Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 672 Buying Seeds

The court stipulated that they had to arrive at the local area within two months of leaving Beijing. Then, they would hand over the government documents, seals, accounts, and local affairs to the previous officials.

However, Xichang Prefecture's Governor Fei has already resigned due to mourning, so Hua Lei will hand over the work to the local temporary acting official.

After all the affairs of the court were dealt with, the next step was to prepare the luggage to be taken to the Western Frontier.

· During the golden years, Hua Lei and Rong Jin discussed it and decided to take them together, and just bring a few more maids and servants.

It's not that she doesn't trust Madam Pei, but Hua Lei doesn't want to leave the two children behind. Now that she has enough money and the Marquis's Mansion has enough manpower, it would be best to let the children stay with her.

As for the manpower, those who followed to Mobei were all those he was used to, and after asking for their own opinions, everyone followed.

However, in order to let the two children suffer less, Hua Lei decided to let Butler Pei take Jinnian and Jinshi to Western Xinjiang by boat. They can travel slowly on the way, and Doctor Xu will also go with the boat.

In addition, he dispatched two more boats, one with Tian Xiaofu and the other with crew members as escorts, to follow behind. In this way, the boats could take care of each other, and Hua Lei would feel more at ease.

In order to make Jinnian and Jinshi live more comfortably, Hualei immediately found Tian Xiaocheng and asked him to help maintain and tidy up the new boat that was bought in the second half of last year.

In the past, ships were mostly used to transport goods, and the sleeping places of the crew were relatively random. However, this time, the most important thing was the accommodation.

Cleanliness and hygiene are a must. In addition, Hualei has prepared a gauze tent. There are many mosquitoes in the water. Although the weather is not hot yet, protection is still necessary.

In addition to tidying up the boat, Hualei also prepared food and clothing for Jinnian and Jinshi with great care, especially the food for the two children, which must be kept fresh and hygienic.

Also, I was originally planning to wean Jinshi, but considering the problems on the road, weaning was temporarily postponed. I just told the wet nurse to feed Jinshi a certain amount of milk powder and complementary food every day, and replace them slowly.

I also prepared a lot of picture books, small toys, etc. for the four-year-old Jinnian, and also gave him some careful instructions. Although Jinnian is only four years old, there are some things he doesn't understand very well.

However, Hua Lei explained over and over again where they were going, how long the journey would take, and why she was not going with him.

By the time the ignorant Jinnian patted his chest and said that he could take good care of his younger brother, the time set by the court for Hualei to leave Beijing had already arrived.

So, Hua Lei and Rong Jin, along with a group of guards and a convoy, said goodbye to their families, left Shangjing City, and headed west.

Hua Lei originally thought that Jinnian and Jinshi had already had sufficient manpower, but old Marquis Pei looked around and was not happy.

He and Madam Pei did not want Hualei to go to Xichang Prefecture. Even if Rong Jin persuaded them, they reluctantly agreed to let the two adults go.

However, they never expected that Hualei would take the two children to the remote place of Xijiang. Therefore, during this period, the two elders were not in a good mood.

As their great-grandfather and grandmother, they would definitely not treat these two precious children badly. However, Rong Jin listened to Hua Lei in everything now, and Lord Pei felt a little upset.

The problem is, when I asked for the opinion of four-year-old Jinnian, the little one actually expressed his determination to follow his mother, even if the old Marquis Pei tried to coax him with silver and tempt him with banknotes.

After the little one accepted everything, he still hugged his great-grandfather's neck with a smile and whispered in his ear that he wanted to follow his mother, which made Lord Pei very disappointed.

After realizing that any attempts at coaxing or kidnapping would be of no avail, Lord Pei went to the Ministry of War to report, then got on the boat with the two kids, ready to personally escort them to Western Xinjiang.

Of course, Hua Lei and Rong Jin didn't know about this beforehand, as Lord Pei just didn't want to tell them. At this time, Hua Lei and Rong Jin were already sitting in a carriage, far away from the territory of Shangjing City.

The weather was fine these two days, so during the day, Hua Lei and Rong Jin would ride horses together. At night, they would stay at the official post house, which was very convenient.

In this way, they traveled on horseback and in carriages for more than twenty days. There were fewer and fewer official post stations, and the scenery on the road became more and more desolate.

That day, at noon, Hua Lei, Rong Jin and a group of people entered the east gate of Anyang Prefecture, Xi'an Prefecture, and stayed in the largest inn in the prefecture.

It spans five states, including Anyangzhou, Anfuzhou, and Xichang Prefecture. After leaving the carriage and belongings, Hua Lei and Rong Jin took a few people to the busiest East Street.

There are many shops here, including restaurants, inns, and grocery stores, one after another. Although the shops are relatively old, there are many varieties of goods, and there are only a few people walking on the street.

Hua Lei and Rong Jin walked into a rice and grain shop on the roadside. Nowadays, in addition to selling rice, flour, grain and oil, rice and grain shops also sell grain seeds, including wheat seeds and rice seeds, as well as a variety of vegetable seeds.

The Great Sheng Dynasty had a vast territory. The local customs and practices varied greatly from place to place, and the crops grown were also diverse. Most of the rice grown in Shangjing City and Mobei was japonica rice, but many places in the southern and western prefectures grew indica rice.

This is also the reason why the climates in different places are different. Indica rice has a shorter growth period and good heat resistance, making it suitable for planting in the hot south and west.

Therefore, more indica rice is planted in Xi'an and Xichang. As the saying goes, local climate and soil determine local people, the two types of rice not only have different planting environments, but also have completely different tastes.

Japonica rice is soft, sticky and has a soft and delicate texture. Indica rice has distinct grains and a slightly harder, chewy texture. Moreover, there are many different varieties of indica rice.

Looking at the various varieties of grain in the grain shop, Hua Lei carefully asked the shopkeeper about the characteristics of each variety, and then asked Qingzao Qingsheng behind her to buy some of each variety.

In addition, I also bought some other wheat seeds, vegetable seeds, and flower buds. I asked the clerk to carefully pack them before I left the shop.

Then, he went to other grain shops and bought some grain seeds in the same way. He stopped only when the carriage he was following could no longer hold them.

Rong Jin and I chose a clean restaurant, had lunch, and then went back to the inn to rest. The next day, we set out again with the grain seeds.

From then on, whenever Hua Lei passed by a state capital or a county town, she would visit various grain stores and buy back some grain seeds. Before she knew it, there were several more horse-drawn carriages loaded with seeds behind her.

By the time they set foot on the eastern part of Xichang Prefecture, it had been more than a month since they left Beijing. There were still more than twenty days left to reach the government office of Xichang Prefecture, so there was more than enough time.