The pension plan of the ancient cannon fodder woman

A month later, the palace

Chen Dou has been in a good mood recently. There is enough food in the south, and the soldiers on the border can all eat their fill, making his throne more secure.

A Shi said that a new thing called sweet potato was discovered in the south. It has a very high yield and tastes good. The only drawback is that it is not easy to preserve and cannot be brought to the capital for the time being.

Also, his sons have become much more sensible recently. The fourth son has lost 50 kilograms, the eighth son can read books well, and his ninth son has also grown up healthily.

What else is there to worry about in this world?

Chen Dou slowly sipped the ginseng soup in his bowl, and he was no longer so upset when he saw the pile of memorials.

As expected, one should not be too proud.

The director of the Imperial Observatory was walking into the palace as the sun set.

"Your Majesty, the weather is unusual. I have a bad suspicion."

Hearing the Imperial Observatory's serious expression saying this, Chen Dou's smile faded slightly.

"explain."

"I observed the stars at night and found that the length of daytime is gradually returning to normal, but..."

"Your Majesty, the longer the nights, the shorter the days, is more terrible than the longer the days, the shorter the nights."

Chen Dou was waiting for the Imperial Observatory to continue, but the man had already finished.

"What's the solution?"

"In reply to the emperor, please forgive me. I can only think of preparing more candles."

"Oh, you can afford candles, but can ordinary people use them every day?"

The candles sold in grocery stores are all made of beeswax, which is in low production and expensive, so ordinary people simply cannot afford them.

The supervisor wiped the sweat from his head and tried to change his target.

"Well, I am not very talented and can't think of a good solution for now, but I am willing to donate my salary for the next year. I believe the six ministers will have a solution."

So, the six ministers arrived again.

When a few people saw the Imperial Observatory kneeling there, they cursed him inwardly as a bastard.

"Tell me everything."

They have never heard of this phenomenon before and don’t even know if it is true. What methods can they think of?

"Your Majesty, I am willing to donate one year's salary to buy candles."

"You don't have to do that, my dear. You just need to come up with a suggestion to save the country."

The Minister of War increased the stakes the next second.

"Your Majesty, I only know how to lead troops in battle, and I am not good at such delicate matters. I am willing to donate 10,000 taels of silver and ask Your Majesty to atone for my sins."

Chen Dou showed a satisfied smile, "In that case, you can leave."

Now everyone understands.

So the sixty thousand taels were in hand again.

After the Supervisor and the six ministers had left, Chen Dou immediately gave orders to Little Li.

"Go, call Chen Shi over."

Half an hour later Chen Shi came in.

"Ashi, there's news from the south that the oil from a kind of pine tree can be used as lamp oil. Only a small amount is needed to burn for a long time. This is true. I've asked someone to try it out.

Go gather some people to collect the money. I have 30,000 taels here, and the six ministers will hand over another 60,000 taels later. You can use them first."

Chen Shi kept the banknote.

"Give me an imperial decree. There are many more prisoners in the prison in the past two years. Arrange them all to collect pine oil."

Chen Dou wrote two imperial edicts with a smile.

"That's feasible. The New Year is coming soon. We should catch some people who are responsible for the security of this city. Send all those who are caught here. There are many pine trees on the mountain in the north. You can go there."

Chen Shi packed up the imperial edict and set off.

Guangyuan County Government Office

County Magistrate Ge was also discussing with Su He. They had already collected a lot of pine oil.

"Lotus, this pine oil lamp has been tested. It is not as good as a beeswax candle, but it is low-cost and easy to make. It is very suitable for ordinary people to use. The emperor said that this method is very good. This is the method you came up with. What do you want?"

Su He thought calmly for a few seconds and responded cautiously.

"Sir, Lotus is very satisfied with her life now. She has enough food and clothing. She does not need any reward."

County Magistrate Ge had long expected Su He to say this.

"I heard that your brother has passed the examination and became a scholar. The Yunkai Academy in the capital is very good. The current Principal Qi was my former classmate. If you are willing, your brother can go there to study after the new year."

Su He's heart was shocked. Beijing? She agreed without hesitation.

"Thank you, sir. I'm sure my brother is willing. Lotus is grateful."

Magistrate Ge smiled and nodded, "Yunkai Academy is very good. The emperor specifically asked me to ask for this position from Principal Qi. If your brother passes the imperial examination, he can continue to study there. I have also studied there, and it is very good."

Su He bowed respectfully.

"The emperor is so busy, but he still thinks of Hehua's brother. This shows how kind the emperor is. Hehua has always told her brother to study hard and if he can become an official in the future, he must serve the emperor well."

County Magistrate Ge said with a smile.

"I've heard about your brother many times. I heard that it was your brother who started the Boy Scouts that our government recruited?"

Su He smiled awkwardly. She didn't know at first that this brat was recruiting followers under the guise of the county government.

By the time she found out, little Zhuge had already enthusiastically recruited four children, and the Boy Scouts had been formed.

There was no other way, she could only discuss with Wang Bin and others how to deal with Mu Tou's aftermath.

"They recruited these kids in the beginning to help their schoolmate sister vent her anger. Later, these kids really helped our county government handle cases. I heard from Wang Liang that these kids are quite capable. I think they can be used as backup for temporary workers."

County Magistrate Ge certainly knew the whole story. He had always been tolerant of his own people, so he had no intention of blaming anyone by bringing it up. He just wanted to find a topic to talk about.

"Well, let Wang Bin take care of this matter. Manage it well and I'll wait and see. By the way, we have collected a lot of pine oil. Zhao Tongpan and his men want to tell the people about this method and let them take pine oil to make oil lamps. In this way, the pressure on our county government will be much less. What do you think?"

"It is definitely a good thing that every household can afford oil lamps. Lotus thinks it is feasible, but the source needs to be controlled. Pine oil is not inexhaustible. Lotus is afraid that some greedy people will collect all the pine oil and the rest of the people will have nothing to use. This pine oil can be used to make oil lamps to benefit the people, but it can also be used as a weapon for robbers to rob houses. We'd better be cautious."

County Magistrate Ge thought this made sense. Pine oil was more useful than a tinderbox and was cheaper. If he really allowed his subordinates to collect it at will, something bad would happen sooner or later.

"Well, go outside and inform the master, and ask him to gather everyone together to discuss countermeasures."

Su He nodded and went out. County Magistrate Ge did not ask her to join him, so she happily finished her task and went to find her brother.

Going to Beijing to study, Mu Tou must be very happy if he knew that.

Su He didn't even go home, but went directly to the academy to ask someone to call his brother out.

Mu Tou ran out in a panic and saw his sister standing at the door, looking at him with a smile.

"Sister, what happened at home?"

"Mu Tou, you can go to the capital to study!"

Su He explained the whole story to her brother, thinking that his brother would be very happy, but Mu Tou didn't even smile.

"Sister, I don't want to go."

"what?"

Su He looked at her brother in confusion. She never expected that her brother would be unwilling.

"County Magistrate Ge also studied at Yunkai Academy. I've heard about it from the old lady of the Zhao Mansion before. Her two grandsons also studied there. It's really good there. This opportunity is so rare. Mu Tou, you must listen to me and go."

Su He put his right hand on Mu Tou's shoulder and said earnestly.