Traveling to Ancient Times: My Space Contains Weapons

Chapter 299 Improving Food at the Jade Mine

The official took the imperial edict, glanced at it, and immediately knelt down before Chu Chen.

"Your subordinate, Yu Mingda, greets Young Master Chu!"

Chu Chen helped him up: "Alright, I'll take over this jade mine from now on. You've completed your mission!"

As soon as Chu Chen finished speaking, the coachman next to him spoke up.

“Young Master Chu, you’ve misunderstood. You’ve taken over not just this one mine, but also them.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen wondered what was going on. Wasn't this something he was supposed to manage?

Seeing Chu Chen's puzzled look, the coachman spoke again.

"The king was worried that Prince Chu would be too tired from managing the mine, so Yu Mingda and his group helped you manage the miners."

"As for other matters, the king is powerless to help."

"Don't worry, Young Master Chu. They will only be responsible for mining and patrolling the surrounding area. They will not interfere or say anything about anything concerning you."

Chu Chen finally understood. It seemed that Yan Lixuan was quite considerate.

That's fine, it makes things easier for me, and I can focus all my energy on dealing with that mysterious masked man.

So he said to the two of them, "In that case, go back and thank the king for me."

"Your name is Yu Mingda. From now on, you don't need to kneel when you see me. Also, immediately arrange for people to build a large warehouse to store the jade that is mined. I will send people to collect it. You just need to focus on mining."

After listening, Yu Mingda bowed, accepted the order, and left.

After seeing the driver off, Chu Chen went into the room alone and took out many down comforters and other items.

Then he pushed open the door and instructed Xiaoyu to throw out all the old things, clean the house again, and arrange the new quilts and other bedding.

Only then did he feel comfortable enough to walk into the house.

Turning to Xiaoyu standing to the side, he said, "We'll be staying here for a while from now on. Do you regret coming with me?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu immediately came to Chu Chen's side: "Young Master, as long as I am by your side for the rest of my life, I will never regret it, even if it means death."

"Alright, you won't die. There are some ingredients in the storeroom, go cook!"

After hearing this, Xiaoyu obediently walked into the kitchen.

Soon after, the aroma of food wafted out.

Xiao Yu stayed in the palace with Chu Chen for a few days, and under Chu Chen's tutelage, she learned to cook several simple dishes.

Just then, it was lunchtime at the mine, and Chu Chen walked out of the house alone, carrying a large bowl.

What came into view were groups of miners, their clothes tattered, being herded by soldiers toward a large thatched hut.

Chu Chen stepped into the thatched hut with great interest, only to see many people with empty eyes holding bowls, heading towards a large wooden barrel in the middle.

When Yu Mingda saw Chu Chen carrying a bowl and walking towards the wooden bucket, he quickly stepped forward to block Chu Chen's path.

"Young master, this is the food the miners eat. Please don't go any further, or it might spoil your appetite."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen thought to himself, "This isn't right. If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it enough grass."

Ignoring Yu Mingda's obstruction, he strode over to the wooden barrel.

Chu Chen looked into the wooden bucket with the bowl in his hand and was immediately stunned.

All he saw inside was some unknown wild vegetables and millet porridge. It looked so dark that Chu Chen suddenly felt his food was no longer appetizing.

He turned and walked outside, asking Yu Mingda, "How many people work at our mine?"

Yu Mingda looked at Chu Chen with suspicion, thinking to himself that this young master was different. In the past, officials who came to visit would basically not ask about these things.

"Reporting to Young Master, there are a total of three thousand miners and eight hundred soldiers!"

"Oh, is all the food the same?"

"No, the food for miners and sergeants is definitely different, after all, their status is different."

Chu Chen could understand what Yu Mingda was saying; that's how the world is.

So Chu Chen had Yu Mingda bring the soldiers' food, which consisted of only a pitiful amount of meat and millet porridge.

After reading it, Chu Chen asked again, "What about the progress of the mining?"

After listening, Yu Mingda frowned deeply, as if he had made a great decision, and said, "Young master, to be honest, the progress of the mining is not satisfactory."

"But the main thing is still this... food!"

Chu Chen understood immediately and said, "If you want a horse to run, you can't not feed it. Come with me."

When Yu Mingda heard Chu Chen say those words, his eyes lit up instantly.

To be honest, he'd been in this lousy place for years, and the food was getting worse every day.

Since this new young master is able to say such a thing, he must be going to change everything.

Chu Chen led him into the house, and Yu Mingda immediately smelled a strong aroma of food.

Chu Chen turned and went into the room. When he came out, he had a bag of silver in his hand.

Seeing Yu Mingda swallowing his saliva greedily, he said to Xiaoyu, "Go and get Brother Yu a bowl and chopsticks."

Xiaoyu turned around and went into the kitchen. When she came out, she had an extra bowl and a glass.

This was the first time Yu Mingda had seen this completely transparent cup, so he quickly refused.

“Young master, we are of lowly status. How can we sit at the same table as you and use such precious glass cups?”

Seeing this, Chu Chen pulled him to sit on a chair and said, "Brother Yu, there's no need to be so polite. I need to stay here for a while, and I'll have to rely on you for many things in the future. As long as you're loyal to me, I won't treat you unfairly."

"Now that I've seen that food, I can't just ignore it."

After saying that, Chu Chen pushed the bag of silver over again: "Take this money and go make purchases. There are no other requirements, just that everyone's meals should be several times better than what we have now."

“The miners eat three meals a day, each meal consisting of dry food with meat broth, and meat is served once every three days.”

"The soldiers get one meat meal a day and one wine meal every three days. Don't try to save me money; what I want is jade."

Yu Mingda took the silver, immediately stood up, and was about to kneel down in front of Chu Chen again.

But Chu Chen stopped him: "Brother Yu, there's no need for that. You work for me, so you're one of my people. It's lunchtime now, and we've only just met, so let's have a drink!"

After saying that, he pressed Yu Mingda back into the chair, turned around, took out a bottle of wine, and filled a glass for Yu Mingda.

Looking at the full glass of wine in front of him, Yu Mingda stood up and said, "Young master, in these three years, you are the only person I have ever met who has shown us any compassion. This glass of wine is a toast to you on behalf of everyone at the jade mine."

After saying that, he downed the wine in one gulp.

Chu Chen tried to stop him, but it was too late. After Yu Mingda drank the wine, he felt a hot and spicy sensation rushing down his throat and into his stomach.

And I also felt a little dizzy.

"Uh, Brother Yu, this liquor is strong. You must never drink like this again!"