Chapter 219: Joy and Anger
Editor: Atlas Studios
“That’s right, Your Majesty. We ought to issue an imperial edict as soon as possible. Otherwise, should it start snowing in the north, it won’t be easy to walk on the snowy roads. You have to preserve the seeds well. If they get wet, I’m afraid it will affect the planting.”
The ministers left behind in the imperial study responded one after another.
The Emperor, who had originally wanted to leave the issue until the next day, could not help but feel anxious. “Then I’ll issue a decree now to let the emissary immediately leave the city and head to Xingzhou Prefecture.”
The corners of Minister Qin’s mouth curled up as he cupped his hands in congratulations. “I congratulate Your Majesty in advance. The emissary should be able to reach Xingzhou Prefecture in 20 days if he hurries. In less than two months, Your Majesty will be able to see the seeds that Emperor Shizong praised highly of.”
The Emperor laughed and said, “This is all thanks to Qi Xiuyuan’s discerning eyes. The villagers of Four Tray Village also contributed greatly. For the past hundred years, they did not forget Emperor Shizong’s teachings and diligently studied the planting method of corn. Even when their land was occupied by the Jin soldiers, they did not forget their hometown and came to us with the seeds and planting methods. They deserve to be rewarded.”
After the Emperor finished speaking, he asked the Imperial Advisor to draft a decree and said, “The villagers of Four Tray Village will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of gold and a third-grade honor. Qi Xiuyuan also contributed greatly.” The Emperor paused for a moment before saying, “Reward him by promoting him to the third-grade and have him follow the emissary to Xingzhou Prefecture together with the imperial edict.”
The corners of Minister Qin’s lips curled up as he took the lead to kneel down and say ‘long live’.
The Emperor looked at the ministers below proudly, basking in joy.
The next day, Qi Feng found out that his son had been promoted from the fourth-grade to the third-grade. Although he was still only in charge of Xingyuan Prefecture’s West Camp, he was already a third-grade general. He would only advance faster in the future. When he heard that his son had discovered such an important thing without informing him, his eyes darkened.
Which father and son didn’t exchange information and help each other? Only that unfilial son would keep such news to himself. Otherwise, why would he be so passive?
Qi Feng’s smile stiffened as he responded to his colleagues’ congratulations. He could not help but think of calling his youngest son back. If his youngest son was still with him, would his eldest son still act with disregard to him?
After Qi Feng returned home, he asked the housekeeper’s son, Zhu Xingzong, to immediately set off to Xingzhou Prefecture to bring his youngest son, Qi Haoran, back.
The Emperor hoped that the emissary would bring the things and people back. Qi Feng also hoped that Zhu Xingzong would bring his youngest son back, so he paid more attention to Xingzhou Prefecture.
When the emissary arrived at Xingzhou Prefecture, the corn that had been planted had just budded. Mu Yangling and the villagers were weeding the cornfields.
When Qi Xiuyuan heard from the emissary that he wanted to bring the seeds and the villagers of Four Tray Village to the capital, he blinked and said innocently, “I’ve long written a letter to His Majesty, but there’s been no response. I thought that His Majesty was unhappy with the yield, so in order to experiment, I planted all the seeds again. As for the villagers of Four Tray Village, they’ve all been enlisted into the army and are now guiding everyone to plant corn in the fields.”
The emissary widened his eyes and asked, “General Qi, why are you still planting when it’s already autumn? Can the corn still grow?”
Even if the emissary had never farmed before, he knew common sense. He had only heard that one could plant crops for a second season in the warm and humid south, but he had never heard that the cold and dry Xingzhou Prefecture could also produce grains for a second season.
Qi Xiuyuan hurriedly said, “Sir, you might not know this, but corn is resistant to drought. After harvesting the wheat, as long as we plant it immediately, perhaps we might be able to harvest it before the first snow.”
The emissary’s eyes widened. “Perhaps?”
Qi Xiuyuan coughed lightly and said, “Well, I’m doing this to try and produce the corn yield mentioned by Emperor Shizong. Since His Majesty hasn’t replied for a long time, I thought that it was because the yield per acre is too low, so…”
The emissary’s face darkened, but he couldn’t say that it was because the Cabinet had suppressed the memorial. Considering it had been three months since Qi Xiuyuan submitted the memorial, it was no wonder that he was nervous.
The emissary’s breath was stuck in his chest. In the end, he had no choice but to wave his hand and say, “This is caused by the lack of communication. It’s not General Qi’s fault. It’s better to call the villagers of Four Tray Village over. His Majesty has a reward for them.”
The emissary had announced both decrees, but he was not happy at all. He had only completed one of the three tasks given by the emperor. It was easy to bring the villagers of Four Tray Village back, but since the seeds could not be brought back, what was the point of taking them with him?
It was still uncertain if the corn could be harvested this time. Knowing that Qi Xiuyuan had planted all the seeds, he was even more worried.
Hopefully they didn’t destroy all the seeds after finally discovering a method to plant the corn successfully.
The emissary could only write an urgent document and send it out with a bronze plate bestowed by the Emperor. Fortunately, the Emperor gave him this before he left. Otherwise, who knew how he would inform the Emperor.
With the bronze plate, the relay stations did not dare to delay. They chose the best horse and messenger to travel day and night. They rushed to Lin’an Prefecture at the speed of 400 to 500 miles a day and arrived six days later. The messenger almost collapsed as he delivered the letter to the Cabinet.
When the Cabinet saw that it was an urgent document from the messenger, they did not dare to delay and sent it to the palace overnight.
When the Emperor got up from his beloved concubine’s bed and opened the letter, he almost vomited a mouthful of blood. He pointed at the messenger below with a trembling finger, speechless.
The concubine quickly patted his chest to calm him down and shouted, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!”
With reddened eyes, the Emperor gritted his teeth and said, “By my orders, the Cabinet has neglected their duties and are hereby all fired!”
The Emperor was so angry that his soul almost left his body. He resented the Cabinet ministers and was also furious at Qi Xiuyuan, but since Qi Xiuyuan had a good reason, he could not vent his anger on him. He could only vent his anger on the Cabinet, who was the culprit.
The four pitiful Cabinet ministers had thought that they would only be fined for half a year. Who knew that there was more to it.
The Emperor sat by the bed with red eyes for a long time before finally saying, “By my orders, the emissary is to stay in Xingzhou Prefecture to see the effects of the planting. If the corn can be successfully planted in Xingzhou Prefecture for a second season, I—I will reward Qi Xiuyuan handsomely.”
The Emperor really did not want to reward the generals, but this time, the generals were involved in farming.
The most important thing to a country was agriculture, for it concerned the livelihood of the people. The Emperor did not identify as being a wilful person, so if Qi Xiuyuan really made a great contribution to this matter, he was willing to reward him handsomely. He could even confer him a title.
The Emperor spread this message and only hoped that Qi Xiuyuan could work harder after hearing this.
However, that was not what Qi Xiuyuan aspired towards. Like General Yuan, Qi Xiuyuan’s greatest wish was to recover his homeland and revive the Great Zhou.
When the Emperor said this, he was discussing with his brother how to occupy Baoshan County.
Qi Haoran was the one who suggested occupying Baoshan County. This idea had come to him when Zhuang Dawei first appeared. After more than half a year of preparation, he planned to take action now.