In Daqiao Village, thirty miles outside Ryukyu City, Yang Dalian hurried back to Daqiao Village on horseback, and then started beating gongs and drums.
"Folks, folks~"
"What a happy event, what a happy event~"
Yang Dalang shouted while beating gongs and drums.
Hearing Yang Dalang's voice, the villagers of Daqiao Village quickly came out and came to the football field in the middle of the village, wanting to see what happened.
Daqiao Village is the most typical immigrant village here on Ryukyu Island. The village is neatly planned and the houses built uniformly are clean and beautiful. The immigrants in the village come from the north and south of the Ming Dynasty.
Some come from Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, and some immigrate from Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places. They come from all over the world, and their accents are different, but they all get along harmoniously.
Yang Dalang immigrated from Quanzhou, Fujian, and was the first to come to Ryukyu. He has been immigrating here for several years.
I originally lived in Ryukyu Castle. Later, Ryukyu Castle continued to expand. I felt that there was not much difference between living in the city and living in the countryside around Ryukyu Castle. Moreover, in the countryside, I had my own fields and vegetable gardens.
, orchards, etc., but I felt more comfortable, so I moved to the countryside again and became the village chief of Daqiao Village.
"Dalang, what's the good news? I hope you'll be happy."
Shui Wa looked at Yang Dalang who was playing gongs and drums, and asked quickly.
Shui Wa is an immigrant from the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province. She used to work with Yang Dalang's group, and later came to live in Daqiao Village with her. The two have a very good relationship.
"Yeah, what's good~"
"Hurry up and tell the big guys."
“Is the price of sugarcane going up?”
"No, the price of sugar cane has been falling in recent years, and it is no longer cost-effective to grow sugar cane. Otherwise, people will not grow vegetables and fruits."
"That's right."
The other villagers also started talking about it.
"Everyone be quiet, everyone be quiet~"
When Yang Dalang saw that people were almost here, he quickly stood on a step and signaled everyone to be quiet. When everyone heard this, they immediately became quiet.
"I just went to the city and got the news that our Empress of the Ming Dynasty is happy. This is a great joy that everyone will celebrate."
Yang Dalang said excitedly to everyone.
"Really~"
"Blessed by Bodhisattva, the Queen is happy~"
"That's really a great event, worth being happy about!"
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but nod their heads.
They used to be the poorest people, like Shui Wa. When she was in her hometown on the Loess Plateau, her family didn't even have an acre of land. The whole family farmed the land for the landlord, and they couldn't even afford a full meal throughout the year.
Moreover, in the Loess Plateau, water and soil erosion is very serious, water resources are extremely scarce, and drinking water is very difficult.
Shui Wa had been living a hard life for more than 20 years. Later, she immigrated to Ryukyu. Not only did she own her own land, but she also had her own beautiful house. There were cows in the cattle pen and a horse pen.
There are horses and several big fat pigs. We have our own fruit mountain and we have planted fruit trees.
He also married a Japanese woman as his wife, had several children of his own, and had his own savings in the First Bank of the Ming Dynasty. He lived a very comfortable life this little time.
Let’s talk about this Yang Dalang. He used to be from Quanzhou, Fujian. Although he was not like Shui Wa, who couldn’t drink water, he had many brothers and sisters in his family and had no land. He lived a very poor life and depended on cutting firewood for a living.
I am over 20 years old. Not only can I not get a wife, I don’t even have a pair of shoes. I don’t know how miserable my life is.
Look now, there are hundreds of acres of good paddy fields here, a large mountain as an orchard, a large pig farm with dozens of fat pigs, and three horses used to pull carriages, all of which are used for farming.
He bought a steam cultivator, a steam rice mill and opened a rice mill.
Not only did he marry a wife, he also took in Korean and Japanese concubines, and even prepared to buy another European woman.
In the past, such a life would have been unthinkable.
Here in Ryukyu, people like Shui Wa and Yang Dalang are very common. People who immigrated here used to be the poorest people, but now they all live a good life.
Therefore, I was naturally full of gratitude towards Emperor Hongzhi and the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the Ming Morning Post publicized Emperor Hongzhi's great achievements and created an image of the people as their own sons, which made Emperor Hongzhi deeply loved.
When they heard that the Queen was happy, everyone was also happy.
"Just be quiet~"
Yang Dalang paused slightly and said, "The Queen is happy. This is a great joy that everyone in our Ming Dynasty will celebrate."
"The imperial doctor said that the Queen should eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, but it's winter here in the capital and it's impossible to grow vegetables and fruits."
"Only in the Ryukyu and Nanyang regions can we still grow vegetables and produce fruits even in winter."
"So we here are very lucky to have the opportunity to let the Queen Mother eat the vegetables and fruits we grow. Just now, General Manager Li Yuanshan assigned a task to our Daqiao Village."
"The kiwis and grapefruits in our Daqiao Village are the best in the entire Ryukyus, so I hope our Daqiao Village can donate the best kiwis and grapefruits to the palace for the Queen to enjoy!"
When he said this, Yang Dalang's voice became louder with excitement.
"Oh my god~"
"Can our kiwis and grapefruits be sent to the palace as tribute?"
"Blessed by Bodhisattva~"
"Great~"
"This is really a great joy!"
When the villagers heard this, they couldn't help but get excited.
I didn't expect that the fruits I grew would have the opportunity to be sent to the palace as tribute, and they were given to the Queen for her own use.
Everyone knows this through the Ming Dynasty Morning Post.
Emperor Hongzhi loved the people as his own son, was always thrifty, and cherished the people's and financial resources. During his reign, he reduced local tribute items many times, greatly reducing the local burden.
Therefore, even if everyone grows good fruits, they cannot pay tribute to the palace.
Now it's because the Queen is pregnant and needs to eat more fruits and vegetables, so this blessing has come to Daqiaocun.
"Existence, use mine. My kiwis are big, sweet and the most delicious. My grapefruits are thin-skinned, fleshy, sweet and delicious. Use my grapefruit."
Shui Wa was the first to stand up and said excitedly: "What a great joy. Being able to let the queen eat a bite of the fruits and vegetables grown at home will make our ancestors smoke."
"I am able to live a good life today because His Majesty loves the people like his own son, serves the people wholeheartedly, and immigrated me here from the Loess Plateau."
"Yes, yes~"
"Existence, in my words, my grapefruits are also delicious. I will definitely choose the biggest and best grapefruits and kiwis."
"Use my own, use my own. My kiwi and grapefruit are the best. I take care of them carefully every day. There is no grass in the orchard."
"Village chief, choose my family, choose my family~"
The villagers shouted one by one, vying to bring their fruits to the palace as tribute.
"Just be quiet~"
When Yang Dalang heard this, his head was pounding. They were all yelling and nothing could be done.
"Everyone, listen to me, this fruit that is brought to the palace as tribute has many rules and requirements. One of them is that the quantity is relatively large and there are many nobles in the palace. It is not just the queen who wants to eat it. The emperor
, the prince also wants to eat it, and sometimes the emperor will reward the ministers."
"So this time, every household in our deposits has a share. Everyone hurried to pick the grapefruits and kiwis and pick the best ones."
"In addition, this time our grapefruits and kiwis are not paid for free. The emperor loves his people like his own sons and will not reject our things. All fruits are calculated according to the market price and shipped to the dock in the city for single-handed delivery.
You can collect money on the spot.”
"How can this be done~"
"It's just some fruit. If the emperor and the queen can eat a bite, it's our good fortune and our blessing. How can we accept the emperor's money?"
"This is not possible, this is absolutely not possible. Since ancient times, there has been no reason to collect money for tribute."
"Yes, yes, this is looking down on us in Daqiao Village. Even if we are required to pay tribute to all our fruits every year, we will have no complaints. This is our blessing."
"Yes, we can't charge money. We definitely can't charge money."
When the villagers heard this, they immediately became unhappy.
Everyone was shouting and shouting, "This fruit is a tribute to the emperor and the empress. This is their great blessing. How can they collect money?"
"This money must be collected. The Emperor loves his people as his own sons. If he doesn't charge money, the Emperor will not ask for our fruits. The Emperor knows how difficult it is for us people. You still have to take this money. Otherwise, the Emperor will not
happy."
"That's it. Let's go back to pick fruits and send them to the port in the city together. There is a big ship waiting there. Once the fruits and vegetables are full, they will go back to Tianjin as soon as possible."
"The time is relatively close, and these fruits and vegetables need to be fresh, so everyone should hurry up."
Yang Dalang looked at the villagers and said quickly.
"The Emperor is so kind to us people!"
"Yes, yes, without the emperor, we wouldn't have the good life we have now."
"Let's go, let's go pick fruits quickly and pick the best ones!"
"Yes, yes, hurry up, hurry up!"
As soon as the villagers heard this, they hurried home one by one, picked up their baskets, took their tools and ran to their fruit hills, scrambling for fear of being late.
"What are you doing standing there? Hurry up and get your things. Let's go up the mountain to pick fruits."
Yang Dalang looked at the dispersed villagers, and then at his own country, the Japanese woman, also said anxiously.
When the two women heard this, they immediately got busy.