Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 769 Planting Melons

Some students who were lucky enough were able to get into their dream classes and became students of the Imperial College.

After the issue of enrollment in the academy was resolved, Hua Lei set up canteens in each state school, recruited staff, and installed simple water purifiers in the canteens.

Instruct the chefs in the canteen to pay attention to the hygiene of drinking water. Although there are wells in the academy, it is better to filter the well water with a water purifier and boil it before drinking, which will be safer.

In addition, Hua Lei also equipped each academy with a doctor, who not only ensured the health of teachers and students, but also supervised the food hygiene in the academy's canteen.

Some of the hangers-on from various state governments were transferred to the academy, given a fixed monthly salary, and asked to ensure the security of the academy.

These hangers-on are relatively hardworking. Some of them can read a few simple words, some have certain skills, and are relatively familiar with the surrounding environment.

It is more appropriate to use it to ensure the safety of the students in the academy. And these hangers-on were originally temporary staff with uncertain income.

Now, Hualei gave them fixed work to do and a fixed salary to earn, so they were very happy. This was like a temporary worker in the previous life suddenly being converted to a regular employee.

Therefore, they were very happy with Hualei's arrangement, and they were also conscientious and dedicated to the affairs of the academy.

The bloated team of hangers-on had quietly shrunk, and the government office no longer needed to pay them temporary wages.

Because the academy received class selection fees from wealthy merchants, Hualei used all of them on the subsequent expenses of each academy. Including the monthly salary of the teacher, these hangers-on, and other auxiliary staff, all came from here.

If there was any extra money, it would be spent on various expenses such as pens, inkstones, and repair of desks. After all, the expenses of the academy could basically be self-sufficient.

At that time, the government office would provide a little more money, and the etiquette office would provide guidance and supervision, and the academy would be able to continue to operate normally. This would also be a healthy development for local teaching.

After the academy's affairs were resolved, the peanuts in the field had matured. After the peanut seeds were handed over to the court last year, there were only about 300 kilograms of peanut seeds left.

In the fall, we planted all the crops. About 20 mu of crops were planted. We planted them early, the weather was warm, the irrigation was timely, and the maintenance was proper.

It's only late February, and the peanuts are ready to be harvested. Moreover, this year's peanut harvest is very good. Now, every acre of land can yield 400 kilograms of peanuts.

All of a sudden, there were more than 8,000 kilograms of peanut seeds, which made Hualei a little happy. However, the Ministry of Revenue had already issued an order regarding the peanuts.

He ordered Xichang Prefecture to hand over 70% of the peanuts to the capital after the peanuts were harvested. Emperor Shengwu thought that planting and promoting peanuts in Shangjing City might be more effective.

As for the remaining 30% of peanut seeds, Hualei will continue to plant some in Xichang Prefecture. In addition, if the neighboring Xi'an and Xining Prefectures need peanut seeds, Hualei will evenly send some of them there.

After all, the climate in Xichang, Xining, and Xi'an Prefecture is more suitable for growing peanuts. The Ministry of Revenue should have taken this into consideration, and reserved 30% of the peanut seeds for Hualei.

So, at the beginning of the new year, Hualei received a letter from the governor of Xi'an Prefecture next door, Bao, who wanted to ask Hualei to buy 500 kilograms of peanuts. Along with it came a silver note of 1,000 taels.

The quantities and unit prices all had range values ​​given by the Ministry of Revenue, so Hua Lei readily accepted the banknotes and sent over 500 kilograms of the harvested peanuts.

The neighboring Xining Prefecture bought 800 kilograms of peanuts and also sent 1,600 taels of silver notes, because they had been reprimanded by Emperor Shengwu before.

Therefore, Prefect Cheng was in urgent need of growing more peanuts to atone for his crime. So 800 kilograms of peanuts were quickly delivered to Xining Prefecture.

The remaining more than 1,000 kilograms of peanuts were all planted in Xichang Prefecture. However, this year, they will not all be planted in Changlan Prefecture.

Hualei plans to distribute 100 kilograms of peanuts to each state capital and let them grow them themselves.

After all the peanuts were harvested, Hua Lei took out the watermelon seeds that Tian Xiaofu brought from Shangjing City, and prepared to start planting watermelons in Xichang.

Watermelon was not called watermelon in the Great Sheng Dynasty, but was called cold melon. It was grown in Jiangnan and was tributed to the capital every summer.

Every year, Lord Pei can receive 20 to 30 watermelons from the Ministry of Rites for free as a summer benefit. This is also available only to officials above the third rank.

Because in addition to old Marquis Pei, Pei Jingyang and Pei Jingxuan in the Marquis' Mansion were all above the third rank, they got more watermelons.

Officials who didn't get watermelons had to buy them themselves if they wanted to eat them. However, watermelons might be inconvenient to transport, so the amount of watermelons sold in Shangjing was small and very expensive.

A watermelon often costs several taels of silver, which makes many people reluctant to buy it, and sometimes even impossible to buy it.

Hua Lei told Marquis Pei last year that she would help collect the watermelon seeds when the people in the Marquis' Mansion ate watermelons, as she wanted to grow watermelons in Xichang.

In Xichang, due to the high temperature and drought, there are not many good farmlands, so apart from rice and soybeans, not many other types of crops are planted, let alone watermelons, so there is no experience in growing watermelons.

It seems impossible to send the watermelons produced in Xichang back to Shangjing City for sale. However, there is a border market here, so there should be no problem with sales.

Therefore, after getting the watermelon seeds, Hualei was ready to be planted in Changwu Prefecture. After all, the border market is within Changwu Prefecture.

At that time, the watermelons grown will be directly transported here for sale, which is more convenient and has less loss. In the first year of planting watermelons in Xichang Prefecture, the flower buds were planted in the official fields of Changwu Prefecture, which is too low and can be maintained more carefully.

When Yu Zhizhou of Changwu Prefecture heard that Hualei wanted to grow watermelons in his territory, he was overjoyed. He watched Hualei sell lychees from Changliang Prefecture to Shangjing City.

Seeing that Hualei had helped Changtong Prefecture grow sugarcane and that the white sugar produced had even attracted pre-orders from the Imperial Procurement Department, he was extremely envious.

Moreover, Hualei also helped to attract the royal merchant of liquor to Changlan Prefecture and set up a winery. There was also a linen weaving workshop in Changhe Prefecture. The local people saw their lives getting better.

As the governor of the impoverished Changwu Prefecture, he also wanted to find a way out for the people and gain some political achievements for himself. Hualei asked him to grow watermelons, which was exactly what he wanted.

So, they happily cleared out the best official fields to plant watermelons.