Farming and reading family

Gao E looked at Cao Geng suspiciously, feeling that he was just making small talk.

It doesn’t matter if others don’t know, but he has been in He County for some time, how could he not know.

Cao Geng felt a little embarrassed when Gao E looked at him: "I just heard about it a while ago, and I haven't had time to come and congratulate you."

Gao E knew he was just trying to make conversation: "It's just started."

"Building an academy is a good thing," Cao Geng agreed. "But the county is so exhausted that I'm afraid there won't be enough students."

Gao E became even more suspicious: "How about...Master Cao, if you have something to say, just say it directly."

Cao Geng felt even more embarrassed. It seemed like he wasn't really suited to chatting. "I was just trying to be roundabout."

"What happens after the detour?" Gao E was very curious about what Cao Geng was going to do.

"I heard that there is someone in your family who is good at growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms. Could you teach others?" Cao Geng said directly. "If the county prospers, more people will study."

Gao E thought that this was not roundabout, but elegant.

"It seems that Lord Cao also thinks this is not a good thing for me, so he has to take a roundabout approach." Gao E said with a smile.

Cao Geng was no fool: "Those gentry came to me for help, but it should be harder for them to come to you for help. I asked around, and they have made things difficult for you in the past."

"Besides, you have a lot of mulberry fields, and you will still be competitors in the future," Cao Geng analyzed.

"It's not really competition." Gao E shook her head. "If Hexian County develops a mulberry silk industry, it will promote the prosperity of Hexian County, which is a good thing."

Cao Geng looked at Gao E in surprise. He didn't expect her to be so magnanimous.

"But Lord Cao forgot that the court did not release the silkworms." Gao E stared at Cao Geng.

Cao Geng's heart skipped a beat.

Although there was a consensus on this matter, the imperial court did not allow mulberry silkworms to be produced.

"As long as the court does not issue a clear decree, this matter will not be in compliance with regulations," Gao E said directly.

Cao Geng only wanted to make life better for the people. He was tempted by what the gentry said: they would hire permanent and temporary workers and the people in the county would live better and better.

Now that I hear Gao E say this, it does seem a bit risky.

"I'm curious about who the other person Lord Cao is talking about, and how I persuaded Lord Cao to come to me." Gao E was curious.

"Some gentry in He County." Cao Geng did not hide it.

"I think these people have ulterior motives." Gao E said seriously, "If anything goes wrong, these local tyrants and old hands will definitely cry and say that they, the common people, know nothing and put all the blame on Lord Cao."

Cao Geng looked at Gao E. Was he so stupid in Gao E's eyes?

At that time, the blame may not necessarily be put on him, but it will definitely be put on Gao E.

It is indeed something I need to think about.

Gao E looked at Cao Geng's reaction and wondered if she had gone too far. "What does Lord Cao think?"

Cao Geng was silent for a moment and then sighed, "Life has never been easy for ordinary people, especially since He County just experienced a flood. I hope their lives can be better."

"So Lord Cao thinks that if the gentry live well, the people will live well?" Gao E thought this was the logic.

"If they want to work, they have to be long-term workers, and then people's lives will be better," Cao Geng analyzed.

"So Lord Cao hopes that the gentry will treat their tenants better?" Gao E guessed.

Cao Geng looked at Gao E and said, "If the tenants have money, they will buy land, and their lives will gradually improve."

Gao E didn't know whether Cao Geng was stupid or naive.

"Lord Cao, don't you know that while the rich live in luxury, there are people freezing to death on the streets?" Gao E looked at Cao Geng.

He may simply want to do something, but the current state of the world makes it impossible for him to start.

Cao Geng lowered his eyes. He knew it of course. After all, he had been to the capital and knew that there were cakes there that cost two taels a piece.

If Lord Cao had not come today, Gao E would have overlooked one thing. After the flood, the land in He County was severely annexed. She had thousands of acres of land and a lot of forests in her hands.

Now the gentry in He County still need labor, so they are quite polite to tenants and farmhands.

But once the land prices stabilized, they kept rising. Even if they didn't rise, the landlords would not sell their land unless they encountered some problems.

Therefore, it is very difficult for people who do not have land to get a piece of land.

If there is a disaster, the first ones to die are those who have nothing. This is a dead end.

"Ah..." Cao Geng sighed, "I'm sorry for being so abrupt."

"Is Liu Wenyan still imprisoned?" Gao E asked about this matter by the way.

Cao Geng nodded: "How dare we let him go when there is no news from the capital."

Gao E wondered if the prince had forgotten about this matter, after all, it had been such a long time.

Or maybe Liu Wenyan didn't get the job done, and the prince didn't want to force him to drink at all.

Gao E felt that the latter was more likely.

Cao Geng and Gao E chatted for a while and then said goodbye. Gao E saw his carriage that was about to fall apart again.

Maybe one day this car will really fall apart, and Cao Geng will realize that this car is really no good.

After a few days, Yan Zheng couldn't help but scream several times. Others thought that Mu Gonglao might not be a doctor, but a butcher, so they stayed away from him.

Chen Zhengyue, on the other hand, would go to watch every time and comfort Yan Zheng.

He also had to go to school after the New Year, but he was not very interested in going to school and followed Xiao Chuyun more.

Although he did not go to school seriously, he knew quite a few words and learned those in elementary school faster than other children.

Gao E didn't force him to go to school. After all, other children came back to review their lessons, and he just listened and watched from the side, learning whatever he wanted to learn.

In the past two days, the news of Yishunbo's arrest reached He County. The people of He County didn't feel anything about it. Only some gentry who had dealings with Qinzhou City celebrated it.

At the same time, Gao E's honeycomb coal shop opened.

Gao E didn't have to worry about it. Jin Gusheng brought people to demonstrate how to use honeycomb coal. The price was only about 70% of that of firewood. Honeycomb coal soon became popular in He County.

However, if you want to use honeycomb coal, you have to buy a stove specifically for honeycomb coal. If you don't buy a stove, we won't sell you honeycomb coal.

This is not a bundled sale, but their stoves can direct the smoke outside, so it has no effect on people.

It was difficult to get a furnace for a while, and many people were queuing up.

Fortunately, Master Ma has already trained several apprentices, so they can do it faster.

Just when Prince Qing went to Tanzhou City to investigate Zhiweilou and discovered that Yishunbo had privately opened an iron mine, Xu Boyan took the list and investigated Zhiweilou in various places in Dachang, as well as the officials on the list of Zhiweilou.

As long as the emperor is still alive, no one else can form a party, not even the prince.

In particular, the emperor was very wary of those old clans and worried that they would influence the government, so when there was such an opportunity, he would naturally use drastic measures.

That day, Lu Hao and Lu Erniang came to see Gao E again, saying that someone was digging up the matter of their silkworm breeder.

In the past, Gao E wouldn't care too much and would just be poached.

But the imperial court had not yet publicly permitted silkworm breeding, so she could not be too careless.

"I heard that some people have gone to Qinzhou City to sell silk cocoons." Lu Erniang also wanted to start raising silkworms as soon as possible.