78 Chapter 78

◎Autumn Harvest◎

Three months later.

Cement houses with green tiles and red bricks are springing up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Standing on the smooth cement surface, looking at the soles of his shoes that were not stained by mud, Brother Jiang was filled with surprise and exclaimed: "This is really a good thing. Is it really made of those gray stones?"

"During this period, you and Jinglin have been coming here every day to check it out. Why are you asking me now?" Jiang Jingyun said with a smile.

"Oh, this thing is really too magical, I can hardly believe it." Brother Jiang scratched his head embarrassedly.

Who would have thought that ordinary stones that can be found everywhere on the road, after being fired, can produce something that is more useful than glutinous rice mortar.

Moreover, although my fifth brother called it "cement", the road surface is actually strong and wear-resistant after drying, and it is even cleaner and tidier after being washed by rain. It is not at all like an ordinary mud road, where there is a puddle of mud every two steps and a puddle of water every three steps. Before you finish walking the road, your feet will already be covered with mud.

Jiang Erge squatted down, touched the gray and smooth ground curiously, and asked the most critical question now: "Brother, this thing is good, but it's too heavy. How can I sell it?"

Referring to the amount used in building a workshop, about fifty loads of cement are needed to build a house. If it is transported by carts and horses, five carts are needed, and the cost of round trip is huge.

But if the price is too high, there might be a shortage of buyers.

For a moment, I was in a dilemma.

Brother Jiang looked at Jiang Jingyun in distress: "Fifth brother, you have a quick mind, do you have any good ideas?"

"have."

"What?" Brother Jiang stood up excitedly, "What's the solution? Tell me now."

Jiang Jingyun looked at him and said only two words: "Shipping by sea."

Fu County is on the sea, and you can take a boat upstream and then go down the river directly to Kyoto.

"Is this... possible?" When he heard about going out to sea, Brother Jiang hesitated, "Besides, your brother doesn't know how to sail."

"Money makes the world go round. As long as the money is in place, there will naturally be people who can do it." Jiang Jingyun was not worried about this, "It's just..."

"Just what?" asked Jiang Erge.

"We have no money now." Jiang Jingyun spread his hands and confessed honestly.

Although he said he would do things within his means, in reality, he wanted to do everything to perfection. He had spent money like water in the early stages, and now there was very little money left in the account that could be used, let alone buying a ship that cost thousands of taels and could sail out to the sea.

"What should we do?" Upon hearing that all the savings accumulated over the years had been spent in less than a month, Brother Jiang's heart tightened.

"There is no better way now," Jiang Jingyun patted his second brother's shoulder and consoled him earnestly, "We can only make you suffer. Sell in the vicinity of Fu County first, save up some capital and then plan for the future."

"Alas, this is the only way." Brother Jiang sighed and asked, "What about the selling price? What is the appropriate price?"

"This...you have to ask Jingfeng, he is in charge of the accounts." Jiang Jingyun now pushed all the accounting issues to his third brother and simply became a hands-off boss.

"You're ordering your younger brothers around again. They're hiding from you now." Jiang Erge glared at him and spoke up for his two younger brothers, "You're pushing the blame on Jingfeng. What are you going to do?"

"Ah, those who are capable should do more work." Jiang Jingyun was thick-skinned and didn't care at all. "Besides, young people should do more work. Without more training, how can you become a talent?"

"That's a bunch of nonsense." The second brother didn't buy it. He looked at the man who was slipping out while talking and shouted, "Didn't you say you were going to the stone mountain to take a look? Where are you going now?"

Jiang Jingyun didn't look back, but waved his hands behind his back and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have some things to do in the government office. Second brother, you go by yourself. I'll go back first."

Brother Jiang shook his head helplessly: Being an official is really busy.

Jiang Jingyun's statement that he had something to do was not entirely an excuse.

He just remembered that the court prohibited private voyages and ordinary people could not find ships that could go out to sea. Therefore, he not only needed to obtain a sea transportation permit, but also had to find a way to get a sailing boat that could sail.

If you want to solve these two problems in one go, submitting a report directly is the fastest way.

It was the content of this memorial... Jiang Jingyun was a little hesitant.

Although scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the foundation of a country.

But in the eyes of the gentry, merchants are still the lowest class. If one directly says that the application for sea transportation is for business, not to mention approval, one may even be impeached by someone with ulterior motives.

Just as he was struggling, Jiang Jingfeng ran in from outside and pulled him out without saying a word.

The incident happened suddenly, and Jiang Jingyun didn't react in time. He was pulled by his third brother and staggered. "Hey, where are you taking me? I have something to do, stop making trouble."

"Great news," Jiang Jingfeng said happily, "Brother, do you remember what day it is today?"

"What day?" Jiang Jingyun was confused. No one in his family had a birthday recently. Could there be some happy event that he didn't know about?

He looked at Jiang Jingfeng in confusion, but the third brother did not answer. He just said mysteriously: "Come with me, you will know the place when we get there."

"Mystification." He muttered, but his body honestly sat in the carriage.

When they walked to the outskirts of the city and saw the endless golden waves of rice outside the window, Jiang Jingyun suddenly realized, "It's already harvest time? Are they taking me to the fields?"

He was so busy working with a hammer here and a pestle there every day that he had long forgotten about the experimental field.

Fortunately, Jiang Jingfeng and the old county magistrate are very reliable. The two men led the two common people they had found at the beginning and worked diligently on these acres of land. Now it was time to inspect the results.

However, even if he didn't know the situation in the rice fields, just by looking at Jiang Jingfeng's smiling face, Jiang Jingyun knew that this year's harvest would definitely be good.

Sure enough, when we arrived at the fields, there were already quite a few people gathered there, pointing and talking at the rice fields with looks of surprise on their faces.

Seeing Jiang Jingyun coming over, everyone saluted and the old county magistrate even came forward to greet him with a smile.

No one was sent to take over, so the old man could only continue to work hard. However, he was in high spirits when he was happy. Today, the old county magistrate's steps seemed particularly light. He walked to Jiang Jingyun and asked with a smile, "Sir, I would like to ask, should we harvest the fish or the rice first?"

"Let's collect the fish first," Jiang Jingyun said directly after taking a look at the rice fields. "When winter comes, we can try to collect the rice ears first and leave the rice stalks and fertilizer water to continue raising fish."

"Well, okay." The old county magistrate agreed hurriedly.

In the past, the old county magistrate might have hesitated about Jiang Jingyun's orders, but after several attempts, he is now completely convinced and obedient to the new magistrate.

The old county magistrate raised his hand and called out loudly, "Come on, some people, go to the fields and catch fish!"

"I'll do it!"

"I'll help too!"

The common people responded one after another. They had long wanted to go to the fields to take a look, but the old county magistrate attached great importance to these acres of land and usually ordered people to watch them closely and not let anyone get close. Now that the opportunity was rare, he didn't wait for anyone's instructions and just rolled up his trouser legs and jumped down.

"Oh, be careful, don't step on it." Seeing the villagers crowded into the fields like dumplings, the old county magistrate felt so distressed that he hurried over to stop them.

"We know, don't worry." They were all farmers who were used to working in the fields. They naturally knew how precious food was, and they were careful to avoid rice when they went to the fields.

With more people working together, the work progressed quickly. Soon, all the fish in the field were fished out. When they were weighed in a bamboo basket, they weighed more than a thousand pounds.

Suddenly, the fields exploded like water in a frying pan.

"This...this..." The old county magistrate was so excited that his tongue was tied. "How could there be so many such big fish?"

In the past, farmers worked hard all year round but might not be able to buy enough meat to eat. Nowadays, there are only ten acres of paddy fields, and each acre can produce an average of 100 kilograms. If you pick up a fish and weigh it, it will weigh about eight ounces to one kilogram.

For an ordinary farmer, this is already a huge fortune.

"Hmm... As an extra bonus, the yield is pretty good." Jiang Jingyun nodded with satisfaction and looked up at the golden rice fields in front of him. "Next, let's see how it performs."

Even the scorching summer cannot suppress the farmers' high enthusiasm.

Beads of sweat dripped from the temples onto the ground, soaking everyone's clothes, which were also covered with mud and rice crumbs, but everyone had a smile on their face.

The people took action on their own initiative, divided the work and cooperated with each other, and soon harvested the ten acres of rice.

Seeing the baskets filled to the brim with plump and round rice ears, the crowd could no longer hold back and rushed forward, asking excitedly: "Sir, how is this done? Can we just raise fish in the fields? Can we emulate this method?"

Everyone was talking at once, all eager to know the exact answer from Jiang Jingyun.

The scene was a bit chaotic for a while. In order to prevent a stampede in the panic, Jiang Jingyun had to stand out and signal the restless people to calm down: "This method is called rice field fish farming. Because it was just the first time I tried it, I didn't tell everyone at the beginning."

"Fortunately, the results lived up to our expectations and we gained a lot today."

"The county government will sort out the specific methods of rice field farming later and pass them on uniformly. All you have to do is wait patiently."

When the people heard this, they were all extremely excited.

Some even knelt on the ground and praised him repeatedly with gratitude: "Your Excellency is truly a living Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering. I will never forget your great kindness. Please accept my respect." After that, they kowtowed to Jiang Jingyun three times.

Seeing this, the others also knelt down and kowtowed.

Jiang Jingyun hurried forward and helped the fifty-year-old man in the front to stand up. "It's your job to do your job. It's your duty. You don't have to do this."

"We are rustics who only know how to farm and don't know your great principles," the old man wiped the tears from his eyes and said sincerely, "but we know in our hearts that you are a good official."

Fu County has suffered from food shortage for a long time.

Since the new county magistrate took office, he has done many good things to improve people's livelihood. It is a blessing for generations of people in Fu County to have such an official who is dedicated to serving the people.

The hard days that seemed to have no end finally came to an end.

How lucky I am!