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The harvested rice was placed on the threshing machine, and soon the grains were clean and neatly separated.
The Emperor hurried over to see, and not only was it clean but also truly de-hulled, with only some leaves inside, which didn’t affect it at all.
“Summon everyone here,” the Emperor ordered after giving a glance to the agricultural official.
Lacking foresight, the agricultural official didn’t know beforehand to prepare the harvesters.
Feeling somewhat wronged, the agricultural official didn’t know what this was for.
Soon, people were gathered, and the Governor spoke up, “Your Majesty, threshing doesn’t require so many people. We can organize into five teams: one for cutting, one for threshing, one for bagging, one for transporting back for drying, and the rest can stay on the field to clean the leaves.”
“Follow his instructions.”
“The team responsible for threshing, come and see how I’m doing it,” the Governor said, demonstrating for them again.
After watching once, everyone understood. The Governor descended from the threshing machine and said to them, “Be careful with your hands, don’t go too deep, you might get injured.”
“Yes.”
Everyone started to work according to their assigned tasks. Watching ten threshing machines working simultaneously, they quickly finished a large area. The agricultural official was very excited, “Who came up with this thing, Your Majesty? It’s amazing! If this thing could be popularized in places where rice is abundant, there wouldn’t be so much germinated rice every year.”
The speed was truly remarkable, and it directly de-hulled the rice.
“Indeed, the Ministry of Works should quickly produce these machines and distribute them to various cities.” While it would be best to make the blueprints public, the Emperor was concerned that someone might exploit these threshing machines for profit, which would go against the original intention. He would rather take it slow than let the common people spend more money.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Returning to the palace with the county magistrate, the Emperor asked, “Who is the person behind this invention? There will be a substantial reward.”
“To inform the Emperor, it’s a girl named Wang Jinhe.”
Su Jiu, who was following the Emperor, looked at the magistrate unexpectedly, then quickly returned to a normal expression. It seemed like he had seen it somewhere, and it turned out to be at the Jinhe’s residence.
“Oh? A girl made such a thing? Did she mention what she wants as a reward?” The Emperor asked with great interest.
The Governor cleared his throat and chuckled, saying, “Miss Jinhe mentioned that if Your Majesty doesn’t want to reward her, it’s fine. But if there is a reward, she asked if I could inquire whether she could be rewarded with land?”
“Land?” The Emperor looked at the Governor in astonishment, finding it hard to believe that a young girl would request land.
“Yes, according to Miss Jinhe, she plans to try improving rice cultivation next year, and the yield will be relatively higher. Therefore, her family’s land won’t be sufficient. Her idea is to get some land for free, so she won’t have to spend her own money to buy it.” The Governor couldn’t help but smile as he explained.
The Emperor burst into laughter, amused by the magistrate’s words. “She can do that?”
“This girl named Wang Jinhe does have some skills. She dared to negotiate conditions with me. However, I do appreciate her approach,” said the Emperor.
“What if I don’t give her anything?” the Emperor asked curiously. He was intrigued to know how the girl would react if he offered nothing.
“I asked Miss Jinhe about that. She mentioned that she didn’t expect anything when she presented her invention. If she receives something, that’s good, but she won’t be disappointed if she doesn’t. She believes she can earn money herself; it’s just that buying land is challenging,” the Governor explained, finding it amusing to recall Wang Jinhe’s confident demeanor.
“This girl seems quite sensible. In that case, reward her with a thousand taels of gold and give her a hundred acre of prime farmland. Find a location close to her home. Tell her that if she can truly increase rice production next year by a hundred catties per acre, I’ll gift her an additional five acre of land,” the Emperor decided.
“Yes, I will convey Your Majesty’s words.”
“Alright, you may leave now.”
“Thank you.”
Once the study was empty, with only the Emperor and Su Jiu present, the Emperor inquired, “Do you know this person?” He saw that Su Jiu’s earlier reaction seemed somewhat surprised.
Su Jiu smiled and nodded, “Your Majesty, I’ve heard of this person, I know her name.”
“Oh? Who is it? Tell me,” the Emperor suddenly became interested. He had heard of her?
“The melon brought back by the imperial guards earlier was grown by her,” Su Jiu explained with a smile.
“The person who grows melons and makes these threshing machines is the same individual?” It seemed too coincidental.
“This girl, Xiao He, is skilled at farming. Besides growing melons, she also cultivates excellent fruits and vegetables. However, transporting them back can be a bit troublesome. Moreover, they can slowly improve one’s health. My grandfather consumed them for about a month, and many of his minor ailments disappeared,” Su Jiu spoke warmly about Wang Jinhe.
The overly intimate tone intrigued the Emperor even more, “Is your relationship with her quite close?”
“She is my sister-in-law, my younger brother’s wife. The two of them also have an adorable son,” Su Jiu said, thinking of Xiao Bao, with affection in his eyes.
The Emperor looked at Su Jiu in shock. Su Yu, that rascal, already had a son? But when did this happen? Wasn’t he still unmarried? Where did this son come from?
“If I remember correctly, Su Yu hasn’t married yet, right?” The Emperor should be aware if he had married.
“It was actually an accident. Our younger brother secretly drugged and plotted against Su Yu over four years ago. It was an unexpected child. I only found out a few months ago when I went to buy melons. If I hadn’t gone over, I wouldn’t have known,” Su Jiu explained. That rascal had kept it a secret. If Su Jiu hadn’t accidentally found out this time, who knows when he would have brought Xiao Bao back.
“I see. When did they get married? If they’re married, they should be living around here, right? By then, they can supply vegetables to the palace?” The Emperor considered and spoke.
“For the time being, it might not be possible. However, the two of them are engaged. As for the vegetables, they can’t be transported over, but Xiao He said that when she has grapes, she will make her own wine. By then, she can send it over. However, it needs to be inspected on the spot, and no responsibility will be taken after leaving,” Su Jiu explained Wang Jinhe’s words to the Emperor.
“That’s natural,” the Emperor sighed. “I really didn’t expect her to also make grape wine. If she can really make it, go talk to Su Yu. Eighty percent of the grape wine should be supplied to the palace, and the price should be whatever it is, without shortchanging them.”
“Understood.”
The Governor came happily and left happily. This time, the harvest was good. Although there was no substantial reward from the Emperor, he and the county magistrate could be considered as officially recognized. In the future, as long as Xiao He’s side had more good things, they would likely advance further.
After returning, he asked the county magistrate to take good care of things, ensuring that no one would bully them.