inspire-indiana Chapter 260 The News Spreads Quickly
Chapter 260 The News Spreads Quickly
Chapter 260 The News Spreads Quickly
Seeing that Xia Erge had nothing to say, the old emperor became even more convinced that he was right. His gaze toward Xia Erge changed from prejudice to disgust.
The old emperor stood up and said perfunctorily, "Isn't the Xia family the most precious to their youngest daughter?"
The old emperor glanced at Xia Mo, who was standing to the side with her head down, looking timid and cowardly.
The old emperor couldn't see Xia Mo's face, nor did he intend to look closely. He said, "For the achievement of producing 600 catties of rice per mu, he shall be granted the title of a township chief, and the land shall be given to the village where he is from."
The old emperor left after uttering those words.
Such a significant event that benefits the country and its people, and the old emperor dismissed him with such a meager reward?!
Xia Mo kept her head down, pretending to be timid, until the old emperor walked out and left the Jiang Prince's Mansion. Only then did she raise her head and look at Huangfu Qian with a half-smile.
Huangfu Qian looked apologetically at Xia's father, deliberately revealing his helplessness.
Xia's father did feel some resentment towards Huangfu Qian, but after seeing Huangfu Qian's expression, he understood that Huangfu Qian had no choice, and his resentment disappeared.
Brother Xia and Brother Xia Er clasped their hands in a fist salute to Huangfu Qian.
Huangfu Qian whispered, "There are also His Majesty's spies in the Jiang Prince's mansion. I can't say more, but I won't let you suffer."
"Thank you," Xia Moying said with a graceful curtsy, seemingly polite, but actually quite distant.
She originally wanted credit for the rice to help her second brother Xia's career advance more smoothly, but she never expected this.
She was a little angry, but since she couldn't vent her anger directly on the old emperor who was protected by dragon energy, she vented it on his son.
Huangfu Qian looked at Xia Mo's distant expression and thought about how their months of hard work had been ruined by the old emperor's actions, causing their relationship to regress again!
Huangfu Qian felt a wave of unease wash over him.
However, since things weren't arranged properly at that moment, he couldn't explain it.
"Let's go, Father and Mother," Xia Mo said to Xia's father and the others.
"We'll take our leave," Xia's father and the others said, clasping their hands in a fist salute to Huangfu Qian before departing.
Before Xia's father and the others had even left the Jiang Prince's Mansion, news of a yield of 600 catties of rice per mu had already spread throughout the city.
At a tea stall in the outer district of the capital city—
Several traveling merchants who had only arrived in the capital today sat around the table.
The traveling merchants were also carrying the goods they had acquired for this resale.
"Have you heard? In Anping County, Lingzhou Prefecture, a farmer wrote down news of a rice yield of 600 jin per mu," traveling merchant A said to traveling merchant B.
The two traveling merchants actually knew each other.
The traveling merchant B nodded: "I heard the news and even went to see for myself. I heard that it was grown by a family surnamed Xia!"
“Yes,” said the traveling merchant A, “I didn’t believe it at first either. I took a detour and almost ran my horse to death to see for myself. I asked many locals, and they all said it was true!”
The traveling merchant B looked up at the sky and said sincerely, "Now the yield of rice per mu is 600 jin. Can I... go back home and farm? Millet can sell for eight wen per jin. 600 jin is 4,800 wen, which is four liang. If one mu of land yields four liang, my family has ten mu of land, which would be forty liang a year. It's much less troublesome than running around here, and the income is more stable."
"That's right, I also have twelve acres of land..."
"Is what you just said true or false?"
There were other tea drinkers at the tea stall, their curiosity simmering like a cat scratching at them, unable to contain themselves, and they surrounded the traveling merchants A and B.
“It’s true. I heard that King Jiang has summoned the family that produced a yield of 600 catties per mu to the capital. I suppose the Emperor is aware of it as well,” said Merchant A, a traveling merchant.
"Hiss! Six hundred catties per mu. I also have three mu of land. Can I earn about fourteen taels a year?!"
As the tea drinker A calculated the value, he couldn't help but get excited.
"There's one more thing you definitely don't know," the traveling merchant said, trying to keep things mysterious.
"Speak quickly, maybe I know the news you're talking about?!" the traveling merchant urged anxiously.
"I heard that the Xia family planted two seasons of rice this year!" Seeing that dozens of people had gathered around and were curious, the traveling merchant B leisurely revealed the answer.
"What do you mean by 'two seasons'?!"
"It means planting twice a year and harvesting twice a year," said Merchant B with a smile.
"Hiss..."
When the calculations were cleared and the harvest was made twice a year, potentially resulting in a profit, many people present gasped in shock.
"You really accepted it twice?" Tea drinker A asked incredulously.
"Of course, the first season was planted in March and harvested in July. As for the second season... I heard that they started cultivating seedlings in June. After the first season of rice was harvested, the second season was planted in less than half a month."
“A field yields 600 catties in the first season, and 600 catties in the second season as well, totaling 1200 catties a year. The price of grain is eight copper coins, so one mu of land, converted, is…”
Some people in the crowd were already excitedly calculating the difference.
"My God, my God, my God! If I could harvest 1,200 catties from one mu of land a year, why would I be a traveling merchant? I want to go home and farm!" Traveling merchant A couldn't hold back and exclaimed in surprise.
The traveling merchant smiled and nodded: "I'm ready too. I'll farm properly next year."
"It's a pity I don't own any land! If I did, I could grow my own food for the whole year! That would save me a lot of money!"
"..."
The discussion at the tea stall quickly spread throughout the capital city, centered around the tea stall.
The news spread quickly, and within about an hour, everyone in the capital knew about it.
At this time, people in the capital were discussing rice.
Some people think positively, while others think negatively.
"That Xia family is really amazing! How did they come up with the idea of planting two seasons of rice? And... they even managed to get a yield of 600 jin per mu!"
"Fields need to rest. If you plant twice a year, I estimate that the land will soon turn from fertile to barren. At that time, expecting to harvest 600 catties in one season? Dream on!"
"What if the Earth Goddess feels tired and doesn't give us a harvest?!"
Most people are not optimistic.
"Although planting two crops a year is not advisable, a yield of 600 jin per mu in this one season is still quite impressive. It's worth planting. Does anyone have the method for planting rice?"
"..."
* * *
The discussions have not yet reached the old emperor's ears.
After leaving the Jiang Prince's residence, the old emperor did not stroll around the capital city, but instead returned to the palace in a bad mood.
When the old emperor returned to the palace, he ordered his advisors to draft the imperial edict of investiture and then summoned Wan Sinong.
The middle-aged Wan Sinong had not heard any news about the rice yield per mu, and he was puzzled because the emperor had summoned him.
Wan Sinong was ready. When he met the emperor, he would present him with the book "Rice Cultivation Techniques" that he had obtained from the live streaming system.
Sometimes, even good food can be delayed, so it's better to serve it first and then start trial planting next year, which is a safer approach.