In Sili, at this time, some people had already begun harvesting in the fields.

Although it was nearly July, the weather was still hot. Cao Song, along with a group of officials skilled in agriculture, spent his days wandering through the fields, searching for suitable varieties to cultivate.

"Everyone, look at this one!"

Sure enough, perseverance pays off. Cao Song, who was looking around, spotted a unique floating wheat plant and quickly called everyone over.

When everyone arrived, they discovered the wheat plant that Cao Song had pointed to. It was growing on the edge of the field, slightly shorter than the other plants, but it had more ears and grains, and its stalk was also a bit thicker.

Cao Song hurriedly said, "Quickly, dig it out, be careful not to break the main root!"

Two servants hurriedly stepped forward and began to slowly remove soil from an inch around the wheat plant. Before long, the wheat plant was completely removed and handed to Cao Song.

Cao Song examined the wheat plant closely, his eyes gleaming as if he had seen something in particular and wanted to kiss it.

"Record!"

The clerks nearby hurriedly took out paper and pen to prepare. Liu Hong had also specially approved them to carry some paper for their convenience.

Then Cao Song described the differences of this wheat plant one by one, and the scribe next to him made careful notes.

"Gentlemen, let's search around; there must be more nearby!"

Upon hearing this, the officials hurriedly scattered and began searching carefully, much like the surrounding people were looking for gold.

"Grand Minister of Agriculture, there's one here!"

"They're here too!"

"Okay, okay, okay!!!"

Cao Song was overjoyed. His hard work over the past few days had finally paid off. Perhaps he and his fellow people could really be famous for generations to come and have temples and shrines built for them!

Soon, nearly twenty similar wheat plants were found, and the officials quickly gathered them together and compared them with other wheat plants of the same number.

The group carefully separated the wheat ears and then compared them.

"Grand Minister of Agriculture, this newly discovered wheat yield is 20% higher than usual!!"

The results excited everyone, and the official who reported them even started stammering!

"Auspicious omen! An incredibly auspicious omen!" Cao Song exclaimed excitedly.

"Excellent! Let's go! Quickly report this auspicious omen to the Emperor!"

Then Cao Song looked at the attendants and several constables beside him and said, "You few stay here and do not allow anyone to approach or harvest this place!"

Then everyone excitedly headed into the city.

"Are you all telling the truth?"

Upon hearing everyone's reports, Liu Hong also began to get excited.

"Yes! Your Majesty, look!"

As he spoke, Cao Song took out two bags of wheat grains and began counting them one by one in front of Liu Hong.

Liu Hong asked urgently, "Great! Great! Grand Minister of Agriculture, according to your calculations, if the cultivation is successful, how much will it increase production?"

"Based on this situation, the yield will increase by at least 30%! Moreover, this type of wheat has a wide and long root system and thick stems, so it should have strong drought and wind resistance!"

After calming his excitement slightly, Cao Song began to explain the advantages of this plant in detail.

"Zhang Rang! Zhao Zhong!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! What are your orders?"

Liu Hong almost roared, which startled the two men so much that they immediately knelt down.

"Immediately! Take my imperial insignia and dispatch five hundred Imperial Guards there. Apart from the ministers present and the people from the Agricultural Academy, no one is allowed to approach that place!"

"promise!"

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong accepted Liu Hong's official seal and hurriedly left.

"My ministers, go immediately and find all the same plants to study and cultivate! Once successful, I will not be stingy and will fulfill all my previous promises."

"promise!"

"etc!"

Liu Hong stopped everyone and said, "I believe it is related to the land there and the farmers' planting. You should all inquire and investigate thoroughly!"

"promise!"

After everyone left, Liu Hong turned around excitedly and looked at the map of the Han Dynasty hanging on the wall. His gaze slowly swept over all the regions surrounding the Han Dynasty, and a hint of greed arose in his eyes.

Soon, a troop of Imperial Guards cavalry, led by Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, galloped out of the palace and headed out of the city, startling passersby on both sides who inquired about what major event had occurred.

In Xuzhou, with the autumn harvest officially underway, Yang Qiu and Zhang Jian stayed at the governor's mansion, and apart from sending people down to oversee the harvest and collect taxes, they didn't do anything else.

The powerful families of Xuzhou, already living in fear, gathered once again at the Cao family's residence.

"Patriarch Cao, there's been no movement from that Yangqiu these past few days. In just two more days, the grain will be stored in the granary. What do you think?"

Cao Xian frowned deeply. He couldn't figure out what evil scheme Yang Qiu was plotting. His inaction made it even harder for them to deal with him.

After a moment's thought, Cao Xian slowly said, "Since he hasn't made any move, let's take the initiative tomorrow. Everyone, go back and prepare the money and grain, and hand them over at 10% more than in previous years."

"Alright! Let's do as Patriarch Cao says!"

Helpless, everyone left.

The spy then returned to the governor's mansion to report to Yang Qiu.

"Hmph~ Fine!"

Yang Qiu chuckled and looked at Zhang Jian, "Prefect Zhang, do you think they're clever or foolish? They actually offered themselves up to us!"

Seeing Yang Qiu's appearance, Zhang Jian was also quite helpless. The reason why Yang Qiu hadn't taken any action was that he had been sending spies to keep an eye on the granaries and caravans of these powerful families in Xuzhou.

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