Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

The messenger continued reading: "...Since the second year of David, the whole country has been blessed with good weather and good harvests, but the people have suffered greatly, and every year they have been unable to get enough food, which has led to great disasters... For example, Qin Yun of Qinjia Village in Yuzhou has developed a method to cure diseases, a skill that benefits both the country and the people. This man is well-educated, sensible, gentle, respectful and kind, so he is specially awarded 100 taels of gold, a jade ruyi, and a number of other rewards..."

"...Qin Yun discovered the potato crop and developed a disease resistance method, which is truly beneficial to the country and the people. He is hereby canonized as a seventh-rank Anren and specially granted the title of Ruyi. I decree..."

After the messenger finished speaking, he paused briefly.

The guards behind him came out with a plate full of water, and when they uncovered the red silk cloth, they revealed golden gold and a jade-colored ruyi.

Everyone secretly looked up and saw the fist-sized gold ingot and the Ruyi carved out of jade. They all took a breath. They may not understand the value of the Ruyi, but how could they not know the value of the gold that was there.

Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen so much gold in my entire life.

The imperial edict from the emperor came from thousands of miles away, actually to reward Qin Yun.

Everyone looked at Yun Zhenzhen with eager eyes. It seemed that their family was going to be rich in the future.

This was the first time that Yun Zhenzhen received an award. Although her expression remained calm, she was actually very excited inside. Oh my god, gold, gold! She had never seen so much gold in her entire life.

But there were so many people present, so she bit the tip of her tongue lightly, forced herself to endure it, and then prostrated herself like the etiquette she saw on TV.

"This humble woman bows to thank the Emperor for his grace. Long live the Emperor."

Everyone was a little bit incredulous and looked quietly in the direction of Yun Zhenzhen. Even they did not realize their respect for her.

Yun Zhenzhen herself was very surprised.

She reported the potato incident with the intention of preventing other people from suffering from hunger, and it would be nice to receive some reward. However, she never expected that the emperor would be so generous and actually give her an official position of high rank.

Moreover, in this era, women were usually canonized because of the honor bestowed upon them by their sons or husbands. It was too unreasonable for her, a widow, to suddenly become a seventh-rank Anren and be granted a title.

She took the plate handed to her by the guard. One hundred taels of gold was too heavy for her to hold. Fortunately, Old Lady Qin and Aunt Zhao were there to help her take it.

The other women also helped out. In addition to gold, there were also jade ruyi. The village aunties had never seen these things before, and they were afraid of breaking them, so they moved very carefully.

The messenger paused for a moment before continuing to read the imperial edict: "I have heard that Yun Jing of the Yun family, along with the sons of the Qin family and Wang Ze, have used their ingenuity to invent the stone mill, alleviating my worries and freeing the hands of the people. Therefore, I specially reward them with five sets of the Four Treasures of the Study!"

Yun Jing and several children kowtowed to express their gratitude.

Wang Ze's eyes lit up. Oh my God, he actually got a reward. The emperor actually remembered a small person like him.

He quickly crawled over and took the reward handed to him by the guard. He looked at Yun Jing and the others and smiled happily.

"The entire population of Qinjia Village has dedicated themselves to promoting potatoes, saving the surrounding area from drought and famine for a hundred miles. They are truly a model for the nation and have won my heart... The county has awarded Qinjia Village a thousand acres of fertile farmland!"

Village Chief Qin widened his eyes.

The county magistrate had just awarded several hundred acres of wasteland to them. With the current reward, the territory of their Qinjia Village is almost as large as that of Liuye Town.

He kowtowed in thanks and said, "I accept your order. Long live the emperor!"

The rest of the people all kowtowed, their voices trembling uncontrollably: "Long live our emperor!"

At this moment, the village chief's mind was working at high speed. He heard from the people in the town that if they encountered the emperor's edict, they would need to give a reward to the person who delivered the edict after reading it out. But he had no money on him. It was all managed by the maid at home.

If all else fails, I can borrow some from others. How much should I give? Wouldn't copper coins seem too stingy? It's a thousand acres of land after all. How about giving each person some small change? Would the messenger from Kyoto look down on it?

The village chief was feeling very nervous.

the other side.

After the entire imperial edict was read, the two messengers bowed to Yun Zhenzhen and said, "Greetings to Ruyi Anren. According to the court's regulations, the salary of a seventh-rank Anren is paid every two months. It will be delivered to you at the appointed time. You only need to wait for a while."

After the two finished talking, they were about to leave.

Yun Zhenzhen stopped them and quickly asked Xiaonan to go into the house to get the money, and then gave each of them a red envelope containing two taels of silver.

"You two elder brothers have come a long way and must have worked hard. This is a small gift from our village. You can take it and have some tea. I know you are in a hurry to return, so I won't keep it for dinner. Here is the hot sweet water I just added, and some homemade dried meat. You can take it with you on the road. Please be careful along the way..."

Both messengers were a little surprised.

They came to the village to announce the imperial decree. Looking at the barren mountains around them, they didn't expect to get any reward money. However, they didn't expect that Ruyi'an would be so generous and give each person two taels of silver.

In the past, the tips given by wealthy people in some surrounding cities might not have been this much, and this Anren spoke very gently, making it impossible to find fault with him at all.

"Thank you, Mr. Ruyi'an. We will accept it without hesitation. The trip is urgent, so we will meet again later."

The two messengers respectfully put down the imperial edict, then rode away quietly on their tall horses.

After the people left, the other people in the village could not stay any longer and wanted to surround them immediately, but seeing that the county magistrate was still there, they did not dare to be too presumptuous.

They could only enter the main hall carrying the large lacquer tray that had just been delivered under the command of Old Lady Qin and the village chief. With Old Lady Qin watching over them, these people dared not have any bad thoughts and could only watch with excitement.

County Magistrate Wang and Lu Yunfeng came over and gently held Ruyi's hand. "Congratulations! The emperor has come thousands of miles to send this imperial edict, which shows how much the emperor values ​​this matter..."

Yun Zhenzhen smiled and replied, "Excuse me, I just found some potatoes. Normally, a reward would be enough. Why did His Majesty make such a big fuss about making me a Peaceful Person?"

"No, no, no, Anren, don't underestimate this new crop. After the court orders its promotion, we will be able to see a large harvest next year. Food is the most important thing for the people, and the people will no longer have to go hungry. This is the foundation of a country and its people, not a trivial matter." County Magistrate Wang said with a smile.

"What's more, the Northeast has been plagued by wars in recent years, and food and fodder have been a major problem. Once food is available after next year's harvest, it will surely boost morale... Anren, only then will your contributions truly begin to be seen."

Lu Yunfeng stepped forward and looked at her soothingly. "The people have discovered new crops and haven't kept them to themselves. Instead, they've actively innovated to benefit agriculture. This is something His Majesty is pleased to see. This reward for you all is also to tell the people of the world that as long as they do good things that benefit the country and the people, His Majesty will not treat them unfairly. This is the reward you deserve, so please accept it."

Yun Zhenzhen understood that she was being promoted as a positive example, hoping that the people would be more creative.