Of course, the monthly money does not need Yao Shuqi to pay out of his own pocket. Although Du Jinning transferred the tea garden to Qi Muyuan, other industries are still there. Although she has arranged the property under her name, Yao Shuqi and them can not only get rid of slavery, but also obtain a certain amount of property. But Qi Muyuan hoped that she would return safely, so naturally he would not dispose of the property in her name at this time.

Unless he sees her body one day, or she doesn't come back after three or four years, he will deliver the letter that Du Jinning left in his hands to the three sisters of the Du family, and then dispose of the people and property in her name according to Du Jinning's instructions.

Now, there is a field in Du Jinning's Zhuangzi, and although the rice in the field cannot be sold, it can still be sold to the Ministry of Industry to make rice seeds. In addition, Du Jinning has three shops in Runzhou, which were bought by the Chen family to do business. These two incomes are enough to pay the monthly money to the subordinates of the two houses in Runzhou and Beijing, and to feed them.

Seeing that Yao Shuqi had arranged the family in an orderly manner, the three sisters of the Du family went to negotiate with the officials of the Ministry of Industry who occupied their land, got back the benefits of the land, and then leased the land to them. Thinking about it again, maybe Du Jinning would come back one day and continue to be her official, so they didn't insist on it any longer, and the two houses remained the same.

Of course, that's a story for all.

On this day, Yao Shuqi inspected the entire house, and asked someone to inform Aoki: "Go and tell Aoki to let him go to Zhuangzi with me." ”

At this time, Zhuangzi seemed to have become a royal forbidden place, strictly guarded by the army, and no idle people were allowed to approach.

But this Zhuangzi is surnamed Du after all, Yao Shuqi is the housekeeper of the Du family, and Aoki is Du Jinning's personal servant, and the two have followed Du Jinning for many years and have experience in rice planting. The two of them are still literate, and their understanding of rice planting is different from that of Song Zhuangtou, Wang Laohan, and Qin Laohan, so the officials of the Ministry of Industry still welcome them to Zhuangzi.

However, in view of the fact that her young master has been missing for half a year, the government has not been able to find her back, and now she is not even sent to find her, Yao Shuqi and Aoki have very opinions about the emperor and the government; The people of the Ministry of Industry took possession of the Du family's fields as their own, and regarded the high-yield rice that the young master had worked so hard to research as their own political achievements, and they were even more disgusted. Therefore, if it weren't for the officials of the Ministry of Industry who sent people to respectfully invite them, they would not have gone up to Zhuangzi at all, and they would have spared the money and were reluctant to say more.

But today is different, the rice on Zhuangzi began to be harvested, and Yao Shuqi specially asked Aoki to go to Zhuangzi together.

Wang Fulai has always been Du Jinning's "queen" coachman, and since Du Jinning's disappearance, Yao Shuqi has refused to let him drive again, but has called the young coachman in the house.

The two went out of the city in a carriage and went up to Zhuangzi.

There were still twenty or thirty zhang away from Zhuangzi, and the carriage was stopped.

Yao Shuqi stuck his head out of the car and said, "It's me, Lord Du Jinning's housekeeper." ”

The defenders knew Yao Shuqi, but they didn't let them go directly, but asked Yao Shuqi and Aoki to get out of the car, checked it carefully, and found that there was nothing suspicious in the car, so they let them go.

Aoki has a calm personality, and has been with Du Jinning for several years, and under his influence, he is even more calm.

But he couldn't help it at this moment, and when the carriage left the soldiers, he said angrily: "What a gas! I feel like I'm going to die. ”

"Don't be angry, I have a good show to watch today." Yao Shuqi said.

"What's the show?" Aoki was puzzled.

He actually didn't understand why Yao Shuqi came to see the rice harvest.

Seeing the scene of the bumper harvest, and then thinking about it, if the young master is still there, these credits are all the young master's, but now they are taken up by the officials of the Ministry of Industry, doesn't Yao Shuqi feel depressed? Could it be that this guy has masochistic tendencies?

Yao Shuqi sold Guanzi: "You'll know when you go." ”

When Aoki heard this, he looked forward to today's trip.

Soon, Zhuangzi arrived, and the two were subjected to another investigation.

In the end, the carriage and the coachman were left outside, and the two walked into Zhuangzi. They didn't go to the small mansion where Du Jinning used to stay, but went directly to the garden.

Lu Jiuyuan and the others went to Riben, and even An Shi left, and the garden was empty. Yao Shuqi, who was good at business, simply rented the garden to officials of the Ministry of Industry, and the asking price was quite high. Wu Zheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, thanked Du Jinning for her merits and lamented her disappearance, not only did he not bargain, but also rented the entire garden at a high price from the Ministry of Industry.

When Yao Shuqi and the others arrived there, they didn't go in (in fact, they couldn't get in easily), and explained to the guards guarding the gate that they had come to see the rice fields to harvest, and the defenders sent someone to take them to a field.

At this time, the sturdy croppers on the Zhuangzi were gathering here, and Wu Zheng and the officials of the Ministry of Industry were also here, planning to follow Du Jinning's previous practice, first harvest the lower fields to see the yield, and then harvest the middle fields and upper fields. In doing so, they feel that the production is rising wave after wave, which is an auspicious omen.

But when Aoki and Yao Shuqi went to the field, they found that Wu Zheng and several officials did not look very good.

He turned his head and glanced at Yao Shuqi, Yao Shuqi shook his head at him slightly, and stepped forward to greet Wu Zheng: "Lord Wu." ”

Although Yao Shuqi is just a housekeeper, for Du Jinning's sake, Wu Zheng has always been polite to him.

He raised his hand and saluted back, saying, "You're here too." ”

"Yes. I'll take a look at the yield. Yao Shuqi said.

If it was usual, Wu Zheng would still have a few words with him, but today he was obviously not in the mood. After saying this, he turned his head and looked at the men who were struggling to harvest in the fields, his face gloomy.

In a short time, more than half of an acre of rice fields was harvested. Some of the men put down their sickles, picked up the ears of rice on the ground, and walked to the threshing machine to take off the grain.

There was more and more rice in the barn, and some men began to load the grain into baskets, and they carried it to the front of the weighing, waiting to be weighed.

After a while, an official asked Wu Zhengdao, "My lord, have you started weighing?" ”

Wu Zheng nodded: "Let's start." ”

Everyone started to weigh in unison.

"Forty-eight pounds." The officer who weighed the weight gave a number.

Even though Wu Zheng and several officials knew what to expect, they still had some hope in their hearts. But when they heard this number, everyone's faces sank again.

These baskets are commonly used by farmers, and Du Jinning also used these baskets to load wet rice half a year ago, and Wu Zheng still clearly remembers that a load of rice is 60 catties. (Note: In ancient times, it was sixteen taels and one catty)

But now, the same load of rice is still pointed, but it is only forty-eight catties, and everyone knows that this is because the rice is not full at all, so the weight is so light.