The Rebirth of a Farm Girl from a Military Family and a Cannon Fodder Princess

Chapter 239 Extra 5

Accompanied by the old clan chief, Prince Duan personally went to the river to conduct the experiment.

Following Jin'er's instructions, the carpenter placed the waterwheel in the river, close to the bank. Master Li personally tested the waterwheel, standing on the pedal and pedaling to slowly transport water from the river to the irrigation canal.

"We succeeded!" Prince Duan couldn't help but cheer.

The waterwheel is finally a success! This means that our daughter Jin'er has brought immense blessings to the people! At the same time, the Emperor will surely bestow generous rewards upon her, and in this way, the girl will have earned her first sum of money.

This girl is a money-grubber, but she often says: When will I be able to earn my first penny?

This girl seems to have a very stubborn idea about making money.

The waterwheel experiment was a success, and Prince Duan immediately decided to write a memorial to the emperor to promote the waterwheel throughout the country so as to benefit the people.

Jin'er then said, "Father, why don't we set up a waterwheel workshop and open waterwheel specialty shops in the ten major cities of the country? This way, we can not only benefit the people, but also make a fortune!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Duan was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, reaching out to tap his daughter's little nose: "Alright, I'll listen to you! This shop is nominally mine, but in reality, all the profits will be yours!"

Jin'er added, "Give Master Li and the other two a share each, that way we won't have to worry about leaks. Besides, they'll definitely work hard! Also, recruit another batch of apprentices with carpentry skills, preferably those with signed contracts."

Prince Duan thought for a moment and then said, "That's fine, your idea is good!"

Jin'er blinked her beautiful big eyes and said seriously, "Let's rush to make a large batch of waterwheels before we officially open for business. We can choose to locate the main store in Zhangshu County. The workshop can be located on a piece of land in the suburbs of the county to build a large workshop. Before the large workshop is completed, we can temporarily have the carpenters build waterwheels next door to solve the problem of using the waterwheels in Wuliping!"

Prince Duan smiled approvingly at his daughter and said, "Yes, you're right, I'll listen to you! If your father finds more people, the workshop can be built in ten days! Today, your father will personally go to the county government to buy land to build the workshop! At the same time, we'll also set up a large shop!"

Jin'er clapped her hands and said happily, "Well, I'll leave the rest to Father! I'm just a child, so it's best if I don't have to worry about it!"

Prince Duan couldn't help but burst into laughter, and then reached out and tapped his daughter's forehead: "You clever little girl, don't you ever worry about anything?" Sigh, how come this child is so precocious? She seems even more precocious than Zisu was at ten years old.

No, Zisu was reborn. Could Jin'er also be reborn? If so, then Heaven has been far too kind to her! Mother reborn, daughter reborn—it's a bit unbelievable!

Or perhaps, this girl's intelligence is inherited from him and Zisu?

Prince Duan was quite confident in his intelligence. To be honest, he himself felt that there were few people in the entire Western Liang Kingdom as wise as him.

Whether she was reborn or not, Prince Duan didn't dwell on the question. Regardless of whether she was reborn or not, this daughter brought him immense joy and comfort. She was intelligent, cheerful, and had a wonderful personality. She was incredibly kind to her younger siblings and extremely filial to her parents.

Why does he think so much when his daughter is so wonderful?

A few days later, a second waterwheel was produced.

Both waterwheels were placed by the river, and the old clan chief arranged for people to pump water day and night. The drooping crops were quickly nourished and regained their vitality.

The old patriarch held Jin'er's little hand and smiled through his tears, "Good child, you are a good one, just like your mother, the great savior and lucky star of our Shangguan family!"

In the record column of the genealogy, he wrote: Xiao Jin, the daughter of Shangguan Zisu, the 28th generation descendant of the Shangguan family, invented a waterwheel on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year. This allowed the Shangguan family's thousands of acres of crops in Wuliping to be irrigated by the river. She was truly the savior and lucky star of the Shangguan family!

Once the waterwheel workshop was completed, Prince Duan immediately summoned thirty carpenters and one hundred and fifty apprentices to work day and night on building the waterwheel. The workshop was very large, covering more than thirty acres, with a large work area and dozens of rooms for the apprentices and carpenters to stay in.

Prince Duan submitted a memorial to the Emperor.

The Emperor was overjoyed and immediately summoned Prince Duan and Jin'er.

Upon seeing Jin'er, the Emperor was overjoyed: "Jin'er, you've grown so much in just one year. Come, let me take a good look at you. Our Xiao family's daughter is so intelligent and wise; I am truly gratified!"

Jin'er walked forward with a cheerful smile: "Your Majesty, Jin'er and my father invented the waterwheel. What kind of reward will we receive? It would be best if it were something practical, like gold and silver. Hehe."

The Emperor reached out and touched Jin'er's twin buns, then chuckled, "You little rascal, still so greedy. Fine, it's your way. I'll reward you with 50,000 taels of silver and 5,000 taels of gold. Are you satisfied now?"

Prince Duan is already a prince, and this girl is already a princess of the second rank, so there's really nothing good to reward her with. The only thing we can do is reward her with more gold and silver.

Jin'er waved her hand, "Oh dear, that's too much! How about this, five thousand taels of silver and one thousand taels of gold will do! The rest can be considered Yongfu's donation to the national treasury. This year's severe drought has affected almost half of the Western Liang Kingdom. After a severe drought, there are often floods and plagues, and the court has many places where it needs to spend money! Yongfu's ability is limited, so he can only do his bit!"

The Emperor was deeply moved by her words, but at the same time couldn't help but chuckle: "Haha, you silly girl, with so much money, you still say it's just a small contribution! My brother, your daughter is so clever and mischievous, she's just too adorable! Alas, why don't I have such an adorable daughter?"

Jin'er quickly replied, "No, Jinxiu and Lanxin are so cute!"

The Emperor said, "Well, now that you're here, go and play with your sisters Jinxiu and Lanxin! By the way, stay in the palace for a few days before you leave!"

Jin'er waved her hand: "No, Yongfu still has to go to school at the academy! Next time, when we have a break from the busy farming season, Yongfu will come to the palace to play with my two older sisters! Today, Yongfu will go and see my two older sisters."

Then, in a serious tone, she said to Prince Duan, "Father, you must wait for me! You can't leave a little girl like me behind and make me go home by myself!"

"Oh my, how can this girl be so adorable?" The Emperor reached out and tugged at her twin buns, laughing so hard he almost choked.

The palace maid led Jin'er to find Jinxiu and Lanxin.

Jinxiu is the eldest princess, and Lanxin is the third princess. Jinxiu is twelve years old this year, and Lanxin is eleven, only one or two years older than Jin'er. Moreover, both of them are the Empress's biological daughters and get along very well with Jin'er. Every time they enter the palace, the three of them get together for a short while.

The palace maid took Jin'er to Kunning Palace and paid her respects to the Empress.

Upon seeing Jin'er, the Empress was overjoyed and said kindly to her, "Good child, it's been a year since I last saw you, you've grown quite a bit taller! Quickly sit down and have a cup of tea to soothe your throat!" Despite the severe drought and the fact that it wasn't yet the hottest part of summer, the weather was already scorching.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty be blessed with long life and good health!" Jin'er quickly kowtowed to the Empress to pay her respects.

The Empress quickly helped her up herself: "Oh dear, child, how many times have I told you, you don't need to kowtow here with me."

Jin'er smiled and said, "Kowtowing to Your Highness is what a junior should do." Jin'er never dared to forget etiquette and manners. Kowtowing was a must.

The Empress held Jin'er's hand and spoke to her affectionately.

In less than fifteen minutes, Jinxiu and Lanxin arrived.

Even before they reached the gate, Jinxiu exclaimed, "Oh dear, Yongfu, you little rascal, you've come all the way to the palace and you didn't even come to see us!"

Lan Xin also said, "That's right, you should have sent someone to inform us as soon as you arrived at the palace!"

Jin'er laughed and said, "I haven't been in the palace for very long. Next time I come to the palace, I will definitely send someone to inform you."

Jinxiu reached out and tapped Jin'er's nose: "You silly girl, we're all sisters, so don't use that word!" Jin'er is good in every way, but she's too particular about rules and rarely crosses the line.

Jin'er smiled and said, "I know, I won't do it again next time!" Next time, she still had to behave herself. After all, they were princesses, much more noble than her, a mere county magistrate.

This time, the two sisters held onto Jin'er's hands tightly, letting her stay in the palace for a whole night before finally letting her go home. Before leaving, Lanxin reluctantly held Jin'er's hand, saying, "Next time you come to the palace, you must stay for at least two nights, and you can't stay away for too long. Coming only once a year is absolutely not allowed!"

Jin'er nodded in agreement: "I, I will definitely come often. At most half a year, not like this time, when it took so long to come!" To be honest, she was actually uneasy about staying in the palace. Because the palace was the place with the most troubles, and if she came to stay often, sooner or later she would get into trouble that she couldn't bear.

Fortunately, the Empress and her mother had a very good relationship, like close friends. Otherwise, no matter how good her relationship was with Jinxiu and Lanxin, she wouldn't have stayed in the palace.

After seeing Jin'er off, Jinxiu felt a little sad and said to the Empress, "Mother, Jin'er is so lucky. She can go to the academy and travel around. Prince Duan and his wife are so good to her. It's so enviable!"

From birth, she's been confined to the palace, a cage from which she can't go anywhere—it's truly depressing! But let's not talk about her; let's talk about the Empress. She's seen the outside world. Since entering the palace, she's only been home once to visit her family, and to be honest, she's also quite depressed.

"You're already twelve years old. Wait a few more years, until you turn seventeen, then you can get married! After you get married, you can often attend various banquets and flower shows, and you can also visit the Wuliping Scenic Area if you want." That's how the Empress comforted her daughter.

The suggestion that a woman should marry at seventeen was proposed by Zisu to the Empress. The Empress readily accepted it, as she herself was seventeen before consummating her marriage with the Emperor. The Emperor, too, was fifteen before consummating his marriage.

Thanks to the Empress's efforts, the Emperor raised the marriage age for princesses to seventeen. This was also enshrined in the law, stipulating that the age for women to marry and have children must not be lower than sixteen.

After this law was passed, far fewer women under the age of sixteen were allowed to consummate their marriages. As a result, there were far fewer cases of women experiencing difficult childbirth, and fewer children born with very weak constitutions, in the homes of court officials.

As a result, many people have now recognized the drawbacks of early marriage and pregnancy. The number of people who instinctively abide by the law is increasing day by day. In particular, daughters of high-ranking officials are generally betrothed at fifteen and married at seventeen.

The waterwheel business was exceptionally good.

Despite the tireless work of carpenters and apprentices, the waterwheels were still in short supply. Each waterwheel cost about thirty taels of silver to make and sold for one hundred taels. Even with such expensive waterwheels, people continued to flock to buy them.

That makes sense. Although one hundred taels is a bit expensive, if each village only buys one vehicle, it wouldn't be difficult to do with the combined resources of the entire village.

With the money from selling water carts, Jin'er proposed: "After a severe drought, there may be floods, and after floods, plagues often spread. I plan to use 10% of the profits to establish a charity fund for disaster relief. Does anyone have any objections?"

The waterwheel's profits were divided as follows: the three carpenters each received half a share, Prince Duan received 50%, and Jin'er received 35%. Prince Duan was included to intimidate the three carpenters, lest they underestimate Jin'er and engage in any underhanded tactics.

Prince Duan would use the money earned from the waterwheel to purchase estates and shops in Jin'er's name, or convert it into gold and save it for her.

Prince Duan was the first to state his opinion: "I have no objection."

The three carpenters quickly replied, "We have no objections either." They all spoke in unison.

Refuse? Disagree? None of the three even considered it. They were joking; these were Prince Duan and the Princess, after all. How could they possibly object to their decisions? Besides, they only held half a percent of the shares because the Prince was generous and understanding. Otherwise, they wouldn't have a place there. In fact, it was a gift from the Prince and Princess!

After settling the bill in the first month, Jin'er was stunned.

Good heavens! The net profit in the first month alone reached over twenty thousand taels! After deducting the ten percent for the charity fund, the silver we received filled an entire large box! If we exchanged it for land, it would be as vast as the horizon!

The three carpenters were utterly astonished, their gratitude towards Prince Duan and Jin'er reaching an indescribable height. They secretly vowed to remain utterly loyal to the two and never betray them!

Wow, so much money! Just this one month's worth is enough for their family to live on for a lifetime! Of course, that's based on the living standards of ordinary people.

After receiving their share of the profits, the three grown men couldn't help but burst into tears of joy, embracing each other and weeping.

Prince Duan couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, no need to cry. This is the first month, so it's inevitable that the earnings will be a bit higher. In the future, once the waterwheels are fully stocked, or if someone manages to replicate them, we might not be able to earn as much. So, in these next few months, you still need to work hard and do as much as you can!"

The three wiped away their tears and replied in unison, "Your Highness, rest assured, we will definitely work overtime and will not let you down!"

Prince Duan waved his hand: "You also need to pay attention to the balance between work and rest. Don't ruin your health. Your health is your most valuable asset. It's not worth ruining your health!"

"Yes, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness!" The three burly men replied gratefully.

Ah, such a kind and considerate prince is a rare find! Meeting such a good master is the greatest blessing of their lives. From now on, they will do their best for the prince and the princess and will never dare to have the slightest thought of betrayal.

The two waterwheels in Wuliping were only charged for cost, which was sixty taels of silver. In addition, there were two waterwheels in the tourist park that used water from the lake next to the sunflower farm to irrigate the crops.

Merchants from all over flocked to the area, eager to buy waterwheels to take home. However, the waterwheels were enormous, making them inconvenient to transport to distant places, and the transportation costs were substantial.

Jin'er then suggested, "Father, why not sell the blueprints to merchants all over the country through a franchise model? That way, we can promote it nationwide in a short period of time!"

Prince Duan asked curiously, "Franchise store? What does that mean?"

Jin'er: "A franchise store is..." She tried to explain in as much detail as she could based on what she had learned in the 21st century.

Upon hearing this, Prince Duan became interested: "Alright, how come you have so many clever ideas? How about this, 50,000 taels of silver per franchise store, what do you think?"

Jin'er nodded vigorously: "Okay, I think it's great! But I still need to tell Master Li and the other two."

Prince Duan: "That's for sure, I'll handle this matter!"

Jin'er playfully stuck out her tongue at her father: "Of course it's up to Father to handle. I'm still young, I shouldn't worry about it."

Prince Duan couldn't help but reach out and tap Jin'er's nose: "You little rascal." But in his heart, he was overjoyed, almost bursting with happiness.

He felt extremely proud and honored to have such a smart and wonderful daughter.

When Prince Duan spoke to Master Li and the other two, they all waved their hands in unison: "We can't accept the money for this franchise store anymore! The blueprints were provided by the Princess, and the management is being handled by the Prince. We haven't contributed a single bit to the franchise store, so how can we accept it?"

Prince Duan nodded in approval. Very well, he hadn't misjudged them after all. Logically speaking, these three people indeed had no right to claim the money for the franchise store.

A month later, there were one hundred franchise stores. At 50,000 taels per store, how much money is that for one hundred stores?

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