It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

With outsiders present, Jiang Yan felt too embarrassed to slack off for too long. She asked the impolite person to leave her seat and then began to concentrate on watching.

When her helper arrived late the next afternoon, only four and a half books remained in the book box.

The young woman, whom no one knew if she had taken from the home of one of her subordinates, walked up to Jiang Yan with her eyes downcast, her voice weak, and she exuded unease about the presence of many strangers in the room.

Jiang Yan couldn't stay shy any longer. She glared at Xie's subordinates who were openly watching their every move, until they awkwardly lowered their heads and went about their business. Then, she unconsciously raised her voice and whispered reassuringly, "Don't be nervous."

He then wrote down the tasks on a note and handed it to his newly appointed assistant. After the assistant read it, he lit a lamp and burned it to ashes.

Tsk~ Jiang Yan glanced at the people next to her who had "Is it really necessary?" and "Is it really necessary?" on their faces and silently complained to herself. They were all competitors, so she had to be on guard against them from all angles.

The new helper was introverted but capable. After only one day, the two of them emptied the books and swaggered out of the office, with Jiang Yan walking particularly briskly.

Inside the house, the three members of the Xie family who had not yet returned faced each other, and finally uttered, "Can they really explain themselves like this?"

Jiang Yan had no idea what information the Xie family was looking for in that pile of books, nor did she intend to inquire. At that moment, she was standing in front of Steward Fu Jia, rambling on about her work results over the past few days.

Manager Fu Jia arrived in the capital just two days ago, carrying the heavy responsibility of negotiating with the Xie family to secure as much of the capital's wealth as possible.

Originally, a large amount of royal wealth was swallowed up by Udand, but after he became emperor, he moved much of it back. Due to the sudden attack, there was no time to move it. As for the remaining treasures, everyone is trying to search the whole city, which is quite chaotic.

Jiang Yan mainly reported on three points: First, novel crops. The book recorded many plants with novel appearances or unique tastes. Based on her personal experience, Jiang Yan gave her ideas on their uses, especially emphasizing their potential to enrich the taste buds.

Secondly, there were various agricultural tools. These were not frequently recorded in books, but they did exist. However, what caught Jiang Yan's attention was that one particular tool, recorded in the third year of the Jian Guang era (1264), was sixteen years old. It was said to help farmers save time and effort when tilling the land and had been tested and proven by many people in the area over many years, yet the He Ding Prefecture knew nothing about it.

It's not that everyone is blind and deaf; Jiang Yantu has traveled through so many counties and has never seen similar farming tools in the fields. Even if farming tools are expensive and farmers can't afford them, none of them were seen at the estates of Lady Fu, the Hao family, or the Fu family during the spring planting season.

Even if the reason they haven't been able to use good farming tools is because of the great distance, inconvenient transportation, and poor information flow, it's not too late to start promoting them from top to bottom now.

Thirdly, there are seeds with outstanding characteristics. The data recorded in earlier years was more comprehensive and detailed. Through comparison, the two of them found that some areas in several counties had higher grain yields than nearby areas after experiencing natural disasters such as drought, floods, or continuous rain. In addition, some areas had consistently high yields.

Although multiple factors such as terrain, climate, fertility, and human effort play a role, what if a mutation or a seed with superior characteristics is bred? Even if many years have passed and the seeds harvested at that time have long been consumed or replaced, it is still a shortcut.

Jiang Yan originally didn't want to mention the seeds because she wasn't an expert. Besides, whether it was the farm manager of the Fu family or the ordinary villagers of Dongshan Village, they would consciously choose large and plump seeds when sowing, but that was far from enough.

Now that the Song and Xie families are competing fiercely, why can't the selection and breeding of grain varieties be taken into consideration? The Grand Minister of Agriculture and its branches in various regions have been closed for four years due to various problems, and it's time to restart them to contribute to the common people.

……

After Jiang Yan left, Fu Jian emerged from behind the screen behind Fu Jia.

Fu Jia stood up and bowed respectfully: "My lord."

Fu Jian waved his hand dismissively and commented without any politeness, "Naive."

Fu Jia chimed in, "She's just sitting idly at the Grand Minister of Agriculture's office anyway. I'll see which of those places that's desperately short of staff would be suitable for her to go there."

Fu Jian had no objections. But as he stepped out of the room, he suddenly turned back and said, "Put that stack of documents away, and we'll consider it again once the situation stabilizes."

……

In the days that followed, Jiang Yan was so busy that she didn't even have time to regret not being able to return to Dongshan Village for the reunion festival. She was already exhausted, and all she could think about was going back to her house and falling asleep.

Because she was transferred to check and record the gold, silver, jewels, silks and satins in the imperial treasury and the books in the rare library, she didn't have to move around most of the time. Therefore, the steward, who never felt tired from long hours of high-intensity work and was particularly stubborn, did not agree to her request to work only five hours a day.

As for Jiang Yan's pre-declared poor health and tendency to die from overwork... the manager, Mu Leng, simply said that she lacked exercise and that she would get used to it.

"Getting used to it my foot..." Jiang Yan had never missed the thirteenth and fourteenth guards and the other stewards that much. They really cared about her life.

After being caught leaving early and then being brought back, complaining that her superior was not there, and being forced to drink some bitter medicine of unknown effect while pretending to faint, Jiang Yan could only endure it for the time being and then take a short nap whenever she could.

After being put off again and again, with one task after another, it was almost springtime by the time the person in charge finally returned. The work on my hands was almost finished, and I had no more burdens.

Jiang Yan touched her sunken cheeks, dark circles under her eyes, and pale lips with heartache. She felt less excited about the gold jewelry she had just received, and wondered how long she would need to recuperate to recover.

Before she could finalize her recuperation plan for the current period, another uninvited guest arrived at her door.

After a short period of cooperation, Fourteen knew Jiang Yan's concern for her health and keenly sensed her resistance to his arrival. So he said directly, "My lord knows that you have been unwell recently and need to rest, so he will not let you travel with him."

Before Jiang Yan could even feel relieved, he heard him say, "However, considering that you are very concerned about farming, the lord has specially arranged for you to go with Twenty-Five to the outskirts of the capital tomorrow to check on the spring plowing situation. After that, you will stay at the farm to await orders."

Jiang Yan didn't really want this "consideration." Firstly, inspecting the spring plowing would inevitably involve physical exertion and fatigue, while she just wanted to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) for a few days and act like a rag doll. Secondly, she was afraid of ropes for the first time and didn't believe that the simple spring plowing would be accompanied by many extra tasks.

Sure enough, before dawn, she struggled to get up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and onto the cart. Before she could even take a bite of her breakfast, she was told to keep a close eye on the appearance of anyone she saw.

It is said that when the capital was captured, Wudande's confidant secretly took the imperial seal and ran away. After searching for several months, news has now come that he is hiding somewhere in the suburbs of the capital.