Farming and reading family

Now that they have everything ready, they just let everyone worry.

"Don't worry." Gao E poured tea for Lu Erniang. "It's not like we don't have any pets at all, we just don't have many."

The ones we raise nowadays are only for breeding silkworms, and the number is very small.

Lu Erniang knew this was the case: "Perhaps the imperial court's decree has already come down, but He County is so remote that we don't know about it yet."

"Our mulberry trees are not big, so don't think of raising silkworms just because you have a few mulberry leaves." Gao E was sure that he had not come down. If he had really come down, the document would not have come to He County.

"Then you haven't seen those people's mulberry trees. They are smaller than yours." Lu Er Niang complained.

The result of the discussion was naturally that they could not raise silkworms on a large scale for the time being, and they could not let any of their current silkworm breeders go, so Lu Er Niang had to solve this problem herself.

Within two days, someone came to buy mulberry leaves and offered a high price, but Gao E refused again.

Others just don’t understand.

Not raising silkworms yourself, not keeping a silkworm raiser at home, that’s all, but what about not even selling mulberry leaves?

Those are the leaves of trees. They fall off by themselves in autumn and are not worth a penny.

But others were just talking, and no one disobeyed Gao E's orders.

That day, when Gao E passed by the lotus pond in Luoyun Village, she saw that the lotus flowers were growing well this year, so she found a day when the sun was not too strong and took Lu Qingluo and Ji Wuyang to pick some lotus leaves.

Some lotus pods are edible, so I picked some.

I guess we can dig out a lot of lotus roots this winter and make some lotus root powder.

"Sister Gao, Sister Gao..." Lu Hao shouted from a distance while riding his horse.

Gao E was sitting on a rock beside the lotus pond with Xiao Wu. When she heard Lu Hao shouting, she stood up and waved her hand.

Lu Hao rode over and dismounted in a rather awkward manner. "People from the prefecture are here to arrest those illegally selling silk. They've already arrested quite a few people."

Gao E was a little surprised, but not too surprised. After all, she had been on guard against this matter.

"Er Niang was also arrested." Lu Hao wiped his sweat.

"What?" Gao E finally became concerned. "She's secretly selling silk?"

"No!" Lu Hao answered very straightforwardly, "Absolutely not. It was those who were arrested who bit Er Niang out."

"Are you sure?" Gao E asked again.

"She just wrapped some silk herself and really didn't sell it." Lu Hao was sure.

"You'd better not lie, otherwise I can't save her." Gao E looked solemn.

"How could I joke about Er Niang's life?" Lu Hao promised.

Gao E thought for a moment and said, "Pack up your things and we'll go to He County right away."

Many people were arrested this time. Some were tied up in a bunch at the gate of the yamen, and some were locked up inside the yamen, attracting a lot of onlookers.

Lu Erniang and several of her masters were tied up at the gate of the yamen and were pointed at and criticized by people around them.

It was already afternoon when Gao E arrived in He County, and there were many people at the government office.

When Lu Erniang saw Gao E coming, she was very excited, but also felt a little ashamed and embarrassed to ask for help.

Gao E glanced at Lu Er Niang and went straight to beat the drum without saying anything to her.

Cao Geng was debating this matter with Kong Xiangyang, and Cao Geng naturally didn't want Kong Xiangyang to take the person away.

Hearing the sound of drums outside, the two of them came out together.

"Gao?" Cao Geng saw that Gao E had not yet come to the court. "Who are you suing?"

"My farmhand was taken away for no reason. I beg Lord Cao to help me." Gao E bowed.

When Cao Geng heard Gao E say this, he knew that one of the people arrested by Lord Kong was Gao E's man. He asked, "Who arrested your long-term worker?"

"A high-ranking official from Qinzhou City." Gao E said directly.

"That's nonsense." Kong Xiangyang was angry. "How could I arrest someone without any reason?"

"My long-term worker is Lu Erniang. Sir, please tell me why you arrested her." Gao E asked directly.

Kong Xiangyang had arrested many people, but he didn't know which one was Lu Erniang: "Where is Lu Erniang?"

Lu Erniang moved forward, bringing the master who was tied up with her forward a little.

"These unruly people ignored the laws of the court and smuggled silk. They must be arrested and punished." Kong Xiangyang said righteously.

After Yishunbo was arrested, Qinzhou City was in a state of disrepair and many new officials took office, Kong Xiangyang being one of them.

As the saying goes, a new official has to do three things when he takes office, so he always has to do something.

However, there were too many cases involved in Qinzhou City, and even some unjust, false and wrong cases could not be brought up, which made him feel very embarrassed.

As a result, he happened to meet someone selling silk. When he heard that the person was not from Qinzhou City, he became excited.

So he brought people to wipe out all the silkworm farmers in He County.

People like Lu Er Niang were not originally within his range of capture, but those he captured all said that Lu Er Niang raised the most silkworms and was the first person to bring back silkworms from Yue.

So Kong Xiangyang took people to capture Lu Erniang.

The more people you catch, the bigger the case becomes, and the greater the reward you will get.

"Smuggling silk?" Gao E grasped at four of the words.

"Yes." Kong Xiangyang nodded.

"Is there any evidence?" Gao E asked directly.

Kong Xiangyang never thought that a commoner would dare to question him: "When she was arrested, she was raising silkworms at home."

"Raising silkworms means smuggling silk?" Gao E asked.

Kong Xiangyang felt that Gao E was being unreasonable: "If you don't sell silk, what are you raising silkworms for?"

"Eat silkworm pupae." Gao E said directly.

Kong Xiangyang paused.

"Silkworm pupae are indeed a delicacy in Yue," Cao Geng testified.

Kong Xiangyang said, "Some people say they have planted a large area of ​​mulberry trees."

"Mine." Gao E admitted.

"You've planted such a large mulberry forest, and you're still saying you're raising silkworms and selling silk?" Kong Xiangyang stared at Gao E.

"Does the law of Dachang stipulate that mulberry trees cannot be planted?" Gao E felt puzzled.

Kong Xiangyang thought about it and realized that the law did not forbid the planting of mulberry trees. "Then why do you plant so many mulberry trees?"

"That's very useful," Gao E said seriously. "You can dry the mulberries and sell them as medicine. After the frost comes, you can collect the frosted mulberry leaves and chop them for firewood. The bark can also be made into mulberry paper. What's the problem?"

Kong Xiangyang was speechless: "Then why hire so many farmhands who can raise silkworms?"

"That's even more impossible to explain." Gao E looked aggrieved. "Lu Erniang is from Yuedi. She said her fellow villagers were suffering and brought them to me for refuge. I can't accuse them of smuggling silk just because they can raise silkworms, right?"

All of these combined did require sericulture, but the imperial court did not prohibit sericulture, only that the private sale of silk was prohibited.

The people below judged large-scale silkworm breeding as illegal silk trafficking.

Lu Erniang and her team are currently only breeding silkworm seeds, and they don't raise many.

So no matter what, it cannot be considered as smuggling silk.

Kong Xiangyang was embarrassed by Gao Da in front of so many people. He looked at the constable beside him angrily and asked, "How did you arrest him?"

The constable on the side did not dare to contradict: "Someone reported it, so I had no choice but to bring him back for questioning."

Hearing the constable say this, Kong Xiangyang finally found an excuse: "We're just bringing him back for questioning. How can you arrest him for no reason?"