Chapter 57 The wind blowing through the wheat fields is sweet and full of hope.
In any case, Huo Qubing's plan to bring people to work has now been officially confirmed.
Django agreed.
It would have been better if Django had disagreed; his agreement was a disaster, stirring up a hornet's nest.
"His Majesty doesn't want any money either!!!" Yuchi Jingde rushed forward, his burly body knocking Zheng He off balance. His face was flushed, his eyes wide like copper bells, looking like an angry black bear. "Not only do we not want wages, we can even bring our own food to work!"
Li Shimin not only worked for free, but he also paid out of his own pocket to do so.
As for the gold and silver treasures seized a few days ago, didn't the Tang Dynasty have them? Didn't the national treasury have them? Didn't His Majesty have them in his private treasury?
As long as Jiang Ge lets him bring them, he and Lao Qin can carry several boxes a day to work.
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Yu's feather fan fell to the ground with a "thud." The usually refined and composed Jiang Dong beauty, Zhou Yu, disregarded his image and rushed to Jiang Ge in three strides: "Magistrate Jiang! My Bo Fu not only doesn't take a single penny, but he can also provide his own military pay! The sons of Jiang Dong are the most diligent; I guarantee he'll do a perfect job!"
These people all rushed to raise the price.
Zheng He, watching anxiously from the side, suddenly had a brilliant idea: "Your Highness is the Yongle Emperor, a man of great talent and ambition, who values commerce above all else. If Your Highness were to come, wealth would surely flow in endlessly!"
The usually silent Hei Fu: "His Majesty is coming too!"
Good boy.
Zhuge Liang paused his fan slightly, looking at the chaotic scene. "Why don't I ask for a position for Liu Bei too?"
Wei Qing is coming, and Li Shimin, Sun Ce, Zhu Di, and Ying Zheng are all coming too?
Isn't this a bit inappropriate?
Just as Jiang Ge was about to agree, the system interrupted him, responding with only three cold words.
【Can't. 】
"Why not?" Jiang Ge lamented inwardly. "Huo Qubing can bring his men, but Li Shimin can't?"
Have you ever heard of "one dragon, two phoenixes, and three pigs"?
They were all among the top three emperors.
The system was silent for a moment, then a notification popped up: [Huo Qubing is also out of the question, but the system has detected that the people he brings won't have much of an impact, so we can be more lenient.]
Alright, now even Huo Qubing can't take him along.
But what do you mean by "it won't affect anything"?
Jiang Ge stared at the system notification, momentarily confused: "It won't affect anything? What does that mean?"
The system's mechanical voice remained flat: "According to the rules of spacetime: Historical figures seeking employment in other fields must undergo an impact assessment and an age assessment. Huo Qubing's entourage is too young and has no significant impact on the course of history, therefore they are permitted to proceed. However, emperors like Li Shimin and Ying Zheng, who bring with them the blessing of national destiny, are highly likely to trigger ripple effects in spacetime."
Jiang Ge was completely bewildered: "What about Yuchi Jingde and Zheng He?"
The system displayed a semi-transparent evaluation report: [Yuchi Jingde: A famous general of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, who participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, influence rating B; Zheng He: Seven voyages to the Western Seas, promoting Sino-foreign exchanges, influence rating A. Both exceed the standards for ordinary employees.]
Seeing that Django did not respond, everyone fell silent from their excited state.
"So what do we do now?" Jiang Ge rubbed his temples. "There are still too few people in Songyang County. We need more people to help with the work. We can't expect me to do all the work, can we?"
Django also wanted to start a textile factory and a paper mill, and even a newspaper; he wanted to do everything.
The system suddenly switched to a cheerful tone: [Ding! Host's needs detected. A "Historical Figure Experience Card" package is now available! You can randomly summon a historical figure as a temporary worker each day for 8 hours, costing only 999 points per year. A steal! Unbeatable value!]
Get lost, you salesperson!
No one would ever open blind boxes, no matter what. What if she gets Qin Hui today and Heshen tomorrow? She can't just put it back, you know she's incredibly unlucky.
Blind boxes are a capitalist trap; she won't fall for it!
Jiang Ge rejected everyone, even Huo Qubing. He told them to go to work and not to dream of such a good thing.
The ten craftsmen who had been responsible for the last bandit suppression campaign were transferred to unofficial government service positions. Although their wages were not as high as those at the brick kiln, they were stable and sounded respectable.
Songyang County is gradually getting back on track.
Spring sowing and autumn harvest, it's time for Django's experimental field to be harvested.
This experimental field was big news for the entire Songyang County. They had never seen such full ears of wheat before. The wheat was so tall, and the heavy ears of wheat bent the back of the plants.
The lower the bend, the happier the people are.
Django squatted on the edge of the field, her fingertips gently touching a stalk of wheat, dew wetting her sleeves. The stalk of wheat was heavy, bending the stem into a humble arc, the golden grains crowding together like a string of carefully carved agate beads.
But this wheat is much more precious than agate and jade.
"Sir, it's time to start the harvest."
Huo Qubing's voice came from behind. The young general was unusually not wearing armor, but a coarse cloth tunic and a brand-new, gleaming sickle at his waist. Sunlight shone from behind him, casting a long, slender shadow on the ground.
Django stood up and patted the dirt off his hands. Looking around, the entire experimental field seemed to have been splashed with gold paint, gleaming with an oily sheen in the morning light. The wheat rippled in the wind, rustling softly as if whispering secrets.
"Start the harvest!"
At this command, the field ridges immediately came alive. Yuchi Jingde led a dozen or so craftsmen into the field, their sickles flashing as the wheat stalks fell in unison with a crisp "snap, snap" sound. Zheng He, with several teenagers, followed behind, tying the wheat stalks together with practiced ease.
Further away, Zhuge Liang was directing several old farmers to adjust a threshing machine—a contraption that Jiang Ge had modified based on the system blueprints, its wooden gears making a creaking sound when they meshed.
"Make way! Make way!"
Heifu brandished a sickle and charged into the wheat field.
Jiang Ge rolled up his sleeves and was about to go down to the field when he suddenly heard a commotion by the field. Turning his head, he saw a large crowd of people gathered outside the fence, some on tiptoe, some riding on their companions' shoulders, all staring wide-eyed.
"Good heavens, those ears of wheat are thicker than my baby's arm!"
"Look at that plant, it's probably two feet long!"
"I heard that one mu (unit of land area) can yield eight shi (unit of dry measure) of grain..."
The murmurs drifted like dandelions in the wind, reaching Django's ears. She saw a hunchbacked old man in the crowd reach out shakily, wanting to touch the ears of wheat peeking out from behind the fence, then pulling back as if afraid of damaging them.
The way he handled it so carefully was as if he were touching a priceless treasure.
The midday sun was scorching, and Django's clothes were already soaked through, clinging to her back. She straightened up and wiped her face with her sleeve. Her palms were red and burning from being rubbed by the wheat stalks, but her heart felt like it was filled with honey, melting sweetly.
The wheat in the experimental field was growing exceptionally well. Ordinary wheat ears are no more than the length of a palm, but these were all longer than a forearm; a yield of two or three shi per mu is considered a blessing from heaven in an ordinary wheat field, but this golden field in front of us could yield at least six or seven shi.
"Magistrate Jiang, have a drink of water."
Zhou Yu was standing on the edge of the field, holding a rough earthenware bowl. This handsome young man from Jiangdong was dressed in a short coarse linen robe today, with a few awns of wheat still clinging to the ends of his hair, making him look even more lively than when he wore brocade robes and jade belts.
Django took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The well water was cool and slightly sweet, as if it contained all the coolness of summer.
"The world is in chaos, and the people toil in the fields but reap little harvest." Zhou Yu gazed at the rolling waves of wheat, his feather fan gently waving. "If only we had these seeds earlier..."
Before he could finish speaking, a cheer suddenly erupted from the field. Hei Fu was jumping and leaping, holding up a stalk of wheat, like a child who had just won a candy. The stalk was ridiculously large, hanging heavily, the grains so plump they seemed about to burst from their husks.
"Goodness!" Yuchi Jingde leaned closer, his rough fingers gently stroking the wheat grains. "If this were ground into flour, the steamed buns would be so fragrant!"
Django couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Yuchi Jingde couldn't stop talking about food, but that's the most genuine thought of ordinary people: food is the most important thing for the people.
Zhuge Liang suddenly appeared, holding bamboo slips in his hands, writing something on them. Seeing Jiang Ge's curiosity, he smiled slightly: "I'm recording the number of grains on each ear of wheat." As he spoke, he unfolded the bamboo slips, which were covered with dense small characters: "The highest record so far is thirty-seven grains on one ear of wheat."
Everyone gasped in astonishment. An ordinary ear of wheat might be lucky to have twenty or so grains, but this was more than double!
And it's so plump.
Although some of them had also bought the system's grain seeds, seeing it with their own eyes was always different; the shock seemed to materialize in an instant.
Before the words were finished, a commotion suddenly arose from the edge of the field. A ragged old woman broke through the guards' attempts to stop her, knelt down on the edge of the field with a thud, and, with trembling hands, cupped a fallen ear of wheat in her hands, tears streaming down her face.
"Thank God... I've never seen such good wheat in my life..."
The news of the bumper harvest from the experimental field spread far and wide. People from all around came with their families to see the spectacle, and the field ridges were packed with people, even more lively than a temple fair.
Jiang Ge simply set up a stone mill in front of the county government office and showed everyone how to grind new wheat. Hei Fu volunteered to push the millstone. This old soldier was incredibly strong, and the millstone spun so fast that the snow-white flour poured down from the millstone like a waterfall.
"Make way! Make way!"
Yuchi Jingde, carrying a basket of freshly threshed wheat, squeezed into the crowd. The wheat grains were golden, shimmering in the sunlight like a basket of broken gold. The onlookers gasped in amazement, and some of the bolder ones reached out and grabbed a handful, carefully counting them in their palms.
"One grain, two grains, three grains... Good heavens, these grains of wheat are a whole size bigger than usual!"
Django rolled up his sleeves and kneaded the dough himself. The new wheat flour was exceptionally chewy, and kneading it felt like manipulating a cloud.
I steamed it into pancakes and showed them to everyone.
When the first batch of steamed buns came out of the steamer, the aroma wafted for miles. The buns were white and plump, and when broken open, you could see the fine layers inside. Steaming hot, they looked as if the clouds in the sky had been plucked from the sky and steamed.
"Line up! Line up!" Hei Fu's voice was hoarse from shouting, but the crowd still pushed forward.
In the end, it was Huo Qubing who led those unofficial yamen runners to maintain order, thus preventing any chaos.
Django handed the first piece of bread to the old woman kneeling on the edge of the field.
The old man took it with trembling hands, took a small bite, and suddenly burst into tears:
"It smells so good...it smells amazing...this old woman's life has been worthwhile..."
Her tears streamed down her cheeks. Perhaps if only these wheat seeds had appeared sooner, she wouldn't have had to suffer so much.
The harvested wheat filled the county government's granary to the brim. Jiang Ge sat on the pile of grain, holding a handful of wheat grains in his hand, letting them flow through his fingers with a rustling sound.
Huo Qubing leaned against the door frame, his clothes covered in wheat chaff: "Now Songyang County won't go hungry."
"It's more than just ensuring people don't go hungry." Zhuge Liang walked in, fanning himself with a feather fan, followed by Wei Shun carrying account books. "If this program is implemented, the people will all be able to eat their fill."
Looking at the golden piles of wheat in the granary, Jiang Ge suddenly remembered the emaciated people he had seen when he first arrived, the barren fields, and the desperate looks in their eyes... His heart warmed, and he almost shed tears.
“Next year…” she cleared her throat, “Next year I want to promote these seeds throughout the county. And also deep plowing, crop rotation, composting…”
Her dream is to ensure that everyone in the world has enough to eat.
Django walked to the window.
As the sun set, bursts of laughter echoed from the direction of the experimental field. The people seemed to have hope for their lives after seeing such a miraculous new wheat variety, and smiles graced everyone's faces.
She looked at these people, who would be busy in the fields every year from now on, their lives filled with the hardship of labor and the joy of harvest.
But at least for now, it's sweet and hopeful.
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Author's Note: The wind blows through the wheat fields, their fragrance filling the air on both banks~ I feel like I'm really suited to writing farming novels, but for my next book I want to try a romance novel, the kind where the protagonist doesn't actually do anything, but the reader still blushes and their heart races [doge emoji]. Are you all looking forward to it? [Let me see] Actually, I have several ideas I want to write, after I finish Django [Let me see]
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