Xiao Hanzheng stuffed the letter back into the envelope.
"The last time I went to the prefecture city, I saved a pair of brothers who were in trouble.
"So, I asked them to go to the prefecture city to help me with some matters while keeping an eye on the general's mansion.
"If anything happened in the general's mansion, they would inform me.
"As long as there's a chance to pour salt on their wound, I'll ask them not to let go of the opportunity to do so."
Those two brothers were capable, but they encountered many setbacks and depended on each other.
In his previous life, he knew his older brother.
His younger brother had died of illness, and because of that, his older brother acted in such a crazy way.
When he went to the prefectural city, he happened to meet them and saved his younger brother.
The two of them took the initiative to seek refuge with him and assist him according to his wish.
Shi Qingluo laughed lightly. "So you've also started to make plans."
She felt that her young husband was not someone who would only rely on the imperial examinations for things to happen.
Xiao Hanzheng chuckled and said, "I learned this from my wife."
Shi Qingluo leaned into his embrace and played with a strand of his hair with her fingertips. "What do you think the emperor will reward us for the cement recipe and fertilizer recipe?"
Xiao Hanzheng said, "I was just about to say this.
"Mo Qingling came to me today to probe what reward we want."
He continued, "What do you want? You decide."
He could naturally earn fame and fortune from his achievements and didn't need to actively ask for it.
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment. "Why don't we ask the emperor to reward us with the mountain where the Taoist temple is located? What do you think?"
The mountain was a primitive forest, and very few people dared to delve deep into it.
Naturally, there were many hidden treasures there.
There were even rumors among the few villagers that immortals stayed there.
In addition to the old priest's news, everyone felt that the mountain was even more mysterious.
It could be used as a shield when they cause trouble.
Moreover, there were large plots of wild beets and sumac trees on the mountain.
If someone eyed the mountain for the sumac trees and decided to make it private, the raw materials for their workshop would be gone.
There were also ginseng that her husband mentioned and other things in this mountain.
Recently, she often went to the mountain and discovered that she could plant many fruit trees and medicinal herbs even if she didn't venture deep into the mountain.
She and her husband had never explored the mountain further.
If it became theirs, they could go in at any time to take a look and find some good things.
As an agricultural expert, she was very interested in this undeveloped forest.
Xiao Hanzheng didn't expect his wife to be interested in that mountain.
"Alright, I'll talk to Mo Qingling tomorrow." He had already become good friends with him.
Shi Qingluo continued, "The chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep on the mountain at the old residence are growing well. I'm going to buy another batch and put them there."
More than a month ago, Bai Xu's uncle had helped them to get some pigs and sheep, as well as more than 100 milk cows.
She also hired experts from the nearby villages to plant crops on the mountain, including soybeans, wheat, beets, peanuts, and so on.
In the future, they would use soybeans to extract oil and make tofu.
They could also feed the bean dregs to the cows and sheep.
Adding wheat bran would also make the feed more nutritional.
They had also planted a lot of vegetables.
Next time, they could use the feces of cows, sheep, chickens, and ducks as fertilizers.
They could recycle all the waste produced at the mountain.
Of course, she watered the fields with her spring water, and so were the chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, and sheep.
This would boost the crops and livestock's survival rate increase, improve their taste, and enhance their nutritional value.
Xiao Hanzheng was very supportive of all of these. "Good!"
Then, Xiao Hanzheng focused on studying, while Shi Qingluo focused on crop and livestock production.
After observing for a period of time, she had selected more than a dozen families and taught them how to make tofu, beancurd, miso sauce, and soy sauce.
3 families were producing the same goods and would ramp up their production in the future.
This guaranteed a stable supply of goods and she even let them sign a contract to prevent them from sharing their trade secrets with others.
Those who learned how to do it from her would share 20% of the profits in the first 3 years sales with her family.
Without her permission, they could not leak the recipe out.
She did not ask for profits from the three families who made tofu.
Instead, she asked them to provide five years of bean dregs for free.
After making tofu, they would sell it in the village to attract more people to come to the village and buy it.
It was too tiring to make tofu.
Shi Qingluo was prepared to dump it out and let others make it.
She did not want to make her mother-in-law and her brother's younger siblings work too hard.
Of course, these families agreed without hesitation.
They were especially grateful to Shi Qingluo.
After they started working, they would sell them in their own yards first.
They were prepared to follow Shi Qingluo's instructions and build a few sheltered areas at the entrance of the village to sell the goods.
There wasn't any excess supply after a day of sale.
It also attracted many merchants, be it those in small or bigger businesses, to come to the village to buy them in bulk before reselling them.
Along with those who came to buy saltpeter and mosquito repellent incense, the entire Xiaxi village became livelier.
Some also came to ask Xiao Hanzheng about selling their dishes at their guest house near the village entrance. The business was quite good.
Some merchants who came from afar did not stay overnight in the county town.
Instead, they stayed in the guest house for one night after buying their goods and continued their journey on the next day.
A guest house's prospering business naturally inspired another guest house to operate here too.
Very soon, another month passed.
The Xiao family's new house was ready, including the custom-made furniture that Shi Qingluo had drawn. They had also moved this furniture into the house.
Then, they chose an auspicious day for the Xiao family to move in.
This was a joyous occasion. The Xiao family was now wealthy.
Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng also wanted to have some fun, so they held a banquet with delicious dishes served continuously to the guests.
Not only did the people from the village attend it, but many people from the nearby villages also came.
Bai Xu and his family also came from the county town.
Many of Xiao Hanzheng's classmates who were on good terms with him also attended it.
They gathered the guests at the courtyard and laid the banquet at the cement road outside.
The villagers and those from nearby villages, including the merchants who came to buy goods, could come and eat whatever they wanted.
On top of the meat and vegetables, everyone was happy and glad that they could try new dishes that Shi Qingluo prepared.
Then, everyone was surprised by some people's presence – the magistrate, Mo Qingling, and the ex-official who had just become Xiao Hanzheng's teacher.
The two happened to meet each on the way here, so they came together.
Xiao Hanzheng invited them in politely.
"Teacher and Shaoqing, this way please!"
Mo Qingling's nickname was Shaoqing, and they usually called their close friends by their nicknames.
Xiao Hanzheng's teacher, Hou Dongsheng, looked like he was in his 50s.
He was elegant and energetic, but in fact, he was almost 60.
He was very satisfied with Xiao Hanzheng, a disciple he had recently accepted.
With a loving smile on his face, he said, "Your new home is in the bamboo forest. The environment is very good."
Xiao Hanzheng smiled intimately and said, "If you like it, come and stay for a while, teacher."
He had just been accepted as his disciple a few days ago.
This also shocked the county school's overseer and his classmates.
Because he suited the old man's favour, he invited him to be his disciple.
The old man had also accepted 3 disciples in the past, but that was 10 years ago.
In the past 10 years, he had not accepted anyone else.
He had initially claimed that he would not accept any more disciples, but he had broken that promise. This shocked everyone.
This also caused many of his classmates to become envious and jealous.
At the same time, many people changed their attitudes towards him.
Mr Hou chuckled and said, "Let's talk about it later."
He appreciated his disciple's invitation.
Then, he handed a box to Xiao Hanzheng.
It was his gift for housewarming.
Mo Qingling presented him with his gift and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Jinyu!"
Jinyu was the name that his teacher had given to Xiao Hanzheng when he accepted him as his disciple.
Then, Mo Qingling took out an imperial edict and said, "Today, apart from congratulating you, I have also brought the emperor's reward for you!"
These words shocked those who came for housewarming.
How did the Xiao family receive the emperor's reward again?