Back and forth: I brought supplies to help the impoverished prince

Chapter 255 Work Arrangements

A month passed and everything returned to normal.

October was cold and the total rainfall this year was less than last year.

There was a chill in the air.

Qiao Shinian huddled dejectedly on the low couch in Wen Jiu's study. There were quite a few people in the study at that time.

There was a mixture of different smells in the air, some of which were like larger particles that made Qiao Shinian feel a little unpleasant when he smelled them.

If she didn't know in advance who would be coming, she could accurately guess that there would be at least three men present.

Judging from the smell, the clothes have been worn for a long time and the smell on them is not that pleasant.

Among these three people, two of them were not clean. They had a strong masculine smell on their bodies, which was stuffy and somewhat uncomfortable.

But she knew in advance who would come, so she couldn't help but feel good about the other man and woman. At least they didn't bring any bad smell.

There is incense in the corner of the study. Since she can't see or hear, her sense of smell is particularly sensitive, so she can only use the smallest incense burner and place it near the doors and windows.

As soon as Song Haitang entered the room, she saw Qiao Shinian curled up in a corner, fiddling with a rope out of boredom. She had a very deep impression of Qiao Shinian.

She is the daughter of a martial artist, so naturally she knows martial arts, and her skills are quite good.

At that time, she was recruited into the Yongle Palace Guard through Qiao Shinian. Because of her outstanding performance during training, she was specially promoted to the Royal Guard.

To be able to join the Royal Guard one needs not only loyalty but also ability.

Of course, after joining the Guards, her father also got a job with a good salary.

The merchant caravans going to and from the capital were led by her father as escorts, and each round trip earned more than ten taels of silver.

Her mother is idle at home and has been worrying about her marriage recently.

Song Haitang stopped staring at Qiao Shinian. She glanced at Wen Jiu and found that Wen Jiu was also staring at her.

This made Song Haitang feel a little awkward, as if he had been caught slacking off in a meeting by his boss.

Zhu Yu stepped forward and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, leave the suppression of bandits in Yun County to us this time!"

Song Haitang looked at Zhu Yu gratefully and quickly agreed: "We have been training for so long, please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will be able to eliminate the bandits around Yun County and Ji County in three months at most."

"Yeah." Wen Jiu nodded. He turned his head slightly to look at Qiao Shinian, and saw that she was playing cat's ties boredly.

"Captain Song, is my sister pretty?" Wen Jiu retracted his gaze and looked at Song Haitang.

Song Haitang swallowed and looked at Wen Jiu's calm eyes and the smile on the corner of his mouth. It seemed weird no matter how she looked at it.

"Okay, it looks good." Song Haitang replied.

"I'll let you off this time! If you get distracted again during the next meeting, your monthly salary will be deducted." Wen Jiu raised his chin slightly and sneered, "I don't think I'm talking nonsense. I'm talking nonsense to the point of boring you."

Song Haitang shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, Your Majesty, I don't think what you said is boring, but... but..."

It was quite boring. What Wen Jiu just said had nothing to do with her. He was talking to people in the transportation and processing industries. It was quite boring for her to listen to him.

"Okay." Wen Jiu waved his hand.

Jianwen Jiu didn't say anything more, and Song Haitang breathed a sigh of relief, the matter was over.

Wen Jiu looked up at the man in a long gown at the far side and asked, "How is the farm doing?"

Liu Wencai stepped forward and bowed his head and replied, "Your Highness, more than a thousand chickens, ducks and geese have been delivered to the caravan recently. The fluff you ordered to collect has been delivered to Zuo Yi's processing workshop.

Since the cattle were returned last month, we have added five more calves. We now have 348 yellow cattle and 210 black buffaloes. Some time ago, more than buffaloes were loaned out for plowing, and it is expected that all will be returned by the end of this month. We also have more than lambs.

The capital has ordered 120 cows and 120 sheep before the end of the year.

A total of 70 cows and 300 sheep have been ordered from other places. We will kill 3 cows and 30 sheep in our county."

Before Wen Jiu arrived in Xingzhou, cattle were still a rare commodity, and basically only the rich and powerful could eat a bite of beef.

The price of a cow is now ridiculously high, thirty-five taels of silver.

Wen Jiu nodded, and he looked at Liu Wencai, and spoke after a long while: "Can you find someone to replace you?"

Liu Wencai was a little nervous when Wen Jiu was staring at him, and he became even more nervous when he heard Wen Jiu ask this.

He asked in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, what did I do wrong? Please give me another chance. I will definitely not let you down."

"No, I trust you to do the job, so I just want you to take good care of the horses for me. In the future, there may be many, many war horses that need someone to take care of them for me."

When Wen Jiu talked about war horses, he put one hand on the table and leaned forward.

Liu Wencai's eyes widened, and he immediately lowered his head and pretended that he heard nothing.

For a moment, you could hear a pin drop in the room. Liu Wencai's forehead was covered with sweat. After a brainstorm, he responded in a trembling voice: "Thanks to the prince's kindness, I recommend my eldest son to raise horses for the prince. The child is a smart and caring person."

After saying that, he looked up and looked at Wen Jiu carefully. Seeing Wen Jiu shrugged as if to say, "As you said," he felt relieved.

"Okay, don't let me kill this horse. This horse is very valuable." Wen Jiu stood up and walked to Liu Wencai and patted his shoulder. "Old Liu, why are you so nervous? I treat you as my own and have entrusted such a large breeding industry to you. From now on, you and your son are my own people. You have to be so polite all the time. Aren't you tired?"

Wen Jiu looked at the middle-aged man who was slightly bent over and joked with a smile.

He naturally knew the son Liu Wencai was talking about. He was eighteen years old this year and was an honest and decent man. He usually assisted Liu Wencai in managing all matters of the farm.

Liu Wencai also has a younger son who is thirteen years old this year. His wife died after giving birth to the younger son. Now the three of them are single. He heard that the eldest son already has a girl he likes, and he plans to propose marriage to her when she turns fifteen.

Tsk, it seems my sister is not capable of doing this. The woman is too young, and the harm of having a biological child has not yet spread completely in Xingzhou.

After Liu Wencai wiped the sweat from his forehead and went out, Wen Jiu set his eyes on Zuo Yi.

Zuo Yi understood what he meant and stepped forward immediately: "Your Highness is truly a genius. We have already made the goose down quilt you mentioned. The samples are waiting outside. A rich man was willing to pay 100 taels of silver to buy one after hearing about the lightness and warmth of our goose down quilt."

"Oh, let them bring it in so I can take a look." In fact, Qiao Shinian had already brought him two goose down quilts from modern times last year. Now he wanted to compare the difference between their goose down quilts and modern ones.

When the servant brought in the quilt, Zuo Yi kept flattering him.

"Your Highness, you have a really ingenious idea. Look at how light this quilt is. I have tested its warmth retention and it is warmer than a cotton quilt.

Your Majesty, a brilliant idea like yours will allow us to easily make the most money.

He is indeed a young talent, worthy of being favored by the goddess. Few people have ever been convinced by him.

Your Majesty is the person I admire the most so far..."

"Enough, enough. I am almost embarrassed by your praise." Wen Jiu waved his hand to stop them.

Zuo Yi grinned and said, "Your Highness is a young talent and deserves any praise."

Song Haitang quietly gave Zuo Yi a thumbs up, awesome!

It's so embarrassing and he can still say it so naturally.

Wen Jiu looked at the quilt seriously.

The fluffiness is a bit lacking and the smell is a bit strong.

It seems that their only advantage in this era is handwork, and the embroidery is pretty good.

“Your Highness, are you still dissatisfied?” Zuo Yi naturally saw Wen Jiu’s frown and asked in a low voice.

Wen Jiu threw the quilt to the servants behind him and waved his hand to signal them to go down.

"Well! Not even close." Wen Jiu said this mercilessly. He looked at Zuo Yi and said, "Just imagine that you were one of those pampered young ladies and young masters who have been raised in seclusion since childhood. Would you be willing to cover yourself with a quilt that smells so bad?"

"This..." Zuo Yi frowned in embarrassment.

"Think about it, how can I, the king, sell this quilt with such a smell at a high price? It's not fluffy enough, at least you should get rid of the smell! Also, make some modifications. If you want to sell it at a high price, you have to make it more delicate, otherwise Lou Yu will come out, or the feathers inside will prick people, etc."

Zuo Yi nodded, and asked tentatively: "Your Highness, what you said makes sense. I would like to ask if Your Highness could lend me the treasure to take a look at it, and then take it back to show it to the workers. Perhaps..."

Wen Jiu glanced at him and said, "Who told you that I have it?"

"Well, when I came to the palace at the beginning of this year, I had the honor of seeing it once and touching it." Zuo Yi scratched his head and did not hide it.

After purchasing and accumulating goose down and duck down for two or three years, they finally made ten quilts. They were just waiting for the inspection to pass. Then it would be their turn to show their skills after having eaten idle meals for three years. However, they were directly judged to be unqualified.

"Forget it, let's find Chunxue and ask her to get you a thick bed and leave the thin one for me." Wen Jiu seemed to have thought of something and agreed to Zuo Yi's request.

"If you ruin my quilt and still can't make it, I'll make you farm!"

Zuo Yi finally left happily with the quilt. Before leaving, he repeatedly promised that if he couldn't do it, he would dig a hole and bury himself in the ground.

"Wen Jiu? Is it over?"

Qiao Shinian sighed and threw the rope away casually: "I'm so bored, can you ask Cao Yue and the others to accompany me?"

"It's almost there, sister!" Wen Jiu ignored everyone's gazes and hurried over to Qiao Shinian, took her hand, and wrote something on her palm.

Song Haitang wondered if she was hallucinating just now. Why did she feel like Wen Jiu was running towards Qiao Shinian like the big yellow dog in the chicken coop?

Especially now, he was squatting beside Qiao Shinian and holding her hand to write.

Zhu Yu, expressionless, pushed Song Haitang and whispered, "If you don't want to be targeted by the prince later, just turn your head and pretend you didn't see anything."

Song Haitang's gaze was directed at Qiao Shinian, then fell on Wen Jiu, and finally looked at Zhu Yu, winking.

The moment Wen Jiu turned around, the two people who were making faces immediately returned to their original appearance.

Wen Jiu handed two blueprints to Diao Erhei who was standing beside him: "Here, this is your task for the next year. I want to see that my horses are well protected, and you can arrange their armor."

Diao Erhei took the blueprint with both hands, clasped his fists and said, "As you command!"

"As for you two, these people on the list are in cahoots with the bandits." Wen Jiu took out another piece of paper with a lot of names written on it.

"As for how you find their connection with the bandits, that is your business. I will confiscate their property and make them do hard labor to death in a place where no one can find them."

"I obey your command!" Song Haitang and Zhu Yu responded.

Song Haitang felt that Qiao Shinian was a truly remarkable woman, being able to control this prince with such a bad temper.

She estimated that if Qiao Shinian didn't speak, Wen Jiu would have to talk for at least another half an hour before letting them leave.