Chapter 110: How Can the Crown Princess Wear a Dragon Robe

Yan Ning and Yan Qing looked through them carefully. First, they set aside the long-winded passages of praise, and there were not many memorials left.

For the ones Yan Ning could resolve, she wrote down the solutions herself; for those she could not, she had to go back and discuss them with her parents.

Before long, only three piles of memorials remained in the Imperial Study: the largest pile was the praise, the middle pile was what Yan Ning could resolve herself, and the remaining dozen or so were the ones she needed to discuss.

Those she could not resolve were mostly matters regarding the Garrison, the impending breach of the Qingjiang, and the issue of food.

None of these could be resolved in a short amount of time.

She simply set them aside, waiting for her father to come over and discuss countermeasures together.

Early the next morning, there were some new faces in the court; presumably, the officials who had been locked in the Jianlao had been released.

Xie Luyan habitually wanted to reach out and ruffle her hair, but halfway through, he awkwardly lowered his hand.

Xie Luyan said with a smile, "Your outfit is quite nice. Wait, is that a Dragon Pattern embroidered on it?"

Yan Ning nodded, "My father designed it. Isn't it nice?"

Xie Luyan nodded, "It's nice. Why don't you have your father design a few more sets of clothes for you to rotate?"

Yan Ning smiled, "I'll tell him when I go back."

Xie Luyan did not lower his voice, and the people around them all noticed that Yan Ning was wearing a Dragon Robe.

Yan Ning heard some hushed voices:

"This is against protocol. How can the Crown Princess wear a Dragon Robe?"

"Shouldn't we be surprised that a woman was actually made the Imperial Heir?"

"Why care so much? Anything is better than Yan Yu."

"That's true."

In the end, those officials exchanged a few words and quickly accepted the fact.

Nowadays, their expectations for the Emperor were very low; even if a pig were Emperor, it would still be better than Yan Yu.

This morning court session was set to begin at nine o'clock, and both Yan Ning and Yan Ze were in high spirits.

At this moment, Xie Luyan stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I request to go to the North to engage the Northern Rong in battle."

Yan Ze said, "You may. Tomorrow, go with Zhuo Heng and take the Explosive Packages with you."

Many people had only heard of Explosive Packages but did not understand them, and many were asking what kind of power these explosives had.

Yan Ning said to that person, "To deal with Yan Yu, we only used two Explosive Packages, and more than half of his six-thousand-strong army vanished in an instant. When we wiped out the pirates, it was also just a few Explosive Packages that caused their five-thousand-strong army to be completely annihilated."

"This time, when we go to the Northern Rong, we will bring one hundred Explosive Packages."

All the officials gasped.

One hundred—this was to wipe out the entire Northern Rong tribe.

Yan Ning said, "This time, we will finish it in one go and wipe out the Northern Rong. It just so happens that there are several mineral deposits there; once we win, we will go and mine all sorts of minerals."

Yan Ze felt this made sense; he would have to make a few more Explosive Packages today.

Hearing Yan Ning's words, the officials also felt at ease.

As for the food issue that the officials were worried about, Yan Ning went to resolve it immediately.

After the morning court, Yan Ning went to the Imperial Farm with her parents, eating their meal in the carriage.

Yan Ze sighed, "I never thought I could be Emperor. These past two days have felt a bit unreal."

Yan Ning said, "Me too, me too. This morning, that group of officials was still gossiping behind my back, unhappy about the Dragon Pattern on my clothes."

Yan Ze gave a "hmph," "My daughter should wear the best!"

The family chatted, and the carriage soon reached the outskirts of the capital. It traveled for another half hour before arriving at the nearest Imperial Farm.

When they came, they had brought almost all the Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, and Corn from Yan Ning's cold storage.

Behind them was a long caravan, all loaded with Seeds.

Yan Ning had not told the people at the farm that she was coming, and Steward Feng from the farm rushed over in a panic.

Steward Feng knelt and performed a salute before standing up to lead them to the buildings on the farm.

This building was the most impressive structure on the farm; when Yan Ning entered, the room was spotless.

Presumably, it was cleaned every single day.

Yan Ning drank some tea and asked, "What is the current situation at the farm?"

Steward Feng said, "Our farm has two hundred mu, with one hundred mu of farmland, and there are one hundred people in total, young and old, on the farm."

Yan Ning continued to ask, "Has the land been planted? And what is the other one hundred mu being kept for?"

Steward Feng said, "We have to keep some land... the other farms are the same."

Yan Ning looked at the fields; they were already planted with Rice and Wheat, and there was just enough land left to help her plant Sweet Potatoes.

Steward Feng continued, "Twenty percent of the farm's food is kept for the farmers, and the remaining eighty percent is sent to the palace."

Yan Ning was surprised, "Twenty percent, is that enough to eat?"

Steward Feng was unsure of her meaning and replied cautiously, "It is enough. Our farm is large, and no farmers have died."

Yan Ning looked at the children at the door who were so hungry they were sallow and thin while still working, and she fell silent.

After a while, she said, "Starting this year, forty percent of the food will belong to you farmers. Furthermore, I want to reclaim three plots of land to plant high-yield crops. Can those extra vacant plots be used?"

Steward Feng thanked her slowly, "Yes, no problem. I will arrange it right away and have them reclaim another thirty mu of land."

Yan Ning said, "That is too much. We didn't bring that many Sweet Potatoes. Let's start by reclaiming ten mu of land to plant them. Also, have the other farms reclaim some land and continue to plant Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, and Corn for me."

Steward Feng hurriedly agreed.

Yan Ze thought for a moment and suggested, "Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes—the idea is to distribute them everywhere once grown so the local commoners can plant them. Daxia is so large, I am worried that there won't be enough Sweet Potatoes and Potatoes to plant."

"How about this: give the farmers sixty percent of the Rice and Wheat, and plant the other high-yield crops twice this year. Starting next year, we will distribute them to the farmers."

Yan Ning nodded, "Indeed, the Seeds are not quite enough."

Although the high-yield seeds they spoke of were gone, the sixty percent of Rice was a pleasant surprise to him.

It looks like everyone will be able to eat their fill this year.

After Yan Ning spoke with them, she suggested: "The manor can raise more chickens, ducks, geese, cattle, and sheep; the manure can be used to fertilize the fields."

Yan Ning immediately taught them the sprouting process for Sweet Potato and Potato, and also taught them the method for composting fertilizer.

It left Steward Feng stunned.

He hadn't expected them to be so down-to-earth, even knowing how to compost fertilizer, something even Steward Feng wasn't very clear on.

Steward Feng led a few people to learn how to plant Sweet Potato together. Another tenant farmer followed Yan Ze to learn how to compost fertilizer.

Yan Ze also said: "You can also raise more chickens and ducks; if you raise a few hundred, we will give you forty percent of them every year."

The manor slaves were very happy, not expecting that there would also be meat to share.

Steward Feng was the happiest.

He had made an appearance before the Emperor and the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess even had the intention of promoting him.

Steward Feng pondered for a moment and asked Yan Ning: "How about I go to the other few manors and spread the word for Your Highness?"

Yan Ning nodded: "Go ahead; remember to tell them that from now on, they can take forty percent of the grain."

Steward Feng hurriedly agreed.

The high-yield crops had already been resolved, and Yan Ning began to ponder, "Father, how can we let the commoners of the Daxia dynasty strive for a moderately prosperous life?"