The Agricultural Tycoon of the Red House

"Master Jia, I heard that the strawberries in and out of the palace have been fried to the price of a catty of one hundred taels of gold, and in a place like Jinling, some people would dare to buy them if you called for 1 taels of gold. With this momentum, you Exporting strawberries outside the palace will definitely make a lot of money. It's just that the money is more or less borrowed from the palace, but it goes into your own pocket. Mrs. Jia, are you in a bad mood? Are you sure? Are you still thinking about the Holy Majesty's Long En?" Shui Rong said with enthusiasm, and patted his chest with his hand.

Jia Lian looked at him like a clown.

Seeing that Jia Lian didn't respond to him, Shui Rong felt rather embarrassed, coughed lightly, cupped his hands and said to the emperor, "Please learn from me, Your Majesty!"

When the ministers heard this, most of them looked at Jia Lian with envy and disdain.Jia Lian was on good terms with the fourth prince, and the fourth prince didn't say a word, so naturally everyone remained silent.

Yin Zhen was squinting his eyes, standing at the top of the group of officials, standing side by side with Prime Minister Jing Yingguang and First Prince Yin Qi.

Jing Yingguang's eyes are also squinted, but his expression is much kinder than Yinzhen's, because the corners of his mouth are curled up, and he looks amiable with a smile.But everyone in the court knew that the prime minister's smile was just a disguise, making it harder for everyone to guess what he was thinking.

The emperor raised his beard and listened to Wang Yizheng's accusation against Jia Lian, thinking it was very reasonable.But on the lips.The emperor was playing flattery and did not directly accuse Jia Lian, "It is not a question of Jia Aiqing taking advantage of power for personal gain. After all, these strawberries and land are all things in Aiqing's own hands, and the court has never done anything. However, Aiqing also It is true that with the help of the east wind in the palace, once the strawberries are exported outside the palace, it is true that Aiqing will make a little more money. But it is nothing, Jia Aiqing has contributed so much to the country, you deserve this little money."

The emperor paused, and then pretended to be curious and asked: "But there is really someone outside this palace who is willing to spend 100 taels of gold to buy strawberries?"

Shui Rong hurriedly said yes, and said that among the people he knew, there were a few who wanted to buy it at this price.

The emperor nodded, and now he believed it. By the way, he counted his fingers in his heart... The emperor suddenly turned his head and asked Jia Lian: "Aiqing, how many catties of strawberries will your village produce this year?"

"This is strawberries in four seasons. In a climate like the capital city, there are three seasons to bear fruit, and each mu can reach a thousand catties, a total of [-] mu." Jia Lian replied truthfully.

"Thirty acres?" The emperor was a little surprised. Last year, strawberries were eaten very tightly, and only the nobles in the palace could eat them. This year, they can produce [-] catties of strawberries.People in the palace would definitely not be able to eat so many catties, so it was absolutely reasonable for Jia Lian to propose selling them outside the palace.

"Aiqing, last year the strawberries were only picked at one time, a dozen or twenty catties. How come there are so many strawberries all of a sudden this spring?"

"Last year's strawberries were focused on breeding, so there were not many fruits, only enough to supply the palace. When strawberries are breeding, only by removing the inflorescences on the plants can the stolons emerge as soon as possible and high-quality seedlings can be obtained. Therefore The strawberry seedlings that are being bred are basically fruitless, but after this year's breeding, the number of strawberry seedlings has increased tenfold, and there are enough seedlings, so they will naturally ask for fruit. As for the breeding work, it will continue, just because now As long as there are enough seedlings, the strawberry production will not be delayed."

"I see." The emperor stroked his beard and nodded, but his face gradually became gloomy.If it is true as King Beijing Jing said, a catty of strawberries can be sold for hundreds of taels of gold in the market, so wouldn't 3000 catties of strawberries be exchanged for [-] million taels of silver?So much money flowed into Jia Lian's hands... The emperor's suspicious eyes stopped, and his eyes turned to the fourth son Yin Zhen who was standing in front of the courtiers.

It's really amazing that the fourth child has found such a talented servant of the household department to come to him.This guy is so ambitious to rely on farmers to make a fortune and become rich like an enemy, what is he going to do?Rebellion!

The emperor's complexion was fair, but the raging anger was already burning hot in his heart.

King Bei Jing took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, although Mrs. Jia said that the field of strawberries belongs to Mrs. Jia, it is true that he took advantage of the prevailing wind in the palace to make money. He—"

"If it's okay for me to collect money, how about asking the King of Beijing to put this title on after I collect the money?" Jia Lian gave the King of Beijing a cold look.

The king of Beijing Jing refused to accept it, and looked at Jia Lian.

"By the way, King Beijing Jing said just now that some people around him have long wanted to buy strawberries at a price of one hundred taels per catty, but is it true? I always thought that the price raised by the people was just a gimmick, and it couldn't be true." Jia Lian sighed softly.

Shui Rong realized that Jia Lian was questioning the authenticity of the incident he described, and hurriedly said, "Of course it is true!"

"How many people?" Jia Lian asked.

Shui Rong was stunned for a moment, and then thought about it pretending to be thoughtful. Considering that the emperor on the dragon chair had been staring at him all the time, Shui Rong deliberately reported too many, "Almost five." But it couldn't be more, any more would seem a bit exaggerated, The emperor may not believe it yet.

"Very good." Jia Lian smiled.

The emperor kept holding back his anger and watched the two confront each other coldly.Suddenly Jia Lian laughed wildly and proudly, and said dissatisfiedly: "Jia Aiqing, what do you mean, you are happy that your strawberries can be sold at a good price?"

Jia Lian bowed and said respectfully: "I am happy for the treasury that is about to be filled."

The emperor was stunned, not understanding what Jia Lian meant.When it comes to the national treasury, he is one head and two big. He has just finished the war, and in addition to the previous two poor years, his pocket as an emperor is very deflated.That's why he got angry and annoyed when he settled the accounts just now.It is a great humiliation and ridicule to him that a courtier sells strawberries and earns more money than he is an emperor!

"Your Majesty, the memorandum is in your hands." Jia Lian reminded.

The emperor rolled his eyes, remembering the memorabilia in his hand that he hadn't read yet.This is the matter that Jia Lian just asked for instructions to sell strawberries outside the palace. Originally, this was actually Jia Lian's own family business, but because it had become a common practice to enshrine strawberries in the palace last year, he was right to ask himself for instructions.

Logically speaking, as the emperor, he has no reason to refute the family affairs of his courtiers selling strawberries, but this strawberry has borrowed the east wind that the royal family has touted, and the price has risen to such an astonishing level. How sad it is to be used by courtiers to plot.

The emperor took a deep breath and opened the memorial, not intending to read the content, but to delay for a while, trying to figure out what to do with Jia Lian.But when the emperor inadvertently landed on the memorial, he was stunned, and when he looked at it again, he was completely attracted by the content above. At the end, the corners of the emperor's drooping mouth began to rise continuously, and then rose again, until finally Laughed out loud.

The emperor patted the golden armrest on the dragon chair, and praised: "Good, good, good, very good! Jia Lian, I did not misread you, you are indeed a good courtier who is loyal to the emperor and patriotic!"

As soon as this remark came out, all the officials were in an uproar.

The one who was most astonished was Bei Jing Wang Shui Rong.Shui Rong didn't understand, just now the emperor was clearly furious and had reached the limit of forbearance, how could he have completely changed his attitude in the blink of an eye.

He was very puzzled, and subconsciously looked at the eldest prince Yin Qi who was also at the head of all the officials.

Yin Qi's expression is as puzzled as that of King Bei Jing, "Father, what makes you so happy?"

"The pursuit of strawberries has been popular for a long time. The first batch of strawberries that come down in the market will inevitably be looted and the price will be high. Jia Aiqing came up with a wonderful idea. Anyone who wants to pay a high price for strawberries will reward the Northwest army." In the name of "donating money" to buy strawberries. The money goes into the treasury and will be used in the future to reward triumphant soldiers or relieve disaster-stricken people. And these people who buy strawberries can not only eat what they want, but also pay for the country. Efficacy kills two birds with one stone! It’s really a good solution, and it solves my urgent need.” The emperor laughed out loud and heaved a sigh of relief.

As soon as spring comes, the soldiers stationed in the northwest will set off to return to the imperial court. Naturally, a large amount of gold and silver will be needed for rewards.But where does he have money on hand, these days he listened to the minister of the Ministry of Rites crying to him every day, and the emperor would be annoyed to death by this fellow.The emperor knew very well that the treasury, which had been deflated before the war, remained unchanged.Not to mention rewarding the soldiers of the three armies, even the spring sacrifices, banquets, weddings of princes and princesses, etc., have not been found yet.

It's not easy to be an emperor as poor as he is, and it's really shameful!

In fact, this poor situation has a lot to do with rewarding too many meritorious officials with different surnames during the Yuan Jing period.It was because the rewards were too large at that time, so that a large number of people are still in the state of inheriting the titles. However, these descendants of the heroes who were entrusted with grace back then are all scum. A large amount of gold and silver is bestowed every year, but they can't do anything for the court.The tail of the imperial court is too big to lose, and there are a lot of moths, plus the royal family who adds new titles every few years, it is naturally poorer and poorer.

This Jia Lian is very knowledgeable. Today, I thought he didn't know what to do and wanted to make it big by himself.I didn't expect him to have such a broad mind, to sacrifice himself for the sake of the country.

The emperor regretted that he had misunderstood the sincerity of Jia Lian, a loyal minister.

"Aiqing, I am very pleased that you can sacrifice yourself for the country and worry about the country and the people! This is my luck and the luck of the world! I want to reward you!" The emperor stood up and put his hands behind his back in front of the dragon chair Wandering, "I have already promoted you to the rank of official and made you a marquis, so this time—"

"Your Majesty, I'm just fulfilling my duty as a servant of the household department and making the best use of everything. This is my duty. If I get a reward for this, I will be ashamed to accept it." After Jia Lian thanked him for his kindness, he strongly refused to resign.

Just as the emperor was about to argue with him, he saw Ping Yuanhou move his legs to come out, but then retreated hesitantly.The emperor guessed that there was an inside story in this matter, and seeing that Jia Lian was determined, he did not persecute him, and immediately dispersed the court, leaving only Marquis Pingyuan to question him.

After going to court, Jia Lian came out with Prime Minister Jing Yingguang.On the way, I met many people who politely flattered and congratulated him, and Jia Lian perfunctory each of them, and finally walked to a secluded place with Jing Yingguang.

"You're a thoughtful child, I really sweated for you when you went to court just now." Jing Yingguang smiled, looked away, and looked at the two moving figures in front of him.

Jia Lian also looked over, and it happened that the figure flashed towards the east corridor, but he still found out the identities of the two people.One is the eldest prince Yin Qi, and the other is Beijing King Shui Rong.

Jia Lian remembered that in the court hall just now, Shui Rong suddenly stood up and intercepted him for no reason and attacked him.This King of Beijing Jing, he has never had a close relationship with him, let alone offended him, why did he suddenly target himself in the court?

Jing Yingguang twirled his beard and looked at Jia Lian: "Why, you seem puzzled by what happened in the court just now?"

Jia Lian nodded.

Jing Yingguang smiled: "The wind is blowing, you block their way, they naturally want to blow you away. But they don't know, the statue in front of them is sitting on Mount Tai, and it can't be blown away at all."

Jia Lian immediately realized the implication in Jing Yingguang's words. To put it bluntly, it wasn't his fault, but people thought he was in the way.

Jing Yingguang made a special observation of Jia Lian.

He stood opposite him, his attitude didn't change, he was still gentle and calm.It seemed as if he knew the news a long time ago, but Jing Yingguang knew that Jia Lian had just found out about it, but he didn't care if he knew it.This guy probably only cares about one kind of person, the person who blocks his way of farming. For other people and things, his reaction will always be indifferent, "you can do whatever you want".

Jing Yingguang laughed in admiration, and sighed inwardly, Jia Lian can be regarded as a different kind of extraterrestrial expert.

……

When Jia Lian returned home, the Queen Mother's edict from the palace came down.

Jia Mu and others ordered his wife to set up an incense table, dress according to the rank and kneel down to receive the order.Jia Lian waited outside the courtyard, and could faintly hear the soft voice of the eunuch in the house delivering the decree, "...the empress dowager is sympathetic to her filial piety and loyalty, pardon her and return home... get married soon."