Chapter 669: Living Up to the Emperor’s Grace

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

Yu Zongzheng was overjoyed. The money allocated by the Imperial Court for disaster relief was not much, and Zhejiang had a lot of disasters. With the 20 ships of food from the Xie family and the food and medicine donated by his eldest daughter, the job was much easier.

Yu Zongzheng was both proud and gratified that his eldest daughter had sacrificed so much for him. “The eunuch who went to the government office to deliver the holy decree today said that the Emperor praised you for being understanding and righteous. He said that Yao Yao is kind-hearted and did not let down the loyalty and virtue of the Yu Clan. He even praised the family for being upright and one that accumulated kindness and virtue. That’s why he entrusted the disaster relief to me. He hoped that I would not let down my ancestors and live up to the Emperor’s grace.”

Yu Youyao lowered her eyes. “I thought it would be difficult for Father to go to Zhejiang. Luckily, I could be of help to you.” At this point, she bowed slightly. “l wish you all the best on this trip to Zhejiang and that you’ll be in good health.’

Yu Zongzheng coveted power and status. He had the noble demeanor of a descendant of an aristocratic family in his bones and did not value money. Moreover, he had also become the 13th censor and was directly appointed to serve the Emperor. He definitely wanted to use this opportunity to make a contribution and satisfy the Emperor. Being sent to Zhejiang to relieve the disaster was also the best outcome.

Previously, Yu Zongzheng had mentioned to her that he wanted to ask for an order for her mother. She had more or less guessed that if Yu Zongzheng wanted to improve his standing, he would have to make a great contribution to the Imperial Court.

Previously, he had thought of helping out with the drought.

Later on, when there was a flood in Zhejiang, she guessed that they were going to Zhejiang to relieve the disaster.

This was the reason why she had donated food and medicine.

These words touched Yu Zongzhengs heart. He said happily, “Alright, I’ll thank you for your blessing.”

Yu Youyao smiled and said nothing.

The next day, Eunuch Zhu came to the Yu Residence again with many rewards from the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Although there was no news of Yu Youyao donating money, food, and medicine in the palace, it was not covered up. Every family had spies in the palace and they knew what had happened clearly.

This was also deliberately done by the palace.

The entire capital knew that the Empress Dowager was going to implement the fund raising for the disaster relief.

The various families in the capital were not fools. Yu Youyao had been conferred the title of the County Head, and the late Eldest Madam Xie had also been conferred the title of a virtuous woman. The Emperor’s grace was really vast.

Naturally, the Yu Residence had to “repay” the Emperor.

This was a scheme by the palace.

With Yu Youyao’s deep understanding and righteousness, all the families in the capital knew that this money collection was not a small matter.

The Empress Dowager’s collection of money was targeted at all the servants inside and out, including local officials. The direction of the wind in the capital often represented the direction of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the nobles and merchants from all over the country were also involved.

Therefore, the collection of disaster relief money went very smoothly.

This also made Yu Youyao heave a sigh of relief. If she raised more money, the people who would be affected in the second half of the year would have a better life.

In mid-May, Yu Youyao received a message from the steward of a manor in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

The fields in more than ten counties in Zhejiang were flooded, and the people affected by the disaster lost their harvest for the second half of the year.

At this time, it was too late to plant anything.

After planting more than a hundred acres of sweet potatoes in the manor, they planned to distribute the harvest to the affected commoners and teach them how to plant them. In July and August, when the sweet potatoes were harvested, the commoners could pinch the sweet potato leaves to quench their hunger. In the second half of the year, when they were most short of food, they would be able to live after harvesting the sweet potatoes.

Yu Youyao sent a pigeon to ask him to arrange it as soon as possible. She also found Steward Li from the Rogue Manor to ask him some questions.

Steward Li said, “The temperature in Zhejiang is moderate, and there’s a lot of light. The sweet potatoes should live very well. I reckon they can be planted until late May. They can probably also be planted in June, but it might affect production.”

Yu Youyao finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Next, Yu Youyao kept paying attention to the money collection and the disaster relief situation in Zhejiang.

In the blink of an eye, it was June.

It had been a month since her cousin had left the capital, and she had only received one letter from him during this period. She was not worried that anything would happen to him, but she missed him very much.

At this moment, Yin Huaixi, whom Yu Youyao was worried about, was not in a hurry to meet Harmon after arriving in the North. Instead, he led his troops to patrol the drought in the North every day and the planting of sweet potatoes.

There were not many paddy fields in the North, and most of them were dry lands, with more sandy land.

After the successful planting of the sweet potatoes, Yu Youyao bought a large amount of farmland and forests in various areas of the North. There were many dry lands in the North, and the land prices were very cheap.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty’s paddy field, an acre of land required more than ten taels of silver. Different areas had different prices, so it was impossible to estimate.

The fertile land was about five to six taels per mu, which was a relatively stable value. Ordinary land was less than three taels, and the sand land in the North was less than three to four hundred copper coins per mu.

Potatoes were not picky about land, but they were more adaptable to sand and could grow more.

As such, the planting of sweet potatoes in the North had already reached a certain scale this year.

Later on, Yu Youyao suggested cutting the plants and replanting, and greatly expanded the agricultural land.

The steward even used the name of the Yue Fei’s Residence to distribute the excess sweet potato vines to the commoners to plant.

Yue Fei’s Residence was extremely prestigious in the North. When King Li of Zhou was still alive, he was very concerned about agriculture. Every family had a few acres of sand land. The commoners did not suspect anything and followed suit.

The steward in charge of the manor looked regretful. “Last year, the cotton in the manor was also tried and grown. Although it was fruitful and hadn’t bloomed, the experienced old farmers in the manor said that it was because the planting was late and it was dry. They originally planned to expand the planting this year, but it was dry in the north this year. Eldest Miss also instructed that sweet potatoes should be planted on a large scale this year. We can continue planting the cotton in the future when the weather is good.”

There was some cotton planted in the manor, but the situation was not very good.

Yin Huaixi did not know much about farming, but when he saw the growth of the sweet potatoes in the manor, he felt that they were not bad, so he asked

about it.

The steward had also been Yin Huaixi’s subordinate in the past, so he naturally did not hide it. “The land in the manor is rented out to the families of the martyrs to plant first. There’s no need to pay the rent. The seeds are all produced by those in the manor themselves. The manor will get 70% of the food harvest, and the farmers will get 30%. Many of the work in the manor is also prioritized for the families of the soldiers with poorer families. As they have work to do, their lives have improved a lot.”

In the past, the steward was also a soldier under King Li of Zhou. Later, his leg was injured, and it hurt every autumn and winter. He could no longer go to the battlefield, so he retreated.

Naturally, he also hoped that the families of the soldiers would live a better life.

Therefore, he was very grateful to Eldest Miss.

Yin Huaixi understood after thinking for a moment. The sand land couldn’t produce food, and the commoners weren’t willing to rent it. If they had the time, they might as well explore it themselves.

By renting the land to the families of the martyrs without charging rent or providing seeds, not only could they farm for free, but they would also receive 30% of the food. They would definitely think that this was the preferential treatment that the Yue Fei Residence had given them. Naturally, they would do their best and not fool them.

In the first few years, because of the lack of supplies, there were indeed too many casualties in the North. Furthermore, because of the limited supplies, even though her father tried his best to compensate the families of the martyrs, their lives were still very difficult..

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