Chapter 11 Turning Trash into Treasure Django said it was useful, and it really was useful...

When Django says it's useful, it really is useful.

These things are considered waste by the people of Songyang County, but she believes they can all be turned into treasures.

Human and animal excrement can be used as fertilizer, which in turn can fertilize fields and increase crop yields. Most importantly, it can also improve soil fertility and incidentally solve the messy environmental problems in Songyang County.

If everyone knew that this thing could turn waste into treasure, they would definitely stop littering, and the streets would become cleaner and tidier. It would be much more effective than just shouting slogans.

Jiang Ge remembers two methods for making fertilizer: composting and ammonia-based fertilizer. However, ammonia-based fertilizer requires spending money to buy materials, while composting is free, although it takes longer.

Ever since he transmigrated to the Great Zhou Dynasty and became the magistrate of Songyang County, Jiang Ge felt that he was becoming stingier every day.

They even have to calculate this small amount of money.

Making fertilizer is not difficult, but the process is very smelly. Erwang has to tie a towel around his nose every time he goes out because of the smell. These days have been really tough for Erwang and Wang Wu, who have to collect human and animal excrement all over the county.

She and Magistrate Xu still had some semblance of official decorum, so they merely picked up withered leaves and scraps.

Django deliberately chose an open space for making fertilizer, not far from the experimental fields, so that it would be convenient to use when irrigating the fields and would not cause people to be exposed to the fumes.

From the moment Erwang started digging with his hoe, a crowd of onlookers gathered around him; they had been following him ever since he started collecting the stolen goods.

I wonder what the magistrate is planning to do with these things?

You look at me, I look at you.

The pit that Erwang dug was square. Jiang Ge looked up and estimated that the pit was about one meter deep.

"Sir, you still haven't told me what you need these things for? What's the use of them?!"

Erwang brought over a pile of fallen leaves, placed them aside, and kept complaining.

The main problem was that the fallen leaves Django had him find were all rotten and smelly.

I didn't say it at first because no one would believe me anyway. I can say it now, but I guess no one will believe me either.

Django responded generously, "This is for use as fertilizer for wheat seedlings."

These words made the people around them burst into laughter.

"Your Excellency, what kind of fertilizer can this stinking dog excrement be used for? To fertilize wheat seedlings? The wheat seedlings would be overwhelmed by the stench."

These words immediately attracted the attention of the villagers, and all eyes of the county residents fell on Jiang Ge, their eyes filled with obvious condemnation.

They initially thought the magistrate was just playing around by digging holes, but was he really going to use that on the wheat seedlings? Wouldn't that be blatant waste of grain?

They all have an indescribable affection for the land and wheat; they hate that wheat yields are too high to fill their stomachs, but they still have to plant wheat every year.

Although planting wheat doesn't require much effort, it still requires careful tending. They have to weed and water it, worrying about the seedlings drying out when it doesn't rain and about the seedlings being flooded when it does. As a result, they still can't fill their stomachs all year round.

The county magistrate is actually playing with wheat seedlings!

Looking at the skeptical and disapproving eyes in front of her, Jiang Ge still didn't choose to immediately explain or argue back. She knew that no matter how well she spoke now, if she didn't see any effect, the people still wouldn't believe her.

Wait until the fertilization takes effect.

At that time, without her saying anything more, everyone will believe in the effectiveness of this manure fertilizer.

Finally, seeing that Jiang Ge didn't reply, the people gradually lost interest and dispersed. Only Erwang continued to work with Jiang Ge, adding water and finally covering it with mud. That was considered a great success.

"We'll have to turn it over every ten days or so, and it'll be ready to use in a hundred days." Jiang Ge patted the dust off his hands; the composting project was finally over.

Erwang held his breath and only dared to nod in response; every breath he took here was torture for him.

His actions made Django unable to suppress a smile.

"Breathe freely, you won't smell this stench for a while."

These words reassured Erwang a little. After all, they had taken care of everything in the county, and even a scholar like Magistrate Xu had joined in. It seemed that he could breathe fresh air again for the next ten days or so.

Who would have thought?

As soon as Jiang Ge and Er Wang returned to the county government office, they had to face several large carts full of human and animal excrement.

"vomit!"

Several large trucks were involved; the impact was so great that even Django couldn't withstand it and turned around to vomit.

Everyone else tried to stay as far away as possible, leaving only the slow-moving County Magistrate Xu behind.

“County Magistrate Xu, I heard that Magistrate Jiang has been collecting these things on the street recently. As soon as the villagers heard about it, they all emptied their own manure and brought it to you.” The speaker was the village head of Da Li Village, whom Jiang Ge remembered.

The village head's surname was Luo, and his family had more than twenty members, making it a large clan. Consequently, his family had reclaimed a lot of wasteland.

Fortunately, there was a curved plow; otherwise, no matter how many people his family had, they wouldn't have been able to plow it all. He and the villagers still remember Jiang Ge's actions.

It's just shoveling some manure, isn't it?

What's the point of this?!

I wonder what Magistrate Jiang wants to do with this? Although he doesn't mind the smell, there's an old saying: dog shit can't be turned into gold.

County Magistrate Xu thanked Village Chief Luo with a bitter face, but the air was really unbearable, so he grabbed Luo's hand and tried to pull him away from this stinking place.

Rory stood as still as a pine tree, not moving an inch.

Jiang Ge could sense what Magistrate Xu was thinking. No, it was too smelly. She had to find a quick way to get rid of this stench.

Making ammonia fertilizer just requires spending some money, right?!

"vomit!"

She vomited again.

Get further away quickly and tell Erwang to go buy some soybean powder and gypsum powder.

"Sir, there's no need to buy soybean powder. The county government's kitchen has some soybeans left, so just grind them into powder. There's no need to waste money on that."

The money is being saved wherever possible. Erwang's reason for saving money for Jiang Ge is simple: this month's pay hasn't been issued yet.

Magistrate Jiang was a benevolent ruler who spent all his money on the people. But what if the county government couldn't afford to pay the monthly salaries after he spent so much?

"Do as you say, go quickly." Jiang Ge waved her hand weakly; she was too exhausted to speak.

After finishing his argument with Magistrate Xu, Luo Li finally approached Jiang Ge and asked, "Magistrate Jiang, can you tell me what you intend to do with these things?"

In front of a scholar like Django, Luo Lizheng became more refined in his speech.

This fairy doll is so big that I'm afraid to speak too loudly for fear of scaring him.

Django smiled mysteriously and said, "Make something good."

These words couldn't fool Luo Lizheng. What good stuff could this stinky dog ​​poop possibly contain?

He curled his lip and said, "Magistrate Jiang, you're not trying to fool this old man."

"I won't lie to you. In three days, I'll invite Luo Lizheng to watch a performance, a demonstration of how stinky dog ​​poop can turn into a gold nugget."

A gold nugget?

Luo Lizheng was certain that Magistrate Jiang was just trying to fool him, an old man. It was normal for Magistrate Jiang to be young and like to play pranks.

Let alone turning into a gold nugget in three days, it won't turn into a gold nugget even in three years.

It seems that Magistrate Jiang is still young and playful. Luo Li shook his head and sighed as he left.

Jiang Ge boasted that he would treat the people of Songyang County to a performance every three days, the performance being titled "Turning Dog Poop into Gold."

For the past three days, almost everyone in the county has been talking about this.

"Hey, what do you think Magistrate Jiang is thinking?"

"Who knows what they're thinking? Anyway, I'll take them there to see what they can conjure up."

"I reckon people from Songyang County will all go, since she made all that boasting beforehand."

"Then it will still be stinky dog ​​shit. Let's see what Magistrate Jiang does!"

......

Such remarks occur everywhere in Songyang County.

Among those who harbored the most ill will towards Jiang Ge was Old Scholar Wu, who, while directing his wife and daughter-in-law to grind wood and do their work, spoke ill of Magistrate Jiang to his neighbors.

Ever since Jiang Ge publicly reprimanded him, Old Scholar Wu hadn't left the house for a while; he was too ashamed.

They hid and evaded the farming season in this way.

The women in his family were busy plowing and planting wheat; not a single man could be seen. I don't know how Old Scholar Wu could have the nerve to say that men and women shouldn't live together.

To him, this is just an excuse to shirk work; of course, someone who doesn't want to work in the fields would say that.

After all, they are old neighbors who see each other all the time.

The neighbor pursed his lips, thinking one thing but saying another.

He readily agreed, saying, "You're right."

With others echoing his sentiments, it wasn't just him putting on a solo act anymore. Old Scholar Wu stroked his beard, looking quite smug: "I'm going to go see what Magistrate Jiang is up to this time."

A note from the author:

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Shake, shake, shake! The next round of shaking is about to begin. Guess who will be shaken this time?