Chapter 257 The Correct Way to Use the Honglu Temple Mingzan
The Weiyang Palace Imperial Estate was located in Tongzhou, Shuntian Prefecture, which is the location of Wuqing District in later generations.

This place is located at the lower end of the North China Alluvial Plain. The terrain is gentle and slopes from north, west and south to the southeast where the Haihe River flows into the sea.

The soil is deep, loose and fertile, and has been a place suitable for agricultural production since ancient times.

The main food crops here are wheat, rice, and miscellaneous grains. In addition, vegetables, fruits, oil, cotton, etc. are also grown for royal use.

Ou Zanghua originally thought that rice cultivation around the capital began in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but when he was reading information in the library of the Weiyang Palace Imperial Farm last night, he was surprised to find that rice cultivation had actually begun in the Tang Dynasty.

Jin Shizong Wanyan Yong even ordered officials to use the abundant flowing springs on the left side of Taining Palace to irrigate farmland and plant rice, so that the annual harvest of rice reached 10,000 hu.

It is now past Grain in Ear, and the rice fields in the imperial farm are planted with neatly planted rice seedlings. Judging from the situation, it will be another bumper year in September.

Ou Zanghua closed the account book and felt a headache. He would not be able to find any problems if he just went through it hastily.

Three days ago, Tang Bao's superior, the Governor of Henan, completed his work report and was ready to be released back to Henan.

Before leaving, Ou Zanghua prepared various study materials for Tang Shunzhi. In addition to the books needed for the imperial examination, there was a piece of music, one copy each of "Huifeng Luoyan Sword Technique" and "Hengshan Heart Technique", and a copy of "Taibai Yinjing".

Although Taibai Yinjing sounds like a martial arts secret book, it is actually a military book. It is also a military treatise that draws on the strengths of many schools of thought and integrates the theories of Taoism, Confucianism, and military science.

In addition, there are two paintings and calligraphy. One is the "Thirty-six Character Stele of Ailao Mountain". Ou Zanghua wants to see whether this rare all-rounder in the Ming Dynasty can comprehend the swordsmanship from it.

One is an excerpt of "Encouraging Learning" by Ou Zanghua himself, the original author of which is Meng Jiao from the Tang Dynasty.

There were not many things, less than enough for a carriage, but Tang Bao expressed his gratitude very solemnly and promised Ou Zanghua that he would ask Tang Shunzhi to write a learning summary every month and mail it to the capital.

After hearing this, Ou Zanghua quietly put away the three astronomy books written by Guo Shoujing that he had prepared, and said silently in his heart: Shunzhi, your teacher can only help you up to this point.

After seeing Tang Bao off, Ou Zanghua packed up and brought the Right Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, Meng Zhao, and the Right Secretary of the Temple, Chen Mengji, to Tongzhou to check on the situation of the imperial farm of Weiyang Palace.

The management of the imperial farm was done by the emperor's own slaves and eunuchs, and was assisted by flag officers, farm heads, family members and attendants.

The Banner School refers to the armed and violent personnel who manage the imperial farm. The head of the farm is usually an accomplice of the eunuchs, and is usually composed of idle peasants or treacherous and cunning landlords.

Family members refer to the people who manage the internal affairs of the imperial estate, and attendants generally refer to slaves or servants.

Weiyang Palace Village has 7,055.33 acres of land, where 900 farming families live, as well as some craftsmen and artisans, forming a complete small society.

The local emperor here is the eunuch Yang Jinshui, who was once Liu Jin's godson and is now Gu Dayong's godson.

Facing the youngest third-rank official of the dynasty, Yang Jinshui behaved very gently and even arranged for a young girl to warm his bed last night.

Ou Zanghua was speechless. Who the hell needs a warm bed in June? !
At this time, the Right Temple Secretary Chen Mengji sneaked in, approached Ou Zanghua, and whispered: "Sir, I found something wrong with this imperial farm!"

"You don't need to get so close. We are all surrounded by our own people in this house."

"I'm sorry, I just think this creates a more tense atmosphere."

Ou Zanghua looked at Chen Mengji. Why didn’t he realize before that this guy had a talent for comedy?
Sighing secretly, Ou Zanghua asked: "Tell me what problem you found first!" "I found the ratio of girls to boys in the imperial farm."

Chen Mengji said seriously, "When I was taking a walk after dinner last night, I noticed the children playing in the imperial manor. After a closer look, I found that there were fewer boys than girls. When I was jogging this morning, I ran a little further and found that this was the case everywhere."

Ou Zanghua smiled at first, it's just the ratio of men to women.
Wait a minute, he is in the Ming Dynasty now!
Ou Zanghua immediately sent one of his subordinates to the Tongzhou County Government to fetch their county annals.

The subordinates did not dare to delay and rushed out on a fast horse.

Then, Ou Zanghua looked at Chen Mengji and said, "I don't know what to say except congratulations that my Honglu Temple has such a talent as you."

"Thank you for the compliment, sir!" Chen Mengji bowed happily.

At noon, Yang Jinshui sent someone to invite Ou Zanghua and his party to dinner. They sat at the same table in a friendly atmosphere, drinking rice wine brewed by the imperial farm and eating suckling pigs and vegetables raised by the imperial farm. The taste was very good.

Yang Jinshui poured a glass of wine for Ou Zanghua, and said with a smile on his face: "As Lord Ou has seen, most of the crops grown in the Weiyang Palace Royal Farm were transported to the palace, and a small part was sold and exchanged for silver, which was then added to the internal transport warehouse."

"According to your majesty's order, from now on, one fifth of the income from the Weiyang Palace will go to the Honglu Temple." Ou Zanghua patted Yang Jinshui on the shoulder and said cheerfully, "The future quality of life of our Honglu Temple depends on Eunuch Yang!"

"Alas, my Lord Ou, even though we are in the imperial manor, we still have to dig in the soil for food and rely on the weather for our livelihood."

Yang Jinshui gulped down the wine in his glass and said with some melancholy, "In the past two years, God was kind and the weather was good, so the harvest was good. This year, it's just so-so. I'm thankful that I can maintain last year's income!"

"I fully believe in Eunuch Yang's talent, so he can manage the imperial farm so well. As for the weather, this is God's will and cannot be changed by human power. If a natural disaster really occurs, it naturally cannot be blamed on Eunuch Yang!" Ou Zanghua said with understanding.

Yang Jinshui was so moved that his eyes turned red. He insisted on drinking a few more cups with Ou Zanghua and said sadly, "Master Ou is really considerate! I have been working here for five years. I am very familiar with every plant and tree here. I have observed the rain for half a year, and I can roughly know the harvest this year by thinking about it."

"But the old men in the palace don't believe me. They don't believe me! They even sent someone to tell me that if the silver taels we pay this year are not as much as last year, I will make up the difference myself. If I can't make up the difference, I will cut off my own flesh. One piece of flesh is worth ten taels. Isn't this asking me to die?"

Ou Zanghua slammed the table, stood up and shouted angrily: "Who is it? How dare you insult Eunuch Yang like this? Do you think I am a freeloader at the Honglu Temple? Meng Zhao."

"I'm here." Meng Zhao, who was drinking fish soup, quickly stood up and bowed.

"Please make some arrangements and have our people prepare the memorial. We can't kill him!"

"Yes!" Meng Zhao responded immediately.

Ou Zanghua looked at Yang Jinshui and said with great pride: "Please rest assured, Eunuch Yang, we have 36 loud voices from the Honglu Temple. We can scold him from the first day to the fifteenth day, and then from the fifteenth day to the first day! We must scold him until he changes his ways. Just tell me, who is it?!"

Yang Jinshui looked at Ou Zanghua, whose face was ruddy and a little shaky, and secretly cursed his subordinates in his heart, "You found out that Tanhualang can drink a lot, but you didn't say it's to this extent!"
A few glasses of rice wine and you're so drunk?!
What is the position of Mingzan of Honglu Temple?
They are the officials who stand below the emperor during grand court meetings or royal sacrifices and are responsible for repeating the emperor's words. They have average abilities except for their loud voices.

Imagine the scene of thirty-six people who became officials by virtue of their loud voices greeting Zhang Yong's family in the Hall of Supreme Harmony with words that were full of motherly connotations.
No, no, Yang Jinshui felt like his ears were going to hurt just thinking about it.

Not to mention Eunuch Yang, even Ou Zanghua himself felt a shudder in his heart after saying this. It seemed as if he had found the instruction manual for the officials of the Honglu Temple!
After returning, I will organize a "Da Ming Good Voice" in the temple to select the most lethal Ming Zan. Next time, if the censors from the six departments, thirteen provinces, and the Censorate dare to talk nonsense about me, I will put Ming Zan in trouble.

(End of this chapter)