CHAPTER 465: CHAPTER 459 RISING STEP BY STEP

Ting He and Fu An saw their masters being dragged outside, quickly returned to grab cloaks, and chased after them to drape the clothes over them.

Zhao Erlang diligently pulled them to the entrance, pointed at two other baskets, and said, "Sister, Brother-in-law, these are your firecrackers, hurry and burn them! Mother said that burning firecrackers during New Year dispels bad luck for the year, making the next year prosperous and ascending in success!"

Zhao Erlang further contemplated with his limited mind, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he delightedly said, "Sister is already a high official, a regional commander; if you rise even higher, won’t you be able to become a marquis or prime minister? Sister, hurry up."

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but laugh, glanced at Fu Tinghan, and then the two stepped forward together, picking up a handful of bamboo shoots and throwing them into the fire basin. They immediately stepped back, and after just two steps, the bamboo shoots in the fire basin burst and crackled...

Upon hearing the sound, Zhao Erlang excitedly jumped up and shouted, "Woo—woo—Sister and Brother-in-law’s firecrackers are really loud! The New Year will certainly be great!"

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but remark, "You’re really getting better at saying things."

Zhao Erlang just chuckled.

"Alright, you burn the rest for us."

Zhao Erlang was overly delighted, immediately rushing forward, grabbing a large handful of bamboo shoots, and throwing them into the fire basin. As the crackling sound began, he hopped excitedly on the spot.

Zhao Hanzhang watched with a smile on her face, then turned and said to Ting He, "You go burn a handful too."

Ting He joyfully curtsied, "Yes!"

Fu Tinghan nodded with bright eyes at Fu An, and the two dashed forward to burn firecrackers with Zhao Erlang.

After a festive half-hour, the sound of firecrackers in the city gradually faded, with only the occasional pop heard.

Zhao Erlang and the others finished burning all the firecrackers, and he finally felt sleepy, obediently following Zhao Hanzhang back.

Zhao Hanzhang saw him yawning continuously yet still musing about tomorrow’s firecrackers, laughed, and said, "Go to sleep peacefully. I’ll have Qiu Wu save all the firecrackers for you. Tomorrow, take them to the alley to burn with the kids."

Zhao Erlang felt more at ease and said, "I want to compete with them, see whose firecrackers are the loudest, and who has the most explosions."

"Alright, go to sleep."

Zhao Erlang yawned as he headed back to the house to rest.

Zhao Hanzhang stood in the courtyard waiting for him to leave, then had Ting He and Fu An retreat a bit, and walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Fu Tinghan back to the main courtyard, chatting along the way, "Let’s start adjusting the gunpowder tomorrow."

Fu Tinghan nodded, "I’ve already asked Qiu Wu to gather the materials."

He stopped, turned back, and said, "I thought you wouldn’t agree."

Zhao Hanzhang replied, "Didn’t you change your mind too?"

After a brief silence, Fu Tinghan said, "They’re struggling too much. Quarrying is tough and deadly; slowing down house construction is fatal. I don’t know whether more people will die from quarrying with one hammer strike after another or from potential casualties once gunpowder is introduced."

He continued, "These are lives on the line. I can’t experiment on them and decide based on statistics afterward. I can only go with the flow. I think introducing gunpowder now makes their work a bit easier and reduces some sacrifices should be good, right?"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and then sternly added, "I’ll have Qiu Wu assist you. In the future, only Qiu Wu will handle this matter. The gunpowder formula must be strictly confidential!"

Fu Tinghan nodded, knowing that this thing was more valuable than anything before.

As they returned to the main courtyard, the chill on Zhao Hanzhang’s face dissipated, and she wore a smile again, "Rest well tonight, see you tomorrow."

Fu Tinghan nodded, "See you tomorrow."

Watching Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan walk away side by side, Wang Nai and Xie Shi turned back to the guest courtyard.

Wang Nai sighed, "I was hoping to drink till dawn tonight, but didn’t expect the governor to return so early."

Once Zhao Hanzhang left, they couldn’t stay longer and gradually dispersed.

Xie Shi pondered another issue, "The governor ends her mourning this year, right? Does that mean she will marry Mr. Fu?"

Wang Nai frowned, "Won’t it be too soon? If the governor gets married, can she still be the governor? What if she gets pregnant?"

Xie Shi shared this concern, for the entire Yu State relied on Zhao Hanzhang’s sole authority. Though there were conflicts, no one dared openly offend her.

But once married, and especially if she has children, the situation becomes complicated.

"Mr. Fu and the governor live in the main courtyard."

Wang Nai replied, "But they are separated. Although they come and go together, I see their relationship isn’t at that level yet."

"I think otherwise; they always seem to form an exclusive world when standing together, and others can’t get in."

Wang Nai pondered for a while, then shook his head, "Forget it, thinking too much about this is useless. It’s better to focus on doing our current jobs well."

Xie Shi agreed.

Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t thought about marriage at all. It was now the third year of Yongjia, and by June this year, she would be out of mourning.

But she temporarily forgot about it, as there were many things she needed to do; the most urgent after the spring season was farming and recruiting talent.

The year’s plan depends on spring. Last year, the spring in northern Yu State was ruined by Gou Xi and Prince East Sea, and summer and autumn were destroyed by them together with Liu Yuan, leaving the whole Yu State as a disaster area.

This year, they must compensate for last year’s famine, or Yu State will keep declining.

So on the first day of the lunar New Year, while the city’s people were still resting and reminiscing about last night’s celebration, Zhao Hanzhang was already discussing the major matters of persuading agriculture and recruiting talent with the officials visiting to celebrate the New Year.

Especially in persuading agriculture, she emphasized to Yin Sheng, "Instruct each County Magistrate to personally go to the countryside to encourage farming, shelter all the refugees, allocate land for cultivation, prepare necessary seeds, and assist them with farming tools and livestock as much as possible."

She added, "Have the Ministry of Agriculture’s staff go to the countryside to guide more rational farming."

As she spoke, Zhao Hanzhang turned to Fan Ying, "I remember Ru Nan’s Ministry of Agriculture has had quite a few outputs and discovered two new fertilization methods, right?"

Fan Ying recalled for a moment and nodded, "Yes, we discovered two fertilization methods and also made changes to spacing, which supposedly helps plant growth, increasing yields per acre."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly and asked, "How is the new farming equipment being distributed?"

"Currently, it’s used mainly in Ru Nan County; in other counties, it’s barely utilized."

Zhao Hanzhang frowned slightly, looking at Yin Sheng, "I remember when the new farming tools were first developed, I sent the blueprints to each county, instructing you to prepare this."

Cold sweat appeared on Yin Sheng’s forehead, explaining, "Yes, but we really had no iron or too little iron, so we couldn’t produce them."

Zhao Hanzhang snorted softly; don’t they know how to find a way to obtain it?

But she was not interested in blaming now, directly instructing Fan Ying, "Tell Chen County and Ru Nan County that this year, part of Ru Nan County’s iron output will be allocated for making farming tools, to be sent to each county."

Zhao Hanzhang’s face was cold, "Inform each county, if this iron does not appear in the form of farming tools in the hands of the ordinary people, I will use their heads to plow the land."

Everyone’s spine chilled, and Fan Ying loudly responded, "Yes!"