novelden Chapter 129: The Position of County Lord
Chapter 129: The Position of County Lord
Since that day, Su Weixi's name and salt-drying method became known throughout Qiongzhou City.
Because people kept talking about it, merchants would even mention it when they went to other counties, and everyone on the entire Qiongzhou Island knew about it.
At the same time, County Magistrate Ma was already busy using the method written by Su Weixi to have salt farmers in Qiongzhou City transform their salt fields on a large scale.
Those who do not have money to buy stone slabs can go to the county government and withdraw a certain amount of silver based on the area of their salt fields to transform the salt fields, as long as they return the money to the county government within a certain period of time.
It can be said that County Magistrate Ma has spent a lot of money for his own political achievements. However, he will definitely get more in the future than he has paid now. After all, this is a method that came from the area under his management.
The county magistrates of other cities on Qiongzhou Island also came to ask about the salt drying method in person. After all, there were many salt fields in other counties on Qiongzhou Island. County Magistrate Ma also told all the methods he knew, because when the court knew about it, it would be announced, so it would be better for him to buy a good one for his colleagues first.
Su Weixi also knew all of this. It was not that she deliberately asked people to inquire, but the news had spread throughout Qiongzhou City. The servants at home heard it and couldn't help but talk about it in the mansion.
Now when the servants of the Su Mansion go out to buy things, people will praise them if they know they are from the Su Mansion. Not only because the people of the Su Family never bully others when buying things, but also because Su Weixi's salt drying method can really bring a lot of benefits to everyone. After all, every family needs salt, and the current price of salt is very high.
The amount of salt produced by this solar-dried salting method is ten times that of the past, so the price of salt is likely to drop. Even if it does not drop, at least it will not easily increase again.
Including many women in Qiongzhou City who had been prepared to laugh at Su Weixi, they were warned by their fathers or husbands to be on good terms with the Su family and not to gossip about them.
Su Weixi felt embarrassed by all the compliments because she was just a carrier of knowledge, taking advantage of the advanced information technology in her previous life.
Therefore, Su Weixi would turn down many invitations. He really didn't want to explain again and again why he came up with this idea, and all he said to others was that he had seen it in an ancient book.
But the Su family moved many times, and the book had long disappeared.
At the same time, in the imperial palace in Beijing.
"Good, that's great! God bless our Dasheng Dynasty!"
Suddenly, the young emperor's excited and happy voice was heard from the imperial study.
The eunuchs and imperial guards on duty outside looked at each other, wondering what had made the emperor so happy.
Soon, Eunuch Cao, who was serving nearby, came out to inform the eunuchs below and asked them to invite the prime minister and other ministers to the imperial study.
When the emperor summoned the ministers, they naturally put down what they were doing and rushed to the imperial study as soon as possible.
When they arrived at the Imperial Study, they saw the Emperor writing excitedly. The adults didn't know why the Emperor had summoned them to the Imperial Study so urgently.
After several adults looked at each other, the left prime minister asked, "Your Majesty, I wonder why you summoned us here?"
You guys take a look at this first. After saying this, Eunuch Cao took the paper from the emperor and handed it to the left prime minister.
The left prime minister looked at the contents of the paper in his hand with a puzzled look, then showed an expression of disbelief, and then smiled. The other adults couldn't help but wonder what kind of content could make the left prime minister, who usually kept his emotions secret, show such an expression.
The Right Prime Minister could not help but stepped forward and took the paper from the Left Prime Minister, quickly glanced at it, and showed the same expression. Fortunately, the Right Prime Minister was more rational, and after reading it, he passed the paper in his hand to other officials and circulated it one by one.
"Your Majesty, is what is written in the letter true?" asked the Left Prime Minister excitedly.
"Of course it is true. This is a secret letter written by General Zhennan himself."
"Your Majesty, can this salt-drying method really produce ten times the amount of salt as before? Could it be that the people below are exaggerating the facts in order to win credit?" an official questioned.
"Everything written above is true, and you know the person who came up with this idea."
"I wonder who has this ability?"
"Ahem, come to think of it, the person you know should be her father." After the emperor said this, the ministers became even more confused.
The emperor turned his gaze to Eunuch Cao standing beside him, and Eunuch Cao stepped forward to explain to the adults.
"The person who came up with this idea was the daughter of General Ping Kou. She followed her father to Qiongzhou Island to take up a post. When she saw the salt fields by the sea, she remembered the method of drying salt that she had read in a book. She tried it and it really worked. Many local officials were present to witness it with their own eyes."
After Eunuch Cao's explanation, all the officials remembered who this general was. Because this general had helped the Duke of Zhenguo to make explosives before, and they still remembered it.
Several people began to discuss this so-called salt-drying method, but some officials still had doubts.
It was not until three days later, when Magistrate Ma's memorial reached the capital after passing through layers of officials, that everyone finally believed that this method of drying salt could really produce ten times the amount of salt as the frying method.
The emperor announced this matter at the grand court meeting, which again caused a heated discussion.
Eventually, the Ministry of Revenue sent officials to coastal areas to thoroughly promote this salt-drying method.
As for Su Weixi, the person who came up with the method of drying salt, since she was a woman, she could not be given an official position, so the empress dowager awarded her the title of a county lady.
In Cining Palace.
"I never thought that this Su girl would be so capable."
"Hahahaha, mother, the Su family has done a lot of favors and contributions to our family."
"Yes, if they hadn't saved Qing'er and provided us with those high-yield crops, it would have taken us a long time to get through the difficult situation. Your brother wrote to me a while ago, saying that he even lived in the Su family for a while."
The empress dowager thought of the plight of herself and her sons during the reign of the previous emperor, and also of the letter from her youngest son saying how happy he was to spend the New Year at the Su family.
"It shows that the Emperor, his mother, and his younger brother are all blessed people, which is why our Da Sheng has such capable ministers and people to help us." The Queen's words not only praised the Su family, but also elevated the Queen Mother and the Emperor to a higher level.
"If that is the case, then Emperor, you must not mistreat your meritorious officials."
"Yes, I came here today to discuss with you how to reward the Su family's daughter."
As soon as these words came out, the Queen Mother and the Empress looked at the Emperor. Especially the Empress, she was worried that the Emperor would take Su Weixi into the palace as a concubine, while the Queen Mother was puzzled.
"The daughter of the Su family contributed the method of drying salt, and the ministers in the court said that she should be given the title of a county lady. But I thought that they had saved my brother and contributed high-yield grain seeds, so it was not easy to reward them at that time."
As soon as the emperor said this, the empress dowager and the queen immediately understood that the emperor was thinking of taking this opportunity to reward the Su family for their previous contributions.
Moreover, rewarding a woman would be easier than rewarding Su Wu with a general, and it would not make people think too much.
"Then confer her the title of county lady. I will issue the decree."
"Then I will also give you some rewards, in accordance with your mother's wishes."
"Hahahahahaha, it's still my mother and the queen who understand my heart."
Therefore, the next day, the imperial edict to confer Su Weixi the title of Princess of Anning was sent from the capital to Qiongzhou Island. Along with the edict, there were some rewards given to Su Weixi by the Queen Mother and the Empress.