Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

"Junior brother, are you satisfied with the dishes in Fanlou?"

This was only the second time Ye Changyan and his five senior brothers met, but they gradually became familiar with each other as they drank and chatted.

Although Ye Changyan had enough liquor in his previous life, he did not like drinking. However, in an occasion like today, with fellow apprentices toasting each other, and since the liquor was not strong, he still enjoyed drinking it.

Ye Changyan estimated that the wine in this jug was only slightly stronger than the wine in his previous life. No wonder he often heard that someone could drink several jars of wine without getting drunk.

"Fourth Senior Brother, this Fan Lou is worthy of being one of the three major restaurants in Shengjing. The dishes are not only exquisite, but also taste outstanding."

"Hahaha, what little junior brother said is really watertight! Come on, let's have another drink together!"

The other brothers were all laughing and raising their glasses, and Mr. Cai was delighted when he saw this.

However, Sang Li was very envious of Ye Changyan for being able to become a disciple of such a master.

After the beginning of winter, the events of the whole year gradually entered the final stage of the year. During this period, several of Ye Changyan's senior brothers also became increasingly busy in their respective offices.

Mr. Cai takes Ye Changyan, Liang Jingcheng and Sang Li to class every day. The courses for Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng are obviously different from those for Sang Li.

Mr. Cai specially arranged the courses for his two young disciples to enter the Imperial College, but the Imperial College did not admit students from foreign countries. In addition, Sang Li's foundation was much weaker than Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng. Therefore, Sang Li's goal was to strive for admission to the Imperial College on the basis of ensuring proficiency in four subjects.

Compared with Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng, the course arrangement that Mr. Cai gave to Sang Li was much lower in breadth and depth.

Time has quickly entered the winter month, and the coldest time of the year is about to arrive.

For Ye Changyan, who grew up in Yuzhou Prefecture, Shengjing after the beginning of winter seemed even colder than the coldest days of winter in Yuzhou Prefecture.

The jacket that Lian and Erniu prepared for Ye Changyan before leaving came in handy.

Although the Cai family’s three meals a day are prepared by the cook Aunt Zhen, Mr. Cai and Liang Jingcheng would suffer from their “old problem” of poor appetite from time to time.

Therefore, Ye Changyan would cook occasionally. He found that although Shengjing City was far more prosperous than Yuzhou Prefecture, the variety of vegetables in Shengjing City had obviously decreased since the beginning of winter. Compared with Yuzhou Prefecture, the available fresh ingredients were pitifully few.

"Teacher, what do the people of Shengjing eat during the coldest days of winter?"

"Shengjing's winter climate is quite cold, and frost will appear after winter, so most vegetables have a hard time surviving the winter. In addition, there are several heavy snowfalls every year, sometimes lasting for several days. From the time the snow falls to the time it melts, it takes at least ten days."

"Therefore, people tend to store some vegetables that are durable in storage, such as cabbage, radish, potato and green onion. In addition, people also dry some vegetables in advance, such as beans, eggplant and cucumber, to cope with the shortage of vegetables in the cold winter."

Ye Changyan had hardly been to the north in his previous life, and didn't know much about these things, but after hearing what Mr. Cai said, an idea suddenly came to his mind.

If we can supply fresh vegetables, mainly green leafy vegetables, during this cold winter, wouldn’t that be a broad market prospect?

There is no shortage of wealthy people in Shengjing City. If these dignitaries could eat fresh vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables, in this cold winter, Ye Changyan believed that they would be willing to pay for them.

"Teacher, do you have any land in the suburbs of Beijing?"

Both Mr. Cai and Liang Jingcheng were a little confused, as Ye Changyan's question seemed a little off the mark.

"When I was in office, the imperial court allocated me some official land outside the capital, but the imperial court stipulated that after an official retires, the official land will be taken back."

Ye Changyan didn't know much about the court's official land system. He felt a little regretful when he heard Mr. Cai say that his official land was taken back by the court. It seemed that he had to find a way to buy some land in the suburbs of Beijing. But when he thought that this was Shengjing City, a place full of powerful people, the land in the suburbs of Beijing was probably controlled by the powerful.

Even if I have money, I may not be able to buy land. If I buy land outside, it will be inconvenient to manage. Besides, if I really grow vegetables in the cold winter, transportation will also be a problem.

Just when Ye Changyan was struggling, he heard Mr. Cai speak again.

"Although my official land was taken back by the court, I still have a small farm in Sanyuan County outside the capital. It was your master's wife's dowry. Although it is only more than 50 acres, the location of the farm is excellent. It takes about half an hour to drive from Yongxiang Gate in the southwest corner of the city along the official road to Sanyuan County. The farm is right next to the official road. There are five blue brick and tile houses and a brick granary on the farm."

"Teacher, who is taking care of this farm now?"

When Ye Changyan heard this, he was delighted and started to ask.

"When your master's wife's family gave this farm as a dowry, they also gave the farm's manager as a dowry."

"Later, your mistress betrothed one of her maids to this steward. The steward passed away a few years ago, so your mistress handed the farm over to the steward's son to manage. Although he is a little young, he is a family son after all, so she can use him with more confidence."

"Fortunately, this child has been with his father since he was young, and he is familiar with the management of the farm. After your master's wife passed away, I rarely asked about it, but every year this child would explain the accounts clearly to the family's housekeeper Dai Xing. A few days ago, I heard from Dai Xing that the farm's harvest in the past year was quite good."

After hearing what Mr. Cai said, Ye Changyan felt that it would be a perfect place to allocate a portion of the farm's land to experiment with the greenhouse. He just didn't know whether the farm was rented out to farmers or cultivated by hired farmhands.

If the land is rented out to farmers, it will be difficult to take it back from the tenants in a short period of time. If hired farmhands are cultivating the land, that would be perfect.

"Teacher, is this farm rented out, or are there hired farmhands cultivating it?"

Mr. Cai discovered that Ye Changyan seemed to be particularly interested in Zhuangzi and felt a little confused.

"I'm not sure about this. I need to ask Dai Xing to come over and ask him. But Sanlang, why are you so concerned about what's happening on this farm?"

Liang Jingcheng also felt something strange and looked up at Ye Changyan.

Ye Changyan looked excited, glanced at Mr. Cai, then glanced at Liang Jingcheng beside him, and smiled mysteriously.

"Didn't the teacher just say that there are few fresh vegetables in Shengjing in winter? You and my senior brother often have no appetite. I have a way to supply fresh vegetables to your family in winter, especially green leafy vegetables."