When all the old men and women heard this, they thought that Lao Zhoutou could go to the palace to see the emperor every year and eat at the same table with him. They were extremely envious and asked, "What does the emperor look like?"
"How majestic," Lao Zhoutou said, "I don't even dare to look at him. They say you can't look directly at the holy face."
"Uncle Jin, what are your clothes made of? It feels so thin and the patterns on it are beautiful."
"It's just fine cotton. It's made somewhere. It's more expensive than the fine cotton we produce in Mianzhou, but it's cool and breathable. It's perfect for this kind of weather. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, our cotton is still good to wear."
"Lao Zhoutou generously let them touch it, "Man Bao got it from the palace, so he made a few sets of clothes for me and her mother. Alas, that's what happens when we get older. We can neither bear the cold nor the heat."
"Man Bao is still filial..."
"It turns out it's something from the palace. No wonder it's so good. In the palace, do the emperors and others also wear clothes like this?"
Old Zhoutou said proudly: "It should be almost the same."
Everyone was envious.
After talking about food and clothing, everyone was still more concerned about the future of the children, "Uncle Jin, I remember that Li Wei stopped going to school, but I heard from Erlang that he is now an official. How did he become one?"
"Thanks to his uncle's blessing, he originally followed his uncle to be a manager. He did well, so he was promoted. However, the grade was very small. He was promoted twice before he was promoted to the seventh grade."
"Isn't that the same as a county magistrate? That's awesome!"
"Yes, yes, Li Zhong has also become an official. I really didn't expect that someone who works in the field can become an official. Brother Jin, do you think those of us who are good at farming can go?"
Old Zhoutou said proudly: "It's not like anyone who is good at farming can be an official. My family in Lizhong has grown new rice seeds. If you can grow new seeds, you should be able to do it too."
He paused and then said: "Man Bao said that if you have merit, you will be rewarded. Anyway, that's the same thing."
"That's not easy. We have been cultivating the land for so many years. We only select the best grain seeds every year to make the yield a little higher the next year. With so many rice seeds growing like this, who has grown it except your family?
"
"The new wheat seeds were also grown by your family back then, so this is still the blessing of the ancestors. Alas, they are all from the Zhou family. How come the ancestors have blessed your house?"
"I suspect he is the ancestor of their family."
"That's what I think too. If it weren't for Uncle Yin's blessing, then it would be my great-uncle and great-uncle."
"Yes, yes, Uncle Jin, when will your family plan to build the grave? Let's all go burn some incense."
"Yes, you can't do it secretly."
Zhou Jin: "It is a good thing to repair graves, why should I do it secretly?"
"There are more and more people studying in our village, and many young ladies are making noises to go to school. Uncle Jin, I heard Erlang say that there is no school for girls in the capital now. Your family wants to send all the great-granddaughters to study.
?”
"Yes," Lao Zhoutou nodded: "It's just that the child is still young and will grow up. Now he can learn a little at home, and when he gets older, he will be sent to a girls' school. That will be the case for the princess and the princess to study together.
The school is amazing."
The villagers were amazed and asked quickly: "If you go inside to study, wouldn't it be possible to see the princess and the princess every day?"
God, just thinking about it is enough to make them excited. They would never talk about such two big figures before, but now they may see them every day.
Here, while bragging, Zhou Lang, who was returning from Dali Village with two slaughtered sheep, was also stopped.
They are all young and middle-aged people in the village. "Silang, my boy didn't cause you any trouble outside, did he?"
"No, no," Zhou Lang said with a smile: "I work hard, but I drink too much. In addition to the money I earn, I send him back, and the rest is mostly used for drinking. Brother Dayong, you have to talk about him, Mr.
Drink more, save more money, and I will marry a wife in two years."
"Shiro, do you think I can do it? I also want to go on business with you."
"You?" Zhou Lang looked up and down and shook his head, "No."
"Why?"
"You are an only son. Let's wait until you have a few more sons and they can grow up and take charge of the family." Zhou Lang said: "Trading in business is not as dangerous as farming, whether it is going to the Western Regions or sea trade.
Even if you are on the line, your life is in danger. If you are unlucky and die outside, where can I find someone to explain to my aunt and sister-in-law?"
Zhou Lang suggested: "Your son, please go out with me when your son grows up."
The villagers laughed and cheered: "Yes, Eryi, your husband's son."
Eryi was unconvinced, "I will sign a life and death certificate with you. If I die outside, my parents and daughter-in-law will definitely not cause trouble to you."
"That's not possible," Zhou Lang said: "Even if there is a situation of life and death, fellow villagers, if something happens to you, can I feel at ease?"
He paused and then patted him on the shoulder and said: "I'm not telling you, don't always think of going out to make a lot of money. It seems that we can make more money by doing business, but the expenses are also high. You can ask the village to follow us.
People who don’t eat well or sleep well are either running around or carrying bags every day, which is even more tiring than farming.”
"It's no different now than it used to be. In the past, the fields produced less, and if you wanted to make more money, you had to go outside. But now, wheat and rice are both highly productive. If you plant the land at home well, your life will not be bad. With the input of some medicinal materials, you can make a lot of money."
It’s no less than what we run outside.”
"Yes, yes," Dayong said: "The reason why I let my son go out is because I have a lot of people in my family. If there are more of him in the land, it will not be more, and if there is less of him, it will not be more. But you are different, Eryi, you
You are the only adult male in the house. If you go out, who will do the heavy work in the house?"
"Life is much better now than before, Shiro, what is the price of Ligustrum lucidum this year? Food prices are getting cheaper year by year, won't this medicinal material also get cheaper year by year?"
"Not yet, but I can't guarantee what will happen in the future," Zhou Lang said: "We are also following the crowd. Whatever the price in the world is, we will pay it."
Although food prices are decreasing, drug prices have not changed much. This is because more and more medical offices have been opened in various places in recent years, the number of people seeking medical treatment is increasing every year, the number of medicinal materials consumed is also rising, and the drug prices are also increasing.
It floats slightly higher.
If the Imperial Medical Office had not cooperated with various county governments in recent years to promote the sowing of medicinal materials, the price of medicines would have risen more than slightly.
However, now that the grain yield per acre is increasing, the quantity and quality of the acres used to grow medicinal materials will definitely increase. There will only be more and more medicinal materials, and the price of medicines will also drop in the future.
However, Manbao said that this cannot be achieved in three or two years. Not to mention the time required for promotion, it will take at least two years for the growth of a single medicinal material. Therefore, the price of medicine will not drop until five or six years.
There is no need to tell the folks about such a complicated matter. "Anyway, the price of Ligustrum lucidum should not be reduced this year."
The villagers breathed a sigh of relief and became happy, "What about old ginger? Our family has had a lot of sunshine this year."
After Zhou Lang answered their various price questions, he finally squeezed out of the crowd and went home covered in sweat.