Chapter 585: Qing Dynasty Spirit Spring System (36)

Xie Yang thought for a moment and said, "Later, let my eldest uncle look for a farm suitable for animal husbandry. I still have a feed formula in my hands that can make poultry and livestock grow well, get sick less often, and also increase egg production and meat yield."

"..."

Li Shi was truly speechless after hearing this, and she really wanted to ask her daughter: Aren't you fighting a war in the Northwest? How do you still have time to ponder these things? Does His Majesty the Emperor know? Has he not blamed you for neglecting your proper duties?

Unfortunately, they had arrived at her maiden home, so the mother and daughter stopped the topic.

The questions Li Shi didn't ask, the Li brothers asked.

"Haiyin, haven't you been busy fighting wars all these years in the Northwest? How do you still have time to tinker with these things?"

Xie Yang smiled and said, "The Northwest region is vast, and the areas around our camp are uninhabited, making purchasing very inconvenient. Although my maternal grandfather and uncles help me transport dozens of carts of grain and fodder every year, there are many monks but little gruel, and besides, we can't rely on outside shipments every year, so I pondered planting something and raising something."

She paused and added, "Some of the beef and mutton jerky I brought back to Peking this time was gifted by local folks, and some was raised by our own corps. Can you taste the difference from what you buy on ordinary days?"

The Li brothers looked at each other in surprise, then said to Xie Yang, "Haiyin, if you hadn't mentioned it, we were just about to ask. The meat is so fragrant and chewy; we thought it was because the recipe for making the jerky was good, so it turns out it's because of the meat quality?"

Xie Yang nodded with a smile: "It was fed with the feed I formulated. Good meat quality is only one aspect; it can also lower the disease rate and increase the rates of egg and offspring production."

"Then what are we waiting for! I'll go scout for a farm with a hill right now." Eldest Uncle Li could no longer sit still.

Li Wenbi pointed at his eldest son, feeling both angry and amused. "Is this how you act as an uncle? Your niece has just entered the door, and you are already impatient to go out and attend to your own affairs. Sit down for me! Even if you have this idea, there is no need to rush for a moment."

Xie Yang, however, said, "It's fine, Maternal Grandfather, we are all family. To be honest, I also wanted to entrust Eldest Uncle to help me scout for a farm with a hill while he's at it. The area doesn't need to be large, but it's best if it has paddy fields, dry land, as well as woodland and sloping land."

She wanted to set up a farm to provide for her own retirement in the future.

With more types of land, after using the Spirit Spring to improve the soil quality, she could plant whatever she wanted to eat; just thinking about it made her feel wonderful.

Li Shi, however, was a bit puzzled and couldn't help but ask in the carriage back to the mansion: "Why do you need so many farms? If you want to relax when you have free time, you have the Warm Spring Manor bestowed by your Imperial Grandfather; for produce, you have the farms gifted by the Prince and the Princess Consort for your coming-of-age ceremony, and today you have one more gifted by your maternal grandmother. The farms and shops in my hands will also be left to you as your dowry later. Wouldn't it be better to save your money and keep it as a nest egg?"

Xie Yang blinked: "..."

She actually had so many assets under her name?

Lao Kang actually rewarded her with a Warm Spring Manor?

A Warm Spring Manor, eh!

And she hadn't even remembered!

"Mother, is the Warm Spring Manor rewarded by Imperial Father far away?"

"I heard the Prince mention it once; it seems to be in the Xishan area."

Xishan? Wasn't that very close to the Nübing Ying she often ran to?

Xie Yang immediately perked up, planning to find time to go see the Warm Spring Manor; if it was suitable, she would choose it for her retirement later!

In this plane, barring any accidents, she would most likely not marry. Having grown accustomed to a free and easy life, who would want to be bound in the inner chambers of a feudal dynasty?

Once she helped Lao Kang settle the matter of the Southwest chieftains, she would move out of the mansion and live on the Warm Spring Manor, which happened to be close to the Nübing Ying.

At that time, she could serve as a part-time instructor at the Nübing Ying, training new recruits and drilling old soldiers, and when she was free, she could grow some vegetables and fruits she liked to eat and raise some chickens, ducks, geese, cows, horses, and sheep at the Warm Spring Manor. Isn't that also a carefree life?

However, the premise was that her father—the future Yongzheng—would not interfere with her choices.

She had reached a preliminary consensus with Lao Kang: as long as she handled the matter of the Southwest chieftains, he would not arrange for her to be sent for a marriage alliance, nor would he betroth her without her consent.

"Father."

After thinking it over, Xie Yang decided to probe her father's stance before going to the Warm Spring Manor.

"If my daughter's trip to the Southwest goes smoothly, could I ask for a reward from Father?"

"What do you want?" Si Ye turned his jade thumb ring, looking at her with a gentle expression. It was the tone of a father who would give his daughter whatever she wanted.

Xie Yang: "Regarding my daughter's lifelong affairs, could I be allowed to make my own decisions?"

"..."

He could see it now; this girl's mind was wild. Perhaps she had hidden it well before and he hadn't noticed, but after six years in the Northwest, there was no longer any inner chamber that could contain her.

However, the lifelong affairs of a royal daughter were not for him to decide either.

Si Ye sighed and said, "Even if Father promises you, but your Imperial Grandfather over there..."

"Imperial Grandfather has an agreement with me; as long as I can fulfill his requirements and settle the Southwest chieftains for him, he will no longer interfere with his granddaughter's marriage afterwards."

"Your Imperial Grandfather really said that?" Si Ye raised an eyebrow.

But thinking that the Crown Prince could be deposed and reinstated repeatedly... Si Ye's eyes darkened, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

He thought to himself: Imperial Father has promised Haiyin now, but even if he changes his mind in the future, who would dare to criticize him?

It seems he must speed up his actions...

Withdrawing his deep thoughts, Si Ye nodded at Xie Yang: "Then it shall be as you wish; Father will not interfere."

Having obtained a promise from the future Yongzheng, even if it was only verbal, Xie Yang was very satisfied.

Next, she threw herself into the recruitment and intensive training of the female soldiers.

The original plan was to finish the recruitment of the female soldiers, complete the intensive training, divide the camps, and then set off for the Southwest.

But the recruitment work for three thousand female soldiers was far more time-consuming than for three hundred; even with rushing, it still dragged on for five months. After all, communication was underdeveloped in this era, and travel by carriage and horse was slow; recruiting soldiers from all over the country was truly not easy.

It was just early summer when she returned to Peking, and by the time the final wave of assessments ended and the final list of recruits was posted, it was already late autumn.

Lao Kang, mindful that she had not spent the New Year in Peking for the past six years, sent an imperial decree for her to set off only after the New Year.

In this way, there was no need to be so rushed.

Among the three thousand new recruits, two thousand were selected for the Elite Camp, two hundred were selected as Artistic Soldiers, and four hundred each for Medical Soldiers and Service Soldiers.

The reason so many Medical Soldiers were recruited was for the later deployment to the Northwest garrison.

The military doctors in the Northwest garrison were indeed too few. It was fine when there was no war, but once a war broke out, they were too busy to cope.

Many soldiers would just randomly tear a piece of gauze and wrap it around their wounds, not understanding disinfection, sterilization, or applying medicine to stop bleeding. Minor injuries could barely be dealt with this way, but if the knife wounds were deep or the area was large, this was just fooling around. In the end, they didn't die on the battlefield, but died from wound infection or uncontrollable bleeding caused by the lack of military doctors—what a pity that would be.

Kangxi took it to heart after hearing his granddaughter mutter about it a few times. He sent several elderly medical women from the palace to take turns teaching at the female soldiers' medical camp.

These medical women were members of the Empress Dowager's medical team, and their experience was undeniably rich.