Chapter 419 - Her Secre (2/2)
The sound of Yu Xiaocao’s clear and crisp voice roused him from his thoughts, “Your Imperial Majesty, this subject isn’t being stingy over the recipe for the pesticide but there is a problem with one of the ingredients. It is very hard to find. Because of that, other than myself, no one else is truly able to create a pesticide that is as efficacious.”
How about that? Wasn’t his guess correct? That incredibly hard to find ingredient had to be water from the mystical spring. Other than the little lass’s separate dimension, there wasn’t another spring to be found in this world. Hmph, hmph! The incredible pesticide was only a way to hide the fact that she had access to a spring with spiritual water!
The heavens were too unfair. The little girl was given a giant golden finger when she transmigrated——a special, separate dimension, but what about him? He had only downed two bottles of beer and fallen drunk. After transmigrating over in a muddled manner, he ended up in the Great Ming Dynasty in an alternate reality. Fortunately, his imperial grandfather was also a transmigrator. Otherwise, he would have been locked up long ago by people mistaking his odd thoughts and ways as the signs of a crazy maniac.
When he transmigrated over, other than having a head full of knowledge in regards to ship-building, he didn't get any other advantage. However, that wasn’t a complete loss. Using his knowledge, he was able to engineer new ships that were able to cross oceans to travel to the western hemisphere and return with precious goods. Furthermore, he was able to bring over new crops early. In addition, he had altered early forms of rockets and cannons to be much more effective. When he traveled across the seas, using those new weapons, he was able to defeat many pirates. The results could be seen recently. When the Wokou pirates had attacked, the reason why the prefectural city’s navy was able to push them back with minimum losses had a lot to do with his contributions to the engineering in this country.
However, he also wanted to have a mystical spring and a separate dimension where he could plant crops and improve their yields. What should he do? Perhaps...he should have his secret soldiers catch the little lass, then threaten and torture her until she gave up her goodies? Was that a bad idea? After all, they were both fellow transmigrators and, in his past life, he had been a person who tried to do good for the world.
Then should he...force the little girl under house arrest and have her use her special items for him for the rest of her life? Ahem ahem, that seemed a bit too dishonest and cruel. The little lass didn’t have it easy either. She had also been forced over into a strange world and she didn't even get to transmigrate into someone of status. He had heard that she had endured quite a few years of hard times in this world. Argh, how could he bear to torture someone in the same boat?!
Then...maybe he should use a honey trap to bewitch the little lass such that she would willingly ‘work hard’ for him? Ahem ahem, this might cause misunderstandings. He wasn’t the sort of bastard who would steal a woman from another man. In fact, he was thinking of using his little cousin, who had a high IQ but low EQ, as bait. If his cousin married this little lass, then they would all be one family in the future. As the older cousin, it wouldn’t be too dastardly to have a few requests, right?
“Your Imperial Majesty…” Su Ran, who was standing next to Zhu Junfan, could tell that the emperor had been spacing out for a while and couldn’t help but open his mouth to remind the emperor that he was currently at court. Concentration was a must!
Zhu Junfan sat up straight and had a sanctimonious look...ahem ahem, it was an earnest expression on his face, and said to Yu Xiaocao, “Lass, since you’re the only one who can make this pesticide, then I’m afraid you’ll have to work harder in the future to make as much pesticide as possible! There have been disasters plaguing the people these past two years and they have suffered quite a lot. In many places, eating until one is full is an extravagant hope and most only wish to have enough food to not starve to death. Since you have the ability, we are afraid that you’ll have to do the most work in the future!”
Yu Xiaocao let out a deep sigh in her heart. She was truly afraid that the emperor would force her to cough up the recipe for the pesticide. If that was the case, she had just come up with an idea——the recipe for the pesticide was complicated and if other people couldn’t make it correctly, it had nothing to do with her. She was fortunate that the emperor was a good ruler and didn’t force her. Otherwise, she would have to make up a fake recipe for the pesticide to hand out!
“This subject will do my best to deserve the emperor’s trust. I didn’t have much to do during the winter season, so I made quite a bit of pesticide that I stored in the hidden cellar at my home in Dongshan Village. Fortunately, when the Wokou pirates came, they didn't find it and destroy it. This subject will send a letter home and have my family bring it all over!” With the crisis over, Yu Xiaocao felt every cell in her body relax perceptibly. Zhu Junyang, who was watching her from the back, silently laughed at her.
There truly was a batch of pesticide in her family’s cellar at Dongshan Village. However, Yu Xiaocao didn't actually make it during the winter. Instead, she made it recently as she wanted to take advantage of her family’s success at cultivating high-yielding grains to sell it to people in Tanggu Town. Who would have thought that before she could implement that plan, she and her father had been called into capital by an imperial decree? Sigh! She had missed out on making a bunch of money. Her heart was currently aching at the thought!
As Yu Xiaocao talked about bringing this batch of pesticide in, she couldn’t completely hide her sorrow at losing out on another money making plan. Zhu Junfan thought that her money-grubbing ways were quite amusing. It looked like this old transmigrator friend of his was truly someone who loved making money!
After thinking about it, he had to admit that everything she did made money. First she started selling braised pig offal, then she came up with early-ripening vegetables. Following that, she cultivated large and sweet watermelons and opened a pharmaceutical workshop as well as a braised food shop. Everything she did was a method to become rich. This Yu Family was truly hiding more than it showed. He reckoned that their family was quite wealthy at this point. They may not be at the point to rival wealthy imperial merchants, but they had to be among the top of the families in Tanggu Town.