As the weather finally began to warm up around the Spring Equinox, Ding Yun, not one to foolishly disturb others in the midst of their grand endeavors, departed from Nanhua Temple half a month earlier than in previous years to attend to her own affairs.
Since the overall strategy and framework had already been established, she found herself much more relaxed this time.
While inspecting her various businesses, she also had ample free time to wander about, visit scenic spots, and sample local delicacies. To fully fulfill the original owner's wishes, she even abandoned her habit of eating only seven-tenths full, often eating until she was completely stuffed.
Simultaneously, she made sure to eat plenty of meat.
After all, the original owner’s desires were to eat until full and to eat meat.
However, with such relaxation and no longer being preoccupied with matters, Ding Yun found herself frequently having dreams at night. Initially, the dreams were vague, and she would mostly forget them upon waking. But as time passed, the dreams each night became increasingly vivid.
Finally, one morning, Ding Yun woke up with a hazy recollection of her dreams. She vaguely recalled seeing scenes of the original owner’s elder sisters being sold to slave traders, and she also dreamt of the original owner’s mother weeping inconsolably, reluctant to part with her only child, as she was being sold.
These were the most profound memories of the original owner.
After several years of good nourishment, Ding Yun had not only restored the original owner's body to health but also seemed to have revitalized her subconscious.
This was not to say her soul remained within her body. Rather, the original owner's most pressing desires before death – to eat until full and to eat meat – had been largely fulfilled.
Consequently, the memories that held the next deepest impression, or rather, the most vivid memories, began to surface slightly in her brain during deep sleep, manifesting as dreams.
“Never mind, I have nothing else to do anyway. I’ll send people to investigate. If the original owner’s mother and two sisters are still alive, I’ll help them. But officially acknowledging kinship is out of the question. My fabricated identity has already been cleared.
To change it now would be an offense against the emperor.
Therefore, the most I can do is offer some assistance.
As for her father, elder brother, and younger brother…”
Having understood the specific reason for her dreams, Ding Yun had no hesitation in considering how to treat the original owner’s mother and two sisters; she would help them if she could.
However, how to deal with her father, elder brother, and younger brother presented her with a dilemma.
The original owner was young, and such incidents were common in her surroundings, so she might not have harbored much resentment.
But Ding Yun herself found it difficult to let go.
After much internal deliberation, she still couldn't figure out how to face them, so she decided to postpone the decision, planning to act once she had concrete information.
Having made this decision, she quickly began to secretly dispatch her trusted confidantes to conduct investigations.
This was done while avoiding any channels or individuals that might leak the information, with utmost confidentiality.
However, the relevant information the original owner remembered was quite scant, and the specific locations were vague. Besides knowing the village name, she didn't even know the town name. Furthermore, after that great drought, it was questionable whether the original village still existed, whether people had returned to their registered domicile, and where the slave traders had transported and sold them.
Therefore, finding these people was destined to be a monumental challenge, especially after five years had passed.
Consequently, after entrusting her trustworthy people with the search, Ding Yun did not expect a prompt response.
Perhaps because she had already sent people to look,
She no longer had those dreams at night.
She also regained her previous good sleep.
Her daily routine mostly involved dedicating more effort to establishing overseas trade channels, preparing for the future several years ahead.
Currently, the grains produced on her farm were no longer piling up, difficult to consume, due to the establishment of numerous wineries and farms. However, let’s not forget that her farm was still continuously and slowly upgrading, and with each level up, an additional plot of land was added. Furthermore, once high-yield grain varieties were fully promoted, the yield per mu of land outside her farm would certainly increase by two to threefold.
If she didn't proactively consider expanding into overseas markets now, wouldn't it be a waste of time to consider it when that day arrived?
Fortunately, she still had time, so Ding Yun was not in a hurry. She slowly and steadily maintained her original business empire while gradually expanding into overseas markets, shipping goods abroad.
This time, it wasn't high-proof liquor being sold.
Instead, it was changed to selling alcohol and wheat.
There was no alternative. Live cattle and sheep could not withstand long-distance transportation. If they were slaughtered and transported, without ice cellars or cold storage facilities at the time, they would spoil before even reaching their destination.
Therefore, the only things Ding Yun could sell were raw materials and liquor.
People overseas did not particularly favor white liquor.
After much thought, Ding Yun had to re-distill the original high-proof liquor to extract alcohol, attempting to market it as a high-end product for disinfection, sterilization, and life preservation.
To be sold overseas.
After all, many overseas nobles disliked bathing, or rather, were afraid of bathing, fearing that a bath might lead to illness and death.
Promoting alcohol to them for wiping their hands and faces should indeed reduce their mortality rate, shouldn't it?
Besides this, perfume was also under development.
However, these might not sell in large quantities.
Or rather, they wouldn't consume much grain.
Therefore, Ding Yun could only find ways to sell raw wheat. As for whether her future large-scale dumping of low-priced wheat would cause problems for agriculture in some overseas countries, she couldn't concern herself with that for now. "Let the dead bald donkey worry, not the poor monk!"
It was enough that she could ensure the safety and stability of her own domain.
…
Meanwhile, Emperor Yuanyuan was diligently tending to the three mu of land he had personally planted in the Imperial Garden.
He was well aware of the benefits of high-yield varieties. If the grains truly yielded eight hundred catties per mu, as the people who presented them claimed, then even if he couldn't achieve the status of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he could certainly be considered a wise ruler of a prosperous age or an emperor of eternal renown.
Therefore, as soon as the seeds were delivered, he immediately cleared away some of the flowers in the Imperial Garden and personally tilled three mu of land. He planted them himself and tended to them, naturally using the best fertilizers, specially formulated by the original Imperial Garden florists.
And now, the wheat in the fields was turning yellow, on the verge of ripening.
He felt both a sense of accomplishment and considerable joy.
As an emperor, he had no need to worry about sustenance. Therefore, it was natural for him to feel a sense of accomplishment upon personally growing grain for the first time.
This feeling was akin to the sense of accomplishment a fisherman felt upon catching a fish during his leisure time.
As for the joy, it was naturally because he could also see that the yield of these wheat plants was indeed considerable.
The grains were noticeably plumper than the auspicious wheat ears he had received in the past, and there were also more grains on each ear than in those auspicious wheat ears he had received previously.
The fact that high grain yields were real
Made it impossible for him not to feel joy.