Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

One by one, they didn't say anything and just started eating.

The chopsticks were about to leave afterimages, and there was bowl after bowl of rice. What was even better was that there was also wine.

This wine has a mellow and rich aroma. The Qinghe family said that this wine has a high alcohol content and is more likely to make people drunk.

But it's really delicious, with a long aftertaste.

The banquet lasted for about an hour. The women ate faster because they didn't drink much, while the men ate slower as they drank as they ate.

The maids were always on the lookout to add more food and dishes to make sure everyone had their fill.

It was not until I put down my chopsticks that I realized my stomach was so round and I really couldn’t eat anymore.

This is probably the first time I've experienced the feeling of being full, and I filled my stomach with meat.

"The little grandson and granddaughter of the Qinghe family are blessed."

"Yes, a good child who will be reincarnated."

Seeing that everyone had finished eating, the woman started to help clear the table and put away the leftovers.

"Dear aunts and sisters, if you don't mind, please take some Fugen back with you."

Fugen is the leftover food from a banquet held when there is a happy occasion at home.

"I don't mind. How could I mind? These are all meat."

Wu Erping responded happily instantly, who can resist meat?

She took the big bamboo tube handed to her by the maid and started to pack the leftovers. She had to put more meat in so that she could have another meal in the evening. If she didn't eat it herself, she could give it to her grandchildren at home.

The last time I ate meat was half a month ago.

At that time, I was collecting mushrooms for Zhao Yuanzhen, and people from several nearby villages would send them to me. Later, I collected more than 2000 kilograms of mushrooms a day, which meant I earned more than 2 taels of silver a day. I collected mushrooms for more than 10 days in a row and earned almost 20 taels of silver.

Looking at this huge deposit, she hardened her heart, bought 5 kilograms of meat, and stewed a big pot for everyone so that everyone could enjoy the meal.

The remaining money was saved.

There is no other way. There are many children in the family and they need to go to school in the future. Although the grandchildren can study for free in the village, pens, ink, paper and inkstone do cost money. If they go to study in the capital in the future, they will need money. I have to save some money for the children in advance.

There is also a little granddaughter. Although I love my grandson, there are three people in the family who are earning money and they earn a lot of salary every month. In the future, when the children are older, I will send them to learn a skill. Look at their younger brothers and sisters. Ladies from wealthy families know a lot and have many ideas to make money, unlike me who can't read or write.

Therefore, you should install more of these free ones and install more of them yourself, so that you can save a lot of money at home.

"Give me another bamboo tube. This one won't fit anymore."

Then he asked for another bamboo tube to continue filling it.

When the others saw Wu Erping pretending, they also started pretending to be Fugen.

"Here are some candies and melon seeds. Aunts, sisters, take some and go back to give them to the kids to sweeten their mouths."

Zhao Yuanzhen brought over two large basins of melon seeds and sugar and asked them to take some back with them.

"Thank you, Qinghe family. We won't be polite then. It just so happens that my little bastard loves to eat candy. He has been nagging me to buy him candy recently."

Someone in the family works at Qinghe's place and earns a lot of money. Occasionally, he would buy some candy for the little grandchildren to sweeten their mouths.

"Don't be polite, we are all family."

Zhao Yuanzhen asked the maid to pack a large bamboo tube and give it to the teacher.

The teacher has always lived in the village, and Zhao Yuanzhen invited him to a banquet today. Thinking that he was alone, she brought some for him.

We were busy until around 4 p.m., when all the guests had left and the yard was tidied up.

Zhao Yuanlan and Yue Hongmian also went back, mainly because Zhao Yuanlan had to attend court tomorrow, so he had to go back.

"Brother, sister-in-law, come over here if you have nothing to do."

"Okay, I'll come over next time I take a break."

"Okay, I'll wait for you then."

"Well, come back, we're leaving."

After patting his tired waist, Zhao Yuanzhen planned to go back to his room to have a good rest.

"Second sister-in-law, let me help you massage."

Zhang Qingyan also came back today. She designed and made several sets of beautiful clothes, socks and quilts for the two little ones.

"No, you're tired too, go back to your room and rest."

Zhao Yuanzhen waved her hand and went back to her room to rest.

I fell asleep quickly because I was tired from staying up late.

The only fruits left in the orchard are sea buckthorn and hawthorn, both of which are relatively cold-resistant.

Wait until the temperature drops a bit before picking.

Especially sea buckthorn, which becomes sweeter after being frozen at low temperature, and the juice is more flavorful and tastier.

Zhao Yuanzhen instructed that when the temperature drops below zero, they should start picking sea buckthorn and hawthorn, and send the sea buckthorn directly to various juice-making shops so that they can launch the winter specialty food sea buckthorn juice.

It tastes sour and sweet, and is very tasty.

The annual medicinal herbs in the medicinal herb field have been picked, and the perennial ones can be left to grow in the field. When the weather gets colder, just cover them with some straw.

After staying at home for a few days, I had to set off for the Yellow River ferry.

He asked the transport team to bring all the necessary supplies, and also brought two servants who could make charcoal.

The weather is getting colder, and it's time to start making charcoal.

After restocking each shop, we set off.

The temperature at the Yellow River ferry is obviously much colder than in the capital.

It was already October now, and Zhao Yuanzhen quickly ordered people to build a charcoal kiln and start burning charcoal on the small hill behind the dormitory.

All the thick clothes, hats, quilts, etc. brought from home were distributed to the servants.

Over at the construction workers' place, the herringbone embankment wall had been completed.

It was exactly what Zhao Yuanzhen wanted and she was very satisfied.

Then, before the ground froze, they built 10 more shops.

Build all the subsequent needs at once, and if no one rents it, you can open your own shop.

Just as I was thinking about it, a boss came to me the next day and said he wanted to rent a shop.

"I wonder what the boss is going to do with the shop?"

"I want to open a shoe store and sell all kinds of shoes and boots."

Okay, this works, I won’t open it myself.

"Okay, that's the rent. We're going to charge you 10% of the total profit of your store."

"I understand, I understand. I have asked everything. I agree. So shall we sign the contract?"

"Okay, now that you've found out, let's sign the contract."

Make two copies, sign and put away.

Zhao Yuanzhen wanted to attract investors to open an ironware shop, but the review process was rather troublesome and she didn’t know if anyone would come.

If there really isn't any, you have to train people and open a shop yourself.

After all, pots, pans, kitchen knives and hatchets all need to be purchased at the blacksmith shop.

Let’s wait and see. If I don’t have it before the New Year, I’ll open my own blacksmith shop after the New Year.

The days began to repeat themselves, monotonous and mechanical.

Every day I see patients, prescribe medicine, teach apprentices, and go to the market.

Several batches of coal had been burned. Some of it was saved for personal use, and the rest was sold by servants at the market.

The charcoal I burn myself is 6 cents per pound, which is affordable. The charcoal is also burned well and is smokeless, so I don’t have to worry about selling it.

In mid-October, Zhao Yuanlan suddenly led his troops here.

From a distance, Zhao Yuanzhen saw a large group of people coming and quickly rode over on her horse.

"Brother? Why are you here?"

Zhao Yuanzhen asked doubtfully.

"Little sister, we are going to the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. There is news that the Jin people are frequently harassing the border. His Majesty has ordered me to guard Yanshan."

After the incident of the Sixth Prince in Taiyuan Prefecture last year, the Jin people were afraid that the imperial court, which had absorbed the Sixth Prince's troops, would counterattack them. Therefore, as soon as the news of the Sixth Prince's death spread, they withdrew from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

During this year, the imperial court allocated a lot of money to build Yanshan Prefecture. Those who fled could return to their hometowns, and they were given high subsidies and farmer-friendly policies, and their taxes were exempted for two years.

Under multiple attractive policies, although Yanshan Prefecture has not yet returned to its former prosperity, it has begun a new life.

However, as soon as winter came, this group of Jin people began to look for new things and cause trouble at the border, jumping around repeatedly.

His Majesty directly appointed Zhao Yuanlan to lead 10 troops to wipe out the Jin people and guard the border.

"So are we crossing the river today?"

"Well, we have to cross the river today. Time is urgent, so we need to cross the river day and night and rush to the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun as soon as possible."

"Okay, big brother, then you guys set up camp and rest first, I'll arrange for you to cross the river right away."

"Okay, little sister, I'll trouble you with everything."

The small bamboo rafts were taken out to ferry people going to and from the market, and the large bamboo rafts were used to ferry the army across the river.

The army was large in number, and had plenty of vehicles, horses, and food supplies, so it took several days for the 10-strong army to cross the river.

Zhao Yuanzhen thought happily, this is all money.

The boatmen took turns rowing the bamboo rafts day and night. Zhao Yuanzhen ordered the canteen to add more food, so that they could eat more good food to replenish their physical strength, otherwise the intensity would be too high.

In this way, we crossed the river day and night for about 7 days in total.

During these seven days, Zhao Yuanlan had been eating in the cafeteria. Zhao Yuanzhen had asked the cafeteria to cook more delicious dishes for her elder brother.

The last time the Jin people broke through the pass, they burned, killed and looted a lot of supplies from the Liang Dynasty. Zhao Yuanzhen wanted to rob the rich and help the poor.

Rob the gold people's wealth to help your own poverty.

Therefore, all preparations were made for the development and affairs of the ferry in the next few months, as well as the goods that needed to be replenished, and Zhang Yu was given some detailed instructions.

The main thing is that no one knows when she will come back.

She also wrote a letter to her family, telling them that she was going back to Yanshan and her return date was uncertain, and asked them not to worry.

Zhao Yuanzhen packed up her things and told Zhao Yuanlan her plan on the seventh day.

"Brother, I want to go to Yanshan with you too."

"No, I'm going to march and fight. The battlefield is dangerous. You can't go."

"Brother, I'm not going to the battlefield. I'm going to Yanshan Prefecture to move my mother and father's graves back. Otherwise, it will be inconvenient for us to travel back and forth after we settle in the capital."

This was the best excuse Zhao Yuanzhen had thought of in the past few days, and Zhao Yuanlan couldn't refuse.

"Well, or you tell me the location and I'll move it."

Zhao Yuanlan still didn't want her to go.

"Brother, even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to find it. There's no obvious sign on that place. It's just an ordinary hill. There are also many graves around it. What if you saw it wrong?"

"Well... then you have to promise to listen to me all the way and come back early after moving the graves."

Zhao Yuanlan had no choice but to compromise.