Chapter 40 Something is wrong
Capital city.
In several secret villas in the suburbs, people are busy working on their own tasks.
The person in charge gathered everyone together more than ten days ago and announced that the harvest per mu of land in the other village was as high as four shi this year, and some land even reached five shi per mu.
Everyone in the village was overjoyed. Almost all of them cheered in their own way. That was an acre of land!
It’s more than doubled!
Yan Xuanyu was not surprised when he knew this. As long as the crops were planted properly, there would be more in the future. Four or five dan per acre would definitely not be enough in modern times, but the wheat seeds of the Great Zhou Dynasty had not undergone many generations of cultivation like those in later generations, so it was very gratifying to have such a yield.
He asked someone to tell the head of the farm to grind all the harvested wheat into flour.
Some villagers from Xiaoshi Village also work there.
Xiaoshi Village was originally just a run-down little village outside the capital. Last season, when they were planting wheat, a nobleman advised them on how to apply fertilizer. At that time, not many people believed it when they heard about the increased wheat yield after applying fertilizer. However, the nobleman also made sugar from sugar beets, which are commonly seen in daily life. Now everyone in Shitou Village believed it, and most of them followed Zhuangzi's example and applied fertilizer to the land.
When harvesting wheat this year, those who followed the instructions found that the yield per acre of land reached four stones!
They then went to see those who had not applied fertilizer, and found that the yield from their fields was the same as in previous years.
At the same time, some were happy and some were sad.
After harvesting so much wheat in the first year, the farmers didn't know what to do. It was the village chief who stepped forward to offer advice. He said that this idea was given by a noble man in the farm, so they should not make it public until they consulted the noble man first.
Of the wheat harvested this season, enough should be kept to pay the tax, and the rest should be shelled and hulled.
Some people working in other villages had an idea. They handed some wheat to the person in charge and asked the person in charge to help grind the rest into flour.
In Xiaoshi Village, there was a man named Dazhuang. He privately asked the head of the village to spread the word about this fertilizer method. After all, one acre of land could yield so much. If every household planted in this way, much more would grow.
"And what about the plow, sir? What did you say?" Da Zhuang asked secretly.
The head of the villa remembered this strong man and said a few more words: "Just do your own thing well, the noble man will have his own ideas."
Da Zhuang thought so too.
The head patted Da Zhuang on the shoulder and said, "I know you're quite strong. Our village is short of some people to make pancakes."
Da Zhuang's eyes suddenly lit up.
The next morning, Dazhuang packed his things, said goodbye to his parents, and went to the villa.
People from the surrounding villages usually work for one season. Dazhuang went back home some time ago to harvest wheat, and only returned to Biezhuang today.
As soon as he entered the villa, he was shocked by the changes here. He saw that the open space outside was now filled with racks with strips of meat hanging on them. The sun was shining brightly, and the meat had been exposed to the sun for who knows how many days and was almost dried up, but the aroma of the meat still kept coming into Dazhuang's nose.
His eyes widened.
He didn't come to his senses until the person in charge led him to the place where the noodles were being pressed with a smile.
Meat... so much meat...
This is a golden nest!!
There was more than one thing that made him stare blankly. When passing by the kitchen, Dazhuang happened to see a few women in headscarves cooking sauce. The spicy aroma wafting out of it made his mouth water. Dazhuang could hardly walk.
It was not until the person in charge brought him to the place where the noodles were pressed that Da Zhuang saw such a large platform and several men had already started working with a loud noise.
Because the work requires a lot of strength, the food provided to them by other villages is always enough. With the strength, they wield the tools in their hands with great vigor.
"Go ahead," the boss said. "Let them teach you how to do it."
....
When Yuan Kang returned to Beijing, many people in the capital were paying attention to him, but when he left, he left quietly.
The team escorting the grain and fodder left together with Yuan Kang's team. The number of horse-drawn carriages carrying the grain and fodder was actually much smaller than that of the previous emperor.
Last year was a disastrous year for the Great Zhou Dynasty, with several major disasters in succession, and then the death of the previous emperor.
The imperial court had been delaying the delivery of grain to the border, and with these excuses, the delivery was delayed again and again, and winter was approaching.
I heard that he had stayed in the capital for a long time for unknown reasons, and the emperor had only summoned him to the palace once during that time. The officials had already discussed the issue of military pay at the court meeting, and the final conclusion was that the soldiers could cultivate the wasteland in the border towns and be self-sufficient. They stood in the court and said this with certainty.
Part of the money consumed during the transportation of food and fodder will be eaten by the delivery team, which is a waste. There is no war now, so why not let the soldiers on the border reclaim wasteland and be self-sufficient? It will also be a good thing for the Great Zhou.
So there’s no need to send too much food.
As for the Turkic attempts to break into the city and plunder several times, they were completely ignored.
The Turks have always been entrenched in the northwest. Only after the autumn did they frequently break into cities and loot food. They have never occupied the cities of the Great Zhou, so it is not a big deal for the officials in the capital.
The cabinet established by the emperor clearly showed his reliance on the prime minister and his close sympathy for their opinions. Since the arrival of Concubine Lian, the emperor, who had previously shown some signs of diligence, had completely betrayed his true nature, spending his days enjoying himself in the imperial gardens with Concubine Lian.
Yuan Kang stayed in the capital for an unknown period of time. It was not until Yuan Kang asked for permission to enter the palace to meet the emperor regarding the matter of food and fodder that the emperor remembered this person after being reminded by his ministers.
The emperor then waved his hand and told him to return to the border and not to come to the capital unless summoned.
Yuan Kang, who was neglected by the emperor and was in the eyes of others, was riding on a horse with a handwritten secret letter from the emperor in his arms.
Yuan Xun suddenly changed his usual behavior and became silent.
He reined in his horse and looked back, silently estimating how much food was in the food cart.
He was not stupid, but he was just a little straightforward in his daily life. The attitude of His Majesty when he summoned them was completely different from the rumors in the capital, but he guessed that the things on these carriages did not seem like a lot of food and fodder.
He accidentally looked up and saw that the wheel next to him was stuck in the ground.
Are the food supplies so heavy?
No...something's wrong.
When a "grain cart" passed by Yuan Xun, he suddenly sniffed and a faint aroma of wine wafted over.
Yuan Xun fell into deep thought.
Compared with him, Yuan Kang, who had already known the whole story, was much calmer.
....
Once again, the military generals were defeated without any chance of fighting back, and these civil officials were very happy.
Is it ridiculous?
But that's the truth.
Compared with the previous dynasties, the Great Zhou Dynasty was at its peak, and its economy was much better than that of the previous dynasties. No one had invaded for hundreds of years, and the comfortable life made the officials dream of self-deception. They only looked at what was in front of them, hoping to get a piece of fat meat.
Even if the border towns were occasionally harassed, so what? They had long been timid after being beaten by the Great Zhou Taizu, and could only live a nomadic life on the grasslands, at most looting some food.
If you don't dig out the abscess, it will eventually spread all over your body.
The shrewd ones withdraw and save themselves, while the greedy ones enter the game and want to control the situation.
Especially after Yan Xuanyu decided to completely give up state affairs and leave them to the "cabinet", their true colors were finally revealed.
Yan Xuanyu cannot beat them in playing tricks and stirring up trouble.
It would be better to remove all the abscesses.
He wanted military power - of course, he didn't want an army with low combat effectiveness and a sparse organization that would fall apart at the slightest touch.
He wanted a strong and loyal army.
...
Yan Xuanyu, who was far away in the capital, was having fun in the center of the lake in the imperial palace.
As soon as Prime Minister Jiang entered the palace to pay his respects, he was taken to the imperial palace villa.
It is now late autumn. Yan Xuanyu is in poor health and fell into a coma again some time ago. Now he has already started to wear a big hairdo.
The black fur makes the emperor's face look even whiter.
This was the scene that Prime Minister Jiang saw when he was led to the center of the lake by the young eunuch.
The emperor, wearing a black dragon robe, was holding a fishing rod and fishing with his eyes lowered, while Concubine Lian was sitting beside him.
This picture looks very pleasing to the eye.
Prime Minister Jiang withdrew his gaze calmly and stepped forward to greet him: "Your Majesty."
"Get up." Yan Xuanyu waved his hand, not caring at all that his previous action had scared away a fish.
"Bring a chair for Jiang Qing." The young emperor ordered Li Zhongxian beside him.
The situation in the court has suddenly become tense recently. Two high-ranking officials were imprisoned one after another for crimes, with more than ten charges being found against them. The officials who replaced them were men of Prime Minister Jiang.
Chen Lianying stood up and said, "I'll take my leave."
Then he left with a group of palace maids.
Yan Xuanyu remembered that someone had reported Prime Minister Jiang in the court today.
Prime Minister Jiang has always disguised himself very well and is a rare clean stream in the court, but now this "clean stream" has also become "muddy water".
Not only that, he even slowly infiltrated the person serving Yan Xuanyu - a young eunuch outside the palace. Yan Xuanyu found a reason to make the young eunuch make a mistake and punished him by sending him to the Yunting.
"Your Majesty..." Prime Minister Jiang stood up and was about to speak.
Yan Xuanyu chuckled and said, "My dear, please don't scare the fish."
After a while, ripples appeared in the water with the fishing rod as the center.
Yan Xuanyu's eyes lit up, and he cast the hook and caught a koi.
Prime Minister Jiang only heard the young emperor laugh a few times before ordering his men to throw the fish back.
Yan Xuanyu tilted his head and asked, "My dear, what brings you here today?"
For no apparent reason, for a moment Prime Minister Jiang felt that the emperor in front of him seemed unpredictable, but after a moment of distraction, he sneered at the thoughts in his mind.
"I'm here to report to you on a matter that happened in the court today." Prime Minister Jiang said. He stared closely at Yan Xuanyu in front of him, as if he didn't want to miss any of his moves.
"Ah?" Yan Xuanyu, with his back to Prime Minister Jiang, seemed to suddenly remember something. "Don't worry, my dear. I don't know what that official's intentions were. You confiscated so many treasures for me. How could I blame you?"
A trusting smile appeared on his face.
"My dear, come here, I have just got a red coral..." Yan Xuanyu walked in front.
Prime Minister Jiang suppressed the expression in his eyes.
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