CH 54

Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary):

-廖青青(Liào qīngqīng)- Liao Qing Qing, the female lead. 

–曦昭容(xī zhāo róng)- Lady Xi of Bright Countenance, Liao Qing Qing’s current designation.

-景礼帝(jǐng lǐ ​​dì)- Emperor Jing Li, the male lead.

-荷香(Hé ​​xiāng)- He Xiang, the female lead’s maidservant

-福生(fú shēng)- Fu Sheng, the emperor’s chief eunuch. 

Current Ranking: Empress Dowager → Worthy Consort + Virtuous Consort + Consort Liang → Lady Xi of Bright Countenance →  Lady Li of Graceful Ceremony → Ye Liangyi + Wu Liangyi → Noble Lady Liao + Noble Lady Jiang

Fu Sheng answered honestly, “Replying to Lady Xi of Bright Countenance, not yet.”

Liao Qing Qing nodded and said, “Alright, I got it. You can return.”

“Yes.”

Fu Sheng left.

""

Liao Qing Qing ordered He Xiang to bring the Domain Records of the Great Wei Dynasty and a map. She sat down at the table and studied the map. Dongliao County was located in the northeast of the Great Wei Dynasty, and the area was vast.

Although the winter was harsh, it had always been something Emperor Jing Li was not worried about.

But this time was different. The county was still suffering from snowstorms even though it was currently spring.

Evidently, Dongliao County would be affected for the next six months.

If they freeze to death now, they may starve to death after a while.

Emperor Jing Li must allocate funds for disaster relief.

Liao Qing Qing involuntarily frowned and thought of various ways in Lisheng Pavilion. During the evening, Emperor Jing Li returned somewhat tiredly.

“Your Majesty.” Liao Qing Qing came forward to receive him.

When Emperor Jing Li saw Liao Qing Qing, his worries were reduced by half.

Liao Qing Qing proactively held Emperor Jing Li’s hand.

Emperor Jing Li’s body and mind felt a lot more relaxed and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet. Your Majesty has not eaten yet, right?”

""

“Mm.”

“Let’s eat together.”

“Alright.”

“Hold on,” Liao Qing Qing suddenly stopped him.

“What’s the matter?” Emperor Jing Li asked

“Your Majesty, come with me.”

Liao Qing Qing and Emperor Jing Li walked to a small room in Lisheng Pavilion hand in hand. As soon as they entered the room, he saw several large chests placed in the room. Once they were opened, there was either gold or silver inside as well as some jewellery.

Emperor Jing Li asked curiously, “What are you doing with this?”

Liao Qing Qing said, “Your Majesty, I’m passing all this to you.”

“Passing to me[1] for what?”

“To relieve the disaster. Didn’t you say that there is a snowstorm in Dongliao?”

Emperor Jing Li was increasingly touched by the sincerity of her words. He had been an Emperor for several years and had encountered various natural calamities and man-made disasters every year. Most of the imperial concubines in the harem were just trying to please and appease him. No one was like Liao Qing Qing, who directly gave him all her assets to relieve the disasters.

“What would you spend if you give it all for disaster relief?” Emperor Jing Li asked.

“This imperial concubine[2] doesn’t spend much in the first place. In the future, there would be no bestowments.”

“Aren’t you afraid that the maids and eunuchs will say you’re stingy?”

“If they were to say, so be it then. This imperial concubine would rather be told that this imperial concubine is stingy than have any more casualties in Dongliao.” Liao Qing Qing looked as if she had steeled herself.

Warmth spread through Emperor Jing Li’s heart. He stretched out his arms to bring Liao Qing Qing in his arms and said, “Qing Qing’s intentions are appreciated by the people of Dongliao and me. Don’t worry about the snowstorm. Ihave already ordered people to open warehouses to provide relief. I believe we will receive good news in a few days.”

“Then why is Your Majesty still frowning?” Liao Qing Qing’s slender fingers reached between Emperor Jing Li’s eyebrows and gently stroked them.

She stroked him gently and affectionately.

Emperor Jing Li’s brows relaxed slightly, and he said, “I am worried that the people are starving.” He had always valued the lives of the people. He continued, “I don’t know how the other places are doing this year.”

“Since Your Majesty has opened the warehouse for disaster relief, they will soon receive Your Majesty’s bestowal. When the Heavens see His Majesty’s intention, he will also treat the people of Great Wei generously.”

These words were so sweet to Emperor Jing Li’s ears that he lowered his head and kissed Liao Qing Qing’s forehead. He felt much more at ease.

But he remembered the matter of Dongliao County.

After all, human lives were at stake.

During the dinner, Emperor Jing Li did not eat much.

Afterwards, he sat down in front of his memorials to review them.

Liao Qing Qing accompanied him for a while and only went to bed when she was exhausted.

The following morning, the weather was fine, and the sun shone brightly.

There was some good news from Dongliao County, saying that the snow had stopped and that some local officials and wealthy nobles had set up a stand for porridge to help the people and that Dongliao County had also opened its warehouses to relieve the disaster.

Emperor Jing Li was a little relieved to hear this.

However, in the afternoon, he received another memorial saying that a flood had occurred.

It was only in the spring, and a flood had occurred, causing Emperor Jing Li and the ministers to feel worried. They held an emergency meeting to assist with the operations of things. The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Minister of Officials and the Minister of Revenue all came up with policies in a hurry to deploy extra manpower to treat the flooding and prevent thieves from taking advantage of the situation.

For a while, the imperial officials were extremely busy.

Emperor Jing Li was even busier day and night.

He didn’t expect the start of this year to have so many matters. Before he ascended to the throne, he had read a lot of history and concluded that snow, drought and flood did not come alone but were often accompanied by various diseases. The most common being coughs and fevers, and the worst was the plague.

Emperor Jing Li was afraid of the plague.

He immediately issued several decrees reminding officials of the importance of protection against various diseases.

He even allocated heavy sums of money for medicine.

Perhaps Emperor Jing Li’s attentiveness moved the Heavens. The sun shone brightly in many places for the next few days.

Sunshine was a good omen.

So everything was going in a good direction.

Emperor Jing Li let out a long sigh of relief.

Liao Qing Qing was also relieved.

At this time, the young eunuch from the Department of Agricultural Products came over to see Liao Qing Qing again.

Liao Qing Qing asked, “What’s the matter?”

The young eunuch said happily, “The Bureau Chief sent this servant[3] to tell Lady Xi of Bright Countenance that the potatoes will be harvested tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Liao Qing Qing had been so concerned about the disaster in various places these days that she had forgotten about the harvest of the thousand mu of potatoes in Zhu Prefecture. She said, “Has your Bureau Chief taken a look at the potatoes?”

“Yes, he did.”

“How are they growing?”

“The Bureau Chief said it was even better than the ones grown in the Department of Agricultural Products.”

Liao Qing Qing said with a smile, “Good. I wanted to go with you to collect the potatoes, but I am not well enough to do so. So please inform the Bureau Chief.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, right. Is His Majesty aware of this?”

“The Bureau Chief has sent a memorial, but His Majesty has been busy lately, so I am not sure if he had read it or not.” The young eunuch replied.

“All right. I understand. You can return.”

“Yes.”

After the junior eunuch left, Liao Qing Qing summoned the Momos[4] from Lisheng Pavilion. Last year, she had told Emperor Jing Li that she loved growing vegetables and had repeatedly achieved success.

Not only did Emperor Jing Li reward her with silver, but he had also bestowed her a hundred mu[5] of land (6.667 hectares/ 66,666.67 sqm).

When potatoes were planted in Zhu prefecture last year, she also sent people to grow a hundred mu (6.667 hectares/ 66,666.67 sqm) of potatoes. Now it was time to harvest, so she ordered the Momos to go out of the palace to find people to harvest these potatoes, while she estimated this year’s potato harvest at Lisheng Pavilion.

It took her more than six months to grow the potatoes from the umbrella flowers herself.

She also spent more than half a year with the Minister of Revenue and the Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products to continue experimenting and cultivating the potatoes. All the potatoes produced and the large number of umbrella flowers purchased from the northwest were sparsely and uniformly planted into the land.

The total area was over 1,100 mu.

Based on the previous yield of 1,000 catties (500kg/1102.32 pounds) per mu, the potato harvest this time was about 1.1 million catties.

A million and ten thousand catties?! (50,500 kg/1,113,334.42 pounds)

Five hundred and fifty tonnes?

That is too much, right?

A few days later, the Minister of Revenue reported the potato harvest to Emperor Jing Li in Qingzheng Hall.

Emperor Jing Li was astonished.

The imperial officials were not convinced at all.

The Minister of Revenue gave an impassioned explanation of the growing process of potatoes, the advantages of harvesting and spelt out in detail the merits of Lady Xi of Bright Countenance, Liao Qing Qing.

In addition to the potato flowers that had been transported from the northwest, most of the potatoes grown on the one thousand mu of land (666,666.67 sqm/66.67 hectares) in Zhu prefecture were potato stems cultivated by Lady Xi of Bright Countenance and all the imperial officials present had eaten the potatoes.

Not only were they edible, but they were also tasty.

But a total yield of more than one million catties from a thousand mu of land (666,666.67 sqm/66.67 hectares) was simply impossible, knowing that a harvest of 300,000 catties (15,000 kg/330,693 pounds) from a thousand mu of wheat, rice and grain would be a great harvest.

It was obvious that the Minister of Revenue was exaggerating.

Why was he exaggerating?

Of course, it was for Lady Xi of Bright Countenance’s sake.

The Minister of Revenue was known to be a member of Lady Xi of Bright Countenance’s faction and a staunch supporter of Lady Xi of Bright Countenance as the Empress of this dynasty.

This Lady Xi of Bright Countenance would do anything to become the Empress, daring to interfere in the country’s fundamentals.

Some imperial officials, however, could not stand the Minister of Revenue. They began to show examples of cultivation from the past and the present in the courtroom. They firmly stated that potatoes could not be that productive. Otherwise, there would not be a famine in the future.

At the same time, they vigorously attacked the Minister of Revenue, insinuating that Lady Xi of Bright Countenance.

It was fine to attack the Minister of Revenue, but not to Lady Xi of Bright Countenance. Emperor Jing Li immediately threw the memorial.

The hall was dead silent.

The Minister of Revenue braced death and said, “Your Majesty, this subject[6] is stating the truth. If you don’t believe me, you can go to Zhu prefecture now and take a look at the potatoes. At this moment, the potatoes there have not been shipped. If this subject has lied, this subject is willing to die!”

“Let’s go to Zhu prefecture!” Emperor Jing Li exclaimed in anger.

The other imperial officials tried to stop Emperor Jing Li, but they all dared not say anything when they saw his face full of anger. They immediately gathered their guards and soldiers, prepared their carriages and horses and went to Zhu prefecture in great haste.

However, there were not enough carriages because of the haste in leaving the palace. Many imperial officials crammed into four to eight carriages, so they did not dare to speak a word.

They silently squeezed with one another.

Who would have thought that His Majesty’s intention was unpredictable?

Emperor Jing Li sat alone in a carriage. He was vaguely excited. He believed what the Minister of Revenue said because he trusted his Qing Qing.

[1] 朕(zhèn)- I (imperial) or we (imperial use).

[2] 嫔妾(pín qiè)- This imperial concubine. It is a self-appellation that can only be used by Lady of Talents (才人), Noble Lady (贵人), etc to the Emperor and Empress Dowager.

[3] 奴才 (núcái) – self appellation of bondservant when addressing the royalty or one’s master/your humble servant.

[4] 嬷嬷(mómo)- In ancient times, Momo is a title, which refers to palace maids that are of a certain age and position. It usually refers to elderly palace maids of seniority.

[5] 亩(mǔ)- Classifier for fields. Unit of area equal to one fifteenth of a hectare

[6] 微臣(wēichén)-This humble subject/this small official. It’s a self-humbling term used by government officials and officials in feudal courts.

[1] 朕(zhèn)- I (imperial) or we (imperial use).

[2] 嫔妾(pín qiè)- This imperial concubine. It is a self-appellation that can only be used by Lady of Talents (才人), Noble Lady (贵人), etc to the Emperor and Empress Dowager.

[3] 奴才 (núcái) – self appellation of bondservant when addressing the royalty or one’s master/your humble servant.

[4] 嬷嬷(mómo)- In ancient times, Momo is a title, which refers to palace maids that are of a certain age and position. It usually refers to elderly palace maids of seniority.

[5] 亩(mǔ)- Classifier for fields. Unit of area equal to one fifteenth of a hectare

[6] 微臣(wēichén)-This humble subject/this small official. It’s a self-humbling term used by government officials and officials in feudal courts.