After dressing as a widow

Lin Zhenjiu woke up a bit, looked at the letter in Lu Lu's hand, and received it.

Lin Xiaoyao, who was about to get up and leave, said to Lin Zhen: "Third brother, I'll go to rest first, and we two brothers will continue talking tomorrow."

Lin Zhen nodded: "Okay, Lulu, take Fourth Master to the side room to rest. It's still cold recently, so take a thicker quilt."

"Yes, boss," Lu Lu walked up to Lin Xiaoyao, and led him to the packed wing.

Lin Zhen opened the envelope, took out the letterhead, and saw a few words of greeting at the beginning of the letter, then he explained his recent situation in the capital, and finally he said that he had made a marriage with the daughter of the head of the Hanlin Academy. Will be married in August.

Lin Zhen paused slightly with the hand holding the letter, and put the letter aside.

Gu Lin was keenly aware of his clarity: "What did he write in the letter?"

Lin Zhen picked up the jug and poured a glass of wine: "He said that everything is fine in the capital, and he has made an engagement with the first daughter of a scholar of the Imperial Academy, who will be married in August."

"It's pretty good." Lin Zhen took a sip of wine, "When he was in Luozhou Fucheng, Mrs. Chen showed him a few marriages. If it wasn't for the drought, he might already have a child under his knees. Now It can be regarded as calling Mrs. Chen's wish."

Zhong Yan is 21 years old this year, and in the eyes of others, he is not too young. Now that he is in the Imperial Academy, he is valued by the academician of the Imperial Academy, and marrying his daughter to him, he is considered proud.

When Gu Lin heard the content of the letter, he didn't say anything, reached out to take the cup in his hand, stood up and hugged him horizontally.

In a daze, Lin Zhen nestled in his arms and yawned, looking up at him.

Gu Lin put him on the bed, pulled the quilt to cover him, and was about to get up, Lin Zhen mumbled and grabbed his belt, hugged his waist, and rubbed his head against his lower abdomen: "Gu Shuanzi, Are you hiding something from me?"

"Ah."

"You are honest."

"If you really ask, I'll tell you."

"You have contact with the people in the court?" Gu Lin never covered up in front of him, but just avoided some things, and it was only a matter of time before Lin Zhen discovered the clues.

Gu Lin nodded: "Yes, Uncle Lin, do you still remember the water bandits we met when we went to Kyoto?"

"You mean, those water bandits are targeting someone, and the person you are contacting now is the person who was chased and killed by the water bandits that day?"

"Yes, that person was on the ship we were on that day, the eleventh prince Qin Ziwen."

Lin Zhen seldom inquired about the affairs of the court, and his eyes were even darkened when he saw the eleventh prince Qin Ziwen. He looked at Gu Lin: "It is extremely dangerous for officials to stand in line. If he gains power, you can skyrocket. If he falls You can't be alone if you lose, I think you understand this."

"Well, he's doing it fairly covertly now. There are several princes, including Prince Rong Xuan and Prince Xian, who stand in the limelight. Few people have their eyes on him." After several confrontations, Gu Lin touched some Qin Ziwen. According to the details, this eleventh prince is a gentle person, and his goal is not to be the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, but to have other ideas of his own.

Just like he desperately brought back the evidence from Xuzhou and wanted to find out the people behind him, what he did was more like revenge.

From him, as well as some news that he collected, Gu Lin has his own judgment on the situation in the DPRK and China.

The present sage, Qin Zhong, has been sick twice in the past two years, and his temperament has become more irritable and violent. The princes below are eager to move, and they are increasingly unable to maintain the calm on the surface. This is not only caused by Qin Zhong who is getting old and gradually losing control. , There is also the reason why the crown prince has not been established for many years, and the position of the East Palace is vacant.

This last bit of peace, only to be completely broken when the emperor who has been in power for more than 30 years lies in bed.

Gu Lin has his own plan.

Lin Zhen didn't have any martial arts skills, so naturally he couldn't detect the abnormality. If Gu Lin hadn't mentioned it now, he would have forgotten about meeting the water bandits.

Unexpectedly, these things happened that day, and Wei San's identity as a businessman became suspicious.

Lin Zhen just now was drunk by his drinking three cups three cups at that moment, made his head drunk, rubbed his eyes and yawned: "It's as long as you have something in your mind, I'll go to sleep first."

After speaking, Lin Zhen closed his eyes and fell asleep, with his hands beside the quilt, the lower half of his face was covered by the quilt.

Gu Lin put down the bed curtain, turned and went back to her room.

The next day, Lin Zhen got up after waking up from the drunkenness. He only found out that it was noon after asking Lu Lu. He got up with his clothes on, washed up and went to the side room to find Lin Xiaoyao.

Lin Xiaoyao was sitting on the teacher's chair reading a book, and Pang Feng stood beside him.

Seeing his calm look, Lin Zhen walked over to look at the book in his hand: "What are you looking at?"

Lin Xiaoyao asked Pang Feng to move a chair over, and asked Lin Zhen to sit down: "There are two or four volumes of travel notes written by a not-so-famous scholar. I read the third volume. If you want to read it, third brother, you can read it." Take it back and take a look."

The book was placed on the table, Lin Zhen picked up the first volume, and saw that this travel note was not simply a travel note that recorded the scenery of mountains and rivers, but also the poems and essays written by the scholar. one light.

Lin Zhen, who has read books for more than ten years, still has the ability to appreciate poetry. He turned two pages and looked at the third volume in Lin Xiaoyao's hand: "This scholar's reputation does not match his talent and learning."

Suddenly, Lin Zhen found a piece of paper sandwiched in the scroll, and a poem was written on the paper.

He cleans up the handwriting of the lyrics very well, it is Lin Xiaoyao's, and the lyrics are simple and affectionate, so people can't help reading it again and savoring it again and again.

Lin Zhen looked at Lin Xiaoyao, Lin Xiaoyao also found that he had seen the words she wrote, leaned over and said to Lin Zhen: "It's a bit clumsy to write to pass the time in your spare time."

"People say that people should look at each other with admiration in three days, Xiaoyao, this sentence should be applied to you." The first word Lin Xiaoyao learned was taught by Lin Zhen, a thousand-character essay, which she stumbled for a year .

Afterwards, in Anyuan Town and Fucheng, he would go to the bookstore to buy some books and put them away. When he had time, he would read them and practice calligraphy.

Now, he can actually write words that even Lin Zhen thinks are good.

Lin Zhen thought of the letter that Zhong Yan sent yesterday, and felt that there was no need for him to tell Lin Xiaoyao the contents of the letter.

Lin Zhen asked Lin Xiaoyao: "Would you like to go out and have a look? Several of Lin's workshops are located in the state capital. There are also pig farms and slaughterhouses outside the city. The cement factory is farther away. If you want to see it, you can." go on horseback."

"I just want to see the excitement in Pingzhou. Let's go." Lin Xiaoyao put the book aside, stood up, and Pang Feng, who was waiting with him, immediately handed him the whip.

His horse and Lin Zhenhong Zao were tied together in the backyard. When the two horses saw their master coming up from the hay, the two horses excitedly scratched their hooves.

Lin Xiaoyao noticed the difference in the hooves of the jujube horses, "Third brother, why did your horse nail something into the hooves?"

Lin Zhen went to untie the rope of the jujube by himself, and stroked its mane: "This is a shoe shoe. It is nailed to the horse's hoof after it has been rested. It can prevent the horse's hoof from being damaged."

"Most of the roads in Lizhou and the state capital are cement roads, and it is unbearable without shoeing."

"So that's it." Lin Xiaoyao's horse was about the same height as Hongzao, but its fur was white. After being held by Lin Xiaoyao, he obediently rubbed his head against him.

The two rode their horses together and went out from the back door of the state government office. Lin Xiaoyao was more interested in cement that could pave concrete roads, so they went to the cement factory first.

The sky was high and blue, and they passed by many men, women and children who were farming. People around the state capital had used the plow for the second year. The manure piled up last year was put into the field in handfuls, and then the seeds were thrown in by people.

It was the first time for Lin Xiaoyao to see someone farming in May, so she slowed down and turned her head to Lin Zhen, saying, "This season, the crops in Anyuan Town are as high as a calf, and they have just been planted here. How much grain can one mu of land produce?"

"Without deep plowing and composting, when the year was good, it was about 200 catties, but now it can weigh more than [-] catties."

"It's half less than ours." The crops in Liyu Village weighed about [-] catties when they were not composted. After composting, they were well managed. If there were no disasters, they would be [-] to [-] catties. More than half here.

But for Lizhou, where it snows for most of the year, it is a gift from the gods to increase the production so much, and I don't know how many people it can feed.

Lin Xiaoyao suddenly remembered something, and said to Lin Zhen: "When our caravan was selling and receiving goods, we heard some rumors that the imperial court would also teach a method to increase production. This year, there are no shadows."

Lin Zhen immediately thought of what Gu Rin had told him, that in the current affairs policy he had submitted, he had explained in detail the matter of composting.

Later, Lin Zhen also heard from Gu Lin that the imperial court intends to try it in the suburbs of Beijing first, but he did not expect that it has not been implemented in the local area yet.

This speed is also slow.

He was riding on the horse, looking at the people farming on both sides of the road, and said: "The method you have heard that can increase the yield of the field should be the composting method proposed by Gu Lin, but the court's action is slower, and it has not been implemented yet."

Lin Xiaoyao said: "The sooner such a good method is implemented, the sooner the people below will have a full meal."

"Like our Liyu Village, in only three or four years, every household has new clothes to wear and meat to eat."

Lin Zhen naturally thought so, but it was in Lizhou, Gu Lin was in front of the prefect, otherwise who would dare to believe his words and methods so wholeheartedly, and let him toss with the land that the people depend on for survival.

The road leading to the cement factory has been repaired, and it takes only half an hour to get there on horseback. Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao saw a peddler walking on the road carrying things, waiting for them to see the gray factories and buildings of the cement factory. , only to find that a lot of shopkeepers gathered around the cement factory.

The husbands and women who live together in the factory come to buy needles and thread in twos and threes. With their husbands' wages, these husbands and women are more generous.