The Qingshui River on the boundary between the palace and Shangshuizhuang flows quietly, Zhao Yan stood on the bridge, his eyes looked at the side of Shangshuizhuang, and saw that under a big locust tree at the west end of Zhuangzi, the old god took a few people from the palace around a big cauldron, which was the wild boar meat boiled today, and a group of children from Shangshuizhuang were surrounded in front of the cauldron, one by one happily waiting to eat the meat.

Summer has not yet passed, the weather is very hot, and most of the tenants in the Zhuangzi are poor, so most of the children in the Zhuangzi are bare-bottomed, and only a few older girls wear shabby clothes, which are not only patched after patched, but also look small with adult clothes, hanging on thin bodies, and look empty.

Looking at the children in Shangshuizhuang, Zhao Yan thought of his future students, although his students were all left-behind children, at least they didn't have to worry about eating and drinking, but they lacked spiritual care, especially the care of their parents; And these children in Shangshuizhuang in front of them, although they often stay with their parents, they can't even eat, they are all yellow and hungry, and it is impossible to go to school, compared to their own students, they seem to be luckier.

There are two or three hundred children in Shangshui Village, and when they heard that the palace was going to send them meat to eat, more than a hundred children came at once, and some of the remaining older children were secretly standing at the entrance of the village to look at this side, drooling while being embarrassed to step forward, and there were also many tenants in the village who were also standing at the entrance of the village, although the palace was kind enough to give the children meat to eat, but they were still a little worried.

Lao Fu has no children and no daughters, looking at the children in Shangshuizhuang in front of him, he can't help but show a kind smile, at the moment he asked a few subordinates to maintain order, let these children line up in two rows, and then he personally took charge of the spoon to distribute meat to these children, these children who have been notified in advance have brought big bowls from home, but most of them have broken a few gaps, and some have even made up a few times, but behind these broken bowls, there are a pair of eager eyes.

Pieces of steaming pork were divided into the children's bowls by Lao Fu, although the meat is not very much, but there is a lot of soup, after each child gets the meat, almost all of them are greedy to drink a few mouthfuls of broth, and then squat on the side of the road to eat, there are also some sensible children after drinking a few mouthfuls of soup, immediately running into the Zhuangzi with a bowl, it is estimated that the elders of the family also taste it.

Zhao Yan, who was standing on the bridge, looked at the children who were eating meat with happy faces, he suddenly felt very heavy in his heart, and even now he is doubting that he came to the Northern Song Dynasty through thousands of years, is he really just here to enjoy life? These children who are the same age as their own students, not only do they not enjoy the right to education, but they are also unable to provide basic living guarantees, can't I help them?

Thinking of the above problems, Zhao Yan didn't have the heart to stay here anymore, and turned around and left Qingshui River at the moment, but as soon as he left, the children who didn't dare to come forward in Zhuangzikou immediately rushed up, and in the blink of an eye, the meat that Lao Fu and they brought was divided, and there was not even any broth left, the reason why these older children didn't dare to come forward, in addition to being embarrassed, the most important thing was that they were afraid to see Zhao Yan standing on the bridge, and now as soon as Zhao Yan left, the desire for pork suddenly overcame reason, As a result, the pork brought by Lao Fu was not enough.

Zhao Yan returned to the inner house of the other courtyard, at this time Cao Ying and Princess Shoukang had already set the list of banquets, and asked people to write invitations and send them over, and the time of the banquet was also set, at noon the day after tomorrow, at that time, the famous ladies and noblewomen in the capital will rush here to participate in the banquet, of course, this is not Cao Ying's face, but Princess Shoukang's face, as the most favored granddaughter of the Empress Dowager Cao, Princess Shoukang came forward to the banquet, and no one in the entire Tokyo City dared not to give face.

As soon as Zhao Yan came back, Cao Ying found that his face was wrong, and immediately followed Zhao Yan to the room, then closed the door and asked with concern: "Husband, what's wrong with you, do you have something on your mind?" ”

"Hmm!" Zhao Yan nodded, for Cao Ying, he had nothing to hide, and then he asked Lao Fu to send meat to the children in Shangshuizhuang just now, and then saw the thin appearance of those children, especially when he talked about some eight or nine-year-old girls who had no clothes to wear, Zhao Yan also felt that his heart was sour, and people in later generations had not seen the situation just now, I am afraid it is difficult to imagine how poor those children's families were.

"Lady, you may not be able to imagine, in the world of my dreams, children are not only well fed and clothed, but most children don't like to eat fatty meat, because they are tired of eating since childhood, and these children will be educated from an early age, wear clean clothes every day to enter the school to study, play, and wait until they grow up, and then enter the society to work, love, get married and have children, etc., in comparison, those children in Shangshuizhuang are too pitiful!" Zhao Yan concluded with a sad face, as a responsible teacher, what he can't stand the most is to see the children suffer, and seeing those children in Shangshui Village today gave him a great shock.

However, after listening to Zhao Yan's story, Cao Ying sighed and sat down beside Zhao Yan, and then said in a soft voice: "Husband, say something that shouldn't be said, maybe you think the children in Shangshui Village are pitiful, but in fact, in the eyes of the concubine, this situation is very normal......"

As soon as Cao Ying's words came to this, Zhao Yan looked up at her with some anger, because he felt that Cao Ying's words were too ruthless, but then Cao Ying said: "Don't be angry, husband, you only see the children here in Shangshuizhuang, but the concubine has seen many places that are poorer than Shangshuizhuang, not to mention children in some places, even adults don't have a complete set of clothes to wear, and even when they encounter a famine, the displaced people formed are even more miserable, and the cannibalism of the hungry people has not happened for nothing, in contrast, The children in Sheung Shui Zhuang are actually nothing. ”

After listening to Cao Ying's words, Zhao Yan also fell silent, the two are not people from the same world at all, and there is a huge difference in their views on things, which is very unbearable in Zhao Yan's opinion, but in Cao Ying, and even the entire Song Dynasty, it is very normal in the eyes of Cao Ying, and even the entire Song Dynasty people, even those children themselves, may feel extremely happy after getting a piece of meat to eat today, they absolutely can't imagine that some children in later generations will throw fat meat into the trash because they don't like to eat fatty meat, and what makes Zhao Yan feel even more ashamed is that He's done this too, and that's when he's an adult.

"I don't care what happens to people in other places, Sheung Shui Zhuang is a tenant of the palace, and it is right in front of my eyes, so I can't let this Zhuang Zi be so poor anymore!" Zhao Yan was silent for a long time, and suddenly said with a firm face, he has no ability to change the world he is in for the time being, but he can change the environment around him.

"The husband has such a compassionate mind, and the concubine is also happy for the tenants of Sheung Shui Village, but haven't you already handed over the cabbage to them to plant, and when this winter, the stored cabbage can be taken out and sold in the Zhuangzi, and then the Zhuangzi will have money, and the children will be able to wear a new dress!" Cao Ying comforted in a low voice, although she couldn't understand Zhao Yan's feelings, she knew that it was best to follow her husband in everything now.

"What is the line of just planting cabbage, and as long as this thing is planted for two years, the vegetable farmers around Kaifeng City will learn, and then the Chinese cabbage in winter will be like a radish, which cannot be sold at a price, and farming can only let the tenants have enough to eat, if they want to get rid of poverty and become rich, they also have to rely on industry and commerce, in fact, the business is somewhat complicated, but the industry is possible, it seems that I have to find a way to start a new workshop, which is much larger than the soap workshop, and it is best to let the tenant farmers in Shangshuizhuang enter the workshop to work, so that they can also have one more way to make money." When Zhao Yan said the end, there was also an excited look on his face.

In fact, Zhao Yan's words were not finished, according to his assumption, if he could let the tenant farmers in Shangshui Village come to work in the workshop, then he would definitely be able to increase his income, maybe he could also open a school at that time, so that those children could come to school, first, let these children be educated, cultivate some talents for the Great Song Dynasty, and secondly, he could also be a teacher again, compared to the identity of the prince, he still felt that the teacher was more suitable for himself.

When Cao Ying heard Zhao Yan's words, she immediately agreed with her and said: "Or the husband has a way, if the palace can open another workshop that is bigger than the soap workshop, first, it can give those tenant farmers one more livelihood, and second, it can also add another way of wealth to the palace, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone, but I don't know if the husband has thought of opening a workshop, and the concubine is good to prepare in advance?" ”

"This ......" Zhao Yan felt a headache again at this time, the last time he was able to think of the soap workshop, thanks to the reminder of the little bean sprouts, now it is not easy to open a workshop that accommodates more workers and is more profitable.

Seeing Zhao Yan frowning again, Cao Ying immediately smiled and said with relief: "Husband, don't worry, now that the tenants of Shangshuizhuang have cabbage, at least they won't worry about their livelihood for the past two years, and the soap in the palace has not been sold yet, and now they can't afford to open other workshops, so you can think slowly, and wait until you think of a most suitable workshop, let's implement it!" ”

"Hmm!" For Cao Ying to support him so much, Zhao Yan also nodded with emotion, starting a workshop is indeed not a simple matter, he has to think about it, there will be so many new inventions and technologies in later generations, there will always be one suitable for this era of the Song Dynasty.