Food bloggers made fortunes in ancient times

In that era, it was not as easy to buy a working ox as it is today.

Every ox must be registered with the government. Private buying, selling or giving away is not allowed, and all transactions need to be registered with the government.

Usually, families that can afford to raise cows are not too bad financially, and they will not easily sell their cows unless they encounter extreme difficulties.

Therefore, if Song Yan did not have the right channels, it would be extremely difficult to buy a dairy buffalo.

Song Yan knew this very well, so he did not urge He Fang, but said calmly: "Don't worry, you can wait until the second half of the year and look for it slowly."

He Fang agreed verbally, but still kept the matter of buying the buffalo in mind. He picked up two big watermelons and put them aside, then poured a cup of tea for Song Yan.

He sat down, took a sip of tea, and suddenly suggested, "Xiao Song, have you ever considered growing winter melons to sell?"

Song Yan told the truth: "I have actually thought about it, but I don't know if it is appropriate."

"What's inappropriate about that?" He Fang recalled his early experience of seeing winter melons in Guang'an Prefecture. "It was a caravan from the Western Regions, with a cart full of winter melons."

"One tael of silver each!" He Fang was shocked. "They are so expensive, yet they are sold out in less than half an hour."

He Fang didn't know whether he should lament that the cold melons were expensive or that there were many wealthy people in Guang'an Prefecture.

Song Yan was a little puzzled: "Since winter melons have been sold for many years, then the people who bought them should have kept the seeds. I can plant them myself."

However, to this day, he has not seen any winter melons for sale in the county town.

He Fang explained: "I made some inquiries some time ago and heard that some merchants did buy winter melons and kept the seeds to try to grow them themselves."

"But the winter melons we grow are always unsatisfactory. They either lack sweetness or have white melon pods, which make them unsellable."

Song Yan immediately understood that the problem was that the cultivation technology at that time was not advanced enough to cultivate high-quality varieties that were adapted to the local climate and soil conditions.

Looking back at history, watermelon also underwent a long period of cultivation and improvement before gradually evolving into the modern fine variety.

The melon-growing techniques that Song Yan mastered and the melon seeds he produced were undoubtedly far beyond the level of that era.

So he began to think about He Fang's suggestion.

Grow melons and sell them? That's a way to make money.

Song Yan had indeed considered it, but if he wanted to grow melons, he would have to grow them and sell them at the same time, which was beyond his ability to handle alone. He would have to get a few more people to join him.

But there is no rush for this matter, it won’t be too late to talk about it next year.

Song Yan had something else to do next, so after delivering the watermelons, she reminded He Fang to remember to soak the watermelons in well water before eating them, and then went back.

As soon as Song Yan left, He Fang hurriedly closed the shop door and carefully carried two big round watermelons home.

As soon as he entered the room, He Fang shouted happily: "Xiu Lan! Look what good things I brought back!"

At noon, the four members of the He family sat down and shared a watermelon.

The watermelon had been soaked in well water, and the flesh revealed after being cut was icy and translucent. Every bite was crisp, tender, refreshing, sweet and juicy. The four members of the He family were so amazed that they were speechless.

He Fang chewed the watermelon in his mouth and exclaimed: "No wonder the winter melon can be sold for one tael each. Just this bite is worth ten taels of silver."

Li Xiulan teased him, "You said that because you don't have ten taels of silver. If you really had ten taels of silver, I'd like to see if you would be willing to give it up."

He Fang was speechless for a moment, muttering, "I really can't bear to part with it."

The two elders of the He family ate watermelons, fanned themselves with palm-leaf fans, and watched the couple playing happily.

I felt emotional in my heart. When they were young, they didn’t have the chance to eat winter melon. Unexpectedly, they would be able to eat it when they were old.

I really have to thank Xiao Song.

In the end, they were reluctant to even throw away the melon rind and ate it all.

As for the spitted out watermelon seeds, He Fang collected them all and dried them, planning to give them to Song Yan when he came over another day.

Xiao Song trusts him so much, he can't let the other party down.

The He family was reluctant to eat the other melon, so they asked He Fang to send it to his father-in-law's house.

As for how He Fang was welcomed by his father-in-law's family after sending the watermelons, we will not talk about it for now.

On the second day, just after daybreak, Song Yan carried a heavy load of five kilograms of watermelon on his back and headed for the county town.

He planned to stay overnight in the county town, so he set out early in the cool morning.

Although he set out before dawn in order to avoid the scorching sun at noon, the sun began to shine brightly at 9 o'clock.

Song Yan covered her face with a straw hat. Her whole body was scorched by the sun and she felt like a dried salted fish.

This was the first time he felt that the road to the county town was so far away that he wished he could grow wings and fly there.

Finally, when Song Yan arrived at the county town, he almost staggered out of the carriage, and in a daze he took out ten cents and handed it to the coachman.

At this time, he was dizzy and felt that he might collapse from heatstroke at any time.

He was just about to find a place to sit down and rest his feet in the herbal tea shop at the city gate.

However, he was surprised to find that the herbal tea shop was unusually crowded today, and the city gate was so crowded that there was almost no place to stand. Everyone was looking forward to it and whispering.

"Why hasn't today arrived yet?" someone in the crowd asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, it will be here soon." Another person answered, staring at the city gate intently.

Song Yan took great effort to squeeze into the herbal tea shop and eagerly asked the owner for a bowl of herbal tea.

He tilted his head back and drank a large bowl of it in gulps, and only then did he feel a little relieved.

He put down the tea bowl and heard the person next to him anxiously ask, "Are you sure it's today?"

"If you don't believe me, just look. The county magistrate and his men have been waiting here since early morning. How could this be wrong?"

Song Yan looked in the direction the man pointed and saw County Magistrate Lin standing upright by the city gate.

He didn't recognize the rest of the county magistrates, chief clerks, etc., but he could barely guess a few of their identities just by looking at the official uniforms they wore.

The temperature was nearly 40 degrees Celsius, and I was still wearing a thick official uniform, standing in the sun like I was in military training. I was not afraid of getting heatstroke.

Song Yan was confused, turned to the person next to him, and asked curiously: "Brother, is there anything big happening today?"

The man looked at him in surprise: "Don't you know?"

Song Yan couldn't help but wonder, could something have happened again that he didn't know about?

The man continued, "King Hui will come to Yunshan County to take up his fiefdom today."

Song Yan was shocked. Was it such a coincidence? He had just arrived in the county when he ran into the prince.

Since there was something exciting to watch, Song Yan was not in a hurry to leave and stayed to watch the fun.

It was past noon and the sun was hanging in the sky like a blazing fireball, making people feel extremely tormented and even a little dizzy.

Even standing under the shade of a tree, Song Yan found it unbearable, let alone those officials who lived a life of luxury.

The prince's carriage was still not arriving, and some people began to raise their hands unconsciously and gently wipe away the sweat beads rolling down their foreheads.

Several elderly men seemed to be unable to cope with the situation, their bodies swaying slightly, as if they might fall down at any time.

If we continue to stay exposed to the scorching sun, I'm afraid someone will get heatstroke soon.

Only the chief Magistrate Lin remained as straight as a pine tree, his eyes straight ahead, and Song Yan was impressed by him.

He is a ruthless person indeed.

Just as everyone was waiting anxiously, a team of carriages and horses slowly appeared outside the city.

The people who were about to enter or leave the city were stopped to make a wide road for the incoming convoy.

Then, a team of cavalrymen entered the city first. They were dressed in majestic guard uniforms and announced loudly: "The prince has arrived——"

"All outsiders, please leave immediately——"

Outsiders → Song Yan: “?”