Chapter 257: 400 Kilograms Of Production In An Acre
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
County Magistrate Shen paced back and forth. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but the number is too shocking.”
However, if this was true, there was no need for him to rush them. Wouldn’t Lord Wang, Lord Xu, and Lord Sun beg him for seeds?
Xiaoxiao expressed that she could understand. Then, she asked, “I wonder if you’ve been to Fortune Village recently. If you have, have you seen my land?”
As a good county magistrate who loved the people and cared about their livelihood, County Magistrate Shen went to the countryside from time to time. He had indeed heard from the villagers of Fuyuan Village that Ning Fengnian farmed well, but he had never thought that it would be “good”.
Xiaoxiao said to him, “Lord Shen, why don’t you take a look and estimate?”
“Oh, right. My father hasn’t even reacted to this yet. Don’t tell anyone yet.”
How could County Magistrate Shen not know that? He was such a steady man!
County Magistrate Shen, who was about to ask his wife about himself.
With something on his mind, County Magistrate Shen didn’t want to do anything except checking out the two acres of land of the Ning Family. After walking back and forth several times, he clapped his hands. “Let’s go and take a look!”
They left immediately. The carriage was ready-made. Xiaoxiao sent a message to her parents and brothers and said that she would go home with the county magistrate and the others first. She asked them to go back directly after shopping before leaving with the main group.
Although Ning Fengnian and the rest were a little confused, the county magistrate was a trustworthy person, so they did not think too much about it. Instead, Ning Ansheng asked his younger brother thoughtfully, “Where’s Ah Yan?”
Recently, there had been many people on the streets who had learned to sell milk tea from their shop. Ning Anhui had just bought a cup when he choked on the incongruous, fishy, and pungent smell. He was spitting out the milk tea when he heard his elder brother’s words. He turned around and asked in a daze, “What’s that?”
Ning Ansheng looked at his younger brother’s face, which was stained with syrup sauce and milk tea after eating the candied hawthorn and meat buns. He didn’t want to say anything else and handed over a handkerchief. As the eldest brother, he let out a long sigh.
Ning Anhui was speechless.
On the other hand, Xiaoxiao also heard Rong Yan tell her what he had done with Lord Shen and the rest these days on the way home.
They had long wanted to send the news of the dam back to the Imperial Capital, but the Yan Family had many spies. They had failed many times and almost exposed themselves.
They were not afraid of going against Yan Lu. They were only afraid of making unnecessary sacrifices. They were afraid that no one would dare to fight against the queen’s relatives for the peace of the royal court after they failed. They were afraid that they would waste the efforts of so many people.
Realizing that this path was blocked, they were not discouraged. Instead, they shifted their focus from complaining to saving people.
County Magistrate Shen’s digging of the canal was beneficial to the people, but more importantly, it minimized the danger of the flood disaster. While asking the people to dig the canal, County Magistrate Shen also arranged for more channels to be built. However, these measures could only be carried out in Xijiang County. They could not do anything else.
He tried his best to persuade them, but the effect was minimal. Coupled with the fact that he did not know who his enemy was, the most dangerous upstream area became the least guarded place.
However, once the dam fell, the upstream would be the first to suffer.
County Magistrate Shen was not an official of Luo Prefecture, but he cared about the lives of the commoners there as well.
They were originally prepared to overturn the dam regardless of the consequences. Even if the people revolted, it was better than letting countless innocent people die. At most, they would lose their lives when the Imperial Court blamed them.
At this moment, Han Qing appeared.
The heavens gave them a surprise. As long as they could send Han Qing to the Imperial Palace, the evidence he had was enough to make Yan Lu unable to turn things around. Hence, Rong Yan decided to do it himself.
Although he was not favored, he was still a prince and was born by the noble consort. As long as he could successfully return to the Imperial Capital and enter the Imperial City, Han Qing would definitely be able to see the Emperor.
County Magistrate Shen and the others did not place all their hopes on the Imperial Court, because the problem of the dam was not something that could be solved in a few days even though Yan Lu was sentenced by the emperor. They still had to take precautions.
If Ning Xiaoxiao was right, this problem would be easily solved.
When they came to Fortune Village, County Magistrate Shen and the others went straight to the Ning Family in casual clothes.
The Ning Family’s rice was indeed the most outstanding in the village. Earlier, County Magistrate Shen thought that Ning Fengnian was a skilled farmer who might have a higher harvest than others, but he couldn’t estimate how much he could get.
Today, he specially brought along someone from the government office who was good at farming. The results stunned everyone for a long time.
“Reporting to Your Excellency! According to my rough calculations, the harvest of these two acres of land can be at least 800 kilograms! This doesn’t even take into account the weight that the grains can increase by hanging the grout!”
County Magistrate Shen felt that he was hit on the head by a huge surprise. “How much did you say?”
The person who reported was even more excited than him. He shouted in a hoarse voice, “800 kilograms! After it matures, the production of these two acres of land will be about 400 kilograms per acre! Heavens, Lord, such high-yielding food has never appeared in the history of Great Xia!”
As an official who specialized in farming, he wished he could jump up and express his feelings. He turned around and looked at Xiaoxiao with shining eyes. He couldn’t wait to ask, “How exactly are these planted?”
On the way here, Xiaoxiao had already thought it through. “Actually, when my family just split up, we couldn’t gather the seeds needed for two acres of land. When Father and Mother were running around, I met an unfamiliar old man at the foot of Dayan Mountain. He was the one who gave me a bag of rice seeds and said that the yield of these rice was extremely high.”
She said vividly, “I saw that the old man had a kind face and didn’t look like a bad person, so I asked for the price. Unexpectedly, he didn’t take any money at all. He put down the rice seeds and left.”
“Although I don’t know how to farm, I felt that there was no difference between this rice seed and the ones at home, so… I used it to exchange for the seeds my parents gathered.”
The agricultural official couldn’t help but comment, “You’re really bold. What if that person is lying to you?”
Xiaoxiao said, “That person’s eyes are clear and he’s full of righteousness. Moreover, my family is poor. He has no reason to lie to me at all. Later on, I’ve also been paying attention to the situation of rice growing. I was prepared to confess to Father and Mother as soon as things went wrong.”
The farmer asked again, “But that person is not related to you. Why did he give you such a good seed?”
Xiaoxiao replied, “I’ve asked him this question too. He said—I just hope that there will be no more famine in the world.”
Xiaoxiao’s tone was firm. “Just based on these words, I believe him, and reality has proven that I believe the right thing.”
County Magistrate Shen stopped the agricultural officer who was about to say something else and nodded emotionally. “He is a respectable old man. Did he leave his name and address?”
Xiaoxiao shook her head. “He only asked me to call him Grandpa Yuan.”
In her previous life, there was a grandfather with the surname Yuan. He dedicated his entire life to the earth and farmland. With his efforts, he successfully cultivated high-yield hybrid rice. He was the father of hybrid rice—Academician Yuan Longping.
This was also where the rice seeds in Xiaoxiao’s space came from. If anyone wanted to thank the appearance of this new rice seed in the future, they should thank Grandpa Yuan..
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are published on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶