Naming a child was simple for some people, but it was very difficult for others. The difficulty did not lie in the meaning of the name, but in the choice.
"What should our son be called? That is the problem. I think we can send out a batch of radios first to calm the tide of naming attacks. "
The child was one month old, and they had just treated him to a meal and received many gifts. Wang Juan fed the child milk, and Zhang Xiaobao provided a shoulder for Wang Juan to lean on, worrying by himself.
The little guy who had not yet had a name was not at all obedient during the meal. Every time he swallowed two mouthfuls of milk, he would look up at the noisy man beside him, and the dissatisfaction in his eyes was obvious.
Wang Juan hugged her chubby son and said in a low voice, "Lower your voice, it is impolite to disturb others when they are eating. If you really can't do it, why don't we wait until the half-year ceremony to decide on a name?"
"Half-year ceremony?" Zhang Xiaobao repeated doubtfully, and then sighed helplessly.
When other people's children were born, according to the local customs, some were one month old, and some were one month old. When his son was born, he had to celebrate one month old first. Some people actually suggested a second month ceremony, a third month ceremony... a first month ceremony... a second week ceremony...
Once a month, it would be lively, right? The problem was that you all wanted the atmosphere of a gathering, and his family could not go crazy with you all.
"Yes, a half-year ceremony. Li Longji gave a name, foster father gave a name, our grandfather gave a name, our father gave a name, and our father gave a name. There are also the ministers that we have a good relationship with, the scholars of the Jixian Academy, and the public naming contest that various newspapers have gathered. We can't disappoint them, so we will use all of them if we can. "
Wang Juan patted her son's head as she spoke. The little guy stopped talking and returned a big smile to his mother.
Zhang Xiaobao frowned and thought for a while before saying, "Do you want me to give him an Arabic name? Use all of the names that everyone gave. That is my son, not theirs, so why are you so worried? Also, they said that our son lacks fire, so why don't we name him Huohuo, what do you think? "
"You are indeed the top scorer. Talented." Wang Juan rolled her eyes at Zhang Xiaobao.
"Lili." Zhang Xiaobao came up with another nickname.
"Oh, since when did my husband like the Book of Changes?"
"It's called Mingming, but it's better than Yili and Yangyang, right? If we don't make a big deal out of it and call it Calamity, the entire Great Tang will probably go crazy. Mingming is better, and it's a combination of hardness and gentleness, with Yin and Yang complementing each other."
"Okay, Ming Ming is Ming Ming. You will be a public figure in the future. You have to teach her well. Don't cause trouble for society all day long. We don't want to raise a playboy." Wang Juan finally agreed to the nickname.
Zhang Xiaobao appeared to be very happy. "Did you see that? The top scorer's talent is not for nothing. Ming Ming, what a magical name. A public figure. This... doesn't seem to need to wait for the future. Now is the time. I wonder what that large group of public figures are doing? I'll ask someone later. "
*****
The public figure that Zhang Xiaobao mentioned was currently leading more than five hundred students of the Imperial College.
These five hundred people were all good at studying. No matter what your identity was, who your father, grandfather, or grandmother was, no matter how much money your family had, where you had a villa, or how many boats you had on the sea.
Don't mention any of the above additional identities. Whoever dared to mention it would be punished. Didn't you see that the emperor's first prince, Li Jun, and the eldest princess, Pan 'er, were there obediently doing things?
Because of the winter and summer holidays, school had just started not long ago. However, there was no Teacher's Day after the summer holidays. Students didn't need to think about what gifts they made for their teachers, what kind of family would treat their teachers to a meal, or what kind of singing, dancing, and poetry party would be held.
One day, they didn't need to respect their teachers. If they really wanted to show respect, they could learn the knowledge that the teacher taught them. When they had time, they could personally make a few dishes and a pot of wine. Accompany the teacher to drink a few mouthfuls and discuss the Dao. The teacher would be happy for a long time.
This year, the Imperial College in the capital was on holiday, so the students there didn't leave. It was different from the children in other places who didn't go home.
The children in other places didn't leave. Some of them had parents who were busy, some didn't have a home, and some planned to participate in the social activities arranged by the school, such as delivering newspapers or helping people read newspapers in the teahouse. Most of the children who stayed behind went to the merchants to see how they operated.
When the merchants worked, they didn't let the children personally participate. They also had to spare some people to watch over them, which delayed a lot of work. However, even so, the merchants were very willing. They participated in the Chaoyang Action, paid for the school, and brought the children to their family's business to watch. They hoped that the children would leave a good impression. In the future, when they learned something, maybe a few more of them would come to their business to help.
The students of the Imperial College in the capital wanted to have a chance to see Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. This year, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't leave the capital. They still had the position of Regional Governor. When they had nothing to do, they went to various departments. They went to the Ministry of Works the most, then the Ministry of Revenue. However, they didn't go to the Imperial College.
During the holidays, the students of the Imperial College didn't plan to leave. They hoped that Wang Juan, who had finished her confinement, could come out and visit the Imperial College with Zhang Xiaobao.
In the end, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't come. Instead, it was Xiaobei and the others.
It wasn't that Xiaobei and the others didn't want to come out. It was just that the four children of Ji Xiang and Ruyi had been quite distant from them. They used a few months to regain their position in the hearts of the children. Then, they brought the two-year-old children out to play.
The group's destination was the capital's West Railway Station. To be precise, it was a flat area one kilometer away from the railway station. They planned to build a freight warehouse here. The railway station on the west side of the capital had just been built a little over a month ago. At present, there were no buildings on the ground one kilometer away. They had only flattened the ground a little.
When they arrived, Xiaobei stopped and looked around. He clapped his hands twice and shouted, "Let's make this clear first. In a while, someone will bring over the materials for the stove, pots, and so on. There will also be wheelbarrows for transport. The older ones will be sent to transport. The younger ones will do the work for me. The older ones will be in charge of looking after them.
We chose you because you are the most knowledgeable of your age group. Students are ranked according to how knowledgeable they are. You are now students. When interacting with others today, we don't want to see any attitude or temperament that doesn't belong to students.
If you talk to others impolitely, arrogantly, look down on others, order others around, or imply that your family is rich and powerful, once we find out, hmph! "
The five hundred students opened their eyes wide and did not dare to make a sound. Especially those who had power and influence, they were even more nervous. They knew very well that they should not show off their family background in front of Xiaobei and the others. Xiaobei and the others wanted to establish an image for the whole Tang Empire. Following them out must be in line with their target behavior.
Xu Yilong, who had been learning from Xiaobei and the others, sensibly brought up a loudspeaker and asked cooperatively, "Xiaobei, why did you find us today?"
"That's a good question." Xiaobei nodded at Xu Yilong to show his appreciation. He continued, "What's the work today? It's boiled beans, the kind that are green before the beans are ripe. Where did the edamame come from? You definitely won't be able to guess. It came from Shanyang County of Chuzhou in our Tang Empire. A total of three thousand tons. I bought it. "
Xiaobei gestured a number. Seeing that many people were surprised, he nodded with satisfaction and continued, "You must be thinking, how do I eat the edamame that I bought? Why don't I process it locally?"
All of the students had the same expression on their faces.
"Speaking of which, Shanyang County is really good. It's next to the Huai River and there's a canal. It's not far from the sea, and there's a small fork in the railway. The local bamboo resources are rich, very suitable for the growth of vegetables. Moreover, whether it's the breeding of livestock, poultry, or aquatic products, it provides a natural and convenient environment.
But it's really not suitable for planting soybeans. It's not that it can't be planted, but the natural climate has a great impact on the growth of soybeans. If you plant soybeans, the land can't be planted with other crops. It's a waste of beneficial resources. Especially this year, there's a lot of rain there. The soybeans in a similar place are about to be harvested, but they're still green.
A child who's studying in the school sent us a telegram and asked what we should do. The soybeans are not big now, and they're not round. Their snacks now are boiled edamame.
We don't have the ability to let the local soybeans grow and ripen immediately, so we can only buy most of them, three thousand tons. They can continue to cook the rest. "
Xiaobei explained why the edamame was shipped over. It was mainly to help the local growers reduce their losses.
The students could guess that the price that Xiaobei and the others gave was not low. Of course, they wouldn't give the price of ripened soybeans. It was already a great favor to let the people there not lose money.
"Since we bought the soybeans, we naturally have to cook them. Green soybeans are more difficult to preserve, so they'll be sterilized at high temperatures and have some salt. We really don't want to wait for the water route. The speed of going against the current is slow, so we'll use the train.
We've prepared a thousand large pots. Each pot can cook fifty kilograms. It needs to be cooked six hundred times, one pot every fifteen minutes. There are other pots being sent over, so it'll probably take a few days.
Actually, what I want to cook now is people, not those damn edamame. I asked you to come here to tell you that if you have the opportunity to be a local official in the future, you should investigate the local situation clearly before you do anything. As for the local officials involved in this matter, wait until we finish cooking the edamame. "
Xiaobei gritted his teeth as he spoke. His face was gloomy, and it was obvious that the officials involved were in big trouble. Three thousand tons of edamame were there, so no excuse or reason would work.
"Xiao Bei, can you just buy the beans and cook them?" An older student asked.
"How is that possible? They have to be frozen. Otherwise, why don't we process them locally in Chu Zhou City? Winter comes early in the capital, so we can reduce the follow-up investment. We chose the West Station because there's a big hole one kilometer away. It used to be a small lake, but it's dried up. It's not worth it to fill it with soil.
We discussed and decided to build an underground thermal storage room. The project is about to end in a few days. We originally planned to store fruits, but now we can only put the edamame. It's a last resort. "
"Xiaobei, why don't you just cook the edamame and sell it in the store? Your family is so powerful, so it's easy, "someone asked.
"Hehe!" At the mention of this, Xiaobei smiled happily. He blinked and said, "It's not worth much now, and we'll lose money. You guys do the math. If we buy it at a premium, we'll add the cost of transportation, processing, and storage. When we sell it to the restaurant, the price is indeed high, but we take advantage of the original restaurant's low price advantage.
"In other words, if we put the edamame we bought in the restaurant, we'll make a profit and the restaurant will lose money. Then we can just ask our brothers and sisters for money. Why do we have to go around in circles?"
Everyone felt that this made sense, but they couldn't figure out why Xiaobei was smiling.
"Let me tell you, under normal circumstances, soybeans are related to sunshine. For example, in the south, there are also places with low rainfall, and places with low temperature, such as the northeast. However, this refers to the formation of soybeans. The rate of soybean oil production and soybean products output has nothing to do with taste.
"Take the edamame we bought for example. It's not mature because of the climate. If we wait for a while, it will mature. However, one is delaying the planting of other things, and the other is that the beans are not full. "But there's an advantage. The current edamame tastes sweet and tastes better than the normally grown edamame.
"We plan to save it for winter and sell it. It'll be cheap even if the price is several times higher. This is a commercial action, not a charity. We're just holding the goods. Anyway, our money can't be completely circulated. We don't care about the speed of cash flow and the return rate when we hold the goods.
"Do you understand what I'm saying? If you don't believe me, you can try a pot of it when it's cooked. Although the beans are relatively small, the more you chew them, the more fragrant they become. The taste is different from normal soybeans. "
As Xiaobei spoke, he noticed that many people were salivating. Thinking about his actions, he said embarrassedly, "How about this? When winter is almost the new year, I'll give each of you 10 catties. Although they're boiled and frozen, they'll taste the same after they've melted. How about … 20 catties? I also have a cost. Alright, alright, we'll see when the time comes. If we really can't sell them, I'll give you more. Go and transport the goods. The train is here. "
The older and stronger ones went to push the wheelbarrow, while the younger ones waited excitedly. They believed Xiaobei when he said he would give them 20 catties, but they didn't have any hope when he said he would give them more if they couldn't sell them.
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