Chapter 357: Sowing a Grain of Millet in Spring [Seeking Double Monthly Tickets]

The day before the Autumn Equinox, millet ripens to its fullest.

Heyin County, Fugu City.

People came and went in a hurry inside the government office, and some officials even carried bamboo slips that were half a person tall and shouted all the way.

"Make way, make way—who can lend a hand..." The clerk felt the top of the scroll was about to slip down and hurriedly called for help. A passing colleague reached out to help him and prevented a disaster. He breathed a sigh of relief. If this pile of things had fallen, he didn't know when he would have been able to clean it up. Just as he was about to look up to thank him, he saw the person's face and hurriedly clasped his hands in a salute, "Greetings, Inspector Gu."

Gu Chi had just returned from a business trip, covered in dust.

He glanced at the large stack of bamboo slips.

He asked, "Why is the government office still so busy?"

Wasn't he already quite relaxed before his business trip?

The clerk wiped away his sweat, his face showing fatigue but also joy. He excitedly said, "The local officials reported that the millet ripened half a month earlier than in previous years, and all the counties and villages in the prefecture have started to get busy..." This was the first autumn harvest since Shen Jun took office as the governor of He County!

Everyone was following the experience of previous years' autumn harvest, planning to start the real work in about half a month. Who knew that the millet ripened early this year, and every household was in dire need of manpower. The government offices, which had finally had a little free time, were now extremely busy again.

Gu Chi: "..."

He seemed to have guessed the reason for the urgent summons from the bluebird.

So they brought him back for the busy farming season.

Shen Tang explained that this was to follow the principle of "not bothering two people with one matter." After all, Gu Chi was responsible for measuring and counting all the fields in Fugu and even other areas of Heyin. He knew exactly how many acres of good and bad land there were, and roughly what each acre would yield.

If they don't conscript men now, when will they?

Gu Chi almost laughed in exasperation upon hearing Shen Tang's inner thoughts.

He was demoted by his lord to the post of Inspector of the River Prefecture, where he was paid a meager salary but did hard work, and the conditions for his business trips were indescribable.

Life was so hard that he often wished he could switch paths with Qi Shan as a scholar. Inspecting counties and townships, supervising officials, investigating criminal cases, checking for illegal activities, and keeping an eye on tax collection everywhere… He carried a burden when he traveled, and had no blankets to sleep under. When the roads were good, he could ride a horse or a donkey cart; when the roads were bad, he had to walk, going wherever the road took him, making do with whatever bedding he could find…

And what was the result?

His own lord didn't understand his suffering and even complained that he wasn't doing enough work, so he forcibly recalled him from his business trip.

She won't do anything that a human can do.

Faced with Gu Chi's stern face, Shen Tang chuckled foolishly, trying to get away with it by being cute, but Gu Chi wasn't buying it at all.

Shen Tangxin curled her lips inwardly, trying to persuade him with reason and emotion—the autumn harvest is one of the most important events in a county, how could Gu Chi, as her right-hand man, be absent? It would be inappropriate for Gu Chi not to be present at the autumn harvest ceremony.

Gu Chi's expression finally softened.

Shen Tang gave herself a mental thumbs up.

The capable are always given more work, so Shen Tang waved her hand and dumped this stack, this stack, this stack, and that stack... all of them on Gu Chi to handle. Gu Chi had no choice but to accept his fate and have someone bring over a desk so he could work alongside her. Actually, even if Shen Tang hadn't been in a hurry to summon him, Gu Chi would have returned in about half a month—around the time the millet was supposed to ripen—to help Shen Tang preside over the autumn harvest ceremony.

It's just that this year's early maturity caught him off guard.

This completely messed up his original plans.

As the government office fell silent once again, the occasional faint sounds of bamboo slips clattering or being closed could be heard.

Gu Chi kept busy until sunset and birds returned to their nests before finally putting down his brush and rubbing his stiff shoulders.

Turning my head, I saw that my lord had been sleeping soundly at the table for some time.

Gu Chi carefully got up.

They were afraid of making a big commotion and disturbing Shen Tang.

However, no matter how careful he was, Chen Tang was still awakened by the sound of her clothes rubbing against the mat. She propped herself up, her forehead throbbing, and struggled to sit up. Staring sleepily out the window, she yawned and stretched, saying, "Ah, it's so late? How did I fall asleep..."

Gu Chi sighed, "It's because our lord is too tired."

Shen Tang: "The autumn harvest is of utmost importance and cannot be delayed."

Heyin was a poor and remote place, and there was a shortage of people everywhere. Shen Tang had also dealt with several local bullies from head to toe, so there were very few candidates who could be competent as county and township officials. Helpless, he could only promote some temporary minor officials and summon the village heads to fill in.

At the same time, we should make the most of the time to provide on-the-job training for people.

Qi Shan and the others each held multiple positions.

The matter was not difficult to handle, but it was too trivial and took a lot of time. Even the prefect Shen Tang had to take on the job of managing the private finances of the Shaofu Shi (a minor official in charge of the household affairs). Occasionally, when he wanted to go out for some fresh air, he would take on the job of patrolling and catching thieves.

When Shen Tang first took over as governor of Heyin, there were murder, robbery, and sexual assault cases everywhere. It took time to arrest the criminals, and Shen Tang's side didn't have enough manpower. Sometimes he had to ask Gong Shuwu and others to help. In short, they would fight to the death if they couldn't kill them.

Lately, I've been staying up late every day.

She yawned as she got up and invited Gu Chi to eat at the government office canteen. She had set up a canteen in the government office so that busy officials could have a meal there. This saved them the trouble of going home for meals and also saved them some money.

For officials, the latter was equivalent to a disguised pay raise, and the meals in the government canteen were also plentiful. For Shen Tang, the former was the most important, as it extended everyone's working hours.

"Sigh, I'll have to figure out a way to purify the salt later..."

The cafeteria chef's skills are quite good.

However, the quality of the salt was poor.

The dishes I made tasted bitter, even though salt is an indispensable commodity in life.

At times like these, I miss Chu Wuhui's craftsmanship even more.

Adhering to the rule of not speaking while eating, Gu Chi swept every last grain of millet from the earthenware bowl before wiping his mouth and smiling, "Since the lord wishes, why not just have Wu Hui make one?"

Chu Yao's identity is somewhat special compared to others.

Shen Tang finished the last bit of rice porridge.

He said, "He's been focusing all his attention on Lingde's efforts to cultivate his literary talent lately, and I don't want him to be distracted by that."

Gu Chi calculated the time.

Knowing the importance of Lin Feng's efforts to unite the literary heart, he said, "Alas, so the autumn harvest sacrifice must still fall to Chi Tou?"

Shen Tang smiled and said, "The capable should do more."

Gu Chi: "..."

Expanding enrollment is imperative.

He casually took the tableware his lord had used to the recycling area, and as soon as he returned, he saw a minor official standing beside Shen Tang, whispering something. Shen Tang listened patiently, nodding occasionally.

The minor official left shortly afterward.

His leg was lame, and he walked with a limp.

Gu Chi asked, "Is this a new face, someone new here?"

He couldn't recall any minor official in the government office who had a leg disability.

Shen Tang: "Yes, I just came here a while ago."

Gu Chi didn't ask any further questions.

Firstly, he trusted his lord's judgment, and secondly, he believed in his own scholarly principles. If this person had any problems, he could expose him after spending some time with him. Shen Tang knew what he was thinking and smiled, "Don't overthink it."

Gu Chi disagreed.

In his view, when working in a government office, personal ability is secondary; obedience, loyalty, and tight-lippedness are the most important.

Encountering someone with great ideas but limited intelligence can lead to trouble. If their loyalty is lacking, who knows when they might be bought off by other forces? The news of the abundant harvest of millet in Heyin cannot be kept secret. The real fear is that someone might try to cause trouble during this crucial autumn harvest season.

Shen Tang smiled and said, "Wang Chao, don't worry. This person has been thoroughly investigated and is capable. He is a pitiful refugee who left his hometown. When he left, he took a bag of wheat seeds with him. He was starving but couldn't bear to eat them... This just reminded me of something."

"What is it?"

"Millet is harvested only once a year, and the yield is not high. It would be better to find crops that are harvested twice a year and rotate them. No one knows what the future holds. If ordinary people do not have enough stored grain, and they encounter natural disasters and famine, our river management office, which we have been building for so long, will be ruined."

Shen Tang then set her sights on wheat.

Rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans are the five grains.

Millet, also known as foxtail millet, is the most important crop in Northwest China. Wheat, on the other hand, is not highly valued as one of the five grains.

It's not that I don't want to plant it on a large scale, but this thing is a little bit unsuitable for the local environment and is not easy to grow!

Wheat is suitable for planting in areas with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers, but the growing environment in the northwest of the mainland, where Heyin is located, is quite different. Spring planting and seedling emergence require rain, but this area experiences drought and little rain in spring, making irrigation a problem.

As a result, the scale of wheat cultivation is not large.

Millet remains the main crop in Hebei and even in the northwest of the mainland, while wheat is the least important crop and cannot shake its position. If the problem of spring water supply can be solved, it may be possible to cultivate it on a large scale and replace millet as the main food.

Two kinds a year is a huge temptation.

We'll improve the stone mill later.

Speaking of this, Shen Tang felt a bit of a mess.

If it weren't for the frequent changes of state power, which left ordinary people with little time to settle down and recuperate, agriculture might have developed more rapidly. Instead, the wooden plows used for tilling the land wouldn't be the heavy, difficult-to-turn straight-shaft plows, resulting in extremely low farming efficiency.

Gu Chi said, "Then we need to find good wheat seeds."

Wheat is grown in small quantities, but that doesn't mean it's not grown at all.

Shen Tang said, "I have already asked Xu Wenzhu to look for it before. When he comes again next time, there should be good news."

In terms of connections and influence, Shen Tang, the Prefect of He Yin, was far inferior to Xu Jie, the head of the Xu family. Because Shen Tang had done a favor for Tianhai, and because Wu Xian had a change of heart, Tianhai would accommodate Shen Tang's requests as long as they weren't excessive.

Of course, it's not that they don't work for free.

I'll still give you a friend's price _(:з)∠)_

Because of the surge in autumn harvest work, the officials had to work overtime for an hour or two at night. After a good meal and some rest, Shen Tang continued working. This time, she wasn't there to handle government affairs, but to inspect the workshop—or more accurately, the foundation of her dream!

Last year, Shen Tang was still talking about starting a side business.

After all, she had a deep love for paintbrushes.

But she faced numerous challenges. For instance, printing technology was rudimentary, requiring hand-copying; papermaking was inefficient, resulting in a limited supply of paper suitable for writing and drawing, which was also difficult to preserve. Only by completely resolving these problems and reducing production costs so that ordinary people could afford paper would they come to appreciate her paintings. Only when people bought her work could Shen Tang's side business generate income.

However, you can't become fat overnight.

Similarly—

Problems need to be solved one by one, gradually.

Shen Tang first set his sights on "paper".

Wood, bamboo, reeds, and even rice straw and wheat stalks can all be used as raw materials for papermaking. This spring, Shen Tang had people cut down and collect tender bamboo shoots. At the same time, he also gathered other materials to test which one was more suitable.

The whole process is complicated and tedious, including soaking to remove the green color, hammering and washing, then boiling, washing, steaming a second time, removing the sewage, fermenting with water, pounding the material with a stone mortar, repeatedly washing and pulping, and finally using a bamboo screen to scoop out paper and dry it.

The entire process can be summarized in just a few sentences.

The process involves cutting the hemp, removing the green parts, soaking it in soy sauce, boiling it over a fire, washing it with water, scooping it out on a screen, and then brushing it with a green coating. Shen Tang only knew the general process and figured out how to make pulp, then scoop out the paper and let it dry. The various steps had to be figured out and mastered by the craftsmen themselves.

Other materials are processed using similar methods to produce pulp, and the subsequent processes are largely the same.

Gu Chi's lips twitched slightly.

He said, "My lord's perseverance is truly commendable."

Those vivid and erotic illustrations from last year were the work of Qi Yuanliang. He didn't know the lord's true skill in painting, but judging from Qi's expression, it seemed to be similar to his singing ability. Where did the lord get the confidence to make a living solely from painting?

"Haha, you don't deserve such praise." Shen Tang naturally assumed that Gu Chi was praising her, so she politely declined for a couple of minutes, and then said enthusiastically, "When my picture book is published, I'll give you a free set!"

Gu Chi remained expressionless.

What is the lord's painting for?

As someone said, is it used to ward off evil spirits?

Or is it used to attract evil spirits?

Gu Chi silently swallowed his thoughts.

Unable to bear discouraging her lord, she realized the harsh reality when her art book was published but no one paid any attention to it.

The next day was the Autumn Equinox.

A bountiful harvest and great fortune.

Having learned from the previous experience of the spring plowing and sacrificial ceremony, Shen Tang carefully kept the note she had written close to her body, fearing that something unexpected might happen again. Su Shang and its nine cubs, with Qi Shan as their powerful backer, relied on their master's influence and moved freely in and out of the government offices, acting like "tyrants," having evolved from a single cat tyrant into a violent gang of ten. Shen Tang dared not offend these little devils.

If we offend them, who will catch the rats?

Chu Yao's silly dog ​​is probably the most heartbroken, being bullied by the ten of them every day. Whether they're happy or not, the cat gang will provoke and bully it, even using the coordinated tactics carefully trained by Qi Shan. If the silly dog ​​calls for other helpers, they'll "besiege and attack the reinforcements," bullying the dog until it jumps around and howls incessantly.

During that time, Chu Yao's face was extremely dark.

Shen Tang felt that even if there were factions under his command, they were probably the cat faction and the dog faction, who were sworn enemies.

_(:з)∠)_

Having learned from experience, Shen Tang was much more composed this time.

Gather everyone before the auspicious time.

Similar to the spring plowing ceremony, Shen Tang first recited a prayer, worshipped heaven and earth, and thanked the spring god for the year's blessings. Then she went to the field to harvest a sheaf of millet. Only after she finished these things could the local people begin the autumn harvest.

It usually takes about half a month.

Considering that each household is short of manpower, Shen Tang will also bring back Zhao Feng and his group who went out to repair roads and whose destination is unknown. They are readily available able-bodied men, so it would be a waste not to use them.

The bumper harvest in Heyin this year is inseparable from their hard work, and they should also come and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

She straightened her appearance: "By the God of Spring, I, Shen Youli, Prefect of He County, lead all the officials under my jurisdiction..."

〒▽〒

Today, the top-ranked Chrysanthemum was defeated twice, sob sob. Tomorrow is the last day of March, and if the monthly tickets expire, they'll be wasted, which is such a waste. Everyone, please check if you have any monthly tickets left and vote for Mushroom!

P.S.: There are still nearly 200 spots left in the monthly ticket event in the book review section. Please reply to participate before voting.

P.S.: I currently have 8418 monthly votes, and I feel like I can reach 10,000 within reach. Keep it up!

PPPS: There will be another update at midnight, so everyone go to sleep early and you can see it when you wake up tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)