si-mexico Chapter 181 The Emperor Goes to the General's Mansion
Chapter 181 The Emperor Goes to the General's Mansion
The emperor's departure from the palace was a grand affair. Along his route, many imperial guards cleared the way in advance, ensuring the emperor's palanquin could pass unimpeded.
Before long, the emperor's palanquin arrived outside the general's mansion.
As the residence of the Grand General of the Cavalry, it was naturally exceptionally grand.
The emperor's arrival brought glory to the general's mansion.
Before the emperor could even alight from his sedan chair, the eunuch beside it spoke first, shouting in his shrill voice, "The Emperor has arrived!"
Upon hearing this, the masters and servants in the mansion immediately came out and knelt down.
The emperor stepped down from the sedan chair and asked them to rise.
"No need for formalities. I am merely going out of the palace for an inspection. There is no need to be nervous."
After the emperor finished speaking, Grand Tutor Zhao and General Liang dismounted from behind the emperor's sedan chair.
General Liang said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, please..."
The emperor nodded to him, took the lead and entered the mansion. Madam Liang and the others who were originally standing at the gate wisely separated and stood on both sides of the gate to make way for the emperor and his entourage to enter the mansion.
The emperor first led the way with Zhao Taifu and General Liang from the Music Bureau, and then followed closely behind.
Before General Liang followed the emperor into the palace, he nodded to his wife as a gesture of reassurance.
As expected, Madam Liang felt relieved when she saw the look in his eyes.
The large entourage followed the emperor into the mansion. Madam Liang instructed the servants beside her, "Have someone prepare food! Remember, there must be no mistakes!"
"It's ma'am."
After giving her instructions, Lady Liang was about to follow behind the emperor and his entourage when suddenly a royal eunuch approached her, seemingly carrying something in his hand.
The eunuch, with a hunched back and a subservient demeanor, said to Madam Liang, “Madam, this is corn. His Majesty left the palace in a hurry and originally wanted to taste this, but there are no imperial chefs in the palace who know how to cook this vegetable. I’m afraid I will have to trouble you to prepare this dish.”
“Of course!” Madam Liang instructed her servant to take the jade seed from the eunuch’s hand.
Having finished explaining the matter, the eunuch withdrew and returned to behind the emperor, and no one noticed his actions.
The emperor walked at the front, with General Liang guiding him from the side.
Before long they arrived at an open space where a huge thatched hut had been built.
"What kind of scenery is this?" The emperor mistakenly thought that General Liang had changed his taste and actually built thatched huts in his mansion as a scenic spot.
General Liang did not offer an explanation immediately. He smiled and then ordered someone to open the curtain. "Your Majesty, please come in!"
The emperor glanced at him, hesitated slightly, and went inside. Once inside the thatched hut, he realized that the soft, loose thing under his feet was actually a pile of thatch.
"What are they doing now?" the emperor wondered.
No one else came in; only Grand Tutor Zhao and General Liang entered the room.
At this point, the emperor realized that this thatched hut seemed to be more than it appeared.
"The temperature here is surprisingly high!" He was then surprised to see the plants growing inside the thatched hut.
Having achieved his goal, General Liang stopped beating around the bush and began to introduce the thatched hut to the emperor.
"A greenhouse?! You can eat any seasonal vegetable you want just by having it grown in this greenhouse?!"
"Indeed! To be honest, Your Majesty, many households in Bianjing have already built this. However, it is quite expensive. It is fine for growing some out-of-season vegetables and fruits, but it is probably not feasible for commoners to use it on a large scale."
In winter, coal is needed, and in summer, ice is needed. Ordinary people simply cannot afford these vegetables, so this facility was only built in the homes of the wealthy.
At this moment, Zhao Taifu's mood remained unsettled for a long time. In a flash, he thought of another way to make money.
"Although the vegetables and fruits grown here are unaffordable for ordinary people, don't forget that in addition to Jin Kingdom, noble families and nobles in other countries can afford them. Moreover, this greenhouse is not affected by the weather and can grow vegetables that are not available at this time of year. This is the advantage of this greenhouse."
"My dear minister, what you mean is to grow out-of-season grains in greenhouses and sell them to other countries." The emperor immediately grasped the key point in Zhao's words.
"Brilliant! This method is brilliant! It can even open the doors of other countries!"
"Aren't we still got plenty of refined sugar left? Why not just sell it to other countries at several times the price? That would increase the national treasury's silver reserves!"
Upon hearing that it could increase the national treasury's silver reserves, General Liang's eyes lit up instantly: "I must say, Grand Tutor Zhao, your idea is excellent. However, we'll probably have to carefully select the merchant responsible for doing business in other countries."
For the time being, I couldn't think of a suitable candidate.
"How about letting Manager Ye take charge of this matter?" General Liang boldly spoke up, but his words were immediately met with a stern refusal from the two men.
"How can Manager Ye be competent for this task? Putting aside whether she has the ability, what if she suddenly switches sides and goes to another country and never comes back?"
General Liang touched his nose sheepishly and said weakly, "I don't think...it's possible..."
"Let alone whether he can do it or not, who will write the stories after Manager Ye leaves... cough... who will write these good things that benefit Jin Kingdom!" Zhao Taifu's heart tightened, and he almost let it slip.
General Liang thought so too. He was relying on Manager Ye's storybooks to keep him entertained while he ate. If she really went on a diplomatic mission to another country, where would she find the time to write storybooks? In that case, he would have to wait until the year of the monkey to see his book, "The Little Chef of the Jin Dynasty"!
"Let's put that aside for now and get this greenhouse up and running first," the emperor said after a moment of silence. "I have a farmland under my jurisdiction, which is usually managed by the eunuch in charge and controlled by the palace. It's a good place to start building a greenhouse."
After they finished discussing their matters, it was time for lunch.
The emperor reluctantly left the greenhouse, which the three of them saw as a walking pile of silver.
After leaving the greenhouse, the three of them sat in the main hall of the general's mansion. The emperor naturally sat in the main seat, and apart from the eunuchs who served him, there were only the three of them in the room.
The emperor raised an eyebrow when he saw that some of the dishes on the table contained chili peppers.
General Liang immediately understood the emperor's meaning and explained, "Ahem, Your Majesty, these peppers were also bought from Ye Yuwu. I heard that she has quite a lot of peppers, and there should be plenty on the market soon."
After hearing this, the emperor did not reply. Instead, he picked up his chopsticks, put some food into his bowl, and took a bite.
These dishes had been tested for poison before being served, so the emperor felt reassured and put them in his mouth.
In fact, the emperor hadn't eaten dishes stir-fried with chili peppers for a long time. The weather had been too cold all winter, and chili peppers had stopped growing, so there were no chili peppers left in Bianjing.
The emperor, of course, couldn't eat it either. He heard that it was grown in the south, but peppers take time to grow, so he hadn't been able to eat them for a long time.