Chapter 3182 Surprise

After Gu Zhong left, the emperor asked Wei Zhi, "What happened that made you brave the scorching sun to come to the palace?"

Wei Zhi bowed and presented the box, "Your Majesty, this was sent back by Bai Shan from Beihai County. It's a gift to Your Majesty and the Great Jin."

The emperor took the box, opened it, and asked, "What gift is this? It's not even my birthday yet."

Wei Zhi didn't say anything. The emperor had already opened it and saw the rice ears and the memorial inside. He glanced at the memorial and first picked up the rice ear curiously to examine it. He said speechlessly, "You came all the way here just to send me a rice ear? Don't you know how much money is spent on correspondence?"

As he looked, he realized something was wrong. He picked up the rice ears and looked at them carefully. He weighed them and felt the heavy weight, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

The emperor attached great importance to farming. Every year when the Dragon Raises its Head, he would go to the fields to plow, offer sacrifices to heaven, and pray for blessings. In autumn, he would also often go to the imperial farm to check on the harvest of crops.

He himself had cultivated rice fields before, and the rice ears he had seen before didn't seem to be this long, with so many grains and so full, right?

Wei Zhi saw that he had discovered it, so he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a new rice variety that the Zhou family has spent six years cultivating. Now, the per-acre yield in Beihai County, Qingzhou, and Luojiang County, Mianzhou, is six dan."

The emperor was so startled that he jumped up from his chair. After a moment of dizziness, he regained his composure. He raised his head, rubbed his forehead, and asked excitedly, "Is it true?"

Wei Zhi lowered his head and didn't see it. He lowered his head and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Bai Shan would not lie about this matter. His memorial clearly states it."

The emperor quickly picked up the memorial and looked at it.

Wei Zhi then looked up at him. Seeing his eyes growing brighter and his face flushed, he waited for him to read the letter while introducing the letter, "Master Zhou has a nephew who is currently an official in Luojiang County, Mianzhou. The fine rice planted in Luojiang County was brought back by him, and he and his father have been cultivating it for the past six years. When the letter was sent, they had only harvested one field and weighed the raw rice. The yield per mu was six and a half stone. If dried, it would be about five stone."

The emperor had read Bai Shan's memorial at a glance, which also recorded in detail the experimental process of the Putun experimental field.

He could no longer hear what Wei Zhi was saying, and his eyes were fixed on a piece of experimental data on the memorial.

Wei Zhi saw that the emperor had been silent for a long time, so he knew what he was looking at after a glance, and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty——"

The emperor raised his eyes and glanced at him with secret disdain, then continued to look down at the memorial. "What are you calling me? I can hear you. Go ahead."

"Your Majesty, the experimental data in Bai Shan's memorial looks good, but it's just an experiment. According to Minister Zhuang, they pay more attention to the experimental fields. Not only do they provide the best fertilizers, they also ensure adequate water. The effort spent on weeding and pest control is more than five times that of ordinary rice fields. Therefore, I believe that the experimental fields can be used for breeding, but their yields cannot be used as a standard. At least they need to be lowered."

The emperor said, "According to the data above, the dried rice yields seven stone and an extra twenty-two catties. This means the raw rice yields probably reached nine stone. Even if ordinary paddy fields can't compare to the experimental fields, shouldn't we just reduce it by three stone? That's one-third."

It hurts to think about it.

Wei Zhi knew that the emperor's old habit had come back again, and he was greedy for more.

He said, "Your Majesty, the yield of this new rice variety is twice as high as the current one. In other words, if it can be planted throughout the country, the rice harvest next year will be twice as high as it is now..."

It’s exciting just thinking about it, okay?

The emperor clenched the memorial in his hand, his eyes shining. "If we continue to cultivate better varieties, making the seeds even better, and the harvests from ordinary farmland can match the current data from the experimental fields, then it will be three times the current level..."

Wei Zhi: “…That’s not wrong.” It’s just that the ambition is too big. If the seeds were so easy to cultivate, the per-acre rice yield would not be so low over the years.

The emperor was extremely excited. Just thinking about the various consequences of the increase in grain production made him so excited that he could not sit still and wanted to run three times on horseback in the Western Inner Courtyard.

He stood up excitedly, turned around twice, and looked back at Wei Zhi, "It seems that the Zhou family has a talent for farming. I vaguely remember that the new wheat seeds were also newly planted by the Zhou family."

Wei Zhi lowered his head and replied, "Yes."

At that time, Yang Heshu also wrote a letter to ask for merit for the Zhou family, but the situation was complicated at that time, and the court only rewarded some money and property without any other rewards.

Because Yang Heshu was the main promoter, the credit mainly goes to him.

Wei Zhi thought of Mr. Zhuang's hint before entering the palace. He paused before continuing, "I heard that the two best farmers in the Zhou family are Dalang and Sanlang. However, because they are not very literate, the experimental fields are mainly managed and tested by Dalang's son Zhou Lizhong. All the experimental data comes from him."

The emperor hurriedly asked, "Does this mean Zhou Lizhong can now read and write?"

"Indeed, I remember Zhou Man had two nephews who passed the Mingjing exam two years ago. Is he one of them?"

"No," Wei Zhi was speechless for a moment. He said that the emperor didn't hear what he said just now, so he could only say it again, "Zhou Lizhong is now just an official in Luojiang County."

Emperor: "Did you get in through imperial favor?"

Since Zhou Man had achieved this position, he could also help his nephew, a minor official, to do the same.

"No, he got in on his own."

The emperor nodded in appreciation, "You are quite ambitious."

He paused and said, "Ask Minister Zhuang to come in."

Wei Zhi went out to find Gu Zhong.

Gu Zhong quickly invited Mr. Zhuang over.

The emperor asked with great interest, "Since the experimental field is in Putian Village, it should still be there, right?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled and replied, "Yes."

"Does Pu Village have this new rice seed? Have they all been harvested, or..."

"The harvest has begun, but it's not yet complete," Mr. Zhuang said. "This year, all the paddy fields in Putian Village are planted with this new rice seed."

The emperor immediately stood up and said, "Let's go out of the palace and take a look."

Wei Zhi was stunned, "Now?"

The emperor was anxious. "If I don't go now, what will happen tomorrow when they have finished cutting down the tussock? I want to see it with my own eyes."

Although the emperor didn't think Bai Shan would lie, he still wanted to see it with his own eyes. The main reason was that the rice seeds appeared suddenly to him and he was a little bit unbelievable.

Wei Zhiyi thought so too and wanted to go and see it in person.

So he agreed, "Your Majesty, do you want a ceremonial guard, or..."

"The ceremonial procession is too troublesome. By the time they are ready, I will be almost at Putian Village. Let Yin Li prepare and we will leave the city immediately."

Mr. Zhuang lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then raised his hand to salute and said, "Your Majesty, even if you want to go incognito, you cannot leave the palace without permission. The Empress is with the royal family..."

The emperor waved his hand in disdain, wanting to refute him, but Wei Zhi had already said, "Minister Zhuang is right. It's okay for the royal family, but it's necessary to speak to the Empress."

I saw everyone's comments on the last chapter, but don't just look at the beauty. The last chapter was two foreshadowings. The protagonists were the emperor and Gu Zhong. I didn't even give her a name.

(End of this chapter)