Tianliangyuan

Chapter 264 Seed

It was just a few dozen households, and they were all unfortunate people rescued from the Turks. Emperor Yong'an naturally wouldn't interfere in such a trivial matter.

Moreover, he was overjoyed that someone could take care of these people.

But what about all those cattle and sheep?

"Cui Xuanming, so according to this letter, Xie Zhengwan openly and legitimately took a portion of the spoils first?"

"Your Majesty, this was approved by the Grand Steward."

Emperor Yong'an no longer wanted to speak.

He knew, of course, that Lu Jin had agreed to it, and even if Lu Jin hadn't, the deputy steward Xu Han would have certainly agreed.

He just didn't expect this person to be so high-profile.

"Your Majesty, you previously promised Princess Anle that no matter what rare items the army obtained, she would be allowed to choose them first."

The chief eunuch beside him gave a reminder, which made Emperor Yong'an realize the situation immediately.

Cui Xuanming, who was waiting below, did not expect that His Majesty could issue such an order.

In that case, what Xie Zheng did really wasn't anything special.

"Very well, since it's going to be given to that girl, then so be it. Speaking of which, that land is mostly barren. If Anle can manage it well, it will be a help to the court."

Thus, Emperor Yong'an would no longer concern himself with the matter of cattle and sheep, but he still planned to scold Xie Zheng a few more times after the army returned.

Emperor Yong'an himself was a wise ruler who was skilled in both literature and military affairs, and he went to the battlefield quite a bit when he was young.

The Great Xing Dynasty valued both civil and military affairs, and its military generals were particularly talented, with dozens of them being granted titles based solely on their military merits. Therefore, he was not as petty as Xie Zheng thought.

Xu Zhaozhao learned that Xie Zheng had sent back a lot of things, so she naturally wanted to see them.

The brothers Xu Junqing and Xu Junze held no official positions, so they simply went along.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Jian Jiu quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"How is the young general?"

"Don't worry, the young general is fine. He suffered some minor injuries, but they are nothing serious."

Jian Jiu nodded, then turned around and saw Xu Zhaozhao coming over.

"Your Highness, this is the list."

There were indeed quite a few items, but the most valuable of them were the cattle, sheep, and horses.

However, they only got four horses, and two of them were foals, so they only have two available for use at the moment.

"Wolf pelts, fox pelts, sheep pelts, rabbit pelts, etc., totaling three cartloads. In addition, there are all kinds of novel seeds that you mentioned before. I have obtained six items in total, and I have brought them back to you together."

"Thank you."

"Don't dare!"

Xu Zhaozhao then asked about some things that happened on the battlefield, and learned that they were all doing well now, which was better than anything else.

"Yan Shu, take them down to settle in first. After they rest for the night, they will return to the battlefield tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Grassland cattle need to be domesticated, and it's quite remarkable that they brought them back from such a long distance.

And with dozens of cows, her estate will no longer lack labor.

As for the sheep, they can only be kept in enclosures for now, and later they can be fed mutton or sheep milk, which will allow them to roam more freely.

There are hundreds of sheep, and they will continue to reproduce, so logistics are now guaranteed.

Actually, Xu Zhaozhao prefers beef.

But there's no way around it; even if she's a county princess, she can't really eat beef every day.

The area was already quite spacious, and the sudden influx of livestock actually made the residents feel more at ease and secure.

After all, cattle and sheep are both good things.

Xu Zhaozhao felt somewhat disappointed when she saw the seeds.

There was nothing special about them. Apart from one type being a flower found on the grasslands, the rest were quite common, meaning there was no need to promote them extensively. Just as they were about to give up, she unexpectedly found cumin seeds.

Xu Zhaozhao was overjoyed and began to secretly grow other seeds in the house. In the end, in addition to cumin seeds, she also got pepper seeds.

This is such a pleasant surprise!

With these two ingredients, there are many more ways to cook mutton, and the taste is even better.

Unfortunately, these things can't be put out to market all at once. Farmers have to try planting them first, then gradually expand the scale, and then sell them on the market.

But Xu Zhaozhao wasn't too discouraged. There was still plenty of time, and there would be other gains to be made.

Moreover, once the cattle and sheep arrive, the alfalfa she had specially planted should come in handy.

Indeed, opportunity always favors the prepared.

Xu Zhaozhao first prepared some cumin and pepper, and then handed the seeds to Yan Shu, asking him to arrange for two experimental plots to be planted.

"Remember to have someone arrange this; these seeds are not easy to obtain."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Xu Zhaozhao didn't mention that she still had some seeds left, because she wanted to take them to the Hundred Fruit Garden, and also plant some in the estate she later bought.

Since the incident at the Zhao family jade mine, Emperor Yong'an has sent special personnel to investigate.

The Daxing Dynasty originally had a Censorate, and a portion of its personnel were always on patrol outside the capital, responsible for supervising the officials.

This time, Emperor Yong'an transferred two more people from the Censorate and sent them to areas with a high concentration of coal mines.

It can be said that the Zhao family's jade mine incident served as a wake-up call for the entire imperial court!

After Xu Zhaozhao had everything settled, she handed the seeds to Xu Junting and wrote down the relevant planting requirements and growth cycle.

"Keep these for now, and remember to check on them regularly at Baiguoyuan and Yunqi Villa, and remember to write down the records in more detail."

"Okay, thank you Zhaozhao."

"Why thank me? These are the specific things that I need you to do. I just hope you don't find it troublesome."

These are all good things; they can be used to earn him credit in the future. How could he possibly be annoyed?

“I’ve tried the pepper powder and peppercorns you brought back. They taste very authentic. If we can grow them ourselves, then we won’t have to bring them all the way from the Western Regions anymore.”

"That's right. However, this plant is not easy to grow; it may have requirements regarding climate and terrain. Let's try cultivating it first. If it succeeds, that would be the best. Even if it doesn't, we can find another place. I refuse to believe that our great nation of Daxing doesn't have a place where pepper can be grown!"

"Haha, Zhaozhao is right."

This was all just a show put on by Xu Zhaozhao.

She knew that pepper thrives in frost-free regions with high average annual temperatures, with the optimal growing temperature around 25 degrees Celsius. It requires a warm, humid, calm, fertile, and well-drained environment.

The reason she was able to successfully cultivate the peppers at Yunqi Manor was because the wasteland met the requirements, and most importantly, the current climate was acceptable enough to allow the peppers to mature.

However, this is not the best place for pepper to grow, so she has already arranged for people to go to Suizhou.

That area should be more suitable for growing pepper.