Wang Huifeng said, “After this garden burned, it lay barren for two years. The plum trees seemed to have all burned to death. But unexpectedly, three years ago after the flood passed, the plum trees in this garden suddenly sprouted new shoots. In just half a year, they filled the branches. That winter and spring, they bloomed abundantly—a whole garden of wintersweet and red plum.”
“To this day, the plum garden has bloomed continuously for three winters. His Majesty says this is a blessing from Heaven to the people. It shouldn’t be enclosed for private viewing. Except when occasionally needed to be cordoned off for banquets, it’s open for all people to enjoy.”
Wang Huifeng looked at the traces of fire on the broken walls, “His Majesty also said to leave these ruins as a reminder to the world that peace is hard-won, to warn those in power not to betray the people and plunge the realm into war again, and to remind the world to take peace as common ground.”
Princess Consort of Langya and the others were astonished and couldn’t help but sigh, “His Majesty is wise and enlightened.”
After attending the plum viewing banquet, Princess Consort of Langya returned home and couldn’t help but say to her husband, “Though Jingwen is a great man, compared to His Majesty he still falls short. No wonder our Jiangnan was defeated.”
Jingwen was the courtesy name of the Prince of Langya. The couple had a good relationship, and Princess Consort of Langya always called him by his courtesy name in private.
Prince of Langya: …
He had long known he wasn’t equal to Zhao Hanzhang, but why bring this up out of nowhere?
This time at the plum viewing banquet, Princess Consort of Langya donated ten bolts of brocade. Wang Huifeng sold the brocade on the spot. The money earned would be kept in a separate account. These charitable funds would primarily be used for the orphanages’ food and clothing needs, as well as farm tools, livestock, and seeds needed for spring plowing.
Seeds included not only grain seeds and vegetable seeds, but also chicks, ducklings, goslings, and so on.
Orphanages were places that sheltered orphans and destitute people, primarily children who had lost their guardians. Like other citizens of Hua, they had the right to three years of compulsory education.
But among them were still many who hadn’t reached that age, or who had already attended three years of school and couldn’t advance further.
The court had already tilted policies as much as possible in their favor, but their lives were still difficult.
The court had regulations that youths who reached sixteen, whether male or female, had to leave the orphanages. At that time, they would be allotted farmland, seeds, and some farm tools, then settle down and establish households.
To live well in the future, they needed to use their time in the orphanages to learn skills and accumulate wealth.
The state of Hua was still primarily agricultural. The skills learned and wealth accumulated were naturally also agriculture-focused.
Zhao Hanzhang deeply understood this point, so she periodically sent the Bureau of Agriculture to provide guidance at orphanages.
Luoyang’s Bureau of Agriculture was responsible for Luoyang’s orphanages. Orphanages elsewhere had their own local Bureau of Agriculture offices responsible for them. This was a nationwide mandate.
The children would learn from Bureau of Agriculture officials methods for seed selection, seedling cultivation, composting, weeding, and pest control that were more refined than what ordinary farmers knew. Besides this, they could also learn from Bureau of Agriculture officials how to repair farm tools, basic carpentry, and knowledge about animal husbandry.
Talented children could even learn some methods for treating livestock diseases.
The Bureau of Agriculture had received a batch of cotton seeds sent from Xiliang. Mixed with what they already had, it exceeded the number of imperial estates allocated to plant cotton. So after discussion, they decided to release some seeds for the people to plant. The promotion of cotton could gradually unfold.
Wang Huifeng received advance notice. She wanted to use these charitable funds to purchase some cotton seeds and give them to the orphanages to plant. This way, by next winter, the orphanages would have a batch of cotton quilts and cotton-padded clothes.
There were still some children in the orphanages only two or three years old. They couldn’t withstand the cold. Once frozen, they’d catch cold. In this era, colds were difficult to treat.
As soon as Wang Huifeng made the request, Bureau of Agriculture officials agreed to set aside some cotton seeds for them. They even thoughtfully asked, “Director Wang, would you like to buy some rice seeds our Bureau of Agriculture has cultivated for the orphanages? I see the eastern suburban water paddies of the orphanages are extremely fertile. Drawing water there is also convenient. Our newly cultivated Luoyang East No. 5 has been planted for two years. The selected seeds are plump and large, all picked from the longest rice ears.”
Wang Huifeng was unmoved, “Your Bureau of Agriculture’s seeds are more expensive than those on the market.”
“These are the newest seeds cultivated by our Bureau of Agriculture. Naturally, they’ll be a bit more expensive. However, if purchased by the orphanages, we can lower the price.”
Wang Huifeng: “How much lower than market price?”
Bureau of Agriculture: “…How about ten percent off for you?”
Wang Huifeng said, “The orphanages also keep rice seeds themselves. Though they may not be as high-yielding as the Bureau of Agriculture’s, they’re stable and won’t have fluctuating yields or other problems.”
The official quickly explained, “Director Wang, though this Luoyang East No. 5 has been continuous for two years, it’s actually been researched for five years. Our Minister Shen began cultivating it after coming to Luoyang to join His Majesty. By this year, it’s very stable. There absolutely won’t be seed instability issues.”
Wang Huifeng: “I haven’t heard Minister Shen Ruhui promote this seed in court. The one mentioned most is a seed called Luoyang South No. 2.”
“Ah, that seed isn’t suitable for Luoyang. It’s cultivated for rainy areas like Jiangnan and Jingchu. The parent seed came from Jingzhou. That seed is flood-resistant with tall stalks. Director Wang, this official once fell into hardship and was rescued and treated by an orphanage. I stayed there for three months. I’d cheat anyone but not the orphanages.”
Wang Huifeng looked him up and down, “You’re the Jiang Leigong who was so frightened by Shi Le’s army that you lost your voice, couldn’t remember your own name for two months, but because you predicted several weather patterns, Minister Fu exceptionally recruited you as an official?”
Jiang Sheng said aggrievedly, “That’s this official.” Why did everyone only remember that he was so scared he lost control and his voice?
Didn’t they see where he had escaped from?
He escaped from the prisoner camp of Shi Le’s main camp!
The prisoner camp was a beautiful name outsiders gave it. In reality, Shi Le’s prisoner camp was a food storage. That he could escape amid the chaos was quite impressive, wasn’t it?
Even now, recalling it, he couldn’t help but shiver.
Jiang Sheng said, “If you don’t trust me…”
“I trust you. I’ll buy the seeds.” Wang Huifeng negotiated price and purchase quantity with him.
At this time, Shen Ruhui was also introducing to Zhao Hanzhang the rice and wheat seeds they had selected this year.
Seeds cultivated by the Bureau of Agriculture wouldn’t directly enter the market. This was to avoid seed problems causing widespread yield reduction among the people.
Moreover, common people actually trusted the seeds they saved themselves more.
In previous years, if they hadn’t lacked seeds, they wouldn’t have planted seeds given by the court.
Anyway, during the Wei-Jin and Han periods, when the court provided subsidized seeds, they would take them home to eat, then plant their own saved seeds.
Only in recent years, when many people had no grain seeds or even grain, would they accept seeds given by the court.
This actually helped them develop a good habit—they would tentatively plant seeds distributed by the court.
The common people’s trust in the court had risen considerably. This also benefited from Zhao Hanzhang’s persistent efforts to have schools and government officials go to the countryside to promote various policies.
This year, the Ministry of Revenue and Bureau of Agriculture jointly compiled statistics. The per capita acreage planted with rice and wheat among the people had increased. Millet, which had long occupied first place, had dropped dramatically. Currently, it occupied less than one-fifth of cultivated land.
—