Chapter 189 Prime Minister Zhu Visits
On this day, the weather was fine, and Shen Zhi led everyone to officially start the "double harvest" work. Song Shijie also came in advance to inquire about the harvest time, and took the officers and soldiers to notify each village one by one.
The whole town of Taiping was busy harvesting rice. Farmers got up early and worked late in the fields under the scorching sun, and the labor intensity was very high.
Old farmers all know that after the rice is ripe, it must be harvested as soon as possible while the weather is good. On the one hand, the threshed rice can be dried and stored in the warehouse while the weather is good. On the other hand, if it is not harvested in time, it will suffer losses due to heavy rains, and the ripe rice will easily fall off or germinate and become moldy if it is not harvested for too long. Moreover, late rice has to be planted nowadays, and there are certain requirements for the planting time of late rice. Only by planting in time can it be guaranteed to grow fully in the appropriate growing season and obtain a good harvest, so there is no time to delay.
In the fields, everyone worked hard and sweated profusely. Shen Zhi was worried that everyone would get heatstroke, so she asked the cook to make mung bean soup for everyone to cool down, and she made ice cubes from time to time to cool everyone down. She even gave Song Shijie the recipe for making ice with saltpeter, and suggested that Song Shijie popularize the science among the people so that everyone could create conditions to prevent heatstroke and cool down.
All of this was seen by Eunuch Cao and other officials. Even Prime Minister Zhu, who was sent back by the Emperor to announce the decree, was pleased.
When Prime Minister Zhu arrived at Qingzhou Prefecture to announce the decree, Shen Zhi had already gone to Haizhou. Prime Minister Zhu had been visiting the elders of the clan during this period of time after completing his official duties. Madam Xue went to her aunt's house to take care of the sick.
During this period, Mr. Zhu, who had been renting a house in an old alley in the west of the city, somehow learned that Prime Minister Zhu had returned to Qingzhou Prefecture, and instigated his mother to ask Prime Minister Zhu for money. Yuan listened to her son and sent the only woman left by her side to find Prime Minister Zhu. Yuan even wanted to act like a stepmother, but Prime Minister Zhu sent the woman away and told her to take a message to Yuan, telling her to live a good life. If she continued to be restless, he would not mind giving Yuan's indenture left to her by her old father to someone else.
When Yuan heard this, she got very angry and smashed all the cups and plates in the house to pieces.
Seeing that this tactic didn't work, Master Zhu came to the door in person.
"Brother, we are brothers after all, you can't abandon me." Master Zhu has been uneasy these days. He owed the gambling house two thousand taels of silver. Now the interest has been compounded, and he doesn't know how many times it has increased. If he can't pay back the money, the gambling house will chop off his hands.
"Hmph, don't call me brother so affectionately. When you attacked Mingzhe, our brotherhood was already severed." Zhu Mingzhe is the eldest son of Prime Minister Zhu, and he has placed high hopes on him since he was a child. When Zhu Mingzhe was less than ten years old, Second Master Zhu sent his servant to secretly push Zhu Mingzhe into the lotus pond. Fortunately, he was rescued by a housekeeper passing by. Thinking of this, Prime Minister Zhu was furious. His eldest son was almost killed by his younger brother, and his eldest daughter was almost killed by his own niece. Why does his younger brother's family like to push people into trouble?
Master Zhu looked guilty for a moment, but he quickly adjusted his mood and said, "Brother, wasn't I young and ignorant back then? Please forgive me if you are magnanimous. If my father were still alive, he would hope that we would be brothers and sisters."
Prime Minister Zhu was almost so angry that he laughed. "You are young and ignorant. You were already in your twenties, but you were still young and ignorant. Don't use your father to provoke me. If my father were still alive, he would beat you to death himself. You are a shameless guy who doesn't care about human ethics. You are actually hanging out with your father's concubine. While I still have my sanity, don't hang around in front of me, otherwise I am not sure if I will personally send you to the clan and punish you according to the clan law."
Master Zhu was horrified. If this incestuous scandal were to be known by the clan, he would be thrown into a pig cage.
"Brother, I'm leaving. I'm leaving right away. Please save me one last time. I still owe the gambling house two thousand taels of silver. Today is the deadline. If I don't pay them back today, they will chop off my hands." Master Zhu knelt in front of Prime Minister Zhu, crying bitterly.
Prime Minister Zhu snorted coldly, "You have lost so much of the Zhu family's ancestral property that even the ancestors of the Zhu family were almost driven crazy by you. You have not changed your ways despite repeated admonitions, and you deserve it. Butler, please show the guests out." After saying this, Prime Minister Zhu turned away and left the hall.
Within two days, Prime Minister Zhu heard that Second Master Zhu had taken away all the valuables that Yuan had hidden and ran away. Yuan cried loudly in the rented courtyard. Within two days, the only maid who served her also ran away. Prime Minister Zhu sneered after hearing this. There was no good person in the Second House. This was retribution in this life.
Having said that, when Prime Minister Zhu learned that Shen Zhi had returned to Baiyun Villa, he immediately ordered the housekeeper to prepare generous gifts and personally came to Baiyun Villa to express his gratitude.
Shen Zhi was pulled back from the fields by Eunuch Cao. The moment she saw Prime Minister Zhu, she was stunned.
When Eunuch Cao saw Shen Zhi didn't say anything, he thought she was frightened by Prime Minister Zhu's aura. As the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Zhu was second only to the emperor, and he was usually quite serious, so everyone was quite awed by him. "Girl, this is Prime Minister Zhu of our Great Xiao Dynasty. You were not here some time ago, and Prime Minister Zhu was ordered to come to Qingzhou Prefecture to announce the emperor's decree. We have a great potato harvest, and the emperor has rewarded us all, and you have also been rewarded with a thousand taels of gold, which has been sent back to Shitou Village. By the way, the emperor has granted you a marriage with General Zhan. General He's family has been recalled to the capital." Eunuch Cao explained.
Shen Zhi knew about the reward. When she went back to Shitou Village last time, Shen Shi had told her about it. Shen Zhi gave half of the money to Shen Shi and asked her to prepare for the opening of the embroidery shop. The shop had been decorated a long time ago, but it had been delayed until now and there was no time to open it. Shen Zhi simply let Shen Shi do it herself.
"Mr. Yixiang, I came to visit you today to thank you for saving my daughter's life in the Song Mansion." This time, Prime Minister Zhu put away the sternness on his face and spoke kindly.
They look alike, so alike that Shen Zhi put away his thoughts, "So you are Miss Zhu Mingyue's father. It's just a small favor, not worth mentioning."
Prime Minister Zhu said sincerely, "My daughter is the apple of our family's eye. If she had an accident late at night, our family would not be able to survive. I must personally thank Yixiangjun." After that, he bowed to Shen Zhi in person. Shen Zhi could not dodge and had to bow down to accept it. He was so embarrassed that he wanted to crawl into the cracks in the ground.
The housekeeper brought by Prime Minister Zhu brought a bunch of gifts, and Prime Minister Zhu enthusiastically asked her to accept them. Shen Zhi was so amused that she had no choice but to accept the gifts they brought.