money."

"I have some experience." Song Yuan took a sip. Although the taste was not as good as Chunyang's craftsmanship, it was much better than soup noodles. After eating less than half a bowl, she asked, "How much gold is left?"

Wei Yan thought for a while, but couldn't remember clearly for a while, took the key to open the locked cabinet door, and took out a small box from inside: "Your Highness, it's best not to have too much hope, you have given Mr. An these years. It’s quite a lot of money, and I paid for the seeds myself, which is a lot of money.” Opening the box, Wei Yan counted, looked at her expectant eyes, and said coldly: “Your Highness still has more than 100 taels of silver in total.”

"So little?" Song Yuan couldn't accept it, she had never been so poor: "Is this month's salary included?"

Wei Yan nodded: "Before your Highness set off, the Sikong Mansion gave His Highness two months' salary in advance. After buying the round-grained rice, there is only so much left. I just saw it in the kitchen. There is still a small jar of round-grained rice, which is enough for you, sir." I have eaten for a month, and I can buy new rice to add to it when the salary comes down next month."

"." The japonica rice porridge in his hand suddenly choked his throat, and Song Yuan helped his forehead: "Don't be so extravagant in the future, save it, there are many places to spend money, and more than half of it is spent on food every month, which is somewhat uncomfortable. Good deal."

Wei Yan put the box back: "Your Highness doesn't like pasta at all, so it's not a big deal to eat more round-grained rice. The other Highnesses couldn't get used to it when they first arrived in the Northwest, so they had to spend money to buy rice."

"I think they're quite used to eating it now." Song Yuan ate all the rice porridge in the bowl: "Is Mr. An up yet?"

Wei Yan brought in her washing things: "Not yet, I came all night, I'm afraid I'm too tired."

"Okay, then let him rest first, I'll go and see what official documents are there today." Song Yuan took his coat and left.

The study where she works is next to the Mingtang in the front yard, and the clerk has already sent all the official documents for today, more than a dozen memorials, all from all over the Northwest.

She buried her head and saw that at noon, Cheng Hui came with someone. He found the sketches of water conservancy plans from the past few years, spread them out on the table and told Song Yuan one by one based on what he remembered, and Song Yuan also listened carefully.

Just listening to it that day, she knew that it would definitely cost a lot to develop water conservancy in the northwest. Now that she saw the sketch, she was even more convinced.

"Have you found all the craftsmen?"

"The craftsman in Zhangye has been found, and the official has already made it clear to him, and arranged for people to follow him to various places for investigation. The other three counties, the official does not know." Cheng Hui did not procrastinate, which Song Yuan appreciated very much.

She is the last person she would like to deal with who just blindly arranges things and waits for the subordinates to procrastinate and give an explanation.

Song Yuan stared at the sketch: "I think the layout of this drawing is very good. If it can really be built in this way, the water shortage in the northwest can be alleviated a lot. It's just that the cost is too much, and the court can't give so much money. If you really want to build it, the local finances will get a lot of money, which is not a small amount of money."

"The lower officials have calculated that according to this year's tax situation, Zhangye can take out 7 taels of tax silver in addition to handing over to the court."

(End of this chapter)